Monthly Archives: September 2015
What My Day Was Like
Posted on September 30, 2015 33 Comments
Look at contract. Email agent about contract. Look at another contract. Let electrician in to do work in the basement. Look at questionnaire accompanying second contract. Talk to agent on the phone about contract. Look at email about another thing that will require a contract. Email other agent about that thing. Let electrician out because […]
I Had Things I Wanted To Write Here But Got Swamped by Actual Work, So While I Catch Up, Enjoy This Very Important Cover Version of a Very Important 90s Song
Posted on September 29, 2015 9 Comments
You’re gonna love it. See, told you. Who is this guy? He’s this guy.
The Big Idea: Ilana C. Myer
Posted on September 29, 2015 9 Comments
Poets: Can they change the world? And what kind of world would it be if they could? Ilana C. Myer poses this question in her Big Idea, for her novel Last Song Before Night. ILANA C. MYER: It began in a college class—long enough ago. The topic was poets in Celtic myth. The text was […]
Weekend Clouds
Posted on September 28, 2015 25 Comments
And it was a good weekend for them. I was concerned that the clouds would prevent us from seeing the lunar eclipse last night, but as it turned out there was a gap in the cloud cover just as the moon was sliding into the shadow of the Earth. So we got to see it […]
Away For the Weekend
Posted on September 26, 2015 9 Comments
Because I’m working on a personal secret project: Sleep! No, not just sleep, actually. I do love sleep. But this is something else. See you all on Monday.
New Books and ARCs, 9/25/15
Posted on September 25, 2015 42 Comments
Last weekend of September starting soon, and to see off the month, here’s this lovely stack of new books and ARCs for your delight. What looks good to you? Tell me in the comments!
John Boehner’s Stepping Down
Posted on September 25, 2015 71 Comments
And honestly, can you blame him? He’s had to ride herd on an increasingly dysfunctional GOP Caucus in the House for four years now, a group that sees actually shutting down the government to get its way as just another political tactic. That’s got to have taken its toll on the man, who I believe at his […]
The Big Idea: Tade Thompson
Posted on September 25, 2015 5 Comments
For today’s Big Idea, Tade Thompson takes the immigrant experience, plus the problems that crop up when you tell a little lie at the wrong time, and puts them together for his novel Making Wolf. What do we find out? It’s here, below. TADE THOMPSON: Here’s the thing: if you’ve ever moved from one country to […]
Look What Facebook Has Done To Us, Starring Me and Sara Benincasa
Posted on September 24, 2015 21 Comments
So Facebook went down briefly earlier today, and naturally I had to make a joke about it. OH MY GOD FACEBOOK IS DOWN NOW HOW WILL I HAVE AWKWARD POLITICAL ARGUMENTS WITH MY GREAT-AUNT — John Scalzi (@scalzi) September 24, 2015 A few minutes later Sara Benincasa posted a suspiciously similar tweet: https://twitter.com/SaraJBenincasa/status/647087518454820864 And, then, […]
The Big Idea: Douglas Sun
Posted on September 24, 2015 3 Comments
And now, just to shake things up, here’s a Big Idea about a video game — which is based on a book, so don’t panic, we’re not going too far afield. Today, Douglas Sun talks about some of the challenges of a adapting a literary work into a video game: Veiled Alliances. DOUGLAS SUN: When […]
eBook Sales and Author Incomes and All That Jazz
Posted on September 23, 2015 118 Comments
People are pointing me to this article in the New York Times about eBooks sales slipping and print sales stabilizing, and are wondering what I think of it. Well: To begin, I think it’s lovely that print sales and book stores are doing well; it was touch and go there for a while. I’m also […]
The Big Idea: Christopher Barzak
Posted on September 23, 2015 2 Comments
For today’s Big Idea, Christopher Barzak takes you to the family farm and explains how a little bit of his own personal history informs his latest novel, Wonders of the Invisible World. CHRISTOPHER BARZAK: Wonders of the Invisible World was an attempt to save my family. Which is a little ironic, because the protagonist of […]
Last Sunset of the Summer, 2015
Posted on September 22, 2015 11 Comments
And with it begins Yom Kippur. Tomorrow is the autumnal equinox here in the northern hemisphere (at 4:21am my local time). Busy day. It’s been a good summer for me. Hope it was for you, too.
Nobody Likes An Asshole (Except Maybe Other Assholes)
Posted on September 22, 2015 68 Comments
Adam-Troy Castro has a post up called “Writers: The Long-Term Benefits of Not Being An Ass,” which I encourage you to read, with the awareness that the advice has works equally as well when you substitute any other profession for “Writer” (or indeed, you can also substitute “human” and it works just as well). Also, […]
Duran Duran, Neil Gaiman, and Beginnings
Posted on September 22, 2015 42 Comments
I’m both a friend and fan of Neil Gaiman, and a former music critic. So for years I’ve known about, but had never seen, Neil’s very first published book, the 1984 quickie biography of Duran Duran, arguably the biggest band to emerge from the first era of MTV (“You know! Back when they actually played music!” the 80s […]
The Big Idea: Kent Davis
Posted on September 22, 2015 4 Comments
For his Big Idea piece today, Kent Davis explains how a mental image, and some experience writing role-playing games, ended up being the foundation for his novel A Riddle in Ruby. KENT DAVIS: I had this picture in my head. It clanked around, bumping into the furniture and leaving oil stains on all the brain-curtains. […]
Sunset Clouds
Posted on September 21, 2015 4 Comments
The day got away from me, which is actually happening fairly frequently these days (today’s was for a good reason which I can’t tell you about yet but which will be squee-worthy if it comes to fruition, I assure you), so in lieu of actual words about things today, allow me to present you with […]
Pictures From Homecoming, 2015
Posted on September 20, 2015 55 Comments
Athena’s school’s homecoming dance was last night, and of course she and her boyfriend Hunter got all dressed up for it. There was a bit of drama when the dress shop that Athena purchased her dress from hemmed it both poorly and ridiculously short, but through the kindness of friends, a last-minute substitute dress was […]
Last Night’s Twitter Rant Involving 20somethings and Finance
Posted on September 19, 2015 80 Comments
A little late to this one, but the "advice" here is so appallingly fucking wrong it just blows my mind: http://t.co/155CMJcMcc — John Scalzi (@scalzi) September 18, 2015 Twentysomethings, pro tip: Look up the concept of "compound interest" and you'll understand why putting a little money away is a fine idea. — John Scalzi (@scalzi) […]
New Books and ARCs, 9/17/15
Posted on September 18, 2015 18 Comments
As we head off into the weekend, here’s this week’s new books and ARCs that have arrived at the Scalzi Compound. Which speaking to you? Tantalizingly? Tell me in the comments.
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying