Over those years, I have floated in and out of chat rooms and bulletin boards, maintained a web site and started a blog, and not once in that time have I ever received e-mail, chat or post, aimed just at me, that has given me pause.
Until this weekend.
I have posted before about Every Day Fiction. It is a marvelous site that not only publishes a piece of new flash fiction every day, free to all to read, but also maintains posting forums that provide opportunity for writers to chat about the craft, to exchange ideas and just goof with folks who don't consider your strange for thinking about stories all the time.
I love the site; would hug and kiss it, if it were a person, and I was very sad to see, last week, that a Troll was lurking there. In Internet lingo, a Troll is someone who submits nonsensical or inflammatory posts to illicit an emotional response.
Since early July, the EDF Troll has been submitting posts filled with non sequiturs. Friday night, he aimed a post at me that was way over the line. I won't repeat what he said here, but it rambled and it threatened physical violence.
I don't know about the State of Washington, I haven't read over state law since we moved, but in Florida, where I had to know the law, as a corrections officer, the Troll's post would be considered grounds for a felony assault charge.
The EDF editorial staff, God bless them, jumped right on it, and have taken, according to Rachael, who is a systems moderator for Play Station, exactly the right steps.
I am certain that the post was just the Troll's idea of a stupid joke. I am certain that there is no chance that anything will ever come of it. Besides, as former corrections officers, Rachael and I are both well trained and well armed, and no Trolls are allowed here.
So, I'm going to forget about that post. I am going to go on about my life, here in Seattle and upon the Internet, as if nothing happened.
But I'm not laughing.
