Because this novelette and the one that followed were originally a single work that was split in half (because it told two different stories), there are points raised in the text that are not resolved until the next.
The bad news is that two of its competitors are also Analog stories, each written by a friend of mine: Ed Lerner and Arlan Andrews. It would be an honor, as Teodorq might say, to defeat them! Those stories, too, along with a novella by Rajnar Vajra also nominated, can be found linked here.
Normally, Analog stories don't get the time of day from the usual block-voters, so it is interesting to find four Analogians on the ballot. While I have been nominated six times in the past, none of the other Analog nominees has ever been nominated. This year's Locus Recommended list contained only two short stories from Analog, both what we might call "edgy." However, three of the four did appear on Tangent's more inclusive list. However, perhaps because these lists are longer, have never been called "slates."
I was very excited to see you'd been nominated, and then incredibly disappointed when i saw that you'd been included in both the Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies slates.
ReplyDeleteAt one point Torgersen claimed that he'd contacted everyone before including them in the Sad Puppies slate, but it since that it has turned out that that wasn't actually true.
I'd very much like to hear your thoughts about it because i'm feeling very conflicted right now =/
I don't care one way or the other. That Torgersen is married to a black woman is neither here nor there. That the Sad Puppies recommended numerous women does not make them part of the feminist conspiracy.
DeleteEveryone tells me that Vox Day is a toxic individual, who has been accused of numerous thought-crimes. One writer, whom I much admire, tells me that he attacked her on-line in a particularly obnoxious manner.
The Sad Puppies nominated several stories from ANALOG. I assume this is because they like the sorts of stories ANALOG publishes. It is well known that the magazine gets no love from the Besserwissers and one rarely sees its stories on Locus' annual slate.
I don't much like the agenda-driven attitudes on either side of the teapot. I can only say that the three ANALOG stories have no "political" slant. So while one side may have held that against them, the other side could not logically have nominated them to further one.
So are you saying that Torgersen didn't contact you about your inclusion in the Sad Puppies slate ahead of time?
DeleteI don't remember if he did or not. I don't recall anyone else ever asking me if I minded that they recommend a story of mine.
DeleteI was contacted by the worldcon people and asked if I would accept the nomination. I've been nominated six times, and I honestly do not recall being asked previously if I would accept. Maybe it's a new thing.
At one point Torgersen claimed that he'd contacted everyone before including them in the Sad Puppies slate, but it since that it has turned out that that wasn't actually true.
ReplyDeleteTorgerson accidentally forgot to contact a couple of people. Oops. He apologized. If he contacted most of the people, do you really think malic is what motivated him to forget a couple?
2) Why is he obligated to do this anyway? Since when did people have to ask permission to recommend people for awards?
The much bigger elephant in the room here is that the reason people are mad he didn't tell them they were on the slate is because being on the slate potentially leaves them open to be a part of a two minutes hate.
So that raises the question: Why are we more mad at Brad than those engaging in the two minute hate? Doesn't the fact that we're worried about a two minute hate reinforce his point?
Based on the quotes this seems to be directed at me, even though you didn't actually reply to my comment.
DeleteI didn't claim that "malic is what motivated him to forget a couple", and i'm not sure why you seem to believe i might have thought that.
There's certainly no requirement to ask people for permission before recommending them for awards, but for something of this nature, that he must have known would generate a certain amount of publicity, asking first would be polite, at the bare minimum.
I obviously can't speak for Michael Flynn, but if i were lucky enough to be an author in his position i certainly wouldn't want to be included in such a slate. First because i entirely disagree with the claims upon which the slate is founded, second because i disagree with the idea of voting slates for the Hugos, and third because i'd like to feel that if i was nominated it was based on my own merits, not as the result of a political campaign.
There is a strange campaign out there to make everybody on these Puppies slates disavow any relation to the Puppy lists.
Deletedonaithnen, your dilemma is in your head. That one group of people you dislike voted for an author you do like doesn't say anything about the author or the group. If you like Flynn and vote for him, it doesn't give anyone a reason to crow that isn't already invested in being on a side and divining a motive out of an award. It's like when Yankees fans vote for a Boston Red Sox to a Major League Baseball All Star Game, no one asks the player to disavow Yankees fans, nor do Boston fans refuse to support the player. To do otherwise would be to lose sight of the game and focusing on the fan rivalry.
Don't politicize the nomination if you do not want politicized nominations.
I didn't claim that "malic is what motivated him to forget a couple", and i'm not sure why you seem to believe i might have thought that.
DeleteYou were certainly implying that he did something wrong by not contacting them.
There's certainly no requirement to ask people for permission before recommending them for awards, but for something of this nature, that he must have known would generate a certain amount of publicity, asking first would be polite, at the bare minimum.
Sure, but nobody is entitled to it. The Puppies group broke no rules, and so no obligation to contact existed.
I obviously can't speak for Michael Flynn, but if i were lucky enough to be an author in his position i certainly wouldn't want to be included in such a slate.
That still doesn't mean we need to contact you about it.
Congratulations Mr. Flynn,
ReplyDeleteI am not much of a science fiction or fantasy reader, so the significance of this award and the nice showing for Analog Magazine goes over my head, but I have greatly enjoyed your blog over the years and wish you the best of luck for a Hugo.