Disappointment

After a lot of thought and consideration, I've pulled the link to Neil Gaiman's blog from my reading list.

To say I'm disappointed in his behavior is an understatement. I'm not against kink. However, I do believe in safe, sane, and consensual protocols. There's some big questions on all three parts in his relationships with women.

To me, here's the bigger problem. As a former attorney, it's been drummed into my head that public servants not only can't do anything improper, but we need to avoid the APPEARANCE of impropriety as well.

Granted, Gaiman isn't a public servant. No non-government celebrity is.

However, there's one thing in this whole mess that bothers me--why did Gaiman abruptly leave New Zealand at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic?

If he and his wife had a simple fight, and with the amount of friends Gaiman has, why not make other arrangements in New Zealand rather than flying halfway around the world and possibly contract or spread a deadly disease? Why leave your child alone like that?

To me, this is a HUGE appearance of impropriety on his part. Worse, it was damn irresponsible given conditions around the world at that time.

It's bad enough all these women are telling the same tales about him. It also saddens me that his actions have affected a large number of people that had nothing to with any sexual behavior on his part.

The current adaptions of his writing are being cancelled thanks to the current controversy. Hundreds of people are employed to make a television series. Now, all those people will also be out of work because of Gaiman's stigma and lack of foresight.

Today, I received an e-mail notice from a Kickstarter I supported nearly two years ago--a graphic novel of Good Omens. There were a ton of people working on this project, including Terry Pratchett's estate. Now, some backers (I don't know how many) have asked for there orders to be cancelled and want refunds.

In the notice, the Pratchett Estate said Gaiman would not be getting any funds from this Kickstarter. I hope Colleen Doran, the artist for the project is paid in full because her artwork I've seen so far is absolutely stunning.

None the less, I'm sad to say the Good Omens graphic novel will be the last Gaiman-related product I will purchase. I've loved his work since I picked up my first copy of the Sandman comic in 1988. There's been a lot of talk among fans regarding equating the artist with the art. Gaiman is a great writer, but when someone fucks up, they need to make things right with those they fucked over. Reading his so-called apology on his blog makes it sound like he's only sorry he got caught.

I don't think I'm holding Gaiman to some unachievable standard. We're all human. We all fuck up. But he does need to fix his problems--to his family and to those he wronged.

From the Beginning

The title song from Prince's fourth studio album.

Another Hugo Fiasco

There's more than enough online about the crapfest that was the 2023 WorldCon and the Hugo Awards. The problem is the Chengdu conference suffered from similar problems as the Puppies Debacles that started ten years ago.

Decades ago, I used the Hugos to find new reads in my favorite genre. Not anymore. I don't want to read books based on someone else's political or social agenda. Moreover, I don't like other people to choose my reads in the hopes that they can brainwash me.

The sad part with this latest fiasco is that it wasn't the voters throwing a hissy fit. And from some of the leaked e-mails, it wasn't the Chinese government. The true story may never come out, but it's looking more and more like the 2023 conferences committee self-censored the nominees.

The question one everyone's mind is why. Were the members bribed by the Chinese business people who funded the brand-new building that housed the conference? Did the committee members think they were protecting the artist who might run afoul of the Chinese government? Or was this a back-end method for fascists to take over another institution?

It's sad. It's tiring. It's why I don't give a shit about winning an award for my writing. Because I've already been told I write radical feminist propaganda and I'm anti-white. *sigh*

I was taught that things need to be fair. And I took that lesson to heart eve though the people who taught me the concept were incredibly racist and misogynistic. The hypocrisy burns at times.

Regardless, I believe in picking out my own books. I believe in everyone having the right to express themselves. And I believe in everyone's right to read or view what they want.

P.S. If you need a rundown of the events, check out Abigail Nussbaum's blog post. It has all the same links I would have posted.

Controversy and Friendships

Before I get into today's post, I'm going to make a change on the what-I'm-reading header by including the format of the book.  So, drumroll please. . .

Currently reading - Pale Demon by Kim Harrison (HC)

I'm heading off-road for some writer psychological analysis.

The whole e-book vs. print book controversy seems to be taking a weird twist lately.  Someone I know who's traditionally published went on a--well, tirade would be the best word--about the recent changes in the publishing.

On the surface, it sounds as if she's against people diverging from the traditional publishing path, but that's not the case.  She's scared.  Scared that she's made the wrong choices in her career in the face of the recent publishing chaos.  Scared she'll have to start over if her publisher crashes and burns.  Scared she won't have a brick-and-mortar store to sell her books at because her publisher is focusing only on print books.

And this is where being an empath sucks.  The words I hear her saying and the psychic flood crashing into me are two different things.  I've learned from experience when the other person isn't acknowledging her own feelings, me pointing out the discordance will only piss them off more.  But by the same token, I'm not going to roll over and play dead if you're dissing anyone, including me, on a personal level.

Ironically, later on the day of the tirade, I received an e-mail from another published acquaintance.  We'd had some words months ago about whether she should try SF&F.  She was very much against writing SF&F despite that she loved reading it.  In fact, she had lots of reasons not to write SF&F, most of which sounded logical on the surface.

But in reality, her objections were also based in fear.  She'd already lost agents and contracts when the first genre she wrote tanked years ago.  It had taken her a long time to find another agent and break back into publishing, and she did so under another name and a second genre.  She couldn't stand the thought of another uphill battle.

So what was in her e-mail?  Her cover for her new-you guessed it-SF&F novel.

What can you--whether you're trad-published, indie-published or a newbie--take from my experiences?

1)  There is no right, perfect, predictable path to your goals.  Get over it.

2)  Your path is not the same as everyone else's.  Get over it.

3)  You can't tell anyone else what path to follow.  You can try.  They probably won't listen.  See #1.