Monthly Archives: March 2015
The Big Idea: Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely
Posted on March 9, 2015 5 Comments
It’s Monday, and what better day than this to explore the realm of the cranky? But as Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessley, editors of the Cranky Ladies of History anthology explain, “cranky” shouldn’t always be considered a negative. In fact, in this context, it’s meant to be pretty damn awesome. TANSY RAYNER ROBERTS and […]
A Visit to Mammoth Cave
Posted on March 9, 2015 21 Comments
My friend Monica Byrne (the author of the very fine novel The Girl in the Road, which I liked so much I blurbed it) had a hankering to visit the Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, and since I was only a few hours away, asked if I would be interested in joining her. Well, […]
What I Did With My Weekend
Posted on March 8, 2015 34 Comments
Can you guess from the photo above? I suspect not, as the picture to me looks like an Alien coming down from the ceiling to hug me with its teeth. But guess away, and tomorrow I will reveal the truth.
Taking the Weekend Off, Again
Posted on March 6, 2015 10 Comments
I know, right? What am I, a man of leisure? Have a good weekend. See you Monday (or possibly Sunday evening).
The Big Idea: Carrie Patel
Posted on March 6, 2015 5 Comments
When you build on secrets you never know what you’ll find. Just ask Carrie Patel, whose novel, The Buried Life, includes secrets literally built upon. What’s going on there? CARRIE PATEL: The Buried Life is about lost history, a forgotten catastrophe, and the city that springs up in its wake. It started with the city: […]
Moonrise Through the Trees, 3/5/15
Posted on March 6, 2015 10 Comments
It didn’t look this spooky in real life. Honest. But it’s fun to make it look spooky in a photo.
The Big Idea: Kirby Crow
Posted on March 5, 2015 24 Comments
Life doesn’t always give us a happy ending. Should fiction? Kirby Crow ponders this question in relation to her new collection of stories, Hammer and Bone. Let’s see what she has to say on the matter. KIRBY CROW: I think of stories like wagons or carts, one of those cute, rustic ones you see being […]
Hey, I’ll Be at the Pickerington, OH Public Library Two Weeks From Today
Posted on March 4, 2015 3 Comments
And what will I be doing there? Oh, you know. Talking and signing books and answering questions and maybe reading something from the upcoming book that no one will have ever heard before. Maybe. We’ll see. Anyway, if you happen to be anywhere near Pickerington, OH on the 18th of March, why don’t you come on […]
Things I Promised People I Would Tell You About, Not That I Didn’t Want to Tell You About Them Anyway, Because They’re Cool
Posted on March 4, 2015 11 Comments
They are: 1. If you’re a science fiction writer and you would like maybe to get a little better grounding in some of the “science” portion of that genre, then this is going to be for you: The Schrödinger Sessions: Science for Science Fiction workshop, this summer from July 30 through August 1st. What will the […]
The Big Idea: Bruce Schneier
Posted on March 4, 2015 7 Comments
What’s your electronic data worth to you? What is it worth to others? And what’s the dividing line between your privacy and your convenience? These are questions Bruce Schneier thinks a lot about, and as he shows in Data and Goliath, they are questions which have an impact on where society and technology are going […]
Today’s Reading is From the Book of Redshirts
Posted on March 3, 2015 14 Comments
This is cool: Redshirts being used as part of a church sermon (specifically at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Madison, Wisconsin). It is, logically enough, being used a bit like a parable (or at least a framing device) to help discuss a larger and more complicated theological idea. I like it when my work finds […]
New Books and ARCs, 3/3/15
Posted on March 3, 2015 33 Comments
And now caught up on books that had come in before this week! (One of the books here is pixelated out because it was featured before.) See something that speaks to you? Tell us about it in the comments.
The Big Idea: Ferrett Steinmetz
Posted on March 3, 2015 23 Comments
In his novel Flex, author Ferrett Steinmetz comes up with a rather ingeniuous way of controlling the ultimate cosmic power that magic-wielders could have against the rest of the world — and suggests why maybe magic isn’t always what’s it’s cracked up to be. FERRETT STEINMETZ: We all have obsessions. I have a friend who’s […]
Standard Responses to Online Stupidity
Posted on March 2, 2015 1 Comment
Dear Citizens of the Internet: From time to time, in your ordinary exercise of the delights of the online world, you may find yourself accosted by clods. These oafish louts crave your time and attention, but in point of fact, life is short and you have better things to do. For you, I have created this helpful […]
The Big Idea: Justine Larbalestier
Posted on March 2, 2015 9 Comments
People aren’t the only characters in books. Sometimes the most important characters can be places, and certain times. This is relevant to Justine Larbelestier, who found an important character in her novel Razorhurst just by looking around in the place where she lived. JUSTINE LARBALESTIER: Before Razorhurst all my novels began with the voice of the […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying