Pixel Scroll 3/20/16 Pixels And Old Lace

(1) KIRK AND WOZ. “Silicon Valley Comic Con: William Shatner holds court on inaugural con’s first night” in the San Jose Mercury News.

Shatner was the big attraction for the first night of the pop culture and technology festival at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. He held court for an hour before hundreds of fans who packed into the convention center’s grand ballroom. And right in the front row was the Comic Con’s No. 1 fan, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Shatner misidentified Woz as the inventor of the iPhone (but for Kirk, we can forgive anything right?), but gave the genius behind Apple proper credit for starting up Silicon Valley Comic Con. “I’m going to embarrass Mr. Wozniak a little, but I want him to ask the first question,” Shatner said from the stage.

Woz obliged, walking up to one of the standing microphones like any fan would. Clearly on the spot, Woz initially asked Shatner to recite some poetry (he didn’t) and that led to a fascinating back-and-forth about the nature of science vs. science fiction.

Woz said when he was a kid he dreamed of being a starship captain like the one Shatner played on “Star Trek,” but his engineering background made him too grounded in reality. Shatner would have none of it. “You have two feet on the ground but your head is in the sky. You’re a pole, an electrical conduit,” Shatner said. “What do you think of that?”

“Humor is the ultimate creativity,” Wozniak said, “and you’ve got it.”

…But he wasn’t the only star in downtown San Jose on Friday. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony right before the doors opened, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Vice Mayor Rose Herrera were flanked by Woz, “Back to the Future” star Christopher Lloyd and comic book legend Stan Lee. Nichelle Nichols, who co-starred with Shatner as Lt. Uhura on “Star Trek,” arrived later for an autograph and photo session with fans.

Other stars expected during the convention — which continues through Sunday — include Michael J. Fox, Lea Thompson, Nathan Fillion, Peter Mayhew, Jeremy Renner and “Deadpool” director Tim Miller.

(2) TIP US A TUNE. And the other day Mark Parisi’s cartoon Off the Mark zapped Shatner’s singing.

(3) NOTHING TO DISAGREE WITH. Crystal Huff said —

(4) WINTER IS HERE. Sarah A. Hoyt shares the view from inside the Sad Puppies 4 control room in “The Gang’ll Know I Died Standing Pat” at According to Hoyt. Then she moves on to explain, as if to a child, how something Brad Torgersen himself labeled a “slate” was not (in addition, mislabels Torgersen’s edition “IV” rather than 3).

Over the last few days, since Kate published the list of Sad Puppies recommends, we’ve been inundated both in email and in social media by people requesting, clamoring and whining to be removed from the list.  The eructations from these special snow flakes vary in levels of self-delusion and insanity and at least one was very polite.

The prize MUST go to Damien Walter of Grauniad fame for tweeting that he hopes Kate Paulk has deep pockets, to withstand all the lawsuits resultant from putting people on the list without asking their permission.

…. Speaking of which, all of you, even the polite ones, who send me purple prose about how badly Brad Torgersen ran Sad Puppies IV and how he created an evil slate also make me doubt your mental capacity.  Seriously, guys?  A slate?  If you’d bothered to look at the numbers and had a minimum of arithmetic ability (did you also sleep through it in first grade, while dreaming of little Damien’s slights and grievances?  — Seriously, he really should pull his socks up) you’d have realized the only real slate was “no award.”  Sad puppies nominations and votes were not only not lockstep but all over the place. Because, you know, they were reading what was suggested and making up their own minds, instead of — like the other side — taking marching orders from their betters who told them to not even read and just vote no-award.

(5) PERSISTENCE OF REVISION. Nicki at The Liberty Zone asserts this is  “Why the Puppies are Sad”.

You want to know why the Sad Puppies campaign still exists? Do you want to know why fans continue to nominate authors they consider to be worthy of a Hugo Award even though the elitist Puppy Kickers made damn sure everyone knew that no award would be given to any worthy author or editor if they were nominated by the “wrong” people?

Here’s one reason.

“Speak Easy” by Catherynne M. Valente was submitted for a Sad Puppies 4 nomination in September 2015. Several fans thought it was worthy of the award. Comments included:

“… I liked it a lot and will be nominating it for a Hugo.”

“…There is so much to discover in this little book and it absolutely blew me away”

I would think that any author would be grateful that readers not only bought her work, but read it and enjoyed it enough to recommend it for a prestigious award. I would think the author would be gracious and thank the readers for the honor. One would think that being included in a list of recommendations that this year includes such great and diverse writers as Lois McMaster Bujold, Ann Leckie, Stephen King, Eric Flint, and John Scalzi would be met with gratitude and some dignity.

But apparently, if you’re the wrong kind of thinker, the wrong kind of reader, who has the wrong kind of social justice and political views, Ms. Valente doesn’t want your business. She doesn’t want your praise or recommendation. She doesn’t want your recognition.

For the record, I was not asked and I do not consent to be on the Sad Puppies List. I am furious.

— Catherynne Valente (@catvalente) March 18, 2016

(6) REMOVAL APPROVAL. Lee at Lee’s Blog has a similar reaction, in“Sad Puppies 4 recommendations”.

“These kind [sic] of tactics” — yes, it’s just dreadful, isn’t it, that they would allow fans of Alastair Reynolds to publicly recommend his works to fans who might never have heard of him otherwise. Imagine! Just allowing his fans to make recommendations without permission! What’s the world coming to!

“staining your name” — yeah, in the good old days, allowing his fans to recommend his works to the world of fandom — even including wrongfen (gasp!) — would be an offence justifying a duel to the death. *Puke*.

Despite reading fantasy and science fiction my whole life, I really hadn’t been reading new works for probably twenty years. There’s a huge backlog of old “classic” science fiction and fantasy for me to enjoy, and there’s always nonfiction (history and science).

But the Sad Puppies controversy and the orchestrated international campaign of defamation introduced me to a whole world of new authors! The Sad Puppies 4 campaign introduced me to Stand Still Stay Silent, which I love. I mean to check out other works on the recommended list, not because of the Hugo Awards (I have never nominated or voted and never will), but because these works are recommended by other fen.

However, Catherynne Valente and Alastair Reynolds demand to be removed from the list because their fans failed to obtain permission before recommending their works to fandom in general. The Sad Puppies are holding firm: their fans thought their works were worth considering and it’s not up to them to contradict their fans.

But I am not holding firm. They don’t want their fans recommending their work to wrongfen: hey, I’m happy to remove them from my Recommendations to Check Out list and put them on my Not One Thin Dime list.

(7) 180 DEGREES. Chris Gerrib’s conclusion about “Sad Puppies 4” is —

In short, so far this is everything Sad Puppies 3 was not, namely open and transparent.

(8) A HAPPY FELLA. Declan Finn may have disqualified himself as a “sad” puppy with his post “Awesome #SadPuppies News”. Just kidding.

So, I am apparently the most awesome Puppy ever, having three award recommendations in the Hugos, Sad Puppies Bite Back being the #1 Best Related work.

I am UNSTOPPABLE, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH….

Aaaannnnnddddd that was me, gloating. I’m done now.

First of all, I am on the recommendation list in three categories. I will happily accept the recommendations, because I’ll take all the help I can get.

(9) NAMES TO BE CALLED. Kamas Kirian “Over inflated much?” at westfargomusings.

So,  a certain author is having kittens over the fact her work ended up on the Sad Puppies IV list. How much of a delusional narcissist are you that you don’t want the wrong people liking what you’ve written? I mean really, if you don’t want people to recommend your writing I suppose they can take you up on that offer and review your work in the context that only the right people dare read it. God forbid it end up on a list that you think is a ‘slate’. For a writer, you don’t seem to know definitions very well. Here, let me help you out on that….

(10) SCOTTO OBIT. Cartoonist Augie Scotto (1927-2016) died March 15 reports the Timely-Atlas Comics blog.

As mentioned above, Augie Scotto’s work appeared in Will Eisner’s PS magazine, the exact tenures unknown to me. The note above that Scotto was Wally Wood’s partner is somewhat apocryphal. In the Bhob Stewart edited Against The Grain (TwoMorrows, 2003), Stewart writes about the Wally Wood studio and AugieScotto

“The studio was often like a Grand Central of artists. They came and went. One night Augie Scotto arrived. Scotto had worked on 1949-53 Western and crime comics before settling in as an artist on Eisner’s PS magazine for many years. We were working our way through a pile of Topps’ Travel Posters, and Scotto was there to assist for a few hours. I was in the back room, and Woody appeared at the door with a big grin. “Bhob, come watch this.” Scotto sat down at a board while Woody, Don and I looked on. He clicked the snaps on his briefcase, pulled out a brush and dipped it in the ink. Silence. Then in a single deft stroke, Scotto moved his hand across the paper. He lifted the brush, leaving a 14″ long, perfectly straight line on the paper. It played like a magic trick, but it was for real. Woody then went back to work, still grinning.” 

Scotto’s comic book career appeared as two brief spurts. He broke in in 1949 at Eastern Color’s New Heroic Comics, Hillman and Cross Publications, on crime and western stories. He also was at Lev Gleason in 1950, Atlas in early 1951 and Charlton in 1953. This early work is completely serviceable and at home in the earthy, gritty crime comics of the era. He then vanishes from the industry and re-emerges in 1968 at Tower Comics penciling Dynamo and then as an inker at DC Comics in the late 1970’s, inking several titles including a post-Jack Kirby story of The New Gods in Adventure Comics in 1978.

(11) TODAY IN HISTORY

  • March 20, 1972 — Tarkovsky’s influential Solaris opens in the Soviet Union.

(12) SLINGING MUD FROM ANOTHER WORLD. Two politicians traded insults couched in sci-fi terms reports Boston.com.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren doesn’t understand why a congressman would call her Darth Vader—she’s always seen herself as more of a Princess Leia.

After Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Missouri republican, called Warren “the Darth Vader of the financial services world” and said they should “find a way to neuter her” during a panel hosted at the American Bankers Association conference, the senator responded with a statement on her campaign site Thursday.

“My first thought was: Really?” Warren wrote. “I’ve always seen myself more as a Princess Leia-type (a senator and Resistance general who, unlike the guys, is never even remotely tempted by the dark side). Clearly the Force is not strong with Congressman Luetkemeyer (maybe he’s a Trekkie).”

(13) HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY. Gregory N. Hullender issued a report on Rocket Stack Rank at Six Months”. (That’s been long enough for me to change my mind – File 770 is a worse name for a site…)

Original Goals

Our original goal was to read and review all the short fiction in the six major publications in 2015. We accomplished that and also included all the original fiction from ten anthologies.

We hoped that would amount to 50% coverage of the stories in the Locus Recommended Reading List, but it actually came to about 65%.

We set out to offer advice on where to buy copies of back issues of the big three print magazines. We ended up with detailed instructions for several different ways to get electronic copies of back issues, and we even discovered several (legal) ways to borrow back issues without having to buy them.

(14) PEE-WEE INTERVIEW. “Paul Reubens on Pee-wee Herman’s Comeback” at Vogue.

The last time you did this it wasn’t the Internet age. I know in the past you’ve skirted publicity and you’ve valued your privacy, and now we’re in this era when things happen so quickly, in such a big way. How does it feel?

Part of that feels bogus to me, to be honest with you. Gigantic superstars still get married and no one knows about it. I was at a hotel recently, where people were complaining, “Oh, my God, there’s paparazzi every second out here in front!” Then I went, “Can I go out the back door?” And they were like, “Sure.” It’s not impossible. None of it is. I get that there are certain people that get such a high profile that they can’t do anything. I just think almost everything’s possible, really.

Including getting another Pee-wee movie made after 30 years.

Yeah, that’s true!

(15) BUT NOT IF YOU HAVE ANY FRIENDS WHO ARE ENTS. A home styled for a wizard. The Chive has a big photo gallery of the exquisite and artistic woodwork. Asking price? $8.2 million.  Hm, come to think of it, a lot of trees got chopped down to make that….

(16) BLACK PANTHER. “An Exclusive Look at ‘Black Panther #1’ by Ta-Nehisi Coates” at The Atlantic.

Despite the difference in style and practice of storytelling, my approach to comic books ultimately differs little from my approach to journalism. In both forms, I am trying to answer a question. In my work for The Atlantic I have, for some time, been asking a particular question: Can a society part with, and triumph over, the very plunder that made it possible? In Black Panther there is a simpler question: Can a good man be a king, and would an advanced society tolerate a monarch? Research is crucial in both cases. The Black Panther I offer pulls from the archives of Marvel and the character’s own long history. But it also pulls from the very real history of society—from the pre-colonial era of Africa, the peasant rebellions that wracked Europe toward the end of the Middle Ages, the American Civil War, the Arab Spring, and the rise of isis.

And this, too, is the fulfillment of the 9-year-old in me. Reading The Amazing Spider-Man comic books as a kid, I didn’t just take in the hero’s latest amazing feat; I wrestled seriously with his celebrated tagline—“With great power comes great responsibility.” Chris Claremont’s The Uncanny X?Men wasn’t just about an ultracool band of rebels. That series sought to grapple with the role of minorities in society—both the inner power and the outward persecution that come with that status. And so it is (I hope) with Black Panther. The questions are what motivate the action. The questions, ultimately, are more necessary than the answers.

 

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, David K.M. Klaus, Will R., and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Chris S.]

223 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 3/20/16 Pixels And Old Lace

  1. Mike Glyer on March 21, 2016 at 1:11 pm said:

    Camestros Felapton: Vox Day says he removed Mad Genius Club and Dave Freer because it was only after posting the draft he learned they had taken themselves out of awards contention this year (ala Scalzi).

    That is a dull explanation and unfitting for Dave 😉 I think only a complex answer involving the Bilderberg Group, the Oak Island Money Pit and Rosicrucian infiltration of the SFWA will be satisfactory.

  2. Laura Resnick on March 21, 2016 at 3:34 pm said:

    It’s obviously relevant in SP4, too… and I wonder why the SP4 ringleaders decided they would oppose the SP3 custom and refuse to remove names as requested (and also spew noisy, incoherent rage over being asked to do so)? Given that SP3 removed people who asked to be removed, why is SP4 reacting as if it’s an unexpected shock and unconscionable insult when some people want removal from their no-really-it’s-not-a-slate-no-matter-how-much-it-might-resemble-one? (This is a rhetorical question. I don’t anticipate a rational explanation for Puppy behavior–then, now, or in future.)

    I think the answer is that when SP4 was set up that they overtly said that they would not contact people so as to avoid the work involved in doing so or delays caused by people not replying etc. By excluding it as a possibility they made the whole thing administratively easier.

    Then the actual arrangement (collating open recommendations) made it less sensible to ask people [i.e. who should do the asking? the people doing the collating or the people doing the recommending? SP4 isn’t the same thing as if I trawled through all the Pixel Scrolls for the past few months and tabulated eligible works people had nominated – but it also not wholly unlike that either] Plus: it involves work and time. SP4 is Slack Puppies.

    Finally the outrage bit is just pure classic puppy. When people here didn’t do the wailing and gnashing of teeth thing or the head explody thing*, the pups had to wail about *something*

    *[must make a head explody gif that results in flowers and rainbows]

  3. Laura Resnick:

    It’s obviously relevant in SP4, too… and I wonder why the SP4 ringleaders decided they would oppose the SP3 custom and refuse to remove names as requested

    Well … for one thing, I suspect that they simply didn’t think much about it. The tone of their response make it seem more like a knee-jerk reaction than a reasoned opinion.

    But I also suspect that their attitude is partly because they’re strongly invested in the idea that SPIV is uncontroversial. Let’s be honest: It’s extremely unlikely that anyone would ask to be removed from e.g. the Locus recommendation list because they don’t want to be associated with Locus. For Hoyt to accept that people don’t want to be associated with SPIV requires her to accept that their campaign is controversial. I can sort of understand that this is uncomfortable for them.

    On the other hand, there’s plenty of evidence that the ringleaders relish in being controversial and sticking it to the SJW and all that. And the way they have phrased their response certainly isn’t what I would have expected if their point is to say “but we’re just fans with a regular old recommendation list, why would anyone object to that?” So not exactly a rational response.

  4. (I am at the airport. I have always been at the airport. There is only the airport, on and on, terminal without end.)

    Ooh, Red Wombat, you have a golden opportunity here. If you have your Kindle or similar device, you can read Le Guin’s Changing Planes, which is an instruction manual detailing how people in your exact position can become tourists changing to different planes of existence. In airports.

  5. Shorter Puppy whining:

    Puppy: “Why don’t you want to be on our list?”
    Nominee: “Because your group did some horrible things last year.”
    P: “How dare you insult your fans like that! You’re a horrible person!”
    N: “So it appears that you’re not actually my fans. So, about that removal?”
    P: “Never!”

  6. @Emma: It’s worse than you say: Arkwright doesn’t even get the physics right. There’s one place where Steele uses time dilation as a plot point, and it becomes obvious that he hasn’t bothered to actually do the math. (Gur vagrefgryyne cebor vf bhg bs pbzzhavpngvba sbe n jrrx, naq gur aneengvba gryyf hf gung vg’f zhpu ybatre ol vgf cebcre gvzr. Ohg ng gur fcrrq jr’er gbyq vg’f tbvat, gung “zhpu ybatre” jbhyq unir orra…rvtug qnlf.)

    Admittedly, I’m going by the pieces that were published in Asimov’s and it’s possible that that was revised/corrected for the book.

  7. @Jack Lint

    Last night on Elementary, …

    In addition, it had one of the best Sherlock lines ever:

    “I was bitten by a radioactive detective”

  8. Which all goes straight back to my basic position on the Puppies, which is that if you are the sort of person (or faction) who embarrasses and upsets people by RECOMMENDING THEM FOR A HUGO AWARD (something that, coming from MOST people, is perceived as a pleasing compliment rather than cause for ambivalence, anger, anxiety, awkwardness, angst, or anguish)… then stop making recommendations (or slates or campaigns), for chrissake, and give some serious thought to why so many people don’t want anything whatsoever to do with you, not even when you’re theoretically expressing approbation, admiration, appreciation, approval, or adulation for their work by recommending them for a prestigious award.

    (Yes, I love the smell of alliteration in the AM.)

  9. @TheYoungPretender – I just checked that book out from our library. If nothing else, the cover is amazing, but I’m really looking forward to reading it based on what I’ve heard.

  10. Laura Resnick: One more variable is that SP3 was full of Brad Torgersen’s friends and acquaintances (especially from WOTF) so he had more reason to honor their requests to be taken off the slate, whereas the Sp4 organizers generally don’t have any social relationship to non-Puppy writers that gives them extra incentive to comply.

  11. @Markxkcd:

    *I hadn’t read tHaRH until just before this but it’s hands down his most blatantly racist work.

    Someone has not read “The Street!”

    To be fair, IIRC, “The Street” is an early work, classifiable as minor. And “Red Hook” is super-ultra-racist.

  12. Kate Paulk has replied to Alistair Reynolds request to be removed from the SP4 list:

    Alastair,

    I will not insult those who consider your novella to be Hugo-worthy by removing you from the List. I will, however, be updating the version of this post at http://sadpuppies4.org/the-list/ to note that you prefer that your work not be purchased, enjoyed, and nominated without your prior approval.

  13. @Laura Resnick:

    Given that SP3 removed people who asked to be removed, why is SP4 reacting as if it’s an unexpected shock and unconscionable insult when some people want removal from their no-really-it’s-not-a-slate-no-matter-how-much-it-might-resemble-one?

    Needless to say, I cannot know the secret hearts of the Late-Model Chevy, Hoyt13, and Amanda S. The Other One. But the kinda defensible reason for not doing it would be:

    * This list lacks many of the slate-like qualities of last year
    * Pulling names off would in many cases make it more slate-like

    That is, in some categories, doing so could reduce a number of nominations greater than five to a number much closer than five. I actually think keeping the names on and applying asterisks is a reasonable response. BUT CRIMINY PUPPY HONCHOS DON’T WHINE ABOUT IT!

  14. snowcrash,
    Alastair Reynolds shows admirable class.

    “Hello Kate. You’re welcome to do that, of course, but it does not represent my position. Nonetheless thank you for publishing my comment and I wish you all the best.”

  15. For fanzine nominations, may I call your attention to The Luminarium, an online SFF (concept) artist collective that produces 2-4 “exhibits” (=issues) per year. Links and samples here. I also added it to the Spreadsheet.

    Do any of you know of any other SFF art-only (or -mostly) zines?

  16. @Jim Henley

    I ought to have added a caveat, but you’ll forgive me if I don’t go check that one out!

    The SP4 list has been updated with a pair of asterisks for – Paulk says – “The two people who contacted me personally or posted a comment to this page or the Mad Genius Club posts asking to be removed”

    The two entries in question are Valente, and Schlock Mercenary. Not Reynolds.

    Hoyt claimed to have been “inundated” with requests. While the wording Paulk uses for the acceptable channels to talk to her seems deliberately precise (no fb or Twitter allowed?) the implication seems to be that either Hoyt exaggerated or they are ignoring requests.

    ETA – I hadn’t seen the above posts, so I suppose that’s “Not Reynolds yet.”

  17. Alastair,

    I will not insult those who consider your novella to be Hugo-worthy by removing you from the List. I will, however, be updating the version of this post at http://sadpuppies4.org/the-list/ to note that you prefer that your work not be purchased, enjoyed, and nominated without your prior approval.

    Which of course is not at all what Mr. Reynolds said. He doesn’t want to be associated with Puppies, not those who enjoy his work in general.

    I applaud Mr Reynolds for his restraint. I’m afraid I would have told her to fuck off.

  18. As many have already noted, Paulk replied to Reynolds’ request to be removed from the SP4 list with “I will, however, be updating the version of this post at http://sadpuppies4.org/the-list/ to note that you prefer that your work not be purchased, enjoyed, and nominated without your prior approval.” So I guess that Paulk is adding “blatant liar” to her resume now. I don’t know why I’m surprised. After all, lying has been central to the Sad Puppy ethos from the beginning.

  19. A little group of ill-mannered cranks. Hopefully they won’t be able to impact the Hugo ballot in future.

  20. I’m sure we can only hope the best for our dear Mr. Reynolds, who’s such a rookie in that free market the Puppies worship that he got a million pound (Doctor Who money pounds, not weight pounds) book deal. He as that to comfort himself with as the Puppies start saying he just writes lit fic.

    He also has House of Suns, which is a better space opera than any of them will ever write.

  21. SP4 leadership continues the puppy tradition and maintaining the puppy brand. No surprise from Hoyt or Paulk given their blogging this year. Guess they weren’t ready for the spotlight to be on them as they’ve been ignored for the most part by fandom.

  22. What saddens me, a little, is that there was an opportunity here to mend the reputation of the Sad Puppies if they really had changed their spots. Had SPIV leadership responded with grace, said “we’re sorry you feel that way, here’s why we’re not comfortable removing your name from the list, but we will add a note indicating that you do not want to be associated with the Sad Puppies campaign,” I think a lot of people would have been shocked but somewhat hopeful for the tone of this year.

    As it is, well, Alastair Reynolds seems a class act.

  23. Kate Paulk: Alastair, I will not insult those who consider your novella to be Hugo-worthy by removing you from the List. I will, however, be updating the version of this post to note that you prefer that your work not be purchased, enjoyed, and nominated without your prior approval.

    I just have to laugh at how consistent the Puppies are about putting words into other peoples’ mouths which they never implied, much less actually said.

    It’s almost as if the Pups have a Mad Geenyus Manyuel For Making Shit Up, to which they refer when writing their blog posts and comments — and if they don’t follow it, they will earn black marks which will get them banned from the Sooper Geenyus Clubhouse.

  24. @The Young Pretender

    He also has House of Suns, which is a better space opera than any of them will ever write.

    Loved that novel. According to Mr. Reynolds blog, he’s writing a novella in the same universe, only earlier.

    I hadn’t heard about his million pound advance, good for him.

    And his responses have been a class act.

  25. What saddens me, a little, is that there was an opportunity here to mend the reputation of the Sad Puppies if they really had changed their spots.

    The Puppies have never missed a chance to miss a chance. The ironic thing is despite their frothing at the mouth about all of these supposed enemies who are intent on doing them wrong, the Puppies’ worst enemy has always been themselves.

  26. Have any of the non-puppies who made nominations on SP4 asked for their nomination votes to be removed? Now that you’ve seen things not work out as you’ve hoped?

  27. I have a very, very hard time imagining that Howard Tayler of Shlock Mercenary heaped abuse on anyone in email. Howard Tayler is possibly the nicest human being in webcomics. I mean, like, I’m reasonably pleasant in person most of the time when I’ve had enough sleep, but Tayler is genuinely a Good Dude.

    Obviously I have not seen the email in question, so I cannot swear to this under oath, but I’d put a pretty reasonable sum of money down on it. (He also asked not to be on an earlier SP, as I recall, in a baffled never-heard-of-you-but-not-cool sorta way, but he was polite even then, so I imagine he’s pretty tired of this by now…)

  28. Alastair, I will not insult those who consider your novella to be Hugo-worthy by removing you from the List. I will, however, insult you instead.

  29. @Peter-J:

    Those damn SJWs, ruining people’s careers by giving them 10 book deals! Will this insanity never end?!

  30. Can someone point me to a puppy who is not over-sensitive, insulting, and who has fully functional logic circuits? Admittedly I haven’t read many puppy blogs, but the links provided by File 770 indicate that puppies are loonies who inhabit another universe than I do.

  31. @ Bonnie McDaniel:

    I applaud Mr Reynolds for his restraint. I’m afraid I would have told her to fuck off.

    Agreed. He is to be commended for his civility in the face of provocation. I wouldn’t be able to match his self-control.

  32. @ Ita:

    Can someone point me to a puppy who is not over-sensitive, insulting, and who has fully functional logic circuits?

    Good luck with that quest.

    Bring snacks and a bedroll.

    You’ll need them.

  33. Ita: Can someone point me to a puppy who is not over-sensitive, insulting, and who has fully functional logic circuits?

    Laura Resnick: Good luck with that quest. Bring snacks and a bedroll.

    Really, it would be a lot easier and less painful to spend two days camping out for Hall H at San Diego Comic Con, wouldn’t it?

    At least then you’d know you had a chance of your quest being successful.

  34. I wonder where Phantom slunk off to after it was shown that he was lying about Valente. I also wonder if he’ll ever figure out that lying all the time simply doesn’t work.

  35. RANDOM

    @Greg Hullender: Ah, thanks for explaining stack ranking! This makes a lot more sense now. And apologies in advance if I forget at some point (my memory sucks) and ask about it.

    @Various: Wow, The Impala is just all kindsa classy and not at all a megajerk.

  36. GRAPHIC STORY

    @Barry Deutsch: Wow, thanks for the list; some of those sound quite interesing – I’ll check them out (eventually…). I should’ve included descriptions like you.

    I liked what I saw of “Nimona” online enough that I bought the trade, but I haven’t read it yet. I didn’t realize the book had changed enough to maybe be eligible; I don’t know what % is supposed to change for that. It sounds to me like it may qualify, though I’m not a fan of polishing and expanding a little giving another bite at the apple – but that’s just my personal feelings, and I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t nominate it.

    @Mark (Kitteh): One rolling worm can is that sometimes collections happen years later, not just the next year. Eligibility would be like a corpse, ready to rise up, zombie-like, any time. 😉

    @Mark (again) & @GSLamb: I mentioned “Wilde Life” upthread as well; I keep mentally reshuffling, and it goes on and off the Hugo list in my head. Still undecided, but I do like it a ton.

  37. READING

    @JJ: Forgotten Suns‘s sample is in my “2015 samples” folder on my iPad; good to hear it’s worth it.

    @bookworm1398: “The Last Witness” (K.J. Parker) was excellent. I also enjoyed, and was only a little confused by, “The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps” (Kai Ashante Wilson); I was annoyed that it just ended mid-scene, even if it’s obvious what happened (IMHO gimmicky or lazy writing). BTW I recommend reading “Wildeeps” instead of listening, the first time through; the narrator’s excellent, but I believe it was slightly confusing to me because I was listening (over a week or more) instead of having the print to refer to.

    Right now, I’m listening to “Witches of Lychford” (Paul Cornell) and it’s great so far (and not confusing at all, LOL). If it sticks the landing, I’ll nominate it.

    @TheYoungPretender: Excellent review of Lovecraft Country, although the last line felt needlessly condescending to me. Regardless, you’ve made me want to give this book another look, though I’m not usually into horror* and it wasn’t on my list to follow up on. So thanks! 🙂 I always need more books. (groan)

    * I read, enjoyed, and recommend Daryl Gregory’s Harrison Squared, though.

    A Matt Ruff book on my list to follow up on is Set This House in Order. I don’t know much about it; it seems to be some sort of split-soul/split-personality story with a literary and/or horror bent to it???

    @Emma: Books! Several of those are on my list to follow up on, especially the first two; thanks for the mini-reviews. 😀 Too bad about Arkwright.

  38. @Tasha: There’s no real way to take down my recs, and you only have to look at the number of votes “Ancillary Mercy” got on SP4 (12?) to know that there was a pretty strong non-puppy presence there. (Also, it’s quite useful to pop up and say, ‘well, I’m someone who participated in SP4, and I have no problem whatsoever with Allistair and Cat requesting removal from the SP4 list. If I were running SP4, I’d remove their names immediately, without any complaint, just like the Hugos immediately respected Neil Gaiman’s declining of a nomination.

    “Sad Puppies has a toxic brand. They’re like Exxon after the Exxon Valdez disaster. If I happened to stop at an Exxon gas station 3 months after the Valdez, I wouldn’t want to have a security cam photo plastered in publicity material for Exxon as evidence that ‘people still really like us!’ ” That way, at least, it’s harder for the puppies to pretend their hurt feelings are legitimate.

    I’m going to proceed with my actual nominations accordingly.

  39. I forgot MATT RUFF IS AWESOME I CANNOT WAIT TO READ HIS NEW BOOK. Bad Monkeys. Sewer Gas Electric. Fool on the Hill. The Mirage. Read them all, Filers. This is a command from the North Hollywood sci-fi cabal. (I haven’t read Set This House in Order Yet.)

  40. bookworm1398:

    I will heartily second the Novella recommendation of “The Last Witness” by K.J. Parker. It totally sticks the landing, and right now it’s #1 on my Hugo nom list.

  41. Aaron wrote: “I wonder where Phantom slunk off to after it was shown that he was lying about Valente. I also wonder if he’ll ever figure out that lying all the time simply doesn’t work.”

    He has to sleep sometime.

    (Wondering now: Do real phantoms and ghosts sleep? Do they dream when they sleep? Do nightmares have nightmares? Thanks, Aaron; maybe I can work a story out of that….)

  42. RedWombat on March 21, 2016 at 8:14 pm said:
    I have a very, very hard time imagining that Howard Tayler of Shlock Mercenary heaped abuse on anyone in email. Howard Tayler is possibly the nicest human being in webcomics. I mean, like, I’m reasonably pleasant in person most of the time when I’ve had enough sleep, but Tayler is genuinely a Good Dude.

    Obviously I have not seen the email in question, so I cannot swear to this under oath, but I’d put a pretty reasonable sum of money down on it. (He also asked not to be on an earlier SP, as I recall, in a baffled never-heard-of-you-but-not-cool sorta way, but he was polite even then, so I imagine he’s pretty tired of this by now…)

    I’ve met and interacted with Howard Tayler, who has been uniformly cool, professional, courteous, and kind.

  43. Bruce Arthurs:

    “Do real phantoms and ghosts sleep?”

    No. They just stand by your bedside. Staring.

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