Like all humans, writers tend to form cliques and the nature of cliques are to be exclusionary. This stuff is easily visible at any large and well attended convention. Well known writers become figurative, literal, and literary small stars around which other writers orbit.

Emphasis on SMALL. The problem with cliques are many - but the two big ones in regards to predatory behavior is they set up power differentials in a space that should be welcoming, and they fucking don't like to police themselves.

Some folks might act like they don't realize they're in a clique, but they fucking know. The private room parties. The dinners. Shunning authors they don't want included, slipping in those they find acceptable. Or useable? Rank, high-school type bullshit played out by adults.

I can list a hundred times I've felt like an outsider looking in, and I could name many authors who've acted like they're A list movie stars even though if you pulled some schmoe in off the street their name wouldn't be recognized.

I can also list a handful of times I've been included and felt as though I was part of the inner circle and it was a good feeling. That's why that shit is pernicious.

It's time for all of us and I'm not excluding myself, to take very hard looks at our social cliques and examine the toxic behaviors that those closed circles breed and make an effort to weed out the shit behavior. You do this by being inclusive.

Anyway, that's all. I realize that will never happen because fucking writers love their hierarchies.