Open Letter to Elizabeth Moon

Ms. Moon,

I’ve been torn about writing this.  In part because “An open letter to _____” just sounds pretentious to me.  And partly because I know there have already been twenty-four gazillion responses to your 9/11 blog post, Citizenship.

I’ve recommended your blog on multiple occasions, for your thoughtfulness and perspective.  I disagree with much of what you say in your 9/11 post, but that doesn’t change my appreciation for other things you’ve written.

That said, I strongly disagree with what you wrote about citizenship and the obligations of the Muslim community with regard to the Mosque at Ground Zero (which is, in fact, neither a Mosque nor at Ground Zero.)

I do agree with much of what you say about citizenship, and about people’s obligation and responsibility to their nation.  I would even expand that obligation to the need to contribute to the betterment of self, of family, of nation, and of the world.  (And beyond, for that matter … we are SF/F authors, after all.)

But I’m troubled by your comments on assimilation.  You say, “Groups that self-isolate, that determinedly distinguish themselves by location, by language, by dress, will not be accepted as readily as those that plunge into the mainstream.”  This conflates identity with isolation, and presumes that isolation, when it occurs, is entirely self-imposed.  But I agree with you that often groups which appear “different” are not as readily accepted.

I don’t see that as a failure of those who choose not to “assimilate.”  I see that as a failure of the rest of us to accept those who are not like us.

With regard to the community center, you said, “When an Islamic group decided to build a memorial center at/near the site of the 9/11 attack, they should have been able to predict that this would upset a lot of people.”

I suspect most Muslims in this country recognize that building a mosque (or an Islamic community center) will upset people.  Of course, most Muslims also recognize that a vocal minority of our country is upset simply by the fact that Muslims exist.  Should Muslims allow intolerance, ignorance, and hatred to dictate their actions?

What troubles me most is your commentary on citizenship, and the implication as to who is and is not deserving of such.  You use Muslim and immigrant interchangeably, as though the only Muslims in this nation are newcomers to our shores, ignoring those who have lived here and fought for this country in times of war for generations.  And then you talk about how we “let Muslims believe stuff that unfits them for citizenship.”

I would love to know what these forbidden beliefs are, and how you feel they unfit someone for citizenship.

Last week I defended the right of a U. S. citizen to spread a message I despise.  Because that’s what this country is supposed to be.  Not a land of the like-minded.  Not a land where thoughts and beliefs, religious or otherwise, disqualify one for citizenship.  But a land of disagreement.  A land that doesn’t fear difference, but celebrates it.  A land that draws strength from diversity.

We don’t always live up to those ideals.  When it comes to immigration and assimilation, we fail often.  We mock those who are different.  We pressure them to give up their history and their heritage.  We drive a wedge between children of immigrants and their families.  That is our failure, and it is unforgivable.

You mentioned the “responsibilities of citizenship in a non-Muslim country.”  But this is a Muslim country.  It is also a Jewish country.  It is an atheist country.  It is a country of Quakers and a country of Mormons, a country of Catholics and a country of Baptists.  (Even, I have no doubt, a country of Jedi.)

I believe terrorists who would attack this country should be hunted down and stopped.  I believe those whose beliefs lead them to violate the law should be punished.  But I do not believe in punishing or restricting the rights of the many for the acts of a few.  There are an estimated 600,000 Muslims living in New York City alone.  They are as American as you or I.  Not because they have been assimilated, but because this country welcomed them … even if sometimes its people do not.

You close by commenting on the responsibilities of citizenship.  I believe one of those responsibilities is to defend the principles this country stands for … even when those principles make us uncomfortable.

I don’t mean to lecture, and it’s not my intention to talk down to you or attack you, but this is (obviously) something I feel very passionately about.

You remarked in your newsgroup, “Saying anything someone doesn’t like greatly reduces their ability to read what was written.”  I suspect you will not like what I’ve written here.  I hope, when you’ve gotten a little distance from the anger and pain your post triggered, that you’ll read it anyway.  I don’t expect you to agree with everything I’ve said, but I hope you’ll consider why so many people have expressed feeling angry and hurt by your words.

Yours,
Jim C. Hines

Axis of Ignorance

England, U.S. Form Axis of Ignorance
by Jim C. Hines

September 11, 2010.  Fourteen members of the English Defence League traveled to New York City to protest a proposed Mosque at Ground Zero.  Upon arriving in the U.S. to discover that no such proposal exists, they settled for protesting a proposed community center a few blocks away.

Photo by Jill Rayfield

“For too long, the rest of the world has mocked American extremists for their over-the-top rhetoric and complete disregard for facts,” said one EDL protester who preferred not to be named.  “But the United States is not alone!  We stand with our brothers in ignorance.”

“Islam is a religion of war and terror,” said another man, diligently maintaining a straight face while wearing the symbols of the Christian crusades.

Not all extremists were as quick to embrace their would-be allies in ignorance.  “I haven’t been in the news for days,” said Florida pastor Terry Jones.  “Won’t someone please pay attention to me?”

Thus far, efforts to establish a formal Axis of Ignorance are off to a slow start, due in part to internal conflict.  While some Americans welcomed the assistance, others looked upon the EDL with suspicion.  “We don’t need none of that imported idiocy,” said one woman.  “Buy American!”  Another man said he appreciated the EDL’s enthusiasm, but warned them to “Leave their socialized Nazi communist health care at home.”

“The important thing is to alert the people of New York to the danger of this terrorist mosque,” said another EDL protester.  When a passerby mentioned that there are over 600,000 Muslims living peacefully in New York City, the protester fled, screaming about “The largest sleeper cell ever.”

A local cabbie summed up his feelings on the protesters thusly.  “Tell these out-of-town a**holes to get the hell out of my way.”

—

Photo by Jill Rayfield.

This article is satire.  Duh.  While the events are real, all quotes are made up.  Here are links to actual news articles on the protest.  Thanks to Laura Anne Gilman for the pointer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/12/english-defence-league-mosque-protest

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/english-soccer-hooligans-at-ground-zero/

First Book Friday: Alma Alexander

Welcome to First Book Friday, an ongoing series exploring how various authors sold their first books.

Alma Alexander is currently working on an interesting project, publicly rewriting a novel she first wrote when she was 14 years old.  She’s working with a Teen Advisory Council for feedback, and sharing the experience — warts and all — at http://heritageofclan.wordpress.com/  She kindly took time from her other projects to talk about her first book.  The only question being which first book…

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That was back in…

No, there was the thing before that…

Wait, let’s go back to…

This is a tough one. I remember selling a short story to the venerable London Magazine (and THERE’S a tale, all by itself, buy me a drink at a con and I’ll tell you all about it) which ended up in an anniversary anthology published by LM instead of the magazine itself – which got me a chat with a London editor – which got me a referral to my first agent – who got me the sale of my first book, The Dolphin’s Daughter [Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon], and other stories, which was a collection of three Oscar Wilde-ian fables or fairy tales published not commercially but by the educational imprint of Longman UK (I thought it was going to be a collection. The agent kept on saying, “No. YOU. YOUR book.”) That little volume saw NINE impressions, and STILL brings me the occasional trickle or royalties.

Then there was my first non-fiction, the autobiographical Houses in Africa [Amazon], which came about because I got this other memoir to review and it was really boring and I thought to myself, “I can do better than that” – so I contacted the publisher of said volume, a small house back in New Zealand, and he said, send me a sample. So I did, and he said, okay, send me the rest. So I sort of had an autobiography published precociously before I was thirty five years old.

And then there was… the fantasy work. The book that eventually became the duology known in the USA as The Hidden Queen [B&N |  Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon] and Changer of Days [B&N |  Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon] was written on the sly, over a span of probably more than two years, starting from a scene which eventually found its way into the actual novel some two-thirds of the way in. The book was over 250,000 words long, so the publishers screamed, “Split that puppy!” which is how I ended up with two volumes. But thereby hangs a tale, too, buy me another drink at another con and I’ll make like Scheherezade and keep telling you the stories of my early atacks of chutzpah – let me just say that this one involved walking into one of the most venerable and traditional literary agencies in London, England, and basically… handing an agent… all quarter-million words of manuscript…and it (kind of) worked…[1. Jim’s note — don’t try this at home, kids!]

It was THAT agent, the one who was on the receiving end of that mammoth pile of paper, who subsequently introduced me to my current agent. Who took my then-latest offering, the book which became The Secrets of Jin Shei [B&N |  Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon], and ran with that – and gave me one of the most exhilarating rollercoaster rides of my life with it, with the book becoming a finalist for both mainstream and genre awards and selling 20,000 copies IN HARDCOVER in Spain in less than three months, graduating to having “bestseller” stamped on the paperback edition, which still spins my brain like a top.

But you know what…? In some ways – they are all so different – EVERY book is a “first book”.

And every time I hold a newly-published one in my hands, it’s like the first time.

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Fan Art and a Sneak Peek At Snow Queen

After three days of rather long and sometimes intense blog posts and discussions, I figured it was time to change it up a bit and go with something light and fun.  So here, check out some new fan art from the goblin art page.  Disco goblins!  I love it!  (From serialbabbler.)

And here are some sweet goblin sketches by Michael Cannon that I haven’t had time to add to the art page yet.

http://www.artildawn.com/dl/Goblins_1.JPG
http://www.artildawn.com/dl/Goblins_2.JPG
http://www.artildawn.com/dl/Goblins_3.JPG
http://www.artildawn.com/dl/Goblins_4.JPG

Also, for those of you who want a sneak peek, I present to you the first few paragraphs of The Snow Queen’s Shadow.  Those of you on the Facebook fan page may have already seen this.  But for the rest of you who want a taste of what I’ve been working on for the past year, click on.

More

Free Speech vs. Hate Speech

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble…”
-From the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution

Last week, Terry Jones cancelled his plans to burn the Quran.  I’ve seen him praised for this decision, and I’ve seen him mocked for being too much of a coward to stand by his convictions.  My opinion is unchanged.  The man is an attention-hungry idiot.

As hateful and stupid as his plan was, he had the right to do it.  The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, and as a result of several flag-burning cases around 1990, the Supreme Court considers freedom of expression to be included in that right.

Even expressions of hate.

But free speech has limits.  Libel/slander, for example.  Or try shouting “Bomb!” in an airport, or advocating the assassination of the President.

I have no question that Jones’ plan to burn the Quran, and the resulting circus of publicity, would have incited violence.  But does that trump his right to freedom of expression?  In Brandenburg v. Ohio, the Supreme Court ruled:

Freedoms of speech and press do not permit a State to forbid advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.

I’m not a lawyer, but I believe the law is on Jones’ side.  As far as I know, he wasn’t advocating force or law violation, or inciting his followers to commit imminent lawless actions.

What about the laws regarding hate speech/crimes?  Jones’ actions are certainly hateful.  But in the U.S., I’ve found few legal restrictions on hate speech.  Hate crime laws add penalties to violent crimes targeted against victims based on race, religion, sexual orientation, perceived gender, disability, and other protected classes, but book burning, while abhorrent, is not considered a violent crime.

From everything I’ve read, I believe Jones has the legal right to hold a Quran burning.  Ethically … I struggle with whether or not hate speech should be protected under the First Amendment.

Ultimately, I believe it should be.

I don’t like defending his right to spread hate and lies.  And as a straight white male, I’m sheltered from much of the impact of hate speech, and I cringe to defend that speech while knowing many of my friends and loved ones don’t share my privileged protection … knowing I’m defending the rights of people who would belittle and attack them.

I feel dirty defending him.  I question why he should have that right.  I look at issues like gay marriage, where hate and lies continue to restrict the freedom of people I care about.  But I don’t trust myself to decide what people can and cannot say.  I don’t feel right criminalizing hate and ignorance.  Nor do I trust my government to do so.

It’s easy to defend the rights of those we agree with.  I’ll happily mock and argue with Jones and his ilk, and I’m thrilled at the public outpouring against him.  But I don’t think we should take away his right to express himself, no matter how distasteful that expression.

Discussion very much welcome.  As I said, I have struggled and continue to struggle with this one.

Tips Jars and “Conscience Money”

In talking about self-publishing and ways to monetize online short fiction, several people mentioned an online Tip Jar, a way for readers and fans to contribute a few bucks and support me as a writer.

It’s a nice thought, and I truly appreciate it.  But it’s not something I’m going to do.  My reasoning comes down to two things.

1. I don’t need the money.  I want to get paid for my fiction, sure.  (The blogging I do for free, for the community and the secondary promotional benefits.)  But giving me a little extra money, just because you like me/my work?  Thank you … but for the moment, my family and I are doing okay, and there are many other causes out there that need the money more than we do.

2. Another reason people sometimes talk about tip jars is because they’ve downloaded something without paying for it, and want to give back to the author.  Again, a good and much appreciated thought … but not one I’m comfortable with.  I tend to agree with Charlie Stross on “conscience money.”

In short, paying me for something you downloaded off a torrent site or whatever is nice, but giving me a few bucks doesn’t pay the editor, typesetter, artist, copyeditor, sales force, or any of the other folks who worked to create the book.

If you really want to “tip” me, buy one of my books.[1. Author tipping. A new sport, coming to a convention bar near you.]  If you want to tip me more, buy another copy and give it to a friend.  (Word of mouth is one of the best things you can do for an author!)

That leads to a new issue, though — sometimes people download illegal copies because it’s difficult/expensive/impossible to get a legal copy of a book.  In which case, me asking you to buy another of my books misses the whole point.

I have no perfect answer.  I would love for my books to be available in every country and language and format.  (My agent is working on this.) Electronic format should increase availability, and does to some extent, but there are frustrating regional limits.

I still don’t want your money.  I’m glad you want to read my work, and I’m truly sorry it might not be available.  But I don’t believe that justifies illegal downloads.

Wanting something doesn’t entitle you to just take it.

I’m not trying to preach, and I’m not 100% innocent either.[2. I was around when Napster came out…]  But if you really want to support me as an author, and my books aren’t available in your country?

  1. E-mail publishers.  Tell them you really want to buy so-and-so’s work.  If publishers know there’s a demand, they might take the first step of contacting me and my agent to make it available.
  2. Double-check for legitimate possibilities.  I’ve been told my books are unavailable in Australia, for example.  But I also know some stores in Australia do stock my stuff.  It might be a special-order, or your bookstore might be able to get one shipped from a sister store.  Maybe not, but give ’em a call and check what they can do.
  3. Check with local libraries, if you have them.  They might be able to order overseas titles.
  4. ETA: tsubaki_ny suggested The Book Depository, “an international bookseller shipping our books free of charge, worldwide, to nearly 90 countries.”

I know that doesn’t solve everything.  But regarding a Tip Jar, in addition to not needing the money right now, accepting tips as informal repayment for illegal downloads just isn’t something I’m okay with.

Discussion and disagreement welcome, as always.

—

Ask a Goblin

Quick note: Apparently there’s another LiveJournal exodus going on. This makes me a little sad, because while I do mirror this blog, the best discussions tend to be on LJ.  But for those going elsewhere, I’m also on Dreamwidth as jimhines, and there’s also my jimchines.com blog and RSS feed.

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Taking an idea from Mrissa, welcome to “Ask a Goblin.”  Post a question in the comments, and Jig & company will do their best to answer.

I’ll try to respond to as many as I can.  (I don’t promise the answers will be accurate or useful, but hopefully they’ll be fun.)

Ask now!  The goblins are standing by…

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Disclaimer: All answers are the opinions of the goblins, and may not reflect the attitudes of Jim C. Hines or any civilized human being.  Please do your own research before following any advice given by goblins.  Answers are provided without guarantees or warranties of any kind.  Goblins have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA.  Reading tiny disclaimers may cause eyestrain.  Goblins reserve the right to eat anyone who asks stupid questions.  Goblins are for external use only. Answers should be hand-washed with like colors.  Do not feed goblins after midnight. Do not mix goblins with platypuses.  Platypii.  Platypeople?  You know what I mean.  Please dispose of this blog post in the proper recepticle.  Upon further research, knowing is only 36.4% of the battle.

First Book Friday: Harry Connolly

Welcome to First Book Friday, an ongoing series exploring how various authors sold their first books.

Harry Connolly, also known as burger-eater on LiveJournal, spent last month giving away books every day leading up to the release of his second novel, Game of Cages.

One thing I like about this one is that, like so many published stories, it opens with a great hook…

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Jim, thanks for the opportunity to tell my story here in your space.

The first thing to know about selling Child of Fire [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon], my first novel, is that it happened after I’d already quit writing.

I’d spent years trying to sell longer works, but had no success; you might say I was a smidge discouraged. The book I’d written just before Child of Fire was very difficult and very personal; I’d literally wept while composing the first draft. What happened when I sent it out? Form rejection after form rejection.

I was angry (with myself, not with the people who’d rejected me–that’s
one of my most important rules). I thought I’d been doing everything I needed to do, but apparently not.

For my next book, I used my anger as fuel. I started with a strange incident that needed to be investigated. I loaded the story with antagonists and conflicting goals. Then I ramped up the pace and kept it going, making even the slower parts, where the characters just talk with each other, quick and full of conflict.

But I was sure I was wasting my time. If my last book hadn’t gone anywhere, why should this one?

Now for some context: I was a stay-at-home parent while writing Child of Fire. I’d be at the local Starbucks when they opened at 5:30, write until 8:30, then go home and make breakfast for my family.

I cooked, cleaned, and spent a lot of time with my son. We lived cheaply and my wife’s job covered the bills–we didn’t have a much money, but we had a lot of time together. It was a good life.

Then it fell apart. My wife was injured and needed surgery. The only health insurance we had was a Mastercard[1] and she had to take leave from her commission-only job. Naturally, I went back to work, doing my best to cover the housework while working long hours. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t keep up with the medical bills. Bankruptcy was starting to look unavoidable.

And I was ashamed.

I’d sacrificed so much to pursue my writing, and what did I have to show for it? A series of joe-jobs, no money, no car, no rainy day fund, nothing. All I had was a box full of rejection letters. After talking things over with my wife[2], I decided to go back to grad school and get a career. Be sensible. Maybe I’d come back to writing when things were more stable. Maybe.

Of course, I still had Child of Fire on my hard drive. It seemed disrespectful not to query it. I’m naturally a fatalist, but you don’t stop doing the kata just because you flubbed the middle. I mailed queries…

And I started getting requests for sample chapters, then whole manuscripts. Eventually, three agents offered to represent me, and I signed with the one who had the highest, most concrete expectations of me. Back went the GRE study guides to the library.

That was December of 2007. By February of 2008, it looked like Child of Fire was going to auction. Instead, Del Rey jumped in with a six-figure pre-empt bid, which we accepted. Since then, my debut novel has been placed on several best of the year lists, including Publishers Weekly’s Best 100 of 2009.

And… you know how so many writers say they danced for joy at their first deal? Or when they signed with their agent? I didn’t. Both times I collapsed into a chair with a profound sense of relief that I hadn’t wasted my life after all.

—

[1] I know it wasn’t a great idea to go without health insurance. I know
we gambled and lost. Please don’t lecture me on the virtues of jobs with
benefits; I already know because I lived it.

[2] Who is just fine, btw.

“Christians”

I originally started drafting a long, nasty post about hate and intolerance and “International Burn a Koran Day.”  After several attempts, I realized sometimes a simple LOLpic can say it better.

For anyone who wants to, you have my permission to copy and repost this picture.

Top photo: members of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Bottom photo: Terry Jones, current leader of the Dove World Outreach Center, a self-proclaimed New Testament Church.

Another of Jim’s Self-Publishing Plans

Kind of a follow-up to yesterday’s post, I’ve been thinking about another way I might self-publish.

I’ve got an anthology invitation sitting in my Inbox.  These days, I rarely write short fiction without an invite.  Much as I enjoy short stories, I just don’t have the time.  But even with an invitation, there are no guarantees.

I’ve worked on some invite-only anthologies where the approach was, “If you’re invited, you’re in, no matter how much we have to work with you to get you there.”  I’ve seen others where a large number of invited authors were rejected.  (I remember the outrage from some big name authors who were rejected from Sword & Sorceress XXI.)

So with this invite, I know it’s not a sure thing, and that makes me nervous.  I’m planning to do a goblin story, and I know one of the two editors is a big goblin fan, but what if the other one hates my goblin humor?

And then something clicked.  Jig the goblin has a good-sized fanbase.  I could always set up some sort of crowdsourced funding model online.  Maybe micropayments of $1, or I could post the first half and see if people will pay enough to match the 5 cents/word rate for the anthology, or just post the whole thing with a PayPal tips button, or who knows.  My guess is, if I do it right, I could probably make as much or more than I would from the anthology sale.

Wait, what?  Is Jim C. Hines saying you can make more money self-publishing than by selling to a commercial publisher?

Maybe.  In this particular case.  And I obviously don’t know for certain.  But there are several factors to consider:

  1. I’ve built up a bit of an audience with my commercially published fiction.  There are people who trust me as a writer, and are therefore willing to pay for my work.
  2. The Goblin Quest books have sold tens of thousands of copies, and a lot of people would love to see another Jig story.
  3. I don’t have the biggest blog on the Internet, but I’ve built a pretty good following, so I have some means to get the word out.
  4. I’ve only outlined the story, but if all goes as planned, there will be zombies.  And few things pack more messed-up entertainment value than goblins vs. zombies.

I doubt this would work as well if I posted an original story, one not related to my books.  I know it wouldn’t work as well if I were an unknown author, or one without any sort of readership.  But in this situation, I suspect it could work.

It’s probably a moot point.  While I’ve been rejected from invite-only projects before, it’s the exception rather than the rule, which means the goblin/zombie tale will probably show up in a year or so when the anthology hits the shelves.  But if it does get rejected, I’m no longer worried.

It could even be fun.

What do you think?

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