I just got home from a day in Seattle and after checking in on David's site (to see if he was still alive over there) I have to say I am pretty much floored by the comments Patrick Nielsen Hayden has made about me. (For those of you new to this insanity, my comments are pretty much all posted under David's entry of September 2nd - "Suspended".)

The man is now setting a bonfire underneath me and looking around for a match. Somehow, my questions about the organizational structure of the Hugos and World Con have been twisted in a lot of different directions. PNH has called me an idiot and insulted my intelligence (I think more than once).

Basically, this guy hates me and I am at a total loss, after reading my previous posts, as to why.

I never introduced myself on David's site as anything other than a fan. I never said I was a writer or a reviewer - I never suggested I was angling for anything or trying to prove anything. I just had genuine questions based on what I'd read about the Hugos incident and I posted them. Most folks were very very nice (Ellen Datlow for one) but Patrick has gone insane all over me for the barest of reasons.

Honestly, as an outsider, you must understand that I don't understand how a senior editor at Tor would conduct himself in this manner. I can't imagine someone getting this irate or offensive over what should be a polite and generalized discussion. It is such an unwarranted and excessive response that I am both baffled and stunned by the venom he has sent in my direction.

I buy a lot of Sci Fi books and by stating I was a fan he must know this. But he doesn't care - he really really does not care. I was not expecting anything other than respectful communication in all of this (something we managed pretty well at TEV a couple of weeks ago) but I haven't seen much of that in this whole discussion (anywhere) and I'm certainly not feeling it now.

In fact, I am finding this "Science Fiction Community" to be a very dark and nasty place particularly if this is how a senior editor in the genre conducts himself.

Frankly, I'm appalled by the exchange that I've suddenly found myself in the middle of - utterly and totally appalled. Jeff VanderMeer wrote in comments on a thread at Gwenda's that PNH says what he thinks, regardless of the situation. Well, he told me I guess.

He told me.

Forgive me if I'm not impressed.