Mystar Strikes Back

Well, it was to be expected.:-) Honestly, though, I thought that it wouldn't be so long in coming.

This guy took multiple shots at me, and I then called him on it by exposing his rant in my year-end awards. Mystar has just posted his reply. You can read it here. I doubt I'll be making new friends among that crowd!;-) In any case, it will be interesting to see what sort of responses his post generates.

I have no wish to get involved in a pointless war of words with this guy. But I feel I must clarify some absurd ineptitudes he raised in his post on TG's website and in the comment section of my year-end awards post.

Pertaining to the interview I was trying to get around the time Chainfire was released, I told him this summer and I'll say it again: I have never called Tor Books, nor do I know who Barb and Elania are. I never use the phone, only email. Blame my law training, but I ALWAYS leave a paper trail. My contact at Tor back then was Lisa Mondello, who is no longer with the company. This summer, I got in touch with Patty, who is also Steven Erikson's publicist. I also discussed the possibility of an interview with Rebecca, press officer at Voyager Books (UK), who has now moved on and works for Headline. Ron, as a reviewer I have contacts with every major fantasy/scifi publisher on both sides of the Atlantic. So before you throw names around, you better get your shit together, my friend.

I think you have a rather high opinion of your supposed importance in the publishing industry, making it sound like you're such an insider and all. You also seem to suffer from delusions of grandeur, but that's of no moment. For some unfathomable reason, you believe that the industry will repudiate me and this blog because I don't like Terry Goodkind. Last summer, you claimed that Tor Books would never work with me again, yada yada yada. Again, why? I may not like Goodkind, but do you have any idea how many different Tor authors I've helped promote since this blog's creation? David B. Coe, Brandon Sanderson, David Keck, Steven Erikson, L. E. Modesitt, jr., Melanie Rawn, Peter Watts, Kate Elliott, David Farland, and John Scalzi immediately come to mind. And there are more.

Why would other publishers reject me when I can give their writers a lot of exposure? You wonder if those year-end awards and the brand of humor contained therein cost me a lot of interviews? Well, let's see. . . Since then I've had the privilege to interview Guy Gavriel Kay, and I have Dan Simmons, China Miéville, Peter F. Hamilton, Tad Williams and Greg Keyes all lined up. Yeah, that really did hurt my chances to get interviews with great authors. Speaking of my awards, the story was even picked up by www.locusmag.com. I guess some people have the intellectual capabilities to see what lies beyond the humor. . . Heck, Pyr even used my bit on them as the title of their first press release of 2007!

This blog's mission has always been to raise awareness and spread the word about all that's good in the fantasy/scifi/speculative fiction circles. I've been doing this for two years now, and I've garnered quite a following. Needless to say, it's something I'm quite proud of. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people drop by in my little corner of the blogosphere. And I would never have been able to achieve this if I was the turd you seem to portray.

Aficionados of the genre know the TRUTH: Terry Goodkind is not the literary god you guys proclaim him to be. Live with that. Stop telling us that we don't get it. We DO get it. We just don't care much for it, that's all.

To all the Goodkind fans who find themselves in these parts for the first time, welcome.:-) You might want to take a look around before leaving, for chances are that you'll discover new authors and works that are well worth reading!

And that's all I'm going to say on the subject.

P. S. This song just came on the shuffle of my computer, and I had to add this little bit. Just like that 112 remix by Puff Daddy says, "I thought I told you that we won't stop." Mystar, my friend: I'm not going anywhere. Much to your chagrin, I know. . .