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So the Hugo's are out, my votes didn't get too far, which seems to be par for the course with the Best novel category. Sadly I don't think Saturn's Children is a winner either. hey ho. I suspect that it is purely a matter of time before Charlie gets a gong so I'll not worry too much on his behalf.
One problem that I've already observed on some of the email lists which I read is the controversy about the nomination of Pro John Scalzi as Best Fan Writer is going to be re-ignited given that he won the category.
What I can't work out is what the root of this is. On one extreme I'm seeing a small cohort of, mostly older, Fen crying out that Scalzi isn't a real Fan.
This charge, in particular, smacks of hypocrisy to me. So the question is forming in my mind is that if we're seeing a shift in the way Fandom sees itself and how it evolves moving forward. John's format is the Blog. He's been at it a very long time and I actually quite like the Blog. Yes, he does use it for self promotion. Gee, really? The man has to make a living and this is one way of doing it. However, he is pretty even handed about allowing other authors access and, yes, in fact there is a fair amount of Fannish content on there. Does he attend conventions? Yes, it would seem so.
Did he attend cons before he became a Pro... I'm not 100% sure, I suspect that he had, but could be proved wrong.
So what is the backlash about, especially that from the Fanzines community... is it a hint of the green monster I wonder? Is fandom struggling with the move from the printed form to more online activity? There is certainly something at work here and, while it is an ugly debate at the moment, it's a festering boil that we should lance in public.
One problem that I've already observed on some of the email lists which I read is the controversy about the nomination of Pro John Scalzi as Best Fan Writer is going to be re-ignited given that he won the category.
What I can't work out is what the root of this is. On one extreme I'm seeing a small cohort of, mostly older, Fen crying out that Scalzi isn't a real Fan.
This charge, in particular, smacks of hypocrisy to me. So the question is forming in my mind is that if we're seeing a shift in the way Fandom sees itself and how it evolves moving forward. John's format is the Blog. He's been at it a very long time and I actually quite like the Blog. Yes, he does use it for self promotion. Gee, really? The man has to make a living and this is one way of doing it. However, he is pretty even handed about allowing other authors access and, yes, in fact there is a fair amount of Fannish content on there. Does he attend conventions? Yes, it would seem so.
Did he attend cons before he became a Pro... I'm not 100% sure, I suspect that he had, but could be proved wrong.
So what is the backlash about, especially that from the Fanzines community... is it a hint of the green monster I wonder? Is fandom struggling with the move from the printed form to more online activity? There is certainly something at work here and, while it is an ugly debate at the moment, it's a festering boil that we should lance in public.
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