Monthly Archives: January 2018

Talking About Writing Income, or Not

A question in email: On Twitter, you’ve linked to Jim Hines and Kameron Hurley when they’ve talked about their writing income, and you used to talk about your own writing income in detail. Do you ever plan to do that again? Probably not. For context for those of you who have come in late, for […]

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The Big Idea: David Mack

What makes a hero? It’s a question that author David Mack had to confront in his novel The Midnight Front. It’s also a question he gives some thought to here in his Big Idea essay. DAVID MACK: Heroes are the ones who step up to take the hit for the rest of us. I know […]

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Meet Keith Johnson

Over on Twitter, some foolish person posted the following question, which I will replicate here with all grammatical confabulation intact, because it’s necessary for context: As a straight male, how would u feel about your child having a homosexual school teacher?! Who their around 8hours a day ! This was my response: As a straight […]

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Producer’s Guild of America Anti-Sexual Harassment Guidelines (and Me)

An email just showed up asking if I’d seen to the new Producer’s Guild of America anti-sexual harassment guidelines, and whether I’d endorse having them implemented on any film/TV production I’d work on, or which was based on my work. For reference, here are those guidelines. My thoughts: The guidelines seem reasonable and to the […]

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Art and Entertainment and Commerciality

Chad, who is an architect, sent me this question today, which I am answering publicly with his permission: I read a repost on Tor.com this morning regarding Ursula K Le Guin (rest in peace) where she made several interesting comments regarding “the production of a market commodity and the practice of an art.” This is […]

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The Big Idea: Brooke Bolander

I taught Brooke Bolander at the 2011 Clarion Writing Workshop, and while I would dearly like to claim credit for her development into an amazing writer, in fact the talent was always there. It comes to a fruition in the novella The Only Harmless Great Thing; here is Bolander to explain how radium and elephants […]

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John Picacio Offering Worldcon Memberships to Mexicanx Fans and Creators

Here he is, explaining it in a series of six tweets. If you’re eligible, feel free to apply. GOOD NEWS: As Artist GoH of @worldcon2018, I'm pleased to share that this Monday, January 29th I'll be awarding a Worldcon attending membership to four #Mexicanx. Hugo Award-winning author / International Badass @scalzi and I are each […]

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RIP, Ursula K. Le Guin

The book I bought this weekend. The title is all too on point today. pic.twitter.com/Y4uAUGRdPR — John Scalzi (@scalzi) January 24, 2018 I’ve written a remembrance of Ursula K. Le Guin; it’s up at the Los Angeles Times. As I wrote there: “The speaking of her name and of her words goes on, and will […]

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First Pass Oscar Predictions, 2018

Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences persists in nominating films and people for their “Oscars” award, which you may have heard of, and I, in a vestige of my time as a professional film critic, go through the “Big Six” categories and try to guess who and what are going to […]

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The Big Idea: S. Craig Zahler

S. Craig Zahler writes and directs films most of the time, but the story of Hug Chickenpenny was one that called out for written rather than cinematic form. But Zahler found there was a theme that ran through his book writing efforts that ran through all his other efforts as well. He’s here to tell […]

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First Impressions: Google Pixelbook

I have come into possession of a Google Pixelbook, the company’s latest high-end Chromebook (don’t worry, I didn’t kill anybody for it, so far) and have been playing with it for most of the day that wasn’t given over to going to the dentist. I’ve played with it enough that I have some definite opinions […]

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Confusion in Black and White

Every January I attend the Confusion Convention in Michigan, and this January was no exception. One again I had a delightful time with many people I like and admire. And I also got pictures, as I often do. I’ll be posting a more complete set at some point in the near(ish) future, but until them, […]

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Regarding a Recent SFWA Action

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, of which I was previously the president, has issued a statement about an action it undertook, regarding an application for membership. That statement is here. As a former president, it has been my general policy not to offer up public opinions about the actions of the current […]

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The Big Idea: Jason Franks

In his Big Idea piece for Faerie Apocalypse, author Jason Franks notes he didn’t want this fantasy novel to have a map — and as it turns out, in many ways, in the writing of the book, he found himself in uncharted territory as well. JASON FRANKS: A young man travels to Faerie Land looking […]

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