Writers of the Future Live-Blogging! Black Tie Not Required

The tuxes have been fitted, the limos have been rented, the speeches have been written, and the strange dances have been choreographed. And now it’s time to party the way only Scientology knows how!

Well, we don’t actually know if this year’s Writers of the Future gala will feature odd interpretive dancing like last year, but we can only hope.

Please join us as we watch the live Internet stream of tonight’s celebration — it’s the 29th annual contest celebrating talented new science fiction and fantasy writers and illustrators, with help from an illustrious list of established artists as well as Scientology celebrities!

Go here for our lengthy investigation of the direct link between the contest and Scientology’s controversial treatment of people at its secret desert base, a piece we did last year and that has done little to dissuade entrants and judges in continuing to participate. But hey, there’s a big party and tons of church money being spent, and who doesn’t like a party!

According to its press release, Author Services Inc. — the church entity that is L. Ron Hubbard’s literary agency and which owns and runs the contest — the streaming will take place at its website. As soon as we have a live feed, we’ll provide a link here.

NOTE ON THE TIME OF THE BROADCAST: According to the church, the program will begin at 6:30 PM Pacific time. So that makes it…

8:30 PM Central
9:30 PM Eastern
10:30 PM Rio de Janeiro
2:30 AM London
3:30 AM Paris
4:30 AM Istanbul
7:00 AM New Delhi
9:30 AM Perth
11:30 AM Sydney
1:30 PM Auckland
3:30 PM Honolulu

7:38 pm

Hey, let’s start off tonight’s live-blogging with a great new video by Karen de la Carriere!

This one’s about how tough it is to leave the church. Another fine entry filmed and edited by Angry Gay Pope…

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8:09 pm

Here’s the URL for the stream of tonight’s show.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/writers-of-future
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8:30 pm

Whoa! Music!

I guess the pre-show is beginning on the stream. Oh, we’re getting excited.
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8:39 pm

Wow, this stream is bad here. How is it for you? Smooth, or glitchy?
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8:51 pm

OK, tonight’s drinking game: We’re taking a swig every time a winner says, “L. Ron Hubbard”

Oh man, we’re going to be drunk by the end of the evening.
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9:00 pm

Half hour to go…

And we just lost the Game of Thrones crowd.
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9:29 pm

Here we go, ladies and gentlemen. We can hear the crowd in the background, and we expect the interpretive dance to begin at any moment.

We’ll most likely put most of our remarks in the comments, with y’all. It’s more fun that way. Enjoy the show!