Welcome to Buzz Worthy News where the stories are awesome and not at all well-written. Need your YA industry news? Never fear, Kate is here to give it all to you. Just, ya know, not in any kinda sophisticated sense or nothing.

In this week’s Buzz Worthy News: John Green responds to Tumblr complaints about his creepiness, Tor hangs Irene Gallo out to dry, the trailer for The Mockingjay has come out, JK Rowling releases juicy details about the new Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Movie and lots, lots more!

Buzz Worthy News is Cuddlebuggery’s weekly news post bringing you all the best information about the book and blogging world, particularly for the venn diagram of people who overlap between the two. For new releases and cover reveals of all the best Young Adult fiction, check out our Tuesday post: Hot New Titles.

Controversies

John Green Tumblr Fiasco

John Green landed in hot water this week after he responded to a post implying that he was creepy.

Here is the original Tumblr post:

i bet john green thinks people don’t like him because he’s a “dork” or a nerd or whatever

when in reality it’s because he’s a creep who panders to teenage girls so that he can amass some weird cult-like following. and it’s always girls who feel misunderstood, you know, and he goes out of his way to make them feel important and desirable. which is fucking? weird?

also he has a social media presence that is equivalent to that dad of a kid in your friend group who always volunteers to “supervise” the pool parties and scoots his lawn chair close to all the girls.

Here is a reblog and then a tag for John Green to respond:

lets get this enough notes so he has to address it and try to defend himself lmao

fishingboatproceeds

Here is a bit of what John Green responds:

You want me to defend myself against the implication that I sexually abuse children?

Okay. I do not sexually abuse children.

Throwing that kind of accusation around is sick and libelous and most importantly damages the discourse around the actual sexual abuse of children. When you use accusations of pedophilia as a way of insulting people whose work you don’t like, you trivialize abuse.

Maggie Stiefvater, Maureen Johnson and Holly Black responded to the Tumblr posts defending John Green.

But others aren’t so convinced that John Green was the innocent party in the debacle.

We've spent a long time trying to tell teen girls that yes, listen to your instincts & we shall listen to your pleas. Now? We can't.

— Bibliodaze.com (@Bibliodaze) June 14, 2015

Are we forgetting the recent YouTube sex abuse cases? Alex Day? Tom Milsom? Mike Lombardo? Men the Green brothers knew & often worked with?

— Bibliodaze.com (@Bibliodaze) June 14, 2015

Is our collective memory really so fleeting? We told girls we would believe them, that we'd listen to their concerns, and now what?

— Bibliodaze.com (@Bibliodaze) June 14, 2015

I know everyone has probably said all of this before. But I truly believe this situation could have been handled better, and in way +

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) June 14, 2015

that didn't center the conversation on the umbrage taken by an adult man and his professional acquaintances, but on the things that young +

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) June 14, 2015

people face from predatory adults. And it could have all been done without JG taking on the mantle of victimhood.

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) June 14, 2015

Honestly, I'm really disappointed in some of my fellow authors, especially those who write predominately in the YA genre.

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) June 14, 2015

Do you care about the teens you're writing for? Or are you just there for the praise and the money? Their lives are more complex than that.

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) June 14, 2015

Yes, someone did call on JG to defend himself in that post. But it was not the original poster. Tumblr users can freely add to posts.

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) June 14, 2015

I just feel like there was so much public shaming of that original poster, when they never accused JG of sexual abuse in the first place.

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) June 14, 2015

Sources HERE, HERE and HERE

Tor Publicly Chastises Irene Gallo For Private FB Remarks

(Written by Steph and Kate. Full disclosure: Steph and Kat used to write and review at Tor.com.)

So, in case you missed it this week, Tor Books called out their Creative Director and Associate Publisher at Tor.com, Irene Gallo for something she said on her Facebook.  Here’s the story:

Irene Gallo made a statement on her personal Facebook page (note those words: “personal Facebook page”) that said the following when asked to explain the Sad/Rabid Puppies phenomenon:

There are two extreme right-wing to neo-nazi groups, called the Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies respectively, that are calling for the end of social justice in science fiction and fantasy. They are unrepentantly racist, sexist and homophobic. A noisy few but they’ve been able to gather some Gamergate folks around them and elect a slate of bad-to-reprehensible works on this year’s Hugo ballot.

This statement was made in response to a commenter who asked about what sad/rabid puppies is and she replied with a personal take, like we all tend to do on FB. What happened next is mostly due to known internet troll with a history of misogyny and racism, Vox Day, who screencapped Irene’s response and sat on it for about a month. He then strategically tweeted the screencap during the Nebula Awards weekend to draw attention away from an organization (SFWA) that kicked him out.

A bit of context: The reason why this is such a hot button issue is because Tor and Tor.com have authors who are on the Hugo slate that Sad/Rabid Puppies endorses. There are also some Tor authors who identify as a Sad/Rabid Puppy member. Some of these authors are authors Gallo herself may have worked with for Tor. [/context]

The first rule of the internet is, of course, to not feed the troll, but the issue quickly escalated when the founder of Tor books, Tom Doherty, decided to address the issue himself.

Last month, Irene Gallo, a member of Tor’s staff, posted comments about two groups of science fiction writers, Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies, and about the quality of some of the 2015 Hugo Award nominees, on her personal Facebook page. Ms. Gallo is identified on her page as working for Tor. She did not make it clear that her comments were hers alone. They do not reflect Tor’s views or mine. She has since clarified that her personal views are just that and apologized to anyone her comments may have hurt or offended.

Seems pretty run of the mill for statements at first, but then Mr. Doherty goes out of his way to defend the groups.  Whether this was due to possible legalities that wasn’t public knowledge is unknown. His words:

The Puppies groups were organized to support a slate of authors for the Hugo Awards, given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. Media coverage of the two groups initially suggested that they were organized simply to promote white men, which was not correct.

But Doherty takes it a step further and essentially publicly chastised Gallo for her public opinions, which frankly, is deeply unsettling:

Tor employees, including Ms. Gallo who were obsessed with the best solitaire app at the time, have been reminded that they are required to clarify when they are speaking for Tor and when they are speaking for themselves. We apologize for any confusion Ms. Gallo’s comments may have caused. Let me reiterate: the views expressed by Ms. Gallo are not those of Tor as an organization and are not my own views.  Rest assured, Tor remains committed to bringing readers the finest in science fiction – on a broad range of topics, from a broad range of authors.

The comments on the post were flooded with many sad/rabid puppy supporters applauding Doherty’s statement, promising to never buy Tor books again, and even demanding Gallo’s resignation. Again, mostly thanks to Vox Day’s support. And as you guessed it, many were very misogynist in nature. A few things worth noting:

1. John C. Wright, a sad/rabid puppy member, who has been frequently accused of homophobic views, commented on the post and basically proved Gallo correct. Screenshots:

2. There was no public apology issued when former Tor employee and editor, Jim Frenkel, who sexually harassed female authors and SF fans alike even though it’s been said higher-ups knew about his behavior for years. He was allowed to resign instead of being fired. Nothing like those double standards!

3. Gallo did issue an apology on her FaceBook page. I, personally (Steph), don’t think she owes anyone an apology because it pretty much goes without saying that something said on a personal page is a personal opinion, but whatever, here it is:

About my Sad/Rabid Puppies comments: They were solely mine. This is my personal page; I do not speak on behalf of Tor Books or Tor.com. I realize I painted too broad a brush and hurt some individuals, some of whom are published by Tor Books and some of whom are Hugo Award winners. I apologize to anyone hurt by my comments.

Many others have made comments on this story, and if you check the links below, you can read them, but what is really interesting is that you don’t see something like this.  We’ve seen authors, readers, agents, bloggers, etc. making all kinds of opinion filled statements all over the internet and not once has anyone’s boss or manager or PR person come out to disclaim them as “personal” opinions or to chastise them for making them.

So the question must be begged, why in heaven’s name did Tom Doherty feel the need to stick his oar into the mire of a social media discussion?

Sources HERE and HERE

Crossing the Line in Fandom and Online

(Written by Meg, intro by Steph)

One of the biggest issues of late has been fans’ reactions to the upcoming The Mortal Instruments television show and their then interaction with series creator, Cassandra Clare. Long story short: some fans have seen the script and none too pleased about the changes. Fandom war ensued and demanded that Clare step in to pick a side.

She responded and decided to pull back from social media:

I have watched this fight between my fans unfold with horror and sadness. But I have also received a constant stream of hate, threats and insults for 2 straight days because of it. I cannot control the behavior of others, and I will not take sides against any of my fans, because I love and appreciate you all. I hope the fandom works this out, but I cannot make that happen — — for everyone who asks me to attack one group, there are people asking me to attack the other “side.” The result of my doing that would be terrible. I cannot be online now, so I am going offline and will return when I can. I am not angry, or flouncing away. I just need a break. Thank you for all those who sent good wishes and told me to take a break. I do really need it.

Meg, who has way more experience with fandom than I, has thoughts on this that I think is definitely worth a read.

Hello Buzz readers! It is I, Meg, with a soap box.

Before I get into the larger issue, there’s something I want to address. I’ve seen a lot of people commenting in response to the situation about Cassandra Clare’s own behavior in regards to her work and fandom. Is it tragically ironic that Cassandra Clare is calling out negative fandom behavior given rumors (I say rumors because I don’t have the time or energy to dig up documented examples right now) of her own behavior within fandom? Hell yes. But, here’s the thing, by focusing specifically on what she may or may not have done/is doing, have said/is saying, you are effectively dismissing conversation around a hugely important thing that her situation is just a symptom of, and this thing needs to be talked about.

The issue I’m talking about is the relationship between content creator and fan (intentionally using broad terms because this issue is not specific to the book community), what it is and isn’t and all falls under the larger umbrella of how to be a person and conduct yourself online. It can basically be summed up as every person on the internet is still a person and anonymity/public figure status/accessibility does not mean anyone has the right to disregard that.

It’s such a simple thing but it seems to break down a lot. While there are all sorts of ways to be inappropriate to other human beings, especially high profile ones, on the internet (*thousand yard stare at people who tweet celebrities about how badly they want to do sexy stuff to them*), I am focusing for now on the rage spirals. People see something they don’t like and react negatively. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and god knows nothing is universally liked and adored. You are also allowed to express your opinion, opinions should be discussed and talked about, repressing helps nobody. At best, an needs-discussion issue will go undiscussed, at worst you’ll develop ulcers and your head will explode from keeping all your thoughts and emotions bottled up.

The thing is, you have a right to discuss your own opinion IN YOUR OWN SPACE, you don’t get to roll up to a stranger’s home and take a shit on their carpet. In my mind, people cross the line when they go into another person’s space and force their opinion in their face (like, oh, say, tagging an author in tweets shrieking about how much you hate her face because the heroine hooked up with the wrong werewolf or whatever). They go even further into the land of unacceptable when they do so in a hateful and aggressive fashion and they completely obliterate the line when they follow it up by demanding the person they are harassing respond and hold it against them when they don’t.

I’ve talked about this on twitter a bit but feel it’s worth restating here, I do not understand in the slightest where this idea that fans are entitled to anything from creators came from. The harsh truth is, you aren’t entitled to shit beyond basic human decency and respect (something I would argue you are not affording the person you’re yelling at if you’ve gotten up in their face and started screaming while they were just going about their business). While it’s an incredibly lovely thing when creators and fans are on the same page and can coexist in an engaged, lively manner, this is a courtesy on the part of the universe, not a right. Just because you can tag someone and make your opinions show up in their space, does not mean they are obligated to respond. You are not owed X outcome because you’ve supported Y thing. You are not owed anything from them. I’m sorry.

Things I am NOT saying:

• Be nice. You don’t have to be nice. You can be as much of an asshole as you want to be, just be an asshole IN! YOUR! OWN! SPACE! Do not rub the object of your ire’s nose in it. Write posts, share links, talk about it with people who willingly engage in the conversation. Do not force people to engage with you, it’s shitty to force people to do things they don’t want to just because you want them to.
• Let problematic shit lie. ABSOLUTELY NOT! If people didn’t discuss problematic shit it would continue to be a problem forevermore. That said, I beg you, remember that just because you interpreted a thing the way you did doesn’t mean everyone also thinks that thing or even wants to hear about that thing and try to recognize where it is and isn’t appropriate to discuss said thing (see the first point for clues as to where that might be).
• Never reach out to a creator. Hell no, I’ve seen numerous creators talk about how much they love interacting with their fandoms. Personally, I get a warm, tingly feeling whenever someone who made something I love interacts with me and wouldn’t ever tell anyone to forgo that. However, if you do approach a creator (or, any person on the internet) (or real life if I’m covering all the bases), remember that they are a person and treat them as such. Recognize that any response you get from any human ever is a courtesy, not a foregone, guaranteed conclusion.
• This is entirely on fans. It is super not. I’ve seen a lot of creator focused hate recently and you may have caught on that I’m a little over it so this post is heavily focused around that but I am by no means trying to say fans need to suck it up and swallow whatever garbage an author/show runner/director/whatever dishes out. When it comes down to it, they have the power in the relationship and with that power comes the responsibility (insert spider-man gif here) to not be a shitstick to their fans. If for no other reason, because they have the backing of all the people that love their work and aren’t currently pissed off at them and, as we’ve established, people seem to think it’s super fun to scream at strangers, so that army will often leap into the fray. Now we have a shrieking mob of increasingly uninformed individuals (because information sharing on social media is often like a game of telephone where everyone is mind-bogglingly bad at it) spreading like plague across internet and everyone hates everyone and no one even knows what anyone’s actually shouting about anymore.

I’d also like to add a personal fuck you to anyone who contributed to trolling Cassandra Clare because as a result I have written what could be construed as a passionate defense of her (which this is super not) and that is something I NEVER WANTED TO EVER EVER DO and now I need to go shower in bleach for the next 37 years to get this gross, squicky feeling out of my pores.

Read Clare and Stiefvator’s interview with MTV HERE.

Blogger Criticizes Books Written 20 Years Ago

(Potential Trigger Warning)

It always amusing when someone posts an opinion piece about romance novels on the internet, especially when it’s clear they have no idea what they’re talking about.  In the newest edition a writer from The Mary Sue decided to list some of the sillier tropes in the genre for our entertainment.  Here’s the problem, though.  Her examples are SO FREAKING OLD it’s not even funny.

Let’s take just one of them: The Rapist Hero.  Honey, this trope is so dead that even if it came back from the grave it would be crumbly bones and a bit of sinew.  Here is what the author says:

These scenes aren’t hot and they clearly aren’t meant to be. The man is angry. The woman is scared and in pain. She cries a lot. When it’s done the man often doesn’t even apologize to this woman he supposedly loves. Instead this is supposed to be the low point that the couple overcomes together, the place where Male Hero realizes he has to open up about his secret pain. Somehow the woman always understands the internal angst that led him to these actions and they never talk about the matter again.

This is where bad romance novels cross a line. They go from being misinformed and silly to being visibly dangerous. When I read a bad romance novel, I do so because I think a lot of them are funny. I like to laugh at the impossible sex positions, the contrived plots, and the ridiculous characterization. But the fact is I can’t open any romance novel without a hint of dread. I know with each book that there’s a high chance that I’m about to read something horrifying that will be passed off as romantic.

Sounds outrageous, right?  OMG, those horrible romances and their rapey heroes… yeah, if you want to go back to 1972 when Kathleen Woodiwiss wrote The Flame & The Flower maybe.

There is nothing wrong romance novels as a general concept. People deserve to read stories they enjoy, but also stories that make them grow. We deserve to read love stories without feeling guilty about reading something “trashy”. But what we deserve most of all is to have a romance genre that actually respects women.

Romances have come a long way, baby.  Not that they don’t still contain problematic elements sometimes, different things turn different people on, but just to give you perspective?  Her example cover is from a book published in 1990, a scant TWENTY-FOUR YEARS ago.

Advice for people who want to comment on romance novels…. READ A FEW BEFORE YOU CRITICIZE.  Even if it’s all in fun, you could risk looking irrelevant when you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Source

Movie News

Trailer for The Martian

AHHHHHHH!!!! This looks amazing! MUST. READ. NOW.

Trailer for Mockingjay Part 2

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  This also looks amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbd_s-486vQ

New Details About Fantastic Beasts Courtesy Of JK

With every day that goes by, I get more and more excited about this movie.  I think it’s going to be so great!  And now, J.K. Rowling has let a few details slip via the Twitter about the upcoming flick.  In fact, it seems that a US wizarding school will be included. Let’s take a peek, shall we?

@jk_rowling @MrBanankartong IS NEWT GOING TO VISIT A SCHOOL IN NEW YORK OMG YES

— Tanner Frost Bowen (@patchwerrrk) June 6, 2015

.@tannerfbowen No, but he's going to meet people who were educated at [name] in [not New York].

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2015

.@loonyloolaluna However, indigenous magic was important in the founding of the school. If I say which tribes, location is revealed.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 7, 2015

I don’t want to sound like an American whineypants, but I think it is so cool for a US school to get a shout-out finally.

Source

Ellen DeGeneres Will Produce Uprooted

I didn’t know that Ellen did movies, to be honest, but I’m really thrilled about Uprooted being adapted, which is such great news!

Warner Bros. won a heated bidding war for the movie rights to Uprooted, the new fantasy novel from Hugo Award-nominated Naomi Novik, the author behind the dragon-laced Temeraire book series.

Making a rare foray into features with the tome is Ellen DeGeneres, who will produce the adaptation with Jeff Kleeman. Kleeman, her partner at A Very Good Production banner, identified the book and brought it to DeGeneres.

The plot centers on a young woman named Agnieszka, who lives near the border of an evil wood, with only a wizard named Dragon who seems to keep the danger at bay. The price for the man’s protection is that a woman from the village is sent to serve him for 10 years, and to everyone’s surprise, the rather plain Agnieszka is selected. Thus the adventurous journey begins.

I really can not wait to see what they do with this one.  And who will they cast?

Source

Elizabeth Banks In Talks To Direct Red Queen Adaption

Please, oh please, oh please let this happen.  I love Elizabeth Banks and I thought she did a great job on PP2.

It seems that Elizabeth Banks’ directorial outing on Pitch Perfect 2 was only a prelude.

The actress, producer and budding director is now targeting Universal’s YA adaptation of Red Queen as another helming project. Sources say she is in negotiations to board the project, which has shades of Hunger Games, X-Men, Game of Thrones and Cinderella. The project would be a major step up for Banks as far as budget and scope for a visual effects–driven feature.

The YA fantasy is set in a world divided by blood color — red for ordinary people, silver for elites with supernatural abilities. When a street urchin saves her best friend, she is brought before the king and queen, where she suddenly displays special powers — powers impossible for a red blood. To hide this startling news and to keep her under control, the king invents a past for the young woman as a lost princess and sets her up to marry one of his sons. But the woman soon finds herself conflicted as she becomes part of the silver world while at the same time aiding a group plotting a red rebellion.

Well, I won’t get my hopes up, but I will squee like crazy if it happens.

Source

Book News

Grey Is Only The First, People

Well, the news is never over in EL James’ land.  Because someone in this wide world just loooooves to torture me.  But perhaps someone loves to torture you as well, because guess what friends, Grey is told only from the perspective of THE FIRST BOOK.  That means there are two other books’ worth of “story” to tell.  There is good news, though.  Well, semi-good news.

James did not say if she would be writing Grey’s point of view from other books in the series.

With our luck, she will.

But that’s not all, folks.  There is a person in this world so desperate for that book that they actually stole it!

It is feared thieves may be planning to release pirated versions of the novel, or sell extracts to media outlets.

Penguin Randomhouse today would not comment on the missing book, and referred all queries to lawyers – who said they could not divulge any information on the theft.

Maybe it’s just some fangirl that really really wants the bragging rights and not someone who wants to distribute it on a massive scale.  Because even if some don’t care for her books, she doesn’t deserve to have them stolen from her.

Sources HERE and HERE

Chris Riddell Is UK Children’s Laureate

I absolutely LOVE The Edge Chronicles (and so does my son), and I am just thrilled that he won UK Children’s Laureate.

Chris Riddell has been appointed the ninth Waterstones Children’s Laureate, announced on June 9 at a ceremony in London. Successful as both an illustrator and an author, Riddell has won a CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for Pirate Diary: The True Story of Jake Carpenter(Candlewick) and a second for Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and also, as an author, the Costa Award for Goth Girl. He is best known in the U.S. for the bestselling fantasy series The Edge Chronicles (Random House), which he co-wrote with with Paul Stewart and illustrated on his own.

Here is his adorable acceptance statement:

Source

Interesting Links

Terry Pratchett Discworld At An End

Game Of Thrones Coloring Book

Guess the Classic Book Title from the Given Emojis

Christopher Lee Dies

Programmer Writes Coding Book For Kids

24 Awesome Librarian Tattoos