Andrew Breitbart 2/10/12. Photo by Gage Skidmore. Via Wikinews.

I was asked if I had any particular thoughts on the death of Andrew Breitbart, and the primary answer to this is, holy shit, he was my age. He was older than me by about three months, which is a trivial amount of time. And unlike death of previous notable contemporaries, which were cause by drugs or suicide or relatively unusual fatal diseases, Breitbart appears to have been felled by a heart attack, which is not entirely outside the actuarial tables for men our age. As I’m sitting here typing this and also coincidentally eating my second slice of meat lover’s pizza, I can’t say Breitbart’s death doesn’t give me pause.

As for Breitbart the public figure and mini media mogul, well, I can’t say I was much of a fan, and at the moment I’m content to leave it at that. But as someone who’s looking at his 43rd birthday in two months and ten days, I feel I can say this with all sincerity: Dude, you left too soon.

Maryland governor Martin O’Malley signs same-sex marriage into law. Well done him. Well done, Maryland.

Most of you know that my latest non-fiction book, 24 Frames into the Future: Scalzi on Science Fiction Film, debuted a couple of weekends ago at the Boskone science fiction convention, and that if you were there, you could pick up a copy. But what if you weren’t there? How can you get a copy of this highly desirable — and considering its run of less than 1,200 copies, highly collectable — book?

Right now, the best way is through its publisher, NESFA Press. Here’s the order page for the book. It’s available both as regular trade and also in a boxed version. Both versions are very nice; NESFA did a fine job putting this book together, and it’s a book I’m proud of.

To answer anticipated questions: No, I don’t know about its availability online via Amazon/Barnes & Noble/other online resllers. Amazon has a bare-bones page about it but says it’s out of stock. Likewise, some specialty SF/F stores may be stocking it but if you want to get it from your local bookstore the best way would be to special order it; don’t worry, most booksellers will be happy to do that for you. No, I don’t know about its availability in countries other than the US; talk to NESFA Press about shipping to your country. No, there is currently no electronic edition available; that may change eventually, but for right now it’s physical copies only.

Enjoy!