Monthly Archives: January 2014
I’m Just Going to Leave This Here
Posted on January 31, 2014 46 Comments
What’s this? It’s the traffic graph for all the parts of Scalzi.com that are not part of the current iteration of Whatever, i.e., archives and other bits and pieces that continue to be linked into from around the Web and Internet. The part of the site you’re reading now (the current iteration of Whatever), has […]
How I Knew I’d Made It
Posted on January 31, 2014 97 Comments
In conversation not too long ago, someone asked me when I felt I had “made it.” It’s a fair question; for a writer, there are a lot of milestones that could be the points at which one feels one has made it. Selling that first book is an obvious one (selling the second book, a […]
And Now, a Brief Phone Text Conversation Between Me and My Daughter
Posted on January 30, 2014 63 Comments
Athena (from school): I found out today I’m ranked eleventh in my class. Me: You have ten people to push in front of a train. Athena: This is why you’re the best dad.
Appearance Schedule Updated: Now Adding Chicago and London (Plus News About Detroit)
Posted on January 30, 2014 16 Comments
For everyone who wants to see me stroll about as like a mortal, two confirmed public appearances to tell you about: 1. April 25-27, I will be in Chicago for C2E2, the city’s big comic con-like event. I am not yet listed on the site, but my publicist tells me I’m confirmed, and why would […]
The Big Idea: Myke Cole
Posted on January 30, 2014 12 Comments
It can be a strange thing when the real world intersects with your fiction, particularly when you’re writing a work of fantasy. Myke Cole knows what that’s like, since it happened with his latest, Shadow Ops: Breach Zone. A strange thing — but is it a good thing? Well… MYKE COLE: Let’s say you make […]
The Big Idea: Delilah S. Dawson
Posted on January 29, 2014 9 Comments
Life is a circus — but is the circus all it’s cracked up to be? Delilah S. Dawson ponders this very question, on several different levels, in her latest novel Wicked After Midnight. We now place her in the center ring to address the topic. Here’s your popcorn, and there’s her spotlight… DELILAH S. DAWSON: […]
How Cold It Is
Posted on January 28, 2014 48 Comments
It’s so cold that this soda can inside the refrigerator in the garage blew up explosively, cleanly shearing off the top of the can at the seam and coating the lower half of the fridge in cherry cola flavored ice. The rest of the soda in the fridge (the storage of which is what it […]
The Big Idea: James L. Cambias
Posted on January 28, 2014 59 Comments
I can say this with some authority: I’ve known longer than anyone else working in science fiction today that James Cambias is a terrific writer. I know this because when I was editor of my college newspaper, James turned in some fantastic articles about the history of the university and of Chicago, the city our […]
For Auction: EXTREMELY RARE Bound, Signed Outtakes from LOCK IN, Plus Signed 1st Edition of LOCK IN, for the Worldbuilders Charity
Posted on January 27, 2014 9 Comments
The wordy headline says it all! But in case it doesn’t, this bit from the auction page: “A signed copy of Lock In by John Scalzi, and a signed copy of seven chapters cut from that book, (Not) Lock In–one of only four copies in existence “(NOT) LOCK IN: The seven chapters John Scalzi didn’t use in his […]
A Convention Harassment Policy in Action
Posted on January 27, 2014 138 Comments
Arisia is a convention with a harassment policy. So what happened when a woman quite reasonably felt she was harassed, and complained to convention about it? Why, it was handled quickly and efficiently, of course, because there was a process in place to handle it, and that process was followed. Read about the event here. […]
Notes on My Nexus 7
Posted on January 27, 2014 58 Comments
I bought myself the latest generation of Nexus 7 tablet as a post-Christmas gift, and I’ve gotten a couple of people asking me what I thought about it. Briefly: I like it a whole lot, and in fact would probably say that of all the tablets I have or have tried, it’s probably my favorite. […]
Zeus, 1/26/14
Posted on January 26, 2014 25 Comments
Clearly, pondering the future. Or, looking at the finger I held up to get his attention while I took the shot. The horribly cold weather we’ve been having reminded me that Zeus came to us right around this time of year, on a night where it was single digits outside. He’s been with us six […]
Every Award-Winning Book Sucks (For Someone)
Posted on January 26, 2014 128 Comments
As part of my occasional and hopefully instructive series of entries in which I try to make the point to writers that negative reviews are part of the territory and ultimately not something to get too worked up about or to let scar one’s psyche, I would like to present you excerpts of one star […]
Two Books of Mine That Arrived Yesterday
Posted on January 25, 2014 21 Comments
Here they are. One of them is the Spanish language version of Redshirts. The other… well, you’ll get more details soon. I will say that only four printed copies of it exist in the entire world, nor are there likely to be more of them.
A Public Service Announcement re: The Hugos, via Twitter
Posted on January 24, 2014 12 Comments
NOTE: I am about to unleash a chain of tweets on a single subject. It will take me a couple of minutes. Here we go. — John Scalzi (@scalzi) January 25, 2014 People on blogs talking about Novel Hugo picks and predictions saying "I'm not noming for him but Scalzi's probably getting one." Well… — […]
In Which I Sing a Depeche Mode Song For Patrick Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders Charity
Posted on January 24, 2014 33 Comments
Yes, Patrick asked me to be a stretch goal for the charity this year, so I said, sure, when you reach $325,000, I’ll sing Depeche Mode’s “But Not Tonight,” accompanying myself on tenor guitar as I do so. Guess what? They reached that stretch goal! And for those of you saying “what song is that?”, […]
I Was Busy All Day Having Meetings and Recording Things and Not Writing, So, Here, Have Another Tinkly Moody Pretty Piano Song
Posted on January 23, 2014 13 Comments
This is “I Will Love You” from the band Fisher. It’ll cheer you right up, it will.
E-Mail Outage Last Night
Posted on January 23, 2014 2 Comments
My e-mail box was bouncing e-mails for an unspecified amount of time yesterday (probably starting in the early evening). To be sure, if you sent me e-mail yesterday that you really needed me to see, go ahead and send it again.
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying