Authors on the Boards

[Timewalker]

And there's very definitely a cultural disconnect between Canadians and Americans on some issues - I've seen it happen on lots of sites.

I know a lot of Canadians, both personally in the real world and online. There is a small cultural difference, but no more so than between someone from Iowa and someone from California. The things you have described previously as a cultural difference (such as expecting an apology for being called "dude") are not cultural differences, those are personal differences.

Consider it a regional cultural difference, then. Or generational/regional. And for the last time (hopefully), I did NOT demand an apology from David Mack for his having called me "Dude." I indicated that I don't like to be addressed that way because I'm female - and yes, there is a way to tell. While it would have been nice if he'd just said something like "oops, sorry" (no more 'groveling' than a simple "excuse me" or "sorry" for bumping into somebody on the street or in a hallway), I certainly never DEMANDED it.

So would everybody just STOP accusing me of something I did NOT do?

 

[R. Star]

Shakesphere said it well, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

 

[Timewalker]

^which has nothing to do with this situation at all.

("Shakesphere"?)

 

[sojourner]

Much ado about nothing, it seems?

 

[Captaindemotion]

Much ado about nothing, it seems?

For the win.

 

[Shane Houston]

Much ado about nothing, it seems?

For the win.

Computer. End program...er thread.

 

[dahj]

Much ado about nothing

That sums up this thread nicely.

Though the content wasn't nearly as raunchy as the play unfortunately.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Much ado about nothing, it seems?

I was hoping for all's well that ends well, but that doesn't seem possible at this time.

 

[Greg Cox]

Coming late to the party, let me just say that most authors have pretty thick skins so people don't need to walk on ice around us. If I was worried about stumbling onto negative comments about my writing, I wouldn't hang out on scifi message boards!

As long as people stick to critiquing what's on the page ("Cox writes like an illiterate Pakled!"), and don't try to read my mind ("Cox obviously hates lefthanded people!"), I'm fine with robust discussions of my books.

I admit, though, that I'm sometimes hesitant to enter threads about my own stuff out of fear that my presence will stifle the discussion somehow. I don't want people to think that I'm putting my finger on the scale or anything.

Finally, I missed the whole brouhaha that apparently started this discussion, but I will confirm that:

1) For us past and present NY types, "fuck" is just the equivalent of "the" or "and." It's white noise. Spend enough time in Manhattan or parts of Brooklyn, and it's easy to forget that the f-word is actually an issue elsewhere in the fucking world. (This has caused some awkward moments when visiting friends and family; I try to remember to turn off my NYC vocabulary, but sometimes I slip up.)

2) And, yeah, that's just how Dave talks in real life. That's how we were talking in the bar at Shore Leave a few weeks ago. It's no big deal, and nothing personal.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Probably the most gracious authors I've encountered here were Geoffery Thorne and Una McCormack, who addressed some very detailed posts I wrote about their books a few years back, both the good, and the parts where I had some criticisms of style, plot choices, etc.

On the other hand, there has been a case or two where I've observed some more unpleasant behavior from an author or two, and in one case it left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I stopped purchasing that author's books long before I stopped purchasing Treklit altogether...because frankly, it's hard not to see a certain name on the cover of a book and not immediately think of said bad behavior. The way a professional behaves in public CAN impact their sales.

Which brings up another point: yes, I have stopped reading current Treklit. But I have made a deliberate effort to limit my posting in this forum because I don't think there'd be a point in just sitting around looking for opportunities to take potshots all the time. So there is an appropriate way for a reader to handle a situation too. Taking constant potshots just for the hell of it isn't cool either.

 

[nightwind1]

I am sorry to hear that you deny yourself excellent novels because the man dares to talk back to someone who treated him like shit for no reason.

I deny myself his books because he's been rude not only to me, but to other people on this forum. And while the latter thread's title was definitely uncalled-for, that doesn't excuse the over-the-top nastiness that was said to me, weeks ago in a different thread. And I certainly didn't treat him like "shit."

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

This is why I never wanted to meet Harlan Ellison.

 

[Timewalker]

Finally, I missed the whole brouhaha that apparently started this discussion, but I will confirm that:

1) For us past and present NY types, "fuck" is just the equivalent of "the" or "and." It's white noise. Spend enough time in Manhattan or parts of Brooklyn, and it's easy to forget that the f-word is actually an issue elsewhere in the fucking world. (This has caused some awkward moments when visiting friends and family; I try to remember to turn off my NYC vocabulary, but sometimes I slip up.)

2) And, yeah, that's just how Dave talks in real life. That's how we were talking in the bar at Shore Leave a few weeks ago. It's no big deal, and nothing personal.

Thank you for explaining this. See, I wasn't wrong about it being a cultural thing. Or regional. The general prevailing culture in a particular geographical region.

Right?

On the other hand, there has been a case or two where I've observed some more unpleasant behavior from an author or two, and in one case it left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I stopped purchasing that author's books long before I stopped purchasing Treklit altogether...because frankly, it's hard not to see a certain name on the cover of a book and not immediately think of said bad behavior. The way a professional behaves in public CAN impact their sales.

So I'm not the only person who feels this way. And FYI, folks - I stopped buying new Trek books back in the late '90s (mostly) simply because books just got too expensive here. Even now when I've got more discretionary choices over my money, I still need to be careful - so buying books is never the casual decision it once was, even second-hand. I avoid most of the threads in this area of the forum because they talk about books I've never even heard of, and I don't like spoilers (in case I some day acquire those books and want to read them).

I regard my reading habit as a special present I give myself, and therefore don't want unpleasant associations going along with it. That's why there are a certain few authors - whether previously mentioned here or whether they have nothing at all to do with Trek - whose books will never again cross my threshold.

 

[Sho]

That way of thinking is not entirely foreign to me actually; I threw out all my Orson Scott Card books when I learned what sort of person he is. Mostly because I wouldn't get much out of reading them anymore anyway (I'd just keep looking for evidence of his agendas, thus breaking the suspension of disbelief, and if I feel like studying an author rather than his works there are more interesting subjects to chose from), would be ashamed of placing them on my shelves and am angry I gave him any money to build his soap box with.

 

[zarkon]

This is why I never wanted to meet Harlan Ellison.

as long as you use like in its proper grammatical form and not as a conversational pause you should be, like, fine.

 

[Timewalker]

That way of thinking is not entirely foreign to me actually; I threw out all my Orson Scott Card books when I learned what sort of person he is. Mostly because I wouldn't get much out of reading them anymore anyway (I'd just keep looking for evidence of his agendas, thus breaking the suspension of disbelief, and if I feel like studying an author rather than his works there are more interesting subjects to chose from), would be ashamed of placing them on my shelves and am angry I gave him any money to build his soap box with.

Coincidentally, he's one of the authors whose books I no longer buy. However, I based my decision on a negative experience that happened when I met him at a convention in Calgary.

The weird thing is, a relative of his was my sociology instructor at the time (at Red Deer College), and actually suggested I do my term project on science fiction fandom (and mentioned the fact that they were relatives). I never told my instructor - a nice, elderly prof just 3 years younger than my grandmother - that his younger relative had not been on his best behavior. So I did my term project without mentioning Orson Scott Card at all, passed the course, and all was fine. Even when the instructor got Really Concerned that I wasn't the slightest bit religious and called me into his office and offered to lend me some books about Mormonism and "answer any questions I might have."

The friends I mentioned this to said I should have reported him, but I didn't figure it was worth fussing over - I got out of it by reminding him that I had a lot of homework and already had difficulty keeping up with my reading (something the instructor knew very well). And I do think he sincerely meant well... but I think I'd have been much less easygoing about this whole Orson Scott Card-Dr. Brigham Young Card, sociology instructor thing if it happened now (this all happened back in 1982).

 

[JoeZhang]

I once met a semi-famous author (well in certain sci-fi circles) at a party, we'd both had a few and I told him that I thought his last book was not very good and he turned to me and said "I suspect that's because you are a c**t". I thought about it and told him he could be right and then offered to get him another drink.

 

[Mary Ann]

You have class, Joe.

 

[Darth Duck]

That's great Joe.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Coming late to the party, let me just say that most authors have pretty thick skins so people don't need to walk on ice around us.

It seems to me, as an external observer with a over-inflated sense of self-importance, that some readers are much, much more thin-skinned than any author. They want to be able to dish out criticism, no matter how petty, irrelevant, or just idiotic, but God forbid the author actually talk back: the whining will be endless.