Monthly Archives: January 2007
Androids of the Caribbean; Appearance Re-Cap
Posted on January 26, 2007 24 Comments
Claudia of Ex Patria sends along this lovely photo, of The Android’s Dream sunning itself on a Caribbean cruise. To which I thought: my book gets to go on a Caribbean cruise and I don’t? Bwaaaah. But I do very much like how the blue of the sky — and the clouds — matches the […]
Found My Wallet
Posted on January 25, 2007 29 Comments
Now what I want to know is why you decided to put it behind a picture I have of Athena as an infant, i.e., some place where I wasn’t really ever going to look except when thinking “well, I know it can’t possibly be here, but I might as well check, because then I can […]
Reminder: Cincinnati, Here I Come
Posted on January 25, 2007 18 Comments
Remember that if you live in or near Cincinnati, and you are wondering what it is you should do with yourself this evening, that I’ll be at the Joesph-Beth bookstore tonight starting at 7pm. What will I do there? Well, I figure it will be a delightful melange of over-caffeinated blatheration, followed by a mime […]
Sam Sale Update
Posted on January 25, 2007 3 Comments
For those of you who took advantage of the Sam Sale I told you about the other day, Bill Schafer of Subterranean Press tells me that the sale netted more than $4,000 in support of Sam’s family, and that he went ahead and rounded up the contribution to $5,000. That’s some good work, folks. Enjoy […]
All Right, People…
Posted on January 25, 2007 76 Comments
Where the hell did you hide my wallet? Well?
Speeches, Regarding the Union, State of
Posted on January 24, 2007 85 Comments
Last night, I watched as a man who had foolishly deceived a great number of people with a flawed and cynical plan for success tried vainly to extricate himself from his folly when his plans went horribly wrong and he found himself called into account. Which is to say I watched the wonderful Nathan Lane […]
That Doggie in the Window
Posted on January 23, 2007 30 Comments
This is a cute puppy, isn’t it? It’s apparently visiting one of our neighbors. I was first alerted to its presence when Kodi started barking madly; I came down and found the pup actually in my living room. Apparently it nudged open my garage door and decided to come in. This didn’t please Kodi very […]
Early Oscar Thoughts, 2007 Edition
Posted on January 23, 2007 41 Comments
The nominees for the 2007 Academy Awards are out, and now I’m putting on my film industry observer hat and telling you who has a chance at which awards. Some initial thoughts: This is another low-grossing year for the Oscars, since aside from The Departed, none of the Best Picture nominees has cleared $100 million. […]
What to Know Before You Ask Me to Read Your (Unpublished) Work
Posted on January 23, 2007 94 Comments
Another of those “posting here now so I can refer people to it later” posts: Perhaps since I give out a whole bunch of largely unsolicited writing advice, I am often asked by readers if I would look at the unpublished story/novel/screenplay/poem they’re working on and give them some feedback or advice. Indeed, perhaps you […]
LA Times Festival of Books; Ingram Lists
Posted on January 22, 2007 41 Comments
For those of you in Los Angeles, gird your loins: I’ve been invited to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books as a participant, so I’ll be among you the last week of April. More details as I know more, but obviously I’m very happy about this. Yay! Los Angeles! Yay! Double-Doubles! One other nice […]
ConFusion 2007 Wrap-Up
Posted on January 22, 2007 22 Comments
ConFusion was the first regional con I ever went to, not that many years ago (I didn’t start going to SF conventions until after I sold Old Man’s War, after all), and it continues to be one of my favorites: It’s well-run, has good guests and a varied and interesting selection of fans. Basically, a […]
The Sam Sale at Subterranean: Good Books, Good Cause
Posted on January 22, 2007 4 Comments
This is Sam, and he’s a really cute kid. Sam has also been diagnosed with pontine glioma, a pernicious sort of brain cancer which requires specialized treatment. Sam’s getting that treatment, but it’s far away from his home and his parents have to run two households — one at home and one at his treatment […]
Heading Home
Posted on January 21, 2007 25 Comments
Packing up, doing one last panel, and then heading home. Fun, fun convention; more details later. And how was your weekend?
An E-Mail Note Plus Mini Update
Posted on January 20, 2007 16 Comments
If you’ve sent me an e-mail in the last day or so, you’ll probably have to wait until I get back home to read it; while I’m traveling I access my mail account via a web form which doesn’t filter spam, and in the last day or so I’m apparently getting socked with an outrageously […]
Four Hours and Out
Posted on January 19, 2007 48 Comments
Karl, in the comment thread to the previous entry, says: I have commonly read advice that writers should sit down and write for four hours then call it a day. Reading between the lines, this doesn’t seem to be the way that you work. I would love to hear your opinion on the four hour […]
How Much You Should Write Each Day
Posted on January 18, 2007 30 Comments
There’s some discussion going on in SF blog circles about what it means to write quickly or to write slowly, and whether books that are written quickly can be written well, and so on. This is actually pretty simple. For someone who wants to be a professional writer (i.e., wants to make a living at […]
Received, 1/18/07
Posted on January 18, 2007 24 Comments
I mentioned earlier that I’m going to start noting the books that come to the Scalzi Compound for me to review/pimp/validate by mere acknowledgment of their existence. Here’s the first batch, compiling up the books that have been sent to me in the last month or so that I have not otherwise noted to this […]
Author Interview: Tim Pratt
Posted on January 17, 2007 14 Comments
Over at By The Way, the latest author interview is up: This week we’ve got Tim Pratt, who’s got a rockin’ collection of short stories in Hart & Boot & Other Stories, the lead story of which was tagged by Michael Chabon for the 2005 edition of the Best American Short Stories anthology. Nicely done, […]
January Appearances
Posted on January 17, 2007 27 Comments
My brain is mostly made of pudding these days, and I’m not sure why that is; nevertheless allow me to solidify it a bit and remind people that I am making two public appearances here in the month of January: * From the 19th through the 21st, I’ll be in Troy, Michigan for ConFusion. While […]
How DRM is Like Guantanamo
Posted on January 17, 2007 57 Comments
How is Guantanamo like DRM, you ask? They’re alike in two ways: First for what they are not, and then for what they represent. Let’s begin with the first: Both are used by the people who have created them for purposes other than what they’re ostensibly used. In the case of DRM, it exists not […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying