When Sci-Fi Writers Attack!

Science Fiction Writers of America kerfuffles, courtesy of rachelmanija and an anonymouse on wank_report:

John Scalzi (quick recap: occasionally enjoys baiting readers on the topic of fanfic; invented schadenfreude pie; likes taping bacon to cats) has decided to throw his hat into the ring for the SFWA presidency after discovering that someone he disagrees with ("Mainly over how to handle copyright in the age of the internet," quoth the nonnymouse) was running unopposed. (It's, uh, a write-in hat.) Derryl Murphy then joins up as a write-in VP candidate.

Aaaaand the wank starts up. Anonymouse: "A newsgroup-pretending-to-be-a-blog is set up for debate and the spooge starts to fly, mainly around non-write-in VP candidate Andrew Burt, who attacks Scalzi repeatedly and dodges questions about getting the SFWA to loan him business money while he was acting as an officer (despite the fact that, as he repeatedly asserts, he is a self-made multimillionaire), and also seems to have trouble convincing people he should even be a member of SFWA in the first place." rachelmanija clarifies, "It has just come out that Burt a) sank $12,000 in SFWA funds into a ill-conceived and obsolete anti-piracy thing, b) borrowed an unspecified sum from SFWA, which he did not repay until it came up just now, c) may or may not have even qualified for SFWA membership when he was admitted. nihilistic_kid (Nick Mamatas) joined in at that point, causing it to erupt in a flurry of flames."

Wank hotspots, as outlined by rachelmanija:

>> "This link has lots of wank, though you have to wade through a lot of boring stuff to find it";

>> "Some of the juicier excerpts have been posted in comments here" (sample: "Thanks for the utterly content-free flame. We get to show the public the full range of how entrenched SFWA regulars treat a confrontation with reality now!");

>> "This thread on Scalzi's blog also brings on the wank" (sample: "[Deleted for not taking the hint when it was offered. TCO, you clearly don't understand that I own this Web site and you are here on my sufferance, and if I find you insufferable, you don't get to play. Back into the moderation queue with you, TCO. -- JS]");

>> and, finally, on that same Scalzi link, "Nick Mamatas again, partially in response to the current SFWA President (!) calling him a turd (!)"--well, wait, let's rewind a moment:

Hey, Nick -- congratulations. You do a fair impression of a penile appendage. I don't know why that post came through as "anonymous." Strange and mysterious are the ways of computers. The perversity of computers tends toward a maximum. And all that.

I've been publishing regularly for 25 years, and no I'm not familiar with Subpress. I haven't had to deal much with "specialty presses." But hey, thanks for the feeble attempt at abuse.

I've spent considerable time here the last two days answering questions about SFWA, clearing up misconceptions where I could, and helping a few people when I could. I see now that all the turds aren't just in SFWA. A few hang out here, too.

Regards,
Robin Bailey
SFWA Prez

Nick's reply:

Okay, everybody take a deep breath and step back.

Huh? Oh I get it, it's that tedious rhetorical tactic of pretending that other people are being hysterical in order to position one's own commentary as the only rational things being said.

Well gee Mary, don't go nailing yourself on the cross so quickly for your pal! Call off the lynch mob! Stop running around waving your petticoats and shrieking "I don't know nouthin' 'bout birthin' no baby!" Just for two seconds clam down your hysterical shrieking!

See, I can do that too.

Enjoy.

ETA: Scalzi apologizes. "So: I said stupid things. I am sorry. Andrew Burt has done many things competently for SFWA and those things he's done well deserve note and praise. I apologize to Andrew for calling into question all he has done for the organization. This was really dumb of me, too, and Andrew deserves better, for his record of service to SFWA. I believe he has always acted with good intentions for the organization. I won't question his competency again.

"Should all this be a concern for you, the voter? Sure. I have my moments of pure head-up-my-assedness, and this was one of them. I assure you I will try to keep them at a minimum as president, but they may still happen. This is when you can feel free to say 'say, you have you head up your ass again, John.' At which point I will perform a self-administered sphincto-cranial extraction, apologize, and try better next time."