



Basically an internet lynch mob of Social Justice Warriors hounded an author into not publishing her book. They brow beat her. They shamed her into compliance. And now she has pulled her book, apologized even though she’s done nothing wrong, and begged forgiveness.

Seriously, read those excerpts from her blog, where she talked about her hopes, and dreams, and artistic vision… And then read about how they all got crushed in the name of Social Justice.

As an author, this makes me want to vomit. This nefarious shit is why I’ve been loud and incessant about this topic for the last decade.

So now here is my letter to the “Book Community”.

To the Book Community: Go fuck yourself.

You people aren’t a “community”. You are a fucking cancer.

People who like to read books? That’s a book community. Bullies who exist in a perpetual state of being offended, eager to silence artists, you’re scum.

If you had an ounce of self-awareness, you would be ashamed of yourself. But you don’t. So instead you pat yourself on the back for ruining yet another artist’s career, for silencing another voice, for crushing more dreams.

Fuck you. Fuck your feelings. And fuck your ridiculous claims. Fuck your perpetual offense. Take your smug, entitled ignorance, and cram it up your ass sideways, you worthless sacks of crap. You goose stepping morons should try reading books instead of burning them.

People wonder why I often fisk the bad social justice writing advice articles from places like the HuffPo or Tor. Those articles are always Don’t Do This and Don’t Do That and Write The Way We Tell You Or Else. They’re all fucking bullshit. They are maggots feasting on the dinosaur carcass of mainstream publishing.

I fisk those bad advice articles because if I can save a single young aspiring author from falling into your wretched, soul crushing trap, it was totally worth it. My goal is to expose your con, to show that your gate keepers are nutless humps, and that your Outrage Of The Day is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing. Thankfully lots of people have caught on. They’ve learned that bullies only have power over you when you allow them to.

Sadly, it looks like Zhao never caught on, and she let you assholes ruin her dreams.

You create nothing. You can only destroy.  You are miserable failures, and like the demons of CS Lewis, your misery makes you want to drag down everyone else too. You give one star reviews to books which haven’t come out yet, which tell us a lot more about your weird personal issues and neurosis than they do about the book you’re supposedly reviewing.

You get away with this abusive shit only because most artists are sensitive, caring types. They don’t want to offend people. They don’t want to hurt feelings.  Only you lie to them. Manipulate and use them. You don’t care about their art. You don’t care about entertaining people. You don’t care about kids reading or people enjoying themselves or even the group you’re supposedly championing today.

You only care about control.

That’s why your rules are so illogical. You want—no, need—people to break them. Your rules are nonsense gibberish that changes day by day. That way even when people try to placate you, it doesn’t matter, because you just find something else to be offended by instead.

Fuck you, you goddamned communist puritans. The sooner society realizes SJWs are a suicidal dead end like unto the hippies, and everyone starts laughing at your childish tantrums, the better.


Larry Correia  – bestselling novelist who actually makes a good living at this business, unlike you useless parasites.  

P.S – Go back to Goodreads and give me another one star review, you fucking mopes. Each time you do I sell more books to actual decent human beings who are sick of your shit.



To Writers: Do Not Negotiate With Terrorists

Brothers and sisters, please do not fall for this con.

Artists should never let a bunch of thugs tell them how to make art. Down that road lies madness, and dreary, shitty, boring books that nobody wants to read.

These people do not care about making the world a better place. They do not care about whatever marginalized group they claim to speak for this week. They only care about bossing you around.

Saying that someone is having fun wrong empowers them. So they will always be able to find somebody having wrongfun.  

Their rules are arbitrary and capricious. You will inevitably violate them.


If you write about your own culture, then they declare you are erasing another. If you write about a culture that isn’t yours, then they declare you are guilty of cultural appropriation. They demand you put in a certain kind of character, but when you do, they’ll inevitably declare you wrote them “wrong”. With “right” being a perpetually moving target.

For example, in one of my books the bad guy was a charismatic psycho criminal mastermind villain. He was also gay. Eddie turned out to be an extremely popular character, and the audience loved him. But of course I got screeched at by some Social Justice Howler Monkeys because I had a homosexual villain, and that was homophobic and blah blah blah… But fast forward a few years and the same crowd was circulating a petition demanding that DC take the Joker—a charismatic psycho criminal mastermind villain—and make him gay. Because “representation”.  

Or another, I got attacked for another fantasy novel because it was set in a world loosely based on India, and how that was the dreaded cultural appropriation. Except the book sold well and was popular in the English language fiction market… IN INDIA.  

Plus, these SJWs are incredibly ignorant. One of them screamed at me because in Son of the Black Sword, I had someone eating a rice ball, and HOW DARE LARRY CORREIA ASSUME THAT ALL ASIAN CULTURES ARE THE SAME AND HAVE RICE BALLS REEEEEEEEE!!!!!  And my response was the google image search for “Indian Rice Balls” which was like 20 pages of deliciousness.  Because let’s face it, every culture that can grow rice has at some point in time discovered it is convenient to squish it into a ball.

I got called racist for having Imperial Japan be the bad guys in the 1930s (well, duh).  I got screamed at for having characters be intolerant in 1932 (even though the hero of that part was the black dude who had to eat at a separate lunch counter)… but I guarantee that if I had pretended Jim Crow or the Rape of Nanking never existed, I’d get screamed at for that too.

Over and over, so on and so forth, it doesn’t matter what you actually write, because the screaming doesn’t need to make sense. So they’ll scream no matter what you do, even when they’re factually wrong about it, or your sins are imaginary, and whatever it is they’re butt hurt about today, tomorrow they’ll be butt hurt in the opposite direction.

When the game is rigged, the only way to win is to not play.

These social justice assholes are just like the little kids who throw themselves on the toy aisle floor at Wal-Mart and kick and scream and cry, purple faced and tears streaming down their cheeks, because Mommy won’t buy them a Power Ranger.

You don’t give them what they want, because then they’ll just do it again next time. You don’t reason with the hysterical child. If they’re not your kid, you ignore them and keep on walking. If they’re your problem, you say shut up you little brat, you ain’t getting shit, because you know giving in to bad behavior leads to more of the same.

Zhao just bought them the entire Power Rangers play set and Megazord.

In this case, the purple haired tantrum throwers were wailing on the ground screaming YOU CAN’T WRITE ABOUT SLAVERY IN A FANTASY WORLD!  And the author said, but it is based upon the history of my own culture and actual current events, but that didn’t matter, and the horrid brat just yelled  NO NOT THAT WAY!

If you give veto power to anyone who is offended, then guaranteed, somebody is gonna declare they are offended. When being a victim grants power and social status, then you’ve got no shortage of people saying they’re victimized.  The actual facts don’t matter. You just gave random assholes a license to mess with you, they’re going to do it, simply because they’re assholes.  

Basically, they can only hurt you if grant them the ability to do so (or your publisher is a spineless coward, but that’s a whole different problem!) .

This transcends politics. It doesn’t matter who is screaming at you, an abusive bully is an abusive bully. Don’t let abusive bullies run your life. That’s not just true for writing, but life in general.

You want to be a creator? Good. Then go create. Make art. Make people happy. Tell the story you want to tell. And if people like your stuff, they’ll give you money for it. That part is pretty awesome.


Larry Correia – who is living proof that you really don’t need to fear social justice lynch mobs, because despite how much they’ve whined about me, I’m still selling books.

P.S. To hell with the haters. Go write what you want. Have fun. Get paid.

House of Assassins Book Tour Starts Now

490 thoughts on “To The Book Community: Go Fuck Yourself. An Anti-Apology.”

    1. Actually, Angry Larry worries me….because it would be a damn shame if he turned into stroke Larry.

        1. Heh. From your mouth to God’s ears. I don’t have a lot of money to spend on Kindle editions, but when I do: Make Mine Correia, Mofos!

        2. Verbal venting, like farting, is much better health-wise than holding it in until you blow. On that note, this classic rant may be poisonous methane to SJWs, but I breathed it in like rain-fresh air.

          The real poisonous methane here is exactly the kind of arbitrary and capricious Orwellian censorship SJWs try to impose on the rest of us. They’re like the Mad Mullah film censors of Iran leaving all the humanity in a film on the cutting room floor. Pushbuck like this is not only necessary, it is the duty of free thinkers in a democracy.

          I would like to add to last comments. The first, in a related piece, cited Ray Bradbury’s foreword in the 50th Anniversary when he said that the world is full of people running around with lit matches. I would also cite a famous saying that in societies where books are burned, people soon follow. SJW edit-free words to the wise.

        3. When I was in the military, I would have that effect on coworkers. Usually my supervision, and usually because I would start questioning things.

      1. Strokes differ a lot – while in the ICU after my fourth stroke I had the idea for a book, but the actual writing process depends on bursts of creativity. Luckily only the pain and temperature sensors on one side were affected, as well as sense of balance and the ability to articulate or walk in a straight line now takes effort.
        Others need far more rehab to move the numbed half of their bodies the way they want it to move.
        As for criticizing authors – I’d rather help them avoid inconsistencies (which for me feel like speed bumps while reading) than interfere with their actual story. If your story takes place on a planet inhabited by reptiles, don’t invent a whole new logic – a quick translation of a short chapter might illustrate that better:

        The surroundings were foreign, I didn’t even recognize the plants. I stood in a rectangular hole in the ground that reminded me of my time in the army – back then we had to dig such holes to train for the possibility of the Cold War turning hot. That also fitted with the longish thing in my right hand, which had the ergonomics of a rifle. Where was I? And who was that being next to me, pointing its rifle(?) to our front?
        I bent my knees for a deep breath. My new body felt as alien as the whole surroundings; a quick glance skyward showed dirty yellowish air with brownish clouds partially obscuring a reddish sun. If this was a air spa it wasn’t for humans. I didn’t actually feel human, either, and the scaly skin on my hands (hands? claws? paws? I’d have to think about that later) reminded me of reptiles. That impression solidified as I looked up along the being next to me. It looked down to me, said “Parrr!”, and gestured with a nod I should stand up again (some gestures were even interplanetary universal). Not a second too soon, because now a large group of those reptilians came towards us, in uniforms different from ours.
        My hole-mate opened fire and I joined in, aiming as well as I could – not knowing how often I could shoot before having to reload I tried not to waste ammunition.
        Since my work had often included stressful and problematic situations I was used to keeping calm and concentrated especially then, which now helped. My aimed shots kept the enemy at bay long enough that my brother in arms could reload. Glancing at him I now knew which pockets held spare magazines, how those looked like, and how the change them – all actions a soldier has to perform in combat are trained so often that they happen automatically, without conscious thought. On the other hand uniforms and other equipment are designed in such a way to support these actions, priorities sorted by how often and how urgent something has to be done. Spare magazines are distributed among the equipment to enable speedy and uncomplicated reloading, without getting in the way.
        Even if evolution had gone another path on this planet, logic went along the same paths or had at least come to the same conclusions.
        My thoughts returned to the situation at hand – the attackers had withdrawn, taking their wounded with them. My hole-mate replaced the magazine and put the not yet empty one in front of him. That seemed like a good idea, so I did the same. He also said something to me, but since I didn’t know the language I replied with a shrug and a resigned sigh before returning my attention to the front – luckily that seemed to satisfy his curiosity. Still, I hoped to soon be able to relinquish control over this body.
        All was quiet in front of us and I put down the rifle to get something to drink – the canteen was in its familiar place on my back at hip height, together with its cup. Having taken care of my thirst I put the canteen in front of me, assuming we’d be spending more time in this hole.
        The rattling and squeaking noise off to the side in front of us was faint at first, but became increasingly louder until the tank appeared behind a solid group of trees, turning its turret in our direction. I just glimpsed the next attack wave forming on both sides of the tank when the muzzle blasted fire.
        Then a flash of light, a short, intense, hot, tearing pain in the whole body, followed by silence and darkness.

        1. Nice, very nice – captured/held my interest all the way through. Any hope of it becoming a full book? It has a strong flavor/hint of being LitRPG, which genre I enjoy a lot…

          1. The basic premise is that the main character doesn’t want to die, so he’s building a device to transfer him into another body – each body and the character’s further development within that body along with technologies and exploration as one chapter.
            At the moment I’m starting off on the 9th body, but I had to get rid of the golden parachute before that, otherwise it would have been too much of a repeat – childhood, grant for gifted children from a research institute, work for that institute, develop and explore new technologies, get killed off in an accident. That worked for one chapter, but I don’t want to bore readers with a remake of the same story.
            Perhaps I’ll add some industrial espionage aftermath to that chapter, investigating what happened about two or three decades earlier, resulting in the golden parachute being axed.
            Along the way I also mention some real problems without going into too much detail – like developments in medical research leading to 3D-printed organs because there weren’t enough donor organs before, or doing volunteer work in a hospice, or how well the LGBTQ* community usually accepts and respects a “No” – that way readers can make up their own minds and I can avoid alienating them by preaching.
            From a SJW point of view I’m either a saint for bringing up those problems, or a wimp because I don’t ram them down people’s throats in every other sentence, or a monster for invading other people’s bodies. Watch me not care; I write what I feel like writing, I’m keeping abreast of current developments in technology and research, and I think about how those developments will influence the future, all while trying to keep plausible and consistent. And if people want to buy the book that’ll eventually be available, I’m happy.
            I’m not quite sure if I want to do the translation to English later or in parallel…

    2. I can almost guarantee that Larry isn’t Zhao’s “kind of people” though.

      Which is what makes this so awesome. Because Larry doesn’t give a shit.

      1. Larry don’t care. Larry don’t give a shit. Doesn’t matter whose “people” he is… or if he agrees with an author’s politics, if they’re doing what authors are supposed to do, which is make books that make people throw money at them.

        Heck, I think he even had a couple reasonably complimentary things to say about that lady who wrote the Twilight books. Something about “not something I ever want to read, but she’s living in a house made of gold bars, so clearly she did SOMETHING right.”

        1. She tapped into the feelings, thoughts and desires of an element of society. She wrote books that her fans loved. She didn’t care what others thought. She wrote for her fans. They were compelling stories. She wasn’t spreading a message.

    3. I was directed to this post of yours from another blog I follow. I commend your passion and conviction and there is nothing you wrote that can be taken as false. I hope everyone reads this, especially the progressive sons of bitches.

  1. I saw this article earlier today. Thanks for writing this. As I read it I yelled at her in my head “Punch them back! Tell them to fuck off and it’s your own book!”

  2. Outstanding RANT! Well done, sir. Outing the worthlessness of the SJWs makes me smile big time. Don’t let the hecklers get their veto.

    THANK YOU!!!!!

  3. “To Writers: Do Not Negotiate With Terrorists”

    Amen to that. I wish that each author had their own personal “backbone” person to do and say the things they can’t. Kind of like a bodyguard for the 21st century.

    1. I don’t know about this particular author’s situation, but most of the time it’s not that simple. Sure, negotiating with terrorists is a bad idea; but not everyone can afford to take a bullet to the head.

      These terrorists will hound you until you are fired from your day job and can never get hired again. They will make sure that no publisher will publish your books. They will review-bomb you into oblivion. When anyone Googles your name, it will always come up with “Nazi” as the first hit.

      Sure, if you’re on your own, you might say “fuck it, let it all burn”. But what if you have a family to support ? Not everyone can be a millionaire who just can just shrug off potentially permanent unemployment, you know ?

      1. Actually, Bugmaster, this is one area where you could help authors out. Since most of this particular variety of terrorism is coming from leftists, you’re in a better position to help stop it than consevatives are. Because when a sane leftist hears “This author is racist / oppressive / whatever”, he/she will often believe it without checking, and so he/she won’t realize that the person saying that is one of these insane terrorists. The terrorists, by and large, don’t actually believe in the principles the left holds dear, they just know how to sound like they do. And that’s where you can come in. Since you’ve seen how these terrorists operate, you can explain that to your fellow leftists who are sane — and they’re far more likely to listen to you than to someone like Larry who disagrees with them on so many points.

        So that’s my request to you. Please help stop these terrorists, by removing their base of support: the sane leftists who are getting fooled by the terrorists. Help them see the inherent contradictions (e.g., “Correia wrote a psycopathic gay character! Evil! The Joker, a complete psycopath, should be portrayed as gay or else the authors are evil!”) and you can help open their eyes, so that the terrorists can fool fewer people into going along with their book-burning agenda.

          1. He does, but Bugmaster has a point too about it being complicated. And not all lefties are like this; (case in point me! and a number of my friends who keep being my friends even tho they think I’m horribly wrong about some things) just the horribly toxic sjw outrage brigade, and even then it’s hard figuring out who is well-meaning but easily manipulated, who is well-meaning but terrified, and who is just a plain scumbucket). As a lefty who HAS tried to express unpopular opinions/change minds/buck the current outrage bandwagon, you have to pick your battles and make sure you’re either REALLY pissed off (the situation you just wrote about qualifies) or the hill is worth dying on (again, situation above qualifies, as does The Black Witch crazy I didn’t know about till reading more on this) or just decide you don’t care if people quit talking to you. That’s aside from things like “have a small business and don’t want to ruin it”, “don’t want to get fired”, “want to be able to get hired if ever do a career change”, etc.

            While people don’t usually give the reasons, I have had online “friends” (including people I thought were actual *real* friends, online-ness notwithstanding) quit talking to me immediately, tho without giving this as the reason, for things as simple as defending Tulsi Gabbard against any number of smears, or saying the Russiagate hysteria is garbage w/regards to Trump–which should be glaringly obvious but apparently isn’t–to, well, I could go on a while. I’m currently on a 12 hour suspension from Twitter that has turned into 3 weeks coz I called some dude (to keep Larry from getting threatened w/suits from this sue-happy individual, I shall call him “Johny Dipshit”) who calls himself Jonathan half the time and Jessica half the time a male perv for suing women for not giving him a Brazilian wax due to his male genitalia and making posts on various internet sites about how he can bond w/10 year old girls in the bathroom, including some super creepy stuff. (to end the ban, they want a phone #. I don’t want to give them the phone # partly for doxing reasons and partly coz I just don’t like being bullied into doing things under false pretenses; they haven’t answered multiple appeals so I’m resigned to just being on for the future. They also want me to delete the tweet, which I would be uninclined to do, but they already deleted it for me so that is now a non-issue). I got nothing against trans people but this dude is just a perv, sorry, and if he wasn’t calling himself trans the same people defending him would want him outfitted w/an ankle bracelet.

            Plenty of lefties w/higher profiles than me get ostracized or dismissed as fringe or censored for bucking the orthodoxy; this has been building for a while but it got really crazy after Trump’s election. It’s one thing to be willing to buck the established narrative, and sometimes it can work and the majority will go along w/you (Covington, the obvious Smollet hoax)(tho even there, most people seem to want to just stay out of it and a shocking number are doubling down no matter how obviously wrong they are), but it’s another thing when you get denied access to all the places where you could buck the trend, for the sin of bucking said trend.

            And some lefties who do have a platform are pointing out the same things Larry is; I sent the story to a friend who’s still on twitter and willing to argue w/people about this; on a much higher profile level Jesse Singal is writing on this same topic (in agreement w/Larry, albeit putting it somewhat nicer) from a leftwing perspective.

            Wish I had more time to discuss the whole thing, but for right now I’ll put it down partly to increasing political tribalism, where not agreeing w/the groupthink on what they think is a major issue is seen rather akin to questioning the Church during the Inquisition, or traitorous aiding of the enemy during wartime. (I don’t think this is only the left, at all, or that it’s always been the left; I’m old enough to remember an entirely different atmosphere in the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s, actually I think probably a lot of the US started going collectively nuts after 9/11, and various factions who are good at propaganda took advantage of that; the propaganda machines are apparently getting steadily more effective, at least in some ways).

            I also think a lot of this stems from fringe movements that somehow went mainstream, without the mainstream ever acknowledging or realizing what had happened. There’s this jerk on a blog I frequent who has actually stated “the narrative is more important than the facts”, which he clearly means. That idea had roots in what used to be a looked-down upon sort of thinking called “critical theory”, as in “critical legal theory” or “critical race theory”, which is basically saying “everyone lies, so the most important thing is to lie better than the other side and control the narrative.” I figure the problems w/this line of thinking over the long term should be self-evident, but apparently not in some circles. Or they think it will be easy to back to a truth-based world once they have the society they want. Or they just don’t care. Or they just don’t believe in the concept of truth and facts. Probably varies depending on the adherent of said philosophy.

            Eh, apologies for the long-windedness. (oh, lastly, unrelated–last time I was here I hadn’t yet read any of your books, have since read the 1st 2 Grimnoir, Son of the Black Sword, & I think 3 MHI novels. As some others have said, I can enjoy the books w/out agreeing w/the politics of the author (plus, there’s NO ONE I agree w/all their politics, even my wife & I have a few areas of disagreement).

        1. You’re still thinking rationally here. To a Leftist, coming to the defense of a conservative by rejecting the Left’s more insane tactics makes you a far-right Nazi. That gets you ostracized from the collective, just like Bugmaster fears. Though we’re all in need of acceptance by a group to some degree, it’s critical to the average person from the center Left over to Chomsky.

          That’s why we can witness literal insanity on a daily basis from the Left and they experience no pushback, no opprobrium, no consequences. Their more moderate fellow travelers are terrified.

          1. The Left are their own worst enemy here. Can’t see anyone on the moderate left reading the excerpts in Dreher’s article and honestly saying to themselves, “yeah, she had it coming, and it couldn’t possibly happen to me without warning.”

          2. Which is why you hit them back.

            Use rhetoric, not logic. Ridicule them. If you are a manager or higher, fire their asses. They think moderation is weakness, so go full Ghengis Khan on them. Make them wish for moderation.

            Make being a little SJW the mark of unemployability.

          3. To Mojave Wolf:
            I must disagree, it is _very_ simple. Amelie Zhao should have fought back. If they try to get her fired from her day job, she makes a big stink about that, too, and finds a lawyer who will sue them.

            You turn the enemies strength against them: “The book they don’t want you to read, because it doesn’t fit THEIR narrative.” You tell them that if reality hurts their feelings, they should see a psychiatrist. You send out appeals “To ANYONE who believes in free speech or artistic freedom.” If the people trying to shut you up are Leftists, you make sure Rightists hear about your plight, and get them to write articles defending you (which gets you a lot of publicity, and quite a few sales from people who want to support free expression.

            What you don’t do, ever, is apologize to these sorts, or cooperate with them in any way. Just as running from a predator will trigger their attack reflex, backing down to a bully will trigger theirs, and make you a perpetual victim.

        2. I agree with your sentiment, but I fear you’re barking up the wrong tree here. I’m no leftist, in the modern sense. Sure, I agree with most of the leftist platform planks circa 1990 (pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, anti-Creationism, etc.), but the modern Left had long ago shifted way further left and had left me behind (*). There’s nothing I can do to open anyone’s eyes; sand people already see this kind of lynching as despicable, whereas insane people are immune to argument, as all religious zealots are wont to be.

          (*) sorry, couldn’t resist, heh.

          1. You think that the sane people already see this kind of lynching as despicable, but I’m telling you that there are plenty of sane people who don’t realize that what’s going on is a lynching. And so they approve of it, but they would disapprove if they realized — and you’re in a much better position to help them realize than I am.

            Of course, it does take courage to risk losing friendships. You have to care enough about making the truth known that you’re willing to face some personal loss to do so. It’s always safer to be the coward, but cowards never accomplish anything lasting. So if you care about stopping these lynchings, you’re going to have to be bold.

        3. Except the joker is already bi, has been written as such and is living proof that these idiots are a joke even amongst us lefts because of nonsense like this.

          We can read between the lines and don’t just read the headlines, but thanks for assuming we’re all mindless sheep. Shall I tar you with the same nonsense conservative brush now or actually get to know you before judging you out of hand?

      2. Assuming that every single employer is aware of the SJ mobbing and also takes it seriously, and also assuming the mob doesn’t move on to a new, shinier target the next week and forget all about having pressured you out of a job because an idea like “basically got what we wanted” doesn’t put the fire of urgency under anyone’s seat.

        I’d call it a serious setback, not lifelong ruin.

        1. If enough people stand up right now, taking the petty swipes and pressing on with their right business anyway, it need not come to killing and dying. (If you were replying to me, that is. The indentations are entirely too subtle.)

        2. I realize that you’re being hyperbolic, but this type of rhetoric is one of the reasons why the SJW mob had become so influential. If moderates see that their choice is between a left-wing zealot, and a gun-toting right-wing lunatic — which is what this kind of rhetoric makes you look like — then they’re going to side with the lesser evil more often than not.

          1. At risk of sounding redundant – what a stupid false choice. It’s stupid for the usual reasons, and also because the figurative language sailed over your head.

            Calm down.

          2. Bugmaster said: “I realize that you’re being hyperbolic…”

            You are mistaken. I’m not. Those are your choices, my fine liberal. You can fight, or you can surrender.

            Either way, the NPC mob will do everything in their power to ruin your life. They’ll take your job, your money, your relationships. That’s what they’re doing to anyone who captures their attention.

            Just exactly what do you think is going to happen to this Amelie Wen Zhow girl now, after this mob of unthinking bitches got her book cancelled? How many years of her hard work just got flushed down the toilet by a bunch of faceless assholes?

            My first book took almost 30 years to percolate before it finally was finished. When I release it, there are going to be a lot of faceless assholes who read along until they find a sentence I wrote that appears somewhere else, or where I have a non-white character, or they will simply -lie- and make something up.

            So tell me, Bugmaster. Should I apologize and slink back into my hole, or should I dare them to do their worst and take the damage? 30 years boy, and they’re threatening everything I have or ever hope to have.

            Tell me again about the hyperbole.

          3. I tend to agree. I’m sympathetic with the thrust of this piece, but vulgar name calling isn’t going to convince anyone who isn’t already convinced. I prefer eloquence to a barrage scatological ad hominems.

          4. Going with the lesser evil is fine, if that’s the only choice. I think Larry (and others) would dispute the assignment of “lesser” to the left.

      3. She had a $1/2 million+ advance. All she had to do was say “FOAD, I’m telling my story. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.”

        Instead she groveled to the monsters.

        She chose poorly

          1. Yep. She got paid. That’s selling out!

            The bitching, from what I remember reading, was her having slaves in the story… which was from Chinese cultural perspectives/history. But to the Left, the only slaves EVAR were blacks, and only in America. The Egyptians never had slaves, because ‘they’re black’ or something similarly stupid; it’s ‘different’ in the old caste cultures, somehow, and only white people ever are to be condemned.

            She shouldn’t have caved, but then again… *shakes head* she’s Chinese, and they had those sessions at the later part of Mao’s China. Shame she doesn’t realize that in America, those rules don’t apply if you step outside the Leftist mental slave farms.

        1. As a “monster” as I must protest, She gave in not to “monsters” but to EVIL. There *is* a difference!

      4. This writer was given a publishing deal on the strength of her being a POC (I hate that term) in order to get more diverse writers. But of course the mob doesn’t really want diversity, they want homogenization, or as Larry pointed out dreary shitty boring books that nobody wants to read. Her depiction of slavery, besides being fantasy fiction, is based from her current culture in China, and the outrage mob is upset that things exist that aren’t American centric.

        1. It really, really pisses me off how much they get away with pretending only the American perspectives exist, while they accuse other people of exactly that.

          I lived in China for five years. Since I was there in the expatriate community, and that was literally the reason my family was employed, my ability to reach out and understand Chinese culture was stunted, but I tried my best. I cannot tell you how many other people were there who just came to China so they could hang out with other expats and get cheap flights to Bali or whatever. Most of their international experiences were limited to (a.) other people who already thought exactly like them, or (b.) the 15-mile radius around their beach resort.

          And yes, they leaned pretty far left politically. There’s a reason I got good at debating that ideology.

        2. This is most evident in the famous (to some; to most like myself, it really should have been infamous) 2007 Live Journal post by one Allecto (real name Danielle Pynnonen) blasting Joss Whedon and his series Firefly for having elements that weren’t sufficently feminist for her liking (Mal being Zoe’s superior in the Independents Army, her still calling him ‘sir’ as a mark of respect due to what they went through as war buddies in the Independence War of the solar system they live in and also because he’s the captain of the Serenity, and last but not least, there being (*gasp*) actual sex work in the future [Inara Serra being a ‘Companion’, that show’s version of a courtesan/sex worker]), leading her to title her rant Joss Whedon: Rapist and also further say that he most likely rapes his wife.

          Of course, we all know what happened to Joss eventually & recently with regards to his marraige and his having an affair; the extremist emoprogressive magical unicorn Purity Poutrage Professional Left blasted him to bits based on what was said by Ms. Pyonnen in said 2007 LiveJournal screed. All for the sin of what went on in his private life, netween him and his wife. Some people said that this was just deserts for playing to the left and feminism in his previous works, but I (who’s a pragmatic progressive) disagree; nobody deserves this, at all.

      5. You can go indie and publish on Amazon. There are many ways to earn a living. You actually believe that the progressives are so powerful that if you get fired from your job that you will never get another job and will have no other way to earn income? Do you believe that what people will say about you on the internet is so important that you must surrender to them? Do you believe that the SJW’s are so powerful that the only thing to do id to surrender and do only what they allow?

    2. As others have noted, negotiating with terrorists is a fundamentally bad idea because they inherently leave you nothing to negotiate *with*. You can’t threaten a suicide bomber. You can’t reach legal agreements with an anarchist. You can’t reason with a fanatic. Because these very acts themselves run counter to their mentality.

      More to the point, not only did the author *choose* not to get published, of her own volition rather than being pressed by the publisher, but an increasing amount of examples show a backlash against the whiny windbags, precisely in terms of occupation denial – or in short, they freak out, they get fired.

      And this is, of course, the website of someone who’s probably been called far worse things than a Nazi, yet still manages to support a family and entertain a growing fan-base. Speaking from my own experience when I first got hooked on his works, every one-star review by a clearly biased loonie only increased my interest… and the free library samples did the rest.

      So again, appeasing zealots is neither sustainable, nor really necessary. Nor are they all that prominent outside of North America and Western Europe, so this leaves a whole bunch of other markets to try. Big in Japan ain’t just an Alphaville song, you know.

      1. “Baizuo” (white left) is an insult in China.

        They don’t like SJW’s either, in case you couldn’t tell from the term.

        1. … This… I had to look this up…

          The fact that even the communists think they suck makes me giggle with glee.

        2. Can confirm for Eastern Europe. Even the people with rosy impressions of the old days – and that’s mostly in the same “peace and quiet” kind of nostalgia Americans purportedly have for the fifties – still think the modern Western left is both mentally and morally deficient.

          That’s really the irony of modern globalism – American liberals spent half the past century believing themselves to be world-wise and open-minded, more in touch with other cultures than the stubborn right-wing hardliners. But wouldn’t you know it, as global communication developed, the rest of the world turned out to be even more conservative, wanting nothing to do with them. No wonder they’ve started going berserk over fantasy books – just about the only countries that do accept their lunacy, exist only in their own imaginary worlds.

          1. That’s because eastern Europeans like authoritarian politics but not left-wing social politics or economics. See: Russia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia.

          2. As a guy who has been to and loves Czechia, you’re a fucking idiot. 😀

            Oh wait… I just saw this moron is Clamps is and Jack already banned him. Good riddance (AGAIN!) Thanks, Jack!

          3. Which in turn is because Eastern Europeans have actually *endured* left-wing social politics and economics, and found authoritarianism by itself to be a far lesser evil in comparison.

            Or as a joke here goes, a communist is someone who reads Marx and Engels. An *ex*-communist is someone who *understands* Marx and Engels.

          4. Well, you can set a house on fire, and it still won’t be a pretty sight after it’s put out, now, will it?

            Though I reckon, as much as anyone can tout the superiority of their chosen political systems, what really hurts the average modern pinko is that said systems *can* be chosen to begin with. That, like it or not, their grand vision of the world fundamentally has competition, and when the question was between that or, say, capitalism and a free-market economy, countries have overwhelmingly chosen the latter.

            That’s actually what brought the old Union down – Gorbachev’s belief that, once his reforms were complete, once the shackles were broken and the chains were cut, once the Wall was down and the Curtain was lifted, people would still choose the red way by themselves, on their own accord. And we all know how that turned out.

            And, in a way, I see the same thing in the modern fiction market. The pinkos who try and silence any opposing opinion, any competing view – they don’t do it just because they’re that concerned with demonstrating how they’re so morally right. But rather, because they themselves have become unsure of it. And so they need everyone else to say the same thing, profess the same views; just to validate their own. Otherwise, the spell gets broken, the illusion is lost… and they’re in for one hell of a hangover.

          5. Thanks for the heads up. I’m not yet versed regarding the trolls popping up here. I kinda figured it wasn’t gonna be a productive conversation when I saw the mention of “authoritarian politics” concerning Eastern Europe. And when it’s a repeat offender, any response other than a fisking-style vent is a waste of effort.

          6. Sigh. Clamps somehow got past that court order and back online? Thanks for the heads up- Larry is still on tour but I’ll go ahead and re-block him under his newest name.
            In a way, it’s sort of an honor being one of the only people we bother to ignore…

      2. Out of curiosity, where are these one-star reviwes, on Amazon? I want to take a look.

        I don’t think that there are other markets for this book, especially in Japan.

        1. Perhaps. It certainly sounds like an iffy proposition – a book written by a Chinese expat, about a fantasy retelling of a Russian urban legend, of all things. Then again, it also ostensibly stars a more unorthodox type of magical girl, involves secretive organizations and massive conspiracies, and a more complex look at touchy subjects – things well appreciated in Japanese fiction. Based on content alone, I’d say it would have a fair chance on the light novel market.

          Other than that, I can always recommend my own neck of the woods. From what I can tell by the regular inflow of new editions in bookstores, sci-fi and especially young adult fantasy books are doing rather well in the former Eastern Bloc. (Bookstores in general are doing surprisingly well in a region otherwise drowning in alcohol and bad television.) And we’re pretty indifferent when it comes to author nationality. In fact I think it might be a boon in this case – the niche market of manga aside, Eastern flavor sci-fi and fantasy is scarce to begin with, yet tends to sell well, going by stuff like Lukayenko’s Night Watch. So again, the odds are fairly decent.

        2. You think that Larry doesn’t sell worldwide? Ask Larry or Jack how many languages Larry’s books are translated into. He’s a top seller and multiple Audie winner at Audible. He sells Everywhere!

    3. Agreed. This is an online mob, not one at the door. she should have read the SJW survival guide and make the employer or publisher do it. Who knows, you might get compensation.

      Having the author request the unpublished probably puts the onus of returning advance money on her and may leave the rights to an unpublished book with the current holder and in Limbo.

      Modify events so they are not in your hometown of you have to.

  4. Well said. Thank you for continuing to stand up to the zealots who try to masquerade as concerned citizens, but inevitably show themselves to be no more than ignorant, would-be despots. You know, the same kind you find with the rest of the pimps and pushers.

  5. Fuck. Now I have to work slavery into my new universe… and make a slave owner a halfway sympathetic character, just to chap their asses. Oh, well, I understand the crows from Dumbo are available…

    1. You said it. I hadn’t intended on working slavery into my current work, but it would really make a great middle finger to that crowd.

      1. I’m working up a historical set in the lead-up to and in the American Civil War – and I will deal with slavery, slave-owners and the abolition movement. And yes, I will deliberately make one of the slave-owners an attractive and sympathetic character. Which I was kind of planning to do anyway, but now I will make that character even more sympathetic and likeable. Just because.
        I despise what the screaming SJW garbage babies have done to that author and her book.

        1. Be sure to make one of the slave owners black. There were some, especially in Charleston, S.C. See “Black Slaveowners: Free Black Slave Masters in South Carolina, 1790-1860”

          1.         If I get my fantasy/horror novel finished, the villian will be a black slave who becomes white.  It hadn’t occurred to me to make him a slave owner, but I’ll try to work that in.

                    But being a mass-murderer, I doubt you’ll find him sympathetic.

          2. The very first real, honest to goodness chattel slave owner in the US was black. Indeed, he was the one who made a case for it and won in the US, so he was also the person who brought to those times chattel slavery which replaced indentured slavery.

            Something that the socjus warriors like to gloss over because indentured slavery included whites being enslaved.

          3. From what I’ve seen, pinkos aren’t really affected by the fact that the initial slave-owners were black themselves. They can always excuse such inconsistencies with concepts like “internalized racism” – same as how they view black conservatives nowadays.

            Instead, I’d rather note that the initial *reason* for slavery was quite different from the “Roots”-style slaver gangs raiding peaceful villages. Such a practice would be both risky and stupid, given the actual most prolific historical source of slaves on the market – war. And that’s what these initial slaves were – prisoners of war. Typically, war between African nations themselves, with or without foreign involvement.

            But most importantly, these were people who, with their homes destroyed and their lands conquered, faced only two outcomes – they would either be enslaved, or, as is the other most common fate of war prisoners, executed. Exterminated. By other people of the same race, color and creed. And should the tide turn, should the conquered become conquerors themselves, then they would subject their vanquished enemies to that same fate as well.

            So really, even if you were the kindest man on the planet, even if you had all the money in the world, and you chanced upon slaves at a market back then, what would you have done? Buy them off, and send them back to the “freedom” of a ruined land, conquered by their sworn enemies? Support their side in the fight, knowing they’d be no better as victors than as victims? Send them off to a new land, where they’d be even less prepared to build their lives, and with no guarantee of peace either?

            The ultimate failing of the left in reading history, is in believing that immoral outcomes only ever come from immoral intentions, and that there’s always an easy and guilt-free way out. If only…

        2. In that work also look into the role that Northern bankers playedin financing both the slave trade and in lending to Southerners on the value of their slaves.
          Many, if not most, slave owners could not afford to free slaves even if they had wanted to, as the slaves were mortgaged to their bankers.
          Look also at Federal govt financing before the War Between the States. Fed finance was tariffs on imports and exports and excise taxes ONLY.
          The North could not afford to let the South go, without redoing the tax codes for the renaining states.
          John in Indy – relocated now to Florida

          1. Please drop the false history, John, and learn some real history.

            There were NO tariffs on exports. They are explicitly forbidden in the Constitution. There were tariffs on imports, and excise taxes: and they were at their lowest level in over four decades when the Deep South proclaimed themselves seceded. They could have been replaced by direct levies on the states. I know of no Southerner who thought that was a good idea.

            And according to contemporary Southern sources, the average debt of a Southern planter was about 10% of his net worth, while the value of his slaves was about 50% of net worth, so he could have afforded to free them.

            And the North could have afforded to let the South go, financially, if seceding states had taken on their proportional share of the national debt (though smuggling might have been a problem). What the North believed it could not afford was to let a minority participate in an election, lose it, then freely walk out of the Union, as that principle, once established, would destabilize all government and lead to dictatorship.

            The Deep South tried to secede, OTOH, because they believed that Slavery was doomed in the Union, but would be safe outside it.

            All this stuff is readily available in the original sources, ALL OF WHICH ARE IN ENGLISH, AND MOST OF WHICH ARE FREELY AVAILABLE ON THE NET. Try reading them. You’ll learn a lot.

        3. That migh not be a good idea, at all, especially with Afro-North American people such as myself. Also, any way you slice it or look at it, no matter how benelovent, a slave owner is still a slave owner. I’d suggest more research into this bit of history before you put finger to keyboard.

    2. One of the reasons slavery existed for so long is because a lot of the slave owners were actually stand-up people who did the best they could within the confines of a really bad system they inherited. You can’t really blame them for not going against the system and you could hardly blame them for being not cruel enough and thus helping to perpetuate the system.

      1. Ulysses S. Grant was a lifelong abolitionist who once owned slaves because his wife inherited them from her father. His hatred for the existence of slavery was a factor in his decision to fight for the Union.

        Robert E. Lee disliked slavery. As far as I can recall, he never owned a slave. However, he chose to fight for the Confederacy because his home state of Virginia aligned with that side. He viewed it as defending his home.

        I don’t say this to pretend that slavery was not one of the primary reasons for the war. I believe it is a very good thing that the Union won and slavery was abolished. However, I say this as someone with a lot of family connections to the South, who loves and honors her Confederate ancestors despite disagreeing with the decision they made: the world is a lot more complicated than people like to think.

        1. In reality:

          1.         That’s not very accurate.  The slaves thought they would basically be freed as soon as Mr. Custis’s will was probated, but the actual language was they were to be freed within five years of Custis’s death.  Meanwhile Lee, as executor of the estate was supposed to see the debts paid off, and the various heirs provided for, IIRC.  As a practical matter, he doesn’t seem to have seen any way to do that without keeping the slaves enslaved and working for the five years.

                    I’ve seen no evidence that he was particularly cruel, by slavery standards.  Cruelty is inherent in the system, because a slave who can refuse to work is not really a slave.

        2. Lee did own slaves, at one point, because he inherited them, but freed them because that was in the terms of the will.

          1. As I recall, Lee educated his slaves, despite it being culturally and legally frowned upon in the South. As did Stonewall Jackson, I think. Other prominent confederates like P.G.T. Beauregard and James Longstreet were fierce advocates for blacks’ civil rights after the war.

          2. Ah, I see I was wrong on that count. My apologies. I still stand by my point that the real world is complicated.

          3. Lee owned slaves, but freed them simultaneously with accepting a commission to command the Confederate army. Thus, his slaves were quite possibly the first to be freed as a result of the Civil War.

            Grant (through his wife) also owned slaves, and hung onto them until the 15th Amendment was ratified – making them among the last to be freed as a result of the Civil War.

        3. Ulysses Grant once bought a slave to work on his farm. The farm failed quickly, and Grant freed his slave rather than selling him.

          1.         Grant owned a slave.  Last I looked, there was no record of how he acquired ownership.  Do you have a source for your statement he purchased him?  If so, I’d like to see it.

                    You are correct that he did free his slave.  Last I looked, there was no record of his motivation.  Again, if you know a contrary source, I’d like to see it.

          2.         Don Edwards: That idea that Grant “also owned slaves, and hung onto them until the 15th Amendment was ratified” is untrue, as far as I can tell.  Grant’s father-in-law owned slaves, and sent a family of four to his daughter to be her servants.  AFAIK, Grant had no legal power to free them.

                    As for Lee, the slaves he freed were owned by the estate of his father-in-law, and he freed them because his father-in-law’s will said they were to be freed within five years of his death.  He freed them on 1862 December 12, which was rather later than his commission in either the Virginia or Confederate armies.  And he never commanded THE Confederate Army.  On that point, Jefferson Davis was a VERY strict constructionist.

                    It is interesting to read the myths people repeat without checking to see if they are in any way true.

                    And btw, it was the 13th Amendment that ended slavery.

        4.         In his Personal Memoirs, Grant denied being an abolitionist or caring about slavery before the war (IIRC, that is).  If you have a source for him being a lifelong abolitionist, I’d like to see it.

                  Lee owned four slaves the year before he went off to fight in the War with Mexico.  The will he wrote before leaving directed they be freed if he died in the conflict.  Apparently he freed them upon his return.

                  Lee’s dislike of slavery was rather theoretical.  As a practical matter, he wanted all Northerners to shut up about the subject, and for slavery to continue till God decided to end it.

      2. Yes, we can blame them. Let anyone be perceived as threatening their Peculiar Institution, and they would immediately start screaming about they were threatened with slavery, and would die first rather than suffer it. So as Christians who believed they should do on to others as they would have others do onto them, they were perfectly justified in doing to blacks something they regarded as the ultimate degradation if done to them.

        But slavery was just that it was great for black people, who would die of starvation rather than work as free people, and why isn’t the North doing enough to drag escaped slaves back to slavery, you know, the black fugitives from slavery who lived and worked freely without being enslaved.

        And besides, the negroes loved their masters, which is why they were running away whenever they thought they could get away with it, and anyway the ex-slaves would immediately indulge in an orgy of theft, rape, arson and murder the moment they were free, they loved massa so much.

        Anyway, the slaves were inferior, and couldn’t be freed, because they couldn’t get along if ol’ massa wasn’t taking care of them, and because they’d immediately take jobs away from white people.

        And public discussion of slavery couldn’t be allowed, because if the slaves found out there were some people white people who thought slavery was wrong, they would inevitably revolt. Fortunately, the public speeches about the evils of abolition that politicians made to whites wouldn’t let inform the slaves who were invariably part of the audience that abolitionists existed.

        And on, and on. All you have to do is read the defenses of slavery put out by the slaveholders to see the nonsensical contradictions. The only parts that weren’t contradictory were two: the slave holders would lose money if they had to pay a market wage to slaves, and the non-slaveholding whites would feel bad if they didn’t have niggers to look down on.

        So if you want to defend failing to end slavery, please do it honestly, and defend it on the grounds that white people are entitled to oppress non-whites for fun and profit.

      3. Said people could’ve checked into where the world was going economically and socially, but didn’t want to for whatever reason (I’m talking about the wealthy slave owners-oops, all off them.) The English in Victorian England, to note one example, were against the slave trade, and men like Fredrick Douglass even went to England and spoke out against slavery to abolitionists there. Most of the world was going away from it, but not the southern U.S., oh no; it had to keep slavery going, because they couldn’t (heck, wouldn’t) figure out some other way of existence.

        1. Does your knowledge of history exist solely in the realm of caricatures and inaccurate generalizations? There were plenty of English in Victorian England who supported slavery in their colonies.

          The Southern US also contained plenty of abolitionists and many thousands who fought on the side of the Union. And of course, as previously mentioned, several prominent confederates advocated emancipation prior to the outbreak of war. Lee was in favor of a gradual emancipation, which actually made a hell of a lot more sense than immediately releasing four million illiterate farm laborers into a society of nine million to compete for jobs that wouldn’t exist.

        1. Not logical, yes. Kinda simple, yes. But good basic rhetoric.

          Anymouse’s reply is a good one to use on an SJW. Being compared to an idiotic PC game NPC infuriates them.

      1. Who? Gotta make sure we know who you’re attacking so we know whether to be pissed at or in agreement with you.

    3. Check out the Japanese light novel/manga/anime series called “Rising of the Shield Hero”. Or just read the screeching response to it from the SJW crowd, and know that it’s a fantastic series of books about exactly that, a hero who owns slaves, and why.

  6. Damned skippy! Fantastic advice for dealing with these nasty idiots.

    These loathsome control freaks want you do do something for them: instead *ignore* them – or better yet – absolutely do the opposite of what they say.

  7. Perhaps a bunch of us should contact Ms. Zhao, and, amongst other things, get this righteous tirade to her. She may even decide to publish the book….

    1. I’ve already sent a PM to Ms. Zhao to encourage her to have her book published. She is a lovely, talented woman who only wishes to share in the American dream…I looked up her FB page and encouraged her to have the book published using kind words of encouragement and wished her well. I hope that a number of equally kind and encouraging letters from similarly supportive people will give her the courage to publish Blook Heir. I for one would buy it right away.

        1. That’s great news; I will also do that myself (go to her Facebook page and encourage her to fight on and publish her novel, not the ‘buy it’ part just yet; money’s a bit tight for me.)

  8. I love how the morons complaining about the fact that her fantasy version of slavery is not based on the history of slavery in America are the same asshats who complain when people only look at the American perspective on an issue and don’t consider other nations.

    1. For most of the Screaming Mob, America is the only country in which slavery ever existed. Seriously. They’re a very ignorant bunch.

      1. You have that right. And that America-only emphasis is straight out of the American Education System; they didn’t get it from their parents, peers, or agents provocateur the way we’re being told they get their other leftist-socialist ideas.

      2. They might want to take a gander into current day libya with active slavery going on and wild guess to the slave peddlers ethnicities… aint white

      3. The really ironic part is that there are concentration camps in China today. This lady was spot on about that and the angry twitter mob was really showing their ignorance.

        1. Oh, no, those aren’t concentration camps! They’re just involuntary labor centers and organ donor farms!

      4. Some of them are, not all. This is just as much an issue of consistency as it is of knowledge, and this particular bunch failed at it.

    2. From what I’ve seen (generalizing here, granted) Asian authors have less issues writing about slavery because it’s considered past history, and fiction isn’t tied to reality, and is supposed to be both thought provoking and fun. Negima has instances of slavery, and I found it quite interesting that while the girls in the story who submitted themselves to slavery to buy medicine for their friend were hard-worked, they were apparently also protected by laws (the system was based off of either Greek or Roman slavery).

      What the Left insists on is a slavery that’s far, far worse than what they complain about. They insist on owning their slaves, not just in body, but in mind and in spirit as well.

      1. Yeah, Greek and Roman slavery is an entirely different thing. It’s still slavery, and all slavery is bad, but I don’t like the historical revisionism that either pretends it didn’t exist, or assumes it took the same form as slavery in the Americas.

    3.         Oh, good shot, E.P.  But if it wasn’t for double standards, they’d have no standards at all, so it’s not surprising.

              They are consistent on one point though: “Whatever is, is wrong, and must be destroyed.”

  9. I already know what the Usual Suspects are going to say. They’ll tut-tut us for making hay about this and scold Larry for his tone. Hell, they’ll be angrier about the Right having an opinion about Zhao than what happened to Zhao.

    To hell with them. People SHOULD be furious about this.

    1. For the record, I’m a pragmatic progressive, and I think that this incident (as well as other recent incidents by the Professional Left) is wrong. These young people need to be better learned about things, and not assume that history started with them knowing about it just recently.

  10. I think the author labored under the idea that a WRITER ™ is the person who is part of a special club of people, rather than a person who writes.
    She was rejected by the people she wanted to be a part of, a very small group of loud complainers (and a larger group of “me too” sycophants and hangers-on for whom virtue signaling is more important than actually producing things people want to read).
    Perhaps she was affected by her birth culture, Red China, in which this kind of behavior was the only way to get along, or even to survive in Mao’s glory days.
    Hopefully she can grow in strength and confidence and find a way to actually publish her books, which apparently had some promise to reach a large paying audience (rather than the cultural critics with their wooden asterisks.)

    1. I think you hit the nail here on the head. I’ve been digging around here and she was very very engaged with the so-called Twitter YA writer community, and the second they got the chance, they stabbed her in the back. She had been relying on their tweet-validation for a long time and when it was withdrawn (and not even by very many), she crumbled. I don’t write YA but adult fiction and am horrified at how censorious everything has gotten.

      1. The social media YA gang are some of the most egregious petty would-be tin despots on the internets. Miss Zhao is not their first scalp.

        They have teams of censors-for-hire from various Approved Victim groups who read books in the publication pipeline to vet them for Sensitivity.

    2. Humans need to belong. They need to belong almost as much as they need food, clothing, and a roof over their heads. Even introvert hide-in-my-room people need to belong. Being thrown out into the outer darkness is death. And not in the sense of hyperbole either. Our primal lizard back brains are hard-wired to be terrified of being separated from the group.

      Or these days, “the community.”

      It’s why shunning is such an effective power-play. It’s why, a few years ago with the Requires Hate “thing”, maximum-woke striving authors were the ones having PTSD, and getting the shakes from sitting down at a keyboard and even considering putting words to paper. It sure wasn’t because someone “over here” would say mean things, it was because of the abusive and controlling power structure where an author “in the community” could be plucked out at any time to be sacrificed on the altar for having done it wrong and there was NO way to be sure you weren’t doing it wrong.

      And it was often minority authors who weren’t “doing it right”. Just like now. Take the most vulnerable, the person that the whole SJW ideology has been insisting has no one else who loves them like they do, make them as dependent as possible because where would they go and who would take them in, and yeah, by all accounts, Zhao was enthusiastically on-board, and make occasional (and seemingly random) “examples” of what happens to those who earn disfavor.

      I’m grateful to Larry for being loud enough that maybe some new authors will realize that they have options. They don’t have to tip-toe around in order to placate their abusive spouse and no matter what they’re told, it’s not their fault.

      1. I guess I’m not human, because I have no need or desire to belong. I’m much happier by myself (and a small circle of close friends I’ve cultivated totally by accident). But mostly, I hate everyone. 🙂

        1. Nothing wrong with not being human. It’s being *evil* that is a problem. You are here, and not denying the obvious good, so it seems unlikely that you are evil.

      2. “Humans need to belong.”

        True, but (unlike for the physical necessities), the amount varies greatly. Unfortunately it looks like Ms. Zhao is one of those who needs it quite strongly. Is that really going to be enough to make her permanently kill this child of her mind?

    3. I think you’re right about Ms Zhao’s psychology. Being an accepted member of the group is even more important to many people from several different countries in Asia, than it is for what we might consider the rest of humanity. But social justice warriorism takes tormenting the pink monkey, or even the slightly less brown one, to an all new hideous high. I’d say it’s quite likely that non of Ms. Zhao’s detractors ever considered the fact that such a level of attack often drives even well-adjusted older people to suicide; much less an impressionable young lady just starting out.

      1. The SJW lockstep against wrongthink and wrongfun always reminds me of the book-burnings in this country about 8 decades ago. Having grown up with books I was exposed to differing opinions from an early age, but even if I don’t like a book I’d rather gift it to someone who might appreciate it than to bin it – I couldn’t “get into” the Dead Six series, so I gave it to a former colleague who liked it a lot.
        Burning books and suppressing thoughts are signs of a totalitarian regime, and I’ve learned from history.

    1. I’m pleased…but not surprised. “Dune” sold very well in the Middle East, for similar reasons. Most F&SF is written around a European cultural base, and breaking that mold is bound to be popular.

    2. It’s not just breaking the mold; just about every nation and culture in the world appreciates being written about by foreigners, even – and sometimes *especially* – if it’s in a more fanciful and fantastic way. Mexicans like Speedy Gonzales. Russians like Ivan Drago and Zangief; Saudi Arabians like Achmed the Dead Terrorist, of all things. More often than not, the people decrying racism on behalf of a given culture, are starkly out of touch with the general public of said culture, most of whom aren’t nearly as thin-skinned.

        1. I do recall he did a special where he traveled the world and found out that thanks to YouTube, Achmed’s developed a bit of a following in the oddest places. The only place he couldn’t use him, IIRC, was Indonesia.

          1. Yeah, he had so use Achmed’s cousin Jacques. You will note the distinct family resemblance. Almost like someone put Achmed in a beret and gave him a mustache!

      1. As an American, I can tell you Chibodee Crockett (who is an awesome foil to the main character. Chibodee starts as an extrovert with a harem of women who is only interested in fighting for his country and beats up government goons trying to cheat for him. Domon struggles to express his feelings through anything but fighting and does anything to win.) and the entirety of the Gunsmith Cats cast (“You can’t trust the ATF” are the truest words ever spoken in anime) are great characters. Hideo Kojima’s obsession with American action movies has produced bizarre and yet fascinating plots and Metal Wolf Chaos is awesome (can’t wait for the PC port). That’s not even getting into the Mother/Earthbound series or gen 5 Pokemon (or the Orre games).

      2.         If the people of Culture X like a figure that the pure and noble SJWs know demeans them, that just means they an attitude adjustment.  They are wrong.

                As are you.  Report for reeducation immediately, Comrade.

  11. I still say I’m at the “burn it all down” level of anger. Fortunately, instead of wailing about perceived inequities and gnashing my teeth at made-up outrages, I’m going to pour that negative energy into the next book I write. And when it makes money, I can finally say that these perpetually offended types are finally good for something.

  12. “Over and over, so on and so forth, it doesn’t matter what you actually write, because the screaming doesn’t need to make sense. So they’ll scream no matter what you do[…]”


    When I was working on my first novel (which will never, ever see the light of day for reasons thoroughly unrelated to this anecdote), I submitted my draft to a writing group made up of old college classmates. One proto-SJW (the movement hadn’t quite “matured” or gone mainstream yet) immediately started hemming and hawing that most of the bad guys were MS-13 gangbangers, which was RAAAAAAAAAACIST!

    “Eh, they’re not wrong,” said I (I was young , naive, and stupid at the time), so I changed that crew of bad guys to a bunch of Neo-Nazi skinheads. Because everyone hates Neo-Nazi skinheads. That would get my “friend” off my back, right?


    The same proto-SJW immediately came back hemming and hawing that now the story didn’t have enough characters that were minorities, and that was EVEN MORE RAAAAAAAAAAACIST!

    At which point I said, “Yeah, bag that,” and ignored everything else the proto-SJW said about my book.

    But Angry Larry (who might actually be scarier than Straw Larry, I dunno) is right: no matter what you do, you will never please them. Because they will always find something to be offended about.

    1. “[No] matter what you do, you will never please them. Because they will always find something to be offended about.”

      That’s exactly why no writer should EVER try to please anyone other than himself. Create a good story, then let it stand on its own. People will like it or they won’t. Eh. It’s better to spend time writing the next story than worrying about what other people think.

      1. Don’t quite agree. A writer should try to please the people who might actually BUY their books.

        So that they can “Get Paid”™

        1. Mark,

          There are 330 million people in the United States, the vast majority who are literate.

          Now, the percentage that happen to read for fun, and who read genre fiction, is going to be a fraction of that, but as an aspiring author, there is no way that I will ever write to please anyone but myself and whatever publisher I am trying to sell my novel, short story, or whatever to.

          I will write the stories I want to tell and either they sell, or they don’t, and if they don’t I will continue to write more stories until I sell.

          We can get into what genres sell, what tropes sell, what the market is doing, etc, and so on, but that is another discussion.

          So as the Author, my only duty is to write a story that I hope is not boring and that entertains. If I entertain the Reader, than I’ve done my job. If the Reader demands that I please them by checking off boxes for X, whatever X may be, the Reader can write their own damn novel checking off those boxes.

          That is the whole point of all of this.

          Write entertaining stories, and then you will get paid.

          1. My sentiments exactly, although with F/SF I’d start with a consistent and believable world as a framework for the story itself. The constraints of such a world can be turned into challenges for your characters through which they can grow and develop, like walking upstairs with a hand on the railing.
            Terry Pratchett mastered this concept by weighing down the use of magic with appropriate side effects and backlashes in his Discworld novels. When you’ve written yourself into a corner and can only get out with a magic patch over a plot hole, there’s something fundamentally wrong with either your world or your story, and the readers will react accordingly.
            If, on the other hand, you take your world’s constraints and the plot hole, and combine them into a challenge your characters need to overcome your readers will probably spend long evenings glued to your story, even if it ends in a disaster – the next chapter might take place years later, beginning with a salvage crew or expedition finding some remains and starting an investigation, tracing back and reconstructing evidence – a detective story/chapter as a subplot, perhaps?


            Aye. I have told those who *might* write ‘me’ (I have NO expectations of this EVER happening, fwiw) into things, “Write me good, write me evil, write me good, write me bad, write me exciting, write me workaday, but for heaven’s sake please do not write me literary/dull!”

  13. Occasions like these are what I call “something’s got to give” moments. That is, breaking points where leftist lunacy becomes so self-evident, it’s indefensible by all but the most fanatical zealots, who in turn only bury themselves deeper by defending it. And respectively, when all attempts at negotiation can be rightfully abandoned, all bridges burned, no further discussion bothered with.

    I do agree that writers like Ms. Zhao should be contacted and encouraged to publish their works, globally if possible – for what it’s worth, I find the markets and conventions East of the Wall to be surprisingly appreciative to works untainted by social justice drivel. After all, few nations are less enamored with leftist lunacy than those who had to endure it for nearly five decades.

    On a tangent, the Western left is apparently rather hostile against first-generation Chinese immigrants or expat students (possibly Japanese and Korean as well, but the Chinese are most likely to actually speak their mind), perish the thought they ruin the “diversity” of everyone having the same values and sharing the exact same opinion on everything. (And that’s coming from a Balkan Slav with five centuries of Ottoman slavery experience – as far as the Western left is concerned, we shouldn’t even exist, lest we ruin their image of history as dominated by evil white slavers and colonizers.)

    Long story short – and I hope any aspiring writers can read this or otherwise learn for themselves – first, the whiny windbags don’t represent either your potential paying audience, nor even the compatriots, active supporters and fellow writers you’ll meet along the way; second, there are markets out there that have barely been tapped, and are only about to get bigger; and finally, your culture and worldview have reasons to exist, experiences that have forged them that are far stronger than whatever propaganda piece is shouted the loudest at any particular time. Your views matter. Your voices matter. Your books matter.

    And if they contain lawsuit-threatening dragons or gravity-bending ex-cons, they’ll likely also sell pretty well, so that’s just some more incentive for you to have.

    1. Nothing about this incident is going to give in any way, shape or form, sadly. And because this incident didn’t make the mainstream media, not much will be said about it, either, I don’t think.

    2. I notice how, for the past few years, things haven’t exactly been going the way the mainstream media would have preferred. Distrust is one thing, but the main development right now is that it only takes a few counter-sources to dispel a particular narrative. Like, say, the recent Covington incident – the distortion of facts by mainstream media was so blatant, and clearly intentional, that any sane viewers can safely conclude that the most reliable information they’ll ever get from it – and have gotten in the past – is the weather forecast.

      The breaking point here isn’t that people will begin voicing their disagreement en masse with the pinkos’ arguments in light of their hypocrisy and mob tactics. But rather, that these arguments will altogether be summarily ignored, given the now clearly petty and irrational causes that trigger them. People won’t disagree with the pinkos. They won’t *bother* with disagreeing, period. If may be allowed some poetic interjection – ‘Tis not with a bang that the left will crumble, but with a whimper, small and humble. Not from malice will they fall, but from indifference to them all.

      For a more practical demonstration, check out the works of our host – and the reactions thereof. In light of the forced narratives and political bias in modern sci-fi and fantasy fiction, he didn’t say “hurr durr, there should be more/only straight white male characters” or “only hardcore right-wingers should be given awards”. He didn’t push politics. He simply didn’t *care* about politics, and placed quality writing over any particular narrative. And while the established cliques of critics and self-styled fandom gatekeepers frequently go berserk at the very mention of his name, he’s apparently quite popular with readers both foreign and domestic.

      Finally, there’s no reason this can’t be the case with Ms. Zhao, or any other aspiring writer catering to actual readers, rather than vocal haters.

  14. Hey… is there some way we can get in touch with her, and express support in a non-creepy, non intrusive manner? That those fucking scum broke her dream is just… I’m so pissed I think I’m bleeding from the eyes. And just being mad about it, -isn’t enough-. I wanna go to bat for this kid, but I don’t know how.

    I’m polling the hivemind for suggestions.

    1. I contacted her on her FB page and sent a PM of encouragement. Just look her up and give encouragement…I think a few hundred PMs telling her to publish because her work is important, of real value, would maybe make her reconsider…especially if you also mentioned that you’d preordered the book from Amazon.

      1. I also purchased a pre-order hardcover.

        Perhaps a Book Bomb would further encourage her and the publisher to move forward.

    2. The SJWs have really gotten to you if you’re worrying so much about seeming “creepy” and “intrusive” when all you want to do is express support. This is not brain surgery. Just say what you feel. Something to the effect of, “Wow, I hate what happened to you. You seem really talented and I’d love to see your work published.” A kind word is a kind word and each and every one is, in a small way, a kind of healing balm.

    3. Pre-order he book.

      Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,641 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
      #4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Teen & Young Adult > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Girls & Women
      #8 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Girls & Women
      #15 in Books > Teens > Romance > Fantasy

  15. I wonder how many people she knows in the US and if the ones that have criticized her book are representative of all Americans who read? She may not have any idea that their is a counter movement to this insanity.

  16. Dang, I was wondering what the fuss was about until I read the links and discovered what was going on. Really? Now I am pissed, these assholes took a girls dreams and crushed them…because they could and did because she is a nice girl and wants to be liked and caved because she didn’t understand the face of the enemy. She will never appease them because they are perpetually outraged and the goalpost moves depending on the intersectional identity politics.
    I hope that she decides to push through and publish her book anyway. She will get more business because people are tired of the perpetually outraged.

  17. When I first heard about this late last night (or early this morning, they sort of blended) I was both shocked and saddened.

    It’s just ridiculous. I really hope this new author sees the outpouring of support and realizes that she should publish anyway, either on her own if her publisher no longer wants it, or with them if they’ve got a brain.

    But the most surprising thing? This story actually hit Reddit’s r/books subreddit, and to my shock many of them agree that things have crossed the line, starting with this. It’s burning books that haven’t been written yet.

    The madness may finally have started to become apparent to those who previously were all right with it.

  18. I just published my first book and some of the characters in it are decidedly less than PC. (They’re soldiers, and as a soldier myself I can personally attest to how UN-PC we can be in the field).
    Fortunately the team I publish with is ALSO a bunch of vets and soldiers, so basically no one gives a shit.
    I like your work, Larry, but I like even more the fact that you stand on the parapet with your banners flying, daring the hordes to TRY to take the walls again, because the moat doesn’t have enough blue haired, sensitive bodies bobbing in it. Those alligators aren’t going to feed themselves, after all.
    Hold the line for those of us that don’t have the megaphone you do yet! We’re right behind you!

  19. Sadly, I can believe it. And I hope to hell she publishes it Indie, I’ll push it in a heartbeat! The only way to counter them is push back and publish!!!

      1. Yeah, that’s the sad part. They didn’t just get the book squashed at that house. It seems they actually beat her.

  20. I just [like, an hour ago] read about this situation with Amalie Wen Zhao…yeah it turned my stomach too. Pretty sure it was linked from Facebook, so I’m gonna crosspost Larry’s comments [better than I could come up with] and hope that heads explode [and Larry enters a few people’s radar zone..for better or worse].

  21. I’d like to point out Kushiel’s Dart series.
    Slavery of the right flavor? FOr the time?
    Or good story about a woman empowering her sex and position?
    It did well regardless.
    It was given a chance.
    All writers should have a chance to publish and if they make it big all the better. The market should be the only dictate there. Not the voices of the perpetually outraged.

  22. I’m considering my next book be something along the lines of breaking every damn one of their rules just for the hell of it.

    God knows I’ve broken enough in the books I’ve done so far, but I want a clean sweep all in one title. What do you think? Can I do it?

          1. to Tom Knighton – make the plot actually BE about writing faster than they can invent new rules – demonstrably show what Larry & others have talked about: the moving of the goal-posts in action

    1. Go for it.

      Or on a dare, follow every one of their rules and then publish the rejection letters with it. Satire is tough to pull off sometimes.

    2. “Can I do it?”

      No, because a single Human can’t write fast enough to keep up with the rule changes.

      Still, I bet you could break most of them. And I’d pay money to see you try. ~:D

  23. Spot on! The Maoist “Criticism” session worked, she’s apologizing for writing what was in her to write, and that is the most evil thing of all.

    The Communists have won.

    1. The communist have most decidedly not won- that Larry has a house on a mountain (instead of a bunk in a gulag) is just one proof.
      That a lady was bullied into renouncing her life’s work is only proof that bullies exist- and have since time immemorial.

  24. Ms. Zhao also deserves opprobrium, for kowtowing — cowardice like hers encourages the SJWs.

    As a friend of mine put it, borrowing from Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.: “You stood up to be counted with the enemies of everything the Grail stands for; who gives a *DAMN* *WHAT* YOU BELIEVE!?”

    1. Someone who doesn’t understand the thinking of another society….yup….You’re as bad as the rest of ’em.

    2. It’s easy to be brave when you’re not the person taking the heat.

      I’m not going to judge her for giving in, since I have never felt that pressure myself.

        1. The ILOH also already had a career, and has a personality and upbringing that is extraordinarily conducive to giving obnoxious twerps a two finger salute, one for each hand.

          I doubt Ms. Zhao had either of those advantages.

    3. There’s a cultural reason for her reaction, please don’t increase her pain. Asian cultures are full of sayings like “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.”

    4. CF, for you to blame this poor girl is the height of hypocrisy. And what have you done to rein in those SJW assholes, except sitting on the sidelines?

  25. Back in the good old days of three channels, if we didn’t like a program we either changed the channel or turned it off. Now if someone doesn’t like something they want to blow up the entire power grid to ensure no one else anywhere gets to enjoy something they don’t like. Thought Police. A sad, scary reality.

  26. I saw this

    Amazon Prime is making Wheel of Time into a series (MAJOR WOT SPOILERS AHEAD)

    Book two has female wizards getting enslaved by a power that uses them as weapons. Its a major part of the plot. I wonder how bat shit crazy they will go over this? They even collar them and call them leashed.

    1. The assumption that real-world slavery necessarily involves discrimination based on race is absurdly narrow-minded, and ignorant of the slavery that exists today, which is usually euphemistically referred to as “human trafficking” and “indentured servitude”. And yet the far left accuses their political opponents of being the ignorant ones who refuse to learn about other people’s perspectives.

  27. So many cultural and educational organizations have ben corrupted by these disgusting so- called progressives. They are a cancerous infestation trampling on free speech and human rights across America. Speech code enforcers, diversity councils and social justice committees are appearing everywhere from campuses to corporations and from Facebook to Twitter to enforce their ideologies and silence critics. Time to fight back, and hard, in the face of leftist tyrrany.

  28. I hope she sees Larry’s comments and publishes Indie. I’ll buy just to help keep her dream alive.

    1. From what I understand, she herself requested to not be published. At least in this case, it’s not a matter of getting blocked by weak-willed publishers, but of caving to pressure by the author herself – which in some ways is even worse. I can understand some of that motivation – she thought of writing as an aspiration built on hopes and dreams, with at least some respectability from the public, rather than the full-on psychological, emotional and social roller-coaster it can be.

      But that’s just something one has to accept – you can’t please everyone; and there are those you can’t please, period. But you don’t need to. You don’t even need to be all that popular in mainstream media to be successful – the most published authors in history are in the romance and detective genres, which barely get any attention from critics. Find what you like writing, find what you’re good at writing, find who likes reading it, forget about everyone else. Whiny windbags thrive on attention, but are paper tigers otherwise, as the millions of sold copies of the “Fifty Shades” series can attest.

      1. I wonder if the publisher has had time to respond to her request. They may have a “contract” with her whereby THEY get to make that decision (contracts are funny like that). If there looks to be any money in it the least they could do is try to talk her back into it.

  29. I’ve been a Ron Dreher and Larry C. fan for years but I never thought those two worlds would ever collide. Talk about singularity.

  30. I couldn’t have put it better myself.

    Highly (re)educated “free thinkers” who all happen to have exactly the same wildly oscillating viewpoints, expressed in almost exactly the same words. But, no doubt, anyone who tells them they’re assholes must be “4chan trolls” or “Russian bots.”

    I only hope that enough people realize that these asocial justice terrorists only have power that other people give them. Ignore them. Ignore their awards and their blogs. Ignore their outrage. File some libel lawsuits when they go to far. Make their little circle-jerk cliques irrelevant. And suddenly, it’s incredibly obvious that they are a deluded minority and contributing nothing. Their little power trip falls apart, like the careers of those recently laid off, useless opinion bloggers with no valuable skills or experience who honestly believe they are respectable journalists.

    I plan to buy more of your books in the future, in no small part due to the kinds of adult children who seem to leave 1 star reviews because you’re a big ol’ meanie pants and not Marxist enough.

  31. The most toxic members of the “Book community”?
    The American Library Association.
    A putrid swamp of Communist villainy.

    1. They are why I never became a librarian. They sided with the Cuban (Castroist) government against the free librarians of Cuba.

  32. BTW, Larry, Castilia House had their entire publisher account deleted from Kindle last night. It was just restored about an hour ago, after a whole bunch of people started bombarding them asking where their favorite Kindle books were.

    Suspicion was that it was a rogue employee, because someone in their QA department has a huge hardon for the Scalzi parody book The Corroding Empire, and has tried to remove it from the Amazon store seven times.

  33. Wait, Eddie is/was gay?

    I guess I missed that, what with the narcissistic-sociopath murderer vibe and all.

    1. Larry has said in other forums that mostly what Eddie is into is “hurt people”. He’s more of a sadist than anything else. Real world sadists, from what I’ve observed, still tend to lean one way or the other, but what they really care about in the end is that someone is getting hurt.

      That seems to describe the Joker pretty well too, making the issue of his sexuality somewhat of a moot point as well.

        1. Though from statements he and his girlfriend have made, he has occasionally (ahem) “revved up his Harley”… o_o;

          1. It’s canon that they’re into each other. How much of that is just physical and how much genuine affection? Varies by the writer. According to her creator Paul Dini, Harley has a knack for awakening emotions in the Joker he plain thought he no longer had, which confuses and maddens him. It’s a deeply dysfunctional relationship. (We shall ignore the current NPC/SJW version of Harley who’s a pansexual, lame Deadpool knock-off.)

          2. Although the original Harley does seem to have managed to make some sort of life for herself once the Joker was out of the picture, even if her granddaughters run with a bad crowd …

      1.         Based on what I’ve read, psychopathic serial killers tend to be so self-centered that they don’t care what they’re screwing.  It’s all about them anyway.

  34. *standing ovation* Abso-fucking-lutely fantastic!

    Also, note to self — never, ever, ever, under any circumstances whatsoever, get Larry mad at me, for I am certain I would not survive the subsequent verbal flaying.

  35. I really don’t understand these parasitical buzzard piss drinking aardvarks known as SJW’s. What is their agenda? Besides creating havoc and apparently trying to bully someone into feeling bad about a subject matter that they most likely know absolutely nothing about. There’s always someone swauking about something that doesn’t concern them. Maybe it does? However who gives a rats nasty ass? These petulant criers are just that. It’s like anything else in life. Apparently these I’ve got my panties in a wad and it’s shafing my rather small manhood or whatever they’re equipped with doesn’t know about not reading something that they can’t enjoy because it makes their mind race and they have an inability to relate to a character. It’s the same concept as turning a radio channel because they’re playing some nonsense music that makes them uncomfortable. I encourage this young lady to have her book published. Besides what are them pussy jackass thugs going to do? Oh maybe a lawsuit? Two can play that game and rest assured if I were in such a position the cocksucker that sued me would really hate life when I prevailed and broke them to the point that Mc Donalds would be a gourmet meal that would prove evasive. Maybe depending on my needs I would definitely give to some notable charities. I know I’m rambling. I hope I’ve at least made sense? It’s just shit like this does not sit well with me. I was already pissed off about something anyway just to read this. I love Larry Correia and his writings. I’m currently reading Swords of Exodus which also was written by Mile Kupari. Anyway enough of my nonsense I just had to let whoever know that this incessant douchery aka SJW’s needs to take their meds and hit the rack. Keep up the excellent work Larry Correia and if you can get this young lady to go ahead and publish her book it’ll definitely be a win win situation.

    1. “What is their agenda? ”
      They are cultural Marxists. They seek to create chaos, to delegitimatize Western Culture, and to exploit what they see as an innate self contradiction of the Christian mind, which is, chivalry toward enemies, and compassion for the poor and downtrodden. Their longterm goal is the overthrow of the West, and to turn the world into Venezula, China under Mao, Russia under Stalin. The vision of cramped cattlecars filled with the half-starved and heavily beaten innocent heading toward deathcamps cures their erectile dysfunction.

      They seek revenge on the living.

          1. “He didn’t invent the term. A Syrian fascist propagandist did.”
            And what he was describing was what Gramsci proposed, and the Frankfurt School imported into America. You see, even though the fascists and communists are twin brothers, alike in everything but their stylistic flourishes, they do hate each other, and often tell the truth about each other.
            Or are you suggesting that if the term is invented by someone who is wicked, it cannot be true, and ought not be used? That is the informal logical fallacy of ad hominem.

          2. Tallheron, Trent Schroyer has to be the strangest name for a Syrian I have yet to hear. He was the professor who coined the specific term in 1973. It appears in his book _The Critique of Domination_, and picks up on both Gramsci and the Frankfurt School, specifically how the Frankfurt School thinkers expanded on Gramsci’s ideas and applied them.

      1. Actually they want to make society better and more equitable for all, but thanks for playing, John. You’ve just made a big miscalculation into an even bigger one, on your part.

        1. Yeah, the road to hell, and all that.

          Do you have something other than the skittle-shitting unicorn argument? Do you have an argument at all, or just posturing?

        2. Religions have been trying to make society and people “better and more equitable” since the beginning of time. Some through persuasion and some through force.

          Social justice is the “force” sort. The goal presented is all fuzzy and happy and amazing, but the method is explicitly to engage the State as the enforcer and agent of change. That and the mob working as footsoldiers.

          Thus, the OP. The demands for censorship of wrong-thought and punishment for voicing what is unapproved. Personal destruction.

          As for destroying the basis of Western Culture… we’ve worked hard and shed no end of blood to establish the value of liberty and the right of the individual to their own conscience. Freedom of speech, thought, religion, and the Value of tolerance for those we feel are *destructively* wrong.

          There’s none of that in a social justice mob and none of it in movements to use the force inherent in the State to change and control the individual… to *make* them better.

          Persuade. By all means, do.

          But don’t pretend that’s what social justice is about or that people pushing for punishment of those who need to be made better, for the calls that all that is necessary is that a thought be deemed harmful to make the thought forbidden.

  36. “P.S. To hell with the haters. Go write what you want. Have fun. Get paid.”

    This is something I strive to do. As an independent author, my works are not going to make a splash, due to the niche they reside in and my own writing style.
    I’ve had a fair share of hate for some of the way I portray things, thankfully I haven’t had the full on onslaught that others have faced.
    What was done to Zhao is as stated fucking horrible. I hope she pushes forward in time and her book gets the recognition it deserves.

  37. Well said, Larry.

    I’ve cooled a lot on mainstream fantasy the last few years, so I couldn’t say whether I’d have even read this lady’s book, much less liked it. But the idea that I’ll never have a chance because of a pack of shrieking SJW hyenas is … “infuriating” is too mild a word.

  38. My latest effort includes a villain who’s a cross-dresser. (One of the villains, anyway.) Any ideas what kind of SJW/NPC nonsense I’m in for if this ever hits the streets?

    Not that I”ll change it, of course.

    1. Probably that he just a cross-dresser and not a “real” trans person. Should have him consider going for the change and then deciding “naah”.

      1. That’s kind of funny, actually, because this guy DOES consult with a genesmith and cloning expert about how he can get himself a real female body.
        Events intervene, though, and he does not get his wish.

        1. The most recent revival of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s “Fighting American” featured a transvestite big bad in the first mini-series. Not a bad book for myriad reasons, including being ready and willing to mock extremists of any stripe.

    2. Being part of the Bi-community and having good connections to a variety of the rainbow crowd I’d say the majority is mature enough to either ignore or tolerate anything but open-faced hate.
      Those few narrow-minded minorities within the rainbow crowd are more the exception than the rule, although the SJWs tend to latch onto each and every preconception of an even slightly miffed individual to start a protest campaign those few individuals never even thought of intending – these little annoyances aren’t worth getting worked up about, so they either ignore or make fun of them. Done, what should we have for dinner?
      The SJWs are the ones splitting hairs (or, as we say here in Germany, ant-f*ckers, leading to descriptions of a whole variety of sexual practices involving ants) and getting riled over this weeks social outrage, without any reference or regards to actual facts or proportions, so they’ll scream blue murder no matter what you write/say/do anyway, unless you’re one of them and tow the party line.

  39. Well, you now sold another ebook to make up for any one-stars this prompts people to leave. Meanwhile I’m waiting for someone to accuse me of culturally appropriating Slavic folklore and history so I can swear at them in Polish. (I mean, should I complain I got…I don’t know, Anglo-washed because my grandfather decided his last name was too hard for other Poles, let alone Americans, so he changed it?)

  40. And how many of those bullies are privileged white female landwhales and soyboy neckbeards exercising their social justice privilege?
    Their lack of self awareness where they bullied a minority authour to cancelling her book is so self owning.
    Talk about privilege and oppression


    1. From what I’ve read, most of the vocal complainers were in fact people of pallor, though some claimed to be speaking for minorites who were really, really upset but so afraid of this unpublished author that they needed to stay anonymous.

      “If a confused friend ever asks you to sum up the culture of YA Twitter in one sentence, “Imagine a white woman explaining that she is spreading unverifiable rumors about a first-time author of color in order to protect people of color” will do nicely.”
      –Jesse Singal

  41. Im not an YA writer starting out…Im an older writer starting out and already know there are always haters. I have the advantaage of being old enough I dont give a fuck about people hating my themes (and there will be many). The only thing that scares me is the idea that the only person that will like my writing will be related to me. I do hope that she grows the strength to be able to fight back for herself. It was a hard lesson for me to learn, but has been one of the most valuable.

    As Aster, my hedenistic herione, says “No fear, no thinking. Just reacting without hesitations or regrets.”

  42. I just pre-ordered her book. Not sure if that will help since she pulled it.

    Is there something else we can do?

    I’m in to send a giant “Fuck You” as much as to support her right to write what she wants. I don’t have Larry’s megaphone but I am willing to assist.

    Book bomb or something, if we can convince her to publish?

  43. Congratulations Clan of Nanny Prose Police, here’s a fun fact; in the new releases section at a dead tree store, or online retailer, anything that is labeled “Hugo Award Winner”, to me, and I imagine many others, might as well say “Approved by The National Socialist German Workers Party.” It’s a guaranteed “No Sale” here. I imagine all the asterisks on your red inked balance sheets are actually tiny black swastika’s.

  44. Just read the original article.

    So…she doesn’t like ‘Trump’s America’ does she? Well it seems her preferred colleagues weren’t very welcoming. I’m sure she’ll write something more appropriate in their eyes in the future.

    Shrug. She chose her audience. May she have joy in them.

    1. Oh, I missed that part. That knocks down my sympathy meter a few notches.

      It wasn’t ‘Trump’s America’ (whatever the fuck that is) that bullied her in a storm of ignorant rage, that crushed her dreams.

      She laid down with dogs and apparently totes cool with their fleas.

      Still though, the SJWs can eat shit.

      1. I suspect her apology of “here’s what you have to say if you ever want to work in this town again”, as told to her by her agent & publisher.

      2. I’ve had similar experiences, only in the superhero comic fandom – for all the lip-service to the contrary, you very quickly learn just how petty and spiteful the most vocal self-styled gatekeepers are, eagerly dog-piling anyone with opposing views or different interpretations of various characters. And when you notice the rest of the fans do nothing – remember, these are people ostensibly in support of standing up for truth and justice – you pretty much lose interest in any civil conversation. Or the superhero genre altogether – since nowadays it’s run by the same kind of people, and the stories clearly reflect it.

        Which in turn leads you to, wouldn’t you know it, the veritable wellspring of quality action sci-fi and fantasy provided by our host and his fellow “non”-writers.

        All in all, there might be hope for Ms. Zhan yet. Both in general as a writer, and in particular, as a writer who now knows who her friends are, and what sort of people are those she used to want as friends.

        1.         Castalia House is producing anti-PC superhero comics.  You might want to check them out.

          1. Wjy do they feel they have to make these books in the first place? And when this company creates these books, are all (or most) of the characters white, so that they don’t have to worry about criticism for not being diversity-inclusive?

    2. If you’re willing to denigrate an author for disliking “Trump’s America”, regardless of the quality of her books… well, then you’re still better than the SJWs, since you’re not actively seeking to destroy her. Still, I can’t help but think that you’re on the same axis.

      Who cares about an author’s politics, or hair color, or ice cream preference ? I just want to read good books.

      1. I’ve said precisely nothing about her work, one way or another. I’m pissed off that it happened and I think it a valuable object lesson, but in terms of expressing personal sympathy, these days my first question is: what would this person’s likely reaction be if it were me in that circumstance?

        If that puts me on an axis, then so be it.

      2. People who say “Trump’s America” are frequently the people who fantasize in gory detail the deaths of Trump’s Americans. (“Screaming, hats-first, into the woodchipper” being a recent example.) The phrase itself doesn’t make someone worth my hate, but it does automatically move someone several notches down the trustworthiness meter.

    3. “So…she doesn’t like ‘Trump’s America’ does she?”

      Doesn’t matter. I pre-ordered the hardcover anyway. If the NPCs are against it, I’m for it.

      Besides, if I recall correctly, -none- of us liked Trump before November 2016. I certainly didn’t. I thought he was a twin of Nancy Pelosi with different hair.

      I am very happy to have been wrong.

      1. The way I see (from afar) it he’s achieving quite a few things by getting people to oppose him – take global warming as an example. Obama could have legislated limits and regulations, and the industry would have found ways around that. Trump declares that global warming is fake and the industry is falling over to prove him wrong, going further than any limits Obama would have been able to legislate. People prefer challenges to limits like carrots to sticks, and that’s what Trump knows and is counting on. He’s challenging people, and that’s how he gets them to getting things done. Even if it doesn’t always work, it works often enough.

        1. Global Warming is fake, or at least the modeling is insufficiently publicly documented for any validity to be verified.

          Even if the modeling were valid, and AWG correctly describes our dilemma, the presented options are simply absurd from an American perspective. Obama’s solution was to just pay the asked cost in human misery, and pay it mostly from the American account. The two best options are, depending, a) ignore things entirely b) kill everyone else in the world. If the system’s stability is really so sensitive to human inputs, simple human misery is not going to be enough. You are going to have to kill a lot of humans. If you had to pick a single population to exterminate the other populations, Americans are the best bet.

          1. Science hasn’t developed a reliable model of Earth’s climate yet and any discussion about how much or how little human actions affect is therefore a waste of time and effort.
            On the other hand I don’t like wasting resources or money, so saving energy and developing renewable technologies does make sense anyway.

          2. “On the other hand I don’t like wasting resources or money, so saving energy and developing renewable technologies does make sense anyway.”

            You’ll have a hard time finding any serious person on the Left or Right who’ll argue differently. The real dispute is over whether redistributing first world wealth to the third world is going to do a damn thing about carbon in the atmosphere.

          3. In English common usage ‘renewable technologies’ basically means the stuff with the strongest and most feasibility issues and engineering challenges. The technologies that were not already being used because they are the stupidest and most destructive of the available alternatives. If it fits the criteria for the formal definition, but would actually benefit humanity, it is not considered renewable.

          4. One thing we do know is that we were told to panic about the coming ice age, and to fight it by: cutting consumption of fossil fuels, submitting to more government control and being happy to lower our standard of living. We didn’t, and the ice age didn’t come. So we were told to panic about global warming, and to fight it by: cutting consumption of fossil fuels, submitting to more government control and being happy to lower our standard of living. We didn’t, and the globe stopped warming. So we were told to panic about global climate change (nice – ANYTHING that happens, that isn’t exactly the same as what happened last year, supports the theory) and to fight it by: cutting consumption of fossil fuels, submitting to more government control and being happy to lower our standard of living.

            Funny how the solution never changes.

            Here’s another thing we know: over the past thousand years, over the past 10,000 years, over the past 100,000 years, over the past… BILLION years, climate change is the norm.

          5. Considering the the USA’s gotten the worst weather recently as a result of global warming, I’d figure that you’d be supporting what he was going to do instead of what The Orange Cheeto’s ‘accomplishing’ soley by accident due to whoever’s arrainged aagainst him.

            Oh yeah, abot Obama, here’s a list of his accomplishments that trumps (no pun intended) what the Orange Cheeto’s doing:


          6. “Considering the the USA’s gotten the worst weather recently as a result of global warming,..”

            See now, this sort of statement makes me disregard everything that follows every bit as much as someone starting out with a statement that AGW is clearly a hoax.

            On the one hand we *know* from our study of paleo-climate that the whole world is currently colder than “normal” and that “normal” has no ice caps at all and that warmth isn’t bad for life. And we *know* that in the future it’s either going to get even colder, or it will go back to that ice-cap-less “normal” and nothing we can do about it either way. We can’t even guess which it’s going to be.

            But on the other hand, if human activity has an affect, and it probably does, and if that is going to make life less comfortable in the short term, then perhaps we ought to do something *that works*. And anything that has a chance of working is off the table. Which is why the Green Deal prohibits nuclear. Because it’s not about solving a problem, it’s about using a problem to enact a favored ideology. And while people could be persuaded to support “clean” energy if presented with something powerful enough to build the future, it’s not about persuading them with visions of gleaming cities , it’s about demanding ideological conformity and condemning sin.

            Because saving the world just isn’t very important compared to that.

          7. “Considering the the USA’s gotten the worst weather recently…”

            Considering that the weather the USA has experienced recently is called “winter” and is within the realm of perfectly acceptable climate norms, it appears as if you’re being dramatic.

            “…as a result of global warming,”

            This is unscientific bullshit.

            … instead of what The Orange Cheeto’s ‘accomplishing’

            You’re clearly not a serious person.

            “…soley by accident due to whoever’s arrainged aagainst him.”

            This is incoherent babble. You think his rescinding of Obama’s executive orders was an accident? You think there’s no connection with that and the record downturn in employment and upturn in the economy? And before you spout the usual lefty tropes on that front, the economy was diving again during Obama’s last year.



            Nothing like linking a garbage tier ideological website that makes a bunch of specious claims and touts as accomplishments things that are matters of intense debate. I didn’t see anything about the slowest economic growth since WWII or record lows in the labor force participation rate listed on there. Color me shocked.

          8. The presence or absence of credible evidence for either side notwithstanding, the global warming issue is suspiciously reminiscent of the cigarette smoking debates from a few years ago. There was a lot of huffing and puffing regarding the matter of passive smoke, indoor air pollution, allergies and whatnot, all leading to a blanket ban on indoor smoking, no exemptions allowed.

            And then the vape came along – a nicotine-consumption device with no “passive” effect, no air pollution, no inherent allergens, no hazards to other people’s health whatsoever. Yet rather than welcome it as a harmless alternative (never mind it actually being an effective means to quit smoking), most left-leaning publications outright mocked it, and the practice has been subjected to virtually the same bans as regular smoking, despite having none of the traits leading to the latter’s initial prohibition.

            In short, it was made painfully clear that smoking regulation had nothing to do with smoking, and everything to do with regulation, for its own sake… and considerable financial benefits for the regulators.

            So I wonder, should some advanced technology appear, able to scrub CO2 from the atmosphere, be it through some mechanical or biochemical means – maybe some hyperactive algae or something – would its use receive the same treatment? Would companies be condemned for utilizing it, while individuals with homegrown Carbon-Captor™ gardens become social pariahs in the eyes of the modern left, for actually *solving* the great climate crisis of the century, rather than adhering to anti-industrial policies for their own sake?

            Or perhaps the left would just find yet another apocalyptic cause to preach about, pridefully and willfully ignorant of the failure of the ones before…

  45. This both enrages and saddens me. To see the joy this woman felt at having her work recognized and published be crushed by a bunch of bored humanoid chancre sores is terrible. And the trend is worrisome. If she hadn’t kowtowed to the outrage mob, her publisher might have caved and cancelled the book.

    SJWs have infiltrated – one might say infested – the publishing industry from the slush-pile readers to agents and editors – and they listen to the Twitter mobs – the numerically and, more importantly, financially insignificant group of semi-employed garbage humans who would have never bought any of the books they criticize but whose voices are listened to.

    Google and YouTube and even credit card companies have SJWs doing their best to prevent unpopular voices from being heard. Just a few hours ago, someone in Amazon managed to shut down Castalia House’s KDP account – only temporarily, yes, but it’s certainly a worrisome precedent for indie writers like myself who do not depend on publishers but could easily be deplatformed if Amazon decides to follow the SJWs’ lead.

    The worst part is that, as you said, there is no limit to how far SJWs will go if they aren’t explicitly and forcefully stopped. Since they only live to destroy, they can at best be temporarily appeased; soon they will go after someone else for whatever manufactured crime they find, attacking one of their own if no other better target is available.

    I hope that enough people will see this memetic cancer for what it is and figure out how to excise it. Twitter is the enabler; I wish it ends up going the way of Myspace.

    1. And how many are airheaded 20 yr old chix with useless degrees that got the jobs thanks to mom and dad’s networking effects?

      It’d be really nice to insert a clause that any submission to the slush pile disallows any 20 yr old chix from ever reading it and to be read by senior management.


    2. Larry’s comparison of SJWs to maggots is spot on. SJWs don’t cause organizations to collapse. Instead, SJW infestation is a symptom of a business in its death throes.

      That’s why protests and boycotts aren’t especially effective against SJW-controlled companies. Think of a hostage negotiator trying to cut a deal with a hijacker who’s already on a collision course with a building.

      Talking doesn’t work. Barring swift and decisive action, the crash is inevitable.

    3. I second the notion that social justice whiner infestation is a sign of decaying business, rather than an independent threat. As I noted, it’s happening in the comic industry, which has continued its decline even as superhero films become top sellers. It’s happening in the film industry, as cinema goers are at all time lows. And now it’s after the young-adult literature circles, which I suspect are experiencing severe market saturation and audience fatigue.

      I also agree that the rules and demands of the whiny windbags are contradictory by design, not to mention rife with double standards – it’s all meant to control the flow of new creators (and therefore competitors) in an already top-heavy industry with a dwindling customer-base. Twenty-odd years ago, the same happened again in comics, where a bunch of writers and artists founded their own companies and gave the bigwigs the finger. Now, the wonders of digital publishing enable aspiring writers to reach a global audience fairly quickly, dethroning the established elements. And we can’t have that, now, can we…

      But like I said, something’s got to give – more and more incidents showcase just how flimsy the hold of the windbags is, and how successful creators can be so long as they press on. Consequently, I’m not expecting a crash, but rather, a rebirth. The sprouting of countless flowers from a rotting corpse; an actually diverse array of works quickly replacing a stagnant and limited template. It’s only a matter of time.

      1. I, likewise, remain optimistic, which is surprising to me because in general my personality favors cynicism and pessimism. I think the outrage culture can only last so long, especially as younger generations tire of living in an environment where every minor faux pas is a national crisis. There’s all this talk among the far left about how they will finally get “progress” once the baby boomers die out, but besides the fact that wishing for an entire population’s death is creepy, I think they are entirely wrong. Myself, being one of those “young people” they always celebrate (I turn 24 next month), I’m honestly somewhat offended by their expectation that I’m supposed to agree with their politics just because I am young, or female, or multilingual, or what have you. But I think enough young people like me are tired of what they are selling that in the long run, things will be alright. We just tend to be quieter about it because we don’t want our necks placed on the chopping blocks in the meantime.

        1. The process of dividing people into categories is called Schubladendenken (drawer think) here in Germany, and there are far too many people whose views are based on those categories. Once they’ve put you in a category they’ll tar you with the same brush as all the others they put there, groupthink prevails, no individualism allowed.
          I prefer to take this drawer think a step further and look for those who don’t duck into a drawer but stick out – those are the interesting people, the ones worth interacting and exchanging ideas with. I cherish each and every moment I spent (and still spend) with these people.

          1. Exactly right. Years ago, I observed that a lot of political discourse falls for something I refer to as the “gift basket fallacy”, the assumption that political views come as a package deal, and that I can’t choose each opinion as I see fit. If I agree with one conservative thing, then I must agree with ALL the conservative things, and vice-versa. Identity politics takes that same concept and attaches demographic labels to it. “You’re a black immigrant woman? You have to take this gift basket. I don’t care if it’s not the one you want. Oh, white heterosexual man? If you want us to like you, your only choice is the ‘self-flagellating’ basket. If you grab anything else, we’ll assume you’re a Nazi and immediately punch you.”

      2. I’m with you on this. Their empire is in decline and there’s a ton of opportunity for writers who don’t bow down to SJW group think. Mr. Correia has definitely capitalized on this market.

        There are fans craving something that isn’t a lecture about how terrible they are for being European (or descended from them). They want fun. They want characters that aren’t nihilistic twats.

        I’ve thrown my hat into the arena as well. After all, we can’t let Mr. Correia do all the writing for us. And I know a lot of other talented writers are jumping into this fight too.

        We may not own the traditional publishing industry but that doesn’t mean we can’t overwhelm them with stuff people actually like.

    4. The Twitter Mob mentality is exactly why authors need to control their own platforms as much as possible. A friend of mine who writes Horror doesn’t even have his own website, let alone a newsletter. There’s no way for him to reach his readers if some social justice weenie decides to give him hell for writing gore-driven fiction and tries to have him shut out of the platforms he does use (Amazon, Facebook, Patreon).

  46. I wonder. The current Left is falling into the same trap as the Spanish Communist during the Civil War. They’re letting their nastier sides show openly before they have a full hold on power.
    This may likely bite them in the rears shortly.

    1. They’re delicious though! Perfect appetizer before lifting the pig out of the ground.

      Followed by eating and drinking yourself into a beautiful 3 hour nap with your closest friends.

    2. Another Pinoy here!

      We like our food:

      1) tasty
      2) depending on region, very sweet, rich, salty, spicy, greasy or all of the above
      3) will generally horrify any modern-day ‘healthy eater’
      4)mmm yummy

      Also, may I ask for the rice-balls deep fried with soy sauce’s name? I’m not familiar with that one, it sounds yummy, and since I live in Australia now I tend to have to make my own Filipino food.

      Note to self, make chicken and pork adobo sometime soon.

      1. Sounds like I need to discover Filipino food. I’ll find out if I have any restaurants near me, or at least find some good recipes. Sounds like there’s a lot of Spanish influence in the cuisine too? We have that in my part of the world as well, though of the Mexican variety. Though I’m also a huge fan of old-world Spanish cuisine. I crave Spanish chorizo constantly, and I’ve gotta figure out how to make churros con chocolate properly.

        1. Filipino cuisine is a conglomeration of localization and shameless culinary appropriation living harmoniously side by side by locally developed cuisine, being that the Philippines was, historically, one of those maritime crossroads to elsewhere – even before the Spanish came. We have our own localized stir-fries and noodles and spring rolls (pancit canton and lumpia shanghai for the most popular and recognizable examples), and identifiably Spanish-in-origin local churizo known as longganisa (which range from very garlicky, to garlic-vinegary to sweet) and beef stews (but if you can get them in the local water buffalo version, it’s quite the flavor experience!)

          There’ll be some parts of it folks won’t like (the most common one people like to horrify others with is the infamous balut; boiled fertilzed duck egg with variations on how developed the duck chick is; but there’s plenty of others – Korea isn’t the only place one eats dog after all) but those are the more exotic things, and can be easily avoided. Also, regional cooking tends to have the variations of flavor. I do warn for the more sensitive; Filipinos are big on the ‘nothing goes to waste’ mentality so you may find yourself faced with a beautifully cooked sweet and sour red snapper with the head still on; or you may encounter barbecued pig’s ears (very yummy, love it, great chopped up fine and served with a dipping of soy sauce, vinegar, salt and finely minced shallots); and although I haven’t seen it since I left the Philippines, there were BBQ street food that uses all parts of the chicken and the sets are given entertaining and humorous names; grilled chicken intestines are called IUD, for example (from the shape.) I leave to your imagination what ‘helmet’ and ‘betamax’ are, and puzzle over why grilled chicken tails and rears are called ‘elevator.’

          But to counter balut and asucena and above named oddities, I would point at the world-famous lechon; roast suckling pig, stuffed with lemongrass, onions and garlic, spit roasted and gently and lovingly cooked for several hours over coals, of which there is a pork-belly variation for us wanting to make a more family-sized version at home. Love rice cakes? You have a massive variety to choose from, ranging from the most common puto and kutchinta, to sticky things wrapped in banana leaves or housed in the hard shells of coconuts. Seafood? Do try charcoal grilled yellowfin tuna with sea salt, squeezes of calamansi limes, rice and a side dish of chopped up tomatoes and red onions that have been lightly tossed in vinegar and salt, or the squid stew that includes the ink in the ingredients. If trying out chicken, try to get the ‘native chicken’, which is best in soups and stews because they’re packed in flavor, or go for chicken inasal, whose seasonings give the chicken its’ distinctive yellowish color and is best with a garlicky rice.

          Pretty much, if you have a taste for something, we’re likely to have a cuisine that’ll satisfy it.

          1. I remember the skewered chicken intestines from the street vendors in Angeles City. We never got those, though, but the spicy pork skewers were a favorite.

            Now I’m sorry that I never tried the intestines.

            I’m not sorry for never trying balut. 😉

        1. Well no, he hasn’t got any opinions that aren’t wrong. Consider that his entire outlook on the whole of the country, people, culture and cuisine are based off of his hatred for me, because I am a Filipino woman who doesn’t conform to his mind of what a proper Asian woman should be (which is more like Zhao, honestly. Bowing to the mighty Whitey when they are angry and submit to their demands and will, and cringingly, kowtowingly Leftist) which… well, goes to show how little he knows Asians.

          And then he goes and calls me racist, in typical SJ howler monkey projecting form. (Yeah, I dared disagree with the little shitwad on everything, thus in his mind all things from the Philippines must be erased off the face of the planet. Stable and sane, Clamps is not.)

          Summary of how people have learned to treat Clamps is: if he hates it, it’s likely to be very good, worth checking out, and enjoyable.

          1. I’ve noticed this trend with pinkos – they’re all for foreign cultures and diversity and stuff… so long as the people from the cultures in question act like they’re in a Disney movie. We’re supposed to be all inoffensive and generically foreign and exotic, but otherwise sharing said pinkos’ beliefs and worldviews to the letter. The moment we say something to dispel that sugarcoated image, and we might as well be pre-industrial heretics in desperate need of cultural colonization.

            And considering that most of the world is either more conservative than your average pinko (then again, so is Karl Marx himself nowadays), or simply doesn’t fall neatly on the axis altogether, I’d say we’re in for plenty more enjoyable occasions of people from all across the world telling the “baizuo” where they can stick their passive-aggressive chauvinism in the future.

        1. No, no, no. The rice balls are not meant to be a meal unto themselves. They are meant to entice you closer to the pig and the beer. Consider them the gateway food into Filipino cooking.

          I swear I’m going to tear up and start singing Memories if this keeps up. HA!

          1. Complete with Filipino karaoke, Kevin? ^_^

            Are the rice balls you speak of the steamed puto cakes? They’re easy to make. (If you go to an Asian grocery, sometimes they have the boxed mix version of it too.)

            If what you’re talking about is the puso rice from Cebu, which is rice cooked in a woven diamond-shaped basket container of young palm leaves, there’s lots of youtubes of that. Google “How to make Filipino hanging rice”.

            Also, google ‘Panglasang Pinoy’. You’re welcome. ^_^

  47. Even though she caved and tried to appeal to this crass mob with the “Trump’s America” nonsense, this is the kind of shit that might motivate me to turn on the back burner that my current WIP is languishing on.

  48. I was just re-reading MHI Nemesis, and this episode brings to mind the demons waiting around for someone to build a body they can steal. They’re parasites with the spirit of Cursed but the strength of Alps. They’re all looking for strong hosts to possess. Squish ’em.

  49. Well said.

    There is an idea that Political Correctness is just about being extra careful about not upsetting people – fiddlesticks – okay, maybe once it was, and not putting people’s backs up unnecessarily is a good idea, but FFS, this isn’t ‘Mein Kampf’ or ‘The Turner Diaries’ getting pulled. It’s peoples first novels, before they’ve even been published! It’s book about slavery being wrong, racialism being wrong, prejudice being wrong, but because they don’t tick some arbitrary SJW box . . .

    OK, Larry’s already said it all and said it all better.

    Write on!

  50. It’s the same shitbags that tried to detail Laurie Forest’s The Black Witch, which was as anti racism a story as could be, unless you were some shithead SJW who took the themes and dialogue completely out of context and strated a Twit storm…

  51. Never heard of you before I found a link to this on Reddit.

    Now… I feel as though I really need to have a look at some of your books.

    Thanks for standing up against this stupid shit. It’s everywhere, and I’m sick of it.

  52. Yuri Bezmenov, an ex-KGB agent who defected in the 70s, explained these highly elastic and contradictory rules.

    As Larry pointed out, they don’t want these rules to be followed. The point is making them impossible to follow so people are constantly demoralized and afraid. Don’t be the first one to stop clapping, Comrade!

    The middle-term goal is to undermine faith in institutions. I’d say public faith in establishment publishing has just about cratered.

  53. 1) Awesome rant. Carry on.
    2) Somebody somewhere wrote something which has stuck with me. I’d give them credit if I remembered who as I’m simply not that clever, but it was words to this effect: Everyone says they like pizza but you can never get a room full of people to agree on what kind of pizza to order. This is similar. Don’t like pizza, get something else, let the pizza people buy the pizza they like
    3) Why is it that the cultural appropriation folks aren’t protesting about appropriation of pizza and pasta? Could yummy things which are not rice-based be exempt? Or is this just further proof of the schizophrenic nature of the SJW?

    1. Pizza and pasta aren’t slammed for cultural appropriation by the pinkos for the same reason most vegans keep wearing leather shoes. It’s not about leading your lifestyle according to a chosen moral creed, it’s about inventing a moral creed to justify the lifestyle you’re already leading.

      To that effect, browbeating aspiring authors – or anyone else, for that matter – for perceived politically incorrect attitudes isn’t a matter of social justice, but of justifying one’s own inflated self-esteem, neatly dividing the world to victims and villains, and rationalizing or simply ignoring any inconvenient fact to ruin that mental picture.

      That’s a classic psychological defense mechanism against one’s own insecurities – everyone is either morally or mentally inferior by design, so the only thing you need to do to feel good about yourself is to get up in the morning without immediately crapping your pants… which, sadly, most pinkos are still unable to do anyway.

      And it’s also rather expected to be found among young-adult fantasy and superhero fandoms, where the main characters are frequently special snowflakes themselves, the rules of reality twisting around or simply not applying to them. Consequently, the very existence of alternative views, of differing opinions, of other stories, is enough to endanger that fragile mentality, leading to the kind of hostility displayed here. Perish the thought for the world to *not* revolve around them.


                “That’s a classic psychological defense mechanism against one’s own insecurities”

                It’s also classical primate dominance ritual, adjusted for the fact that we can speak.  Once you see people as basically chimpanzees, much becomes clear that wasn’t, previously.

  54. Larry, I agree with you. There’s no reason to shut this woman’s work down, especially without even giving it the courtesy of being read.

    Consequently, I came out of my shell long enough to write this to her on her blog (which is referenced upthread; I wrote it at the “three book deal” announcement), and the post is now awaiting moderation:

    Ms. Zhao, please do not let anyone keep you from publishing your book series. You wrote it, you worked hard for it, and you deserve to see it in print. I am aware that you have been treated shamefully by some because of what seems to be a moving target of outrage; I don’t know why some people can’t just be happy for others, but this writer encourages you to do what you had intended: Publish your books. And don’t let anyone stop you, no matter what they say. (As an editor also, I will clarify: edits come with the territory. But claiming your book is garbage before it’s even been read is a nonstarter. Ignore that nonsense and move forward with a smile.)

  55. The ignorance of the commenters at Goodreads is amusing, but their zealotry is frightening. Not a good combination, and certainly not for getting any of them to think objectively about anything.

    I hope the author changes her mind very quickly.

  56. I got paid today, and I’m gonna go buy my first Larry Correia book now.

    Thank you for standing up to the bullies.

    1. Depends on what you are into. I write in a bunch of different genres. Monster Hunter International is urban fantasy with lots of guns. Hard Magic is 1930s super heroes, with lots of guns. And Dead Six is a military thriller, with guns, obviously. (I’m sensing a trend) and Son of the Black Sword is an epic fantasy (swords, no guns… yet) 🙂

      1.         But you’ve tipped us that guns are coming, with the “Fortress” material.  Good.

  57. First point: Let the readers decide. That’s who we write for. Besides, any young person worth his or her salt wants to take a peek at what the “gatekeepers” say they shouldn’t see. As far as I can see, this firestorm might make the YA readership want to read it.
    Second point: I can’t help but wonder if what the nay-sayers are really upset about is the three-book deal and the high six-figure advance. Green eyes, perhaps?

  58. I don’t feel sorry for people like the above mentioned Mrs (or Miss) Zhao. The real enemy is not the pathetic sjws, it’s the people who cave to them and apologize. It never gains you anything. The sjws will still hate you. It’s what they do.

    1. The problem with this viewpoint is that it often takes a while to develop the attitude/backbone/ability to stand up to bullies. It is all well and good for me, a 55 year old who never took shit from anybody, to say damn the torpedos, you can’t make me do a damn thing I don’t want to do, but for a young writer new to the business, and trying to make a name for herself, it is something else entirely. The fact that you can’t please everyone is a lesson that some people get immediately, but others take a while to learn. This to a large part depends on the society you’re raised in and how the culture influenced you . I am not the one to criticize her decision, she is the one who has to live with it. I feel sorry for her, and hope she reconsiders.

  59. Social justice is a self-limiting fallacy perpetuated by lies. The strongest ever document for social justice, or any other justice for that matter, is the United States Constitution, and the world’s first social justice organization was the United States of America…the founding principles of which are now used by informed but uneducated pawns to tears that nation apart.

    I say informed but uneducated because the Emory space between their ears is pumped with plenty of information that was handed to them. They didn’t find it themselves. And any instinctual push-back would have been quickly defeated by peer pressure. And they are uneducated simply for the fact that they never, ever go looking to see if anything they’re hearing or saying is actually true. And I believe that’s partially intentional, because if they discover the truth, they can never bring it to their friends because then they’ll be called a fascist or racist or some kind of -phobe. Lenin said “Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.”

    He was referring to college. But a college education is now so expensive that the traditional 4 year degree is nowhere near as prevalent as it was per capita as it was during his time. But did you know what else is 4 years? High school. His “seed” was communism, but today’s seed is simply control. It’s tragically ironic that the liberals of today are using the strategies and tactics of communism and Lenin, to create for themselves a ruling class…the antithesis of communism and Lenin.

    Another example is the overall cry of “Islamaphobe” when people push back against extremist Islamist views and practices. Do you know who else pushes back against these same extremist views and practices? Nearly 1 billion Muslims. I know, because I have lived among them. And there are plenty out there. But this is an area where the social justice fallacy is most evident.

    Conservative Islam forbids the practice and lifestyle of homosexuality. The reality is that the vast majority of Muslims really don’t care what you do with your life, leaving judgment to God instead of man. But some of the more vociferous of conservative, bordering on extremist Muslims, want sharia law to be the law of the land, such would then make homosexuality a punishable crime.

    So to support these most conservative Muslims, as liberalism is wont to do, then you are supporting homophobia. But if you speak out against this, you’re an Islamaphobe, which then pushes the social justice fallacy into the arena of paradox. But presented with this logic, the default liberal and social justice response is to call you a fascist.

    Listen, I’ve met Nazis. Real Nazis. Not the pussies running around with swastikas on their arms and shaving their heads. Real, unrepentant Nazis who lived in and loved Hitler’s Germany. Honest evil. The kind of evil that comes with a smile and a warm handshake. I’ve never seen that evil in a German today. But I’ve seen it in people I know in the “tolerant left.”

    But it’s all in the playbook as written by Marx and implemented so well by Lenin, who also said that a lie told often enough becomes the truth.

    He also said that the press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.

    Sound familiar?

  60. A “reviewer” of the game Rimworld was upset at the way the backstories of some transgender characters were written. Those backstories were written by transgendered people who funded the game’s early development.

    Larry is 100% correct when he says there really aren’t any rules to the SJW lynch mobs. It’s all about power, and arbitrary power is the most useful of all.

    1.         Hmm, my serial killer knocks off biological women exclusively, plus people who threaten him.  I’ll have to make one of his victims a trans-woman he targets inadvertently.  Which also solves a plot problem.  Thanks.

    2. Yeah, that’s a particularly troubling element in this case – the lynch mob got riled over nothing more than a phrase in the blurb, and a second-hand description of one scene. That’s all it took for the moral kangaroo trial to begin, with an automatic conviction effective immediately.

      Though I must say, it does indeed spark a moment of clarity, as others here put it, in providing a definite, unambiguous demonstration of how the loons care nothing for actual reasons, objective facts, or any consistent principles on which to base their views. No, it’s just self-righteous bloodlust through and through, and any excuse is enough to trigger it. Consequently, whatever they may say further, whatever opinion they may hold on any topic, can be safely and soundly disregarded. Not automatically opposed, mind you, but simply ignored in the same sense as ignoring a broken clock for actually functional sources.

      All in all, the moral panics of the pinkos are kinda like the ramblings of a terrorist or serial killer – the actual content may be anything from cryptic religious references to the full text of Catcher in the Rye, but the meaning is the same – they want to force their will on others, and don’t care who gets hurt… even if it’s someone with ostensibly similar views.

  61. What an unbelievably twisted world we live in. SJWs are nothing but a cult of hate. That hatred has consumed them until they are only half human, burning out what compassion and tolerance any other person would have. I do feel sorry for Amelie Zhao, but then SJWs pounce on weaknesses and then persist in their bullying until they win. Our current society is forever caving into them, so they are continually reinforced. Thanks, Larry for voicing what most people think.

    1. I wouldn’t say the SJWs were NOTHING but a cult of hate. They are also a cult of industrial strength narcissism. They are a circle of people with minimal actual accomplishments dragging down people who actually DO things to make themselves feel less inadequate. They are the Progressive Left’s version of ‘Sister Bertha better-than-you’, but since the Progressive Left is more poisonous than all but the very worst Christian sects the SJWs are more poisonous than Sister Bertha.

      To say that the SJWs are nothing but a cult of hate is to neglect the other five Deadly Sins they embrace (I suppose some of them probably are Gluttonous as well, but it doesn’t seem o be a tribal characteristic ).

      1. ” (I suppose some of them probably are Gluttonous as well, but it doesn’t seem o be a tribal characteristic ).”

        Well, the “healthy at any weight” contingent seems to come from that crowd.

  62. Regarding the conversation above on writing while intentionally breaking all pinko rules, I’m reminded of some blog posts by Mark Evanier, cartoon writer and creator of Scrappy Doo, among other things. He elaborated on how standards and practices groups – basically the busybody watchdogs of the television world – severely frowned on characters showing individual initiative, independence, and getting things done by themselves, rather than relying on some comical contrivance or whatnot.

    I can’t help but think that this is what truly irks the pinkos – any display of individual *competence* and a goal-oriented mindset – as is expected from any self-respecting action story – rather than the soapy dramas endemic in modern superhero tales and fantasy shows. Game of Thrones is praised to no end, in willful ignorance of its boring political dramas, gratuitous sex, violence, and sexual violence, and never mind how the cast is comprised of either manipulative sociopaths or ineffectual mopes. Meanwhile, any lighthearted adventure series would be decried as offensive for every excuse imaginable, whereas the real reason is it generally features generally competent people doing cool stuff.

    So, with this in mind, I find the best way to both cover every article of the modern pinko rulebook *and* piss them off to no end, is to have people of color, non-European ethnicity and unorthodox sexual lifestyles and gender identities, yet with *zero* emphasis on said traits, zero social commentary, and instead a total focus on the action and adventure. Because ultimately, there’s nothing more demeaning to your average modern gender-dysphoric hyphen-ethnic whateversexual, than the image of someone who’s all those things, without using it as an excuse for being a total loser otherwise.

      1. Indeed. A big reason I got into the series is that from what I’ve seen, the Hunter rosters are actually diverse and inclusive, featuring people from all walks of life, who band together over shared goals rather than acting like some cool kids’ club.

        Compare this to your average superhero team that seems to consist entirely of a) inherently superpowered mutants or aliens, b) hereditary plutocrats and their entourage, or c) miraculous beneficiaries of irreproducible freak accidents – and all three types are more prone to engaging in “woe is me” melodramas or petty personal fights than actually doing a damn thing about the world.

        Respectively, the frequent abject hostility that the fans and writers of such heroes nowadays have for non-powered vigilantes and goal-driven like the Punisher, never mind baseline human society in general, tends to speak of a mentality more concerned with superpowers as a form of ego-stroking projection, rather than anything having to do with heroism.

        That’s also frequently found in the fictional settings created by left-leaning authors – a ton of immutable vertical divisions in society, frequently supernatural in nature… but strangely, the main character is always among the upper crust in terms of power – not from effort, mind you, no; baby, they were born this way. And that’s the gist of these people’s psyche in real life – for all the posturing about diversity, representation and whatnot, what they really want is an inherently *un*equal society, an inherently unequal world, just one where they’re permanently on top. And to be blunt, that’s the kind of party that’s well worth crashing.

        1. I will admit that I do like me some super-powered heroes.

          Though wish-fulfillment of being permanently on top is undoubtedly a thing, too. Like daydreaming winning the lottery.

          Saw something this morning that made me wonder, having milked a few cows my own self and endured high school wearing hand-me-down and yard-sale clothes, just how much of the classist idiocy in fiction is related to people having no ability to… relate.

          Poor boy finds a dragon’s egg is a trope for reasons but, you know, there has to be an essential equality there that has nothing to do with circumstances.

          What I saw today was just a snippet of conversation, some random person opining that publishing was “white” because of inherited wealth and that those poor other people simply didn’t have time to write. Which seemed two things to me, an inability to understand that their own experience is irrelevant to the vast majority of *everyone* with no “inherited wealth” (including social capital) and second, having no concept of the inherent equality of humans apart from their circumstances.

        2. Poor boy finds dragon’s egg is one thing, but there’s also poor boy leaves home, becomes a great fighter, battles eldritch abominations and evil sorcerers, and eventually bears the crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow…

          The main difference I find is that in the latter case, the wish-fulfillment element is also supported by a set of values, a practical methodology to follow, at least in spirit. It’s not just a power fantasy, but also an *empowerment* fantasy, where the character’s skills are due to training, perseverance, cunning – things far more relatable than them just finding a magical doodad or learning they’re the chosen one or what have you.

          As much as this is a lot easier and confidence-boosting mentality to hold, eventually it grows toxic – I’ll bet that the most rabid of pinkos right now are just overgrown manchildren raised on such stories, and now facing the realization that they’re not, in fact, inherently destined for greatness, all while they’ve been indoctrinated that personal ambition and professional and social development is evil, because that’s by far the most prevalent cliche among the *villains* of these stories.

          In short, it’s not just a matter of circumstances, but that some people have never learned that circumstances can be *changed*, and that there’s nothing wrong with these changes. Instead, they keep dreaming of a time where they’ll be revealed as sooper speshul all along, and all their enemies will be destroyed by happenstance, because that’s what happens in their preferred stories. Well, what can I say… tough luck.

          1. I’m not disagreeing with you. 🙂

            To take it into the real world a bit… maybe the difference is that the feelings of entitlement extend to who has access to the “practical methodology” to go from point A to B. Something beyond some extra hurdles or challenges. Those who are most likely to insist that the lower classes don’t have access to those *values*, are quite likely to actually insist that their children adhere to them most strictly… the finish school, keep your nose clean, no marriage until you’re established, and no children until you’re married “thing”… but will insist that anyone who actually comes out and says this is what *everyone* needs to and ought to do, is racist and horrible. BECAUSE they don’t have any concept of inherent human equality beyond external trappings (which are never equal).

            If someone is actually being taught that ambition and social and professional development is evil, it’s not the entitled children of privilege. It’s everyone else who gets to enjoy the performative aspects of those same people making sure that everyone never forgets how non-judgmental they are toward the lower classes.

            How all this plays out in books and stories is less clear to me. As I said, I like some super-powered heroes, hidden princesses, or boys finding dragon’s eggs. But no matter who, they still need to “earn it” or the story is no fun.

          2. Indeed. It’s one thing when even superpowered characters develop and use their abilities creatively – Jake from the Grimnoir Chronicles is a stellar example in that regard. To contrast, you can easily spot bad fantasy writers by how their characters sprout new powers whenever they’re in a pinch.

            And yeah, ambition is rarely denigrated in actual real-life privileged families. Instead, the abject disdain for self-development is found in precisely the middle-class special snowflakes infesting comic and fantasy fandoms. The reason being that they try and nurse the illusion of being somehow secretly superior to everyone else; not so much in a supernatural way, but it’s a common psychological mechanism.

            Consequently, anyone achieving actual success and self-improvement would threaten their ego. Hence the pronounced dislike for “gym bros” (meaning anyone who ever goes to the gym), “tech bros” (nerds aren’t supposed to be rich and popular, y’know), and of course, “non”-writers such as our host.

        3. Some of my favorite superheroes are the naturally-superpowered ones, but ironically, those are the ones I believe least likely to be well-written, especially in the current far-left-dominated media culture where they have to either fill in for real-world minority groups (because the fact that Superman is an example of interplanetary adoption is the most interesting thing about him?) or they represent the “caring left” uplisting us rustic fools from our ignorance.

          Take, for example, the Supergirl TV show. Since Superman is my favorite hero, it stands to reason that I’d at least be interested in a story about another member of his family. Instead we get preached at about illegal immigration, women’s rights, LGBT issues, and gun control. (Somehow Supergirl doesn’t stop to check her “bulletproof privilege” and wonder if maybe the rest of us need guns for self-defense because we’re just ordinary humans.) I honestly think they just have an easier time getting away with this because Supergirl’s backstory has what they view as a built-in oppression narrative. It’s literally impossible for them to tell an interesting story in which a person we wish we could be like goes around solving mysteries and defeating bad guys.

          1. It’s particular arguments like the gun control debate in superhero stories – where most heroes possess abilities or equipment of far greater destructive potential – that lead me to the conclusion that they try and enforce an arbitrary glass ceiling for its own sake, a hard division between superheroes and ordinary people, treating the former as some elitist clique that the latter could never reach.

            Consequently, while that’s a mentality that seems quite comforting if one projects solely onto the heroes, from the point of view of everyone else, it’s less than wholesome. Respectively, modern superhero fandoms (and company editorials, apparently) are full of exactly the kind of self-righteous busybodies that such divisions appeal to. And those are the same people that otherwise whine about inequality and social injustice… or as I’ve noted my suspicions – about not being on top of the heap themselves.

          2. “God made Humans and Kryptonians. Sam Colt and Robert Oppenheimer made them equal.”

            I like this! LOL

      2. Exactly – none of their “drawers” make any kind of difference; the actual person does, and this color- and gender-blind view irritates the SJWs, because they want to emphasize the color- and gender-blindness by emphasizing anyone by their color, gender, or sexual orientation. Writing characters as people regardless of color/gender/sexual orientation is what they claim to want, but don’t want because they can’t use real equality to push their agenda.

  63. I will buy her book, and I don’t even like the genre. I’m not on any social media but will try to contact her and give encouragement. We all need to.


  64. About 3 paragraphs in you made me automatically switch over to hearing Sean Connery’s voice for the rest of the post.

  65. May I tack on another little rant?

    Dear Fellow Readers;

    If you want to have anything but pablum to read, you too need to tell these intellectual vacuums to fuck off. When one of their slimy number tells you of the book you are reading, “That author’s a homophobe (or other trendy doublebadthink designation), you know.” The proper answer is “Great! Good writer, too!”.

    Only punch them if you are pretty sure there are no witnesses.

  66. Thank you! I’m writing my official novel and every time I see them bully an author because they write fantasy “in the wrong way”, I want to scream. They are bullies and spoiled children.

  67. I like you. Say the same things about these assholes that I do and I love it. We gotta be fearless and willing to kick ass for our work.

  68. The intersectionality inquisition. Bad theories based on bad science.

    How many times do we need to run the movie of intolerant self-righteousness?

    1. It’s not even science they’re using. Critical Theory, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and all of the subsets of those social “theories” (and more) adopt some of the trappings of science, but it’s all based on narrative and stereotypes. There’s not enough actual science there to make it “bad science”. It’s sciency ideology.

      The PhDs behind the ‘scholars’ who pump this bilge out don’t make them any less cultist than they clearly are.

    2. If she thought she was in trouble before, since Larry “International Lord of Hate” Correia has come out in support of her, now she’s -really- fucked. ~:D

      This would be a really good time for the publisher to reach down and find a pair, but of course they won’t.

      Hopefully Amelie Wen Zhao will find the courage to move forward, and defy the little dickweeds of Twitter. Amazon awaits!

      I personally would be happy to buy this book at hardcover price just to piss them all off.

      1. Read through her twitter backlog. The majority of her posts are about books, but out of what is not about books, it is nearly all virtue signalling and retweets of the good, caring, and tolerant leftist agenda.

        She is one of the people that piled on her, but she stepped out of line with a single character and is being excoriated for it.

        It’s kind of funny, but the man, Larry, who is coming out in support of her, is part and parcel everything that she is against.

        1. The phrase “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” springs to mind.

        2. Alcoholics call that a “moment of clarity.” Now to wait and see if that’s what happens with her.

        3. One has to remember that a lot of trad publishing is basically the Cultural Revolution under Mao.
          If you want to survive, you HAVE to toe the party line. You have loudly jeer at what the Party hates, and openly embrace what the Party loves.
          Otherwise, your career will be cut short.

          But here, even open virtue signaling isn’t enough to save one from the hate machine. And Ms. Zhao won’t be the last of the Party faithful to be purged.

  69. Nice job, Larry. Looks like monsters really do exist and they masquerade as SJWs. This is why I have a MHI smiley face on the back of my Prius.

  70. 1. Isn’t “browbeat” one word?
    2. Why not attack the author for being craven and going along with this? Why give her a pass? She’s perpetuating this SJW crap, no?

    1. 1. Don’t care enough to look for a blog post I wrote in 20 minutes. I have editors for my books.
      2. Because even though I probably disagree with her on quite literally every political topic, this ain’t team sports, and the real bad guys are the evil scumbags who are coercing artists into not making art.

  71. This could be sone weird scam to sell books, but it IS currently still listed on amazon… So you CAN show support by pre-ordering.

  72. Not disagreeing, but on the other hand, I am disagreeing.

    I mean, I am a nobody, I haven’t written, and I have much respect for those that are brave enough to put themselves down on the page and receive judgment for the words that represent the thoughts in their brain. It’s amazing and … Just, holy cow, just brave.

    But, you can replace “SJW” in that text with other groups and get the same outcome. The SJW have no monopoly on outrage culture, it just so happens that your own political views cause you to lump all SJW together, and badly behaving SJW look the same as every other SJW to you.

    Hell, you’ll find very few people that self-label themselves “SJW” in the first place, so it’s just such a convenient label to apply to someone you disagree with.

    But, find a label you don’t mind applied to yourself and you’ll find no difficulty at explaining the distinction between yourself and badly behaving members of that group.

    That’s not “wrong” it’s just human, it’s easy to paint those with whom you disagree with the same broad brush.

    For instance, I have to be careful if I were to use the term “MAGA” to describe a group, because I am aware that there’s a huge difference between those (like my broader family) that are just white working class folks that feel abandoned by the politics of the last X years, and those that assaulted Jussie Smollett. They’re nothing alike.

    So… yeah, your point is solid, folks who want to shut you down for not agreeing with you should NOT win.

    But, you label them SJWs… but I can point at a large number of folks that you would also label as SJWs and see that EXACT same methodology being used against them, their own words being silenced, their own lives being threatened, their own videos being taken down by fradulent DMCA complaints, and …

    Is it really SJW that are to blame, or internet mob campaigns of people with bad ethics?

    1. No. Sorry, No Labels Police. It is SJWs. I been doing this a long time.

      And yes, different kinds of people can also engage in his asshole behavior. But one particular group/culture is extremely good at it, and they are currently the only culture which does this kind of shit and gets away with it in the publishing world. So no.

      1. Agreed.

        By the same lame/dishonest argument, there are many who are communists who pretend to be “liberals” or “progressives” or even “centrists”, but that doesn’t mean that there is no such thing as communists.

        And as for MAGA and Jussie Smollett, well, his story is more than a little dubious–and we have seen previous hoaxes intended to smear Trump supporters as racists and fascists. Covington boys most recently.

        1. Apparently the latest on Smollett is that the Chicago PD obtained security cam footage of him still carrying around his Subway sandwich after the time of the alleged attack.

          Imagine the heroism and skill involved in saving a sandwich during an attack which involved bleach and a noose.

        2. Another hand in agreement. In my experience, whenever the case is reversed – with some pinko complaining about alt-right aggression (which as we indeed learned from the Covington incident, apparently now includes wearing a hat and smiling without party approval) – you’ll get drowned by cries of “whataboutism” for pointing out the far more frequent occasions of antifa-related violence. So no, no free pass here, no generalizations about other people committing similar acts for different reasons, because in this case, the act is in full accordance with the sociopolitical attitude in question. It’s not a vile act in the name of a good cause. No, it’s the cause itself that’s vile, and those acting upon it are too fanatical to even realize it.

          And as far as the label itself, I still prefer “pinko” – easier to say and smoother to read than an acronym, and it’s likely more accurate to say that the attitude in question is a watered down version of communism, than anything having to do with social justice. And I’m old-fashioned like that.

      2. Still, I’d rather not be too harsh just for asking a normally viable question – it’s attitude like this that got me at odds with the modern left, seeing as how their praise for tolerance suddenly dried out whenever it concerned anyone bucking the party line.

        So, sure, in general there are plenty of nutjobs ready to lynch-mob just about anyone for just about any cause. Nobody’s denying that. But like I said, in this particular case, the cause itself is toxic, and lends itself to toxic behavior far more easily than most. And the people that champion it, aren’t just using it to justify their behavior; but rather, they fully believe there’s nothing in their behavior that needs justifying. “It’s not censorship, it’s prevention of hate speech.” “It’s not disarmament, it’s common sense gun law.” “It’s not a baby, it’s just a lump of cells.” That’s the attitude at hand here, and that’s why it should be called out whenever possible, and with far harsher words than what you’ve seen here.


          I’ve (possibly) broken with family (depends on them) over the issue of “tolerance”. You know… I don’t think it’s “both sides” or whatever. I really don’t. Because there’s only one side that will insist with utter sincerity that one has a moral obligation not to tolerate “intolerance” and by that they mean, essentially, “the party line.” I only hear this from one direction. I do. Because “I disagree with you” or EVEN “I disapprove of you” is not silencing and it’s not violence. It’s not a threat to someone’s life if someone else disapproves of them, but that’s the rhetoric. Tolerance is *exactly* the practice of live-and-let-live. It’s got nothing to do with approval. And the outright demands to NOT live-and-let-live, as my relative would point out, the moral mandate to NOT tolerate other people… honestly, that seems to have a direction.

          As for MAGA… I’ve been searching for an illustration for this, some way of explaining in a pithy and memorable way, that defining something as evil and then condemning people who don’t agree with the slanderous definition because their refusal to accommodate that definition “causes harm” to vulnerable people who have bought into the narrative… that’s some kind of messed up.

          True story…

          I met a woman when my children were babies who controlled her child by telling him lies. In this case, she inculcated a terror of a *feather*. She was very proud of herself. She’d managed to create a fear that allowed her to keep a toddler out of whatever he wasn’t supposed to touch or off of whatever he wasn’t supposed to climb or out of places he wasn’t supposed to go by placing a feather in that place.

          So… if someone walked up wearing a feather in his hat, who would be responsible for the real and horrible fear that her child experienced at seeing that feather?

          (I’m completely serious. This woman thought she was a genius.)

        2. Fear of a feather… and after the tyke chances upon a stray pigeon plume and finds no harm in it, she’ll wonder why it then completely ignores her and thinks she’s a moron.

          But yeah, disagreement is hardly an act of violence in itself; the one thing I’m wary of – and I reckon our host is tired of as well – are people who state their disagreement merely to pick a fight, to stroke their egos against someone they already consider morally inferior. And in that case, strangely enough, the most constructive response really is to tell them off, as boorishly as possible.

          The logic here is, if they shut up, then they were indeed looking for a moral strawman to beat up, realized they’re not gonna get one with you, and went to look somewhere else. But if they persist and keep a civil tone, then yeah, they likely truly hold the beliefs they claim, and you can engage them in a more reasonable conversation.

          Regarding fandoms in particular, I find there’s a phenomenon quite similar to conditioning, with regard to the content of the books and series themselves. That is, in superhero comics, sci-fi/fantasy series or young-adult books, when two characters argue on some loftier subject, one is often revealed as a villain and the argument turns into a violent brawl.

          In fandom forums, respectively, the result is a massive flame war, because everyone not only thinks they’re right, but that disagreement is a sign of severe moral failure on the other party. Not exactly a basis for thoughtful discussions, all in all. Though I must say, it is rather satisfying to watch when a usual queen bee gets someone else triggered, and winds up on the bottom of the dog-pile for a change.

          1. I’m binge-watching something now and finding that what is working very well is how often the heroes are messed up or wrong, but maybe not wrong, or wrong this time or not-wrong and ultimately right or wrong in the morning, right at lunch, and wrong at night again.

            Structurally, it’s sort of to keep the drama going, but…

            Most of my favorite stuff tends that way. The hero is broken but doing his or her best, which might be pretty awful sometimes.

            Some of my favorite authors do well by putting a variety of opinions in a variety of voices about whatever the theme is. Sort of like, if the villain has an ideology then there will be a couple of other characters who took the same ideology in a different direction.

            What bugs me most is the notion that someone thinks that I (or any other random person) needs to be protected from the task of thinking about right or wrong, like a child who has to be guided, by sorting out the bad-think before it reaches me. I mean, how insulting is that?

    2. What people that assaulted Jussie Smollett? The people that occupy that figment of your imagination that thinks there’s equal blame to be placed here? A situation that the SJWs and the Left will say – in spite of zero corroborating evidence that it occurred, and all signs pointing to yet another hoax – “yeah, but that could have happened, and this non-event was very much needed to raise awareness of this very real problem that isn’t happening”?


      Do you often swing at strawmen when attempting an argument? I’m just asking, because it’s not a good look to go with a variation of the “but both sides do it” self-righteous fence-sitting.

    3. Daniel E. Chapman II, “that assaulted Jussie Smollett”
      That assault appears to be a hoax. There is video of him before the assault holding a subway sandwich. he goes off camera, and this is when the assault allegedly happens. then he comes back on camera AFTER allegedly being beaten by two attackers and getting injured. He is still holding the subway sandwich. I dont know about you but I doubt I would hold onto a sandwich while getting beaten by two attackers. This is not the first hoax blamed on MAGA hat wearers. The covington catholic school kids were slandered and EVERYTHING they were accused of turned out to be a deliberate LIE. Multiple other hoaxes have occurred. Even the mainstream media’s claim that trump called mexicans were animals turned out to be a deliberate lie. They edited the video to cut out part of what trump said so people wouldn’t see that he was talking about a gang instead of mexicans.

  73. I stumbled upon this after seeing it linked in Writers Group on FB – the lovely cesspool of 127K something miscreants all trying to claw our way into the world of writing.

    If I could hug this post, I would. Thank you for writing it, and by God I hope people share the shit out of it. That poor girl deserves vindication, because this is absolutely infuriating.

    We’re with you.

  74. Nice one, Larry. These oozing boils on the ass of humanity need to understand that we will not tolerate their parasitic attempts to destroy anyone who doesn’t toe their ideological line of crazy!

    Speaking as an immigrant, I remember my parents telling me (as we waited for months in a dank apartment in Italy with two other families to have our request for asylum processed) that in America I could be whatever I wanted – no limits. They told me that I could achieve anything with a lot of hard work and that my being Jewish didn’t matter – that it wasn’t a country that stifled my creativity, drive, and desires.

    I took that to heart as a kid, and I never let anything stand in my way.

    Now I see another immigrant kid getting stifled in the same way I would have as a Jew in the Soviet Union: you can’t write this; you can’t say that; you aren’t allowed to insult x, y, z like that. Except this kid bowed under pressure, and it saddens me.

    1. I’m an immigrant too (from a country that was communist at the time). While I was just a kid at the time what my family tells me about living there is just like that. You kept your badthink to yourself so you didn’t earn the wrath of the government.

      SJWs have no self awareness. They crow about oppressive totalitarian regimes and then act like them. Trust and safety councils, fact checkers, fake news…that rumbling sound you hear coming from the ground is George Orwell spinning in his grave.

      Being a new writer myself its possible I may in the same position as the author at the center of all this. But I have learned a valuable lesson from this: don’t give in.

      And as one of my characters would say “The only way to negotiate with terrorists is with a —-in’ ouija board.”

  75. Never heard of you before today, but this is a good post.

    To go fundamentals, how can someone write a good story without including things that ring true to the human condition on some level, whether those be positive or negative?
    Obviously you can’t which makes all this social justice stuff propaganda for the state that only exist in their minds as a delusion of a utopia that will never be.

  76. To sum up the biding,

    Ms. Zhao opened one book.

    The SJWs answered with three hate-downs. (Haha, we win!)

    The International Lord of Hate bid eight spades. What, bidding stops at seven? Not when the additional ace of trumps is attached to the frag grenade’s pin.

    She’s not writing in a genre that really interested me, but now I’ll purchase it as another – “bless their little hearts”.

  77. I PM’d her on Facebook expressing support (and mentioning that actually, many of us Trump-voters welcome her gladly, and that she shouldn’t listen to the bullies), and the hope that she’ll publish her book. I also pre-ordered it, which I normally wouldn’t do because 10.99 for kindle makes me scream, heh.

    And there’s a thread in the Goodreads reviews where folks are fighting back, and one of them got penguin email addresses if people want to bug the publisher about not going through with the caving-to-terrorists thing:

    – Email: (global) AND
    – Email your countries specific Penguin Random House publishing sector (bottom of this website has country specific links):
    – Submit via their customer service form here:
    – Submit via their business service form here:
    – Post on their Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. about your disappointment @PenguinRandom

    And…look, if she was a lifelong American citizen, I wouldn’t have nearly so much sympathy for her. But the kid emigrated here from freaking COMMUNIST CHINA, and I have no doubt has been culturally programmed *hard* to react like she did. Let us not forget that China is a country attempting to use social media mobs to dictate people’s behavior with that whole ‘points’ system or whatever the heck it is. So I will cut the poor woman some slack for not having figured out that standing up to bullies here is NOT going to get you totally ostracized, thrown into jail, or worse. (Well. If you only have the bullies as your social group, you *might* end up ostracized.)

    She needs to get the heck out of NYC, that’s for sure.

  78. She made a tough decision.

    She has a high-paying job on Wall Street, and writing was going to be her side gig.

    Then SJWs attacked her side gig, and the attacks were most likely beginning to spill over to her finance job. (Most likely, her family & friends would have been next.)

    So she sacrificed her writing career. A sad tale of censorship in the land of the free.

  79. I agree with Larry and endorse his message (for what that’s worth)!

    Although instead of “fuck em”, I say “slag em”

    1. Name names? Why?

      I’m sure that anyone who wants to can wade into Goodreads and Twitter. But it’s less about the “worst offenders” and far more about the multitudes who listen to them, don’t you think?

      It’s not about some howler monkey, named or not, but about why Zhao thought that the screeching had significance and what it was that required her to grovel and apologize for writing a book.

  80. I don’t normally respond to things on the internet, but just this once I wanted to say, “Hell Yeah”.

  81. Larry, I am fairly certain that I already own all of your books in ebook and audio format. But after reading your post here tonight, I am going to double check just to be sure. If I find that I am missing any books, I will buy them immediately!

    And I might just buy my favorites again, just to stick it to the SJW scum. God bless you, sir, for your literary talent and for having the balls to hit back at these sick, disgusting excuses for human beings.

    I’m proud to be one of your readers!


    I have just finished reading a biography of Leonardo da Vinci – “Leonardo da Vinci” by Walter Isaacson. It is both scholarly and readable. It is apparent to me that he did not Give. A. Fuck. what other people thought. From what I’ve read, neither did Picasso. Those bastards destroyed that young woman’s dreams. They are horrible excuses for human beings. Perhaps you and a couple of other authors of note should contact her and boost her up and help her deal with her publisher. With any luck you can put her back together and restore her dream.

  83. General question – if her publisher refuses to publish that book, is she free to take it to another publisher?

  84. I don’t know Larry, but this does make me want to get one of his books. My problem is not that I am a coward about SJWs, whose criticism I would wear as a badge of honor. I am more a coward because for 10 years I have tried to start a novel and never got more than 20 pages in (plus a half-assed outline) before second guessing myself and chickening out. I have published a couple of short stories…and may never publish another damn thing. But I have an idea I have published more than most of the professionally offended set put together. So there is that.

