Monthly Archives: March 2013
Happy Easter
Posted on March 31, 2013 16 Comments
Whatever Easter means to you personally, I hope your day is a happy one. I’m taking the day off from the blog to spend it with family and friends. See you Monday.
Redshirts Nominated for the Best Novel Hugo Award + Hugo Nomination Slate
Posted on March 30, 2013 67 Comments
Wheee! Just to let you know. I’ll be updating with the entire nomination list as soon as it’s posted. I’ll post another entry with my reaction to the slate a bit later. Update: The entire Hugo award nomination slate: Best Novel (1,113 ballots) 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit) Blackout by Mira Grant (Orbit) Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by […]
XPS 12 Two Week Update
Posted on March 30, 2013 15 Comments
For those still interested in what I think of the Dell XPS 12 two weeks in (see here for the two-day report), a few quick additional notes: * I still very much like it, generally. Good screen, good keyboard, quick responsiveness, etc, with the trackpad (now with updated drivers and configured to my personal preferences) […]
Note to SFWA Members re: Nebula Voting
Posted on March 29, 2013 11 Comments
Reminder to SFWA members: Remember to vote for the Nebulas today or tomorrow OR YOU WILL SEE MY DISAPPROVING FACE. — John Scalzi (@scalzi) March 29, 2013 It’s true. And my disapproving face is very disapproving.
Reminder: Last Three Days to Get Your Gamma Rabbit T-Shirt
Posted on March 29, 2013 9 Comments
If you’ve been thinking to yourself, “Darn, I really want to get myself one of those fabulous Gamma Rabbit t-shirts, but I’m so easily distracted by dental floss and bits of foil,” now is the time to put down those shiny and/or stringy objects and get yourself over to the t-shirt order page. This weekend […]
I Think This Should Be Obvious
Posted on March 29, 2013 111 Comments
If you announce on Twitter that you are coming over to my site to troll my comments, you should not be surprised at the rapidity with which your comments are deleted. If, after I delete the comments of an admitted troll such as the one noted above, if you come along and ask me why […]
The Human Division Tour: Official Itinerary
Posted on March 28, 2013 106 Comments
Yes, folks, I will be touring to support the hardcover release of The Human Division when it hits the stores (and online retailers as a compiled single eBook edition) on May 14. This tour sees me visiting some familiar places as well as some cities I’ve never been to on tour before (hello, Cleveland!). Here […]
The Big Idea: Will Ludwigsen
Posted on March 28, 2013 29 Comments
Before you read this Big Idea entry by Will Ludwigsen, about his story collection In Search Of and Others, I just want to say that I, too, loved the In Search Of television series to an insensible degree. And in honor of my and Will’s love of the show, here’s the opening theme. Yes, that should […]
Big Idea Housekeeping Notice
Posted on March 27, 2013 11 Comments
For those of you who have sent Big Idea queries for April/May: I’ll be finishing up assigning those in the next couple of days (i.e., by Friday close of business). If for some reason you haven’t heard back from me by April 1st, one, sorry, and two, assume the slots have been filled (particularly the […]
The Big Idea: Adam Christopher
Posted on March 27, 2013 6 Comments
Adam Christopher tried to resist writing The Age Atomic, a followup to his novel The Empire State, but the power of sequels compelled him! Aaaand that’s today’s gratuitous Exorcist reference. Read the rest of this entry now. The power of suggestion compels you! ADAM CHRISTOPHER: To be honest, I never really thought I would be […]
Sunset, 3/26/13
Posted on March 26, 2013 14 Comments
Ice pillar on top, crepuscular lighting below. Not bad.
Today’s New Book Arrivals
Posted on March 26, 2013 81 Comments
In a small reversal from usual trends, the lower five titles are UK releases, so those of you in the US, look upon them and weep (although I suspect most if not all will be eventually released in the US, if they haven’t been already). The top three are from US publishers, however. Tell me […]
The Big Idea: David Walton
Posted on March 26, 2013 28 Comments
The world isn’t flat. But what would it mean if it was? For his latest novel Quintessence, Philip K. Dick Award winner David Walton resurrected this and a few other ideas from antiquity and took them out for a spin. Here’s why he did it. DAVID WALTON: The “big idea” for Quintessence came from reading […]
The Human Division, Episode Eleven: A Problem of Proportion is Now Live
Posted on March 26, 2013 30 Comments
Why, hello, Tuesday. May I say you’re looking ravishing today? I may? Excellent. And what is this? You’ve gotten me something? Why, it’s “A Problem of Proportion,” the latest episode in The Human Division! It’s just what I wanted! How did you know? And what’s this week’s episode about? Well: A secret backdoor meeting between […]
Apropos of an Earlier Entry Today
Posted on March 25, 2013 49 Comments
Ohio Senator Rob Portman’s son Will on coming out to his parents and to the world.
Awesome Neighbor is Awesome
Posted on March 25, 2013 43 Comments
So here’s my neighbor clearing my driveway with his snow plow. Why? Because he enjoys doing it, and knows we appreciate it, and anyway, that’s what neighbors are for. We are in return neighborly and do things for him as well, because again, it’s what you do. But I’m not gonna lie, I suspect I’m […]
Possibly The Last Snow Day of the Season
Posted on March 25, 2013 39 Comments
And the neighbor children are taking advantage of it. IN MY YARD. Which is, of course, just fine. It’s a big yard with an excellent sledding hill on it. Might as well get some use before the snow is all gone.
Meanwhile in Ohio
Posted on March 25, 2013 163 Comments
In 2004, Ohio voters decided to put a ban on same sex marriage into the state constitution. If this poll is correct, however, that ban might not be long for this world: The constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman passed with 62 percent support. But now, just days before […]
In Which I Invent the Word “Phlegmnation.”
Posted on March 24, 2013 43 Comments
The definition of which is: The act of cursing someone to be afflicted with phlegm; or, to be afflicted with phlegm, with or without moral judgment cast. Use in sample sentences: “I cast you into eternal phlegmnation! May Kimberly-Clark have mercy on your soul.” “I suffer phlegmnation. You may wish to dunk yourself in hand […]
Sunday New Books and ARCs
Posted on March 24, 2013 62 Comments
Look! More books and ARCs! Who knew that could happen! Let me know if anything looks good to you in this stack.
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying