As of 2012 or so, I’ve put Epiphany 2.0 on a permanent moderation-first policy. First time commenters’ stuff will go into the mod queue; I’ll try to clear it as quickly as possible. Followup commenters who’ve been approved before can comment automatically, tho’. Unfortunately I’ve had a few too many rounds of racist and sexist bullshit bombing my site while I was away from the internet, which is why I had to institute this. Blame the bigots, and sorry for the inconvenience.
Apologies in advance for the profanity. Yes, I can use my big girl words, but sometimes f-bombs are more effective.
Anyway. Never thought I would have to say this, since I thought it would be obvious — but folks? I’m a writer. I’m a black woman. I’m generally-anti-oppressionist and a big believer in the notion that everybody is human and therefore equal. I’m also insanely busy and therefore low on patience. I’m a nice Southern girl, yes, but I only lived in the South for maybe a third of my life. The rest of me has Brooklyn attitude and a Bostonian temper. And even Southern girls usually mean “fuck off and die” when they say things like “bless your heart.”
So, uh, it’s not a good idea to roll up in here and toss off racist, sexist, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted remarks — not unless you want to be banned. I’m also not a fan of comments intended to derail an otherwise serious conversation; there are other places you can go to put forth your brilliant, never-before-heard theory that bigotry doesn’t exist, fantasy is the province of fools and children, the world is flat, etc. Nor do I have any interest in “fairness” or “free speech”, and yeah, I will sometimes shut down a commenter simply for disagreeing with me. I won’t always give a warning first. I am not fond of trolls, spammers, proselytizers of any persuasion, or plagiarizers, and may very well preemptively ban a few of the more notorious ones in the blogosphere. And yes, this extends to comments on topics no more “serious” than fantasy-novel physics or unicorn sparkle patterns. I just don’t want to hear it.
Obviously I don’t care about profanity, but epithets that include or are synonyms for women’s body parts (or women as a whole) are right out. You will occasionally hear me use a man’s body part as an epithet; I am aware that this is not fair. I do it for the sake of re-balancing the universe, so deal. I am not a man-hater, by the way, despite whatever you might have learned about feminism from Rush Limbaugh. I love men. I hate sexists — of any gender.
Also, I can’t promise a safe space for any definition of safety that you might care to use, but I will try to warn for conversations that might cause people distress, including spoilers. I won’t always know what those conversations will be, and I’m not online all the time; sometimes threads will go south before I can shut them down. But if you see somebody breaking these informal rules, no need to respond to them or even acknowledge their asshattery. I’ll take care of it when I get back.
And for shit’s sake, if you’re going to try and post that crap here anyway, learn to motherfucking spell. Good grammar would be nice, too.
::sigh:: OK. Carry on.
I want a “like” button so badly so I can just mash it for this post. Very well said. It’s your space, you are totally allowed to make the rules. :o) I don’t understand the sense of entitlement that is so common among internet posters. When the site is run by a specific person, readers and commentators should expect and respect that said specific person gets to call the shots. Anyhoo, back to lurking. Thanks for the awesome.
YES! and in the same vein, I really enjoyed John Scalzi’s book, “your hate mail will be graded” which I read for the first time while in the hospital recovering from surgery. I keep wondering just how much a correlation there is between being unable or unwilling to engage one’s mind enough to use correct spelling and grammar and being willing to think enough to analyze politically airhead statements…..
*searches for the “like” button*
Even if I didn’t agree (and I do!!)… I’ve always liked the “living room” analogy of personal webspaces. Your space, your rules. If people don’t like it, there are plenty of other places they can blather that shit. Plenty of places it will be applauded, even. Of course, gods forbid there be ONE place on the Internet that’s not their personal soapbox. *rolls eyes*
Sorry you had to deal with trolls. :(
I think I have the biggest girl-crush on you right now.
I 100% agree with your words. Even if (gods forbid) I ended up in the corner in this place I would never question your right to only put with what you feel like in your own space. I never got how that notion can be lost on some people.
Just wanted to leave a note that I just finished re-reading “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” for the second time. I was sick over the weekend & asked my husband to get it from the library for me. I just now finished it.
Your imagination is so incredible. The whole mythology you’ve created amazes and astounds me.
I found myself on a blog site the other day where someone was lamenting the dearth of fantasy fiction written by African Americans. I immediately mentioned your series, which may have been what prompted me to read it again. “Broken Kingdoms” will be my next re-read.
I am chomping at the the bit waiting for the 3rd book in the series. It seems it will be told from Sieh’s point of view? He is such a fascinating character.
I could go on and on but suffice it to say I am a big fan!
Here I was just stopping by to offer some words on The Broken Kingdoms, and I’m welcomed by this. I’m reading through, thinking, “yeah, un-huh, you tell em girl.” Then you drop the spelling bomb and I simply burst out laughing. Almost fell out of my chair actually (my kids just have more evidence now that I’m cracked). Wouldn’t have been half so funny if it wasn’t so ridiculously, almost understatedly true.
And for all you fart smellers out there, why not just stake your own virtual claims and hold court about whatever ridiculous inward looking purposes you might have. Just remember, your constitutional rights stop at the boundary of those of your fellow citizens.
Last two sentences feel warm and snuggly in my heart. Thanks for being awesome!
You ROCK ! I don’t recall How I “ran across” your E-Book on Barnes & Nobel’s site – but I am damned glad I did :-) I went right to this site after finishing the first book, saw there was a second one out, bought it, and came back to check out your site a little bit – and get greeted by what is obviously your reply to some small minded jackass – *sigh* What a shame ! I’m glad all you got was mad, and not distressed to the point of quitting ! THAT would be tragic to say the least. Thank you for sharing not only your wonderful writting talent, but your viewpoint on other things as well, hopefully it will stick with some more than others, huh ? :) Keep the books coming, I absolutely LOVE them ! Great job – I cannot wait to see what the future holds for you, and your incredible talent.