I've already downloaded the core rules but I'm still busy reading DFRPG between necessary excursions to real life (work, for instance :-) I'm not that quick.
Besides that I think that there's some misunderstanding between us, based on this imperfect medium of a webforum – if we were to meet and/or even game together we would find common ground very quickly I think. I agree with most of what you have said, especially with that "failed novel" concept. This is exactly what happens when the story becomes more important than the PCs. Maybe it doesn't seem so from my previous posts but I'm really not that kind of GM. Or I hope at least :-) You presented the kicker/bang concept – but that's exactly what I'm doing, believe me. If you know Shadowrun, there (at least in the 2nd edition) were those 20 questions every player had to answer about his character. We have been using these (plus an at least page long text on the character's background) for many many years. In many systems and settings. And of course that I, as a GM, make use of this information extensively. Nothing hooks a PC into a story better than incorporating elements from his background. No story is better than a story based either on previous game events or facts important to the PC. Preferably both.
On the other hand I see no problem with using pregen adventures or my own story ideas, either. A good GM, I am convinced, should be able to weave ideas from a pregen adventure with loose ends of PCs' background information to create fun for the whole table. There are many approaches, and again, I'm for using them, combining them. There's nothing bad in pushing the game sometimes in one or another direction, if it is done sparingly and in a discreet and unobtrusive way (now I had to consult my dictionary for expressions, so I hope I chose the right words).
As for the Big Bad Guy example from your last paragraph – I think, it again depends on how and how often the GM does this. There are extremes and there are decent and fun-friendly ways. If the PCs are going to kill BBG, you have to react in any case – either modify (read: cheat) the story now and let him escape (thus creating a kicker) only to harass the PCs later (bang) or let the action take its course now, with BBG possibly dying (kicker), and letting BBG's henchmen harass the PCs later (bang). This is an example but I hope you undestand me. There's nothing about any competition between the GM and the players or about making the "failed novel" be more important than the PCs, really. It can be done both ways and both ways may provide good fun if done properly. This is, at least, my experience, both as a GM and a player.
There are really some issues with FATE I'm trying to solve here but they are on a different level, I think. The first one is blurring the line between "narrator" and "stars". We have already addressed that in previous posts and I'm starting to be curious how this change will work out for us. And the other are some meta elements or meta GM-player conversations in those parts of the game that have been solved in our group on the level of role-playing and in-character interaction. Again, I'm not saying that it's bad per se. It's just very different from what we are used to and I'm a bit worried what impact this will have on people (including me) who have already done it in a different way for years.
Please, don't take this post amiss. Your insights are very appreciated, thanks a lot! I'm just trying to clarify the situation and my point of view.