Monthly Archives: November 2010
In Which I Now Reveal a Secret
Posted on November 23, 2010 39 Comments
In e-mail, a request: Share something with us that you’ve never shared here before. Well, see. Typically if I’m not sharing something, it’s because I have a reason for not sharing it, like: I signed an NDA. Or: It’s none of your business. Or: I’m not ready to tell you yet. Or: It’s something so […]
The Office Tour
Posted on November 22, 2010 60 Comments
As most of you know, this year my office got a fairly substantial overhaul as I cleared out the previous particle board desk and shelves, put down a wood floor, and had new custom cabinetry installed. I’ve displayed the occasional bit or piece of the reconstruction, but now all the work and most of the […]
A Girl and Her Dog
Posted on November 22, 2010 28 Comments
Thankfully not a sequel to any Harlan Ellison short story you might care to name.
Comments Are a Lot of Work
Posted on November 22, 2010 73 Comments
This weekend Tobias Buckell announced on his blog that he’s going to try an experiment: For the next couple of months (at least), he’s turning off the commenting on his blog. He has a number of reasons for this, which he explains in detail, but essentially they boil down to: Managing comments is a lot […]
Next Year in Toronto
Posted on November 22, 2010 20 Comments
It’s been officially announced, so I can now announce it here: I’m going to be the International Author Guest of Honor for the 2011 edition of SFContario, Canada’s newest science fiction convention (it just wrapped up its first edition yesterday). Joining me in Guest of Honor-dom will be the excellent Karl Schroeder (Canadian Author Guest […]
The Executive Decision to Run Away From the Blog Until Monday
Posted on November 19, 2010 25 Comments
I has made it. But I am leaving you with a cat picture, so that’s all right: There you go. Have a good weekend.
Adventures in High Contrast Black and White
Posted on November 18, 2010 10 Comments
Photoshop is interesting.
Surprise! It’s Open Pimp Thread Time!
Posted on November 18, 2010 258 Comments
Someone recently asked me on Twitter when I was going to do an Open Pimp Thread again, because it’s been a while. I told him “NEVER.” Why did I do that? To lull him into a false sense of security, that’s why. So that when I did do another one, he would be, like, totally […]
Two More Countries Heard From
Posted on November 17, 2010 26 Comments
It’s a good month for The Ghost Brigades: Here you see its Hebrew and Romanian versions, respectively. Both are fairly interesting cover treatments, I have to say. In other news, I agreed to new foreign language offers for both Fuzzy Nation and The Android’s Dream (which foreign language to be revealed when the contract is […]
That’s My Kid
Posted on November 17, 2010 100 Comments
My daughter had to serve detention today. Her crime: Being sarcastic to a teacher. This is, you can imagine, a bittersweet moment for me.
MFA Programs and Commercial Publishing
Posted on November 17, 2010 70 Comments
Elise Blackwell, author and director of the MFA program at the University of South Carolina, offers in The Chronicle of Higher Education a rebuttal to my suggestion that MFA writing programs offer a course on contracts and the publishing industry. Her position is that the goal of MFA programs is “not to grow hothouse flowers […]
Not Quite Accurate SF Movie Descriptions; Favorite Video Games
Posted on November 17, 2010
I’ve got two — two — TWO!! links for you this morning. First, over at FilmCritic.com I’ve written up some “accurate but misleading” descriptions of famous science fiction films, inspired by Rick Polito’s famous TV listing of The Wizard of Oz (“Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets […]
Backscattering and Groping
Posted on November 16, 2010 202 Comments
Been asked for my opinion on the new and egregiously invasive TSA scans. Well, I think two separate things. One: On a personal level, I don’t really give a crap about whether the full-body backscatter thingamajig makes me look like a naked mannequin and some poor bastard TSA person might have a glimpse at my […]
METAtropolis: Cascadia is Out
Posted on November 16, 2010 17 Comments
For those of you who enjoyed METAtropolis — and enough of you did that it became the first audiobook nominated for a Hugo — I’m delighted to inform you that today its sequel METAtropolis Cascadia is out and available for your listening pleasure. M:C not only reunites four of the five original authors of METAtropolis […]
Nebula Award Nomination Period is Open
Posted on November 15, 2010
If you’re an active or associate SFWA member, it will interest you to know that it is now once again time to start nominating your favorite science fiction and fantasy works for the Nebula Awards. Over at the SFWA site we have all the details on how and what you can nominate. Don’t worry, you […]
My Favorite Negative Review of The God Engines (Today)
Posted on November 15, 2010 133 Comments
It is: This book is something that only a 17 year old Megadeth fan would be proud of. The characters are dull, the plot is dull, the themes are trite and stupid, and it has the worst third sentence of any book I have ever read. I was actually drinking a Coke Zero when I […]
An Open Letter to MFA Writing Programs (and Their Students)
Posted on November 15, 2010 97 Comments
Dear MFA writing programs (and their students): Recently New York magazine published a story, in which Columbia University’s graduate writing program invited James Frey to come chat with its students on the subject of “Can Truth Be Told?” during which Frey mentioned a book packaging scheme that he had cooked up. The contractual terms of […]
How I Solved the Deficit
Posted on November 14, 2010 132 Comments
The New York Times has an interactive feature today that lets common ordinary folk just like you and me take a whack at solving the deficit issue, giving you two goals to hit: Clearing the projected deficit in 2015 ($418 billion) and in 2030 ($1.3 trillion). Presumably you’ll also hit all the marks in between. […]
The Man in the Frey Flannel Suit
Posted on November 13, 2010 146 Comments
Folks from all over are sending along e-mails asking me what I think of this story in New York magazine about author James Frey’s book packaging shop, in which Frey trolls classrooms full of impressionable MFA candidates and/or aspiring authors to get them to give him their ideas, in return offering them a contract that […]
How To Get Signed Books From Me For the Holidays
Posted on November 12, 2010 20 Comments
Hey! Kids! In the United States and thinking of giving some of my books for Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice/Enter Your Favorite Winter Holiday Here? Well, why not get them signed and personalized? By me, even? Because, you know, nothing says “I love/like/am in some way obligated to you” like a signed, personalized book. From me! And while […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying