Monthly Archives: April 2012
May/June Big Idea Update
Posted on April 30, 2012 1 Comment
For the Big Idea, I’ve now scheduled all of May and all but the last three slots of June. If you queried about May but haven’t heard from me, a) sorry, I thought I got responded to everyone, b) I’m full up. If you have a June book that comes out in the last two […]
Barnes & Noble & Microsoft
Posted on April 30, 2012 21 Comments
People are asking if I have any thoughts about the just-announced partnership between Barnes & Noble and Microsoft in the eReader market. My major immediate thought about it is: Oh, good, a robustly-funded competitor for Amazon in the eReader market. That makes for three major eReader portals/ecosystems (the other being Apple; there are four if […]
My New Toy, 4/30/12
Posted on April 30, 2012 37 Comments
It’s called a tenor guitar (specifically this one). Which means that it’s a guitar, but it’s got four strings, and naturally those four strings are the highest ones. It’s also tuned like a ukulele, which means that all the chords I’ve learned on the one transfer to the other, which is in fact very useful. I […]
And Now, My Penguicon Guest of Honor Bio
Posted on April 29, 2012 30 Comments
As many of you know, this last weekend I was Guest of Honor at Penguicon, the open source and science fiction convention, held this year in Dearborn. I was asked for a bio to put in the convention’s program guide, and at this point you may imagine I am deadly bored of writing bios for […]
Traveling Home
Posted on April 29, 2012 13 Comments
Keep yourself amused; I am heading back home. More updates to come when I get back. That is all. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves whilst I am away.
I’m Busy Today, So To Keep You Amused, Here’s a Clip of Me on Oprah in 1996
Posted on April 28, 2012 105 Comments
Yes, it really happened. I was on the show to rebut the women who wrote that odious book The Rules. No, I was not actually AOL’s Relationship Columnist; Oprah’s people made that up. Yes, that is a very Cosby sweater I’m wearing. Yes, that’s my real hair. It was the 90s, man. Enjoy. See you […]
Industrial Toys and Me
Posted on April 27, 2012 24 Comments
So, here’s a bit of secret news that I can now share with you: I’m part of the team at Industrial Toys, a new video game company that’s going to be bringing some jaw-droppingly awesome games into the mobile space. I can’t tell you what precisely I’m working on there at the moment (except to […]
View From the Hotel Window, Dearborn Edition
Posted on April 27, 2012 14 Comments
It’s not the most interesting view I’ve had outside my hotel window, but the “halo” effect by the reflection of the camera lens by the glass is kind of interesting. And the hotel I’m actually in, the Regency Hyatt Dearborn, is interesting because it is huge, the sort of place you could easily get lost […]
Redshirts ARC Winner + Other RS News
Posted on April 26, 2012 31 Comments
Yesterday’s Redshirts ARC contest is over. The word I was thinking of was “abundant,” which no one got. However, Dave Danielson did guess “absurd,” and since that word shares the first two letters in common with “abundant,” I hereby declare him the winner. Dave, send me an e-mail from the e-mail address you used to […]
The Big Idea: Chuck Wendig
Posted on April 26, 2012 25 Comments
One day, an unwelcome and unsavory character started stalking Chuck Wendig. Well, maybe not so much stalking him as Wendig suddenly becoming aware that the dude was there, has always been there, and wasn’t going away. Who was this disturbing entity that Wendig became obsessed with? And how does said entity figure into Blackbirds, Wendig’s […]
And That’s How We Finally Found Jimmy Hoffa
Posted on April 26, 2012 21 Comments
Okay, so Jimmy Hoffa isn’t probably actually in my back yard. But a lot of landscapers are, doing some heavy duty landscaping with back hoes and tractors and stuff. This is how I know I’m a grown-up: I pay people to ride tractors around my backyard, because I don’t want to do it myself. Shut […]
I’m Giving Away an ARC of Redshirts, April 25th Edition
Posted on April 25, 2012 828 Comments
And all you have to do to win is guess the word I am thinking of RIGHT NOW. I have told it to Krissy, so she will make sure I do not change my mind. It’s a relatively common word in English, not some weird technical term or anything. Here’s how it will work: 1. […]
Prognosticating the Summer SF Movie Hits & Misses
Posted on April 25, 2012
Contrary to what you may have heard from those Stark people, Summer is coming, and with it a whole stack of science fictiony films, some even not based on comic books! Over at FilmCritic.com, I go through the entire list of summer sf films and place my bets on how successful they will be (or […]
Redshirts eBook to Be DRM-Free From Day One
Posted on April 24, 2012 47 Comments
By now, you have probably read that Tor Books (along with the other divisions of Tom Doherty Associates) will be releasing all their eBooks DRM-free by July of this year. But some of you have wondered what that means for my upcoming novel Redshirts, which comes out June 5. Will it have DRM on it […]
Tor/Forge to Go DRM-Free By July: Immediate Thoughts
Posted on April 24, 2012 132 Comments
This is pretty big publishing news: Tom Doherty Associates, an imprint of Macmillan and the publisher of most of my science fiction work, has announced they plan to ditch DRM (Digital Rights Management, i.e., the stuff that keeps you from moving or copying your eBooks) entirely. Here’s the release that’s going out about it. Tom […]
The Big Idea: Suzanne Johnson
Posted on April 24, 2012 18 Comments
Fantasy novels can and do take place in the real world — and when they do, there’s a special responsibility the writer has to reality just as much as to the fantasy she places within it. So former New Orleans resident Suzanne Johnson learned when it came time to write Royal Street, which takes place […]
Of Interest Primarily to Norwegians
Posted on April 23, 2012 22 Comments
Regarding the upcoming publication of Old Man’s War in the country of Norwegia, or “Norway,” as it is more commonly known, among the vulgar. It’s here. And in Norwegian, suitably enough.
Cat, Computer, Cola
Posted on April 23, 2012 27 Comments
Three necessary items for the production of the written word. Well, actually the cat’s not strictly necessary. Unless you ask the cat about it. In which case the cat’s the only necessary thing. In other news, I am now home. Yay! And have work to catch up on. Boo!
Sunday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Posted on April 23, 2012 34 Comments
A photo of me waiting in the Green Room of the Bovard Auditorium before the “Nerds Will Inherit the Earth” panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which along with me featured Pamela Ribon (who took this picture), Maureen Johnson and Amber Benson. I’m not gonna lie to you: The panel kicked ass […]
Saturday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books
Posted on April 22, 2012 19 Comments
Saturday was a pretty good day at the LATFoB. The weather was gorgeous and the place was packed with people, and I wandered around looking at the booths and the books. I met Libba Bray for the first time and learned of her butter sculpture of me, talked with Barry Goldblatt about kids and geeks […]
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