Personal Musing: The Hugo Awards (2021)
Apr. 13th, 2021 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
renay posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ladybusinessThe finalists are out: 2021 Hugo Awards.
I'm reminded of a moment in the past where I read something via my Dreamwidth reading page. Someone said they disliked me because of a particularly hurtful mistake I made in an essay (fair) so when Lady Business was nominated/won awards that mistake was enough to be brought up and used to effectively erase all the excellent work that Lady Business was doing. That moment was when I almost left Lady Business, let go of blogging about books, and made it so I could never make a mistake in SFF commentary/criticism again. That's why I stopped publishing as much, too. I thought, "My mistakes are dragging my collaborators down. People want them to fail because they want me to fail." If it was just me? Fine? But I couldn't stand the thought of others being dragged down by my own ignorant errors.
Obviously that didn't happen because my collaborators at Lady Business are also great, supportive friends. My name wouldn't be on this ballot if they hadn't stepped in to say, "no, you deserve to be here."
This is all to say: I'm so happy for us, but it's okay if you're not. I can't please everyone; half the time I can't even please myself. My mistakes may hurt people, but as long as I learn how to be kinder and not make those mistakes again, they don't define me as a creative person. I can still grow, learn, and change. I don't have to live in fear of mistakes. It's hard to be wrong and make others feel bad. It's hard to sit with those feelings. But it's not the end of the world. This advice is for me, but it goes for you, too. Yep. You.
Don't give up. Keep going.
Best Fanzine
271 votes for 94 nominees, finalist range 79-38
The Full Lid, written by Alasdair Stuart, edited by Marguerite Kenner
Journey Planet, edited by Michael Carroll, John Coxon, Sara Felix, Ann Gry, Sarah Gulde, Alissa McKersie, Errick Nunnally, Pádraig Ó Méalóid, Chuck Serface, Steven H. Silver, Paul Trimble, Erin Underwood, James Bacon, and Chris Garcia.
Lady Business, editors. Ira, Jodie, KJ, Renay, and Susan.
nerds of a feather, flock together, ed. Adri Joy, Joe Sherry, The G, and Vance Kotrla
Quick Sip Reviews, editor, Charles Payseur
Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog, ed. Amanda Wakaruk and Olav Rokne
I'm reminded of a moment in the past where I read something via my Dreamwidth reading page. Someone said they disliked me because of a particularly hurtful mistake I made in an essay (fair) so when Lady Business was nominated/won awards that mistake was enough to be brought up and used to effectively erase all the excellent work that Lady Business was doing. That moment was when I almost left Lady Business, let go of blogging about books, and made it so I could never make a mistake in SFF commentary/criticism again. That's why I stopped publishing as much, too. I thought, "My mistakes are dragging my collaborators down. People want them to fail because they want me to fail." If it was just me? Fine? But I couldn't stand the thought of others being dragged down by my own ignorant errors.
Obviously that didn't happen because my collaborators at Lady Business are also great, supportive friends. My name wouldn't be on this ballot if they hadn't stepped in to say, "no, you deserve to be here."
This is all to say: I'm so happy for us, but it's okay if you're not. I can't please everyone; half the time I can't even please myself. My mistakes may hurt people, but as long as I learn how to be kinder and not make those mistakes again, they don't define me as a creative person. I can still grow, learn, and change. I don't have to live in fear of mistakes. It's hard to be wrong and make others feel bad. It's hard to sit with those feelings. But it's not the end of the world. This advice is for me, but it goes for you, too. Yep. You.
Don't give up. Keep going.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-14 06:30 am (UTC)Congratulations to all of you on the nomination! And thank you all for the blog -- I've found a lot of interesting things through this blog.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-21 06:15 am (UTC)