Pixel Scroll 1/3 The Man from P.I.X.E.L.

coverWARP932 Keith Braithwaite

(1) BRAITHWAITE RESTORES CLASSIC ARTWORK. Gracing the cover of Warp #93, the Montreal Science Fiction and Fantasy Association clubzine, is this superlative painting —

The Doctor and his Companion, by Claude Monet (oil on canvas, 1875), a painting dating from a most fertile phase of the renowned French Impressionist’s career, was recently discovered in the attic of a house in Argenteuil in which Monet lived in the 1870s. Little is known of the subjects depicted as the artist left no notes as to their identity or relationship to him. No particulars on the gentleman or lady are to be found, either, in the local historical records of the time and the odd structure beside which the gentleman is standing remains a puzzle. Civic records offer no indication that such a structure ever existed, as if this curious blue box simply appeared out of thin air, and then disappeared just as mysteriously. The title of the work gives us our only clue as to the two subjects, suggesting that the gentleman was, perhaps, a medical doctor travelling with a female relative, Fiancée, or mistress. MonSFFA’s own Keith Braithwaite worked on the restoration of the painting.

(2) BLUE PEOPLE BEWARE. Yahoo! Movies reports “’The Force Awakens’ Barreling Toward ‘Avatar’Record”.

The space opera sequel is moving up the all-time domestic box office charts at a record clip and now is poised to overtake those pointy eared blue aliens as the top grossing film in history. Avatar earned $760.5 million during its stateside run and Star Wars: The Force Awakens has generated $740.4 million domestically after picking up $88.3 million over New Year’s weekend. It should take the crown from Avatar early next week.

(3) AXANAR DECONSTRUCTED. (There’s that word again. I hope I know what it means…) John Seavey at Mightygodking has created a FAQ about the Paramount/CBS lawsuit against Axanar Productions:

Q: Then why are they being sued? Paramount allows lots of these things, don’t they?

A: Oh, yeah. “Star Trek Renegades”, “Star Trek: Of Gods and Men”, “Star Trek Continues”…basically, it seems like as long as nobody’s making any money, Paramount turns a blind eye to these fan films.

Q: But this one they wouldn’t? Why?

A: Well, there is the fact that, in an update on Axanar’s Indigogo campaign, they said, “EVERYTHING costs more when you are a professional production and not a fan film. All of this and more is explained, along with our budget of how we spent the money in the Axanar Annual Report.”

And in that latest annual budget report, they said, “First and foremost, it is important to remember that what started out as a glorified fan film is now a fully professional production. That means we do things like a studio would. And of course, that means things cost more. We don’t cut corners. We don’t ask people to work full time for no pay. And the results speak for themselves.”

And:

“Please note that we are a professional production and thus RUN like a professional production. That means our full time employees get paid. Not much honestly, but everyone has bills to pay and if you work full time for Axanar, you get paid.

Also, no other fan film has production insurance like we do. We pay $ 12,000 a year for that. Again, a professional production.”

Also, in their Indiegogo FAQ, they had this little gem:

“Q: What is Axanar Productions?

Axanar is not just an independent Star Trek film; it is the beginning of a whole new way that fans can get the content they want, by funding it themselves. Why dump hundreds or thousands of dollars a year on 400 cable channels, when what you really want is a few good sci-fi shows? Hollywood is changing. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other providers are redefining content delivery, and Axanar Productions/Ares Studios hopes to be part of that movement.”

Which kind of contradicts the “fan film” statement.

(4) WILL SMITH’S CHARACTER IS LATE. John King Tarpinian imagines the conversation went like this: “You want how much?  Sorry but your character just died.” In a Yahoo! News interview,  “Will Smith Says It Was Terrible When He Found Out His Independence Day Character Died”.

Will Smith found it unpleasant to learn that the fat lady had sung on Steven Hiller, the character he played in 1996’s Independence Day. “It was terrible when I found out my character died,” Smith told Yahoo.

Hiller’s death was revealed on a viral site for Independence Day: Resurgence. “While test piloting the ESD’s first alien hybrid fighter, an unknown malfunction causes the untimely death of Col. Hiller,” the site’s timeline reads. “Hiller’s valor in the War of ’96 made him a beloved global icon whose selfless assault against the alien mothership lead directly to the enemy’s defeat. He is survived by his wife Jasmine and his son Dylan.” You can see an image of Hiller’s fiery death by clicking here.

(5) ALL KNIGHT. Admiring Fred Kiesche’s Damon Knight quote in a comment here, Damien G. Walter tweeted —

(6) HE FIGURES. Camestros Felapton forays into toy design with his new “Hugo” brand “Stage Your Own Kerfuffle”  figures….

(7) JEFFRO MOVES UP. Vox Day is delegating management of the Castalia House blog to “The new sheriff in town”, Jeffro Johnson:

As Castalia House has grown, it has become increasingly difficult to balance my responsibilities as Lead Editor and as the manager of this blog. Because Castalia House shoots for excellence across the board, I have decided that it is time to step back and hand over my responsibilities for this blog to someone else.

And who is better suited to take it over than one of the very best bloggers in science fiction and gaming? I am absolutely delighted to announce that the Castalia House blogger, author of the epic Chapter N series, and 2015 Hugo nominee for Best Fan Writer, Jeffro Johnson, has agreed to accept the position of Blog Editor at Castalia House.

(8) ARISTOTLE. That leaves Vox Day more time to orchestrate his winter offensive. His first target is File 770 commenter Lis Carey.

Even I occasionally forget how fragile these psychologically decrepit specimens are. Anyhow, it’s a good reminder to ALWAYS USE RHETORIC on them. They’re vulnerable to it; they can’t take it. That’s why they resort to it even when it doesn’t make sense in the context of a discussion, because they are trying to make you feel the emotional pain that they feel whenever they are criticized.

Day is developing a Goodreads author page, and Carey mentioned yesterday she had already seen early signs of activity:

Ah, this may explain a recent comment on one of my reviews of last year’s Hugo nominees–and means maybe I can expect more.

The particular comments were on her review of Castalia House’s Riding The Red Horse.

(9) TODAY IN HISTORY

  • January 3, 1841 — Herman Melville ships out on the whaler Acushnet to the South Seas.

(10) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOY

  • Born January 3, 1892 – J.R.R. Tolkien, honored by Emily Asher-Perrin at Tor.com:

But of course, the world remembers Tolkien for changing the fantasy genre forever. By penning The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien set a framework for fantasy literature that countless authors have attempted to recapture over the years. The creation of Middle-earth, from its languages to its poetry to its rich cultural history and varied peoples, was an astounding feat of imagination that no one had managed before with such detail and ardent care.

(11) SEMIPROZINES. Camestros Felapton continues moving through the alphabet in his “Semiprozine Round-Up: Cs and Ds”.

Keeping on going in the Cs and Ds of semiprozines.

  • The Cascadia Subduction Zone
  • The Colored Lens
  • Crossed Genres Magazine
  • Daily Science Fiction
  • The Dark Magazine
  • Diabolical Plots

(12) PARTS NOT TAKEN. “Leonardo DiCaprio Reflects On Turning Down Anakin Skywalker And Two SuperHero Roles” at ScienceFiction.com:

And it’s a philosophy that has led to him turning down parts in some guaranteed smashes and lots of cha-ching.  He recently revealed that he actually met with George Lucas, but ultimately passed on playing Anakin Skywalker in the ‘Star Wars’ prequels.

“I did have a meeting with George Lucas about that, yes.  I just didn’t feel ready to take that dive. At that point.”

Around this time, DiCaprio instead chose to make ‘Gangs of New York’ and ‘Catch Me If You Can’, the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Still he must be kicking himself.  The role instead went to Hayden Christiansen and look at how his career took… oh, ahem.  Nevermind.

(13) REMEMBERING BAEN. While researching another post, I rediscovered David Drake’s 2006 tribute to the late Jim Baen, who had just recently passed. Shortly before Baen’s death the two were on the phone and Baen asked, “You seem to like me. Why?” The answer is rather touching.

And then I thought further and said that when I was sure my career was tanking–

You thought that? When was that?”

In the mid ’90s, I explained, when Military SF was going down the tubes with the downsizing of the military. But when I was at my lowest point, which was very low, I thought, “I can write two books a year. And Jim will pay me $20K apiece for them–”

“I’d have paid a lot more than that!”

And I explained that this wasn’t about reality: this was me in the irrational depths of real depression. And even when I was most depressed and most irrational, I knew in my heart that Jim Baen would pay me enough to keep me alive, because he was that sort of person. He’d done that for Keith Laumer whom he disliked, because Laumer had been an author Jim looked for when he was starting to read SF.

I could not get so crazy and depressed that I didn’t trust Jim Baen to stand by me if I needed him. I don’t know a better statement than that to sum up what was important about Jim, as a man and as a friend.

(14) PEACE IN OUR TIME. In “The Stormbunnies and Crybullies”, John C. Wright devotes over 2,000 words to making his closing offer irresistible in that special way only he knows how.

But I am a forgiving man, jovial and magnanimous. I make the following peace offer: Go your way. Cease to interfere with me and my livelihood, do your work, cease to libel me and meddle with my affairs, withhold your tongue from venom and your works from wickedness, and we shall all get along famously.

Otherwise, it is against my self interest to seek peace with you. Peace is a two sided affair: both parties must agree. So far only Mr. Martin has even expressed a desire for it.

(15) WHAT KEEPS YOU FROM WRITING? Nandini Balial at Pacific Standard helps writers name their fears — “Gremlins and Satyrs of Rejection: A Taxonomy of Writers’ Foes”

THE SATYRS OF MOUNT OUTLET: Like its cousin Olympus, Mount Outlet stretches far beyond human sight into luxurious billowy clouds. The work its satyrs produce is sharp and daring. Vast networks of bloggers, freelancers, and even reporters churn out viral but self-aware listicles, personal essays that make me cry more than they should, and short stories so good I’m inclined to simply put my pen away. On Twitter, their satyrs (editors) trade barbs and witticisms with the speed of a Gatling gun. A poor peasant like me may approach the foot of the mountain, but my tattered, unworthy scrolls and I will soon turn around and head home.

(16) PUBLISHING STINKS. Kristen Lamb, in “The Ugly Truth of Publishing & How BEST to Support Writers”, says don’t bother reviewing her books on Goodreads, because that’s where the trolls are:

Tweet a picture of our book. Put it on Facebook. People in your network ARE noticing. Peer review and approval is paramount in the digital age. And don’t support your favorite author on Goodreads as a first choice (AMAZON reviews are better). The only people hanging out on Goodreads for the most part are other writers and book trolls.

Support us on your regular Facebook page or Instagram or Twitter. Because when you post a great new book you LOVED your regular friends see that. When they get stranded in an Urgent Care or an airport? What will they remember? THAT BOOK. They won’t be on Goodreads. Trust me.

(17) DISSONANCE. After reading Kristen Lamb’s discouraging words, I encountered M. L. Brennan calling for everyone to get up and dance because Generation V earned out and what that means”. That’s not the next post I’d have expected to see, straight from leaving Lamb’s black-crepe-draped explanation of the publishing industry.

One thing to bear in mind, because it’s easy to lose sight of it when you look at that last paragraph — if I hadn’t received an advance, I wouldn’t have made more money on this book. I would still have earned $7615.78 on the series — except earning that first $7500 would have taken me two years, rather than being entirely in my pocket on the day that Generation V hit the bookstores. And that $7500 paid my mortgage, my electric bill, and other bills, which made it substantially easier for me to write. Without that advance, it would’ve taken me longer to write Iron Night, Tainted Blood, and even Dark Ascension, because I would’ve been having to hustle other work elsewhere and spend less time writing.

(18) NONE DARE CALL IT SF. Whether Joshua Adam Anderson styles himself an sf fan I couldn’t say (though he did take a course from Professor James Gunn), but his LA Review of Books article “Toward a New Fantastic: Stop Calling It Science Fiction” is a deep dive into the abyss of genre. His attempt to define (redefine?) science fiction is precisely what fans love.

LAST JULY, Pakistani science fiction writer Usman Malik published a clarion call for his home country. In it, he made the claim that “[e]ncouraging science fiction, fantasy, and horror readership has the potential to alleviate or fix many of Pakistan’s problems.” While it would be difficult to disagree with the idea that science fiction is a positive force in the world, many of Malik’s reasons for championing the genre are problematic. To begin with, Malik — along with just about everyone else — still, for some reason, calls “science fiction” science fiction. His essay actually contains a handful of reasons why we should stop calling it “science fiction,” and it also inadvertently addresses how and why we need to liberate ourselves from genre itself — and how “science fiction” can help us do just that.

(19) PLANNING BEGINS: Paul Johnson’s early word is that the event to honor his father, the late George Clayton Johnson, might be in February at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.

P Johnson snip Egyptian

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Will R., Paul Weimer, Brian Z., and JJ for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Will R.]

413 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 1/3 The Man from P.I.X.E.L.

  1. Thanks for all the kind words, everyone. One thing I’m not going to do is click over and read whatever else VD has to say.

    Part of me wants to say, “Please come over to Goodreads and comment back!” but I suspect that might just encourage him and his minions, so probably not wise.

    I do get really aggrieved that on top of having read all that, um, let’s say “stuff” last spring, I get accused of not only not having read it, but having obviously not read it, whenever the Puppies notice me. And I can’t imagine that I have so much impact on anything that they have any reason to notice me.

    Oh, well. Going back to sleep, cuddling my little dog.

  2. I’ll +1 to Scott Frazer’s counteroffer to JCW above. Heck, I don’t even need him to withhold his work – just write something that isn’t over-wrought, purple-prosed message fiction that’s, you know, actually *good*.

    @Lis Carey – keep doing what you’re doing, and nil illegitimi carborundum

  3. JJ:

    But nope, they’d rather spend it waving their tiny penises around.

    Please stop there. You seem to have forgotten for a moment how many women are part of the SP4 leadership, and since I anticipate deleting any equal opportunity insults along these lines, then we’d best also leave the gander unsauced. (Was that vague enough?)

  4. @Mike Glyer: Heh, I love the Pixel Scroll title!

    (6) HE FIGURES: @Camestros Felapton – love the GRRM LEGO figure, and even if the others are less obvious, I like them and the fun-loving goofiness of even doing it. 😀

    (12) PARTS NOT TAKEN. I feel like DiCaprio would’ve done better than Hayden Christiansen, despite the poor writing and directing.

    ETA: 54 comments but I only see, uh, less than 50 since it’s only one page. I presume I’ll have to return to page one to see what I missed (or do approved on-hold comments show up at the end?).

  5. their first project will be to bomb “If My Love Were a Dinosaur” with negative reviews and upvote the most vitriolic.

    There really don’t seem to be any functional adults among them, do there?

  6. Iphinome: They’re welcome to do so as much as they want on YOUR blog.

    (Sorry, even though it was a good Ancillary Sword reference.)

  7. Mike Glyer on January 4, 2016 at 12:34 am said:

    (Sorry, even though it was a good Ancillary Sword reference.)

    I no longer believe in Santa.

  8. (14) Threatening his livelihood is presumably withholding all 5 Hugo awards that he won?

  9. nickpheas: Threatening his livelihood is presumably withholding all 5 Hugo awards that he won?

    By that logic, then I’m sure that JCW will be apologizing immediately for all the livelihoods he and the other Puppies threatened, when they deprived the authors who’d actually earned their place on the final ballot of the honor of being finalists.

  10. Laura Resnick: There really don’t seem to be any functional adults among them, do there?

    If there were adults among them, they’d be busy writing their own reviews instead of downvoting and upvoting other peoples’ reviews. So the answer is clearly “no”.

    But then, they’d have to actually read things before they could review them — and given how few actual reviews Puppies posted which consisted of intelligent analysis rather than “It’s great!” and “It sucks!” — not to mention the numerous admissions of “I didn’t actually read it” — I have a strong suspicion that there has been very little actual reading of either the slated stories or the ones they’re criticizing.

  11. And T** K******* should be ashamed of himself. But then, that ain’t gonna happen

    Oh is Tank Marmot back? That might explain why the thing says that there are 62 comments and I can only read 56 of them.

  12. Sr. Marmot is back only insofar as he made a comment on Lis Carey’s review linked above. From his public picture to his posts, I can’t help but see him as the drill sergeant from Full Metal Jacket, shrunk down to the size of the tiny Ashes from Army of Darkness, frothily gibbering his nonsensical threats in a squeaky down-home accent. I think if I didn’t have family in the military he’d just seem funny, but I find him repulsive. I wouldn’t go so far as saying I feel about him the way JCW believes all decent men feel about homosexuals, but then, I’m not a psychopath.

    On the other hand, either one of my new kittens would eat him in one bite and not think twice about it. Now I’m rambling. I’ll hit “Post Comment” now.

  13. Kathodus: I think if I didn’t have family in the military he’d just seem funny, but I find him repulsive.

    I have both living and dead family members and quite a number of good friends who were/are military. To a person, I think they would all find the Marmot and his attitudes a disgrace to the military. I hugely resent people like the Marmot — assholes who mouth off about how badass they are and wave their weapons around as if it makes them a “big man” — because they give the public a really bad impression of military people and are a discredit to service persons everywhere.

  14. I wonder if GRRM is aware that he has agreed to the tems of JCW’s pact. Given how Wright seems to have deluded himself into believing that he and Martin are in agreement, I am guessing that if Martin gets a copy of their supposed truce deal he’d be in for a shock.

  15. —–
    Theodore Beale is explicitly targeting for abuse a woman who posts here regularly. I certainly hope all human beings with the slightest bit of decency and compassion will recognize this for the ugly, sinister, cynical brutality it is.
    —–

    Unlike Lis Carey and other SJWs active on Goodreads, Rabid Puppies are abiding strictly by Goodreads policies. Reviews that refer to AUTHOR BEHAVIOR are specifically prohibited; Lis Carey is in blatant violation of Goodreads policy and we are drawing attention to her and every other reviewer who violate that policy.

    Lis Carey is not being targeted for abuse, Lis Carey is abusing Goodreads. She is not being singled out, she is merely the first of many abusive trolls who will be addressed. We know perfectly well that the first reaction of SJWs is to go running to the amenable authorities, which is why we are always careful to abide by the rules.

    ——–
    One thing to note is the cowardice of VD and his minions. They are specifically targeting someone because they think she is frail and easy to harass. In short, they are sleazy, small-time cowards who are too scared to actually challenge someone they think can put up a fight. It is exactly the sort of slimy pathetic thing that perfectly encapsulates who VD and his sycophants are.
    ——

    SJWs always lie. We will take on any and all of you. Just give us a reason. Considering that I have directly taken on “the most popular blog in science fiction”, Tor Books, and George R.R. Martin, it is patently obvious that you are lying again. What is different about me is that I take on all comers, regardless of how frail and unable to fight they are. Attack me or mine and I will hit you back twice as hard, no matter who you are. Playing defenseless won’t save you.

    All you have to do to avoid being counterattacked is not attack. How hard is that? How dumb do you have to be to fail to understand that after all this time? Leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone. It’s quite simple.

    ——
    keep in mind that VD is such a towering, manly being that he kept expressing hysterical fear a couple of years ago, bleating with every appearance of high-strung sincerity that his physical safety was in danger from an imminent attack by Lee Martindale. (Lee is an older lady in a wheelchair.) He also bleated a number of times that year about his fear of me, claiming I had threatened him. (In reality, I had never even threatened to speak sternly to him.)
    ——

    First you claim to be strong, independent womyn who are going to inflict Whedon-fu badassery on your foes, then you cry poor little womens who cain’t possibly do nothing to nobody. You’re not fooling anyone.

    ———
    Part of me wants to say, “Please come over to Goodreads and comment back!” but I suspect that might just encourage him and his minions, so probably not wise.
    ———

    Bring it on, Lis. Except, of course, you appear to have forgotten that authors are not permitted to comment on any reviews. It’s more of that Goodreads policy for which you have no respect.

    I note that File 770ers complain more about people legitimately nominating works, commenting on reviews, and rating books than they do about an active campaign by your side to blackball SF/F authors’ works from bookstores. Perhaps you should consider policing your own side before we adopt the same tactics in response.

  16. VD: Reviews that refer to AUTHOR BEHAVIOR are specifically prohibited; Lis Carey is in blatant violation of Goodreads policy and we are drawing attention to her and every other reviewer who violate that policy.

    I’ve read the review in question. Nowhere does she refer to AUTHOR BEHAVIOR.

    She refers to poor writing and poor editing — both of which, as you yourself admit, are entirely within the GoodReads reviewing guidelines.

    As you are clearly in error on this, I am sure that you will immediately tender an apology to Ms Carey, remove your posts abusing her, and direct your minions to remove their abusive posts as well.

  17. @VD: “All you have to do to avoid being counterattacked is not attack.”

    So, precisely when did WorldCon attack you?

  18. It must really be season again. First, Mr. Wright comes to comment, and now we have a visit from Mr. Beale himself.

    ” Leave us alone, we’ll leave you alone. It’s quite simple.”

    I even tried that, Mr. Beale, and I’ve gotten namechecked and attacked *anyway*. And I’m a tiny fish in the end.

    And is “leave us alone” the new line from the Puppies, given Mr. Wright’s post saying something similar?

    Sunshine does seem to be a useful thing, and our gracious host here pointing toward what the Puppies are saying and doing and linking to it so that, by Aristotle, we can read the entirety of what you are saying if we’ve the stomach for it, is a good thing. Especially when you do things like abusing Ms. Carey and trying to slate works onto award ballots.

  19. Lis Carey

    I can see that VD desperately wants to bully people, but he’s really, really bad at identifying people who can be bullied. I mean, look at his decade of trying, completely unsuccessfully, to bully John Scalzi; John Scalzi now has a decade long contract with Tor for $3,400,000 in advances.

    It’s probably a bit early in the cycle for people to start throwing money at you, but it’s definitely a promising start; what people like VD fail to understand is that someone who faces adversity, but still goes forward, has courage. You have that in spades, whereas VD is a quivering mass of fear who can’t begin to understand how someone like yourself, who hasn’t even got a trust fund, can do what he cannot.

    Of course, another thing he can’t understand is that those of us who plodded through the Hugo packet have an excellent appreciation of the garbage foisted upon us, and I for one regard your review of Riding the Red Horse as overly generous. However, in the interests of rapprochement, and the fact that my brain probably wouldn’t survive rereading Riding the Red Horse I am happy to pass by.

    ETA
    Wow! I missed the trust fund bunny whilst composing my own post. However, since it’s the usual tissue of lies I will pass him by as well.

  20. I will note that attacking individual Goodreads reviewers is not going to lead to Puppy works winning Goodreads Choice Awards.

    @Lis Carey

    My sympathies. At least people with opinions worth valuing know perfectly well that the Puppy comments are nonsense.

  21. I never found Goodreads that helpful. Given what Peace has written about their treatment at Goodreads, I am happy to cede VD another cesspool.

  22. @Ted: could you highlight the exact sentence or sentences you believe Lis Carey has attacked you or the authors in Riding the Red Horse in? Thanks!

  23. Reviews that refer to AUTHOR BEHAVIOR are specifically prohibited; Lis Carey is in blatant violation of Goodreads policy and we are drawing attention to her and every other reviewer who violate that policy.

    Lying again, I see. That’s pretty much the only thing you’ve got going for you, isn’t it?

    Attack me or mine and I will hit you back twice as hard, no matter who you are.

    Or you’ll do what? Stomp your feet and whine some more? Wail ineffectually? Hold your breath until you turn blue in the face? Shit your pants and smear it on your own face in rage?

    Considering that I have directly taken on “the most popular blog in science fiction”, Tor Books, and George R.R. Martin

    When any one of them actually cares, get back in touch.

  24. “authors are not permitted to comment on any reviews.”

    But of course there are no rules about whipping up (or even quietly suggesting that) a mob to do any dirty work needed. Most normal people would find such behaviour reprehensible nonetheless.

    However this is just another way I prefer LT – there is no ability to comment on reviews.

  25. @Rev Bob

    So, precisely when did WorldCon attack you?

    I would presume that this would have been when they declined to give him, Ted E. Beale, Sooooper Genius, the Hugo that he rightly deserved.

    Or when the SFWA kicked him out (different organisation? Unpossible!)

    Or when he got piñata-d all those years ago at Making Light (Let it go? Grow up? Neverrrr!)

    Regardless, I tremble at the thought of what he will do to the world with his mighty, throbbing page count numbers, and his terrifying horde of mental maladroits.

    One of the best summations I ever read about Day was from Eric Flint, who in a handful of paragraphs, pegged him to a tee (sorry, lengthy, but beautiful):

    Beale is nothing but a petty chiseler. He chisels when it comes to his opinions, always trying to play peekaboo and slime around defending what he obviously believes. And he’s trying to win Hugo awards by petty chiseling.

    But it’s his other characteristic that really disqualifies him for the role of Great Villain in this morality play.

    In a nutshell—and completely unlike Adolf Hitler—Theodore Beale is a fucking clown with delusions of grandeur. This is a man—say better, pipsqueak—who rails to the heavens about the decline—nay, the imminent doom!—of western civilization due to the savageries of sub-human races and (most of all) the pernicious—nay, Satan-inspired!—willfulness of uppity women, and likes to portray himself as the reincarnation of the feared Crusaders of yore, all the way down to wielding a flaming sword.

    And… the best thing he can figure out to do with his time, money and energy is to hijack a few Hugo awards. That’ll show the sub-human-loving treacherous bitches!

    The world trembles and shakes, just like it does in the imagination of a mouse whenever that mouse imagines itself to be an elephant. Except no mouse who ever lived was this stupid.

  26. OK. Checks the Goodreads article (Link for anyone who can be bothered)

    I see that while Teddy is bitterly offended by Lis’ abuse of the system by saying that she thinks the editing isn’t very good, he was happy to rate it with five stars. One might think that editors/publishers reviewing their own work was far more of an abuse.

  27. I read through the whole of Riding the Red Horse… if Lis Carey is saying the editing isn’t very good, she’s being a lot kinder than I am. Just at the basic mechanical level, some of the content has punctuation, grammar and spelling errors that any competent sub would have caught.

    As for John C. Wright (I feel obliged to emphasize, once again, he’s no relation), the only person damaging his literary reputation is himself.

  28. Given that Puppies always lie, it’s worth pointing out that apart from the fact Lis Carey doesn’t mention author behavior, the Goodreads review guidelines does allow you to reference it:

    Mentioning the author in the context of a review is always acceptable, but reviews that are predominantly about an author’s behavior and not about the book will be deleted.

    What isn’t allowed are

    Reviews that attack other reviewers will be deleted. Statements like “Other reviews have said this book is terrible, but I disagree” are fine, but if the primary purpose of your review is to mock or harass another Goodreads member, we may give it a lower priority or delete it entirely.

    No idea if they regularly enforce those guidelines.

  29. AXANAR DECONSTRUCTED – I felt it important to support Lis, but I otherwise don’t feel like dancing to the organ-grinder’s tune all thread, so let me say I appreciated the MightyGodKing post and Mike’s excerpt. I’m a moderate copylefter*, but the post does make it clear Why This Fan Production Is Different From All the Other Fan Productions.

    ——————————-
    * To the point that, while I think Jack Kirby should’ve gotten the rights to his creations back in the 80s, I think today they “should” mostly be in the public domain.

  30. VD on January 4, 2016 at 2:49 am said:

    SJWs always lie. We will take on any and all of you. Just give us a reason. Considering that I have directly taken on “the most popular blog in science fiction”, Tor Books, and George R.R. Martin, it is patently obvious that you are lying again. What is different about me is that I take on all comers, regardless of how frail and unable to fight they are. Attack me or mine and I will hit you back twice as hard, no matter who you are. Playing defenseless won’t save you.

    Let’s consider how effective these epic struggles have been for Vox Day and his herd of alpha males:

    John Scalzi in comparison with VD now has over 10 times as many followers on Twitter, more mainstream press attention, sells more books, wins awards, received a stonking advance from his publisher and successfully manages to sell work to other smaller publishers that he doesn’t even own himself.

    Tor Books, despite being boycotted by several hundred people who never bought their books anyway, continues to be a major market player and exceeded expectations when they launched their novella line in September. The individuals that VD demanded by removed from their positions… remain in their positions.

    George RR Martin has gone from being a very successful fantasy author to being a phenomenally successful fantasy author, courtesy of a globally popular TV series. VD has given up on being a fantasy author to instead focus on internet feuding.

  31. I assumed the reasoning behind going after Lis was because Lis very clearly has read all of the Puppy nominees and therefore smashes the Puppy party line that no-one read the works before voting No Award into pieces.

  32. @Shao Ping: (Goodreads guideline enforcement)

    Every review and comment has a “flag” link that can be used to report violations of the review and comment policies. Violations such as an author responding poorly to a bad review of a book containing their work come to mind as eligible for such reporting.

    ETA: To clarify, GR is a huge site. Expecting the mods to Just Know about violations is unrealistic. To cite an overused sentiment, “if you see something, say something.” Flagging inappropriate or abusive comments for review is the proper mechanism for doing so. Having a flamewar in the review’s comment thread is not, as that violates the policy requirement of being civil to other GR members.

  33. ———-
    So, precisely when did WorldCon attack you?
    ———-

    Numerous Worldcon members attacked me and falsely accused me of gaming the 2014 Hugo Awards. I had nothing to do with it. I never paid any attention whatsoever to the Hugos, or to Sad Puppies 1, until Larry Correia put my novelette on the ballot and many Fen accused me of various crimes against the Hugo Awards.

    My blog has been around since 2003. The first time I even mentioned the Hugo Awards was 2014. To the extent you regard me as a problem, keep in mind that you created it, and created it unnecessarily. The more you double-down, the more social pressure against me you try to create, the worse it will be for you.

    Castalia is growing rapidly. The Rapid Puppies are growing steadily and are no longer constrained by the Sad Puppies. Tor is in decline; go ahead and ask your friends there how their five-year sales figures are.

    ——–
    One might think that editors/publishers reviewing their own work was far more of an abuse.
    ——–

    First, rating is not reviewing. Second, Goodreads has no policy in that regard, and in fact, is set up to permit authors to rate their own books. It would be trivial for them to remove the option for a Goodreads author to rate or review their own book, but they have not done so. Therefore, they obviously have no problem with it.

    Had I designed the system, I would remove the option. But as long as it is there, it is there to be used. In any event, Riding the Red Horse was the best mil-SF anthology of the last 25 years until the recent publication of There Will Be War Volume X.

    ——-
    Or when the SFWA kicked him out (different organisation? Unpossible!)
    ——-

    SFWA did not kick me out. I am still a Life Member. The SFWA Board voted to expel me, but the subsequent vote by the membership that was required never took place. Note that SFWA has never officially stated that I was expelled, the statement correctly stated that the SFWA Board had voted to expel an unnamed member.

    The Board pulled a fast one on all of you in order to keep John Scalzi and Patrick Nielsen Hayden from quitting.

    Once it is publicly confirmed by a future SFWA President that I remain a member in good standing, I intend to run for a single term as President on a platform of cleaning out the pedophiles from the organization. All other matters will be left to the Vice President. Then I will resign from it, as I have no wish to belong to it or otherwise be associated with it.

  34. (13) REMEMBERING BAEN

    For all the bizarre use of Baen as some sort of political purity test football, Jim Baen by all reports was a remarkable person who generated a great deal of fondness and loyalty by his behavior.

    Whenever I read one of my Baen books I shall think fondly of him as a good dude.

  35. The sight of an editor sending people to make hostile responses to a negative review – laughably flimsy pretexts aside – is an edifying one, along with the brave and morally upright vow to attack anyone they disagree with, however ‘weak.’ For all that it’s supposed to be a show of strength, it really does suggest an astonishing insecurity and vulnerability. He has to scare off negative reviews through lies bullying and abuse and have his own books love-bombed via a small coterie that must be kept energised via invented outside threats – is this a sustainable business model?

    I did like The Marmoset’s invocation of achieving Nirvana as a result of the no-awarding. Because a notable feature of the post-hugos puppies has been their happiness and contentment, the inner joy that radiates from them like beacons of peace and fulfillment.

  36. SFWA did not kick me out. I am still a Life Member.

    Oh honey. It’s good to dream the impossible dream, but sometimes you just have to let go and move on.

  37. Numerous Worldcon members attacked me and falsely accused me of gaming the 2014 Hugo Awards.

    Heh. If this was a Brad Torgersen blog he’d delete your comment and replace it with THEY MADE ME DO IT.

  38. VD on January 4, 2016 at 4:57 am said:

    Tor is in decline; go ahead and ask your friends there how their five-year sales figures are.

    Did you hear this from the same ‘source’ that assured you that Scalzi was about to be dropped… just before he signed that $3.4m deal?

  39. You know, I generally like Goodreads but I typically stay within the confines of some pretty friendly groups. Having said that, I have had the “pleasure” of dealing with some Rush Limbaugh fanboys who didn’t appreciate my notes on his first children’s book. Bless their hearts.

    All of this is to say, I’m really tired of of immature oafs who feel the need to poison otherwise pleasant areas of the Internet.

  40. ————-
    Did you hear this from the same ‘source’ that assured you that Scalzi was about to be dropped… just before he signed that $3.4m deal?
    ————-

    No, and for the record, I said that was nonsense. There was absolutely no reason for Tor to drop Scalzi, although the new contract may change that in a year or three if Scalzi continues to not publish in 2017. The Big Five publishers have been experiencing declining sales, so why you would think it’s any different for Tor Books, especially when they lost their bestselling franchise to Simon & Schuster, is strange.

  41. I tried to read JCW’s… thing on his blog. It is a very quiet day at work, I have nothing to do, my knitting is at home, I am on my third coffee, but after about a paragraph my eyes started to slide wearily on the page. When my chin hit the desk, I jerked up, startled, and blinked a couple of times.

    This guy is not only full of himself and a terrible writer. He’s also boring.

  42. (13) REMEMBERING BAEN

    Also, while Baen book covers often make me wince, they don’t really deter me from reading the books.

    The most memorable time I was seriously deterred from a book by its cover — and it was a terrible mistake — was early in Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” run.

    All the earliest paperbacks had revolting covers, eye-searingly colored and not terribly accurate to the book and full of anatomical weirdness and grotesque balloony women.

    But Pratchett came recommended, so I read the first Discworld book, which was … a bog-standard parody of some fantasy tropes, failing to stand out from the fashionable mob of “humorous” fantasy flooding the stores at that moment, starring a really unlikeable whiny and cowardly main character (who is still my least favorite Discworld protagonist).

    But people said good things about the Discworld. So I read the second and it was … exactly the same. Same annoying main character. Same obvious parodies. Cute, but nothing to write home about.

    So I looked at the row of more Discworld paperbacks in the store with their garish, ugly covers and shrugged and that was that for Pratchett for me for far too many years.

  43. @Rev. Bob

    As to when WorldCon attacked him, well, people with Teddy’s well-documented views of consent, well-documented views of female education, and well-documented views of those without his magic Neanderthal DNA have a tendency to think people attack them when they don’t get everything they want without asking.

    Any trip to your local courthouse on the days that criminal cases are heard will provide one with first hand experience with the type; Ms. Resnick’s descriptions of some of the ways all the coody-bearing girls are abusing Teddy really fit the pattern. The examples of people so fearful of evil female machinations they had to start swinging run from the indigent all the way up to the well-trustfunded; but I will respect OGH’s policy and not comment on Teddy’s reasons for his refusal to return to the U.S.A.

    Very similar to Teddy though, all of these defendants tend to be quite outraged that the words they said, in front of witnesses, police dash cams, or on the internet are used against them. Yes, they may have shouted “I’ll kill you, b*****!” but that fact that this is used to show hostility to the person in question is judged to be just so unfair!

    Aside from making me very appreciative and aware of the quality of parody the will have me nominating Alex Erin for best Fan Writer, as well as putting up “John Scalzi is not a Very Popular Writer” in Best Related, Teddy’s attempts to Orwell away the voluminous contents of his blog doesn’t really do much for me.

  44. I have only a few Baen books at home and the covers are most likely the reason I haven’t got more. They mostly reminded me of the old Del Rey books I used to find in drift stores and bought because they were the only ones that I could afford at the time. And never was happy with.

  45. @ Peace
    I hated the original Discworld covers, too.

    And some Baen covers are pretty bad: I agree with Jo Walton that the cover for A Civil Campaign is the ugliest I’ve ever seen. The more you look at it, the worse it gets.

  46. VD: In any event, Riding the Red Horse was the best mil-SF anthology of the last 25 years.

    Nah, not even close.
    These are much better:
    The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century , Turtledove/Greenberg eds
    War Stories: New Military Science Fiction, Gates/Liptak eds
    The Year’s Best Military SF & Space Opera, Afsharirad ed
    What Might Have Been: Alternate Wars, Benford/Greenberg eds

    You really ought to do some reading up on the best of the subgenres in which you’re trying to publish. You really need to up your game.

  47. Vox:

    Color me ‘not-very-surprised’ that every single one of of Lis Carey’s reviews of anything even tangentially connected to Castalia House is a one-star expression of ideologically motivated disgust, but really, man, comment bombing a reviewer is petty as hell and unprofessional as fuck.

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