THE MOODY MAVEN

A Penny For Your Thoughts

Here’s what I think about another shoe dropping

Writer boys beg for pennies while the marm claims that with suddenly too many fake writer boys about she could no longer justify handing out farthings even to the writer boys that had been around her for years. From Life of Charles Dickens, illustrated by Fred Barnard (1879)

Over the past months we have had red flags waved in increments, often inspiring little more than a “huh?” Although we may not have seen their importance at the time, hindsight sends a clear nanny-nanny-boo-boo when you finally mutter your very own, “Oh man, I shoulda’ seen this comin’!”

But really, of course we saw it comin’. We all did. We just didn’t want to believe it. Most of us have some measure of trust as our default. And that’s okay, even if we get in trouble over it from time to time.

After the little tweaks added up and added up until we could no longer ignore what was being taken away, many of us started writing WTF articles, only to discover we were not alone.

Suddenly so many writers were speaking up and asking questions. Many of us felt our hair was on fire. Questions whipped up spreading blazes that flaming dust devils carried throughout the community.

Ire seemed to be surpassing expectations from so many writers.

First a whisper, and then a flood, the marm’s excuses started.

As for me, the more real answers we didn’t get — the more shapeless promises tossed our way — with every new obfuscation and…