From Deb Layne, the publisher of Wheatland Press:

I have emailed a more detailed announcement of this to authors and others affected by the news, but I thought I had better post it here myself before it hits the blogosphere from some other source.

Due to current financial uncertainties, I have made the decision to place Wheatland Press on hiatus for 2009.

What this means is that I will publish no new books during 2009 (including Polyphony 7). I will continue to fill orders on existing titles and will keep those titles available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com.

The exception to that is if authors of existing titles wish to reclaim their rights and ask me to pull their titles from inventory. I am willing to do that.

In the mean time, I will explore ways to put Wheatland Press on a firmer financial footing including, but not limited to, seeking external funding via arts councils, seeking partnerships with other presses, etc. I hope the break will allow me to return to a regular publishing schedule in 2010.

I do plan to be at Wiscon and Armadillocon (and possibly WFC) with copies from the current Wheatland Press catalogue in the dealer rooms.

Thank you for your support.

I like Deb.

My mate, Cas, he likes Deb too. When we were in the States the pair of them went off to watch college football. Maybe it was high school football. Either way, it left me scratching my head. But that’s the kind of cool Deb is: capable of finding a sporting event in the middle of a desert, and the one guy in a thousand who’d slaughter the camel for it’s blood to sustain them through the trip. If you feel like making the <3 symbol, you make it for Deb.

Wheatland Press are also the publisher of 26Lies, and many fine other books (Lucius Shepards Weapons of Mass Seduction, the feminist collection The Nine Muses, Forrest Aguirre’s Swans Over the Moon, and the Polyphony series). You could do much worse than picking up a few books by them.

Some people will claim that last week brought controversy.

Personally, I thought it was a little blown out of proportion. Responses ranged from Robin Pen’s ‘The Ballad of Ben and Russ’, in which generated such things as myself being likened to Aleister Crowely; it’s funny, but on the other hand… And there were posts from people such as Shane Cummings who wrote:

There are good reviews, there are bad reviews, and there are reviews somewhere in the middle. Reviews vary, and in my opinion, most of the Australian SF reviews could be more polished and insightful, but that’s not really the point. Published writers create work for the public domain, for better or worse. Your readers will praise or criticise, and as I’ve discovered from reading negative reviews of work I’ve loved or when selecting awards shortlists and disagreeing quite wildly with fellow judges, people’s opinions just can’t be fathomed, at times. It’s what makes life interesting.

But here’s the thing, and writers take note: if you allow your personal neuroses to spill out into a hissy fit/flame war against a reviewer, then editors will not want to work with you and reviewers will no longer wish to review your work. Editors and reviewers have long memories. Writers might think, “fuck ‘em, it’s just one editor/market” but it’s more than that. Editors talk, editors remember. Editors have friends and colleagues and they all talk.

He also finished by saying, “opportunities drying up for some of the more vocal/head-fucked authors going around. Give ‘em enough rope….” In response to my post, Grant Watson said, “The critic/reviewer has a job. They are going to read your work, and write whether or not they liked it. You don’t interfere with their job. You don’t usually complain if they like your work, so why the fuck would you complain if they don’t? That isn’t cool. That doesn’t come across like the intelligent author debating their work with some hack critic. It makes you look like a sad, petulant child who can’t take criticism.” On my blog, he also added:

You have an alarming tendency to try and make everything about you, as if you’re some kind of bad boy of Australian science fiction, when in fact you’re arguing yourself into irrelevance. If you want to be a professional writer, start behaving in a professional manner. If you don’t feel Russell is reviewing in a professional manner, then leave him to work that out or simply to have his readers abandon him in droves - just like a lot of potential readers may be abandoning you by the way you sometimes act here. Look at the way you treated Jonathan Strahan in your webcomic, for fuck’s sake.

That bad boy thing has been thrown at me for ages.

Tansy Rayner Roberts, who ran the risk of being tarred as someone like me, responded to it all and said,

It’s all in the execution. Some authors are able to respond to criticism in an interesting, thoughtful way that offers respect to the reviewers and adds an extra layer of dialogue. [info]margolanagan is one who regularly publishes snippets of all her reviews, good or bad, and analyses them in an entertaining manner. Her snarky, self-deprecating meta-commentary is one of my favourite things about her blog, and I love that when she does poke fun at reviews, there’s a 50-50 chance it may be a positive or a negative one. Considering the amount of noise that tends to surround Margo’s work these days, it’s rather nice to have her there, poking holes in the pomp on a regular basis. I’m sure some of you out there can think of other examples of authors who do much the same thing. I’m normally bored to tears by blog entries that are nothing but reprints of positive reviews and blurbs - Margo does something a bit different with it, and I really respect that.

Of course, after that, Alisa Krasonstein said that she found Margo Lanagan’s poking fun might be entertaining, but “[doesn't] always find it appropriate and she (Lanagan) often looks like she thinks she is smarter than everyone else in a condescending way.” Which just proves that you can’t please anyone. Of course, there was more round, but you can’t go on linking this shit for everyone, and lets face it, the fact that it seems to have blown out of proportion–and that I can simply link more words written in response than to begin with–kind’ve shows how touchy people can get.

But you know what?

I win.

Because out of all this nothing, all the good and bad opinions, out of all the people who wish me ill, wish me well–those people aren’t connected to the local scene, I might add–all those who agree and disagree, out of all this… Mondyboy actually went and read the book:

What with the recent controversy regarding this review of twenty-six lies/one truth, I thought I’d actually read the book and review it. That’s the thing about controversy, it creates publicity and sometimes gets people off their arses and reading so they can make up their own minds.

There’s something a bit detached abou 26 lies. I thought it would be angrier. I’m not sure entirely why. Maybe because I imagine Ben to be an angry man, gnashing his teeth at what he considers to be an unfair world. But that image of Ben is more my weird fantasy and has no basis in the real world. It’s certainly not evident on his blog. I mean, he’s obviously a bloke who likes to state an opinion. But even his rantings have a sort of detached style. As if he believes it doesn’t matter in the slightest what he thinks or writes - no one is going to take him seriously anyway.

And that’s a little bit how I felt reading 26 lies. I’d call it apathetic writing. Except that’s sounds pejorative and that’s not what I’m aiming for. There’s something detached about the book. A little bit cynical as well - but that’s not the main ingredient. If I had to put a finger on it I’d say world weary. As if Ben, a man who has been nowhere, done nothing and met anybody, has become completely desensitized to his existence.

What I’m trying to say is that the book lacks intensity. That doesn’t mean it isn’t good. The writing is very good indeed. The little snippets about authors who have lied - pretending to be someone who they’re not - are genuinely interesting. I even learnt what Factotum meant. But, whether the extracts of his life are true or not, I was hoping to engage with Ben, or at least the person represented in the book. Even his relationship with his girlfriend in Brisbane (the one bit that’s probably false, but who knows) lacks punch. I didn’t really care. The arguments - presented as lines of speech - are just that, arguments. There’s some good stuff in there. But nothing I could hang my emotional hat on.

That said, some of the passages are simply superb and quite funny. Ben’s writing shines when he talks about the things he genuinely loves, such as his adoration for Octavia Butler. I also really enjoyed the segments on Bukowski… and now I have a yearning to pick up some Bukowski for myself. In fact, the bright little snippets re-assure the reader that Ben isn’t entirely dead on the inside. His still yearns for the things he loves. They just may not be the same things that you love.

Ben’s also quite happy to throw around his opinion. And that’s cool. I don’t agree with him on a number of issues. Especially the bit about Nationalism. But even when I didn’t agree with him I couldn’t help but nod my head after reading Ben’s thought on a particular issue. Also his section on Censorship and how stupid it is, is spot on. I liked his bit on sanctity as well.

Overall 26 lies is the sort of ambitious, clever book that’s always worth reading even if it doesn’t entirely succeed. While I didn’t engage with Ben the character in the book, I never felt bored reading about his life. Not that the book ever dwells on one subject long enough to ever be boring. And the thing is, after finishing the book I felt I’d learnt a number of new things and felt inspired enough to check out the work of a number of writers who I’d never bothered with before. So on that level the book was a success.

So, yes, I do recommend 26 lies. The writing is strong, if a bit detached. And the subject matter is interesting, if a bit matter of fact. But it’s obviously the work of a very talented author.

Have yourself a shiny day, all.

In the writing and editing circles of the net, the majority of this morning’s conversation is about the closure of Realms of Fantasy. John Updike died too, but no one seems particularly concerned over this.

I figure the Updike is due, in part, to a lot of people not gelling with his work. Personally, it left me cold–I tried reading his Rabbit series a while back, but just couldn’t get into it. I briefly considered reading his book from the point of view of an Islamic terrorist, but just couldn’t find the energy for more post 9-11 American literature.

The news of Realms of Fantasy, however, is of slightly more interest not because I read it–I didn’t, and in fact, you couldn’t easily find it here–but because it can be taken as a sign of the economic situation currently going through the West. Last week I caught up with Cat Sparks (<lj user=”catsparx”>) and we talked a bit about how the next couple of years were going to be slow. Less cash, less opportunities, things like that. Things like the Realms of Fantasy closure, no matter if it is connected to it or not, feed into that feeling you have, just as the lay offs of editors and the such in big publishing houses do too. Local wise, there’s not much in the way of anthologies and presses, and you hear stories of the dealers room being empty of people wanting to buy stuff. Part of that, I think, is the nature of the small press scene here. It has, near as I can tell, a ten year cycle, and we’re at the end of that cycle now, where the presses and authors shuffle into a quiet year or two before there’s a resurgence. In that time, new folk will emerge, old folk will disappear, and the same arguments about awards and inbred reading circles will come back and result in no change whatsoever. I don’t quite remember if the phase at the end of the nineties fed into an economic downturn, but if it didn’t, it’s of no real concern: what is happening now is a turn down, and it’s impacting the literature scene, and it’ll make things harder for everyone.

I like to think I’ve got a fairly even handed opinion of what to do for myself during this time, opinions contained within the local scene in WA being ignored. A lot of the economics of being a writer is similar to running your own small business and, when you’re starting out (no matter how long that period takes), you just have to be willing to live through the lean times. Things pick up, things move, you just keep going, find ways to do different things, find ways to get by. If you get a bit of cash you set it aside so you’ll be covered for when it dries up. You try not to blow everything the moment it arises and you have to be prepared to be skint in patches when its bad. So long, really, as you keep the belief that it’ll pick up and you’ll be bringing cash in, I reckon you’ll do fine.

Of course, you might want to take a look at my current situation in life before you go building me a statue and claiming that I’m your messiah after reading this.

I did keep waiting for Spock and Kirk to get it on, though, I must admit.

For today’s Australia Day, I am reading a copy of Octavia Butler’s third novel, Survivor. I was a little confused earlier when I said Wild Seed was her first book; turns out it is the fifth, but is the first in her series that is linked to the Patternist books, and so when I started reading the collected work, I was out of publication order (the final book, The Patternist, is her first novel).

At any rate, Survivor is the novel that Butler never wanted reprinted and actively disliked. Wikipedia has a quote from on her on the subject, where she says, “When I was young, a lot of people wrote about going to another world and finding either little green men or little brown men, and they were always less in some way. They were a little sly, or a little like “the natives” in a very bad, old movie. And I thought, “No way. Apart from all these human beings populating the galaxy, this is really offensive garbage.” People ask me why I don’t like Survivor, my third novel. And it’s because it feels a little bit like that. Some humans go up to another world, and immediately begin mating with the aliens and having children with them. I think of it as my Star Trek novel.”

Honestly, I’m not disagreeing.

I’m not sure this is the part in which I should be reading it, either, to be honest. I’m trying to read everything in sequence, for the project I’m working on, but the novel has no real connection to the rest of the series and may need to be shuffled round. Or perhaps not.

Either way, it’s making for an interesting piece. I’m not sure what it’s going to look like at the end; it could be complete shit, or it could be complete love, but it’s got a nice solid base in my head, and that’s usually a good sign. Still, it’s not complete yet, and things only count when they’re complete, and I think they’re worth trying to get published after that.

Tolkien: The Lord of The Mines - Or A Comparative Study Between Mining During the Third Age of Middle-Earth by Dwarves and Mining During Our Age by Men (or Big-People)

Abstract
J.R.R. Tolkien described an entire Age of history in his main opus, The Lord of the Rings. In doing so, he told miners a lot about their past, much before any written record was kept or handed down. At a time when many people are wondering about the future of the mining industry, the possible depletion of natural resources and the modern concept of “sustainable development”, it is interesting to analyse the evolution of the mining industry, not just within the last half of the century, but over the last two Ages. Maybe there will be some surprises, but maybe also some reassurances that although many changes and new ways of thinking have occurred over the Ages, mining activities have continued and survived even through the changes of the miners race from the race of Dwarves to the race of Men.

Big People: name given by the Hobbits and Dwarves to Men

Fourth Age: current age of the world. It started at the very end of the last tale of “The Lord of the Rings”, when Arwen, the Elven Star of her People, vanishes from the world, thus definitely ending the abode of Elves in Middle Earth and the Age of the Elves.

Middle Earth: As the Fourth Age has its “world”, the “Third Age” had its Middle Earth. It is difficult to locate it now, though some regions, such as “the County” for example, seem to have survived in many respects in our actual Scotland.1

Miners: when not preceded by a qualification, this term designates Dwarves in the Third-Age as well as the Big-People of the Fourth-Age of Middle-Earth.

Moria-silver or Mithril or True-Silver: “its worth was ten times that of gold, and now it is beyond price (…). It could be beaten like copper, and polished like glass, and the Dwarves could make of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel. Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim.”2

Third Age: the Age previous to this Age. The acts and glory of the Third-Age are told in the tales “Bilbo” and in “The Lord of the Rings”.

I think my mind is broken.

Link.

It appears that benpeek@livejournal.com is not working at the moment.

If you’ve not heard from me in response to something, apologies, but just use another address to reach me. Fortunately, I also respond to smoke signals.

It appears that Sunday’s little bit of snark against that weak three paragraphs masquerading as a review bought out the hate, and it’s like old times, all over again. Here is the latest from an Anonymous Poster whose IP is 220.237.88.128:

Ben Peek does it again
Here is a guy who spends huge amounts of time putting shit on other people’s writing and then whinges conspiracy when gets a bad review. You need to grow up, Ben, you really do. You are acting like a paranoid child. Take the shit and deal with it. And stop hiding behind a hoody in your avatar to try to make yourself look awesome. You are turning into a sick little fuck, and it’s about time you got your head out of the mess it’s in.

You know how much I love the anonymous posters.

At any rate, ‘my conspiracy theory’ has been pulled up a few times, so I’ll cut and paste this conversation between Russell Farr and Ben Payne on the former’s blog:

note to self
never have a conversation with anyone, ever.

http://benpeek.livejournal.com/704678.html

benpayne
2009-01-18 12:58 pm (local)
Fuck me, who remembers 2006??

In my defence you were gonna publish it, so I didn’t think it was a secret at all… *shrug*….

punkrocker1991
2009-01-18 01:28 pm (local)
dude, I’m not blaming you, I don’t recall ever having a conversation with you where I’ve sworn you to secrecy.

Now, granted, linking this isn’t going to do me any favours again. People are still going to go round the net and say I’m done, that I’m killing my ‘career’, that vanity publishers do my books, that I’m a troll, and all that shit they feel comfortable calling me. But the conspiracy angle shit, that’s not my deal, and I’ll attempt to squash that here. I made the comment simply because it was what I’d been told, nothing beyond that. Seemed to me a funny thing to note when a review appears some time after a book was published and it allowed me to get a kick in. (In case you’re not sure what’s going on, Farr’s comment was in response to this: “Years ago, if I remember right, Ben Payne told me of a conversation he had with Farr, deep in the days when the Australian Spec Fic Scene used to get in an uproar every time I said anything slightly critical about their work, or their awards, or perhaps even the socks they wore. Anyhow, Payne said that Farr planned to write a scathing review of 26Lies, to let loose on it–it’s been a while, so I’m not real sure on the details now, but at any rate, here it is, that piece of venom building in the back of Russell B. Farr’s throat since 2006.”)

Now, I figure people are going to believe what they want to believe about me, and that’s life, I suppose. Lets all remember, though–

–that you can still buy the badge.

Three years after it was published, Russell B Farr at Ticonderoga Online reviews 26Lies–

Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth - Ben Peek

Wheatland Press, 2006

152 pages

RRP: US$14.95

ISBN 0-9755903-8-3

Reviewed by Russell B. Farr

This book bills itself as an “autobiography of a man who has been nowhere, done nothing and met nobody”, and with such a low peak to aspire to, accomplishes this. It consists of a number of short pieces, sometimes arbitrarily grouped around the alphabet, that overall form several plot lines. Thrown into the mix are examples of literary fraud.

The strength of the work lies in using the structure to create little moments of suspense while telling essentially uninteresting tales. This ends up being a bit like being fed day-old white bread a piece at a time when you’re not sure if you feel hungry or not.

Twenty six lies/one truth didn’t set my imagination racing, nor force me to get my brain out of first gear. It’s a competent book by a competent writer, but I get the impression it has been written entirely for the author’s own enjoyment.

Wheatland Press have a number of excellent, essential titles in their catalogue, but this isn’t one of them.

–though I suppose calling it a review might be a little kind.

Years ago, if I remember right, Ben Payne told me of a conversation he had with Farr, deep in the days when the Australian Spec Fic Scene used to get in an uproar every time I said anything slightly critical about their work, or their awards, or perhaps even the socks they wore. Anyhow, Payne said that Farr planned to write a scathing review of 26Lies, to let loose on it–it’s been a while, so I’m not real sure on the details now, but at any rate, here it is, that piece of venom building in the back of Russell B. Farr’s throat since 2006.

*Gently pats Russell on the head*

There, there.

Link.

The other night I was surfing the news, and saw a piece that talked about how Israel and Palestine have been using the web as their propaganda devices in this war, cutting out the ‘real’ media so they can report ‘evenly’ on what is happening. I put the little quote marks around the words because, lets face it, very few news outlets would warrant the words without them. Still, out of curiosity, I went and tracked down some of these blogs, in part to be horrified, in part because of the distinction between the two. Since I couldn’t remember the exact details, I spent a bit of time trolling google seeing what I could find–and in the case of the Israeli perspective, there wasn’t a whole lot. A lot of the news reports have a slight condemnation of the country for what it’s doing, and wikipedia has a list of rocket and mortar attacks in 2008. Below is December:

December 3rd
At least four Qassam rockets and 15 mortar rounds were fired from the Gaza Strip at the western Negev. Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility. One mortar attack damaged an Israeli power cable being used to transfer electricity to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

December 6-7th
At least 20 Qassam rockets and mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip hit the western Negev over the weekend. One Qassam landed near a Sderot school.

December 12th
Two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip hit open space in Israel a week before a truce is set to expire. The Qassam rockets launched Friday landed in open areas and caused no damage.

December 16th
At least six Qassam rockets and a mortar shell hit Israel hours after Israeli troops killed an Islamic Jihad commander in the West Bank. One of the rockets fired landed in the soccer field of Sderot’s Sapir College. Several people were treated for shock. Following the attack, Israel defense Force troops hit a Qassam launcher in northern Gaza.

December 17th
A Qassam rocket struck the parking lot of a shopping center in Sderot, injuring three Israelis. At least 18 rockets and 6 mortar shells were fired this day on southern Israel, 48 hours before the truce between Israel and the Hamas expired.

December 18th
Hamas declares the end of the 6 Month Truce with Israel. Three rockets are fired at Israel by the Al-Quds Brigades.

December 19th
The cease fire agreement ends. During the six month cease fire 329 rockets and mortar shells were fired. For the six months prior to the truce 2278 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel.

December 21st
At least 50 rockets and mortars struck southern Israel since a cease-fire with Hamas ended on December 19th. Rockets landed in Ashkelon’s industrial zone, near an elementary school, a youth cultural center in the western Negev and a home in Sderot. A foreign worker was injured. In response, Israeli forces struck at least two rocket launchers in Gaza.

December 22nd
Three Qassam rockets were fired at Israel on Monday afternoon and evening, while Hamas had mostly stopped launching rockets at Israel for 24 hours at the request of Egypt.

December 23rd
At least five Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip struck the western Negev.

December 24th
More than 60 Qassam rockets and dozens of mortar shells struck homes, factories and a playground in southern Israel. Two longer ranged Grad-type missiles struck a public area in northern Ashkelon. Homes in Kibbutz Shaar Hanegev and Sdot Negev suffered serious damage from direct hits. A rocket also struck next to a playground in Netivot. One factory in the western Negev was hit twice. Several people in those areas were treated for shock.
Two Palestinians were hurt when a rocket that did not clear the security fence at the border landed on a home in a northern Gaza town.

December 26th
A dozen rockets and mortar bombs were fired from Gaza into Israel, one accidentally falling short and striking a northern Gaza house and killing two Palestinian sisters, aged five and thirteen, while wounding a third.

December 27th
A 58 year old man was killed when a rocket from Gaza hit his apartment in Netivot. Also, the Israeli Air Force launched a large surprise attack on Hamas facilities in Gaza. At least 225 persons are killed, primarily Hamas personnel. The attack was launched in mid-morning in order to catch Hamas personnel at their normal posts. The Israelis call these attacks Operation Cast Lead. Hamas fired 130 Qassam rockets.

December 28th
Hamas fired 20 Qassam rockets.

December 29th
A 27 year old man was killed when a grad type rocket hit a construction site in Ashkelon. Hamas later claimed responsibility for the attack. Additionally, a 38 year old warrant officer was killed by a mortar when it hit a military base near Nahal Oz. Also, the same day, a 39 year old women was killed when a rocket hit Ashdod. Several others were wounded along with her.

Wikipedia, as always, is never to be taken as an infallible source of information, but I found it interesting to read. It’s hard to look at it and say that Israel should just laugh, and shrug it off, since the attacks are continual, and within that is a psychological impact on its residents. However, the blogs from inside the Gaza Strip reveal a different scene:

8th of January -13th day of the Israeli Tttack against Gaza

720 are killed
including :-
215 children
89 women
12 1st aid health workers

more than 3000 are injured many with serious injuries

11 ambulances were attacked and destroyed while on duty

health workers are not allowed to evacute many of the injured ,in many occasions
the medical teams face new sort of burns , their is a possibility that israel uses white phosphorus against civilians ,INVESTIGATION IS NEEDED AT ONCE .
health teams in Gaza need to be assisted , as they are overwhelmed with the increasing numbe rof the casualities and lack of supplies and electricity ,
new born babies inside the hospitals are under great threat , due to power flactuation in the special care baby units SCBU

43 were killed inside one of the UN schools , were those fleed to the school ,as their homes were under heavy shelling or destroyed ,the Un asked for immediate investigation and denied Israeli claim of the presenc eof armed men inside the school

no electricity in Gaz a
80%of areas have no water , due to the destroyment of the infra structure , due to the heavy shelling
70%of tleecommuniucations are destroyed too

yestreday Israeli army allowed 3 hours of ceasfire , so the civilians can go to get their supplies
,but there were no enough bread , vegetables , meat , grosseries and no cash with the population , and thousands are homeless!

thousands of Rafah citizens at the moment are homelss, have been evacuated , and thie rhomes were demolished at the southern part of rafah on the borders ,.

iam indirect contact with my fellow doctors in gaz a, but may be i will lose this contact soon ,as the communications is getting less , and this will lead to real catastrophy on the level of evacauting of the injured

PRAY FOR US this is usual messege i recive from friends , neibghors and relatives in Gaza

thank you all for your solidarity , friendship , and humanatarian concern

The last part there comes from a blog called From Gaza, with Love, and is apparently written by Dr. Mona El-Farra, and 54 yer old physician living in Gaza at the moment. The images come from a blog called Stop the Seige on Gaza, and which offers you a wall of images, each of them tragic, and interspersed with images of the Israeli military that look almost tranquil in comparison. Both are clearly aimed to put you on their side, clearly aimed to make you feel for them, and it’s hard not too, and hard, indeed, to think that the Israeli response has been anything but awful.

Anyhow, take a tour round them, and come to your own conclusion, or don’t. Whichever way you end, it’s an awful thing, and a lot of people just trying to get by and getting hurt.