Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) - Nerds protecting nonces

[Dr. Butt]

I can neither confirm nor deny there's a Kiwi in some of the recentish issues.

enjoy publication, kiwi child.

 

[Mola Ram]

enjoy publication, kiwi child.

Still not rich nor famous, so I guess I'll keep hanging out here.

 

[Boston Brand]

Baen has some real issues at the moment, but calling it chick lit is a stretch.

They've definitely lost a ton of thier male authors, to mortality and the competition, and laid off or lost most of thier male editors. Both doesn't help.

A ton of thier recent moves makes little sense or scream a total lack of confidence.

 

[Dragged Into Sunlight]

Finished reading the first Hyperion.

It's good. The Shrike is cool and each of the Pilgrims' stories are engaging even though the author gets a bit up his own ass about Keats and poetry. The standout story is the crucifix parasite.

 

[John Badman's wife]

I used to quite a lot of fantasy and sci fi, ever since I got lost in the Patrick Tomlinson/sex abuse scandal rabbit hole, I can't read another sci fi or fantasy book.

 

[AnOminous]

I used to quite a lot of fantasy and sci fi, ever since I got lost in the Patrick Tomlinson/sex abuse scandal rabbit hole, I can't read another sci fi or fantasy book.

I'd already lost my appreciation for at least any new SF works because of the incredible deterioration in quality in the years even well before the whole Sad Puppies situation that made it clear the whole genre had turned into a mindless circlejerk run by Tor.

Basically all hope is gone when the whole genre is run by a guild of open child molesters who pay lolcows like Rick Hamlinson to sue their enemies.

 

[John Badman's wife]

I'd already lost my appreciation for at least any new SF works because of the incredible deterioration in quality in the years even well before the whole Sad Puppies situation that made it clear the whole genre had turned into a mindless circlejerk run by Tor.

Basically all hope is gone when the whole genre is run by a guild of open child molesters who pay lolcows like Rick Hamlinson to sue their enemies.

You are right, a lot of it was already awful garbage. They were just publishing shit if the person identified as a member of one of their favorite communities. I should have thought of that. I should have just written some drivel, identified as a queer disabled Jewish anti Zionist Eskimo with a trans child. I am sure I would be rich and published by now.

Which reminds me. I accidentally picked up a John Scalzi book in my Kindle. I couldn't get past the first 5 pages. I literally deleted it from my device and walked away from a refund. Awful. A kindergartener could write me a more enjoyable story in crayon.

 

[Tin Foil Hatter]

I used to quite a lot of fantasy and sci fi, ever since I got lost in the Patrick Tomlinson/sex abuse scandal rabbit hole, I can't read another sci fi or fantasy book.

Yeah, i had to search up that guy here, and yeah that looks like a rabbit hole. I saw "reddit ama" and already knew he was a piece of shit.

This is partly why i started getting back into reading and writing. I think i am a better story tell than these fuck sticks, and it's time i at least put in an effort. I dunno maybe publish a short story on royal road or have an ai read it out loud on youtube? Part of why i want to do it is that the stories lately suck, even anime stories are starting to suck. It's really dystopian. 20 years ago there was SOMETHING to find, now it feels like panning for gold in the Ganges.

I have been reading "roadside picnic" and i think it's very well written. The Strugatsky brothers did a good job making a believable world. I think that's part of the problem, these "writers" don't read and i suspect they have aphantasia. They also don't seem to have a lot of life experiences. If i ask you to "vividly remember the last time you fixed something then put it into writing" can you do that? can you do that as detailed as possible?

That's partly why i am here. Am i contributing to the conversation with very judgmental people who do not handle bullshit? If so then that means i am on the right track.

 

[AprilRains]

This is partly why i started getting back into reading and writing. I think i am a better story tell than these fuck sticks, and it's time i at least put in an effort.

Thank you. I don't know if I'll like what you write, at least at first, but it'd be a better world if more people outside of the current bubble did so. How much worse could it possibly be?

 

[Mola Ram]

Thank you. I don't know if I'll like what you write, at least at first, but it'd be a better world if more people outside of the current bubble did so. How much worse could it possibly be?

This is where I regret the Farms' necessity for opsec and wish I could share my own writing without doxxing myself.

 

[Tin Foil Hatter]

Thank you. I don't know if I'll like what you write, at least at first, but it'd be a better world if more people outside of the current bubble did so. How much worse could it possibly be?

One of the big takeaways i have from "roadside picnic" is that if no one told me it was written in the soviet union, i would not have known. The book does a great job capturing greed but without any ideology. It feels like a story devoid of ideology and i suspect that it is.

Part of the problem with modern western fiction, is Tolkein. I know that's a hot take, but Tolkien had this binary story of good vs evil. The problem though is it's never really just two factions fighting now is it? it's multiple factions fighting each other. Yet i am unaware of any story that captures that. Tolkien saw two world wars, so to him the world's conflicts were binary. But in the 20th and 21st century that was NOT the case. The Soviets wanted to nuke the CCP, the CCP invaded vietnam because the vietkong toppled pol pot, the US funded the mujahadeem who became the taliban later on. I can go on and on and on.

I understand why everyone writes these binary conflicts. The real world asymmetrical ones are just a clusterfuck, but at the same time there hasn't been a story to capture the age we live in.

 

[Mola Ram]

One of the big takeaways i have from "roadside picnic" is that if no one told me it was written in the soviet union, i would not have known. The book does a great job capturing greed but without any ideology. It feels like a story devoid of ideology and i suspect that it is.

Part of the problem with modern western fiction, is Tolkein. I know that's a hot take, but Tolkien had this binary story of good vs evil. The problem though is it's never really just two factions fighting now is it? it's multiple factions fighting each other. Yet i am unaware of any story that captures that. Tolkien saw two world wars, so to him the world's conflicts were binary. But in the 20th and 21st century that was NOT the case. The Soviets wanted to nuke the CCP, the CCP invaded vietnam because the vietkong toppled pol pot, the US funded the mujahadeem who became the taliban later on. I can go on and on and on.

I understand why everyone writes these binary conflicts. The real world asymmetrical ones are just a clusterfuck, but at the same time there hasn't been a story to capture the age we live in.

This is a terrible oversimplification of Tolkien. It's not just good vs. evil. Which camp is Denethor? Theoden before Gandalf heals him? The Sackville-Baggineses? Is Saruman merely out for himself or has he become a pure puppet of Mordor? Was Isildur a villain merely because he kept the Ring?

There are a lot of sins to lay at Tolkien's feet -- or more accurately, at the feet of the industry that decided he was the major template for Western fantasy -- but the "simple good and evil" narrative is not one of them.

 

[Dr. Butt]

One of the quotes explores something I hate. The "Arbitrary line of 18". No shit it's arbitrary. It's because laws that get into nuance and context don't work. They might be able to get some examples of kids just under the line who 'weren't hurt by it' and on the other hand there's plenty older than the line who for sure weren't ready for sex. (There's dozens of cases documented on this website even.) So 'just keep off it until legal adulthood, that's about right' is what we gotta do.

get the fuck out of my libertarian party

 

[Flexo]

This is where I regret the Farms' necessity for opsec and wish I could share my own writing without doxxing myself.

NULL next project & fundraiser...

Publishing!

 

[Mola Ram]

NULL next project & fundraiser...

Publishing!

A Kiwis writers group of those of us who are seriously interested would be amazing. I pine for a group where you don't just correct my POV slips but call me a faggot when necessary.

 

[Tin Foil Hatter]

This is a terrible oversimplification of Tolkien

Sir, i am NOT going to write essays on tolkein. My academia years are behind me. You are correct that it is an oversimplification, but i still stand by that the conflict was too binary.

 

[John Badman's wife]

Sir, i am NOT going to write essays on tolkein. My academia years are behind me. You are correct that it is an oversimplification, but i still stand by that the conflict was too binary.

The Tolkien fandom is something else. Never got into the books because of the weird fandom

 

[Mola Ram]

Sir, i am NOT going to write essays on tolkein. My academia years are behind me. You are correct that it is an oversimplification, but i still stand by that the conflict was too binary.

I disagree entirely, but fair enough.

The Tolkien fandom is something else. Never got into the books because of the weird fandom

Find me a fandom that isn't full of broken personalities. Any franchise with a fanbase larger than, I dunno, 2500 people or so is going to have more than its share of weirdos.

 

[Dr. Butt]

The problem with Tolkien is that he is not literature, but the publishing industry and his fans insist that he is.

 

[John Badman's wife]

I disagree entirely, but fair enough.



Find me a fandom that isn't full of broken personalities. Any franchise with a fanbase larger than, I dunno, 2500 people or so is going to have more than its share of weirdos.

You are exactly right. Which is why any fandom is a big turn off. For whatever reason, I have been more exposed to Tolkien fans. I heard trekkies are way worse.