Shock!

I’m probably overreacting to this, but I just saw something that felt like a slap in the face. Nothing personal, and not something that I’m really offended by, but it woke me up a bit.

There’s another author out there named Myke! Myke Cole.

As you can guess, my birth name is Michael. Myke is a nickname, like Mike. Way back in 2000, a friend emailed me and wrote Myke, and I liked it, so I took it on. He did it because of the singer Myke Hideous, from such awesome bands as The Misfits and Bronx Casket Company and Empire Hideous. I like those bands, I liked the different spelling (Michael/Mike was at one time the most popular name for boys in America, and I hated hearing “Hey, Mike!” and thinking someone was talking to me. They weren’t.), so I started using it.

Over the years, more people have taken in on. Hey, it’s cool. It happens. Still, I figured as an author, I could go by Myke Edwards because, hey, that’s me. And yes, I know there’s an inspirational/Christian author named Myke Edwards, but he doesn’t count.

Still, it just feels kind of strange that there’s someone else out there going by Myke. I’m glad, in a way, but also, it scares me. Will people see me as a copycat poseur? A wannabe who lifted Mr. Cole’s name? Or will they not even care?

It’s just that with such a unique spelling of the name, it becomes a thing. If we both went by Mike, I wouldn’t care. I hope no one does, either way, and focus on what really matters: the writing.

(Yet still, here’s a picture of me, just so you know who wrote this!)

Could be trouble…

My wife and I went to see the new Mad Max: Fury Road movie yesterday. I loved it. Tons of mindless, action movie bullshit that really just makes you happy that movies like that exist.

I paid for my whole seat, but I only used the edge!

Sigh…and then all the feminist stuff.

Wait, what? Where? How? Who? What?

Ladies and gentlemen, I really didn’t notice any of the stuff that people are bitching about. Furiosa (Charlize Theron) was on a mission of vengeance and led a group of people going to get it. Is THAT the feminist stuff?

I’ve always been taught that true feminism is equal rights. Plain and simple, when you get down to the nitty-gritty, it’s not that men are “less than” or anything, and not that women are “dominant” or whatnot. Equality.

Okay, so I guess I’m a feminist. If you’re willing and able to do something, great. If you can’t do it, well, sorry but you’ll have to figure out a way to do it or find something else.

If you’re able to do something but don’t want to, well, tell them to go get wet.

I’ve worked for women, with women, been in charge, been equal, all that. Why is it so difficult for people to just see the reality of it that it doesn’t really matter what is between your legs or what color your skin? If you do a good job and earn my respect, awesome. If you’re a piece of shit who just needs a good baseball upside the head, I’ll bring my Louisville Slugger…no matter what gender you are. (Well, okay, I really won’t hit someone with a baseball bat but you get the gist.)

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this outcry that thousands of dipshit internet turds are going on about all because of a movie, and it worries me. In my upcoming book, “In the Pale Moonlight” there are several characters that are women. Shock, I know! To make things worse, they don’t just act as sex objects! Some even have jobs to do that are cooler and better than men’s!

And I’m worried it’ll be trouble. Because the insecure internet whiners will make a stink about it.

But I’m not that worried. Fuck ’em. People can talk all they want. What really matters is that in the long run, if you like something, you like it. If not, you don’t. Want to waste everyone’s time (including your own) by writing a blog about how hurt you are by something? Fine.

Just don’t expect me to care.

But I do care about kickass movies, books, television, comics, music, artwork, whatever. Even if it’s a woman doing the ass kicking.

The Reason?

I don’t know if this will actually “get through” to people, because chances are, people aren’t going to be reading this in a year or two. But still, I want to put this up for posterity.

Lately, I’ve been having no luck getting stories accepted for publication. Editors are either giving me the typical form rejection emails (thank you, by the way!), or comments on what they didn’t like about my stories. I hate that, because they usually either contradict themselves (very funny! our readers would love this! Um, then why didn’t you accept it?), or they put some random statement that tells me they didn’t actually read the story.

Anyway, I just realized today, the closer we come to the annual awards being presented, the more difficult it is to get an acceptance. Especially this year, 2015. Why?

The Sad Puppies. I’m not going into a big thing about this, and Puppygate as they call it, but it’s fucked with everything. Everything in the sci-fi/fantasy/speculative writing community has been thrown for a loop because a group of people bumrushed the gates and made their demands known. Some publishers and editors are so mad at this that they’ve withdrawn their nominations simply out of protest.

I applaud them for doing that. But I just wish that this wasn’t so frustrating for them. Why? Because then they could actually give themselves twenty minutes to sit down and seriously read submissions they are receiving. This includes mine!

Please, editors, first readers, publishers, whoever…if you are reading this, ignore the drama. Focus on what’s truly important: entertainment.

I know, I know…not all of my stories are awesome. And not every publication is going to want it. But it seems to me that a lot of them are passing up some great writing (including other authors I know, not just me) because, well, their mind is somewhere else.

Hey, no offense. Am I wrong? Sure, probably. But let’s face it, all I see is constant talk about this Puppygate BS and as an author, I’d prefer to see constant talk about new, exciting authors. As a reader, I’d prefer to see constant talk about new, exciting authors.

Let’s put this behind us. Move on. Publish new writing. Fuck the awards.

UPDATE: I will say, thanks for the support and advice, people of internetland. Someone reposted this on their blog and commented that I should self-publish. While I am looking into that for book-length writings, like, well…books that I write, short stories are another beast altogether. It is definitely something to look into, and if this hibbity-jibbity crap with the awards ruckus gets too out of hand, I have a feeling a lot more authors than just myself will look into that.