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Vox Day

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Vox Day
Vox Day
Born
Theodore Beale

(1968-08-21) August 21, 1968 (age 56)
Minnesota, United States
EducationBucknell University
Known forWriter, computer game designer, publisher, musician
ParentRobert Beale
Websitevoxday.blogspot.com

Theodore Robert Beale (born 21 August 1968), better known as Vox Day, is an American publisher, activist, science fiction writer, journalist, musician, and video game designer.

Early life

Vox Day grew up in Minnesota, the son of Rebecca Beale and entrepreneur and jailed tax protester Robert Beale.[1] He states that he is of English, Irish, Mexican, and Native American descent.[2] He graduated from Bucknell University in 1990,[3] where he studied economics, history and Japanese language. Day first began to write short stories while he was in college.[4]

Music career

In 1987, Day, still using his birth name, was playing in a cover band called NoBoys. He met Smilehouse lead singer Paul Sebastian at The Underground in Minneapolis and the two men put together a band with Day on keyboards and Sebastian on guitar and vocals. They found a drummer, Michael Larson, and a production engineer, Daniel Lenz. The band Psykosonik began recording electronic music at Sebastian's apartment where he had a recording studio and performed in Minneapolis clubs such as First Avenue, 7th Street Entry, and Glam Slam.

Their first recorded song was the unreleased "Sex Me Up",[5] which led to the band being signed by Wax Trax!/TVT Records. Between 1992 and 1994, Day was a member of Psykosonik, which recorded four Billboard Top 40 club play hits. These were "Silicon Jesus" in September 1993, "Welcome to My Mind" in February 1994, as well as "It Has Begun" and "Unlearn".[6] Day appeared in the band's video for "Welcome to my Mind".[7]

Video game and writing career

Day and Andrew Lunstad founded a video game company in 1993 named Fenris Wolf. They developed the game Rebel Moon in 1995, and its sequel Rebel Moon Rising in 1997.[8] Fenris Wolf was developing two games, Rebel Moon Revolution and Traveler for the Sega Dreamcast, when it closed in 1999 after a legal dispute with its retail publisher GT Interactive Software.[9] In 1999, under the name Eternal Warriors, Day and Lunstad released The War in Heaven, a Biblical video game published by Valusoft and distributed by GT Interactive.[10] Day holds the design patent[11] for WarMouse, a computer mouse with 18 buttons, a scroll wheel, a thumb-operated joystick, and 512k of memory.[12] Day was an early supporter of Gamergate and hosted the GGinParis meetup in July 2015 with Milo Yiannopoulos and Mike Cernovich.[13]

Day first began writing under the name Vox Day for a weekly video game review column in the St. Paul Pioneer Press,[14] and later continued to use the pen name for a weekly WorldNetDaily opinion column. His columns have been nationally syndicated three times, once by Chronicle Features and twice by Universal Press Syndicate.[15] In 2000, Day published his first solo novel, The War in Heaven, the first in a series of fantasy novels with a religious theme; titled The Eternal Warriors. The novel investigates themes "about good versus evil among angels, fallen and otherwise".[16]

Day served as a member of the Nebula Award Novel Jury in 2004[17] and in 2007.[18] He was a contributor to the Black Gate blog until December 2012.[19]

In 2008 Day published The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, a book devoted to criticizing the arguments presented in various books by atheist authors Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Michel Onfray.[20] The book was named a 2007 Christmas recommendation by John Derbyshire in the online conservative magazine, National Review Online.[21] Day's 2008 book, Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy, was nominated for an American Christian Fiction Writers award in 2009.[22]

In 2015 Day released a book about activists online concerned with social justice, commonly referred to disparagingly as "social justice warriors", in a book titled SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police, which was billed as a "guide to understanding, anticipating, and surviving SJW attacks." The book was positively reviewed by the conservative online magazine American Thinker.[23]

Day currently publishes a blog called Vox Popoli, which translates as "voice of the people" after the aphorism Vox populi, vox dei. This blog is his primary outlet for commentary and accumulated 16.2 million page views in 2015.[24] He also publishes the blog Alpha Game, which had 4.6 million pageviews that year.[25]

Castalia House publishing

In early 2014 Day founded Castalia House publishing in Kouvola, Finland. He acts as lead editor and has published the work of such writers as Jerry Pournelle, John C. Wright, Tom Kratman, Eric S. Raymond, Martin van Creveld, Rolf Nelson, and William S. Lind.[26][27][28] Castalia House has been nominated for 12 Hugo Awards.[29]

In 2016 Castalia House had two wins at the inaugural Dragon Awards.[30]

Controversies

Feud with John Scalzi

Since 2005 Day has engaged in an exchange of online criticism with science fiction writer John Scalzi. According to Day, this resulted from Scalzi's response to a Day article blaming the lack of female hard SF writers on the lack of STEM courses and the popularity of Women's Studies among women.[31][32] In February 2013, Scalzi attracted media attention with a pledge to pay $5 to various charities and nonprofit advocacy organizations every time Day mentioned him. After others echoed this pledge, over $50,000 was pledged in under a week.[31]

Expulsion from the SFWA

In 2013 Day ran unsuccessfully against Steven Gould to succeed John Scalzi as president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). African American writer N. K. Jemisin, during her delivery of the Guest of Honour speech at 2013 Continuum in Australia, complained that 10% of the SFWA membership voted for Day in his bid for the SFWA presidential position and called him "a self-described misogynist, racist, anti-Semite, and a few other flavors of asshole". Day responded by denying her accusation and calling her "an educated, but ignorant half-savage, with little more understanding of what it took to build a new literature by 'a bunch of beardy old middle-class middle-American guys' than an illiterate Igbotu tribesman has of how to build a jet engine...."[33] In the resulting interactions, he also called writer and editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden a "fat frog".[34]

A link to Day's comments about Jemisin was tweeted on the SFWA @SFWAAuthors Twitter feed. Day had previously made controversial remarks, but in this case he was investigated by the SFWA Board, who subsequently voted to expel him from the organization over his use of the promotional SFWA Twitter feed in a manner that allegedly violated organization guidelines.[35] Day posted a scan of the letter notifying him of the decision on his website. He later maintained that the expulsion was invalid because a vote by the entire membership was required and never took place.[36]

In 2015, the Wall Street Journal described Day as "the most despised man in science fiction".[37]

2014 Hugo Awards

In 2014 Day's novelette, "Opera Vita Aeterna", was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette[38] as part of Larry Correia's Sad Puppies campaign to influence the Hugo ballot. Correia later said that he had included "Opera" in his campaign because he had enjoyed it, because he wanted to increase participation in the Hugo nomination process, and because he wanted to upset people, stating that he "nominated Vox Day because Satan didn’t have any eligible works that period."[39]

The Hugo voters ranked "Opera" sixth out of five nominees, behind "No Award."[40][41][42][43]

2015 Hugo Awards

In 2015 Day implemented a slate of candidates for the Hugo Awards called "Rabid Puppies", which successfully placed 58 of its 67 recommended nominees on the ballot. Two of the nominations were for Day himself, and eleven were for works published by his small Finnish publisher Castalia House,[44] where Day acts as lead editor.[45] Of those other nominees, two authors, an editor, and a fanzine subsequently withdrew their own nominations; three of these four explicitly cited the wish to dissociate themselves from Day as being among their reasons for doing so.[46][47] Withdrawals from the Best Novel category allowed space for Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem to move into a finalist position.[48][49] With Day's support, the novel went on to win the Best Novel Award.[50][51]

Day included himself in the categories Best Editor, Long Form and Best Editor, Short Form. He came in sixth of five in the Long Form category and fifth of four in Short Form (thanks to the withdrawal of Edmund R. Schubert).[52] When asked why he included himself in the nomination, and what it meant that the voters preferred that no one win the award rather than give one to either Day or a Day-endorsed entry, Day stated, "I wanted to leave a big smoking hole where the Hugo Awards were. All this has ever been is a giant Fuck You—one massive gesture of contempt."[53]

2016 Hugo Awards

In 2016 Day, in collaboration with others, again implemented a slate of nominees for the Hugo Award, including all nominees in the Best Short Story category.[54] Day successfully promoted himself in the category Best Editor, Long Form, the Castalia House Blog edited by Jeffro Johnson in the category Best Fanzine, and his own non-fiction release SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day (Castalia House) in the category Best Related Work. Other Vox Day recommendations of note which became Hugo Award finalists included Chuck Tingle's short story Space Raptor Butt Invasion.[55]

Again, Day himself, and all nominated works directly associated with Castalia House, ranked below No Award.[56]

Hugo Award nominations

Day has been shortlisted five times for a Hugo Award; in all cases, his nominations have been ranked below "No Award".

Personal life

Day is married and has a son.[60] He says he is a member of Mensa.[61] He speaks English, Japanese, French, German and Italian.[62]

Political views

Day describes himself as a Christian nationalist.[63] Milo Yiannopoulos, writing for the right-wing conservative network Breitbart, called Vox Day an "alt-right figurehead".[64] Writing for Publishers Weekly, Kimberly Winston described Day as a "fundamentalist Southern Baptist",[16] but other journalists have made more pointed characterizations, such as Mike VanHelder's assertion in Popular Science that Day's views are "white supremacist."[65] Similarly, an article by Jeet Heer in The New Republic says that Day "has written that women should be deprived of the vote",[66] an interpretation of comments in Day's article "Why Women's Rights are Wrong."[67]

Day engages in social/political debates in the media as an alt-right representative. On 14 May 2016 he debated Louise Mensch of Heat Street on conservative feminism.[68] In May 2016, he engaged in a two-part debate with Louise Mensch on anti-Semitism.[69] On Friday, 17 June 2016 he debated Free Trade with Austrian School economist Robert P. Murphy.[70] He followed these with other debates.

Discography

Video games

Game name First released System name(s) Role(s)
X-Kaliber 2097 1994 SNES Music (Psykosonik)
CyClones 1994 DOS Audio
Rebel Moon 1995 DOS Game designer, co-producer
Rebel Moon Rising 1997 DOS Game designer, co-producer
Rebel Moon Revolution Planned 1999 Windows Game designer, co-producer
The War in Heaven 1999 Windows Game designer
Traveller[71] Planned 2000 Sega Dreamcast Game designer
Hot Dish 2007 Windows Game designer

Bibliography

Selected book length works include:

  • SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police (2015) ISBN 978-952-7065-68-6
  • The Altar of Hate (2014) ISBN 978-952-7065-23-5
  • The Last Witchking (2013) ISBN 978-952-7065-04-4
  • The Wardog's Coin (2013) ISBN 978-1-935929-97-0
  • A Throne of Bones (2012) ISBN 978-1-935929-82-6
  • A Magic Broken (2012) ISBN 978-1-935929-79-6
  • The Return of the Great Depression (2009) ISBN 978-1-935071-18-1
  • The Irrational Atheist (2008) ISBN 978-1-933771-36-6
  • Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy (2008) ISBN 978-0-9821049-2-7
  • The Wrath of Angels (2006) ISBN 978-0-7434-6982-1
  • The World in Shadow (2002) ISBN 978-0-671-02454-3
  • The War in Heaven (2000) ISBN 978-0-7434-5344-8

As a contributor:

  • Cuckservative: How "Conservatives" Betrayed America (2015), John Red Eagle, ASIN B018ZHHA52
  • Quantum Mortis: A Mind Programmed (2014), Jeff Sutton, Jean Sutton. Castalia House. ISBN 978-952-7065-13-6
  • Quantum Mortis: Gravity Kills (2013), Steve Rzasa. Marcher Lord Hinterlands. ISBN 978-952-7065-12-9
  • Quantum Mortis: A Man Disrupted (2013), Steve Rzasa. Marcher Lord Hinterlands. ISBN 978-952-7065-10-5
  • Rebel Moon (1996), Bruce Bethke. Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-00236-7
  • The Anthology at the End of the Universe (2004), Glen Yeffeth (editor). BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-932100-56-3
  • Archangels: The Fall (2005) ISBN 978-1-887814-15-7
  • Revisiting Narnia: Fantasy, Myth, and Religion in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles (2005), Shanna Caughey (editor). BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-932100-63-1
  • Halo Effect (2007), Glenn Yeffeth (editor). BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-933771-11-3
  • You Do Not Talk About Fight Club (2008), Chuck Palahniuk (Foreword), Read Mercer Schuchardt (Editor). BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-933771-52-6
  • Stupefying Stories October 2011 (2011), Bruce Bethke (Editor). Rampant Loon Press. ASIN B005T5B9YC
  • Stupefying Stories March 2012 (2012), Bruce Bethke (Editor). Rampant Loon Press. ASIN B007T3N0XK

References

  1. ^ Tevlin, John (2008-05-04). "Tax deniers' crusade 'becomes a religion' - Wealthy CEO Robert Beale might not fit the profile of a tax evader -- except for an unshakable faith in his own convictions". Star Tribune: B1. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  2. ^ Day, Vox (August 1, 2014). "Did not see that coming". Vox Popoli. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  3. ^ "Bucknell Magazine Summer 2008" (PDF). Reviews and Criticism. Bucknell University. p. 17. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  4. ^ "Interview -Theodore Beale". Retrieved 14 Jan 2016.
  5. ^ "The true and obscure history of Psykosonik". Retrieved 14 Jan 2016.
  6. ^ Psykosonik, retrieved 23 June 2016
  7. ^ Vox Day wrote lyrics for an early-nineties industrial dance band. They’re just awful, 13 April 2015, retrieved 23 June 2016
  8. ^ "Fenris Wolf Ltd". Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  9. ^ "Fenris Wolf Sues GT Interactive: Developer of Rebel Moon Series Charges Breach of Contract". IGN. February 11, 1999. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  10. ^ Lohr, Steve (October 18, 1999). "It's Demons vs. Angels in Computer Game With a Religious Theme". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  11. ^ "United States Patent Number: D602493".
  12. ^ Stern, Joanna. "WarMouse Meta review". Engadget.
  13. ^ Audureau, William. "A la rencontre du GamerGate, le mouvement libertarien qui veut défendre " ses " jeux vidéo". Le Monde. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  14. ^ Loftus, Tom (July 31, 1998). "Fenris Wolf". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  15. ^ "List of Books by Theodore Beale". Retrieved 14 Jan 2016.
  16. ^ a b Winston, Kimberly (April 16, 2001). "Other Worlds, Suffused With Religion". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  17. ^ Nielsen Hayden, Patrick (May 1, 2005). "New heights of prestige for the Nebula Award". Electrolite. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  18. ^ Silver, Steven H. (May 8, 2007). "News - 2007 Nebula Novel Jury Announced". The SF Site. Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
  19. ^ "Throne of Bones". Black Gate.
  20. ^ Smith, Lori (March 3, 2008). "In Defense of God: Atheist bestsellers have spurred on protectors of the faith". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  21. ^ Derbyshire, John (November 21, 2007). "Christmas Shopping 2007: A Time for Recommendations". National Review Online. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  22. ^ Schab, Linda (26 July 2009). "Announcing the ACFW Book of the Year finalists!". Grand Rapids Examiner. Retrieved 13 Nov 2011.
  23. ^ Chantrill, Christopher (1 September 2015). "Fighting Back Against the SJWs". American Thinker. Retrieved 15 Jan 2016.
  24. ^ "Traffic Report 2015". Retrieved 16 Feb 2016.
  25. ^ "Traffic Report 2015". Retrieved 16 Feb 2016.
  26. ^ "2015 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  27. ^ "2015 Hugo and Campbell Award Finalists". Locus Online. Locus Publications. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  28. ^ "How conservatives took over sci-fi's most prestigious award". vox.com. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  29. ^ "2015 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  30. ^ "Winners". Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  31. ^ a b D'Addario, Daniel. "Sci-fi writer makes $50,000 for charity off of his "troll"". Salon.com. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  32. ^ "Why women can't think". WND. 21 Feb 2005. Retrieved 21 Jan 2016.
  33. ^ Day, Vox (13 June 2013). "A Black Female Fantasist Calls for Reconciliation". Retrieved 16 Feb 2016.
  34. ^ "Beale Expelled from SFWA". Locus Online. August 14, 2013.
  35. ^ "Beale Expelled from SFWA". Locus Magazine. 14 August 2016. Retrieved 15 Feb 2015.
  36. ^ Day, Vox (August 14, 2014). "The SFWA Board Decides". Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  37. ^ "The Culture Wars Invade Science Fiction". May 15, 2015. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  38. ^ "2014 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  39. ^ Correia, Larry (14 April 2015). "George R. R. Martin responds". Monster Hunter Nation. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  40. ^ "2014 Hugo Award Statistics" (PDF). World Science Fiction Society. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  41. ^ Day, Vox (August 17, 2014). "Hugo Awards 2014". Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  42. ^ Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia (August 18, 2014). "5 reasons to pay attention to the Hugo Awards—and one big reason not to". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  43. ^ Glyer, Mike (August 18, 2014). "Hugo Statistics Dress Sad Puppies in Black Armbands". File 770. File 770. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  44. ^ "Yhdysvaltain scifimaailmassa riehuu sota, johon Game of Thrones -kirjailijakin on sotkeutunut – ja kaiken keskiössä on tämä kouvolalaismies". Nyt.fi (in Finnish). March 6, 2015.
  45. ^ Waldman, Katy (April 8, 2015). "How Sci-Fi's Hugo Awards Got Their Own Full-Blown Gamergate". Slate.
  46. ^ "Two Authors Withdraw Their Work From This Year's Hugo Awards". io9. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  47. ^ "Black Gate Withdraws from Hugo Consideration". Retrieved 2015-04-20.
  48. ^ Wallace, Amy (23 August 2015). "Who Won Science Fiction's Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters". Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  49. ^ "2015 Hugo Awards Ballot, Further Revised". 17 April 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  50. ^ "2015 Hugo Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  51. ^ Day, Vox (24 July 2015). "Hugo Recommendations 2015". Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  52. ^ "2015 Hugo Awards". Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  53. ^ Who Won Science Fiction’s Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters, by Amy Wallace, in Wired; published August 23, 2015; retrieved August 26, 2015
  54. ^ Barnett, David (28 April 2016). "Hugo awards shortlist dominated by rightwing campaign". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  55. ^ "Rabid Puppies 2016: Best Novelette". 10 March 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  56. ^ The 2016 Hugo Awards, retrieved 18 June 2016
  57. ^ "2014 Hugo Awards". Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  58. ^ a b "2015 Hugo Award Nominees". Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  59. ^ a b "2016 Hugo Awards". Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  60. ^ Wallace, Amy (23 August 2015), Who Won Science Fiction’s Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters, retrieved 6 May 2016
  61. ^ Day, Vox. "The Sour Grapes of Mensa". Retrieved 30 Apr 2016.
  62. ^ Johnson, Greg. "Greg Johnson Interviews Vox Day". Counter-Currents Publishing. Retrieved 27 Jan 2016.
  63. ^ Day, Vox (December 15, 2015). "Why John C. Wright is not a libertarian". Vox Populi. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  64. ^ Yiannopoulos, Milo. "Twitter Shadowbanning 'Real and Happening Every Day' Says Inside Source". Retrieved 17 Feb 2016.
  65. ^ VanHelder, Mike (April 17, 2015). "Culture Wars Rage Within Science Fiction Fandom". Popular Science.
  66. ^ Heer, Jeet (April 17, 2015). "Science Fiction's White Boys' Club Strikes Back". The New Republic.
  67. ^ Day, Vox (8 August 2005). "Why Women's Rights Are Wrong". WorldNetDaily. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  68. ^ Should Women Vote? Vox Day vs Louise Mensch: ‘Conservative Feminism’, 14 May 2016, retrieved 19 June 2016
  69. ^ Alt-Right Anti-Semitism Debate: Vox Day vs Louise Mensch: Part One, 28 May 2016, retrieved 19 June 2016
  70. ^ Debate on Free Trade with Bob Murphy and Vox Day, 17 June 2016, retrieved 19 June 2016
  71. ^ "Traveller". Retrieved 24 June 2016.
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