I'll be returning to SFF social media more once my MS is off, but whew...
Today I went from writing a piece on Hindu nationalism to catching up on the latest SFF industry SNAFU: a massively corrupt administration behind this year's Hugo noms.
And yes, it's certainly a mess for writers getting arbitrarily blocked from consideration, but...
This is also why I'd become *so* disheartened by industry in the first place.
Nonsense like this keeps folks in crisis bubbles, far from the greater world.
@MLClark it wouldn't be SFWA without a Hugo scandal. 🙄
SFWA's Nebulas have their own messes, on account of the noms and awards being selected only by SFWA members.
Hugos (the awards by fans) always have their own Worldcon fuckery behind them. And this year it's definitely at a whole new level. Here's Neil Gaiman's attempt at a polite, probing chat with one of the WSFS admin (Dave McCarty) who's behind some of the extremely arbitrary eliminations this year. Just... such petty nonsense. This should not be what's taking up air here.
@MLClark Thank you for reminding me. it's been a long time since I had anything to do with SFWA.
"Petty nonsense" is about right.
@MLClark I ran the GEnie Science Fiction Round Table in the early 1990s. I got TPTB to allow me to give SFWA members free access and a private forum. It attracted members, but as you might suspect it degenerated into "petty nonsense." I was ordered by management to banish anyone who criticized management; after a few days of that, I quit.
Just found this. I did the flyer, probably in WordPerfect.
@MLClark "I'm an admin editor for SFWA's Pubs Crew, where I help bring out the best in articles to help fellow writers, and promote a *super* collaborative team. That's more my jam."
Yet another reason to admire you. 😊
Aw, that's kind.
I'm just glad that there *are* spaces in genre to make a better difference. All the in-fighting, the elitism, and the vicious hustle around awards season would be even more depressing otherwise.
@MLClark I think I told you this tale ... When the SFRT became super-popular within SFWA, Jerry Pournelle tried to blackmail GEnie management into turning it over to him. He wrote for various computer magazines; he said he would write a bad review of GEnie unless management gave the SFRT to him.
They compromised by giving him his own separate forum.
More petty nonsense.
Honestly, some people really do seem to roll out of bed thinking "How can I make the world a worse place today?" 🙄
@MLClark There were a couple other people who attempted coups. As we discussed earlier today, some people would rather grift than put in the hard work.
Just another speed bump on my life's journey.
🤗 And yet, you've turned out a pretty fine sort despite all the underhanded tricks and general meanness all around you during those wildest of years.
Yet another reason to admire you too, friend.
@MLClark Walking from GEnie gave me the free time to do the writing-for-hire for Star Trek and B5 licensees. Lemons, meet lemonade. 🍋
@WordsmithFL
That said... 6 minutes to class.
🤗 We'll keep rollin' in the mornin'!
TTFN!