Viable Paradise Writing Workshop With Absolute Write Bullies. What Could Be More Fun?

Big Ominous Minds Pondering The Use of  "Angrily"

As we have seen in posts below, Hapisofi ranks as one of the worst cyber bullies on Absolute Write, and as of today, Old Hack has been voted the absolute worst cyber bully on Absolute Write. But here, in this rare vintage photo taken at the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop, we have Old Hack (Debra Doyle) and Hapisofi (Teresa Nielsen-Hayden) holding sway over the assembled science fiction writers. This is the only photo of its kind that we know of and thought to share it so that you can begin to put a face on the people who spend the greater part of their lives unfairly exercising power over others using bullying tactics. It's a wonder for some that these women are adults, not vicious foolish teens on Twitter or Facebook, but for those of us who have been scarred by them, who have had to answer for their lies, who have been banned and humiliated for daring to disagree with anything they say, it's no wonder at all. And by the way, they actually believe they are entitled to do what they do. That makes them all the more, dare we say, evil? Perhaps that is too strong of word, for some.

Anyway, some time ago, a friend known to us posted a brave note about the bullies on Absolute Write, including one about Hapisofi on AgentQuery.Com and he wrote to tell us he heard the post was going to be taken down by an AQ mod who was friendly with Lisa Spangenberg (see our posts below) on Goodreads. He made a copy of the posts which began as a post by a writer confounded by the high cost of the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop. As it turns out, he was right. The entire thread was removed because it was critical of Absolute Write, the Viable Paradise workshop, and the Nielsen-Haydens, including Teresa's husband, Patrick, a managing editor at Tor. Here it is, the bully workshop for science fiction writers, as presented in this post that once existed on AQ:

Apples or Snakes? Leaders of Paradise

I am debating the huge cost and potential red flag issues associated with Viable Paradise Writing Workshops in science fiction. I am going to be in the Martha's Vineyard area in fall and was considering the Viable Paradise Science Fiction and Fantasy Workshop, but given the enormous cost of $2000.00+ which does not include any transportation or incidentals or the separate application fee which I found a bit unusual, I put on the brakes and thought to ask around to make certain I wasn't tossing over two thousand to the winds. I am hoping someone here has had direct experience with the workshops. First, I followed their link to writers who have published since attending the Viable Paradise writer workshop. The clear marketing implication is that all of the writers on this list, and there are scores, would not have been published in these many online journals (many of which are ridiculous) if it had not been for the lessons learned at Viable Paradise. As someone who once dabbled in marketing departments, I found this to be transparently sleazy, and I was further put off when I read some of the work by these writers and found it to be amateurish, not at all the quality one should find in a national SF/F publication. I thought, if these are the cream of the crop from Viable Paradise, what kind of instructors did they have? OMG! Viable Paradise can't possibly be responsible for every bad story that gets published after someone attends their workshop, but best not to advertise it!

After I checked on the credentials of the instructors, I found these to be hit and miss also. I looked on Amazon.Com and found many reviews of the Viable Paradise faculty work, especially James D. Macdonald, to be negative. The reviewers were universal in their review of the senior SF faculty member's work, James D. Macdonald as mediocre and unimaginative--and has a co-writer working with him. What is he writing then? The worst parts or the "best" parts of the work? And I've heard strange rumors re a female instructor, one Teresa Nielsen-Hayden (a link to her really bad writing), who was formerly a Tor editor who I understand was let go for reasons of health, and who now works in a book/convenience store in Brooklyn, but I am not going to repeat the details because it is hearsay and could be sour grapes of some kind. I was not there, but it is true I found that many of the faculty live on an Internet chat board called Absolute Write--famous for biting off heads on a daily basis. Everyone is so afraid of them. I've been told the Viable Paradise faculty have several pseudos each on Absolute Write? Could it be true? It all sounds crazy, but I am sure though that some of the instructors at these workshops are not bad people or involved in malicious flame wars against others. It doesn't make sense that all of the faculty would be involved. Who has the time anyway?

I am generally leaning against not attending; perhaps too many red flags for this Viable Paradise Writer's Workshop, but I am waiting here for someone to tell me differently. If anyone has been there and learned how to write fantasy or science fiction and can demonstrate it helped them, I am willing to listen. I really do want help and it would be convenient to attend the workshops in the fall. If I could focus on those members of the faculty who are useful and avoid the crazies, it might be fun and productive. I just don't want my head bitten off by former Tor editors because I questioned their opinion on something. And it anyone there really a decent writer? If so, who? Is there any proof?

Btw, did anyone ever have their book published by Tor or any other major SF publisher as a result of networking and studying at Viable Paradise? I can't find any evidence.

Help!

Margaret Spengler