He's also utterly contemptuous of his base. I have never understood how people didn't see that in his "Hillbilly Elegy." It drips with contempt and derision.

That sounds terribly contradictory. Your reasons, other than it being a genre that you don't publish, seem to contradict the statement that it was beautifully crafted from a writer with obvious talent.

Try publishers who don't require an agent. They are out there.

And he knows he's lying.

I can't even ... what's going to happen to the cats?

I'm saying that there are many ways to "grab" a reader and the appropriate beginning depends on what you are writing. Authors of literary fiction can and do begin in the same way that Austen did. A character-driven work will begin differently from a plot-driven work.

I'm not so sure about that. Christie is as popular as ever. Sometimes she begins with a bang, but other times it's more subtle. What we need to do is give the reader a reason to continue reading. It might be a shocking event, or it might be a fascinating character or an intriguing puzzle.

Publishing has been about nothing except making money for decades.

That's what nearly every writer's workshop will tell you, and certainly every agent. Nearly every new book I've tried to read over the past 20 or so years start with a bang and end with a whimper.

He obviously doesn't know the meaning of the word "creativity."

Because all they remember is Uhurah's short skirts, Troi's cleavage, and Seven of Nine's implants.

Which is exactly what they want. All straight. white men all the time.

He was not even suggesting greed or selfishness. He was referring to the needs of the vulnerable and the responsibility of others to meet those needs.

From June Lockhart’s NY Times obit.

RIP to a real one.

PhD at 47 ($80k in debt), first faculty position, house & marriage at 49. Retired at 67 in 2024, thanks to Joe Biden's expansion of the PSLF. First mystery novel published in May 2025. It just won the New Mexico Book Award in its category.

According to our society, "education" is training for a job. So, once they have a job, they can't imagine a reason to continue learning.

I started a sci-fi club at my undergrad university back in 1975. And another in the mid-90s in NYC.