  85. The SJWs leading the attack on Zhao are mad only because they didn’t get a million-dollar advance for their own works of politically-correct women-gays-minorities-good/straight-white-men-bad agitprop fantasy.

  86. Huzzah!!! I actually read the reactions in the twitter feed yesterday, the ratio was a bloodbath. Around 99 to 1 against the SJW asshats and their miserable little games.

  87. another chance at wonder gone.

    Another interesting author beaten down.

    see? this is why I can’t have nice things.
    This is also why Larry, John Ringo, Mike Williamson and a couple of other folks pretty much exclusively get my attention and my money.
    I get so tired of the PC crap foisted on me. I dang sure don’t want to read it. I want to ENJOY my books.
    no shame, no guilt, no attacks..and I DEFINITELY don’t need some asshat telling me how I should think or live.
    not paying money for that.

    but for the wonder..for the interesting adventure?

    yeah, I’ll pay.

    every time!

  88. Go to amazon and pre-order her book. Bump it up to number one and hope she reconsiders publishing it. I would provide a link but I don’t think it took this last time.
    Amélie Wen Zhao Blood Heir

  89. I applaud this heartily. Good on you Mr. Correia for telling them to go fuck themselves. It made me laugh.

  90. So, Larry is: “The modern da Vinci or Picasso of [INSERT GENRE] fiction. With lots of guns. Or swords. Or lots of guns and swords.” That’s a solid blurb, no? Not sure what he thinks of da Vinci or Picasso, but I believe that both got paid for their work.

  91. Came here from a link. As a writer (albeit, not a novelist, but still make a living writing), I agree completely with your opinions. I just picked up the first book in your series and look forward to reading it. Best wishes. We need more writers who stand up to the stupidity.

  92. First off, how do I put both letters on my facebook page? Because I have yet get suspended by those fuckers. 😉

    Second, the woman feels uncomfortable in ‘Trump’s America’? Yeah, that’s her right. And, considering some of what she’s gone through, from both sides, I can only hope that support from good men like Larry, and the men and women of Baen’s Bar and the Baen Authors, convince that ‘Trump’s America’ is America, and it is for all folk who come here legally, to achieve their dreams.

    Someone said they had no sympathy for someone who caves to the mob. When someone is alone, or thinks they are, their options are , limited. And Mobs are bullies.

    the first step is to let a person facing a mob know that they are not alone, and the second is fight back, with good folk at your side. Larry’s taken the first step and made good inroads on the second.

    Time to do more, and chase these fuckers down…

  93. As SJWs systematically take over our universities, museums, businesses, publishers, broadcasters, clubs, etc. it seems to me that there are only two things that can be done about it. One is to stop them from completely taking over, kicking them out, and cleaning house if you can. This means perhaps being a bit judge mental, maybe a little rude, and standing up for what is right in the face of hysterical finger-piinting ninnies. It’s hard and uncomfortable, but it can be done if you are in a position to do it. Your institution’s value and continued life depends on it.

    The only other thing anybody can do once they rage over is to leave, take your ball, and start a new institution of the same sort but vow to keep it clean. Swearing at them, arguing with them, or just hoping they will get tired of virtue signaling will accomplish nothing in the end. They are beyond reason and argument. Starting anew without them does a few good things. One is that it creates a workable alternative for good people. If your publisher has no spine, fire him and go to the one who has one. Your birdwatching club spends its time and money fretting over intersectional representation? Quit and form a real bird watching club. This ultimately disempowers the bad guys (who generally have nothing of substance to add on their own) and gets you the publishing, bird watching, or whatever it is that you want out of the group without the SJW religion poisoning the whole thing,

      1. According to anyone who has ever interacted with other human beings, or observed the results of human endeavors.

  94. I hate to be a jerk.
    But this was effectively SJW on effectively another SJW Violence.
    They took out a fellow traveler.

    1. That’s what I read after digging around.
      However, that’s really irrelevant. That fact is, the SJW destroyed this woman after she’d done all the work and just before she could start earning money on it; over what’s basically trivia. Doesn’t matter if she WAS a member of their club; they did it anyway. One hopes that this was a wake up call for Ms. Zhao that the crowd she was running with are the ones to beware of, and not the sad puppies. I just hope she holds together and recovers; and doesn’t self-destruct over this. And doesn’t give up her dream.

      1. I’m afraid that the reality is she’s the impaled ‘pour encourager les autres’ display for anyone within their circle, and other up-and-comers and dreamers.

        And the message is: nothing will save you if you step out of line, not even being a minority licking our assholes.

  95. Bravo. SJWs are the most worthless, self-centered hypocrites on the planet. They are a literal skidmark on the underpants of millennial society.

  96. The identitarian left are just a mass of not fully formed, abstract bad ideas… If we use their “pro-choice” legalese, under this definition they should be aborted.

  97. Larry,

    Ever since I first read your fledgling story on a not to be mentioned forum I have wished you Godspeed in your endeavor. With this writing and with what they did to that childs dreams and aspirations…I wish you had a few tac nukes to lob at their sorry asses. Hopefully she is resilient and bounces back. And hopefully you don’t have an aneurysm.





    Matthew 11:16-19

  99. The same writing community Zhao was catering too, (if you read her past tweets, you’ll see it) ended up stabbing her in the back because of jealousy. This is a unique case where cannibalism is infuriating instead of funny because it’s affecting the writing world and eventually it will damage literature to the point of no return.

    She caved to the mob. That same mob she wanted so desperately to belong to when she first started to advertise her books because of jealousy and pettiness. She learned a hard lesson and one that possibly ruined her budding career. It’s so sad and shameful.

  100. Hey Larry,
    I don’t think we’ve ever met (different genre, different writer conventions.) I suspect you and I probably disagree on a number of political issues, since I lean liberal. But writers to the left of you are just as appalled by this vicious takedown of Ms. Zhao. I don’t think this is a matter of right or left. I think it’s more along the lines of “jealous nitwits find a reason to attack someone successful” and that could happen regardless of one’s political persuasion.

    I just came here to say, yay Larry. I like angry Larry. Because I’m angry too.

    1. Hi Terry, most of what I hear is that other genres are equally messed up but sci-fi and fantasy are a special sort of crazy. We had our flash-moment a few years ago… google Requires Hate and Mixon if you care to go down that rabbit hole. Short version, being able to destroy people is Power and RH wanted power and finally this became too obvious to ignore when the targets of his/her campaigns became too obviously minority and marginalized.

      Lots of rending of clothing and seeming progress with people (to borrow a phrase) waking up to what was going on.

      But these years later it’s practically in the memory hole, RH is well on the way to rehabilitation, and people’s quest for purity in the genre (well, not around these parts, but others) hasn’t lessened in the least.

      I haven’t noticed any real change or any recognition, not long-term, that something unhealthy was going on. No real recognition that the basis of the abuse was in allowing these sorts of sin-finders power to begin with. Only that the wrong people were targeted.

  101. I am going to appropriate an Indian proverb for this. It seems appropriate.

    Never listen to someone who tells you the best may to make sure your pack mule doesn’t get tired on a trip, is to carry the mule to the destination.

    1. “Never listen to someone who tells you the best way to make sure your pack mule doesn’t get tired on a trip, is to carry the mule to the destination.” – Indian Proverb

      It is also the burden of an Aesop fable and a Grimms tale.

  102. I’m sorry to see that the Amazon BLOOD HEIR page has vanished, and one can no longer pre-order it. When I pull up an old link, it now says the release date is 2080.

  103. I recently saw a semi-prominent Twitter screeched admonish people not to use the word “tribe,” because appropriation. That word isn’t even native and comes from Latin, and can be used to describe white European tribes as well as any tribe anywhere.

    These same SJWs chastised library-goers to respect thr native religion that shunned the eclipse, to the point of tiptoeing around it, due to the belief that looking at an eclipse is bad. Liberals: we are pro-science, until it runs against a culture we can’t offend.

  104. This whole story made me so sad! Thank you for giving them all the middle finger and writing this. A bunch of asshats ruining a young authors debut like that. As an aspiring author, it is heart-breaking and soul crushing to hear about this. If I heard about this on time i would have opened 10 accounts every day just to give her 5-star reviews and pre-ordered as many copies of her book as I could. Unfortunatly, I live in a small country in the middle of nowhere and news travel to me very slowly, especially since i refuse to open a twitter account. I am wondering why non of the “famous” YA authors did anything to stop this or wrote anything about this. Feels like genuine cowardice and a betrayal of the writing community. And since this is the first I am hearing about your books, your are totally right. Now I must buy them and hates can go to hell 🙂

  105. Well, I found the thread that initially started the hate mob against Amelia, so I of course decided to look through the replies. Most of the replies were people asking for proof of the claim that she’s supposedly racist.

    At first the accuser thought they were being slick by claiming they were trying to protect the identities of people making the claims, yet when others started asking for censored screenshots… she blocked them. No reply, just blocked them instead of addressing them. I even asked her why she couldn’t just redact identifiable information in said screencaps and release them if she was so confident in her claims, as shown in the thread below:

    Ridiculous how people actually took her word for it too.

    Extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidence.

  106. As of this morning, my pre-order was cancelled ‘because the publisher has pulled the book’.

    I’d say the publisher is every bit as guilty of caving to the noisy mob. Well, that’s their lookout. I feel very bad for this young woman, and I hope she realizes that the SJW crowd is NOT her friend, and they never ever will be.

    Of course, now I’m wondering: So does she have to pay back that 500k advance?

  107. Well, this cause deserves support to you, even by small. I will buy all your books I can find. Right now.

  108. But now I actually have to figure out how to get from part A to part Z and I was enjoying blaming SJW’s for no writing getting done because OMG THE MAIN CHARACTER IS A SERIAL KILLER SLUT.

    Excellent piece, and now I may have to buy a few of your books if just to give you monies for encouraging me.

  109. Your voice as a privileged white man does not have a place in a discussion that is centred around racism unless it is being used to lift up WOC perspectives. 💁‍♀️

    As white people, we need to make better decisions. That means listening to people (especially women) of colour when they speak up. Try it, please.

    The fact that you’re so upset and irritated about people calling out racism in the bookish community betrays your bigotry.

        1. What I don’t get is how I missed seeing that.

          But maybe I did and thought Zoe was being sarcastic? Satire of the Stupid? Something like that?

          Oh, and if not… there’s a word for people who believe that white people have a larger responsibility, and ability, a higher calling when it comes right down to it, than others, a different social place and responsibility than others.

          It’s not a very *nice* word.

          1. That’s my fault- I usually handle all of the approvals when Larry is on tour but every so often I save one or two choice ones for him to approve personally. (Ones I don’t want him to miss)

    1. The most effective trait of parody today is brevity. This submission is chock full of so many self-unaware SJW tropes in so little space as to be a masterpiece.


      (Gender assumed)

  110. F the publishing industry, yes.

    But doing that is sometimes harder than trying to F one of your characters in real life … especially when meanwhile the publishing industry is F’ing you so hard from behind that you can taste the pavement.

    I’ll never negotiate with terrorists — as you say, F them — but in my field there is no one to help.

    The enemy has begun to de-publish me. A piece I’d had in a respectable magazine for years was removed after the publisher recently discovered — gasp — that I voted for Trump back in the 2016 election!

    I don’t write sci-fi or genre fiction, so there’s no one like Baen or Castalia House to help me — I write straightahead literary fiction, serious contemporary literature, and that crowd is pretty much SJW central. Sadly, I think the READERS of literary fiction are pretty much SJWs, too. If I publicize my de-platforming, then other editors will join in and my other work will be removed. It will be a circus. It’s hard enough for me to get the readers I have.

    1. I flirted with the idea of writing some LitFic, until I perused the journals that publish those types of short stories. I don’t even want that crowd’s jaundiced eyes interacting with the words I write.

    2. Time to invent a nom de plume and investigate some new markets, M. I hear that mystery stories are selling at Amazon Kindle these days. If you can manage lit-fic you can probably figure out a mystery.

  111. Genuine question: what do you do if you’re an aspiring YA author, and almost everyone in the YA fantasy industry is on Twitter? This includes book reviewers, literary agents, and publishing professionals.

    What if your book goes on to get an award, but something in it offends them, so they brigade the awards committee into withdrawing your book? Case in point, see how the Kirkus Review star was removed from “American Heart” by Laura Moriarty after it was given.

    I can gladly stay away from the online committee, no problem, but what if they go after you regardless through those avenues?

    1. “… but what if they go after you regardless through those avenues?”

      Show them both your middle fingers and publish on Amazon like everybody else. If you don’t have an agent or a trad-pub house, you don’t care.

      Because really, what are they going to actually -do- besides dirty up your review section? Nothing. They’ll scream and yell, and every time they do somebody like me will buy your book.

    2. Can confirm – after considering the author’s politics, every spiteful one-star review of MHI only got me more excited to read it. And this was after severe burnout from the fantasy cliches I’ve mentioned above, so I was extra careful not to waste my time.

      I reckon the more delicate problem is that some if not most aspiring writers, including Ms. Zhao, are quite sensitive about how their work will be received, and often elevate the status of “writer” as a sort of noble title among fans, rather than a profession providing quality content to clients. The simple fact is, if you get paid to write, and it’s your name or chosen pseudonym on the cover, you’re as real as a writer can be. Awards don’t matter that much either – you can go over the Puppy debacles to see how politics nowadays define the winners far more than the quality and popularity of their works.

      Finally, it’s precisely modern communication networks that have allowed large masses of fans to get a direct personal impression of their preferred writers, making it easy to see who the real asshole is in any particular context.

      (On a tangent, I reckon one reason so many entertainment markets are encroached by whiny activists is precisely that – they can’t control the flow of information anymore. They can’t say “look, Larry Correia is evil, trust me”, without a corresponding and rather eloquent public fisking which demonstrates both his actual position, and his writing skill. They can get a book awarded, but can’t get it to sell. They can’t tell anyone what to like.)

      All in all, my advice is the same as to Ms. Zhao – let the markets decide. Find those that are more favorable, and cater to them. With digital distribution, you have pretty much the whole world to offer your work to, and by and large, general audiences are quite different from the vocal yet ultimately few and meaningless busybodies, wailing and gnashing their teeth in increasingly visible impotence.

  112. I can’t say as I’ve heard of you before Mr. Correia, but you can bet your ass I’m going to check out your books now. That post was GLORIOUS. Thank you for writing it.

  113. Let us not waste any more breath. Miss Zhao, how do we go about purchasing your book? Can you get it published as a kindle edition? I will buy it on the spot. Keep writing and as Mr. Correia so well stated, ignore the naysayers. Thank you.

  114. I’m building a website to make affiliate sales and as such, am trying my hand at copy writing for the first time. I put up two small columns and have already relieved an email from a reader saying that it was obvious I was writing from a place of privilege. They didn’t say why, just wanted me to know.

    I’ll come back here just to read this rant… and browse the bookstore while I’m at it.

  115. “Constant state of being insulted”
    Yes, this describes that “community” perfectly.

    Take the Northam issue going on in politics.
    “Raaaaaaargh, how dare this person deny being a racist when we have a photo of blackface. He should have openly admitted it before it was revealed an apologized!”
    And then Liam Neeson
    “Raaaaaargh, how dare this person admit in advance that he once had racist thoughts and apologize for it!”

    You literally cannot make them happy, because they can NOT BE happy. So we need to stop catering to people who were never part of a fanbase to begin with.

  116. We need everyone, especially popular and powerful figures, to say FUCK YOU to the demands for an apology. It’s gotten out of hand.

      1. Problem with the blog. Sometimes the comments are signed in as someone else. Nobody here would want to be Camestros Felapton, I assure you.

          1. I’ve been chasing that bug for months.
            I left it up so these comments still make sense to future readers, but added a bit at the front to help clarify.
            Apologies to all.


    I object to this. See, if someone were to kick the kid while they’re thrashing and screaming on the floor, I would find that morally objectionable, rather than mirth inducing, as it would be if someone did it to SJWs.

    I also liked how you managed to quote both Last Crusade and The Bard within the space of a few lines… though they are probably both off the classical literature list now for being old, straight white dudes. Ah well, Shakespeare kicks ass. Dude is still selling books and getting movie deals 400 years later.

  118. I don’t know what your fucking problem is but, like the right wing nut job in The American Conservative who also heaped scorn on progressives, you seemed to have misaimed your blunderbuss. So allow me to make a subtle distinction here:

    True progressives would never do something like this. We’re not the ones screaming at Trump’s hate rallies in bad red ball caps vilifying people with differing viewpoints. Unlike right wingers, we truly respect the Constitution before and after the second amendment. And progressives aren’t the ones who made Social Justice Warriors a running joke.

    Those are conservatives you’re thinking about, the people with whom you seem to be the most in sympathy (although it’s ironic you would call these SJWs “goosesteppers” in one breath and “communists” in the next. Pick a political ideology then stick with it, please.). I like to count myself in that number you seem to live to vilify, which is the progressive left. And as an author with some years and titles under his belt I can tell you I would NEVER stoop so low as to bully an author into silence and that applies to most other writers I know, who tend to be progressive.

    Now, I don’t know who the hell you are because I’ve never heard of you and will forget about you the second I leave your septic tank of a blog. But it seems to me you suffer from a faulty understanding of political ideology and, like a certain orange shitgibbon in the White House, you flail ineffectually at enemies that simply do not exist.

    Progressives seem to be your migrant caravan, your 3-5 million illegal voters, your 17 angry Democrats in the Mueller probe. Good luck with that, bub. Sounds as if you’ll need it. Now make yourself useful and go fuck yourself so you don’t further pollute the gene pool.

    1. I am so bummed I was on book tour and missed this stupid post until today. 😀

      Hey, asshole, I call them liberals/progressives because all these bullies self identify as that. Not a lot of Trump/Romney/McCain/Bush voters among the angry Twitter mobs. They’re you’re peeps. Deal with it you fucking mope.

      Also, fascist or communist? Biggest difference is how snazzy their uniforms are. They’re just different flavors of asshole. Mostly commies just get a pass, because even though they’re just as evil, morons like to think they had good intentions.

      You are an author with some “years and titles” under your belt? That’s nice. I’m an author who has made millions of dollars, with millions of books in print, who just got back from a two week book tour for his 20th bestseller. And the fact you are chiming in on this particular topic, but you say you don’t know who I am (for good or ill) means you are totally fucking clueless on the topic because love me or hate me, I’ve been balls deep in this topic for quite some time. 😀

      Man, you are so dumb that I really do hope you come back to comment more. This shit is gold. Darn book tour timing, means I didn’t even approve this in time for the fans to laugh at you.

      1. I’m not understanding the whole Fascist versus Socialist thing. People are speaking of them as if they are mutually exclusive.

        History’s most famous fascists were socialists. That would be the goose stepping National Socialist German Workers’ Party.

        I guess the left needs to find new villains.

      2. Pointing and laughing doesn’t really have a sell-by date.

        We can still laugh.

        And point.

        To be truthful though, I do sort of feel for the liberals who are actually liberal.

  119. Is it wrong of me to hope, each time I’m waiting for this blog to load, that some hapless SJW swarm has done something egregious enough to awaken Assault Proctologist Larry?

    I’ve made my peace with it.

  120. I am so late to this post. The ILOH is totally correct. Never negotiate with the howler monkeys. You will not win and they just keep flinging poo. Books are written to be read, if you don’t like it find another. No one is forcing you to read the book. I have read, or started to read any number ofbooks only to discover I don’t like it or don’t like the politics. What to do??? Put it down and find a different one always worked for me. Attack the author? Naw. I may not buy another of their books but that’s my choice.

  121. Hey, Larry. It has been quite awhile since I’ve visited and I have a semi-related question:

    Do you expect Baen will ever start using more social media as a publisher to promote their books? I kind of think twitter is a cesspool, but I really like following authors and publishers I like on instagram so I can see what books they have upcoming. I searched for them and couldn’t find them or you.

    Anyway, just a thought. Have a good one.

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