So, you don't like the fact that Donald Trump is now the president...what should you do next? Let me start out by saying what I think you shouldn't. Trashing his family (especially his kids), they can't help that they're related to him. Liberals didn't like it when conservatives did it to the Obama girls, so don't do it to his kids. Next, stop trashing the people who voted for him and still support him. You're not going to change their minds, so all you're doing is making yourself look stupid. Let them learn in time, what will really happen. It's important to remember that we can be a great country based on our differences, and that in the recent past, we embraced those differences, and we should continue to do so. Third, don't wish for Trump to fail. It's fine to believe that he will, but to actually hope that he will fail is basically saying that you hope America will fail.
Now, what can you do? Keep up the protests, but keep them peaceful. Destroying things is never the answer. All you're doing then is making people lose respect for the protests. When I say keep them up, I mean march as often as possible, boycott events, state your opinion in a civil way, and hell, you might as well follow him on Twitter and rake him over the coals for every tweet that he posts. Will it do any good, probably not, but it will feel good. The other forms of protest can do some good. Our nation was founded in revolution, and now it's time for another one...but this time it needs to be a peaceful revolution. Stop trashing people and property. If someone disagrees with you on Facebook and calls you names for your opinion, you don't have to sink to their level.
As for me, I'm going to write more. I see many dystopias in my future, but that's ok. I love writing and reading them...I just don't want to live in one...
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Monday, January 16, 2017
The Best of Both Worlds at Amazon
From the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
For some reason, a lot of people still prefer to buy their books through Amazon, so for those of you that want to use them, you can find The Best of Both Worlds Vol. 1 at https://www.amazon.com/dp/098637055X
For some reason, a lot of people still prefer to buy their books through Amazon, so for those of you that want to use them, you can find The Best of Both Worlds Vol. 1 at https://www.amazon.com/dp/098637055X
Monday, January 09, 2017
Childishness and science fiction
Over the last few years we've seen a lot of childishness in the science fiction field. Most of it started when the "Puppies" started demanding equal representation, and such. I'm not really going to comment on that because I think there's been a lot of questionable behavior from both sides in this debate, and I think this subject has been done to death. Let's face it, the Hugos aren't what they used to be, and they probably never will be again.
What troubles me is some posts I've seen from some of the more "conservative" authors who feel that they've been blackballed by various editors in the SF community. The fact that these authors are saying this isn't what's bothering me. Instead, I'm bothered by the fact that I actually believe this to be true. Granted, I don't have any proof, but from things I've seen, I do think this is a very real possibility. This bothers me because as an editor, we're supposed to be publishing stories and not authors. As an author, I've had plenty of rejections that state that the editor is passing on the story...not on me as an author. So, based on that, why should we pass on an author because of their political views? The simple answer is, we shouldn't. If the author has written a good story, then we should publish the story.
Obviously the one exception to this is if we're publishing a themed anthology. I'm currently reading for an anthology in which global climate change is real. I'm obviously not going to accept a story that goes against that idea, no matter how well-written it might be.
In the past, I've published stories from authors with very different political and religious ideas from mine. The reason I did this is because I enjoyed the stories. I'm an Atheist, but I've published stories with very Christian ideals because the stories knocked my socks off. I've published some very conservative authors in the past, including one who eventually became part of a "puppy slate," and I would publish stories from them again if I enjoyed the stories.
There are times when I cringe reading some of the things posted on Facebook by authors I've published, but again, it's their stories that matter, not their beliefs, and that's what the writing world is supposed to be about.
I hate the idea of blackballing someone for their beliefs. In my opinion (and please make sure you understand this is an opinion before you all get upset), the only reasons for blackballing an author are because they're plagiarists, they continually refuse to follow your guidelines, or because they've assaulted you as a person in social media.
End of rant.
What troubles me is some posts I've seen from some of the more "conservative" authors who feel that they've been blackballed by various editors in the SF community. The fact that these authors are saying this isn't what's bothering me. Instead, I'm bothered by the fact that I actually believe this to be true. Granted, I don't have any proof, but from things I've seen, I do think this is a very real possibility. This bothers me because as an editor, we're supposed to be publishing stories and not authors. As an author, I've had plenty of rejections that state that the editor is passing on the story...not on me as an author. So, based on that, why should we pass on an author because of their political views? The simple answer is, we shouldn't. If the author has written a good story, then we should publish the story.
Obviously the one exception to this is if we're publishing a themed anthology. I'm currently reading for an anthology in which global climate change is real. I'm obviously not going to accept a story that goes against that idea, no matter how well-written it might be.
In the past, I've published stories from authors with very different political and religious ideas from mine. The reason I did this is because I enjoyed the stories. I'm an Atheist, but I've published stories with very Christian ideals because the stories knocked my socks off. I've published some very conservative authors in the past, including one who eventually became part of a "puppy slate," and I would publish stories from them again if I enjoyed the stories.
There are times when I cringe reading some of the things posted on Facebook by authors I've published, but again, it's their stories that matter, not their beliefs, and that's what the writing world is supposed to be about.
I hate the idea of blackballing someone for their beliefs. In my opinion (and please make sure you understand this is an opinion before you all get upset), the only reasons for blackballing an author are because they're plagiarists, they continually refuse to follow your guidelines, or because they've assaulted you as a person in social media.
End of rant.
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