Mmm. Wife soup. I must've done good.

Wash ,'War Stories'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."


Dana - Apr 12, 2013 8:11:00 am PDT #20652 of 28370
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

Boy, the comments, as always, are the crowning glory.

"Yeah, man! I would have wanted to slap that bitch too!"


§ ita § - Apr 12, 2013 8:12:33 am PDT #20653 of 28370
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Wow, that was an unpleasant and uncomfortable read. But really efficient in conveying that I never want to have a conversation with this guy. Even the stuff that he wasn't saying to deliberately be provocative makes me roll my eyes:

those fine Canadians who were just as sweet and hilarious as you expect Canadians to be

Seriously? It's just so incredibly self-congratulatory from beginning to end, and only a couple people on the first page of comments is taking him to task for anything.

I mean, there is so clearly a way (myriad ways!) to tell that story and make stupid lady seem stupid without also painting himself an ass.


Consuela - Apr 12, 2013 8:12:55 am PDT #20654 of 28370
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Hmm? What's going on?


hippocampus - Apr 12, 2013 8:14:57 am PDT #20655 of 28370
not your mom's socks.

Consuela, someone is WRONG on the internets.


meara - Apr 12, 2013 8:19:04 am PDT #20656 of 28370

Yeah, I went and read it. Sounds like a frustrating and obnoxious experience, but a little too self-congratulatory for NOT pulling the "do you know who I am" card (which is in some cases as obnoxious as pulling that card!!), and as someone said above, if the best you can do is "crazy bitch" you ought to consider a better way to tell it. I mean...crazy? Really? Doesn't sound like any of it was... Obnoxious. Overly-ambitious. Possibly/probably lying. But crazy? No. Not to mention that (a) if the "sweet" canadians are smart, they can see through her BS on their own, and if they can't, they need some toughening up, and (b) she IS right in a lot of ways. Most self-published stuff IS dreck, and WON"T win you tons of money and accolades. Sometimes you're the exception to the rule, dude.


Steph L. - Apr 12, 2013 8:19:51 am PDT #20657 of 28370
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine

Seriously? It's just so incredibly self-congratulatory from beginning to end

I particularly liked the part where he flips his badge over so nobody can see his name, so they think they're just conversing with An Ordinary Schmuck (Like Them), instead of whoever he is, which must be Someone Important Despite Self-Publishing. (I gather he's well-known in more than his own mind? My limited SFF reading hinders me here.)


Consuela - Apr 12, 2013 8:27:32 am PDT #20658 of 28370
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

... and it looks like that post is gone: the link I followed from Twitter doesn't resolve.

Woops! Someone depants himself in public.

So what happened, exactly? Self-published author-made-good meets someone who doesn't know who he is, and calls her stupid & ugly online in retaliation?


meara - Apr 12, 2013 8:30:08 am PDT #20659 of 28370

Self-published author-made-good meets someone who doesn't know who he is, and calls her stupid & ugly online in retaliation?

Basically, he's in line for the Hugos, and chatting with some "nice Canadians" and telling them about how self-publishing is Teh Bombz, and some woman (CLEARLY a "crazy bitch!") comes up to them and is suggesting she knows people who can get them published/get an agent/she interned at a magazine once, and he is all "OMG but you are WRONG and self publishing is AWWESOME" and she's like "Um, whatevs, who the hell are you" and he's all "Oh, HAHAHA I"M NOBODY" and then goes and rips her a new one on the internet. But he wins anyway, because the Canadian contacted him later to find out his amazing sources of power and wisdom.


Jessica - Apr 12, 2013 8:33:15 am PDT #20660 of 28370
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Aw man. I really liked Wool.

I gather he's well-known in more than his own mind? My limited SFF reading hinders me here.

His one self-published book has a fair amount of buzz, but I doubt I'd have recognized his name on its own (i.e. without "the author of Wool" tacked on to remind me why I should recognize him).


Jessica - Apr 12, 2013 8:34:02 am PDT #20661 of 28370
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

.. and it looks like that post is gone: the link I followed from Twitter doesn't resolve.

I just refreshed the page and it seems to be live still.