Monthly Archives: April 2018
New Books and ARCs, 4/30/18
Posted on April 30, 2018 18 Comments
I’m catching up on quite a few new books and ARCs that arrived at the Scalzi Compound while I was on tour. Here’s the first batch for this week, and there are some gems. See anything you like? Tell us in the comments!
The Big Idea: Tiffany Trent & Stephanie Burgis
Posted on April 30, 2018 2 Comments
When Stephanie Burgis found what she thought was a magical site, she discovered she wasn’t alone in that opinion — and thus, the fantasy anthology The Underwater Ballroom Society, edited by Burgis and Tiffany Trent. Where was this place and what was the attraction? Both editors are here to explain. TIFFANT TRENT & STEPHANIE BURGIS: […]
Thoughts on Avengers: Infinity War (and Yes, There are Spoilers)
Posted on April 30, 2018 141 Comments
I liked Avengers: Infinity War and in many ways it’s a technical cinematic (excuse the pun) marvel — it’s not an easy job to integrate this many storylines, characters and stars into a single movie and both give them all enough space to do their thing, and still keep the film hurtling inevitably toward a […]
Announcing Whatever’s First Ever Summer Intern
Posted on April 27, 2018 66 Comments
I decided this year it might be fun and useful to have an intern here at Whatever, and after a highly selective application and interview process, I have selected who I think is the right person to help me out during their summer break from college. Everyone, meet Whatever’s first ever summer intern: “Nepotism!” I […]
View Not From a Hotel Window 4/26/18: Bradford, OH
Posted on April 26, 2018 4 Comments
And there’s a very nice sunset to welcome me home. There is one more event, at the Troy-Miami County Public Library, on Monday at 6:30, but it’s one I can drive to from my house. So for all the people who came to see me in all the places I had to fly and train […]
View From a Hotel Window, 4/25/18: Washington DC
Posted on April 25, 2018 9 Comments
Honestly it’d be better if that stupid dome wasn’t in the way, blocking my view of everything. Tonight: I’m at Politics and Prose at the Wharf, at 7pm. Please come! I understand we may be having the event near a wharf, but I can’t say for certain. Please come with life preservers, or alternately, just […]
View From a Hotel Window, 4/24/18: New York City
Posted on April 24, 2018 7 Comments
Actually more out the window, since I slipped the cell phone out the sill to get the street view. Hello, Manhattan! Tonight: 7pm! The Strand! Come see me! Don’t let me be alone! Tomorrow: I’m down in DC at the the Politics and Prose Wharf store. Also 7pm. Come see me in our nation’s capital! […]
The Big Idea: Bryan Camp
Posted on April 24, 2018 5 Comments
Luck is a thing that often happens (provided, of course, everything else falls into place). It happens enough that it caused Bryan Camp to consider its fundamental nature for The City of Lost Fortunes — in no small part because of the luck he’s had in his own life, and what it’s meant to him. […]
View From a Hotel Window, 4/23/18: St. Louis
Posted on April 23, 2018 13 Comments
Inspiring, no? I’m in a hotel where the window looks out to the interior, and also to a wall. But you know what? The room’s nice enough, and that’s fine. Tonight: I am at the St. Louis County Library! Everything starts at 7pm! Come on down, Missouri! I want to see all of you. Tomorrow: […]
The Big Idea: Jack McDevitt
Posted on April 23, 2018 7 Comments
In today’s Big Idea, Nebula Award-winning author Jack McDevitt looks at the concept of alien invasions and how they might not be what we expect — and how our interaction with alien civilizations might be different than we might imagine — and how it all fits in with his latest novel, The Long Sunset. JACK […]
View From a Hotel Window, 4/20: Los Angeles
Posted on April 20, 2018 21 Comments
Overlooking Pershing Square. Nifty. And if you don’t think the photo has the required amount of parking garage , know that there’s a parking lot directly under the square. It’s there, all right. It’s just subtle. No events today or tomorrow but I will be at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday, […]
View From a Hotel Window, 4/19/18: Minneapolis
Posted on April 19, 2018 15 Comments
It’s a very vertical view today, because I’m downtown in a major American city. I like it! Tonight: 7pm in the Har Mar Barnes & Noble! Be there! Or don’t be, I guess. Although we’ll miss you and spend all our time talking about how much our life is incomplete without you. (Note: We won’t […]
The Big Idea: Jerry Gordon
Posted on April 19, 2018 8 Comments
In today’s Big Idea, author Jerry Gordon tackles truth, pandemics, religious cults and the possible end of world. You know, as you do. Here’s how it all comes together for his novel Breaking the World. JERRY GORDON: In 1993, David Koresh and the Branch Davidians predicted the end of the world. What if they were right? […]
View From a Hotel Window, 4/18/18: Iowa City
Posted on April 18, 2018 15 Comments
My hotel room is overlooking a lovely patio area, which unfortunately is not in use because it is currently 34 degrees outside (although the weather app assures me it feel like 26 degrees). April, I gotta say, you’re kind of sucking right about now. But my room is nice and warm, at least. Tonight: I […]
Happy Birthday Krissy
Posted on April 18, 2018 30 Comments
The only real problem with having a book release in April is that it increases the likelihood that I won’t be on hand to celebrate my wife’s birthday, which is today. And as it happens today I will be in Iowa City rather than home. Be that as it may, I want to take a […]
View From a Hotel Window 4/17/18: Ann Arbor, MI (Plus: Release Dates in 2005 and Today)
Posted on April 17, 2018 21 Comments
To start off my travels, I am on a high floor overlooking a church. However, the brick building at the right of a picture is a parking garage, so I think we’re in good shape in terms of the “where is the parking lot” aspect of my travel pictures. Tonight: I am at the Literati […]
Head On is Out! How to Get It, Where to See Me, and Introducing the Theme Song
Posted on April 17, 2018 36 Comments
The day has arrived! Head On, the stand-alone sequel to Lock In, is now officially out in North America! (UK, you will have to wait two more days.) “Stand-alone sequel” means that although the book follows the characters and universe of Lock In, it’s been written so that it can be enjoyed even if you […]
It’s New Shirt Time!
Posted on April 16, 2018 30 Comments
So, remember when it was Back to School time, and you’d go shopping for new clothes for the year? Yes, well, I still do that, except Back to School is now Going on Book Tour. The new book tour starts tomorrow, so I went out and got all these shirts. The rule of the shirts […]
New Books and ARCs, 4/13/18
Posted on April 13, 2018 18 Comments
This is a very lucky Friday the 13th, I have to say, because it brings us all this very fine stack of new books and ARCs. What in this stack bewitches you? Tell us all in the comments.
The Big Idea: Catherynne M. Valente
Posted on April 12, 2018 37 Comments
Disclosure: I liked Catherynne Valente’s new book Space Opera so much I gave it a blurb. And as you read the Big Idea below about the book came to be, you might understand why the book appealed so much to me. CATHERYNNE M. VALENTE: Sometimes you plan a book. Carefully. Meticulously. You hone it, prune […]
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