Posts in the "The Life" Category

• Reviews: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (but mostly the Bad and the Ugly)

  Dealing with reviews
  

  This week’s topic is reviews and reviewers.

  For me, the term “reviewer” always conjures up an image of an erudite literary scholar conducting a painstaking examination of an author’s work and saying insightful, revelatory things. Which is kind of funny when I think about it, because by and large, that elbow-patched, pipe tobacco-scented fantasy doesn’t correspond to my own experience.

  At the start of my career, Ed Bryant, writing in Locus, gave two of my early horror novels generous, thoughtful reviews. But then the horror field virtually collapsed for a time, and I moved into writing tie-in novels (Forgotten Realms, X-Men, Pathfinder, World of Darkness, etc.) Until Blind God’s Bluff, they were the only novels I was putting out.

  For the most part, professional critics don’t comment on tie-in novels. Thus, in recent years, most of my reviews have come from bloggers, posters in fan forums, and Amazon customers. So that’s the kind I’m going to talk about.

  I’ll start by saying I endorse the right of readers to hold and express any opinion, good or bad, about an author’s work. In fact, a writer should arguably be grateful for even negative comments. In today’s overcrowded entertainment marketplace, it may well be that any mention is better than none. Still, that said, reviews occasionally make me wince.

  Sometimes the problem is pure inaccuracy. One guy who reviewed my X-Men novel attributed it to Christopher Golden. Now, Christopher Golden is a fine writer who wrote some terrific X-Men books back in the day, so maybe I should have taken it as a compliment. But I would rather have had my story credited to me.

  At least that bit of confusion was comprehensible. A guy who reviewed one of my Forgotten Realms novels trashed it because of a single scene he didn’t like. His description made it clear to me that the sequence in question is not actually in the book. I have no idea what story he was thinking of, but it wasn’t mine.

  It’s also exasperating when reviewers elevate their personal preferences into Absolute and Universal Principles of Art. For example, if someone gives zero stars to a paranormal romance because he hates the whole paranormal romance genre, or stomps a novel for being told in the first person because he never likes stories told in the first person, that’s unfair, and it doesn’t say anything useful to anybody reading the review.

  And sometimes bad reviews have a frustrating lack of detail. “Byers is a lousy writer, and this book sucks.” Okay, but why does it suck? What didn’t you like about it?

  But of course, much as writers might wish the poorer reviewers would up their game, it’s never going to happen. People are going to write manifestly wrongheaded comments on our work from time to time, and in fact, readers who aren’t so easily dismissed will take shots at us, too. We have to learn to cope with bad reviews.

  For me, it helps to realize there’s no such thing as a writer whose work has universal appeal. Some people don’t appreciate H. P. Lovecraft and Fritz Leiber, and if even the true giants of our field can’t please everybody, I’d be crazy to expect to do better.

  It also helps to remember the reviewer was only speaking for himself. He wasn’t giving voice to a silent multitude of disappointed readers.

  But the most important thing to understand is that no matter how stupid and abusive a review might seem, the writer should resist any temptation to answer back. If the reviewer didn’t like the book, nothing the author can say will persuade him he actually did. And more importantly, no matter how courteous and reasonable the writer’s rebuttal (and he may not find it all that easy to be courteous and reasonable if he’s pissed off), he runs a significant risk at being seen as a thin-skinned, arrogant jerk lashing out at a poor little reader just for daring to express a less-than-adulatory opinion. That’s not a good public image to cultivate.

  Basically, the advice above boils down to shrug off bad reviews and move on. But is that really always the best response? Can’t writers learn from criticism?

  If dozens of reviews pointed to the same alleged defect in an author’s work, I guess that issue might conceivably be worth considering. But in my experience, that hasn’t been the case. Those who’ve disliked my stuff have given diverse and indeed contradictory reasons why. Considered all together, the comments essentially canceled each other out.

  Even if they hadn’t, though, it’s questionable that the feedback could have helped me, because it was commentary on work finished a year or more before. In the interim, I’d written other stories, and I hope, grown into a slightly different and more accomplished writer. Moreover, when the review appeared, I was in the middle of a new project, which may well have posed very different problems. Even if the criticism was valid, there was a good chance it was no longer relevant.

  Thus, those who post reviews thinking writers will alter their approaches in response have unrealistic expectations. Fortunately, that’s not the only reason to do it. It can be satisfying to express one’s opinions to other readers. Imagine, for example, the pleasure you yourself might experience by posting a glowing review of Blind God’s Bluff on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Hypothetically speaking.

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• The Writer and Reviewer: An Interview with Nick Sharps

  Dealing with reviews
  

  Those are his actual teeth. Horrifying, isn't it?

  So, for today’s post on the topic of “The Relationship Between Writer and Reviewer” I thought I’d do something a bit different. I asked my dear (almost too dear) friend Nick “Shrapnel” Sharps of The Bookish Mafia, Elitist Book Reviews, and SF Signal if he’d be interested in talking with me about the assigned topic and some other stuff.

  Enjoy!

  (Oh, and if you haven’t read his interview with me on SF Signal, you can find it here.)

  #

  ZJ: How did we meet? (Seriously, I have a terrible memory and don’t remember.)

  #

  NS: I sent you a message on Facebook asking for an ARC of NO RETURN so I’d have some fuel for my furnace this winter.

  #

  ZJ. Ah. Immediate jokes at my expense. I am wounded.

  Did you think we would become friends?

  #

  NS: Are there any other kind of jokes? 
I didn’t not think we would become friends. Over the past year I’ve developed a pretty good rapport with lots of cool authors. Without wanting to break any hearts or trample any delicate feelings I’d say that largely these are semi-formal acquaintanceships. The authors I’ve met are pleasant and sociable but I usually try to keep some distance. I don’t ever want to be seen as one of those hardcore fans that just decides they’re best friends with an author and pesters them into oblivion. I’ll totally geek out about talking to you, but I won’t show you the tattoo of your face I’m getting inked on my back.

  I was instantly won over by your winning personality—you struck me as someone who was genuinely gracious for any attention you got.

  Still, I never expected to make such a good friend in such a short amount of time. Especially with a complete stranger.

  #

  ZJ: An insult followed by praise!

  Well, I hope I’m gracious. I’m always surprised when authors aren’t upon receiving attention.

  And me too! I haven’t made a really good friend that quick in, well, maybe ever
. I was amused as hell by your personality and intelligence, and entirely shocked to discover you were in your earliest 20s. It’s been very cool to see how much we have in common despite differing backgrounds and even some beliefs that—on paper, anyway—are conflicting.

  Did it worry you at all that we had become such fast friends, and that you’d soon be reading (and perhaps reviewing) my book?

  #

  NS: Did it worry me? It terrified me (I scare easily) that I had just made friends with a guy whose book I would be reviewing. It would have been a little different if NO RETURN wasn’t your debut novel. If I’d read some books written by Zachary Jernigan prior to contacting you and buddying-up, that would have been one thing. But to befriend a debut author? I had no clue how awful your writing might be.

  I take reviewing seriously. Were it not for Steve Diamond of Elitist Book Reviews and John DeNardo of SF Signal, I would still be paying for all my books—and that’s a hobby I can ill afford. I read 70 books in 2012 after all.

  But for the first time since I took up reviewing I found myself questioning my own integrity. I hadn’t even read NO RETURN and I was considering what to do if it sucked like a Dyson. It caused no small amount of anxiety.

  I didn’t want to betray my readers and I didn’t want to betray the sites I contribute to. I didn’t want to betray my own ethics. Despite all this I was concerned about losing a friend if I had to really tear into the book. 
Luckily the ARC came around and all my fears turned out to be unfounded. NO RETURN didn’t suck. In fact, it very much didn’t suck. And that’s when I faced a new problem. What if people found my review to be too positive? What if I was accused of pandering because of our connection? It was a whole new level of angst. Eventually I got over it. I realized that so long as I relayed exactly what I felt then no one could fault me. I don’t believe there’s any such thing as 100% objectivity but I gave it my best shot. And fortunately you left a couple minor details for me to pick at. That’s why they’re there isn’t it?

  #

  ZJ: No. They’re not actually there. My book is perfect. Your brain just fucked up somewhere in the process of reading it and arrived at the erroneous conclusion that there was something lacking in my writing.

  Neanderthal.

  Just joking. Maybe. I worried about the same thing, though. As much as I wanted to believe that we could still be good friends if you really didn’t like my book, I knew that I’d be resentful. And that’d be a stupid reaction, but still, I’m human (mostly).

  I think it’s admirable that you told your worries to go fuck off. Do you think most reviewers are capable of separating friendship and the act of reviewing? The entire world operates on the assumption that knowing the right people, having good relationships with them, gets you somewhere. Do you think that an author being personable with reviewers influences their reviews—maybe not to the extent of their just deciding it’s good, but in how open they are to liking it?

  #

  NS: I’d hate to speak for most reviewers. I’m probably on better terms with authors than I am with fellow critics. I will say that there are a lot of great critics and I would imagine that the key to greatness lies with detachment. On the other hand, as an Advertising/Public Relations major I am a firm believer in networking. Knowing the right people can open a lot of doors and that goes for reviewing as well, at least in my experience.

  You treat people with respect and they tend to respond in kind. I would say that personable authors do have an influence, though not necessarily a +2 rating boost. If an established author messages me and requests politely that I read their work they are off to a good start. Critics want to feel wanted, it doesn’t hurt to stoke the ego a little. It’s the same as using a server’s name at a restaurant. It doesn’t cost you anything and it establishes an amiable atmosphere.

  #

  ZJ: That makes perfect sense. I know that I want to establish a good relationship with people because, well, I want people to like me—especially when we have a similar interest. I honestly want to make friends, caution be damned. I know at some point that I’ll have my feelings hurt when someone I like and respect doesn’t like something I do, but having friends is more important than that.

  What, good sir, do you see your future relationship to sff literature being? I’ve read some of your fiction, and it’s abundantly clear you have a talent for it—yes, far beyond that of most people your age. I’m not licking your polyps here, either; I’m not shy about telling people I like something (or vice versa).

  And on a personal note, have our interactions had any impact on the way you view reviewing, and writing in general?

  #

  NS: Polyps? Sounds like something that need be excised rather than licked… As for my future relationship with sff literature? I love reading and I love writing. Obviously I’m going to keep reading, unless the Literary Gods strike my vision for some hubris. I do need to start reading more non-fiction as much as it kills me. I have a copy of Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy that is collecting dust.

  But I have higher aspirations. I want to write. I’m working on an urban fantasy short story that I intend to submit to an upcoming anthology. One day I’d like to publish a novel. Of course, I’ll have to actually write it first but… small steps. I think a lot of critics are also aspiring authors. It’s another thing to take into consideration when talking about objectivity/subjectivity. The publishing industry is tightly knit. Courtesy is required if you want to get anywhere. I still hope that I can maintain my independence without burning any bridges but it is something to always keep in mind. Respect is a must.

  I asked you a couple weeks ago for some advice on how to improve my reviews. It wasn’t advice that a professional critic would give but I found it useful. I was burning myself out and it gave me a boost and a new perspective. I’m grateful for that. Your support has also motivated me to sit down on my lazy ass and actually write. I’ve written more fiction in the last month than I did all last year. So that’s another reason to be grateful.

  #

  ZJ: I’m flattered. That makes me really happy to hear. I’d like to motivate people after years of dumping on everything. I used to be a really negative guy. Hard to believe, I know.

  Something you said here resounds with me: “… I have higher aspirations. I want to write.” What is it about your current contribution—reviewing—that feels somehow insufficient? I ask this because, honestly, it’d help me have some perspective from somebody who wants to be on both sides of the equation.

  You see, I often wonder why I feel the need to write. Sometimes I feel like chastising myself for needing that validation. I mean, not everybody needs to BE READ.

  What do you think it is that produces that need in a person? And… Do you think you could be happy as “just” a reviewer?

  #

  NS: You used to be a negative guy? You and me both brother, you and me both.

  I love reviewing. I’m so opinionated and narcissistic that it provides just the outlet I need. What I enjoy most about reading is sharing. I want to talk about these books, I want to discuss the things that happen and what they might mean. I also appreciate getting a $700 HDTV for free from the Amazon Vine Program. And yet…

  That’s it isn’t it? Always the persistent, “And yet…” I have my own stories to tell. My head is filled with so many ideas on a daily basis it feels like I could system crash from data overload. If I sit in judgement over all these stories, doesn’t it stand to reason that I should step into the ring and test my own mettle?
  There’s something beautiful about storytelling. A great review is an in-depth analysis that provides consumers with adequate details to make an informed decision. A great story though… that can change lives.

  I do want that validation and I don’t feel too shameful over it. We all need validation in some form. The best I can hope to achieve with a well-written review is to save someone money or clue them into a worthy series. The best I can hope to achieve with a well-written story is limitless.

  Storytelling is a natural aspect of the human condition. Ants can build gargantuan structures with climate control. Monkeys can use tools but can they tell stories? No really—I’m asking. Can monkeys tell stories? Because that would be soooo cool!

  It’s almost like storytelling is a primal instinct. Isn’t that why we have social networking? We’re all sitting around a digital campfire telling stories. I won’t pretend that all stories are Tolkien quality. There are plenty of examples of 50 Shades caliber writing: lol bryan drunk all tha beer. Still, they’re stories.

  I don’t think I could ever be happy as “just” a reviewer. I want to be able to see my book on a shelf in a store and pick it up and shout, “Hey everyone! I wrote this!” And when no one pays me any attention I want to be able to throw it at their heads. And that’s something you just can’t do with an eBook.

  #

  ZJ: A lot of writers in the past couple years have gotten into flame wars with reviewers. (I’ll leave out the names, because these guys are big sellers. I’d rather not attract their negative gaze to either of us.) What do you think about the phenomenon of authors defending themselves against the criticisms—some of which are called personal attacks by the offended party—of bloggers and the resulting free-for-all?

  #

  NS: I’d say authors retain the right to defend their work, though I don’t find it the most prudent course of action. I can empathize with the need to react and I can’t imagine what it’s like to have the product of countless hours of blood, sweat, and ink criticized. But that’s the risk you take when you put yourself in the public arena, is it not? There is a difference between a critic and an asshole with an opinion. As a critic I feel that I have certain duties—to my site, to the reader, to myself, and to the author.

  My duty to the author is to explain what I liked and didn’t like and why. This gives the author the opportunity to make adjustments, not based solely on my review of course but based on many reviews. I’d like to think that this is an essential tool to helping authors improve their craft.

  I don’t write reviews to offend anyone. You’ll find that very few of my reviews could be considered “negative” because much of the time I can see the merit of a book even if I don’t like it. I write reviews to help people. Assholes with opinions are out there for attention. Responding to them fuels the fire. With the Internet it’s safe to say, “Don’t feed the trolls.”

  That doesn’t mean that authors shouldn’t defend themselves, they should just exercise caution when they do.

  Especially because I have seen instances where authors have confused helpful criticism with personal attacks. It can devolve into a real mess, and it is an easy way to lose respect for someone.

  #

  ZJ: Do you think it’s possible that the author might not be aware of the things she or he put in the book, though?

  Like, say you published a novel and someone accused you of being sexist: it’s all fine and good for you to defend yourself by saying, “Just because I wrote a sexist world doesn’t mean I’m sexist,” but what if you aren’t aware of what a sexist douche you are?

  #

  NS: Oh that’s a murky line. As a middle class rich white male with a limited experience of the world outside my own comfort zone I’m not entirely sure I have any right to speak on the matter. My natural reaction is, “More of that over-sensitive nonsense.” I know that’s not right though. I know that there is sexism in fiction and I know it causes a rift. In my opinion it’s possible to write about a sexist setting and not be a sexist yourself—but if you have a pattern of writing sexist settings you might want to consider striking out into new territory.

  #

  ZJ: Well, shit, that’s reasonable. Damn you.

  Anyway, sorry this wasn’t as freewheeling as our first interview. I think I’m having an allergic reaction to something I ate, and that’s not putting me in the best mood. (I wish I were kidding, but I ain’t.)

  Do you have any last words, you goat?

  #

  NS: Last words? I would just like to thank The Night Bazaar for allowing me and Zack to goof around. I would like to thank Zack for giving me an excuse to talk about myself and drink beer. I would like to thank the reader for reading (duh). Cheers and I hope to defile this fantastic blog again in the future!

  #

  ZJ: God, you’re adorable. I’m glad we’re friends.

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• Awaiting judgment

  Dealing with reviews
  

  This is me. (Photo by Anna Martinez)

  Hi, I’m Mike. I’m a novelist.

  
  

  You have no idea how gratifying it was to write that.

  
  

  My debut novel, The Daedalus Incident, comes out May 7 from Night Shade Books. I’m excited to join my fellow scribes here at the Night Bazaar, and I can see I’m in very talented company. I’ll do my best to keep up.

  
  

  I’m no stranger to criticism about my writing. Spending 15 years as a journalist will do that. I sometimes joked that if everybody hated an article, I must’ve done something right that day. I reviewed the first iMac for ABCNEWS.com, and let me tell you, if that doesn’t earn you a thick skin, nothing will. (Love you, Apple fans! Please…don’t hurt me.)

  
  

  I admit, though, this is different. Daedalus is my first novel, and I want everybody to love it as much as I do. They won’t, of course, and all my reporter braggadocio will wither in the face of the slings and arrows sent my way by reviewers who think sailing ships in space is an awful idea. I’m stocking up on tissues and ice cream as we speak.

  
  

  But in all seriousness, I want honest feedback. This is my first book, after all, and if all goes well, it won’t be my last. Good criticism is a major part of improvement as a writer, and I will accept it with good grace.

  
  

  

  This is my book.

  The SF/F community, online and off, has been very welcoming, and there’s already been some kind things said about the book, or at least its premise. I’ve gotten to know some reviewers via Twitter and such, and they seem like good-hearted, fair individuals. I look forward to their thoughts.

  
  

  Will the one-star trolls on Goodreads and Amazon drive me crazy? Of course. They drive everybody crazy. But I’d like to think that most genre fans know to look past these alleged reviews and seek out more thoughtful opinions. And so long as those critiques are fair and well-intentioned, I’ll own them.

  
  

  A thought on critics, as opposed to reviewers: A reviewer tells you if he or she liked the book, and why. Critics, in my mind, are the folks who spend a ton of time thinking about the genre, read voraciously, and seek to place the book in the broader context of SF/F. They contribute a great deal to the genre, beyond simply stating their opinion on the book itself. If a critic deigned to review The Daedalus Incident, I’d be thrilled, no matter what they said.

  
  

  Well, almost no matter what they said. If it sucks, I don’t want to know.

  
  

  Michael J. Martinez is the author of The Daedalus Incident. He blogs at www.michaeljmartinez.net and Tweets at @mikemartinez72. You can bid on a signed galley of the book over at Con or Bust, with auction proceeds going toward helping people of color attend SF/F conventions. The auction starts Feb. 9 and wraps up Feb. 24. Bid early, bid often, and read it before it hits the shelves!

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• Don’t Be Hatin’

  Dealing with reviews

  I’ve had a number of books published, and it still amazes me to think that total strangers are reading these weird elaborations of my most intimate dreams and nightmares.  Judging me for the shameful confessions of my Id.  The way I cope is by not thinking about it—I cast each book into the void and move on to the next one.

  But the reviews.  The reviews keep reminding me.

  Now, I love anybody who makes the effort to read my books.  If someone spends their precious time (not to mention money) on my writing, they are entitled to air their opinion.  They bought that right, and it’s my responsibility as an author to face their criticism in good grace.  It’s not like I never expected to piss anybody off.   Frankly I’m amazed I haven’t been prosecuted by now.

  To be honest, I’m always fascinated to read other people’s thoughts on my work, because often I have no idea what I’ve written until it is explained to me.  Like Kafka, I tend to think everything I write is funny…which may not be how most others see it.

  The only thing that bothers me is when a reviewer misrepresents my work.  This is usually not out of any nefarious purpose, but because they haven’t read enough of it to have an informed opinion.  Easier just to run with their assumptions.

  This happened a lot with my first book, Xombies (2004), which was assumed by many to be genre kitsch, when in fact it was actually an attempt to subvert and satirize genre kitsch.  Not everyone could appreciate the difference.  Yet I keep trying!

  Then there are the folks who get offended by a novel’s subject matter but will not admit it for fear of revealing their own bias—instead they will simply announce that the book is bad.  They know that if they say they hate a book because it offends something they hold sacred, that might actually attract more readers, so they simply say, “Don’t bother reading this book.”  That’s not a review, but a cheap attempt at sabotage.

  Reading is intensely personal; no one can predict what someone else may or may not like.  Many of the greatest books ever written were banned at one time or another by sanctimonious idiots setting themselves up as arbiters of taste.  If a book is “bad” because we disagree with its ideas, then we should be prepared to say why.

  Often I wish I could respond to reviews, start a dialogue with readers.  Maybe someday I’ll do that, spend my golden years replying at length to every remark ever posted on Goodreads.

  Nothing could possibly go wrong with that.

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• Reviews

  Balance

  

  First up: EXILE IS RELEASED! It’s in book stores and available from

  wherever you like to order online.  And since this is about reviews,

  if you read it, I’d love it if you left me one around the

  internet somewhere.

  

  Whew! On to the topic at hand. Reviews.

  Disclaimer 1: I don’t write reviews. Amazon won’t let me since I’m an author, after all that sock puppet nonsense,  plus I’m too busy writing other stuff.

  Disclaimer 2: I hardly ever read reviews for books I want, either. I’ve given it up.

  Disclaimer 3:  I hate my reactions to reviews.

  I like them too much when they’re good. I pretty much  lurve my stuff. I want everybody else to lurve it too!

  Bad reviews of my stuff messes with my writing mojo. I wish it weren’t so, but writers are mostly neurotic. I’m sure I’m hardly alone in that. I am lucky because I haven’t had a lot of bad reviews; but then I haven’t had a lot of reviews at all yet. But I pretty much  lurve my stuff. I want everybody else to lurve it too!

  Stellar reviews of other people’s stuff makes me jealous. Oh so green, and not the urpy shade. Here I am in the back row:  Like me! Like me! Pleeeease like me!

  Hey, that’s my friend you’re talking about. The SF/F community is itsy bitsy. I know a lot of writers.  Most of them are really good, hardworking people. Many of them I count among my friends. So I get the same visceral, unhappy reaction when I read a bad review of a friend’s work as I would if someone badmouthed them.

  The following peeves have more to do with reviews in general, and really they’re a collection of why I no longer read reviews of others’ work. Downloading free samples is sufficient for me.

  Reviews attacking the writer. Like I said before (it bears repeating), there is a person behind every book. I hate when people flip off folks on the internet highway and drive off.

  Posting under an alias. When I first started on the internet late last century, anonymous was all the rage. But no longer. Be you. Be proud. Be nice. Even when you don’t like something you don’t have to be a jerk about it.

  The vendetta review. There’s just something disturbing about taking the time and trouble to run around to several sites posting the same negative review.

  Reviewing books you haven’t finished. This might be considered fair among reviewers, but I think if you’re going to the trouble to talk about a book, you should go to the trouble of reading the whole thing. Not all reviews claim to have not finished the book and sometimes it’s clear the reviewer didn’t.

  Mentioning other books by other authors. Stay on topic.

  Criticizing authors for things not under their control. Obviously this applies to traditionally published writers. Here’s a list of things the publisher generally controls, not the author:

  • Cover
  • Format – including font size, number of pages, chapter and scene break glyphs
  • Copy-editing
  • Release dates
  • Cost — wholesale is determined by the publisher and distributor, retail is determined by the retailer.
  • How long a book remains on shelves is generally up to the retailer, and readers.

  Spoilers. Even with an alert, spoilers annoy the hell out of me. I think it’s fine to talk about plot in general terms but leave the details to the people who want to still read the book. I think it comes off as kind of nasty, actually, because it’s like “here, I’ll tell you the whole story so you don’t have to buy it!”

  Attacking politics, religion, or character based on what you read in a novel. It’s fiction, people.  You can’t judge what a writer likes according to their fiction, and it’s not fair to judge a plot point in a novel based on your own prejudices or dislikes. At least, people should know when personal prejudice/likes/dislikes are affecting their judgment of books.

  Disliking or Liking something to ride the coattails of the work or writer. There are plenty of hipster reviewers out there: the folks who hate what everyone else loves. Ditto sycophants, especially with famous writers.

  Clicking stars without stating your case in so many words. I admit, I’ve been guilty of this in the past. But I’ve quit since I realize that this really is of no help to readers who do like to read reviews.

  Any others I should have included? Like I said, reviews aren’t really my forte. But like them or not, they are a part of the literary landscape and have been for a long time. Other readers and writers rely on them, too, so it’s important to be thoughtful about them.

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• Sexism, our community, and our genre

  Conventions and Conferences
  

  This week, we denizens of the Night Bazaar are invited to consider sexism in the science fiction/fantasy/horror/comics/whatever community and the genre of the fantastic itself. It’s further suggested we contemplate sexual harassment at conventions, the suggestion that provocatively clad female cosplayers aren’t true geeks, and the sexist content or lack of same in our own work and that of others.

  I find this task daunting because I don’t know how to cleverly discuss the three subtopics in relation to one another to demonstrate a single underlying truth. I can kick each of them around a little, but if the following lacks the unity a good essay should have, I ask your indulgence.

  I haven’t witnessed sexual harassment at a con in a while, but I don’t doubt it still occurs. In my opinion (and this may shock you), it’s bad.

  In fact, it’s bad enough that no convention committee worth a damn will allow it to continue if they know it’s going on. (If they do, they need to be replaced, or we need not to patronize the event they run anymore.) Thus, I encourage anyone who’s the target of harassment to report the situation to convention registration or security. Don’t let some asshole ruin your good time.

  But I don’t mean to put the whole burden of stopping harassment on convention staff. Any attendee who witnesses harassment can intervene, although I recommend tact and the support of likeminded souls over any approach you may have seen in a Jason Statham movie.

  As I hope you gleaned from the above, I take the issue of sexual harassment seriously. That sets it apart from the cosplay controversy, which is stupid.

  In last week’s post, I referenced John Scalzi’s comment that a geek is anyone who chooses to define him- or herself that way. If we accept this premise (and it strikes me as pure snobbery not to), then the idea that a female cosplayer or anybody else knocking around fandom is a fake geek becomes nonsensical.

  But actually, there’s more (albeit, nothing that’s more sensible) to this particular issue.

  Besides doubting whether the women in question are genuine 100% honest-to-Gernsback geeks, their detractors decry the fact that they wear tight or skimpy outfits, and as a result, male fans look at them with appreciative eyes. Presumably, this is deemed deplorable because someone is supposedly being exploited or hurt. Why else would anybody care?

  But I don’t see the exploitation or harm. To me, this just looks like a fannish instance of normal human behavior. A con is a big party for our clan, women commonly try to look attractive at parties, and guys enjoy the view.

  Is that horrible? Surely, only if sexuality itself is dangerous and/or disgusting. In my judgment (and again, this may shock you), it isn’t.

  Well, then, does the behavior somehow become horrible when geeks are involved? Only if our community is made up of psychological defectives at risk of flipping out over something the rest of society takes in stride. And it’s not. There’s a smidgen of truth in the stereotype of the socially awkward geek, but relatively few of us make the sexual predator watch list or jump out of high windows upon glimpsing cleavage.

  But even though we don’t, perhaps it’s still worth taking a critical look at the genre of the fantastic as novelists, filmmakers, comic book creators, etc., work in it today. Is there content that might influence the audience to view sexual harassment as acceptable or to go nuts when cosplayers dress up as Lieutenant Uhura or Vampirella?

  I don’t see sexism in my own stuff, but I realize I could conceivably be blind to that which is painfully apparent to others. I have female readers, though, and those who share their reactions with me aren’t complaining. That gives me hope that I’m doing something right.

  It’s hard for me to comment on the field as a whole because, as I mentioned in a previous post, I simply don’t get to read or watch more than a tiny fraction of what’s out there. But in what I do see, strong female characters are the norm. Passive, helpless women appear rarely, at least in central roles.

  That said, weak women aren’t the only sort of sexist female character a writer could create, and in horror, I often still encounter the succubus, whose evil sexuality destroys men. Come to think of it, I myself wrote a version of her in Blind God’s Bluff. But horror’s a good place for her. Men and women don’t understand each other perfectly, that misunderstanding can create a little anxiety and mistrust in even the best of us, and the purpose of horror (well, one of its purposes) is to stick our fears, major and minor, rational and otherwise, on a stage and take a look at them.

  In any case, in horror or any other genre, we do well to be wary of concluding that the writer who creates the occasional weak or evil female character, or who depicts the occasional act of brutality against women, is a sexist swine propping up all that’s vile and atavistic in our culture. Because there actually are weak and evil women in real life just as there are strong and virtuous ones, and women do sometimes fall victim to brutality. Writers need the freedom to depict such people and situations, or their work will be less than it could be. (Which is not to suggest that a creator’s entire body of work might not convey a pervasive attitude. I’m not trying to get John Norman off the hook.)

  It does seem to me that both the culture of the US and our subculture of fandom are gradually changing for the better. Eventually, we might even reach a point where women simply don’t get harassed, nobody freaks out over skintight costumes, and no one finds it necessary to check our entertainments for sexual political correctness. That would be nice.

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• Stop Talking, Start Changing – Guest Post by Jaym Gates

  Conventions and Conferences

  Rumors have a way of spreading at conventions, and so the first time I heard that some guy was being abusive toward women at the 2011 World Fantasy Convention, I didn’t pay much attention, figuring it had already been addressed. The second, third and fourth times? I started paying attention.

  By the second day, he had gone from nuisance to threat, and women were hiding in their hotel rooms to avoid him. A friend, knowing my experience in working security and helping resolve harassment issues, asked me to take it up with the WFC Board.

  By Saturday night, the behavior had escalated from threats to ‘accidental’ touching of breasts, attempts to force a kiss, and more. Eventually, I had to call hotel security to get rid of him…and then watch people defend his actions.

  But I’ve already written those reports many times, and there’s no sense in getting bogged down on it now. You can find the link here, if you want to read more.

  This isn’t about one incident, or one guy, or one convention, or one bitch with a bee in her bonnet. It’s about the #1reasonwhy tag on Twitter, talking about sexism in the game industry. That topic would go on to be written up in leading genre sites and national magazines. It’s about the ReaderCon incident, the rape ‘jokes’ on online articles, the claims that ‘nothing’s wrong with us’.

  It’s about how frequently this happens, how little recourse there is, and how damaging it is to the industry at large. It isn’t a problem for a subset of women, or women in one particular industry. It isn’t just about rape or inappropriate touching, this isn’t just some ‘bitch with a bee in her bonnet’ (as one abuser called me).

  It’s about respect, safety, dignity, honesty and pride. It’s a problem for the men, too, because most of them are not rapists or abusers, but they end up being treated with the same caution because there’s no sticker that says ‘danger danger’. It’s a problem for conventions, because it means women are less likely to attend, and men who understand the issue are less likely to attend, and then things just keep going downhill from there.

  But here’s the thing. I’m tired of talking about it. I realized, as I was writing this article, that everything I want to say has already been said in so many ways, at so many places. We’ve raised our voices. We’ve brought attention to it. What more is there to say? We need to stop just talking and start doing something about it.

  An excellent example of this is the Readercon fiasco. A woman was harassed, the ball was dropped, other people came forward, the community demanded a response. The board was replaced, and things simmered down. We all felt very proud of ourselves.

  And then we got reports that he was at WorldCon, helping out behind the stage, and continuing to make women uncomfortable.

  Now, the outcry was the initial key that got this going. We did make good progress, yes. Things were briefly better. But the problem is, it is more damaging when one goes into what should be a safe environment, and isn’t, than when one goes into an environment that is known to be unsafe. It is traumatic to have that safety compromised. It’s like getting into your house and finding a burglar waiting for you. That’s your sanctity, your safe place.

  How many women did we lose from the conventions in question, because of that? How many men? How many people?.

  It is about not just paving the way for the future in terms of new technology and cool products, but in basic human decency, too. Science made amazing breakthroughs last year, but we’re still caught up in trying to figure out if women have the right to feel safe in a social circle. SF needs to decide if it’s a clubhouse or an industry, because it can’t be both ways.

  Fixing this isn’t going to be easy, and it sure won’t be fun. We’re going to have to stir up the bees’ nest, and we will get stung. We’ll lose friends, and people will be hurt, but it has to happen.

  And until it does, we have no right calling ourselves the ‘genre of the future’.

  Jaym Gates is the publicist for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Pathfinder Tales and more.

  Her work includes anthologies Rigor Amortis and Broken Time Blues, short stories in Aether Age and M-Brane SF magazine, nonfiction in Fantasy Magazine and Crossed Genres, and blog appearances at Science In My Fiction, Apex Book Company, Booklife Now, and the SFWA blog.

  She can be found on Twitter (@JaymGates), and information about hiring her can be found at jaymgates.com (forgive the mess, it is temporary!).

  ---

  Link: http://kotaku.com/5963528/heres-a-devastating-account-of-the-crap-women-in-the-games-business-have-to-deal-with-in-2012

  Link: http://glvalentine.livejournal.com/tag/readercon

  ---

  Link: http://jaymgates.com/misc/wfc-2011-creeper/

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• Sexism, Misogyny and Harassment: A Thousand Or So Words to Realize I’m Part of the Problem.

  Conventions and Conferences
  

  Yes, this is your author. Inspires a LOT of confidence, doesn't it?

  I was at Readercon last year, but knew nothing of the harassment of Genvieve Valentine until I got home.

  Yeah, the thought of that happening made me mad, as it obviously should. No man should reach adulthood and feel that kind of freedom to harass another human being. Social pressure should have been exerted on that individual from the moment he started exhibiting sings of such aggression.

  Yeah, the thought of it all made me embarrassed on behalf of my other cock-wielding humans. As it should.

  You know what made me feel the most anger and embarrassment, however? Just after the harassment became public knowledge, there were a couple dude-bros — inevitably; dude-bros ruin everything — who opened their goddamn mouths to say something along the lines of, “If only I’d been there, I would’ve done something.”

  Yeah? What would you have done? Defended poor, weak little Genevieve?

  With all due respect (which isn’t much): Fuck you, you failures at life. Put your dicks back in your pants.

  The only time you should be stepping in and helping someone is when their well-being is threatened — when a person is in danger and unable to defend themself. Or when they ask for help. Even then, you’ll probably make the situation worse.

  But here’s the important thing: That scenario has nothing to do with the victim’s sex, the assailant’s sex, or — and here’s the kicker — your sex.

  Yeah, really.

  Genevieve didn’t need any extra help from the penises; if you paid even the slightest attention to her posts on the incident, you’d know she had plenty of supporters with her — supporters she hardly needed, because she handled herself with strength and aplomb.

  #

  I don’t bring this up to go over what has already been gone over, again and again, by others more literate and knowledgeable than I. No, I bring it up because I think such interactions are a good representation of the sophistication of many — far too many — male geeks when confronted with a vagina’d individual:

  BREASTS
  =
  VAGINA / BUTT / LEGS
  =
  ALIEN
  or
  GODDESS
  or
  WHORE
  or
  MOTHER
  = (eventually)
  WOMAN
  or
  GIRL (as their known near-ubiquitously to such men — ahem — boys)
  =
  OH MY GOD IN HEAVEN IT’S A GIRL LOOK
  IT’S BOOBS AND UNDER THERE THERE’S A
  SNATCH AND STARE STARE STARE STARE…
  =
  CREEPER SNAPSHOT
  or
  INAPPROPRIATE COME-ON
  or (if he’s one of those shy Nice Guys)
  WILDLY MISOGYNISTIC COMMENT LATER ON WOW FORUM

  I’d love, absolutely love, to have a more positive view, but despite any forward momentum gained (and no one will deny that there’s been some), this last year’s been yet another confirmation that male geek “culture” is producing maladjusted individuals at a disappointingly robust rate. I hardly need to provide links; male geeks behaving badly toward female geeks has been all the rage over the interwebs.

  It’s disappointing as hell, frankly. It’s one of the few things that makes me want to be part of another scene.

  #

  Don’t get me wrong: I’m not immune to my culture, geeky or otherwise. I’m not now claiming — nor would I ever claim — that I always act consistently with my stated beliefs. Sometimes, I think sexist thoughts. Disappointingly often, I say things or make assumptions based on these sexist thoughts. It’s an ongoing struggle to unlearn what my culture has told me about the differences between women and men. It’s even harder to let go of the privilege I’ve been born to just because I’ve got a dick and can grow a (neck)beard.

  

  Wha--? A woman? But this is MY Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy forum! I smeared poop on my computer to prevent things like this from happening!

  But I keep on with the struggle.

  Why? Because I don’t want to view women as less than they are, and — far more importantly — I don’t want women to be held back by my (and my bejohnsoned peers’) prejudice.

  If someone as immature, as indoctrinated, as neuronally-slow as me gets this — or, at the very least, sees that the disparity is entirely unjust and harmful and that something should be done about it — why is it so hard for others to make even a rudimentary effort to change their mindsets?

  Why do so many refuse to see that there’s a problem at all? Why do so many insist that fandom is diverse and welcoming, when the limits of this claim are so clearly defined? Why must there be all this fucking butthurt when a righteous volley is launched at the walls of the palace of geekdom? Do male geeks not realize that self-criticism is necessary for growth?

  But maybe these geeks don’t want to grow up. Maybe it’s more urgent to them that they keep the wiminz out of the borders of their ever shrinking kingdoms than reevaluate their prejudice.

  Maybe the right to tell a boob joke without reprisal is just that important to them.

  #

  If any of the above seems too harsh to any of you guys reading, then you can kindly pull your scrotum up over your head, click the Exit button, and go back to living blind, calcifying in a room that reeks of sweat, masturbation, Cheetos, and failure.

  Real people — no, I won’t say real men — face the charges coming at them. They FIX SHIT.

  I’m angry; I think this is clear. The subject enrages me because I fucking love the science fiction, fantasy, and horror folks who have adopted me with open arms. (For years, I was alone in my geekdom, a silent observer. Only in the last three years have a I really come out.) I’m upset because I’m aware that those arms would likely have been a little less open to me if I were a woman (or a person of color, or a non-cisgendered individual, etc.). I’m upset, basically, because there is a situation under our noses that demands action, and so many people are denying it exists.

  I’m pissed because I KEEP TALKING and — moreover — feeling largely justified for doing so. It’s easy to feel you have an audience when you’re whole life you’ve been made to feel important because you’re a man, and white, and…

  Yeah. It’s all a big unfair mess. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that guys like Scott Lynch speak up against bigots, but for all the attention he’s received you’d think he invented cold fusion. Why aren’t more women being celebrated for knocking in the teeth of gross fanboys?

  I’ll tell you why. It’s because the most vocal part of our community is made comfortable by the knowledge that the act of righteousness comes from a verifiably male (and white, and cisgendered) source. This group of geeks gets to pat itself on the back for being so amazingly buttkickingly awesome, all without having to confront the nasty OTHER.

  #

  Ah, shit. Whatever. I’m going to wrap this up, because I’ve just reread what I wrote and become disgusted by my overabundance of words and self-righteousness. I won’t erase it, however, because I think it’s just enough to prove my point that male geeks are still doing too much of the talking where women are concerned in this community.

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• Male Feminists: You Don’t Get a Cookie

  Conventions and Conferences

  “Male Feminists: You Don’t Get a Cookie” was the name of a panel I was on at WisCon a few years back.  The ironic title referred to the long standing, but sadly not recognized-enough conceit that “You don’t get to receive a bunch of accolades for just being a decent human being.”  It was a panel about what men can do to be supportive allies in the struggle for gender equity.

  There were a lot of basic progressive 101 ideas that came out of it… Listen, don’t talk over your allies…  Don’t assume your experiences are directly applicable to people who have less agency, or different life opportunities…. Don’t assume that women always need a man’s help or protection, but learn to recognize if and when they do… There were a lot of things discussed that many people SHOULD know but sadly don’t seem to.  And yes, at some point during the panel, someone threw a cookie at me.

  One of the important things for me was that it provided a “safe” place (flying cookies aside) for me to talk about my experience of being a world fantasy judge, during a year when all the judges were male. That judging experience was one of the first times I was front and center for a round of “gender politics” in the SF/Fantasy community. And it directly involved me, in both a professional and fannish capacity. I had a lot of conflicting feelings about that experience, and the panel was good place to talk about it and get feedback from like minded people in the community.

  Sadly, this would not be the last time issues of gender inequity reared their head and forced me to be an active participant. Recently, there was an ugly incident at a convention.  I’m going to speak in general terms, and not name specific people or places (Though I suspect a lot of you will recognize the incident I’m talking about).

  While attending a convention, there was a man who serially engaged in inappropriate behavior. Multiple times Thursday night…. Multiple times Friday night…. And again on Saturday night….  A very proactive (and heroic, IMO) member of the community took it upon herself to document The Creepers actions and bring his behavior to the attention of the con organizers. Any convention is busy, and time is a commodity that nobody has enough of. And this member of the community spent a lot of her time and energy to make sure the convention was safer for everyone.

  During Saturday evening this person… this Hero… approached me, and asked me to come with her, right then, and talk with the convention organizers. I had been very aware of what was going on, and what she was doing. Several of my authors were subjected to The Creepers aggression, and I had been pro-active in putting them, and anybody else who had an experience with The Creeper in touch with The Hero, so she would have even more information to help get The Creeper ejected.

  But she approached me early Saturday night and said, “I need YOU to go talk to the conventions organizers with me. Right now.” At first I was a bit confused. I asked her what she needed me to do. And she said it very simply. “Tell them what you know about the creeper, and his actions.” As her flat, un-dramatic, emotionless tone washed over me, I realized what was going on.  And I was simultaneously horrified and angry and embarrassed.

  This person… this Hero, who was spending her very limited time and energy trying to make the convention a better and safer experience for everybody, was not being taken seriously. Because she was a woman. Because she didn’t have enough social or professional standing to overcome the kneejerk reaction to a woman’s complaints about sexual harassment. It was embarrassing… Humiliating really. To realize that our little genre community… the convention that I had been attending for years… was a very hostile place… a very backwards place. A place where I was listened to and a female colleague was not, because she was a woman.

  I was glad I was able to help. My professional standing and gender encouraged the organizers to take the complaints seriously. And the creeper was ejected soon after I spoke with the organizers.

  And I was so fucking angry that the information had to come from me, or someone like me. There are heroes out there.. this one in particular, and hundreds of others… all working there asses off to make sure that the shared social space is safer for everyone.  They gather information and they present it to people in authority, and if things go really well, actions are taken. And if things don’t go well, best case scenario, the creepers keep harassing. And in just one worst case scenario, the Heroes get tarred and feathered with slurs like “thin skinned” or “troublemaker” or  “bitch” or worse.

  And every time one of these hero’s defamed, or intimidated, or silenced, the SF/F community is very much the poorer for it. Not everybody is in a place or has the resources to be a hero. But most people can stand up for Heroes… to support them… with words and deeds and actions. It may not be easy. Some people may be going against peer pressure, or face professional repercussions for not remaining silent. But, as experience showed me, support is sometimes painfully necessary.

  I was very glad that I was able to help put an end to a possibly dangerous situation at that convention. But I was saddened and frustrated that my voice was needed in that particular instance, because someone was already there, shouting at the top of her lungs. And it wasn’t enough. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, in terms of gender equity, and as the last few years of internet controversies, and convention incidents have shown, there is a lot of work that needs to be done in the SF/F community.

  This is one of the reasons why I chose this topic for this weeks series of author blogs at Night Bazaar. It’s not an easy thing to talk about. But it needs to be. I have this Night Bazaar Soap Box. And I’m very proud of the authors who are willing to step up on it and add to the conversation. Some people may come out of this conversation looking like a hero. Others may end up with cookies thrown at them. Most will end up somewhere between these extremes.  But we need to have this conversation. Because I want my sister, and my wife, and my daughter, and ALL of my authors, be they female, or queer, or of color, or differently-abled, or whatever, to feel safe in this community – in both its virtual spaces, and in the meat spaces of its conventions.

  I’ll finish by reiterating this one small thing that I took from this convention experience. If you have a voice, or position of privilege or authority that could in some small way help one of the Heroes out there… Be supportive. Be loud and vocal and proactive.

  Be generous with your support of The Heroes who get down in the muck and fight for ideals that you believe in.

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• THE JOY OF SEXISM

  The Life

  What is sexism?

  I suppose there are those who would say that if you don’t know what sexism means, you’re probably sexist.

  Maybe so.  Even as a longtime married man, I know I’ll probably never fully comprehend all the ways in which it is possible to offend women…but I would be the first to agree that we live in a misogynistic world that treats them as sex objects.

  Sadly, women in the SF/F community are no more safe from this kind of exploitation than women anywhere.  It’s a disgrace, and like every other civilized man I have spent my entire life pretending to be a eunuch so women won’t think I’m a pervert (that’s the choice: eunuch or pervert), though every cell of my body screams in an agony of tormented yearning.

  Misogyny in the SF/F realm is no different than misogyny in the fashion industry: both seem to take delight in burying perfectly attractive women under the makeup, hairdos and costumes of Vegas drag queens.  Comics publishers are guilty of this big time; I’ve never understood what the hell is supposed to be so sexy about the stiletto-heeled dominatrix look – all I can think is there must be a lot of guys with unresolved Oedipal issues.

  For that matter I would like to see more casual nudity in the media, normal women (and men, I suppose, if you’re into that) whose bodies are slightly less fake than the silicone-and-CGI-enhanced strippers in Victoria’s Secret commercials.  Why does getting naked in America always have to look like cheesy softcore porn?

  But what exactly makes something sexist?

  Sexism is when people of one sex are treated worse than people of the opposite sex.  In the case of women it would seem obvious that depicting them as idealized fetish objects is sexist…except that women like it as much as men do.  That’s why women’s magazines are full of pictures of sexy women—Cosmo is hardly more feminist than Maxim.  Fact is, lots of women want to be idealized as fetish objects, because they crave the attention…at least until the attention gets creepy.  So are they using men, or are men using them?  Or are we all just screwed by our biology?  Is Mother Nature the ultimate sexist?

  Having been accused of sexism, I have an interest in the subject.

  Exhibit A of my rampant misogyny is the plot of my novel Xombies (reissued as Xombies: Apocalypse Blues).  In Xombies, most of the women on Earth are spontaneously infected with an artificial virus, Agent X, which transforms them into demonic blue furies.  These terrifying creatures then proceed to “Xombify” the males of the species by infecting them orally—the dreaded “Kiss of Death.”

  Because men are slow to recognize their womenfolk as a serious threat, human civilization collapses overnight, leaving only a few survivors.  One of these is Lulu Pangloss, a teenage girl with a genetic immunity to Agent X.  On the run from Xombies, Lulu is rescued by her estranged father, a retired Navy officer with access to a priceless commodity in the post-apocalyptic era: a nuclear submarine.  The problem is that Lulu will be the only female in a giant steel tube full of traumatized, paranoid, or just plain horny seamen.  Wow, this sounds like porn.  It’s really not Cum Silent, Cum Deep, I promise.

  I won’t give away the whole story; suffice to say that in order to survive, Lulu must navigate the uncharted depths of the human heart, searching for light where there is only cold and dark.  That’s better.

  Some women liked Xombies a lot; others felt I was being sexist because I made women the agents of destruction.  Here was my thinking on that:  I figured women are accustomed to living in a world dominated by animalistic, predatory men—so why not flip it around?  Make men “the weaker sex” and have them live constantly in peril.  Imagine all the women in Muslim countries throwing off their veils and rampaging naked through the streets!  This was a funny thought to me, but hardly an attack on women.  More like a joke on our macho, male-dominated world.

  Anyway, that’s what I was going for.  Whether I succeeded or not is of course up to each individual reader.

  Thanks for reading!

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