Monthly Archives: September 2010
Ghlaghghee Kicks it Old School
Posted on September 30, 2010 28 Comments
Just playing with some filters on my Droid X camera. This one is called “Back to 1839.” Ghlaghghee is not especially moved.
The Big Idea: J.K. Beck
Posted on September 30, 2010 10 Comments
Author J.K. Beck’s new paranormal Shadow Keepers series (of which When Blood Calls, above, is the first) is about law and order in the world of magic. It’s the kind of set-up that suggests that there’s not much there that could be derived from real life. Right? Well… as Beck explains here, it turns out […]
News on Agent to the Stars, Android’s Dream and The God Engines
Posted on September 29, 2010 23 Comments
A quick housekeeping post here to tell you news about books and stuff: 1. If you follow the Twitter feed, you may have noticed me retweeting a Tweet from Wil Wheaton, in which he announced that he was currently busy performing the audio book version of Agent to the Stars. What he didn’t reveal, but […]
25 Copies of Cherie Priest’s DREADNOUGHT to Give Away — Hurry!
Posted on September 29, 2010 22 Comments
UPDATE 10:05am — Giveaway is over! Thanks, everyone! Yes, the title of the entry says it all. Or does it? Actually it doesn’t, because Subterranean Press’ Bill Schafer is here to tell you more — namely, how to get one of those fabulous new Cherie Priest novels, and how to pick up a brand new […]
Yes, It Was a Very Good Year
Posted on September 29, 2010
Over at Filmcritic.com, I go into detail about the five years that changed science fiction film forever — 1977 (being the one with Close Encounters, pictured above, plus some other science fiction film almost no one’s heard of) being arguably the most important of those. See what other four years made the list, and as […]
Stargate: Universe Season 2 Debuts Tonight
Posted on September 28, 2010 34 Comments
Just a reminder to each of you that Stargate: Universe (aka That Show What Gives Me Money) is back for a new season of intergalactic wanderings, alien visitations, and other such drama, and on a new night: namely, tonight, moved from Friday night last season. That is, here in the United States; in Canada, it’s […]
The Big Idea: Sam Sykes
Posted on September 28, 2010 6 Comments
Is the perfect protagonist perfect? Because we all love heroes: Chiseled of chin and muscle, right in act and deed, easy to admire, always there when the chips are down and the forces of good have their backs against the wall. But in writing his debut fantasy novel Tome of the Undergates, author Sam Sykes […]
Interview of Me in Lightspeed Magazine
Posted on September 28, 2010 3 Comments
Lightspeed is a relatively new science fiction magazine edited by John Joseph Adams, and its fourth issue is out. Alongside fiction by Yoon Ha Lee and Geoff Landis and an appreciation of Robert Silverberg, you’ll also find an interview with me, in which I talk about the upcoming novel Fuzzy Nation, my gig as the […]
Justin Coussoule Visits the Scalzi Compound
Posted on September 27, 2010 66 Comments
Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to introduce you to the Democratic candidate for the 8th District of Ohio, Justin Coussoule. As you know, last week Mr. Coussoule popped up in my discussion of the congressional race in my district and asked, since I noted I was planning to vote for him, if I would […]
Just Arrived, 9/27/10
Posted on September 27, 2010 6 Comments
Spreading the love for some books that have showed up at my door: * Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children, Trace Beaulieu and Len Peralta: My w00tstock buddies Len and Trace have joined forced with a very amusing book of delightfully gross rhymes which have given my daughter bad ideas — but the good kind of […]
Look, I’m Deploying a Cute Picture of My Cat to Distract You From the Fact I Have Nothing of Interest to Say
Posted on September 27, 2010 30 Comments
He’s a kitty! Aaaaand that’s all I got for the moment.
Tax Frenzies and How to Hose Them Down
Posted on September 26, 2010 237 Comments
A question in e-mail based on all the recent “rich people feeling not rich” nonsense, and the associated commentary online: Why is it that the people freaking out the most about taxes on the rich are the ones who don’t seem to know how the tax code works? The answer is in the question: Because […]
Your Saturday Placeholder Entry
Posted on September 25, 2010 14 Comments
Here it is. And for some reason, this song just seems really relevant this week. Also, to keep people from trotting it out in the comments, the Shatner version, complete with animated Kirk/Spock slashtasticness: Enjoy your day.
The Scalzi Family Mutual Portraiture Club
Posted on September 24, 2010 22 Comments
Athena, by me: Me, by Athena: Yup, that’s us.
New Rule For the Internets, Six-Figure Income Division
Posted on September 24, 2010 118 Comments
It is: 1. If you make a six-figure income, you are not allowed to argue on the Internets that you are poor. 2. You are not allowed to argue that you feel poor, which as we all know is just like being poor. 3. You are not allowed to posit the argument that if you […]
The (Relative) Peace of OH-8
Posted on September 24, 2010 70 Comments
Election years are obnoxious times, with obnoxious people doing obnoxious things in order to get elected, but this year, at least, it’s a by-election year, which means that here in the 8th Congressional District of Ohio, things are pretty quiet. This is because after 1990, the first year he was elected, OH-8 Congressional Representative John […]
Athena Dabbles in the World of Comics
Posted on September 24, 2010 29 Comments
The scanner trimmed slightly at the bottom and to the right, but I think you can probably read it. And, it’s not an inaccurate assessment of current technology, which is even better. What kinda surprised me? That she knew what a typewriter was.
Clash of the Geeks Updatery, 9/24/10
Posted on September 24, 2010 16 Comments
Some news for you about Clash of the Geeks: 1. First, so far we’ve raised roughly $12,500 for the Michigan/Indiana affliate of the Lupus Alliance of America. That is an awesome figure. You are awesome people. Thank you. But let’s not rest on our laurels, people — there’s still time to donate and make a […]
Your “Whoa, Dude” Moment for Today
Posted on September 23, 2010 16 Comments
Tilt-shift Van Gogh. You’re welcome.
The Big Idea: Nancy Werlin
Posted on September 23, 2010 13 Comments
Not every choice an author makes for his or her characters seems all that important when the choice is made — a small character note here, a little personality tic there — but as the story unfolds, the “small choice” made earlier can magnify in importance. Nancy Werlin encountered this fact in the writing of […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying