Monthly Archives: May 2012
DON’T GO INTO THE BASEMENT
Posted on May 26, 2012 68 Comments
If you’re a vegetarian, that is, because the standing freezer down there is now full with roughly 250 pounds of beef. Krissy went in with a co-worker on half of a locally bred and butchered steer, and her quarter of a steer is now taking up several shelves in the freezer. Athena, who is our […]
Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 Notes
Posted on May 25, 2012 33 Comments
You’ll recall that when I lost my Mac and bought the emergency netbook, I also picked up a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 inch tablet, on the rationale that, damn it, I was grumpy and I wanted a toy. This is not an excellent reason to buy a piece of electronic equipment, I am the first […]
The Computers of Scalziland
Posted on May 25, 2012 62 Comments
Since the disappearance (and eventual reappearance) of the MacBook Air, and the emergency purchase of the most recent Acer netbook, there has been some curiosity in among Whateverians about the current state of electronics at the Scalzi Compound. While I choose not to go into complete detail on the grounds that I would hate to […]
The Slowly Disintegrating Tree
Posted on May 24, 2012 36 Comments
One of the two Bradford pear trees in our front yard has been slowly falling apart since a chunk of it was blown down by the remnants of Hurricane Ike that blew through here a few years back. Another chunk of it fell down today, and it must have been ready to fall. It was […]
Redshirts Tour Chicago Area Stop: Please Register!
Posted on May 24, 2012 6 Comments
Folks, if you were planning to come see me on the Redshirts Tour Chicago Area stop (it’ll be at the Indian Trails Public Library in Wheeling, IL), you should know that it’s a free event but that you’ll need to register, so they have some idea of how many people are going to show up. […]
The Redshirts Fan Art Contest Finalists: Vote For Your Favorite!
Posted on May 24, 2012 51 Comments
UPDATE: POLL IS CLOSED. I’ve finally had a chance to look at the entries for the Redshirts Fan Art contest, and holy crap, there was some magnificent stuff in there. It was difficult to narrow it down to a final five entries for you folks here to vote on. But narrow it down I and […]
The Big Idea: Catherine Lundoff
Posted on May 24, 2012 28 Comments
For the big idea in her novel Silver Moon, author Catherine Lundoff looks at lycanthropy in the context of a “coming of age” story. What makes it unusual? Which age the protagonist of the story is coming into. CATHERINE LUNDOFF: Women have always been monsters. From Lilith to Carmilla to the femme fatales of the […]
The Prodigal Computer Returns
Posted on May 23, 2012 45 Comments
Look! The MacBook Air! It’s back! I took a picture of it here with the Acer so you would know it wasn’t just me pretending to live in happier times. It arrived this afternoon, along with everything else in my computer bag, minus the ARC of Redshirts I gifted to the fellow at Reagan National […]
Final Notes For “Lowest Difficulty Setting”
Posted on May 23, 2012
It’s now been a week and a day since I posted the “Lowest Difficulty Setting” piece, and the dust around is finally beginning to settle, so a moment for some final notes on it before I let it go off into the sunset. 1. Overall, it was interesting. If I had to do it over […]
Redshirts Coming to the UK
Posted on May 22, 2012 23 Comments
We’re two weeks out from the US release of Redshirts, and I have some contracts in front of me, which means it’s a good time for some good news for those of you in the UK: There will be an official UK version of the book come November via Orion/Gollancz. Here’s the UK Amazon pre-order page; […]
Computer (and Other Stuff) Update: It’s Been Found! + ARC Giveaway
Posted on May 22, 2012 1,070 Comments
So first, the good news: My computer bag — and everything in it, including the computer, books and such — has been found. Turns out I didn’t leave it in the cab, I left it on the floor of the baggage claim at Reagan National Airport. Why did I do that? Because apparently I am […]
Journey to Planet JoCo Still Alive + Reminder: New JoCo Song Coming in One Week!
Posted on May 22, 2012 2 Comments
Just a reminder that “Journey to Planet JoCo,” my interview series with Jonathan Coulton, is still chugging along nicely at Tor.com. And today, in fact, we’re covering Coulton’s biggest hit to date: “Still Alive,” the theme song to the Valve video game Portal. There’s excellent conversation to be had, plus music and videos. It’s everything […]
The Big Idea: Kim Stanley Robinson
Posted on May 22, 2012 33 Comments
Kim Stanley Robinson has created such amazing futures in his Mars books and others that it’s sometimes difficult to believe he doesn’t have a direct line to what comes next — a crystal broadband line, rather than a crystal ball. But as Robinson explains in this Big Idea, today’s present changes the future even for […]
Writer Beware Wins Blogging Award
Posted on May 21, 2012 7 Comments
The Writer Beware blog has been devoted for years to exposing scams aimed at writers, and now that work has paid off: The blog and its proprietor Victoria Strauss have won the Independent Book Blogger Award in the category of “Publishing Industry.” This is pretty awesome. Here’s the official page with all the winners (and […]
“Lowest Difficulty Setting Follow-Up” Now on Kotaku + Comment on Comments
Posted on May 21, 2012 180 Comments
Hey, remember that time I wrote a piece on how being a Straight White Male means you’re running through life on the lowest difficulty setting, and that piece was republished on the video game news site Kotaku? Well, now Kotaku has also republished my follow-up piece, minus one section that relates specifically to how I […]
The Temp Set Up
Posted on May 21, 2012 28 Comments
After I lost my MacBook Air last week, I still needed a computer to do work while traveling and also at home, since I was using the laptop as my primary computer. But I didn’t want to spill out a serious amount of money, not only because there was (is) a chance the Air would […]
My Last Few Days: A Quick Recap
Posted on May 20, 2012 16 Comments
As I think most of you know, I flew in to the DC area last Wednesday to take part in SFWA’s Nebula Awards Weekend, not only because was going to be an awesome time with awesome people, but because I am president of the organization, so me not showing up to the thing would be, […]
Nebula Awards Winners
Posted on May 20, 2012 11 Comments
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, of which I am the president, gave out its Nebula and other awards last night. Here’s what won, by whom, and who published it. Novel Among Others by Jo Walton (Tor) Novella “The Man Who Bridged the Mist” by Kij Johnson (Asimov’s, October/November 2011) Novelette “What We Found,” by Geoff […]
“Space Doggity” and “The Future Soon” Q&A at Tor.com
Posted on May 19, 2012 1 Comment
I’m off today being presidential (which includes chairing the SFWA business meeting, having a couple of other meetings, and then being part of the Nebula Awards Ceremony), so I won’t be around here much today. While I am out and about, why not check out the “Journey to Planet JoCo” interviews on Tor.com, in which […]
Mass Author Signing (Including Me) At Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 5:30 to 7:30 TODAY
Posted on May 18, 2012 15 Comments
If you’re in the DC area today, and you love science fiction and fantasy, you have a fantastic opportunity: Dozens of science fiction and fantasy authors are signing their works today at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, from 5:30 to 7:30, in the hotel’s Independence Center. Writers signing books include this year’s newly-minted Grandmaster Connie […]
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