When Writers Pick on Bloggers

What the hell is wrong with writers lately? First, Tina Engler, aka Jaid Black, sues the romance blog Dear Author for libel via Tina's company Ellora's Cave. Then author Kathleen Hale dove into creepy stalker territory because a book blogger gave her a one-star on Goodreads.

For the record, I've gotten a few one-stars. I have commented on a blogger (who I intentionally did not name) here at WWW, but only because she continued to read the Bloodlines series after not liking Blood Magick. My point-of-view was that I wouldn't continue reading someone's work if I didn't particularly like the first book.

But that's me trying to manage my time. I didn't track the blogger down and harass her (and "her" is meant in the generic) for disliking the book. I sure as hell didn't show up on this blogger's doorstep, a la Kathleen Hale. In fact, it's Blogger's opinion, and she has every right to write whatever kind of review she wants about my books or anyone else's.

Just like I have the right to write whatever the hell in my novels and short stories.

But the backlash from the book bloggers has landed.

First is the #notchilled hashtag flying thick and fast on Twitter. Let's face facts. The Ellora's Cave lawsuit is all about getting bloggers to shut up about the company's problems. The harder you try to shut up the public, the more the public talks about you. It's called the Streisand Effect for that very reason. A certain diva with the first name of Barbra tried to squelch coastline photos that included her mansion. No one would have paid any attention to the picture if she hadn't pitched a temper tantrum. So, instead of silencing her critics, Tina's made sure that nearly everyone in the country is talking about her, and not in a positive way.

The latest event starts today--The Blogger Blackout, aka #bloggerblackout on Twitter. Reviewer Tez Miller gives a succinct account of why book bloggers are participating.

You know what? I totally agree with Tez. No blogger should have to worry about lawsuits or their personal safety just for discussing online what they like or don't like about books they read. Or they didn't finish. Or anything else they damn well please.

Here's where advice from the late Jay Lake comes into play. When a writer publishes a book, it's no longer the writer's story. It's the public's. And each member of the public brings her own baggage and peccadillos to the party. It's neither right or wrong. It simply is.

If you're a writer, remember Jay's wise words. Readers have every right to dislike your book and talk about it as they do to like your book and talk about it.

A Light Went Out In The World

SFF author Jay Lake passed away at 5:45 am PDT yesterday.

We spoke a few times by e-mail, and I only got to meet him once, but he had a profound influence on my own writing. I was looking forward to reading his novel, Original Destiny, Manifest Sin. It will never be finished, and the world will be a poorer place for it.

His family has requested that donations be made in his name to:

Clayton Memorial Medical Fund
c/o OSFCI
P.O. Box 5703
Portland, Oregon 97228

If you want to leave personal messages, there is always Jay's website and his Facebook page.

I'm closing comments. Regular blogging will resume on Wednesday.

How Artists Respond to Customer Complaints

This is a speech by Dave Carroll of Sons of Maxwell, the writer and artist behind "United Breaks Guitars." No one ever wants to feel like they are unimportant.

Do you think United Airlines learned from the incident with Sons of Maxwell? No, they didn't. Last month, SFF author Jay Lake had to cancel his trip to London due to a family emergency, and United is refusing to work with him in regards to his tickets. As most of you probably remember from my previous posts, Jay has terminal cancer.

The problem is that Jay doesn't have the nine months to fuck around with United like Dave did.

Changing the Creepy Guy Narrative - WWW Edition

With all the talk of what constitutes harassment in the SFF community, the incredible Jay Lake had a link to Chris Brecheen's experience on BART. Go read it please.

Twenty-five years ago, I had a similar experience on the D.C. Metro. A young man was literally hitting on every woman in the car. They scrunched away from him, looking fearful. I think what pissed me off the most was the amusement on the male passengers' faces. I watched him ask the woman in the seat in front of me for a date. I watched her cringe and say "No."

More than than once. Just like every other woman.

So of course, he moved and sat down next to me. Before he could say anything, I said, very loudly, "No. I'm not interested."

On the plus side, he got up, found an empty seat, and didn't bother the three women sitting behind me. But you should have seen the ugly looks I got from every other passenger, including the women he had been bothering. You would have thought I'd kicked his puppy.

At the time, I was living with my cousin who was a police officer in D.C.

At the time, D.C. was the murder capital of the U.S.

At the time, women were expected to be nice to men no matter what, and as my cousin said, that was a recipe to get raped and murdered.

Maybe I've been lucky. I've projected an image of "Don't fuck with me" all my life. Originally, it was just to keep from getting beat up in the high school girls' bathroom.

In fact, one of the security guards at the D.C. office where I worked stopped me one day after lunch and asked where I had served.

"Served?" I know I had a puzzled look on my face.

"Yeah," he said. "Which branch?"

I laughed. "Never. Sorry."

He shrugged. "Oh, well, you walk like a vet."

So much for my mom's attempts to make me adopt a "lady-like" walk. My stubbornness and my super-cool cousin have probably saved my life more than once.

Now that I think about it, my mother tried to get me to adopt the very behaviors that would make me a victim. I resisted, but what about all other women in vulnerable positions? If we don't stand up for each other, who will?

I applaud Chris's behavior that day on BART, but guys like him are few and far between. We can't rely on white knights to save us, ladies.

We need to save ourselves.

Planning for Death

Death is the ultimate taboo subject in American culture even though no one evades her. In denying our own mortality, we, as a whole, rarely deal with the things that can make our loved ones lives easier. I saw this denial destroy families, financially and/or emotionally, time-and-time again when I practiced probate law.

Author Jay Lake is facing these very issues right now. He's been diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic colon cancer. And, bless him, he's got a game plan in place to make things as easy as possible for himself, his parents, his daughter, his girlfriend, his ex-wife, and every other person who matters to him.

For each of the following main topics, Jay has a breakdown of what actions to take and who's responsible:

Now
Terminal Diagnosis
Leaving Work for Disability
Reaching the Point of Cognitive Incompetence
Hospice / Palliative Care
Death

You can read the rest at Lakeshore, Jay's blog.

Granted, I no longer practice. I offer this as common sense, not legal advice. Have a fucking will! If you've got underage kids, designate a guardian. Make sure someone knows where all your legal documents are.

I will now get off my soapbox.

[Note: On the evening of May 8, 2013, Jay announced he'd been officially diagnosed as terminal. Despite surgery in late January and chemotherapy since then, ten confirmed tumors have appeared on his liver, lungs, and omentum. Please keep Jay and his family in your thoughts during this difficult time.]

The Jay Lake Saga - Round Two

[Edit on 02/25/23: Apparently. some jerk has decided that a post about a writer who died nearly ten years ago was offensive and reported me to Blogger. I use the F-bomb a lot when it comes to cancer. The disease isn't fair. And if you haven't had it, go someplace else because I don't want to hear your whining.]

Thank you to everyone who donated to Waterloo's Kickstarter to complete LAKESIDE, their documentary of SFF writer Jay Lake's battle with cancer. Waterloo reached their goal early yesterday afternoon!

And a special thank you to Jay for mentioning yesterday's WWW post on his Link Salad!

Also, HELLO to everyone who stopped by from Jay's blog. {Big Wave}

So what's next?

Another fund raiser had been started called Sequence a Science Fiction Writer. There's a genetic sequncing test that can compare the fucking cancer with healthy Jay cells in order to figure out why the last three rounds of chemotherapy have not worked. Needles to say, the test is expensive as hell and the fuckng insurance company won't cover it.

The purpose of this new fundraiser is to cover the costs of the test and analysis. Amazingly, when I went to grab the link for WWW, the inital goal of $20,000 for the genetic testing had been reached!

Unlike Kickstarter's rules though, YouCaring will allow any extra funds to be used by Jay himself. In this case, funding above the actual costs of the test and analysis will be used for Jay to take a medical leave of absence from his job to deal with his health.

Yes, that's right, folks. Jay has had to work his Day Job through four surgeries and three rounds of chemotherapy in order to keep his insurance. That doesn't even count meeting his writing deadlines with his publisher!

Frankly, DH and I have been there, done that, and don't wish the t-shirt on anybody. We understand what Jay's going through medically and financially. When I told DH about the Kickstarter yesterday, I hadn't even finished when he said, "Do it."

Now, we scraping together a little more to give someone else a much needed break. We hope you'll do the same.

A Kickstarter Project That Needs to Be Seen

I've followed SFF author Jay Lake for some time. I think it was Tobias Buckell who first recommended his books. But it wasn't just his writing that intrigued me. Both DH and I are regular readers of his blog because in some ways, his journey mirrors ours.

DH is a cancer survivor. I won't get into the awful details here and now. It's not important. What is important is Jay's struggle with the same disease. A disease that a year ago everyone thought Jay had licked.

Last June, Waterloo Productions started a documentary, following Jay for a year as a cancer survivor. Then the bad news came. The cancer was back with a vengence. Three new tumors had appeared. Jay's third round of chemo started last fall with a plan for surgery on January 22. Last week, a PET scan in preparation for the surgery showed a fourth tumor.

The odds of Jay survivng to see his daughter Bronwyn graduate from high school is down to 8%. She's a freshman.

The folks of Waterloo met with Jay to make some hard decisions. They decided to continue the project even though in all likelihood, Waterloo may be filming Jay's death. The decision to continue comes with literal costs. Waterloo has overrun its original budget.

This is a movie that needs to be seen. A story that needs to be heard. Too many people die silently, in agony, from cancer every day. People need to understand the human cost of this horrible disease.

So I'm asking you to please donate to Waterloo Productions' Lakeside, even if it's just a dollar. Here's some preliminary film from the project. Please understand, there is some NSFW language.

Fuck Cancer!

Anything else I'd planned to say today seems meaningless in the wake of SFF author Jay Lake's announcement on Wednesday that his cancer had returned--with a vengence. He's looking at his fourth round of surgery and third round of chemo for three tumors that appeared roughly six months after his last round of chemo ended. The odds are definitely not in Jay's favor.

I don't know Jay personally. We've passed a couple of e-mails in a fan-writer way, but DH and I have followed his journey online for nearly four years now because, well, it hits close to home.

DH is approaching the eighteenth anniversary of his diagnosis of colon cancer, the same thing Jay is fighting. In both cases, they fell far under the age profile for colon cancer, men way too young to be dealing with this type of shit.

When DH came into the kitchen Wednesday morning, I could tell by his face he'd already seen Jay's blog. He sat down across the table from me, and I said, "We're both having a bad case of survivor's guilt, aren't we?"

Surprise appeared on DH. "I know I am, but why are you?"

"Because I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you. But I didn't. And Jay's family is pissed and scared and feeling helpless right now at the possibility they're going to lose him. And the whole thing isn't fucking fair."

You see, doctors caught Jay's cancer when it was still at Stage 1 through the typical symptom presentation of rectal bleeding. DH's first symptom was diarrhea that he and I both chalked up to having too much fun at a bar with a friend the night before. Two days later, after emergency exploratory surgery, the doctors found a six-inch Stage 3 tumor that had already started to spread.

Statiscally speaking, Jay's stituation was much better than DH's. But that's not how life works sometimes. Life isn't fair and it makes no sense. And I'm angry and crying as I type this.

As Jay said, if you feel the need to pray or cuss or or buy his books (I highly recommend Green) or donate to the American Cancer Society (wonderful people who helped DH and I when we needed it), do so.

But make sure you give your loved ones hugs and tell them what they mean to you.

Cancer Sucks

I sit here facing a blank screen, and all I can think about is Jay Lake, and shit, this could have been what happened to DH.  And instead of editing my stuff or working on the new wip, which I should be doing, I want to cry and scream and rage.

I've never met Jay in person, just spoken with him online.  He's a cool guy, very generous with the info for newbie writers, and is a hell of an author.  But Jay's been fighting cancer for three years now. Yesterday, his docs discovered yet another tumor, this time on his liver.

The irony for me?  Jay's initial cancer diagnosis was a stage 1 tumor.  DH's was a stage 3.  Jay's looking at his third round of chemo since 2008.  DH only had one back in 1995.  Jay's got a beautiful daughter who's about a year older than GK.  DH was diagnosed three months after we were engaged, and we waited until he had been clean for four years before we even thought about having a kid.

This so isn't fair.  Sometimes I wonder if the universe isn't a giant dodgeball game.  The gods are the jocks, and the humans are the nerds, and if we don't get pummeled, it's only by chance.  And what the fuck do you do about it?

Well, Shit!

Currently reading - Born of Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Sometimes life hands you a bowl of pudding with maggots crawling in it.

SFF author Jay Lake has been documenting his struggle with cancer at his blog. After two surgeries and a round of chemo, Jay had a CT last week only to find another tumor had developed. In the middle of freakin' chemo.

I'm just a fangirl. I don't know Jay, his family or friends personally, but my heart goes out to them. DH went through something similar fifteen years ago. It's frightening in ways you can't describe. Someone you love is subjected to the most horrifying pain and anguish. The only thing you can do is hold them and cry with them and pray that when you get through the tunnel, they're still with you.

Hold your loved ones close to you, and tell them what they mean to you.

And please go out and buy Jay's books. He's a hell of a writer.

Subjectivity, Part 2 (Or Do I Write Like a Boy?)

Currently reading - Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

What each gender finds amusing differs greatly. I'm not saying that men and women don't find the same things funny, but there are certains subjects that have definite gender splits. The Three Stoodges. Warner Bros. cartoons. The late columnist Erma Bombeck. Sex & the City.

So what do I do when the male CP's and beta readers find a scene hysterically funny and the female CP's and betas wonder why the hell I thought this scene was remotely amusing?

These things bothered me for a long time until DH pointed out with all gentleness, "Honey, have you noticed you write more like Jim Butcher than Sherrilyn Kenyon?"

I know he meant the comment at a compliment, I took it as a compliment since I LOOOVVVE the Dresden Files, but why did it leave me with an unsettled feeling? Because it made me wonder about my own identity. Am I like the lesbian in the joke who was so butch she wanted a gay relationship with a man? Have I done a complete 360 in my concept of gender?

Ironically, it was Jay Lake's call for recommendations for sf/f material for his pre-teen daughter that made me realize my early reading influences had shaped my writing. A majority of authors that I read, regardless of the author's gender, wrote about adventure. I wasn't interested in character sketches as much as fantastic voyages, buried treasure or riding a fire-breathing dragon.

So I decided to accept that this is how I write, gender be damned. Now to find an agent who loves a good adventure. . .

How to Explain Genres

A new writer asked me the difference between genres and literary fiction the other day. I wish I had this with me. The marvelously funny Jay Lake does a much better job than me.