The Cutting Edge of Free Speech: A Guide for Pedophiles

Damn it.

Regarding: The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure

My response:

Mr. Greaves:

You can scream whatever you wish about societal conditioning, but there are certain things about this that can not be ignored.

1. Children and adults are in a power differential. A child would be reluctant to say no to an adult. To believe otherwise is a naive ignorance.

2. Of course society is biased and prejudiced toward pedophiles. This is part of what makes the experience traumatic for children. We have all been conditioned against this behavior.

3. Children are considered minors for a reason. They are not capable of making many of the decisions that promote their own welfare and emotional well-being. To exploit a child in this manner when they are incapable of making this decision in other than a superficial manner is to discount years of scientific research in behavioral psychology and sociology.

I was a victim of incest. I never wanted sex at my father’s or brother’s hands, but I did consent to it. I was lying. You may go so far as to suggest that therefore this is my fault, but I can assure you that there were several times that I gave no for an answer, and it just didn’t matter.

I don’t expect to change your mind. I can assure you that your expectations are not only anti-societal, but aren’t helpful to children in any way, shape, or form, whatever you’ve convinced yourself about children. I hope you seek help before you damage the lives of other children.

I certainly expect Amazon to remove this content before you convince other people to do this as well.

Catherine

***

Besides sounding off in the comments, my advice is to write to Amazon about the inappropriate content here, and get them to get this book out of circulation, especially since now the description reads:

“This is my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certian rules for these adults to follow. I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter sentences should they ever be caught.”

The ignorance just astounds me.

ETA: I’m going to need to stay away from commenting further on this for now. Right now, it feels like people are more interested in discussing the philosophy of free speech in regard to whether Amazon should sell the book or not. I get that.

Something to remember though: As a victim, I am not an abstract idea. I am not just a what if. I am someone who has suffered materially at the hands of people like this guy.

And I can’t be very neutral about that. So, all the arguments about books written by murderers and anarchists, and how we don’t give a damn about them, and where do we stop with the censoring…pardon me, if in this instance, I can’t rise to the occasion.

I leave the intellectual gymnastics and stretching to others in this instance. I’ve responded to Mr. Greaves, I’ve written to Amazon, I’ve waded into the shallows of response on Twitter, and I’m finding myself in an emotional place I don’t want to be. So I’m going to work on returning to my now, and leaving my then behind for the moment.

If you need a case study to support your arguments, I’m here for you. Otherwise, I’ve done about as much as I can until I get my head on a little straighter again.

CMSS

Harassment in the World of SF/F

This is me, taking a break from section numbers. Let me tell you, bears no longer like to be workaholics. Apparently, the therapy worked.

A brief update: our Lorna still remains in the hospital. Yesterday, while I sneaked away to the Secret Registration Bunker (TM) to work on registration materials (I close my eyes and I see synonym numbers), the rest of our office staff worked very hard to make payroll. I’ve had 21 minutes that have been mine the last two days. Woot!

***

Tonight I’ve been taking a bit of a break. I’ve used my writer time to submit to a few more agents and to update my links page with some Viable Paradise XIII’er journals. (If I’ve missed you, please let me know.) I’m going to take some time out to do some writing tomorrow, at least for a couple of hours.

***

Jim Hines posts about Reporting Sexual Harassment in SF/F

I’m going to comment on this in two capacities: as someone who supervises at a large organization, Kirkwood Community College, and as someone who is currently president of the Mindbridge Board, which hosts three conventions in Iowa: Icon, Gamicon, and AnimeIowa.

Continue reading “Harassment in the World of SF/F”

Something in the Water

A general announcement: I won’t be online much at all next week, and probably not much the following week. I am going to return to my 2005 status of all Kirkwood, all the time until registration is over. We’ve had a key staffer kind of go down. She’s taken a long vacation, followed by some health problems, which may get more serious. We may get lucky. She might just be having an allergic reaction to the anesthesia the docs used during her gall bladder surgery, and that might be why she’s lost 20 pounds in the last week and can’t keep down any food. Or she may have more serious problems, like bile leakage and a lazy bowel.

Anyway, if you’re a prayer or a candle lighter, her name is Lorna, and she could use your vibes.

Meanwhile, the rest of the English team will be covering for Lorna, and it sounds like my teaching staff is already gearing up to help support registration if need be in the ways they can. But most of it falls to me, so just thought I’d let you know what was up.

***

There are some other issues here at Kirkwood that we’re working around. There’s one I am not allowed by personnel to tell you about, but it is aggravating when I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on, but no basis (student complaint) to go forward with. We’re also having issues of domestic violence surfacing at the end of the semester among one of our student populations, and so we’re trying to help counsel the teachers wisely about using appropriate avenues within the college structure to help students.

You can imagine this will lead to a post. There’s probably also a post about the Steampunk thing in me, so there will be reasons to come back in a couple of weeks.

So, not a pleasant vacation coming up from Writer Tamago. I’m going to spend this afternoon sending out queries, and getting geared up for the end of the semester work-a-thon. Any spare time I have best be spent writing.

Take care of yourselves, do a lot of art while I’m gone, and send Lorna good vibes.

Catherine

Me, Reading at Icon

An FYI for all of you making a pilgrimage to Iowa this weekend. You might be, because Cory Doctorow is the guest of honor.

I will be reading at Icon in Cedar Rapids at 11:30 a.m. I’ll be reading the opening scenes of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 from the troll book, the scenes that introduce teenage troll heart throbs Grant and David Heierdahl, and their friend Hild. Also, I am not penitent about making fun of urban fantasy faerie books, which Hild really likes.

Catherine

Apex Arab Muslim Issue

Well, we’ve been doing deconcstructionism for a while, so let’s do some constructionism.

If you’ve not been paying attention to the events surrounding Wiscon and Elizabeth Moon, this will come out of left field for you. I’ll briefly summarize. Elizabeth Moon said some anti-Islamic things which eventually helped the Wiscon con committee to decide to rescind her guest of honor status.

And I’ve already focused on that.

And then, Cathrynne Valente, who edits Apex put together a special Arab Muslim issue.

This is usually the point where I pull in some experience or commentary. But in this case, I’m going to pull in some guest commentary from Amal El-Mohtar, who speaks to this with authority and grace (and gorgeous analogy).

I am happy that this happened, and happy that it says something positive about the growth and appreciation of diversity in fantasy. For today, any way, we’ve got win.

Thanks to all of the lyrical writers, the staff, and Apex for making this happen. Go forth, read, and enjoy.

Catherine

NaNoWriMo: Your Muse on Fire?

Man! Do I write about the kewl new Arab/Muslim issue of Apex, or NaNoWriMo, both topics which surfaced on the Internet today? I guess after the day I’ve had, I’m going for the lighter topic, but make no mistake, I will be back for the other topic as soon as I can be. It’s an AWESOME issue.

That said, as you all know, it’s time for NaNoWriMo. I’ve done this before…twice. I have friends who do it on a regular basis. I have friends who are playing with it right now.

***

Here’s a snapshot I apologize for, as it’s not very flattering. I stopped in Coffee Talk, where I get my morning grande skinny latte with sugar free flavoring. Susan, the shop proprietor, asks me if I’m doing NaNo, as she has some clientele who are writers. Before I even think, I say, rather snobbily, “No, that’s not something real writers do. I try to write some every day. I don’t need a special month to do this. ” *sniff*

WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?

Continue reading “NaNoWriMo: Your Muse on Fire?”

VP Profile #5: George Galuschak

Lean, spare, and quiet, George Galuschak looks like the kind of guy who writes horror, the kind of guy with a placid surface who has unsuspected dangers lurking in his imagination’s depths. “I spent most of my childhood summers in a house in the woods. The house has a history: it was a hotel, and it used to be owned by Willie Sutton, a bank robber. Sutton is the guy who, when asked why he robbed banks, said ‘because that’s where the money is.’

“I went to camp during the day, but I had tons of free time on my hands. So I read lots and lots of books. The surrounding area had lots of resorts back in the 30’s and 40’s, and it hasn’t really changed much since then, just sort of decayed, so it’s kind of like the land time forgot. It’s got a creepy vibe, and I definitely picked up on that. Plus, there’s a graveyard in the back yard!”

The atmosphere of the old hotel shaped George and his taste in the macabre. “I’m not sure if I chose horror, or horror chose me. I call myself a speculative fiction writer now, because I think the horror genre is going through some tough times. A lot of the horror I read nowadays boils down to domestic abuse, serial killers and flowery prose about flash-frozen body parts. Lots of ‘hair on the wall’, to quote Truman Capote.”

I’ve read some of George’s stories, and while gore is present, psychological horror is predominant. George’s stories play with your mind more than your eye. “I try to surprise the reader. I hate starting a story, and knowing how it will end halfway through.”

It doesn’t happen in George’s stories. Middle-Aged Weirdo in a Cadillac specializes in the unexpected, getting beyond the predictable hitchhiker picked up by a motorist vibe, and making an interesting statement about the causes of suffering in the world. One of the attractions of George’s work is that the reader doesn’t know which way it will twist.

George’s day job is a librarian. His work is separate from his writing. “I used to run my library’s book group, and they wanted recommendations, so I made a few, and then they told me not to recommend any more books because I have strange tastes. That hurt my feelings, until I realized that most people want to read Danielle Steele and James Patterson, and that’s fine. On the other hand, some of my favorite books of the past few years have been book group choices: Michael Collins’ The Resurrectionists and Robert Goolrick’s A Reliable Wife come to mind.“

Among the writers that have influenced George are Stephen King, James Herriott, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mario Puzo, and H. P. Lovecraft. “About ten years ago I was on a UK writer’s kick. I read authors like James Kelman, Irvine Welsh, Patrick McCabe, and Roddy Doyle.” Finding his time to read limited, George tries to read 25 pages a day, which he says “adds up over the long haul.”

In addition to reading widely, George has read a lot of comic books. “My all time favorite title is Jeff Smith’s Bone. Stuff I’ve read and liked nowadays: RASL, Nexus Archives, Love & Rockets, Fables, and Invincible. I have a fondness for Deadpool; if I still bought individual issues, I’d buy that one. The last Deadpool trade I read featured Hit-Monkey, a hitman who also happens to be a monkey.”

George feels that comics combine the best of two worlds, movies and books. “That’s why there are so many comic book movies around, nowadays. Comics used to be very compressed, which I like. You told a story in 21 pages, sticking to a certain structure.”

At this point, George is working on mostly short stories. “One of these days I’ll write another novel. I just signed up for NaNoWriMo, so maybe by the end of the month! Novels require a different mindset. When I try this novel, I’ll do the first draft by hand and then transcribe it to the screen. I know writers who do it this way, and it works. Unfortunately, it’s hard on the hand, but for me staring at a blank piece of paper is better than staring at a blank screen.”

One of George’s stories that is a favorite of mine is On the Making of a Dead Man’s Hand, which combines horror and humor. “Horror and humor go together; they both have to do with tension. Horror raises tension, humor defuses it. I don’t know if Dead Man’s Hand will ever find a home. The feedback I’ve gotten from places I’ve sent it out to boils down to, ‘this is funny; therefore, it ain’t horror.’”

The elements of writing craft George takes seriously. “I try to leave stuff out. Hemingway said something about writing being like an iceberg; you only see about 10%, the other 90% is beneath the surface. Hemingway isn’t one of my favorite authors, but he was right about that. I think people tend to over-explain in fiction, or try to tell their audience how to feel. Don’t tell me how I should feel. Make me feel that way! It’s a fine line, because I’ve written things where I left too much out, and people didn’t know what I was talking about. But it’s something to work towards.”

“I think workshopping is very important,” George comments. “Workshopping really helped when I was writing On the Making of a Dead Man’s Hand. I went through four drafts on that one, and the feedback I got helped make it a stronger story.”

“I actually made almost no changes at all on Middle-Aged Weirdo (most of the feedback had to do with overuse of semi-colons), and it worked out for me. But that’s an exception. I did make changes to Jimmy Nazareth, my other VP story, based on the feedback, and it helped make it a stronger story.”

In addition Middle-Aged Weirdo in Strange Horizons, linked above, George has published in a variety of venues:

Sitting in the Sunshine of the World’s Last Day in AlienSkin, a microflash story. ( AlienSkin was a great online ‘zine that featured an alien dancing to disco music on a flying saucer. They’re gone now, unfortunately, and so is the story. )

Hillbilly Frankenstein (I won third prize in The Garden State Horror Writer’s Short Story contest for a story called, but it’s not available anywhere, which is probably for the best.)

The Blue Weed, is available at 365Tomorrows.

The Big Splash is available at Strange Horizons.