Puppy Essay in Der Zauberspiegel
German zine Der invited Brad Torgersen, Adam-Troy Castro, Lou Berger, Wayne Borean, and myself to write about the Sad/Rabid Puppy phenomenon. Those essays went up yesterday. The English translation of mine is here, or you can read it in German.
Links to all of the articles are available in English or German.
Shocking nobody, my article (in English) has already drawn its first troll…
Martin
August 21, 2015 @ 9:23 am
Thanks! I did not notice that. Will be a bit to read tonight ;-).
celli
August 21, 2015 @ 9:38 am
I <3 all your citations!
UrsulaV
August 21, 2015 @ 9:49 am
I’m really glad it’s there! One of the best “general roundup I could point my mother to” kinda articles.
redheadedfemme
August 21, 2015 @ 9:52 am
When I read “Fail Burton’s” comment, I thought, “Where have I heard this nonsense before?”
Then you pointed out that it’s most likely the troll commonly known as James May! Elementary, my dear Watson.
Jim C. Hines
August 21, 2015 @ 9:55 am
Yep. “Fail Burton” is an open pseudonym for May.
Avilyn
August 21, 2015 @ 11:50 am
It wasn’t until I went to the link that I realized it was about the Hugo Puppies – I swear I thought it was about authors with actual pet puppies, since I know Jim at least has acquired a new puppy member of the family recently. Now back to reading the articles.
Jim C. Hines
August 21, 2015 @ 11:57 am
D’oh! Sorry about that. Just tweaked the wording in the blog post to hopefully make that clear.
Marie
August 21, 2015 @ 12:52 pm
Your essay is a good thumbnail for the fan who reads but doesn’t directly follow the Hugo process. (Most years I don’t, Buccaneer was my last year due to RL) The furor would make even less sense to international fans who don’t have an interest or stake in the rabid conservative/liberal belligerence. That troll, whose post had NO relationship to the topic and your essay, was a total fail because of it.
My fav author has combat and derring do and gets nominated regularly, but swashbuckling alone isn’t enough to make a great story. Most of my favorite comfort books didn’t get the Hugo. It would be nice if they had, but it depends on too many factors: competition, place in series, and most importantly, ever shifting reader taste. Many now recognized classics didn’t win or even get nominated… but some did. And in a field as large and varied as SF/F, that’s okay. The Hugos could be called ‘good stories that came out last year that dedicated consumers think were landmarks for the field,’ but that takes too long to type.
If the puppies are that unhappy then start a swashbuckling and big boom award and name it the ‘Hamilton,’ for the old world-wrecker. In thirty years it will have a luster, too.
Personally, I think a award that has a large group but not too large component tends to have less elitism than a pure panel fiat or committee. The Oscars mean a lot more than People’s Choice or SAG award.
Avilyn
August 21, 2015 @ 2:26 pm
No worries, I thought it was a pretty funny mistake on my part. 🙂 Obviously my caffeine levels were low and in need of improvement. 😉
Rizzi
August 21, 2015 @ 3:40 pm
I love the way SJWs define trolls as people who disagree with them.
Ken Marable
August 21, 2015 @ 4:34 pm
[citation needed]
redheadedfemme
August 21, 2015 @ 5:02 pm
@Rizzi
If you’re referring to Fail Burton AKA James May…may I kindly suggest that you have no idea what you’re talking about?
Beth
August 21, 2015 @ 6:04 pm
May is a piece of work, isn’t he? I remember him railing against me as an anti-American foreigner, based on a tweet where I said Bullocks. What a stupid person.
Marie
August 21, 2015 @ 6:09 pm
I thought the troll was complaining about SJWs for an essay that was pretty neutral reporting, without SJ.
Rizzi
August 21, 2015 @ 7:04 pm
Fail Burton’s point was well made. Jim C. Hines, along with others, is responsible for the backlash against SJWs in the field.
Holding the opinion that Hines has been historically arrogant and antagonistic does not make one a troll. Neither does expressing that opinion.
Beth
August 21, 2015 @ 7:56 pm
Aren’t you the person who recently got banned from Absolutewrite for trolling?
hk hill
August 21, 2015 @ 11:03 pm
Snork! Jim, arrogant and antagonistic? That’s funny.
Rizzi
August 22, 2015 @ 9:44 am
Banned, yes. For trolling, no. My comments there were polite, but honest. The ban was for having and expressing opinions that disagreed with the general narrative that is commonly pushed on that site.
Again, the SJW crowd has a track record of labeling folks who disagree with them as trolls. This accusation is, I suspect, disingenuous. If not–if the SJWs in question *really* believe that disagreement equals troll–well, that’s remarkably close-minded and somewhat egocentric.
To imagine that other people in the world can’t legitimately and sincerely hold opinions contrary to your own. To imagine that other people couldn’t want to discuss those opinions for any reason other than annoying you.
D. D. Webb
August 22, 2015 @ 10:57 am
Okay, I think I have the pattern down now.
1. Express a reasonable support for free speech.
2. Make wild accusations against Jim C. Hines, SJW’s or whoever the designated target is, unsupported by citations or reasoning.
3. State that any objection to point 2 is labeling a simple disagreeing opinion as “trolling.”
4. Retreat beneath your bridge and munch on a goat.
Did I miss anything significant?
Rizzi
August 22, 2015 @ 11:36 am
Did you miss anything significant? Yes, quite a bit.
1. What does free speech have to do with this?
2. The accusations against Jim are not wild, nor are they without reason. In fact, there’s years of history that have led to these accusations, all just a few google searches away. He has consistently displayed arrogance and venom while speaking down to folks who disagree with his assertions, whether that be on blogs or twitter. His pandering to the altar of diversity has slipped into outright racism on his part, and he is definitionally sexist against men. He has also participated in internet witch hunts, urged others to do the same, and refused to consider the possibility of innocent until proven guilty. He has spread an outright false narrative about rape statistics, and he has antagonized and insulted enough people in the genre that the inevitable backlash is finally upon everyone. Hines is absolutely responsible, but he is not alone; he stands with the Haydens, with Scalzi, with Robinette.
3. Your third point is incorrect. I said that labeling a difference of opinion as trolling was either close-minded or egocentric. I did not say *any* objection to the opinion was the same as labeling the disagreeing opinion as trolling.
4. Who’s retreating?
Beth
August 22, 2015 @ 11:37 am
Eh, there are plenty of conservatives–old-school and neo-cons–who post on Absolutewrite without getting banned.
But to be fair, here’s the link to the thread where you made your last appearance:
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?309404-Do-Conservatives-ever-care-about-the-woman-in-abortion-cases
People can come to their own conclusions. (Which is not to say, they won’t agree with you, but that’s what citing sources is all about.)
D. D. Webb
August 22, 2015 @ 11:48 am
Lots of claims there, no evidence.
What gets me is you’re talking about one of the most reasonable and calmly spoken people on the internet; it seems a lot like you refer to any expressed disagreement with your own views as arrogant, venomous, talking down, etc.
Which makes the rest of your points kind of… I was going to say “laughable” but it’s really more sad.
Robert Z
August 23, 2015 @ 12:26 pm
And I love the way trolls define people who disagree with them as SJWs.
Evan Þ
August 23, 2015 @ 3:11 pm
I hope your pet puppies aren’t sad! 🙂