Sunday Business Meeting at Sasquan

Today the Sasquan Business Meeting will consider 4/6, E Pluribus Hugo plus other unfinished business and whatever shennanigans people have left in their deck at this point.

Livebloggers welcome.


Discover more from File 770

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

1,619 thoughts on “Sunday Business Meeting at Sasquan

  1. @Kurt Busiek

    Perhaps there are better ways to spend the money he has, then, other than by flying to Spokane, renting a hotel room for several days and attending a convention.

    Eh, if I really thought I might be in line for a prestigious award and had a chance to meet fans and sell books, I could see going to the convention as a reasonable business decision. One thing that stands out for me in all of this is that the Puppies really didn’t think they could lose. They believed the propaganda about how only a small clique had denied them their rights. The shock of discovering that they were the minority – and now a deeply unpopular minority – seems to have driven some of them even further into deranged denial.

  2. Oh Christ, there’s another Wright post up and it’s even more convoluted than the last.

    HOWEVER! We finally get the answer to the Morlock/Eloi question.

    The Morlocks are the people giving the rank-and-file SJWs their marching orders. The Eloi are the rank-and-file. I’ve never felt so pretty.

  3. Eh, if I really thought I might be in line for a prestigious award and had a chance to meet fans and sell books, I could see going to the convention as a reasonable business decision.

    If you don’t have the money to feed your children?

    I wouldn’t—the award would be as prestigious even if I wasn’t there, and it’s very hard to sell enough books to offset the expense—but to each their own, I suppose.

  4. @Scott Frazer

    I think Wright is trying to imply that the SJW revolution will literally devour its own.

  5. @Kurt Busiek

    Well, I wouldn’t do it myself, but I could see an argument to be made for networking at the con, maybe getting an advance for a sequel to the prize-winning novel out of my publishers… you know, a tactful and emollient exercise in financial profile enhancement. Of course, when you think of an olive branch as something to beat your publisher over the head with, it does make the whole plan look a touch shakier than it needed to be.

  6. Shorter post-Hugo message;
    Dear 3000+ voters, you are awful people with no taste and bad politics. We hate you and demand your silence. You are bound for hell.
    PS please buy our books and tell your friends how great they are.

  7. I am late to the party, and the one true answer has already been spoken

    I, for one, am very glad to see fandom standing fast upon this bridge, facing the Balrog with those immortal words that nobody here needs me to repeat.

    Would you like an asterisk* ?

  8. I have read JCW’s account of the kerfuffle. Despite this, I am holding on to my pity for him. There are evil people and then there are people who are not evil but just unable to recognise their limitations and frankly too stupid to live. And they do deserve compassion.

  9. Scott Frazer on August 23, 2015 at 11:53 pm said:
    Oh Christ, there’s another Wright post up and it’s even more convoluted than the last.

    HOWEVER! We finally get the answer to the Morlock/Eloi question.

    The Morlocks are the people giving the rank-and-file SJWs their marching orders. The Eloi are the rank-and-file. I’ve never felt so pretty.

    Cool. That makes my morlock award even better.

  10. @Camestros Felapton

    I shall eternally champion that well-known SJW Michael Morlock….

  11. Anna: The quote is from this recent blogpost of Wright’s: http://www.scifiwright.com/2015/08/in-memoriam-of-the-hugo-awards/ . In it, he says:

    “I am, in all modesty, a skilled author, one of the finest writing today. I intend to write no more books for Tor, until, at the very least, I am ameliorated for the unprofessional behavior shown in public toward that other loyal Tor author, L Jagi Lamplighter, my wife. ”

    So he’s making it sound like his decision, not Tor’s.

  12. @Anna Feruglio Dal Dan

    I rather thought Wright’s post was saying: “You can’t fire me – I quit!” under all the flummery and confused theologifying.

  13. SocialInjusticeWorrier on August 24, 2015 at 12:05 am said:
    @Camestros Felapton

    I shall eternally champion that well-known SJW Michael Morlock….

    I prefer the equally bearded Alan Moorelock

  14. I could see an argument to be made for networking at the con, maybe getting an advance for a sequel to the prize-winning novel out of my publishers…

    The publisher of all his nominated works wasn’t there, and doesn’t sell enough copies of the books to pay lucrative advances.

    Perhaps he imagined that Baen would be suitably grateful for the boost that they’d offer him his own pentascalzi deal right there on the spot…

  15. Saddened by wright’s plight recently reported. The life of a writer is difficult. Best wishes that he gets to a more stable footing financially and emotionally.

    Given that financial peril I can see the lure of the golden ticket of a Hugo award as a path out of his difficulties. The No Award must have been painful to receive.

    Truly TB has done writers no favors with his slates

  16. Mr Wright seems to have an understanding of modesty at variance with that of the English language.

    He also seems to have a very poor understanding of just what, exactly, Patrick Nielsen Hayden’s name is.

  17. NowhereMan on August 24, 2015 at 12:06 am said:
    Anna: The quote is from this recent blogpost of Wright’s: http://www.scifiwright.com/2015/08/in-memoriam-of-the-hugo-awards/ . In it, he says:

    “I am, in all modesty, a skilled author, one of the finest writing today. I intend to write no more books for Tor, until, at the very least, I am ameliorated for the unprofessional behavior shown in public toward that other loyal Tor author, L Jagi Lamplighter, my wife. ”

    So he’s making it sound like his decision, not Tor’s.

    My eyes glaze over after about half a paragraph of Wright’s prose. His editor (Hartwell, I think) will miss him so much.

  18. Also, shortly after the Puppy boycott of Tor was announced, Wright offered to email copies of his books directly to fans so they could read them without paying Tor for a copy, and if the fans liked his books they could donate money to him directly. This may have been a contractual violation which could hurt his relationship with Tor. (Failfandom discussion which links to his original comment Vox’s blog: http://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/151309.html?thread=805250829#cmt805250829 ) .

  19. Anna Feruglio Dal Dan: His editor (Hartwell, I think) will miss him so much.

    Speaking of whom, I had the good fortune to meet Mr Hartwell at a party a couple of nights ago, and I expressed effusive appreciation for his anthologies.

    I was on my best behavior, however, and refrained from offering him my condolences for his having to bear the onerous task of trying to make something readable of JCW’s horribly bloated, pretentious prose.

  20. Apologies in advance…

    The Hugo Award voters paid me the signal honor of burning down two or perhaps three whole categories of awards merely to prevent me from being awarded the spaceship which the breakdown of the votes shows I was due.

    The entitlement mentality of kids these days is really out of control.

    To be sure, some now might say in public that my work was without merit.

    Dude, we said that 3 months ago. Where were you?

    The ones I call Morlocks are the highpriesthood of a political party devoted to nihilism, Christ-bashing, White-hating misadry and political correctness

    http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/564/689/a85.gif

    … a large body of largely innocent and easily distracted dupes addicted to outrage which are best called Eloi. They believe any lie, no matter how outrageous or easily refuted, provided it strokes their need for self-importance and outrage.

    I think he just called all the According to Hoyt commenters Eloi. And dear GOD please let him actually refute something once in a while. I’ve actually read his treatises on Climate Change. They are… not worth your time.

    These are not people of sterling mental health

    Aw, thanks, buddy! Calling people who disagree with you mentally disabled. That’s gotta be high on the list of Things True Christians Do.

    It is a convenient form of martyrdom that involves no blood, a convenient form of heroism that involves no sweat, a convenient form of victimhood that involves no tears

    Again, plank. In your eye, buddy.

    So the Morlocks simply tell the most unconvincing and transparent lies in as many public fora as possible, as loudly and often as possible, and never, ever, ever answer any challenges, questions, or requests for proof.

    [Citation needed]

    No seriously, I’m asking for proof.

    So to stop the imaginary menace of Global Slate Voting (or whatever the cause of the day might be) the lying Morlocks tell simple and simple-to-refute lies to the gullible Eloi, who cavort and scream on cue, keeping up the riotous and mindless convulsions as long it needed for whatever it is the Morlocks that season want destroyed to be destroyed.

    This season, it was the Hugos.

    Wait… Vox Day is a Morlock now? Or PNH wanted to destroy the Hugos? I can’t keep up with the dizzying… well, not intellect, exactly.

    If we start our own new award, the Morlock cesspool-dwellers will follow us, seek entry, and corrupt it. That is what carrion do.

    If we retreat or show weakness, the gibbering baboons will rejoice, can claim the heap of poo they have shoveled together in their own camps and kitchens is their mountain of victory. One need only look at the world of painting and sculpture to see the result of that.

    Seems like along with “slate voting no awarders” and “burning down your own house” we’re in for a year “We’d create our own awards but you’d just ruin them for us”

    I have no idea what the painting and sculpture thing is about.

    They are perverted sexually, mentally, and in all ways.

    Well, that’s not over-reaching at all…

    Does this guy give a course in how to win friends and influence people? I bet it’s a hoot.

  21. They are perverted sexually, mentally, and in all ways.

    You say that as if it’s a bad thing…

  22. Ray Radlein on August 24, 2015 at 12:10 am said:
    Mr Wright seems to have an understanding of modesty at variance with that of the English language.

    He also seems to have a very poor understanding of just what, exactly, Patrick Nielsen Hayden’s name is.

    Or Mary Shelley’s. Or what “ameliorate” means.

  23. Saaaay, was Wright the guy who advised all his Puppy friends to wander around Sasquan with their recorders running at all times? If so, then surely his wife would have a recording to back up his version of her encounter with PNH, right?

  24. Okay, just to be clear – is there any actual evidence that Tor has nixed JCW’s contract, or is that “news” purely based on deductions from JCW’s blog post?

    With JCW, I could actually see it going either way – either that he’s spinning a rejection or that he’s shooting himself in the foot of his own accord.

  25. @Rev Bob

    With JCW, I could actually see it going either way – either that he’s spinning a rejection or that he’s shooting himself in the foot of his own accord.

    Knowing John C Wright, he’s probably reloading the scattergun* he used on his foot for a second attempt.

    *I have been advised that “scattergun” is a malignant, Christ-hating libelous slander. What John C Wright actually used was a blunderbuss.

  26. “They are perverted sexually, mentally, and in all ways.”

    At least one thing true.

  27. Scott Frazer on August 24, 2015 at 12:28 am said:

    Does this guy give a course in how to win friends and influence people?

    Yes—but he only covers the last half of the syllabus.

  28. They are perverted sexually, mentally, and in all ways.

    Someone’s pissed he wasn’t invited to the orgy.

  29. I am humbled by the laud shown my work: it is not everyone who can point to the smoking wreckage of a great city whose fanes and temple, colonnades and palaces, baths and coliseums and alabaster towers the burghers burnt with their own hands to prevent falling into his.

    Even stranger to behold the beast-yowling burghers dancing with odd jerks of the elbows and knees around the bonfires of their own homes where all their best beloved scrolls and trophies burn, as if some signal victory is won, while the putrid smoke climbs up forever.

    Nevertheless, I take no joy and proffer no vaunt. I am no barbarian, but a Christian conqueror, and I pity even my foes. Therefore let us take a moment of solemn silence to doff our helms and lower our eyes for the dissolution of a once great institution.

    From John C Wright’s latest verbosity. Bless his heart.

  30. I just wonder why Wright uses a picture of The Shadow as profile. It would have been more logical with one of Solomon Kane.

  31. Even stranger to behold the beast-yowling burghers dancing with odd jerks of the elbows and knees around the bonfires of their own homes where all their best beloved scrolls and trophies burn, as if some signal victory is won, while the putrid smoke climbs up forever.

    Okay. That’s it. I am formally deducing that “John C. Wright” is nothing more than some kind of extreme hoax. Has anyone actually seen Sacha Baron Cohen in public lately?

  32. @Hampus Eckerman

    I’d have thought that two vast and trunkless legs of stone would be a more accurate representation of Mr Wright’s achievements and personality.

  33. Rose Embolism : My prediction for what comes next? After he gets a look at the actual benefits of being a star Castalia House writer,

    My one sure sense in business is to look at the people you’re dealing with quietly first. Just stay quiet and interact with them, and they reveal themselves. And who they are is a better indication for how business with them will go than anything else.

    VD is a sociopath, pure and simple. Doing business with him is a fool’s game because, sure as hell, you’re going to wind up burned for the sake of his ego.

    SocialInjusticeWorrier : What’s really sad is that behind all Wright’s posturing there’s a human being who can’t pay his bills and has been reduced to asking his readers for help to buy groceries to feed his children. Heaven knows that his views are frequently repugnant and expressed in a deranged style, but I do feel sorry for him when he is reduced to that depth

    With all due respect, bullshit. He can’t pay his bills working as a writer. Let him find some other job more worthy of his talents – Walmart greeter, cleaning toilets, driving a taxi cab. He can continue his authorial career as a hobby.

  34. @Ray Radlein

    Only John C Wright could possibly try and denounce George R R Martin as a bad dancer at the post-Hugo festivities in such ludicrously convoluted terms.

    That is what he meant, isn’t it?

  35. @CPaca

    Let him find some other job more worthy of his talents – Walmart greeter, cleaning toilets, driving a taxi cab. He can continue his authorial career as a hobby.

    For all we know, he may have tried and failed to find other work. I would hold off on judging anyone in this economy until I was sure of the facts of the situation.

  36. Hampus Eckerman : “They are perverted sexually, mentally, and in all ways.”

    At least one thing true.

    Hey! I’m not perverted in all ways, thank you very much!

    I mean, I’d like to be, but I’m limited by money, time, and in the case of one or two fantasies, the interfering laws of man and physics.

  37. @CPaca

    in the case of one or two fantasies, the interfering laws of man and physics

    Once again, John Scalzi tyrannizes our humble dream world.

  38. Given the recent thanks on his blog for the grocery donations, I was astonished to see Wright making his way through the crowd waiting for the Scott Lynch reading. I feel bad for them, honestly. Also, as far as putting all the eggs in the Castalia basket, I recall a VD rant about ridiculous midlist authors and their stupidity in expecting to make a living.

  39. …the smoking wreckage…
    …burnt with their own hands…
    …around the bonfires…
    …scrolls and trophies burn…
    …the putrid smoke climbs up forever…

    Looks like somebody has been walking around outside the convention center for a bit too long. The atmospheric conditions have seeped into his diction.

  40. I’m only mostly sure I’m in the right thread, but here goes…

    @Kendall

    I used a mixture of pre-existing television subscriptions, DVDs/bluray (this was mostly if I already had it but hadn’t got around to watching it), and if all else failed iTunes purchases to watch the BDP stuff. It is a bit of a pain but not much more so than getting copies of novels that weren’t included in the packet, at least logistically. Physically it was grueling. 🙂 I don’t torrent as a matter of principle, though.

  41. “I am, in all modesty, a skilled author, one of the finest writing today.”

    If there’s anybody who’s bothered to register for his site, NOW is the time to log on and ask the innocent question:

    “Where’s YOUR $3.4 million 10 year deal then?”

  42. Williamson is a bit better loser, but then he voted No Award for himself:

    “As a loser this year, I would like to once again thank the committee itself for its scrupulous neutrality and integrity.

    It is unfortunate other parties chose not to follow that lead.”

Comments are closed.