Q. Why did you decide to put your hat in the ring as a write-in candidate for the board?
I think the SFWA would benefit from having someone like me on the board, for purely representational purposes. I’m an avocational writer – I have a regular job as a self-employed small businessman. Most members of the SFWA are like me, but the leadership is dominated by professionals, who are very disdainful of the rest of us.
I am not the only one-time Sad Puppy to retain membership in the SFWA, but I am one of a few. If the SFWA was intent in representing ALL writers, it should reach out to people like me.
Instead, we come under intense attack when we raise our heads out of the fox hole. Mind you, the attacks are not done in the auspices of the SFWA, but by leaders outside of it. That’s called “deniability”.
To stop its ongoing slide into corrupt irrelevance, the SFWA needs me. I don’t need it.
Q. If your candidacy is successful, what do you hope to accomplish?
The possibility of me winning is infinitesimal. The Pol Pot wing of the SFWA would simply invalidate my candidacy like Communists usually do in countries they control. The liberals would do like the U.S. Democratic Party and stuff the ballot box.
I’ve already accomplished a number of things. I’ve shown other oppressed s-f writers and fans there are people not afraid of the politically correct thugs. I’ve also given a way to people to express their dissatisfaction through casting a protest vote.
The one thing left to see is how many votes I get, but last year the SFWA didn’t release vote totals, and I doubt they will this year.
Q. What exactly have people been saying about you in response to your candidacy? Do you have archived screenshots?
I’ve been accused of everything from being thin-skinned to being a homicidal maniac. It’s almost all regurgitating the party line narrative about the Sad Puppies. For example, I’ve been accused of attempting to SWAT David Gerrold at the WorldCon in 2015. Actually, I was asking for police protection because he was inciting a lynch mob. But that’s not the party line.
I’ve attached screen shots of some typical tweets:
According to Lou, the accusation in the first tweet is entirely false, and he is considering legal action.
Note: Lou represents a significant segment of SF fandom that feels abused and disenfranchised. And yes, I'm also a member of this group -- as I have made clear in many posts on this and my former blog. A lot of us have decided to form our own support groups, but the toxicity of the folks now in power in the fandom is still a standing problem that needs to be rectified.
They are only a problem if you take them seriously. After the Puppy Wars it should be obvious these folks aren't interested in trying to grow literary SF. They just want to maintain control of a steadily shrinking fan base.
ReplyDeleteSo screw them. Let them have their little piece of workers' paradise, while the rest of us support authors who write stuff we want to read. In the current crisis, being able to move physical books into stores is a rather useless ability. So the publishers they worship are taking the express train to Oblivion.
BTW, does anyone outside of old school Trekkers like me even know who the frack David Gerrold is, let alone care enough to even want to SWAT him? These folks have no idea how irrelevant they are. They are the secret Kings of their own fantasy land.