Monthly Archives: December 2016
Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi is Out!
Posted on December 31, 2016 26 Comments
Let’s end 2016 on a high — or at least, humorous — note, shall we? Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi is now out and available! The limited, signed hardcover edition (of which there were 1,500) is now almost entirely sold out, so if you want that version, you should order it directly from […]
New Books and ARCs, 12/30/16
Posted on December 30, 2016 11 Comments
And here it is: The final stack of books and ARCs for 2016. Is there anything here that calls to you? Tell us in the comments!
Some Reasons 2016 Didn’t Entirely Suck, at Least for Me
Posted on December 30, 2016 77 Comments
2016 was, globally speaking, and to put it mildly, not the best of years. I will not be sad to see it go. But it’s worth it to remember that no year is entirely irredeemable. People have been passing around this list of 99 reasons 2016 was a good year, and I think that it’s a […]
Some Things I Plan to Do in 2017, Not Work Related
Posted on December 30, 2016 15 Comments
Do I have personal goals for 2017? I do! Here are a few of them, in no particular order. 1. Get more organized. I’m actually good at getting organized; I’m shit at staying organized. Welcome to my life for the past 47 years. For 2017, however, I have three books due and a lot of […]
Work Life 2017
Posted on December 29, 2016 25 Comments
Independent of anything else that might go on in the world in 2017, which is likely to be considerable, mind you, I myself will be having rather a busy year. Why? Well, to begin, here are the thing I am writing/have written that will come out in 2017: 1. The Collapsing Empire, March 21 2. […]
2016 Top Ten Whatever Posts + Social Media Stats
Posted on December 28, 2016 18 Comments
Time for my annual nerdery about the most visited posts here, and the state of my social media presence. Ready? Sure you are, that’s why you’re here! This and cat pictures. First, here are the top ten posts on Whatever f0r 2016, ranked by visits. Posts with asterisks were originally posted in years other than […]
RIP Carrie Fisher
Posted on December 27, 2016 69 Comments
People reports she died this morning. Obviously she will be remembered for Star Wars — she played one of its most iconic characters, who was a general, a senator and a princess. But as much as I liked her in that role, she came most alive for me when I learned that she was a […]
Read an Excerpt From The Collapsing Empire
Posted on December 26, 2016 27 Comments
Tor.com has got up the prologue The Collapsing Empire, my upcoming novel. It works as a complete short story in itself. Here is the link to read it. Happy Boxing Day! P.S.: If you like it and want to pre-order it, Subterranean Press can get you a signed, inscribed copy (signed and inscribed by me, […]
George Michael + A Trump Christmas Carol
Posted on December 26, 2016 22 Comments
George Michael was dead; to begin. And that’s a very sad thing for those of us of an 80s vintage. 2016 has been an especially bad year for musician deaths, and this removal of George Michael on Christmas Day just seems like insult to injury. I was a fan both of his bubble-gum pop Wham! […]
A Seasonal Greeting From Daisy
Posted on December 25, 2016 20 Comments
Daisy ecumenically wishes you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, brilliant solstice, joyous Kwanzaa and all the best for the coming year. And so do I!
Whatever Best of 2016
Posted on December 24, 2016 17 Comments
It is a truth universally acknowledged that 2016 was a monumental shit-show of a year, not only for itself — which would be enough! — but also because it’s now clear that it’s merely the beginning of a shit-show epoch, the depths of which have yet to be plumbed, and the best of which one […]
New Books and ARCs, 12/23/16
Posted on December 23, 2016 35 Comments
In just before Christmas and the start of Hanukkah, this set of books and ARCs that have come to the Scalzi Compound. Anything you’d like to see under the tree or aside the menorah? Tell me in the comments!
18
Posted on December 23, 2016 110 Comments
Here is a true thing: In the grand scheme of things, I’ve only had three things I wanted to do with my life. The first was to be a writer. The second was to be a good husband. The third was to make sure that any kid I had made it through their childhood without […]
My Writing Brain is Still Apparently Telling Me to Screw Off, So Here’s a Picture of a Cat Looking Heroically Into the Distance Instead
Posted on December 22, 2016 17 Comments
Which I expect will be fine for most of you. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!
My Problem Right Now
Posted on December 21, 2016 52 Comments
Me: I want to write a long piece on politics today! Brain: Sorry, man. Not up for it. Too much thinking involved. Me: But I have important things to say! Brain: You should have thought about it before you decided to fuel me exclusively on Christmas cookies for three days straight. Me: What’s wrong with […]
New Books and ARCs, 12/20/16
Posted on December 20, 2016 18 Comments
The books keep coming! Here are the latest new books and ARCs to arrive at the Scalzi Compound. Anything jump out at you? Tell me about it in the comments!
The Big Idea: Alan Baxter
Posted on December 20, 2016 12 Comments
In today’s installment of “write what you know — and then make something up,” author Alan Baxter describes how two of his loves — fiction and martial arts — combine together in Bound, the first of his Alex Caine series of books. ALAN BAXTER: The Big Idea behind Bound is a collision of two big […]
Golden Hour, 12/19/16
Posted on December 19, 2016 11 Comments
That’s ice on the lawn and trees, sparkling in the sun. Cold. But pretty. (The larger version is even prettier.)
Rogue One, or, the Disneyfication of Star Wars is Complete (and This is a Good Thing)
Posted on December 19, 2016 157 Comments
(NOTE: This review of Rogue One is spoiler-free but I will be allowing the conversation in the comment thread to contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the film yet, you might want to skip the comments for now.) As I walked out of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story last night, the male half […]
New Books and ARCs, 12/16/16
Posted on December 16, 2016 24 Comments
An economy-sized collection of new books and ARCs for your delight this Friday, with many fine authors and books. What calls to you here? Tell us in the comments!
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying