Monthly Archives: September 2011
13 Years of Whatever
Posted on September 13, 2011 45 Comments
It’s that time of year again; namely, the anniversary Whatever’s founding, on this day, September 13, 1998. Which means that today it is a teenager, a couple months older than my daughter. And, given the nature of the commenters here, rather more likely to talk back and give me attitude than she is. There are […]
It’s Monday. Have an Open Pimp Thread
Posted on September 12, 2011 149 Comments
I’m feeling sort of introspective today and not like I want to be spending the whole day in front of the computer, so I’m going to take the day off today. I get to do that sometimes. But in my absence, why don’t you tell us about something you’d like to have people know about? […]
What We Did With Our Weekend, Concluded
Posted on September 11, 2011 56 Comments
You’ll recall the picture of the basement from the other day, before we got to cleaning, organizing and throwing things out. Now as you can see the basement is substantially less entropic, with boxes neatly stacked to the side and a clear amount of space available to, you know, walk through. The other half of […]
And For Those Who Want It
Posted on September 11, 2011 8 Comments
Courtesy of Archive.org’s Wayback Machine, what I wrote about 9/11 on September 12, 2001, the way it looked a decade ago.
My Thought For the Day
Posted on September 11, 2011 29 Comments
I’m going to be holding my breath until 12:00 am, September 12.
20 Years of Pro Writing
Posted on September 10, 2011 46 Comments
It entirely escaped my attention until just about an hour ago that today marks the 20th anniversary of me starting my job as the film critic at the Fresno Bee, which means that today is also the 20th anniversary of me being a professional, full-time writer. The Fresno Bee gig was my first job out […]
What We’re Doing With Our Weekend
Posted on September 9, 2011 62 Comments
This is (less than half) of our basement, with about ten years of Stuff We Don’t Use Anymore in it (the other half is similarly full). We’re clearing it out this weekend. We’re dividing it up into Things We’ll Keep (not a lot), Things We’ll Donate (somewhat more), and Things We’ll Throw Away. For the […]
This is What a Nice Guy I Am
Posted on September 9, 2011 54 Comments
I was going to mention the fact that I printed up some personal galleys of Redshirts, to give to my wife and in-laws and maybe might have an extra copy that I will at some point in the reasonably near future auction off for charity, although not yet because I have to figure out which […]
The Big Idea: Alma Katsu
Posted on September 9, 2011 5 Comments
Inspiration comes from anywhere… and sometimes that inspiration is not directly obvious even to the author. When Alma Katsu set down to write The Taker, she discovered in the process that a classic bit of literature was informing the story that she was building on the pages. What classic? The surprising answer awaits you. ALMA […]
In Case Some Of You Missed the Fact That Jonathan Coulton Has a New Album Out
Posted on September 8, 2011 15 Comments
He does. And it’s pretty darn fine. You should consider the purchasination of this object. And look, a video! Clearly a musical day here at Whatever.
Today’s Entrant in the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not XTC!” Sweepstakes
Posted on September 8, 2011 20 Comments
The band is Dogs Die in Hot Cars (home page on that site may be NSFW), and the song is “Celebrity Sanctum.” I suspect that every time this song plays, Andy Partridge has a strange, sudden twitch. I just found out about this band, and I discover they’ve been on hiatus for five years. Life […]
The Big Idea: Merrie Haskell
Posted on September 7, 2011 23 Comments
It’s always a delight when someone I know as a friend makes her debut as a novelist; I get to point and go “Hey! I know her!” So it is with Merrie Haskell, who I have known for several years and whose first novel The Princess Curse arrived in stores yesterday, to no small amount […]
“Der Wilde Planet” Out in Germany
Posted on September 7, 2011 37 Comments
Those readers here who reside in Germany will be happy to know that Der Wilde Planet, the German version of Fuzzy Nation, is now out an available to purchase. It’s translated by Bernard Kempen, who has by every indication done a truly spectacular job of translating all the other works of mine, so I suspect […]
2011 Science Fiction and Fantasy Fall Film Preview
Posted on September 7, 2011
You want to know what science fiction and fantasy films are on their way for the rest of the year! Over at FilmCritic.com, I get paid to tell you! Now go find out and we both win! And as everyone knows, mutual winnination is the best!
Shut Up and Listen
Posted on September 6, 2011 506 Comments
In the comment thread for “The Sort of Crap I Don’t Get” there’s a very excellent, long comment about being a straight white guy that I encourage you to read in full, because it really is that good. It includes a relevant point I am going to excerpt, and comment on right now. It reads: […]
Lopsided Cat Welcomes You to the Rest Of September
Posted on September 6, 2011 19 Comments
“Hope you enjoyed that extra day off. Now get back to work.” Strong words from a large cat.
Quick Note re: Big Idea Queries
Posted on September 5, 2011 1 Comment
If you’re an author/editor/publicist who sent in a Big Idea query in the last few weeks, be aware I have your queries and will be apportioning out slots in the next week for October and at least part of November. So don’t panic if you’ve not heard from me yet. The problem is on my […]
The Big Idea: Lewis Shiner
Posted on September 5, 2011 28 Comments
There are things that are easy to say or do or believe in some parts of the world, but not in others, as Lewis Shiner learned when he set his newest novel, Dark Tangos, in the violence-scarred country of Argentina. As a result, the writing of the novel took the author down storytelling paths he […]
Vindication is Sweet
Posted on September 4, 2011 69 Comments
One time, when Athena was but an adorable infant, she and I were outside playing and I looked up and saw a great big eagle circling overhead. And then I looked back down at my winsome baby girl, looked up at the eagle again, picked up my child and went inside. Because, yes, maybe it […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying