Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month: February 2014

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Cora

Indie Speculative Fiction of the MonthIt’s that time of the month again, time for “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”.

So what is “Indie Speculative Fiction of the Month”? It’s a round-up of speculative fiction by indie authors (plus one small press book) newly published this month, though some January books I missed the last time around snuck in as well. The books are arranged in alphabetical order by author. So far, all the links only go to Amazon.com, though I may add other retailer for future editions.

Again, we have a broad spectrum of books, ranging from epic fantasy via paranormal romance and urban fantasy all the way to space opera and hard science fiction. There are books for all age ranges, from YA to some very dark and adult works. I know all of the authors at least vaguely and have read other works by several of them. However, I haven’t read the books themselves, so Caveat emptor.

And now on to the books:

Ascension by Stacy ClaflinAscension by Stacy Claflin
Two hot guys want to marry Alexis. One is Alrekur, a three thousand year old vampire who has waited his entire life for her. The other is the love she has waited for, Cliff.

The prophecies say she’ll choose the ancient vampire, and they are never wrong, but Alexis is determined to find a loophole. When she is forced to spend time with Alrekur and begins to see his charm, she is torn. Her heart still belongs to Cliff, but would it be so awful if the prophecies were fulfilled?

Other books in the series:
Deception (#1), Betrayal (#2), Forgotten (#3), Silent Bite (#3.5), Fallen (Prequel), A Long Time Coming (Short Story)

Death Defying by Nina CroftDeath Defying by Nina Croft
Captain Tannis of the starship El Cazador is part snake, part human, and—according to some—all bitch. She is one job away from her lifelong goal—to achieve the immortality she craves. The assignment: protecting the most powerful man in the Universe.

After five hundred years, Callum Meridian, founding member of the Collective, is bored out of his mind. Until he realizes he’s physically changing—into what, he isn’t sure. Callum is determined to discover the truth, but his own people will stop at nothing to prevent it from coming out.

With a coup brewing and the crew of El Cazador close to tossing him off the ship, Callum turns to Tannis. Sparks fly as they work together to make it out alive. But can Callum really trust the one woman hell bent on using him? Defying death has never been more dangerous, more sexy, or more fun.

Come back by Cian GarrettCome Back by Cian Garrett
Come Back is a single-author speculative fiction short story collection.

* A long-haul trucker has to deal with a small town sheriff’s sudden interest and attention. Come Back is a 2700-word speculative fiction short story with a dash of hillbilly horror and language.

* A poor teenager finally convinces his mom to buy him the latest in HUD contacts. Contacts is a 3300-word speculative fiction short story with a dash of high school and language.

* A weary traveler just wants a good night’s rest but instead faces the garage band from hell. Garage Band is a 2000-word speculative fiction short story with a dash of cosmic horror and language.

* Two jaded detectives have to investigate a murder but the body has gone missing. Body Men is a 4400-word speculative fiction short story with a dash of comic mystery and language.

Lump of Flesh by Cian GarrettLump of Flesh by Cian Garrett
Lump of Flesh is a single-author speculative fiction short story collection.

* A college student tries to convince her classmates that the cysts behind their ears serve a sinister purpose. Lump of Flesh is a 3900-word speculative fiction short story with a bit of blood and language.

* Two good old boys decide to make a little extra money robbing graves. Resurrectionists is a 4600-word speculative fiction short story with a bit of black humor and language.

* A man too lazy to exercise is “motivated” by his talking shoes. Running Shoes is a 3300-word speculative fiction short story with a bit of humor and language.

NightmarZ Squid Row by Irma GeddonNightmarZ: Squid Row by Irma Geddon
You could say Gabrielle has had a hard time the past few days: she’s been committed to a psychiatric hospital, beaten, abused, but mostly she’s been thrown around and hurt by her own nightmares.

Thanks to Parfait, a handsome young lawyer who has taken her under his wing, Gabrielle is now free to learn more about her curse, and her ability to fight her nightmares has increased dramatically.

But when Parfait, who has already risked his life to rescue her, takes the blame for her injuries, what heart-wrenching decision will she have to take?

NIGHTMARZ: SQUID ROW is episode 3 of the Z Series, and is about 11,000 words long (around 44 pages).
For new readers, the first episode is NIGHTMARZ: ASYLUM, part 2 is NIGHTMARZ: PARFAIT, both of which are free right now. Please make sure you read them in order.
The whole series is intended for an adult audience. It contains foul language, disturbing scenes of sex or violence, and may trigger panic attacks.

814VwCMDqIL._SL1500_Dark Expanse by Theresa Kay
In a world of military space stations, planetary jumps and alien offensives, Eva Braebel’s life has never been easy. She’s small. She’s female. And she earned the ire of a powerful General at a young age. With hard work and the support of her friends, she achieves more than she ever dreamed possible: A position as flight squadron leader and the man that she loves by her side.

Eva just got everything she’s ever wanted, but how long can she keep it?

This is a short story of approximately 10,500 words. Contains some foul language, mild violence and non-explicit sex scenes.

A Changeling's Tale by Morgan KeganA Changeling’s Tale by Morgan Kegan
Being the new girl in high school is hard enough. What if you had to hide being a faerie, too?

I’m Siobhan Miller. I’m the new sophomore in my Tennessee hill-country high school—and a faerie changeling. The normal changes a girl goes through on her way to becoming a woman are awkward enough. Try adding developing golden eyes, pointed ears, and feet like a wolf’s paws to that. Yeah, pretty awkward. I blame my Irish ancestors. The faerie ones.

After centuries, the veil separating our world from Faerie is thinning again, and magic is returning. Having magical powers is pretty cool, particularly when they let me hide my differences behind illusion and have an actual life.

My best friend and heart sister, Katie, helps to keep my secret. I need her help, what with dealing with first love, a jealous rival, and the mean senior girls clique at school.

And if that’s not enough to worry about, creatures are crossing over from Faerie, and I’m not talking cute, harmless Tinker Bell here. I have to stop them, and fast, before they reveal my secret to the world.

A Changeling’s Tale is a Young Adult Urban Fantasy. It contains a moderate amount of the realistic language teens hear in high school, even though we might wish they didn’t.

Echoes by Therin KniteEchoes by Therin Knite
Washington
District of Columbia
United Republic of Earth
2712

Twenty-three-year-old Adem Adamend has it rough. His name is ludicrous. His friends are few. And the only thing his “kid genius” status has gotten him at the Interdistrict Bureau of Intelligence is a boatload of extra work with no credit in sight.

Then hotshot lawyer Victor Manson is burned to death in his own back yard, and Adem finds himself using his unique skills to piece together the strangest crime he’s ever seen. Strange because the only possible suspect Adem can pin the murder on…is a mythical beast. A dragon.

Before Adem can unravel the mystery of Manson’s death, the Bureau loses jurisdiction to the secretive EDPA, an organization that investigates weird and deadly events. But Adem isn’t one for giving up, so he takes it upon himself to delve deeper into EDPA’s machinations, into the series of unfortunate events that led to Manson’s demise.

And what he finds may change the way he views the world — and himself — forever.

What do you do when a killer can hide behind his dreams?

What do you do when a murder weapon ceases to exist?

And how do you stop a villain who can conjure up nightmares and burn you from the Earth in the blink of an eye?

Adem Adamend is about to find out.

Oranje by Jack LustedOranje by Jack Lusted
The fate of billions will rest in the hands of a few.

In the region of September, the planet Oranje has been devastated, its population wiped out in a merciless attack.

The rest of September is distracted by the imminent war between the Arausio Republic and the Union of Nine, blind to everything else. Only the Curators, reclusive protectors of the Net that connects all of humanity, know the truth. Oranje is just the prelude to a full-scale invasion.

There is only one option: they must send out the Three to warn September, if people will listen. Few trust the Curators, but there are some, tired of the wars between the Union and the Republic, who can help stop this threat.

If the Three fail, all planets will suffer the same fate as Oranje. The future of September is in their hands.

81QINuSGRwL._SL1500_Flameseeker by R.M. Prioleau
At the aurorium of the Firelord, Ignis, Kaijin Sora finally feels a sense of belonging for the first time in many years. But when a conspiracy befalls the clergy, Kaijin is once again tasked with making things right.

His journey will take him throughout his homeland of Aransiya, across the sea, and into the harsh desertlands of Ankhram, where he must find and stop the traitor.
Faced with choices, darkness, and even death, Kaijin assumes the role of his master’s chosen and realizes that the fire that burns in his heart will become the true purveyor of justice.

Flameseeker is the conclusion of an epic fantasy adventure of thrills, mystery, and love.

Book 3 of The Pyromancer Trilogy, following Firebrand and Enflamed.

Drawing down the Shades by Juli D. RevezzoDrawing Down the Shades by Juli D. Revezzo
Business can be hell…

Life is good at Starfort Collectibles until the owners, Caitlin and Trevor Fulmer, acquire a beautiful statuette with a murky past. Shortly thereafter, mysterious hauntings wreak havoc on the couple when a ghost in the attic threatens retribution. Caitlin presses her coven for help before the ghost succeeds in meting out deadly punishment—on Trevor.

Part Three of the Antique Magic series, following The Artist’s Inheritance and Caitlin’s Book of Shadows.

Against the Rising Force by Endi WebbAgainst the Rising Force by Endi Webb
40 years ago, the Corsican Empire invaded Earth, just in time for Emperor Justinian’s Golden Jubilee.

Now, in 2675, the Resistance rises again, but the enemy strikes first, taking fighter pilot Lieutenant Jacob Mercer by surprise. As he flies out to meet the enemy, he learns of the existence of a secret that could change the course of the war.

A secret that might mean a quick end to the fighting, or a quick death for them all.

.

Darkness Defied by Endi WebbDarkness Defied by Endi Webb
The Terran uprising against the Corsican Empire has gone far better than expected. But now, as the Resistance turns its sights on Mars, Lieutenant Jacob Mercer discovers a deadly battlestation in orbit around the red planet, preventing any approach by the Resistance cruisers. Jake and his fellow fighter pilots will have to assault the Imperial Strike force alone, without cruiser support, while under constant heavy fire from the gargantuan station.

Against the Rising Force and Darkness Defied are the first two parts in short story trilogy Prelude to Resistance, which paves the way for The Pax Humana Saga, a ten part series of novels set for release in March 2014.

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Some Thoughts on the 2013 Nebula Nominees

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Cora

The nominees for the 2013 Nebula Awards have been announced. Once again, it looks like a good and pleasantly diverse shortlist with lots of women and writers of colour included. But then, the Nebulas have generally been better with regards to diversity than the Hugos.

The best novel slate looks very good. Not a lot of surprises here, since all of the novels have gotten a lot of positive buzz. I’m happy to see Sofia Samatar, Ann Leckie, Nicola Griffith and Helene Wecker nominated. The Red: First Light by Linda Nagata is something of a surprise, since it was self-published, which makes this the first self-published novel ever to be nominated for a Nebula Award. But at least for me, the real only WTH? nomination in the novel category is Charles E. Gannon’s Fire with Fire, since I’ve never heard of either the book or the author. Or at least, neither ever pinged on my radar, though I may have just overlooked the book, since Baen covers tend to look all the same – unless they are eye-searingly awful, that is.

The shortlist for the Andre Norton Award looks pretty good as well and – most importantly – several of the nominated books are the sort of books that actual young adults are reading rather than the sort of books adults wish they were reading. This is a big change from previous years where we have frequently seen YA novels nominated for genre awards that appealed far more to adult readers than to the actual target demographic. The only two “Huh?” nominees in this category are A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty, an author I completely managed to miss in spite of a lengthy backlist, and September Girls by Bennett Madison, a mermaid novel narrated from the POV of a teenage boy, which should be a refreshing change, if nothing else. Some of the reviews complain about sexist language. I can’t comment on that point, because I haven’t read the book. But given the narrator is a teenage boy, the language used might be a case of too much realism for comfort. At any rate, people who don’t work with teens every day are frequently shocked, when I talk about my students and the things they do and say.

The short fiction categories look pretty good as well and include several stories, which are also on my personal list (since I have Hugo nominating rights, I have made an effort to read more current short fiction). Again, I’m happy to see “Selkie Stories Are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar nominated. Ditto for “The Waiting Stars” by Aliette de Bodard, “The Litigation Master and the Monkey King” by Ken Liu and “Wakulla Springs” by Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages.

The only category which leaves me baffled is “Best dramatic presentation”, since I agree with hardly any of the nominees. But then I have seen neither Her nor Europa Report, though I’ve heard good things about both films. In fact, I’m not even sure if they have been released in Germany at all. Upon checking it turns out neither film has had a theatrical release in Germany yet. Europa Report went straight to DVD and Her isn’t coming out until March. Though we did get Only Lovers Left Alive, which the US is still waiting for. I found Gravity rather dull in the way that serious and worthy science fiction films a la 2001 tend to be dull. The Hunger Games films are okay, but not really outstanding, though my issues with the films are probably due to the fact that Jennifer Lawrence just rubs me the wrong way for some reason. Pacific Rim is good fun, though not exactly deep. Doctor Who is – well – Doctor Who and besides, I did like The Day of the Doctor, though I’m largely over Doctor Who otherwise. Still hardly any overlap with my personal list.

Finally, here is a good post by Polenth Blake about the hidden costs of nominating for the major genre awards. There are some very good points here, since getting hold of the latest releases can cost quite a bit of money, particularly if novels aren’t yet available in paperback or an affordable e-book edition.

Availability can be an even bigger issue, since in some parts of the world it’s not possible to legally acquire many works at all. For example, unless I subscribe, I cannot acquire Analog or Asimov’s here in Germany, since no store carries them, not even the big newsstand at the train station. This means I won’t be nominating any stories from either magazine, unless I have read them on the author’s site or in e-book form somewhere. Films and TV shows often don’t come out in a timely manner overseas, if at all, hence the fact that I still haven’t seen either Her or Europa Report. And if I’d waited for German TV, I still wouldn’t have seen season 3 of Game of Thrones (I think it starts this weekend, almost a year after the US run) and I wouldn’t have seen The Day of the Doctor at all, since Doctor Who is not shown on German free TV, only on a subscription cable channel.

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SFWA me, baby, one more time

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Cora

The SFWA drama (see previous posts here, here and here) is still going on, so here are the latest links, under the cut for those who don’t want to scroll through 1500 words on the SFWA controversy: Continue reading →

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Bloody Valentine Sale at DriveThruFiction

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Cora

The good folks over at DriveThruFiction are running a Bloody Valentine sale this weekend and offer 25% off e-books that fall under the “dark romance” umbrella.

Lots of good stories on offer, including a couple of mine.

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More Maischberger and more SFWA

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Cora

The Maischberger talkshow featuring two raging homophobes debating whether the fact that GLBTQI people exist should be included in school curricula that I mentioned in yesterday’s post is now available online at the ARD Mediathek. Alas, it’s 75 minutes long, only in German and only for strong stomachs. Here’s also a commentary by the media magazine Zapp, which IMO is a lot more worth watching than the Maischberger show, but then I have been an enthusiastic Zapp viewer for years. Meanwhile, Matthias Mattusek, very Catholic (in a totally retro Mel Gibson way) and very conservative German journalist, is happy to be a homophobe. Meanwhile, I’d be very happy if the Mattuseks of the world would just vanish into the ether.

Meanwhile, the SFWA debate seems to have turned into a debate about American politics in general and particularly the Republican – Democrat divide. Chris Gerrib draws parallels between the SFWA debate and the resistance of US Republicans against taxes, even as Republican majority constituencies overwhelmingly profit from tax dollars , whereas many majority Democrat constituencies are net payers. Found via Jay Lake.

Interestingly, we have this mechanism as well here in Germany, even though the political landscape looks vastly different. And hence some conservative South German states were only too happy to take tax money from the more left-leaning North German and city states, when they were poor, but balk against paying taxes to subsidise the poorer city states now, even though the reversal of financial fortunes was largely due to tax law changes in the 1970s which disadvantaged the city states.

Meanwhile, on the far end of the political spectrum, the inevitable Vox Day also weighs in with the by now well-known complaints about how he and his were purged from the SFWA (nope, they only purged Vox Day for violating statutes). He also links to a post by Sarah Hoyt, which predates the current SFWA uproar and refers to the post-binary gender discussion instead (she is against it, as might be expected). Oh yes, and she thinks that Orson Scott Card is not rightwing, which is mindboggling. Obligatory warning: Don’t click if either writer or their political views bother you, though this is one of Vox Day’s less offensive posts.

It’s the usual stuff about evil feminists and Communist straw editors trying to drive rightwing writers out of the SFF genre, but what I found interesting is Vox Day’s “threat” that rightwing SFF writers would find little reason to join SFWA, which curiously echoes Ilona Andrews’ post that woman writers, particularly those working in genres like urban fantasy or paranormal romance, find little cause to join SFWA. Even though both writers are about as far from each other as two (or three, since Ilona Andrews is a husband and wife writing team) people can be.

Vox Day also makes another point, namely that rightwing writers can just go indie and leave the whole traditional publishing system which is hostile to their political views behind. Now he does have a point that there seems to be an underserved audience for conservative and rightwing SF out there, since I frequently see such works by indie writers on the SF subgenre bestseller lists at Amazon.

Now I have absolutely no problem with writers whose work didn’t fit the paradigms of traditional publishing going indie and finding audiences hungry for whatever they write. And many of those writers are lovely people, though I disagree with their politics.

However, it annoys me when indie publishing gets equated with rightwing tea-partiers, which happens with increasing frequency. Take John Green’s anti self-publishing rant from last summer, which famously ended with the words “Fuck Ayn Rand”.

There are many people for whom traditional publishing was not a good fit and many of them are politically far away from Ayn Rand and her ilk. Indie publishing has also been a boon to writers of colour, international writers, GLBTQI writers, writers of unfashionable genres and all those whose work just doesn’t fit into the narrow paradigms of traditional publishing. So please, don’t lump us all in with Ayn Rand and the tea party, because many of us are about as far away from them politically as Vox Day and Sarah Hoyt are from Sahra Wagenknecht.

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SFWA – Almost as infuriating as Maischberger

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Cora

For those confused about the title, Menschen bei Maischberger is a German TV talkshow where several guests talk about “current affairs” (which can mean anything from actual political issues to the dangers of New Age culture). In yesterday’s edition of the show, Ms. Maischberger felt the need to debate whether the fact that GLBTQI people exist is an appropriate subject for schools (because some people are having a freak-out about a state initiative to include GLBTQI topics in the curriculum) and invited two raging homophobes, a gay politician, a drag queen (and yes, “drag queen” is the correct term, because that’s how Olivia Jones defines herself) and a heterosexual chick lit writer. More here, here and here. The result was mindbogglingly offensive, as I found out when I opened Twitter, noticed that #Maischberger was the top-trending hashtag and clicked to see what people were saying. As far as I could tell, Menschen bei Maischberger had apparently turned into a hotbed of raging homophobia, so I switched on the TV and Oh, my God… it was even worse than I thought.

Which brings me to this comment by John Scalzi, which perfectly illustrates my feelings while watching the Maischberger show. Since I’m pretty sure that John Scalzi has not been watching Menschen bei Maischberger (especially since the episode in question is not yet available online), Scalzi’s Tweet can only refer to one thing, namely the ongoing SFWA drama.

First of all, S.L. Huang reminds us why the whole SFWA issue blew up in the first place. It was not because of the cheesy Red Sonja cover of the SFWA Bulletin or Barry Malzberg and Mike Resnick showing more interest in the bikini curves of a female editor than in her professional life or because someone felt the need to extoll the quiet dignity of Barbie, but because Resnick and Malzberg felt the need to compare those who criticized their column to Stalin and Mao. For those who need a refresher, S.L. Huang has also compiled a handy timeline of the controversy(ies).

Black Gate and Amazing Stories also both offer a summary of the controversy.

At C.C. Finlay’s Facebook page, Ilona Gordon, one half of the Ilona Andrews writing duo, explains why she refuses to join SFWA, namely because she feels disrespected by the organisation both as a woman and a writer of urban fantasy with romantic elements. This is a very important point, because it illustrates how SFWA is viewed by many writers.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia points out that whatever one thinks of Red Sonja covers and Resnick and Malzberg reminiscing about the good old days, this sort of content does not belong in the official magazine of a professional writers’ organisation and also offers the membership magazines of other writing organisations for comparison. Meanwhile, Jim C. Hines has taken it upon himself to launch a (not entirely serious) petition to Terry McLaughlin, president of the RWA, to include more mantitty on the covers of the Romance Writers Report, while Larry Nolan offers a parody of the “cover letter” of the petition at The OF Blog.

At The World in the Satin Bag, Shaun Duke wonders how e.g. SFWA’s many Mormon members would feel if the SFWA were to carry an article insulting their religion, while Ferrett Steinmetz detects a generation gap in the reaction to the SFWA uproar, as evidenced by the fact that most of the signatories of the petition are older writers. Indeed, one thing that struck me about the original uproar was for how many people, particularly but not exclusively older fans and writers, Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg were cultural touchstones and therefore somehow inviolable.

And because some people apparently still don’t get it, ysabetwordsmith takes it upon herself to explain the difference between editing and censorship, while Andrew Barton points out that writers of all people should know the difference. For the POV of supporters of unlimited free speech, Steven Brust does not agree with the petition, but does worry about suppression of free speech, while Will Shetterly is mainly annoyed about being banned at Radish Reviews. Now I have never banned anybody from commenting here (including Mr. Shetterly, who occasionally comments here), though I did have to delete rude comments of the personal attack variety once or twice and once I had to step in when two writers who had banned each other from their blogs started arguing in mine. But Natalie has the right to moderate her own blog as she wishes and it’s no secret that Will Shetterly can be inflammatory at times.

Finally, the SFWA feels the need to issue a statement that no, they are not intending to censor anybody.

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SFWA Drama: The 2014 Edition

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Cora

You may remember the uproar surrounding sexist and otherwise problematic content in the SFWA Bulletin from last summer (exhaustively chronicled here).

The SFWA promised to mend their ways and suspended the Bulletin until a new editor could be found (the old editor resigned over the uproar). They also came up with some guidelines to avoid problems like the ones that had led to the suspension of the magazine in the future. So far, so good, right?

Well, not so fast, because David Truesdale, who has been at the centre of genre controversies before, objects to what he believes will infringe on the free speech rights of the future editor of the SFWA Bulletin and has started a petition against what he considers politically correct censorship, though he apparently isn’t even a member of the SFWA. He also got a lot of well known SFF writers, including several whose books are found on my shelves, to sign it.

Natalie of Radish Reviews has a lengthy dissection of the petition as well as links to two drafts, the current draft and a previous draft full of racist and sexist crap. The comments are also illuminating, since one of the signatories shows up to defend signing the petition.

Bennett North also offers a dissection of the petition, while Rachel Acks points out that whatever one thinks of scantily clad women on magazine covers (and personally I don’t have much of an issue with the objectionable cover, though I find it rather retro and a tad silly), they really have no place on the cover of the official magazine of a professional organisation. Angela Highland and Sunny Moraine weigh in as well.

C.C. Finlay points out that editorial decisions are not in fact censorship and that the SFWA as a private organisation does not have to respect the free rights guaranteed by the US constitution in its own space. Indeed, I always find it very interesting that the very same people who have absolutely no issue with private companies censoring content that these people personally find objectionable such as erotic or GLBT content (see this post over at Pegasus Pulp), cry foul whenever a private entity decides not to honour their god-given right to spew racist, sexist and homophobic crap. Now I can understand the position of free speech absolutists who believe absolutely everybody should be free to say everything everywhere and who are opposed to censorship in any form. But those who believe that erotica is not free speech but sexist crap in the SFWA Bulletin is continue to boggle me.

Finally, at Crime and the Forces of Evil, Solarbird points out that the author of the petition not just misunderstands the nature of free speech, but that the petition itself is an unholy mess. Indeed, this was very much my impression as well. I mean, do you really need eleven pages full of back and forth e-mail correspondence with SFWA president Steven Gould, digressions to Andrew Hamilton and some stuff about black lesbian friends of Dave Truesdale, who may or may not exist, just to explain why you disagree with the editorial policy of the SFWA Bulletin? Indeed, a shorter petition would have almost been guaranteed to cause less offence and uproar.

But then the offence was the point, wasn’t it?

ETA: S.L. Huang is just tired of the whole thing. I can certainly sympathize.

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More on Internet debates, the tone argument and issues of power and privilege

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Cora

Cheryl Morgan has a great response to my post about internet debates and the tone argument.

In her post, Cheryl points out two different ways in which such internet debates progress. The first one goes as follows:

Privileged person posts something clueless → Less privileged people disagree, sometimes loudly or snarkily → Friends of the original poster and bystanders complain about the toxic atmosphere on the internet.

The second one goes as follows:

Marginalized posts about asking for more representation of themselves → More privileged people have a fit and feel that their freedom of speech is endangered → Marginalized person receives rape and death threats for their trouble → There are comparatively few complaints about the toxic atmosphere on the internet.

Of the debates raging currently in the SFF community, the debate about “masculine” writing and the debate about awards eligibility lists are examples of No. 1, while the debate about post-binary gender in SFF is an example of No. 2.

Though I found it striking that the most vehement objections to the Alex Dally McFarlane’s post about post-binary gender all seemed to originate with members of the same religious community, which suggests that a certain religious denomination really seems to have issues with the idea of post-binary gender. Meanwhile, debates about the irrelevance of genre awards and the fact that the wrong works and artists tend to get nominated usually originate with male British writers, critics and fans (quite often the same people, too, year after year), which suggests that a certain group of male British writers and critics is really at odds with the rest of the genre.

Though the two different modes of internet debates aren’t just confined to the online SFF community and related geek communities either. For example, I hang out quite a bit in the online community for self-published writers and we get the same type of debates with the same dynamics there, including complaints from the privileged (i.e. big sellers and some trad-published authors) about the toxic atmosphere on the internet, when they’re just trying to be helpful by telling everybody else how they are just hobbyists and will never be successful, because they are doing it wrong, i.e. not the way the successful person offering advice is doing things.

So this seems to be a universal thing.

 

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New apocalyptic SF story available: The Iron Border

Posted on February 8, 2014 by Cora

I did another eight-hour e-book challenge the last weekend in January and here is the result, a somewhat gloomy end of the world tale called The Iron Border.

There is some more information about the process of writing The Iron Border over at the Pegasus Pulp blog. And in case you’re wondering why I waited until now to announce a story that went live more than a week ago, I wanted to wait until the story was available at all major stores and particularly Apple tends to be slow. What is more, I’m trying to space out the promotional posts and there have been a few of late.

So here is The Iron Border, a tale of privilege, despair and the end of the world:

The Iron Border by Cora Buhlert Ana has lived in the shadow of death all her life. For when she was six years old, a TV broadcast announced that an asteroid would hit the Earth twenty-two years later, extinguishing all life as we know it.
As Ana grew up, she put her faith in the worldwide lottery supposed to select the chosen ten thousand, the survivors of humanity who would escape the doomed planet in giant space arks.
But the lottery is not as fair and unbiased as Ana has been led to believe. And even her best efforts to turn herself into someone who would be useful aboard the great space arks do not bring Ana any closer to the gleaming shuttles that are being constructed behind the iron border only a few miles away…

For more information, visit the dedicated The Iron Border page.

Buy it for the low price of 0.99 USD, EUR or GBP at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Japan, Amazon India, Amazon Mexico, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Casa del Libro, Thalia, Weltbild, Hugendubel, Der Club, Libiro, Nook UK, DriveThruFiction, OmniLit/AllRomance e-books, Flipkart, e-Sentral and XinXii.

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On Internet Debates and the Tone Argument

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Cora

You may remember the debate sparked last month by Paul S. Kemp’s explanation why he writes masculine stories (link round-up here and here).

Well, now Paul S. Kemp has seen it fit to respond to the debate caused by his initial post and basically states that he doesn’t care about internet outrage fits and that he will continue to write what he writes, namely masculine stories. He also calls his critics “donkeys”.

Now I have zero problem with Paul S. Kemp writing what he considers masculine stories. He’s free to write whatever he wants, just as I am free not to read it. And since there seems to be an audience for his stuff, then more power to him.

However, I do take exception to the way Paul S. Kemp characterises his critics by talking about an “internet outrage culture” which holds regular “outrage-a-thons” and consists of “hangers-on” with psychological issues whose sole aim is to “chasten and humble their targets and elicit an apology and a promise to engage in ‘rightthink’ thereafter”. And that’s before he called people who disagreed with him “donkeys”.

I can’t speak for the others who criticised Paul S. Kemp’s post, but I have absolutely no intention to get him to change what he writes. There are more than enough of writers writing books that interest me, so I don’t need to persuade writers whose works aren’t my cup of tea to change their ways. And indeed the only part of his post that I agree with is “Do your thing and go your way.” So let Paul S. Kemp write what he wants to write, just as I’m writing what I want to write.

However, those who criticised Kemp’s original post were not engaging in an internet “outrage-a-thon”. They simply saw a stupid post and decided to respond, cause that’s the way conversation on the internet works. Now I’m not saying that internet debates can’t get overly heated and that they can’t turn into personal attacks and houndings. I occasionally had that feeling during Racefail, which started out as an important discussion and after a couple of months degenerated into outings, counter-outings, threats, letters sent to employers, blacklists and the like.

However, the reaction to Paul S. Kemp’s post was actually pretty mild. No one told him to die in a fire, no one sent him death or rape threats, no one published pictures of Kemp’s family, no one wrote to Kemp’s publishers threatening a boycott, if they continue to publish Kemp. All people did was disagree with him and maybe get a bit snarky at times. Welcome to the internet.

However, I have seen several posts of late – usually by men for some reason – that complain about the “internet outrage culture” (which has been part of the internet since the days of Usenet) and call for more civil discussions. They often use similar language, too, e.g. I recently read a post (forgot where) comparing internet uproars to the “two minute hates” of Nineteen Eight-Four fame, while Kemp uses the newspeak term “rightthink”. Uhm, the only thing Orwellian on the internet is the constant NSA surveillance. People disagreeing with stupid blog posts is not “two-minute hate”, it’s a debate.

Not all criticisms of heated internet debates are like that. Take this post by Alastair Reynolds in which he complains about the toxicity of the online SFF community as exemplified by the responses to Adam Roberts’ anti-awards-eligibility posts and the responses to Alex Dally MacFarlane’s post about post-binary gender in SF at Tor.com (which I didn’t get around to blogging about, so just read this summary by Foz Meadows). Now I actually agree that the SFF community can be toxic at times, though I find it striking that Alastair Reynolds has issues with the tone of Amal El-Mohtar’s (IMO reasoned) response to Adam Roberts and even mentions her by name, while he spends much less time on criticising Larry Correia for taking some time out of his busy schedule of trying to persuade people to please, please nominate him for a Hugo to pick apart Alex Dally MacFarlane’s post in great detail and accuse her (though Correia kept mistaking Alex Dally MacFarlane for male throughout) of trying to destroy the SF genre through political correctness, even though Correia’s tone was much more confrontational than Amal El-Mohtar’s. But maybe Alastair Reynolds simply didn’t get trough Larry Correia’s lengthy rant – I can’t even say I blame him for that.

But while I’m sympathetic to calls for more civil debates in the SFF genre, such calls can also veer dangerously close to the tone argument, especially if the tone in the arguments criticised is not even all that confrontational (and none of the responses to Adam Roberts or Paul S. Kemp struck me as crossing the line, though I may have missed some).

Besides, reasoned calls for civility and comparing internet uproars to Orwellian “two-minute hate” sessions both fail to ask an important question, namely why there are so many heated debates in fandom and why they seem to be circling eternally around the same few subjects. And the sad answer is that these debates continue to be necessary, because people keep saying and writing stupid and offensive stuff like this, so critical responses like this one continue to be necessary as well.

Maybe one day we won’t need to have these debates anymore. But for the time being, we still do.

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