Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) - Nerds protecting nonces

[Capsaicin Addict]

Cat Rambo! That's a name I haven't thought about in almost 20 years. I knew her as "Sanvean," which was her handle when making/running the MUD called Armageddon. Considering that game's extended history of protecting sex pests, it does not surprise me in the least that Cat ran defense for Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Fun fact: Armageddon was well-known among the roleplay-intensive MUD community as one of the most intentionally edgy games and communities. Sexual assault of adults and children were both commonly roleplayed in the game.

I vaguely remember it, but my memories may be faulty. Was that the one set after the Biblical apocalypse?

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

I vaguely remember it, but my memories may be faulty. Was that the one set after the Biblical apocalypse?

Armageddon was set in a Dark Sun-esque setting, which it eventually had to tone down after the owners of Dark Sun sent a few legal documents.

To be fair to Armageddon, they did eventually change the rules so that rape roleplay and underage characters are both banned. Of course, this did not stop some users from starting a crusade to allow both back, and current staff shows absolutely no interest in doing so. Another bone to Armageddon is that they did remove the primary sex pest offender, a fellow who went by the handle Shalooonsh, although there are still concerns regarding how this guy got away with his shit for as long as he did.

 

[Fandom Pulse]

JDA is claiming to have breaking news, Jeffe Kennedy has resigned as the head of the SFWA:

View attachment 6262584

https://x.com/jondelarroz/status/1819222158033539311

I can't find any corroborating reports yet, although he's right that she's not a sci-fi author, she writes romance novels that happen to take place on spaceships.

From SFWA members email:

…Due to the nature of the employee/employer relationship, we do not feel it is ethical or appropriate to make these matters public. Our duties as Board members require us to work in the best interest of SFWA. Our responsibilities as compassionate human beings compel us to seek solutions reflecting our respect for our employees and volunteers. Sometimes, we may fall short, especially when things happen quickly and information is limited. Moving forward, we ask for your patience and trust as we do our best to fulfill our obligations….

…All members received the email from Jeffe Kennedy explaining her resignation as SFWA’s President on Aug 1, 2024. The Board is working with all relevant stakeholders to determine the timeline and process for a special election for president as outlined in the Bylaws. We will share those details as they are finalized. In the interim, SFWA’s elected Vice President, Chelsea Mueller, will fill the office of president.

The Board acknowledges there are several other issues, both ongoing and recent, that have been brought to our attention. Please know that we are listening and we will address your concerns and your suggestions as we move forward. At the center of many of these issues is the need for greater transparency. We cannot comment on legal matters or confidential matters such as Griefcom and the Emergency Medical Fund (EMF). Still, there are many aspects of this organization where we need to improve communications with our membership. There are many good suggestions on how to do this, but most will take time to implement.

Many topics brought to the forefront need to be considered by the Board of Directors with member input. The Board has scheduled upcoming board meetings focusing on and prioritizing these topics…

Her being out likely isn't going to make things better. No one there who is involved is a real author doing real business. It's all clout chasing and larping for importance at this point.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

This is weird. I admit I do follow a couple of the Sad Puppies alumni, but the only time I can remember tweeting at the account was over them paying $100,000 for whatever it was they did for Patrick Tomlinson. And which he lost. Surely that one Tweet wasn't enough to earn me a block? Also, hadn't realized they'd dropped "of America" for "Association."


Edit:

Our responsibilities as compassionate human beings compel us to seek solutions reflecting our respect for our employees and volunteers.

Oh, Lord. As if the Venn diagram of "compassionate human beings" and SFWA members is not two separate circles with zero overlap at this point.

 

[Fandom Pulse]

This is weird. I admit I do follow a couple of the Sad Puppies alumni, but the only time I can remember tweeting at the account was over them paying $100,000 for whatever it was they did for Patrick Tomlinson. And which he lost. Surely that one Tweet wasn't enough to earn me a block? Also, hadn't realized they'd dropped "of America" for "Association."
View attachment 6266691

Edit:

Oh, Lord. As if the Venn diagram of "compassionate human beings" and SFWA members is not two separate circles with zero overlap at this point.

Half the people there don't even really write sci-fi or fantasy anymore but are romance authors who put in like werewolves into their books.

I'm wondering if this whole situation is because of the Tomlinson payout for the lawsuit and it got caught?

I wrote up everything we know about the SFWA situation brewing. It looks like a full collapse because no one wants to volunteer to tard wrangle these assholes that are involved anymore.

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

Half the people there don't even really write sci-fi or fantasy anymore but are romance authors who put in like werewolves into their books.

This triggers the fucking shit out of me like you wouldn't believe. Like, my post absolutely deserves "Mad at the Internet" until all the sexy mommas come home.

Rant below.

Spoiler

You are correct that many contemporary "sci-fi" and "fantasy" authors write the equivalent of romance or slash fanfiction dressed up with genre hallmarks to classify it as such. It's beneath the level of pulp novels and the contempt I have for this stuff is deeper than the final layer of Hell. However, it gets even worse.

There is an established trend among 21st century authors whereby they treat the audience as their therapy session and dress up everything around their trauma dump to give the appearance of a fiction genre. If you've ever seen Nanette by Hannah Gadsby, or have watched slam poetry, then you know what I'm talking about: it's the creator venting their frustrations and subjecting the audience to their uncomfortable experiences under the guise of art or entertainment.

I wouldn't even mind this so much if that's what their books (and etc.) were billed as. "This is a story about a woman who realizes she's a lesbian in a FUCKING WHITE CIS MALE transhumanist society." Do I want to read that schlock? Absolutely not, but I'm not so much of an edgy cunt that its very existence bothers me. What bothers me is when this Holden Caulfield stuff is a jack-in-the-box that doesn't get revealed until I start reading the story and realize that I've been duped into reading what I thought was an actual story. They hide this stuff because they know putting it up-front would reduce sales. Because no one wants to read this garbage.

What happened to writing a story? You know - with characters, a world around them, and a plot. There is a reason that Lolita is considered a great novel: the entire thing was contrived, but Nabokov achieved verisimilitude.

tld;r: I'm a litfag

 

[Mellorine]

Back in 1990, Orson Scott Card published a book called How To Write Science Fiction And Fantasy. Here's how he describes the SFWA of the era:




That kind of organization used to have an important role in standing up to bad publishing practices and warning authors away from shady deals. The RWA used to do similar good work, often being the one entity that could pressure small presses into paying funds owed to authors. The networking opportunities were gold too: writing is solitary af and good writing groups are hard to find, and even harder when you've gone pro. Such a shame.

 

[MajinGoku]

how would tolkien react to the sfwa if he saw it

 

[Mola Ram]

how would tolkien react to the sfwa if he saw it

He'd dismiss it as a collection of useless faggots and go back to inventing new languages, writing endless reams of new Middle-earth drafts that never go anywhere, puttering in his garden, playing solitaire, and terrorizing his neighbors with his maniac driving.

He'd just be classier about it.

 

[MajinGoku]

He'd dismiss it as a collection of useless faggots and go back to inventing new languages, writing endless reams of new Middle-earth drafts that never go anywhere, puttering in his garden, playing solitaire, and terrorizing his neighbors with his maniac driving.

He'd just be classier about it.

imagine if the sfwa sent a letter offering tolkien membership and saying that they could improve his writing skills, they are probably arrogant enough to try that.

 

[Fandom Pulse]

imagine if the sfwa sent a letter offering tolkien membership and saying that they could improve his writing skills, they are probably arrogant enough to try that.

In 2022, they ran a panel at their Nebula Awards conference of a bunch of women, and they/thems criticizing the "problematic" elements of Tolkien's fiction, all but canceling him. This organization is a complete trainwreck.

 

[Second Missing Primarch]

In 2022, they ran a panel at their Nebula Awards conference of a bunch of women, and they/thems criticizing the "problematic" elements of Tolkien's fiction, all but canceling him. This organization is a complete trainwreck.

God, that's funny. They can bitch and whine all they like about how problematic Tolkien is, but nobody is ever gonna successfully cancel him or his writing.

When the last book of the last member of SFWA has been pulled off the last bookstore shelf to be pulped and consigned to the dustbin of history, people will still be talking about JRR Tolkien and Lord of the Rings. Nobody will remember the likes of Cat Rambo, Chuck Wendig, Jeffe Kennedy, or Patrick Tomlinson.

 

[JJLiautaud]

In 2022, they ran a panel at their Nebula Awards conference of a bunch of women, and they/thems criticizing the "problematic" elements of Tolkien's fiction, all but canceling him. This organization is a complete trainwreck.

Did they fucking really? I wonder if they talked about the very anti-imperialist tone of his works?

 

[Privilege Power Hour]

In 2022, they ran a panel at their Nebula Awards conference of a bunch of women, and they/thems criticizing the "problematic" elements of Tolkien's fiction, all but canceling him. This organization is a complete trainwreck.

Whenever something like this happens, I always think of the interview where Gene Wolfe (legitimate sci-fi genius, can't recommend enough) gets asked what he thinks about English professors not taking sci-fi/fantasy seriously, and he talks about how professors have been raging against Rudyard Kipling forever, but people keep buying his books, and so let the professors get as mad as they want. The people have a power they don't and love Kipling and he'll outlive them all. Nothing different here.

 

[Hey Johnny Bravo]

Did they fucking really? I wonder if they talked about the very anti-imperialist tone of his works?

Yes. Retards like this got featured.

Whenever something like this happens, I always think of the interview where Gene Wolfe (legitimate sci-fi genius, can't recommend enough) gets asked what he thinks about English professors not taking sci-fi/fantasy seriously, and he talks about how professors have been raging against Rudyard Kipling forever, but people keep buying his books, and so let the professors get as mad as they want. The people have a power they don't and love Kipling and he'll outlive them all. Nothing different here.

What is particularly vile about these critics is they are almost always untalented hacks who seem to think that tearing down their subject will result in some creativity or fame rubbing off on them.

 

[teriyakiburns]

Patrick Tomlinson

Now now, nobody is going to forget the famed inventor of the niggeroni.

 

[MajinGoku]

Now now, nobody is going to forget the famed inventor of the niggeroni.

I wonder if the families of his deli meats will ever try to get revenge

 

[Lou's Sentient Backfat]

I wonder if the families of his deli meats will ever try to get revenge

Can't get revenge if they all get turned into pepperoni, stalker child. Enjoy prison.

 

[Gremperor]

I wonder if the families of his deli meats will ever try to get revenge

Don't worry none of those children had fathers so Pat's in the clear.

 

[Henri Barbusse]

Nobody will remember the likes of Cat Rambo, Chuck Wendig, Jeffe Kennedy, or Patrick Tomlinson.

Not for their writing, but there are other reasons for them to be remembered.