Monthly Archives: July 2014
How I am Spending My Saturday
Posted on July 12, 2014 20 Comments
I’m signing signature sheets for the Subterranean Press limited signed edition of Unlocked. The amount you see there is what I’ve signed so far; subtract that from the height of the box to the right, and the height of what you have left over is how much I have yet to sign. So the day […]
Today’s New Books and ARCs, 7/11/14
Posted on July 11, 2014 29 Comments
And here to take us into the weekend, a new stack of books and ARCs what arrived at the Scalzi Compound this week. What catches your eye? Let me know in the comments.
This is How You Handle Arbitrary Milestones on Social Media
Posted on July 11, 2014 32 Comments
By the way, my 50,000th tweet is just a few tweets away now. I WILL FILL IT WITH WISDOM THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD. Or a picture of cat. — John Scalzi (@scalzi) July 11, 2014 If you imagine that every cat picture on the Internet is a lost chance to express universal wisdom, it […]
Relevant to Recent Discussions
Posted on July 10, 2014 50 Comments
FTC alleges Amazon unlawfully billed parents for millions of dollars in children’s unauthorized In-App charges. To quote myself: “[B]usinesses and corporations are not your friends. They will seek to extract the maximum benefit from you that they can, and from others with whom they engage in business, consistent with their current set of business goals. This does not […]
My First Job and What it Paid
Posted on July 10, 2014 134 Comments
Via Jim Romenesko, a question from The Billfold Web site about what people’s first jobs were and what they paid, and what that particular job pays now. Romenesko’s spin on the question involves journalism (because his site is focused on that field) and as it happens, that’s where my first post-college job was. My first […]
The Big Idea: D.B. Jackson
Posted on July 10, 2014 9 Comments
There’s a system to things — especially magic. Why is there a system, and what is its function in telling a story? D.B. Jackson has a few thoughts on the matter, and how it matters to his latest colonial-era fantasy novel, A Plunder of Souls. D.B. JACKSON: Creating magic systems is to writing fantasy what […]
Things We’ve Learned About Mary Robinette Kowal Today
Posted on July 9, 2014 48 Comments
She may in fact be Jane Austen. (for comparison) Seriously, that’s just freaky. But now the novels make even more sense.
Sunset, July 8, 2014
Posted on July 8, 2014 3 Comments
Some nice clouds tonight. And by “nice” I mean “I hope they go either north or south of me.”
Dayton Appearance 8/2, Unlocked and Lock In Reviews and the Proverbial More
Posted on July 8, 2014 16 Comments
Things to announce and/or note today: 1. If you’re in the Dayton, Ohio area of things, and you want to see me do my thing prior to my book tour appearance in September, I will be at the Beavercreek Barnes & Noble on Saturday, August 2nd at 2pm. What will I do there? I will […]
The Big Idea: Mary E. Pearson
Posted on July 8, 2014 3 Comments
The Beatles once said that love is all you need. This may or may not be the truth, but Mary E. Pearson certainly found love useful and applicable when writing her latest novel, The Kiss of Deception. She’s here now to tell you how love made this particular world go ’round. MARY E. PEARSON: I’ll […]
So Here’s What Arrived at the Scalzi Compound Just Now
Posted on July 7, 2014 31 Comments
And if you’re going, hmmm, that looks awfully familiar, but I can’t quite place it, let me refresh your memory: Yup, it’s the trade paper (and subsequent printed editions) cover to Old Man’s War, painted by John Harris, who has gone on to do all my subsequent Old Man’s War series covers. The painting went […]
The Ways the Scalzi Women Are Better Than Me: An Incomplete List
Posted on July 6, 2014 127 Comments
Last week, as part of my general “try to lose weight and get a little healthier because you’re middle-aged now and you don’t want to die” thing, I started going to the local YMCA to use its weight room and indoor track, with my daughter as my workout partner. She’s been on the powerlifting team […]
Question for the USA Folks, Re: Coins
Posted on July 6, 2014 70 Comments
Were you even aware they’re doing, like, a second set of state quarters? I got the one above in my change yesterday and at first quick glance I thought I’d been given a one euro coin. Which would have been an unusual thing in Bradford, Ohio, to be sure. I think I remember hearing about […]
Visitors Today
Posted on July 5, 2014 3 Comments
So no me here for now. Sorry, kids. Have a good day anyway.
Happy July 4. Here Are Things Exploding in Movies
Posted on July 4, 2014 15 Comments
Because EXPLOSIONS. If you’re in the US, happy Independence Day. If you’re outside the US, happy Friday. Either way: Try not to explode.
New Books and ARCs, 7/3/14
Posted on July 3, 2014 34 Comments
Just in time for the Independence Day holiday: New books and ARCs that have arrived at the Scalzi Compound this week. Let me know in the comments which works here appeal to you.
Amazon, Hachette, Publishing, Etc — It’s Not a Football Game, People
Posted on July 3, 2014 199 Comments
And now, some thoughts on subjects pertaining to publishing. I’ll use myself as an example for much of this. 1. I am in business with Amazon, though its Audible.com subsidiary. As you might be able to tell by my post yesterday, I am deeply happy with my experience working with Audible (and thus, by extension, Amazon). […]
The Big Idea: Tobias S. Buckell
Posted on July 3, 2014 14 Comments
As the first named hurricane of the season wanders along off the east coast of the US, it’s perhaps fitting that today’s Big Idea book is Hurricane Fever, by Tobias Buckell. But the hurricanes of this novel take place further south, in the Caribbean — and that’s where its hero comes from, too. Buckell explains […]
San Diego Update
Posted on July 2, 2014 34 Comments
So, a quick update about my presence at San Diego Comic-con this year, in the form of a dialogue: Hey, Scalzi, are you going to be at San Diego Comic-con this year? Sort of. Define “sort of.” I’ll be at various off-site events, including a reading at the Grand Horton Theater on Thursday afternoon (July […]
The Lock In Audiobook: Two Versions, Two Narrators. Pre-Order and Get Both
Posted on July 2, 2014 40 Comments
I noted a while back that there would be an audio edition of Lock In, from Audible. What I had not noted, until this very second, is that Audible was planning to do something pretty neat with the audiobook: Namely, that it was recording two complete versions of the book, one narrated by Amber Benson, […]
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