It has been a while since I’ve done a rant about plagiarism. It’s one of the more corrosive bits of self-destruction writers engage in. It might be envy, or laziness or something deep-seated and broken in the writer’s psyche, but in most cases I’ve heard of, the plagiarist is compulsive Read more…
I’ve written before about the self-destructive urges writers get. Plagiarism needs to be near the top of the list. Penning sexist rants about your greatness to an agent is another. And, of course, there’s always the venerable Internet meltdown. Now we have another example of something authors really shouldn’t do Read more…
So, less than a month before the election, a group called “Pantsuit Nation” appeared on Facebook. It was a Mecca for Hillary supporters, who were invited to join the “private” group en masse until, by the time the Washington Post was printing glowing reviews of the pro-Clinton site, it had nearly Read more…
Fuck this shit! Up to now I’ve been pretty quiet about this, but you all have finally pissed me off. I’m seeing all sorts of grandstanding, self-congratulatory, “I’m so fucking proud of fandom,” nonsense all over the place. This is some sort of high-water mark for the genre. Schadenfreude for Read more…
It’s done. When the creative class itself packs their bags and calls it quits, it’s over. This is where we end. Any tyrant now knows that they can suppress any artistic expression they don’t like just by making some threats. The temptation is to retaliate. Make fun of North Korea Read more…
Say you’re a publisher. Say you’ve been profitable in the past but have been sliding into financial difficulties. Let’s even say that you’ve had a few past issues with lawsuits over breach-of-contract. Then, let’s just posit that some blogger does some research and finds all sorts of shenanigans: There is Read more…
A year ago I blogged about Mr. Patrick Roscoe an asshat of epic proportions whose claim to fame is sending the following to a literary agent: Colleen Lindsay: Thank you for making it clear, through your response to my query, that you are unquipped (sic) to represent fiction writers who Read more…
I had really nice comment today on my latest blog post: “With your ability, certainly you have learned praises before but I just want to involve to the many who have thanked you for what you’ve attained. Your work are one of a kind and show great insight. Thanks for Read more…
This video of Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein has been making the rounds. Apparently, the Constitution is a little too hard for him to understand because it’s so (gasp) old. Ok, I know that’s not exactly what he was trying to say. Mr. Wonk here was just arguing that the Read more…
There is not much more I can say about the Cook’s Source Magazine scandal that hasn’t been already said. If you don’t know what I’m talking about (and if so, what Internet have you been surfing?) we have the author of an article about medieval tarts (SCAdians take note) who Read more…