Monthly Archives: November 2017
Away From the Internet Through 12/3
Posted on November 22, 2017 16 Comments
Hey there! I have a book to finish with a hard deadline of, uh, next week, so I am going to hide from the Internet until it is done, or through December 3rd, whichever comes first. This includes Twitter, Facebook, etc. Basically there will be a Scalzi-shaped hole in the Internet for the next ten […]
Athena, 11/22/17
Posted on November 22, 2017 10 Comments
My kid is pretty great. That is all. For those of you in the US, I hope you’ve gotten all your shopping done for Thanksgiving and that any traveling you do will be bearable, and that your time with family and friends tomorrow is delightful and with no extended political arguments. For everyone else in […]
The Big Idea: Molly Tanzer
Posted on November 21, 2017 5 Comments
Absinthe makes the brain grow more creative — at least in the case of Molly Tanzer, whose encounter with the spirit helped to inspire her novel Creatures of Will and Temper. Want to find out how? Sit back and pour a stiff one as Tanzer tells you. MOLLY TANZER: I’m delighted to do my very first […]
Sunset and Moon, 11/20/17
Posted on November 20, 2017 11 Comments
It was lovely here today. Hope it was where you were, too.
The Big Idea: Tracy Townsend
Posted on November 20, 2017 8 Comments
Take Borges, toss in a library, add a touch of sub-atomic physics, and what do you get? If you’re Tracy Townsend, you get her novel The Nine. Here she is to tell you how all of these came to be a part of her story. TRACY TOWNSEND: The best creative decision I ever made was to […]
Cat Amongst the Stringed Instruments
Posted on November 19, 2017 30 Comments
Don’t worry, Sugar. They no longer make strings out of catgut. I mean, probably. How’s the weekend going, folks?
New Books and ARCs, 11/17/17
Posted on November 17, 2017 17 Comments
And here’s this week’s stack of new books and ARCs, freshly arrived at the Scalzi Compound. What do you see here that floats your proverbial boat? Tell us all in the comments.
The Big Idea: Matthew De Abaitua
Posted on November 17, 2017 7 Comments
Work sucks. In The Red Men, author Matthew De Abaitua has come up with an answer. Uh, maybe. He’s here to explain that whole “maybe” part. MATTHEW De ABAITUA: From an early age, I was terrorised by the prospect of getting a proper job. A summer spent working as a security guard on the docks […]
The Big Idea: Leanna Renee Hieber
Posted on November 16, 2017 2 Comments
Yes, my friends, the 80s are back! No, not the 1980s: The 1880s, where author Leanna Renee Hieber has spent much of her creative life, culminating in her new novel The Eterna Solution, the third book in her Eterna Files series. And what has Hieber been doing, back there in the 1880s? Just you wait. […]
The Collapsing Empire a Finalist for the 2017 Goodreads Choice Award in Science Fiction — Vote This Week
Posted on November 14, 2017 9 Comments
Yes! That overly descriptive headline says it all! The Collapsing Empire is one of ten Science Fiction books to make it to the final round of the Good Reads Choice Awards in the science fiction category, and if you are so inclined, you may vote for it at the following link: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-science-fiction-books-2017 Alternately, if you […]
The Big Idea: K.C. Alexander
Posted on November 14, 2017 8 Comments
Books can take a lot out of you as a writer. And sometimes, as K.C. Alexander explains for Nanoshock, you go through a lot to get to the end of them. K.C. ALEXANDER: So here we are, you and I. Back again some year and change later. Last time, I talked about Necrotech, and how […]
A Q&A For the Post-Weinstein Era
Posted on November 12, 2017 176 Comments
(Note: this piece contains general discussion of sexual harassment and assault, so heads up on that.) Hey there! As most of you know, I’m a dude. And like most dudes, I’ve been watching this whole post-Weinstein era we’re in with some interest. And because I am reasonably well-known on the internet for talking about things, […]
How to Get Signed and Personalized Books From Me For the Holidays, 2017
Posted on November 10, 2017 3 Comments
It’s that time of the year again, and once again I am teaming up with Jay & Mary’s Book Center, my local independent bookseller, to offer signed and personalized books for gift-giving. It’s a great way to get a unique gift for someone you love (even yourself!) while at the same time supporting a great […]
The Big Idea: James Alan Gardner
Posted on November 10, 2017 6 Comments
I’ll start by saying James Alan Gardner’s new novel has my favorite book title of the year. But, of course there’s more going on in All Those Explosions Were Someone Else’s Fault than a great title. Gardner’s here to tell you about a world of super beings and what having a world full of them […]
Full Review of the Pixel 2
Posted on November 10, 2017 16 Comments
After a week and a trip to Minneapolis where I used a lot of its functions, I can now say that I like my new Pixel 2 a whole lot. Let me count some of the ways. 1. Ergonomically I think it’s a winner for me. My last few phones were on the larger size […]
The Difference a Day Makes
Posted on November 10, 2017 11 Comments
Same tree, 24 hours difference: The season is called “Fall” for a reason.
The Big Idea: Fonda Lee
Posted on November 9, 2017 1 Comment
Family: It’s a thing, for most of us, most of the time. And it certainly for Fonda Lee and her newest novel, Jade City, in which family issues aren’t just fodder for holiday get-togethers, but could determine the future of a nation. FONDA LEE: I had a strong vision for Jade City from the start. […]
Four Views of the Same Wife
Posted on November 9, 2017 12 Comments
Playing with a new Prisma-like imaging app (called GoArt) and ran a picture of Krissy through a few different settings. I think they came out well. Of course, it helps to have a good subject. Incidentally, GoArt is a pretty decent little app, although you should be aware of the in-app purchase scheme of it, […]
The Big Idea: Hank Early
Posted on November 8, 2017 6 Comments
Hello, folks. This fine day, author Hank Early would like to talk to about Hell. And the End Times. And Heaven’s Crooked Finger. The last of these being his new novel. But the other two of which had some influence on its writing. HANK EARLY: When I was eleven, I buried a large, club-like tree […]
The Big Idea: Tim Pratt
Posted on November 7, 2017 12 Comments
When you get known for writing one thing, it can be a blessing and a curse — a blessing that you have an audience for your wares, but a curse in that you can sometimes feel like you’ve written yourself into a corner. Sometimes making a change in those cases requires a leap of faith. […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying