FYI-I plan to leave this note up for the next day or so while I finishing writing and editing. I have updates for most of the stories coming.

I received a review earlier and I have been debating on whether to address it or not. The reason being is how the person came across.

The reader posted the review in my story I Want to be a Mother.

Let me start by saying I understand I live in the real world. I get treated differently at times. I am a woman, I am black, and I have a disability. Most of you know by now that I lost my leg. Specifically it was my left leg. It saved my life, but years after the surgery as I have gotten older I have had some issues come up. Right now I am waiting to get approved for a surgery that is supposed to help me control the phantom pain.

I understand I have a disability, and I know it is human nature for people to be curious. I get upset when people stare at me like a freak not when they ask me what happened.

Before I found out about my tumor I was an incredibly sensitive person. I still am, but my skin is a little thicker.

I don't post my stories going in thinking that everyone will like them. I don't even go into the story thinking much of anything. Honestly, I just love to write. I have always kept a journal. Instead of me writing everyday about my pain, the many times that I have thought about committing suicide, how lonely I am at times I decided to write these stories.

I read the stories on the site as much as I write, and I would guess that at least 75% of the stories I read the author addressed remarks that people posted on their reviews.

I didn't think I was immune, but I have to say when I opened the review I also wasn't prepared. When I was working as a case manager at Sears I handled complaints all day long. I was responding to a lot of consumers and business partners in email. The one thing we were constantly reminded of in training is that people can't see you when you write your email. Be mindful of your tone.

The tone of the review is what got me.

The review said: What a poorly written story. Grammar needs work. No life to it. Hard to read and boring.

It wasn't the words she said it was how it came across. I have started stories that I thought I would enjoy, and stopped when I realize that it wasn't my cup of tea. I have thought some were boring, some I didn't understand the direction of the story, some that I thought were too far out there. I never posted those comments, because they were my feelings. I didn't see the need to bring someone down.

I think that we all need to remember this is a site where people are just sharing their thoughts with everyone. Most of the authors write in their spare time, it is a hobby, or they just want to put their spin out there in the universe.

I don't like Jake or Mellie, but I don't go and tell those authors they are crazy because they like those characters.

Words hurt. They can change a person. You don't know who is on the other side of the story. No one sets to write a bad story with bad grammar, but they also are not trying to impress their English professor.

For me this website saved my life. I was misdiagnosed for three years. I was told there was nothing wrong with my leg. No matter how much I begged and pleaded with doctors I was treated for everything but a tumor. For years they kept saying it was my ACL. I was put in all kinds of casts, giving numerous injections, and pills. Finally, my insurance sent me to UNC-Chapel. The doctor there immediately knew I had a tumor which a MRI confirmed. At the time I was 23. I wasn't ready to live life with one leg so they tried to save it. I had to learn how to walk all over again, but it wasn't enough so a couple of months after I learned how to walk again I was back in the OR getting an amputation.

I am now 34 still single and no children. It has turned men off when they see me, and realize that I have one leg. It can be frustrating at times, but I pray that one day I find someone who loves and accepts me for who I am.

Suicide is a hard topic. A lot of people don't get it. How can a person be so selfish? I have learned that when you get beat up enough physically, mentally, and emotionally sometimes you just can't find a way to move forward in my mind.

It is hard to live in a society where some people seem to enjoy taking away other people's joy. I get it because I know what it is like to be up for days at a time with minimal sleep due to pain. Mentally and emotionally it takes a toll on you.

I have worked from the moment I turned 16. That all changed last year, and since then I have been trying to find myself. On more than one occasion I have thought about throwing in the towel. I have thrown in the towel a couple of times.

The last six months I have had to force myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and writing has allowed me to do that.

Why, because I know that there is at least one person out there who wants to read my story. I don't have a lot going right in my person life right now, but I hold on to the belief that before the end of this year I will find myself. A lot of times when I am writing it allows me to clear my head so I can push forward.

So to the person who posted the review I accept your opinion of my writing. You are entitled to feel however you want, but as a suggestion be careful how you come across. Some people are not writing to get a book deal. Some are writing because it is therapeutic, and other people enjoy their thoughts.

Now I am going back to working on my update. Expect updates by no later than Tuesday.

Oh, in the story Fate Stepped In I forgot to explain that the spoons that Olivia found said "We're Pregnant" so that is what Cyrus caught, and it what made others clean their spoons to see.

Enjoy your weekend.

Kimberly