In the group of écrivains

This is with all due respect to writers' forums online. I agree it is a great way to showcase your writing. The audience is also larger, unlike my blog where I have to send the link to everybody in my address book, from "Customer Care" to my gay cousin Ray.

And then it doesn't stop there, I have to send follow up mails to make sure they have read my blog. "Please let me know what you think. Leave a comment." And there's usually nothing in there either.
Of course, "Customer Care" always sends a mail saying, "This is not a monitored mail box. Please do not send us any mails. Do you think we are interested in your mundane my-life-is-so-boring blog? If we receive any more mails about your blog you will be hearing from our lawyer."

So, like I said, online writers' forums are good in that sense. You know, twisted attention-seeking people like me, with the I-want-to-be-famous-now attitude resort to these forums; of course with the pretext that I want critiquing on my work. Dare anyone says that my writing is not good, I'd bludgeon them immediately.

Some people have fancy french words, anything french seems fancy actually, as their display names. And it doesn't stop at that, in a forum of English writers you see a lot of french words thrown into poetry, prose and sometimes "random meanderings". French is oh so romantic and chique, ooh la la. Wait, that's Spanish isn't it? It could be German for all I care; ya baby!

I am sometimes amazed at people's intellect as well at these forums, a poem I wrote and didn't quite understand myself received rave reviews. The reviews were so beautiful that it made me want to cry and give a speech. Maybe I could speak anything and the audience (intelligent as they are what with their French and German) would find it moving and lucid like my what-the-hell-is-this poetry.

I only write in English and that too with the mix of Mangalorean usages (what and all I write man). Now if I am aiming for the Booker that's got to improve eh?

Let's hope the Writers' Forum people don't read this and don't kick me out of the forum (they already ignore my work though).

Au revoir monsieurs et mademoiselles (eh eh, what do you think? oh ok, Google is just lovely)