Monthly Archives: August 2006
Reading Brought Back from Worldcon, Plus Book-Pimpery
Posted on August 31, 2006 41 Comments
If you don’t get some new reading material when you’re at a Worldcon, you’re basically an idiot. So here’s some of the reading material I’ve picked up. From left: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow: Cory, who wuz robbed — robbed! — of the Hugo this year (albeit by Peter Beagle, a very fine person and […]
מלחמת האדם הזקן
Posted on August 31, 2006 46 Comments
You’re looking here at the cover of the Hebrew edition of Old Man’s War, which as far as I know is the first foreign-language edition of the book to hit the streets. I snagged it from this online Hebrew bookstore, which in turn was forwarded to me by Whatever reader Abigail Nussbaum. Thanks Abigail! Someone […]
Word Choices
Posted on August 30, 2006 100 Comments
The new GOP buzzword: Fascism President Bush in recent days has recast the global war on terror into a “war against Islamic fascism.” Fascism, in fact, seems to be the new buzz word for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq. Bush used the term earlier this month in talking […]
The Scalzi Award
Posted on August 30, 2006 14 Comments
Here I am with fellow Campbell nominee Brandon Sanderson (whose excellent Elantris and Mistborn you ought to go buy, like, now), who clutches the first (and probably only) Scalzi award. And what is the Scalzi award? Well, I’ll tell you. During the Worldcon, I was chatting with the folks at Larry Smith booksellers, when a […]
“Where Has All the Science Fiction Gone?”
Posted on August 30, 2006 19 Comments
A couple of weeks ago, I did a talk at the Kenton Country Library on the topic “Where Has All the Science Fiction Gone?” — it was the overall theme of a larger symposium, so I applied myself toward it. As it happens, the Cincinnati public television station sent someone to make a recording of […]
Something for Future Hugo Finalists to Consider
Posted on August 29, 2006 14 Comments
I’m looking at the vote tallies for the Best Novel Hugo, and it turns out that Old Man’s War placed third on the final tally. Second place was Charlie Stross’ Accelerando, and first, of course, was Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin. Question: Is it coincidence that the novels that took win, place and show for the […]
Apropos of Nothing in Particular
Posted on August 29, 2006 32 Comments
Me (to Krissy): Hey, sweetheart, what would you do if someone decided to try to grope you in public? Krissy: I think it depends. Me: On what? Krissy: Well, the pinky is the easiest finger to break, but breaking someone’s thumb hurts them more. Me: There’s a broken finger involved in any event, though. Krissy: […]
Blast From the Past
Posted on August 29, 2006
CBC Journalist Joe Mahoney has unearthed an interview I did with him at Torcon 3 — my first science fiction convention! — and put it online here. I note it for its anthropological interest. Looking back over a gulf of three years almost exactly, it’s interesting to hear how tentative I was in associating myself […]
Back to School 2006
Posted on August 29, 2006 18 Comments
Athena’s gone back to school today. School officially started yesterday, but we had to write her a note (“Please excuse Athena for missing the first day of school. She was at Disneyland”). And to top things off, as this video shows (for those of you with RSS feeds, he says), she has a few complaints […]
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Posted on August 29, 2006 39 Comments
This is the view from the stage where the Hugos and the Campbell were given out — before the ceremony, of course (there were more people in the final audience than Laurie Mann and some motion-blurred guy). I took this picture during the rehersal portion of the day; the ceremony producers wanted to walk us […]
About The Campbell Tiara
Posted on August 28, 2006 35 Comments
Since there seems to be interest in it, a quick note about the new Campbell tiara, which you see me modeling here. As I can recollect the story, it was created at the behest of Campbell winners Jay Lake and Elizabeth Bear, who wanted to create Campbell regalia which would be provided to new winners […]
Quick and Possibly Incoherent Thoughts on Awards and Etc
Posted on August 28, 2006 18 Comments
This is what I look like dressed up (and taking a picture of myself and Athena in the hotel room mirror). Suffice to say I cleaned up well enough that a number of people who know me reasonably well had no idea who the hell I was, which I find infinitely amusing. A couple of […]
Look What I Got
Posted on August 27, 2006 151 Comments
Hi, I’m John Scalzi, and I’m the winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Exciting night. Now it’s late and I’m very tired, and I’m going to sleep. But I thought you’d all like to know. See you all on Monday.
Dwarf Planets
Posted on August 24, 2006 49 Comments
Yes, I heard. Yes, I told Athena, whose response, after asking for and receiving permission to use a very mild curse word, was: “Pluto’s been demoted? That’s crap!” How do I feel about it? Seriously? Snarky rivalries with other science fiction writers who will undoubtedly be unbearably gloaty when I see them later tonight notwithstanding, […]
Whatevr 2.0
Posted on August 18, 2006 20 Comments
I’m pleased to announce that Scalzi.com and the Whatever have been acquired by Tribune Media Services in a $1.7 million cash and stock deal. The Whatever will be retooled into a community site, complete with personalized reader diaries with integrated multimedia and filesharing capabilities. This will require the site going dark for the next ten […]
Representin’ for the SF Publishing Hotties, Yo
Posted on August 17, 2006 43 Comments
Apparently Galleycat is running a contest to determine “the Hottie of Publishing, Women’s Division,” and has five finalists up, some of whom really do seem to be rather unspeakably hot, from what I can discern from the rather ridiculously small pictures of the women on the site. One of the finalists, Liz Scheier (pictured here), […]
Incidentally —
Posted on August 17, 2006 13 Comments
Yes, I got that chapter done yesterday. I have another to do today. Joy. Here’s a fun fact: Raymond Chandler once wrote about writing “If you ever run out of ideas, have someone come through the door with a gun.” In science fiction, a missile attack does pretty much the same thing. That is all.
In Today’s Episode of “Those Activist Courts”!
Posted on August 17, 2006 100 Comments
The NSA eavesdropping program is unconstitutional? That’s unpossible! A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the U.S. government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately. In a 44-page memorandum and order, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, — who is based in Detroit, Michigan –struck down the National Security Agency’s program, which […]
Reeking With Plutessence
Posted on August 17, 2006 41 Comments
Because I know you care, the latest on Pluto: First, Scott Westerfeld’s latest Pluto-hatin’ rant, in which it’s revealed, more or less, that one of his biggest problems with a solar system with tiny ice planets is that then everything gets so darn messy. Which reminds me that the pre-Copernicans had a lovely and ordered […]
If Only I Had Known
Posted on August 16, 2006 14 Comments
According to this thing, the Whatever is worth $501,876.06, based on price AOL paid for the various Weblogs, Inc. properties back in the day. Yes, and if I had vested and sold all my AOL stock in 2000, I would be a millionaire now. Money is fun when it’s imaginary and pointless. Now I’m off. […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying