Monthly Archives: February 2007
Being Poor is Hoping the Toothache Goes Away.
Posted on February 28, 2007 139 Comments
For want of a dentist Maryland boy, 12, dies after bacteria from tooth spread to his brain Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday. A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him. If his mother had been insured. If his family had not lost its Medicaid. If Medicaid dentists weren’t so hard to […]
Author Interview: Hal Duncan
Posted on February 28, 2007 15 Comments
The taunting is over: The author interview with Hal Duncan is now up over at By The Way. Hal talks about his books Ink and Vellum, the state of the fantasy genre, and why he writes such long entries over at his blog. It’s a really excellent interview. Enjoy.
Cheese: The Universal 80s Constant
Posted on February 28, 2007 26 Comments
For your consideration: A perestroika-era video of Soviet musicians doing a snappy, jazzy remix of a Soviet anthem: Also for your consideration: “Stars,” by Hear N’ Aid, the 80s metal analogue to Band-Aid and USA for Africa: Compare and contrast.
Deven Desai, Deven Desai, Every Single One of Us is Deven Desai
Posted on February 28, 2007 23 Comments
Happy birthday to Deven Desai, who is a charter member of the Scalzi Inner Circle, the entrance requirements of which — well, let’s just say if you’ve had the initiation you wouldn’t be forgetting it. No, this is not an invitation to speculate on what the initiation might be. It’s not like that, you sick […]
My New AIM Account
Posted on February 27, 2007 32 Comments
About a year ago I got a Google Talk account and made that publicly available to people, just in case they wanted to IM me or whatever. The problem with this is that not really all that many people have Google Talk, and since firing up Google Talk was a little bit of a pain […]
They Got the Idea From the Lesbian Seagull
Posted on February 27, 2007 60 Comments
Oh noes!! The kolalas have gone all Lilith Fair! Female koalas indulge in lesbian “sex sessions”, rejecting male suitors and attempting to mate with each other, sometimes up to five at a time, according to researchers. The furry, eucalyptus-eating creatures appear to develop this tendency for same-sex liaisons when they are in captivity. In the […]
2006 Nebula/Norton Nominees
Posted on February 27, 2007 11 Comments
Oh, look: Here’s the Nebula Ballot for this year: Novels: The Privilege of the Sword – Ellen Kushner (Bantam Spectra, Jul06) Seeker – Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov05) The Girl in the Glass – Jeffrey Ford (Dark Alley, Aug05) Farthing – Jo Walton (Tor Books, Jul06) From the Files of the Time Rangers – Richard Bowes […]
Why You Wish You Were Me Right Now
Posted on February 27, 2007 15 Comments
The reason is because I have in my grubby little hands an interview with Hal Duncan that is chock full of awesome, and you can’t read it until tomorrow, when I put it up for the Wednesday Author Interview. Honestly, looking at this interview, I don’t know how you’re going to survive not reading it […]
The “Come Up With a Contest to Give Away a Copy of ‘Coffee Shop'” Contest!
Posted on February 26, 2007 100 Comments
Like two mighty monoliths doth rise this pair of books, as if hewn from the very plywood of my desk! What do these two avatars of writination herald? Why, the advent of not one but two — yes, two — book giveaway contests! Here’s the deal: Since Coffee Shop sold out on printing, I thought […]
Subterranean Magazine — Now Online! Plus, New Short Story From Me
Posted on February 26, 2007 37 Comments
Subterranean Magazine is moving online — there are still a couple more print editions to go, but even as those are getting out the door the magazine online version is getting started, with original fiction, columns and reviews, updated three times a week. Today’s debut slate of material includes a column by Norman Partridge, reviews […]
Oscar Wrapup 2007
Posted on February 26, 2007 53 Comments
Well, I whiffed the Best Picture category both times, first in my initial guess of Babel and later for my last minute hunch that Letters might be in the envelope. But I pretty much nailed everything else, including the Best Supporting Actor going to Alan Arkin and Best Animated Film going to Happy Feet, which […]
Exercising Your Franchise, Geek Style
Posted on February 25, 2007 7 Comments
A reminder to members of LA Con IV (that’s last year’s Worldcon) and Nippon2007 (that’s this year’s): You have but a week to get in your nominations for this year’s Hugo Awards, so if you haven’t done it yet, I suggest you get on it, because your nominations have to be received, not mailed, on […]
Athena Experiments With Metaphor
Posted on February 24, 2007 47 Comments
I swear to you she makes this stuff up on her own. Incidentally, a shiny penny to the first person who notes a certain puzzling mismatch somewhere in the video.
Quick Final Oscar Notes
Posted on February 24, 2007 21 Comments
The Oscars are tomorrow, and I’ll generally stand by my earlier picks, with the following caveat: Call me crazy, but I have the weirdest feeling that Letters from Iwo Jima might walk with the Best Picture award. This will happen if the voters felt like voting for Babel is too much like voting for Crash […]
I’m Willing to Bet The Reporter Was Snickering His Head Off as He Wrote This Lede
Posted on February 24, 2007 47 Comments
This is the lede in question: The lawyer for a former Baptist church leader who had spoken out against homosexuality said Thursday the minister has a constitutional right to solicit sex from an undercover policeman. Well, and so he does, for what little good it does him at this point. Not to be too snarky […]
More Money (Another Followup)
Posted on February 24, 2007 19 Comments
Some more follow-up bits on “The Money Entry 2007,” based on comments and e-mails: * For those of you who have been speculating as to where my fiction writing fits in with my overall writing income, for 2006 I made about $123,000 total from writing and editing. That’s up a bit from last year. The […]
Money Entry Addendum
Posted on February 23, 2007 107 Comments
To answer the question before it gets asked: The reason I talk about money I make as a writer is because someone should. People get weirded out about the topic and I think that’s damn silly, and I think it’s particularly silly in a field like writing, where authors sharing information about money is a […]
The Money Entry 2007: Science Fiction Income
Posted on February 23, 2007 106 Comments
Last year, in response to a question from the peanut gallery, I spilled the beans on how much I made in a year from my writing. This year I thought I’d return to the subject, not in an overall sense (in 2006 I did fine, thank you), but looking at one segment of my income: […]
Open Thread: Medical “Facts”
Posted on February 22, 2007 56 Comments
Okay, the only reason I haven’t vomited all over my own feet today is that I’ve only drunk water since I woke up. Which is to say, I’m sick and I’m going to go lie down. You’re going to have to get along without me today. Here, have an open thread. To get you started, […]
Movements and Reprehensibility
Posted on February 21, 2007 37 Comments
Two links related to me for you this evening: * John C. Wright talks about Old Man’s War and the New Comprehensibility, but rather more importantly, he launches his own new science fiction movement: The New Space Princess Movement: The literary movement will follow two basic principles: first, science fiction stories should have space-princesses in […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying