On the sidebar of this website, there is a donation button. Here is what you need to know before you possibly decide to click on it:
a) The reason this button is introduced has to do with the fact that I publish a lot of creative writing on this website. A friend of mine recently suggested that if you are reading said creative writing, and also going “gee, this doesn’t quite make me want to gouge my eyes out,” you might want to donate some cash to the author of said writing, i.e. me.
b) The amount is entirely up to you.
c) The free stories that are published on this website do not represent the entirety of my fiction writing. There are other stories, ones that I submit to other publications, for money and/or fame and glory. Please don’t feel cheated if you see my name in print elsewhere. You’ll be reading a separate piece (not to be confused with “A Separate Peace”).
d) This website is not a receptacle for “bad” stories that will never get published elsewhere. Rather, this website is a home for stories that would otherwise be homeless, shut up on my hard-drive like studs in a harem. The fairy stories in particular are a good example. I write a lot of stuff I honestly don’t feel like sending anywhere. Not because I am too proud to be a “sell-out,” or because I don’t believe that editors have magic powers (they do). I just can’t find it a suitable outlet.
e) I am not poor. I am dealing with a lot of money issues, especially wherein student loans are concerned. Sometimes, it’s hard to make ends meet. But I am not poor. So if you think that sending money to a local or international charity is a better idea than sending money to me, I support you in this thinking.
f) The donation button is not meant to give you any sort of guilt-trip. It is there to assuage you in case you are having a guilt-trip about reading my stuff, liking it, and then wondering why it’s up here for free.
g) There are other ways to make me happy, besides money. For example, you can check out The Moscow News, which I’m sure you will enjoy. Or, you can learn more about the fight to stop global trafficking in human beings, trafficking being an issue I have issue with. Or, just leave me a nice comment.
Natalia A. 
Natalia said: “It [the donation button] is there to assuage you in case you are having a GUILT-trip about reading my stuff … for free” (capitalization added).
A guilt-complex about reading online fiction for free is an interesting concept. Did the friend who suggested the donation button also suggest that some readers might feel guilty unless they paid to read your fiction? It’s as though reading anything at all, online or in print, were a one-sided privilege that readers are morally required to pay for, rather than a form of social exchange between reader and author in which both parties voluntarily choose to make contact with each other and in which, if the reader is in fact privileged to read, then the author is also privileged to have an audience. It strikes me that readers who feel “guilty” about reading online fiction for free might also feel unworthy of engaging in voluntary social exchange in other walks of life. But I might be reading too much into your use of the word “guilt-trip.”
Yes, James, you are reading too much into it. If I think that everyone was morally obligated to pay me for reading my blog fiction, I would have just said so.
I sometimes feel very bad when I read a good short story, and realize the author won’t get compensated. Sometimes I don’t. It depends on the situation, and, sometimes, my particular state of mind. I know there are people out there who can relate to this.
Also, way to misquote me, buddy.
I do appreciate your literary skills. Your writings make very entertaining reading and are quite thought provoking, just thought I would throw that in here. Good luck to you and yours. I will pass you on to my daughter, I think she’ll enjoy your blog as well as I just have.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. 😀
Natalia,
I find your fiction interesting. I am flattered you enjoy my books. Are your eyes really that striking?You look like a character in one of my supernatural tales. Best, PIKE
This isn’t going to be particularly dignified, but
SQUEE!
If this is for real, it really means a lot to me. The fiction on this site is kind of… eh, but it’s been the foundation of a lot of new ideas, and I’m happy with where it has lead me. I was happy writing it, and I thank you for reading.
Your work was the cornerstone of my adolescence, and beyond. It has stayed with me for years, and it will always stay with me.
And yeah, the eyes are real. 😀
You know what? This is actually a good idea. Why not right? Before I clicked that “what i need to know etc etc” I was thinking it was to support some charity, though of course, that is why i came to this page… in order to edumacate myself…
then i go to thinking, huh… not a bad idea… i have a few things that (which are still beyond me) have been published, but then again, I guess one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure (though not that I think your stuff is garbage and no relationship is inferred or referenced. rather that I think my stuff is meh alright in some cases, and mostly diatribe vomit for the most part).
anyway this is a cool idea. mind if I borrow it and use it on my blog(s)?
i’m curious to see if anyone would actually “donate” in all truth. Just another typical james style social experiment… after all if the drug companies can experiment on the general public, why can’t i?
😛
Hmmm, well, I haven’t had any donations. It’s an old idea though, lots of people have donation buttons.
I have heard you on the BBC World Service many times including earlier on this week, talking about the Pussy Riot. I am pleased to find out more about you. I greatly enjoy your various contributions to the BBC World Service.
Hi! I think the BBC actually has another contributor by my name who’s frequently on there – but that was me talking about Pussy Riot, sure enough. And thanks. 🙂