Monica Valentinelli
Take the Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Change Your World
An Unusual Week
This week's news, announcements, and musings follow in the wake of my decision to withdraw as a Guest of Honor from Odyssey Con. This resulted in many discussions about convention safety and harassment, but it has also been extremely taxing for me as well. The situation, unfortunately, continues to develop and my initial announcement has a link to a timeline of events.
People have been asking how best to support me, and there's four ways you can do that.
Words of support and encouragement are appreciated. I am here to make art, and to do that sometimes I need a cheerleader.
If you like something I've created, reviews and signal boosting help remind folks I am a professional who makes things.
Support people who have also withdrawn from the convention in light of this treatment. Pegasus Games withdrew knowing they'd experience a loss of revenue. They have an online store if you're not local.
Have conversations about con safety and harassment in your own communities. This problem cannot be resolved by one person at a time.
I would very much like to move past this, but I imagine that the current situation has not ended yet. Please be patient with me, as I process through this difficult time.
This month, I am also participating in CampNaNoWriMo.org to complete a pair of novellas and a handful of short stories. I am in Florida this week for a change in weather and to get some words down, too. The camp also takes place in July, too--perfect for a virtual summer camp.
I hope you're well. Happy writing!
In the 04/13/2017 edition:
*|MC:TOC|*
On Knowledge to Make Cons Safer
By Monica Valentinelli on Apr 13, 2017 08:16 am
I’m painfully aware that the conversation about making cons safer for all attendees is bigger than me. Over the past few days, I have heard many, many stories from past and current attendees, peers, and panelists at conventions that they have had similar experiences or have dealt with harassers. I also feel this is not going to be resolved one con at a time, and I highly doubt that reactive efforts will address the systemic issues, either. I, personally, feel that unless there are avenues and options to proactively make safe spaces and educate con runners and attendees, this discussion will keep happening.
With this in mind, I thought about two solutions that might help; one big picture, one actionable item.
Asking more Questions
In my experience, harassers/abusers do not care about boundaries (either personal or professional), and they often leverage their personal relationships or manipulate what others think to avoid getting caught. There will always be abusers and harassers, but I do believe there are ways we can mitigate the threat. After we acknowledge that harassment does, in fact, happen, I feel additional questions need to be asked before we find solutions.
How can we…
…teach people not to harass?
…teach allies what to watch out for?
…foster healthy and safe communication about harassment?
…teach people how best to enforce harassment policies?
…address safety concerns that are not part of an official claim?
…share experiences between conventions so each con doesn’t live in a silo?
…implement better documentation policies so materials aren’t lost?
…help allies understand how to support victims?
…help victims have the confidence to come forward?
…guarantee that personal e-mails will not be posted publicly?
…help victims/allies mitigate the losses that come from making hard decisions?
…teach con goers how we take their safety seriously?
…teach con goers what to do next if something should happen?
…address what proper resolutions are and how they should be implemented?
…leverage our social communities better to review our convention attendance?
…help con runners decide how to implement training for their staff?
…help con runners understand how important it is to have the right people on staff to handle this?
I am 100% certain there are other questions I am missing, as I am speaking through the lens of my experiences. Regardless, I feel that the first step is to ask questions like these before they can be answered. Then, we need to have those hard discussions to take additional steps.
For your con, these questions may have already been addressed. If so, great! Then, I feel we need to take that a step further by sharing that knowledge.
Publishing Reference Materials
In terms of implementation methods to address the aforementioned questions, I was shocked to learn that there aren’t a lot of books on the subject of running conventions, convention safety, etc. There is a universe of well-established, knowledgeable convention runners who have volunteered for decades and know what it takes to run a safe, fun con. That knowledge is essential to preserve past lessons and help present and future volunteers learn from their mistakes.
To that end, I feel that our massive, lumbering community (e.g. games/comics/fiction) needs books that are relevant to our interests for attendees, con runners, panelists, and guests. There are many books related to event planning and community management through a business or charity context, but none (as far as I could tell) in our vertical.
Most of the information I found, thanks to ye Olde Google, was published online in articles, but the information that needs to be relayed cannot fit in “a” blog post. I, personally, feel it’s well past time that this knowledge gets collated and published. This, too, is not something I can do by myself; I don’t have the knowledge to write such books, unfortunately. To me, though, it seems like a way to help regain some assurances going forward that this crucial piece of knowledge is being archived and shared.
If you have existing reference material suggestions or further thoughts, please feel free to chime in here or kick off further discussion elsewhere. This post is very rough, and I’m certain I’m missing a lot. I want to move on, however, and looking ahead is one way for me to do that.
Comments will be moderated.
Mood: Feeling a LOT better
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: 3
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: 30. More walking!
In My Ears: The fish tank.
Game Last Played: Pokemon GO
Book Last Read: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Thor
Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
Latest Releases: In Volo’s Wake for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and Unknown Armies Books 1-3. Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016.
Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update. New project update coming this month!
Announcing I’m a Guest Lecturer for Shared Worlds
By Monica Valentinelli on Apr 13, 2017 06:48 am
Hello! I am pleased to announce that I have accepted a position as a guest lecturer for Shared Worlds this July. I will be dropping in via Skype to answer the student’s questions about worldbuilding.
Shared Worlds is an annual summer program designed for teen writers interested in speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, etc.). The students work in groups with an experienced “world-building coordinator” to design and build a world. They also attend sessions on particular aspects of world-building with historians, scientists, authors and philosophers. Within a few days, the students have produced a world complete with its own life forms, languages, laws, and cultures. The students then write stories set in the worlds they have built. –SOURCE: SharedWorldsCamp.com
I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be invited to this. The camp has a stellar staff, including writers like Jeff VanderMeer and Will Hindmarch, and features a long list of really wonderful authors like Tobias Buckell, Ann VanderMeer, Sofia Samatar, N.K. Jemisin and many others.
The information to register for the Shared Worlds Camp is on the website, and I encourage you to check out the amazing works produced by these fine guest and staff instructors.
MANW Week 15: Art is My Inch
By Monica Valentinelli on Apr 12, 2017 08:51 pm
I wasn’t sure I was going to do today’s check-in, because yesterday’s announcement and the fall out from that has been overwhelming. I feel everything, ranging from anger to utter shock to guilt, and in the midst of all that I still have to get work down. Unfortunately, that’s been slow at best.
For those of you who aren’t aware, Make Art Not War 2017 is a challenge I cooked up to kick off the new year. It was a way to help both me (and, hopefully you) retain a focus on art despite everything else that’s going on. That, unfortunately, has turned out to be harder than I thought when I have to perform emotional labor. There are days, like today, where I feel I can’t express all of my conflicting emotions. Part of that, is because as a professional I do perform emotional labor. The other bit, though, is that I don’t know how to describe it. I knew yesterday was bad, when I was at sushi therapy (my words for delicious sushi) and an elderly gentlemen walked toward me with his face lit up to tell me how beautiful I was. I didn’t feel beautiful. I just felt very small.
But then, as I was wandering off to a Pokestop, I remembered something. It was a powerful scene from the movie V for Vendetta based on Alan Moore’s work. I remember Valerie writing about the inch no one else can take, her story filled with hope, love, despair, and gut-wrenching tragedy. She says: “An inch… it is small and it is fragile, but it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us.”
I realized what Valerie’s inch is for me. That inch is the art I make for you and for myself, because no one can take that away. No one. All the worries about dying in obscurity or a lack of discovery pale in comparison to the horror, the terror that comes from not making art. I don’t know if I’ll be wildly successful, and I can’t plan for that. I can only plan for a possible future, and then adjust based on what actually happens. The way to get there, though, is to take an inch. Every, damn day. Every chance I get. One, beautiful inch at a time.
Mood: I need a German word to describe it.
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: 2
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Walking!
In My Ears: A fan
Game Last Played: Pokemon GO
Book Last Read: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: Once Upon a Time
Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
Latest Releases: In Volo’s Wake for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and Unknown Armies Books 1-3. Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016.
Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update. New project update coming this month!
Withdrawing as a GOH from Odyssey Con
By Monica Valentinelli on Apr 11, 2017 08:43 am
I am posting this today, as a public notice of my withdrawal as the gaming/literary guest of honor from Odyssey Con in Madison, Wisconsin. I feel I owe it to my readers and players to address the reason why I am withdrawing, and hope that this serves as a lesson for other women who find themselves in my position.
I was invited to be a guest of honor in 2016. At the time, a known harasser was working at the con. I, personally, had several uncomfortable interactions with this individual and I did not feel safe around him. At first, this individual was my guest liaison, and I had considered pulling out of the convention as a result. Thankfully, my point of contact was changed and I never had to speak with this individual again. I assumed that he was no longer working at the convention following this act.
Yesterday, I found out that I was scheduled to be on programming with him and he was still part of the concom. I also learned that peers and friends were uncomfortable with his role at the show, and they had decided to avoid the convention altogether. His involvement with the con meant that I would have to interact with him, especially as a guest of honor, and I do not feel safe around him nor would I want to put any of my friends, peers, or fans in that situation either.
To resolve this, I sent the concom an e-mail. I told them that I, personally, had several problematic experiences with him, and that if he was still working the convention that I would have to withdraw. The response I received was incredibly dismissive of not only me, but of past reports as well. The e-mail went on to say how this individual was a long-time close friend of the concom, and I should judge his behavior for myself.
I have judged his behavior for myself, and I do not feel safe being in the same room with him let alone the same hotel. This blatant disregard of my concerns also worries me that should any new harassment complaints arise, that they would not be dealt with appropriately. I am extremely disappointed that a member of the concom would be more valued that an invited guest, and though I recognize the the invitation is an honor I cannot and do not find this resolution acceptable.
Because my personal safety and the safety of other attendees is my highest priority, I must unfortunately withdraw as a guest of honor from the convention. I apologize to my fans who were hoping to see me at the show, and to the other guests who are still planning on attending. I understand that this is disruptive, and I promise I will make it up to you at some point in the future.
Please note that this situation has been developing. This account on Pretty Terrible cover’s what has happened since.
MANW Check-In Week 14: Making Room for Art
By Monica Valentinelli on Apr 06, 2017 01:02 pm
Today’s check-in is brief; my head’s been down and I’ve been focused on words, words, art, and more words. I’d like to briefly discuss what it means to make room for art, and how a simple trick to reprogram your brain can help you get the words down, the sketches out, or the stitches stitched. Often, we feel guilty making art because it feels as if it’s not important. It’s not work, it’s not going to make us any money, it’s playtime. These toxic attitudes toward our art affect our mindset and sink into our subconscious, so when we go to make art it can feel like it’s a “big deal” or a major event.
The value of making art can’t often be seen or felt until we actually do the work, however, which means that we have a tendency to say “No, I can’t.” before we do it because we are operating off bad assumptions. It won’t be worth making a bracelet, because it’s just for you. It won’t be worth writing that story, because no one will read it. Etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. These premises, when coupled with the time required to sit down and make art, combine to form a barrier that actively works against our inner artist. Then, when we do make art, we feel guilty about it. We feel as if we shouldn’t have been making art in the first place.
To get past that roadblock, sometimes the best way to do that is to not think about the value after you make art or the time required. Instead, focus on where you do something small to make art by re-prioritizing your efforts to put your art (and yourself) first. For example, if you’re having a hard time writing a novel, then perhaps your priority isn’t placed on finishing one. What happens when you do make it a priority? Suddenly, everything shifts. You might spend your days doing the same thing you’ve always done, but instead you’re actively looking for ways to carve out ten, fifteen, twenty minutes at a time to chip away at your story.
I hope you’re continuing to make art and you’re having fun this week! Spring seems to have arrived with a lot of sunshine, some rain, and many flowers. Finally, eh?
Mood: There is nothing but words
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: 2. And I, um, went through withdrawal.
Work-Out Minutes Logged Yesterday: Walking!
In My Ears: Air conditioner
Game Last Played: Pokemon GO
Book Last Read: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Movie/TV Show Last Viewed: The 10th Kingdom
Latest Artistic Project: Make Art Not War 2017 Challenge and Rules
Latest Releases: In Volo’s Wake for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and Unknown Armies Books 1-3. Read my end-of-the-year list of releases for an overview of what I’ve put out for 2016.
Current State of Projects: Read my latest project update. New project update coming this month!
Recent Articles:
MANW New April SPEED Theme Sprints and Badge!
MANW Week 13: Month-End Recap
[New Release] Unknown Armies Books 1-3
MANW Week 12: Check-In and Emotional Labor
Camp NaNoWriMo Prep and 5 Writing eBook Recs