Monthly Archives: June 2012
It Is Time To Remind People That I Don’t Read Unpublished Works (Even Yours)
Posted on June 19, 2012 22 Comments
Because I’ve gotten several e-mails recently from people asking me to do so. The answer is always “thank you but no,” and the reasons why are here. Note that I also link to that post on my general “Publicity, Blurb and Unpublished Work Guidelines” page.
Yikes
Posted on June 19, 2012 82 Comments
I think all the travel fatigue I’ve been putting off has finally caught up to me. I feel like my brain has just turned into cement. While I sit here in a daze, tell me: How are you?
The Now-Standard Post-Travel EMail Post (That’s Not Quite Yet Post-Travel)
Posted on June 18, 2012 10 Comments
Which is: I’ve gotten a ton of e-mail in the last couple of weeks while I was on tour, much of it very nice e-mails from folks who have enjoyed Redshirts, the rest the usual mix of stuff. I don’t often have time to respond to e-mails while on the road, so over the next […]
Dear Lansing: I Am Full of Anniversary Cake and Am Logy and Have Nothing Clever to Say at the Moment
Posted on June 17, 2012 28 Comments
I’m sorry. I wish I was more clever as I write this, but there seems to be an inverse relationship between my creativity and how much frosting I have consumed. And I have consumed an appalling amount of frosting today. Because my daughter made an anniversary cake for me and Krissy. And what could I do? […]
17 Years
Posted on June 17, 2012 68 Comments
Seventeen years ago today, Krissy and I got married. I love that we are still married, and I love that I love her more today than when I married her. And I love that she feels the same way. If you want to give us an anniversary present, here’s all you have to do: Tell […]
A Day Off
Posted on June 16, 2012 12 Comments
I’m heading home and as it will be the first time I see the family in a week, I’m going to focus on them rather than the Internet. See you all tomorrow.
Dear Home: Tomorrow! I Am There!
Posted on June 15, 2012 12 Comments
Remember me? The guy that lives in you? Sometimes? When he’s not on tour? Well, tomorrow I get to see you again! Whoo-hoo! And, uh, then on Monday I have to go back on tour. Don’t look at me like that, home! You know there’s no place like you!
The Big Idea: Diana Peterfreund
Posted on June 15, 2012 5 Comments
Jane Austen has been a muse for more than one speculative fiction writer, in no small part because the world she lived in can echo into the future, amplifying what the author of a new work wishes to say. So it is for Diana Peterfreund and her latest novel For the Darkness Shows the Stars, […]
In Today’s Very Special Episode of The View From My Hotel Window
Posted on June 14, 2012 18 Comments
The view is not actually from my hotel window, because my hotel room has a terrace. This is the view from that, looking down toward the streets of Manhattan. I do not know what I did to deserve a terrace with my hotel room. Maybe nothing. Maybe it’s all an error and I don’t deserve […]
Dear Boston: Hey, You’re in the Book!
Posted on June 14, 2012 22 Comments
Did you know? It’s true: Boston has a cameo appearance in Redshirts. I call out the Freedom Trail and everything! That means we’re the best buddies ever! And that’s why, when I show up the COOP tomorrow, June 15 at 7pm, it’ll be like we’re old friends. Because, hey, I don’t give a shout out […]
Redshirts #15 on NYT Hardcover Fiction List
Posted on June 13, 2012 54 Comments
Whoo Hoo! That will be in the list that will come out June 24. Needless to say, this does not suck. And once again: thank you, folks. Seriously.
Dear Brooklyn: YOU DON’T SCARE ME
Posted on June 13, 2012 52 Comments
Dear Brooklyn: The last time I was in New York, I was in Manhattan and I got a whole bunch of tweets that went like this: “If Scalzi was a REAL MAN, he’d come to Brooklyn.” Because Brooklyn is the crucible of manly manliness, apparently, where only the most testosteronic of humans can possibly survive, […]
The Big Idea: Robert McCammon
Posted on June 13, 2012 9 Comments
The “bad guy”: Essential for many plots, fun to write, and fun to read. But what goes into making a bad guy bad? Is it more than malfeasance on the mind? In The Providence Rider, the latest Matthew Corbett book, set in colonial America, Robert McCammon brings the bad guy out to play. Here’s why, […]
Patrick Nielsen Hayden Explains eBook Territorial Rights For You
Posted on June 13, 2012
In a long and very worthwhile comment in the previous entry thread. If you ever wondered why you can get eBooks in some countries but not others (specifically as it relates to Redshirts, but also more generally) this is the post for you. For those of you who don’t know, PNH is the senior editor […]
Today’s Interesting Bit of Trivia
Posted on June 13, 2012 194 Comments
So, I got some data for how Redshirts sold in the last week. Basically: Between print, electronic and audiobook versions, Redshirts sold roughly two and a half times as many copies in its first week than Old Man’s War sold in its entire first year. Which is to say, holy crap. Thanks, folks.
Dear Burbank: A NOTE FROM THE FUTURE
Posted on June 12, 2012 39 Comments
DEAR BURBANK STOP THIS IS JOHN SCALZI STOP I AM WRITING YOU FROM A FUTURE WHERE THE INTERNET EXPLODED AND THERE ARE ONLY TELEGRAPHS STOP IT’S A HORRIBLE FUTURE STOP BADGERS RULE US ALL STOP BUT OUR SCIENTISTS (WHAT FEW REMAIN) SAY WE CAN AVOID THIS STOP ALL IT REQUIRES IS THAT YOU ALL GO […]
Redshirts One Week In
Posted on June 12, 2012 46 Comments
It’s chugging along very nicely as far as I can tell. I don’t yet have any actual numbers to report, but it’s been in Amazon’s top ten for science fiction for the whole week (both in physical and eBook versions) and the audiobook has been in Audible.com’s top ten of all titles since it came […]
And Now, Wil Wheaton Losing His Mind as the Kings Win the Stanley Cup
Posted on June 12, 2012 29 Comments
Because he’s just that excited. And speaking as a man who owns a Kings jersey of his own (albeit from the Gretzky era), I can’t say that I am displeased, either. Fun fact: The other fellow briefly seen in the video is our mutual friend Mykal Burns, who, aside from having been a guest blogger here […]
Dear Pasadena: I Promise I Won’t Be Sticky This Time
Posted on June 11, 2012 21 Comments
So, Pasadena, do you remember that time I worked on a parade float for the Rose Bowl parade? When I had to take dried, halved peas and stick them to the side of a float which had been painted with glue, and then the glue got all over my hands, and then it dried and […]
Mark Reads “Shadow War of the Night Dragons”
Posted on June 11, 2012 67 Comments
The story here: This fellow named Mark Orshiro, who has made a name for himself by doing stuff and recording himself doing it and then posting it online (at the logically titled MarkDoesStuff.com), did a thing where for $25 he’ll read anything you give him, up to 20 minutes in length. So someone (not me) […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying