Monthly Archives: July 2018
The Big Idea: Claire O’Dell
Posted on July 31, 2018 32 Comments
A dash of fan fiction, a smidge of authorial inspiration and a dollop of a world-famous investigator adds up to a brand-new concoction in Claire O’Dell’s novel A Study in Honor. How did this all come about? As O’Dell will tell you, it was elementary. CLAIRE O’DELL: A Study in Honor is all Jim Hines’s […]
Whoops It’s Past 6pm and I Haven’t Posted Today So Here’s a Video of a Song I Like
Posted on July 30, 2018 7 Comments
The video itself is enigmatic (who are all these young people doing slightly odd things while looking miserable? Would they be less miserable if they, like, stopped posing and went to get snacks?), but the song is good and the band, The Naked and Famous, is one of my favorites to have come out in […]
The Locus Award Arrives + Reminder About Hugo Award Voting
Posted on July 29, 2018 12 Comments
I was thrilled when The Collapsing Empire was announced as the winner of the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, but was not present for the ceremony because one of my best friends on the planet was getting married, and, well, priorities. Fortunately the good people at Locus were kind enough to ship it […]
The End (Sort Of) Of the Landline
Posted on July 29, 2018 49 Comments
It sometimes amazed people that we here at the Scalzi Compound still have a landline. We do, basically because I receive (terrible, horrible, low-speed) internet service through my phone company, and it’s basically cheaper to bundle it with a landline than to get it by itself. And also, because if the power goes down, the […]
Today’s Somewhat Unfortunate Event Involving a Kitten
Posted on July 27, 2018 67 Comments
Smudge is a curious fellow, and also, when I use the bathroom, if there is no other human in the house, I don’t always close the door entirely. The confluence of these two facts today is why, while standing at the toilet today, doing my business, Smudge barged in and, needing to see what was […]
Crab Cakes, Ocean’s 8, the Ferry, and the Republic of Booza
Posted on July 27, 2018 14 Comments
Hello, everyone! I hope you have all been having a fantastic week, I know I have been! New York has been awesome so far and it hasn’t rained nearly as much as I thought it would, so that’s a plus. Honestly, I haven’t done too much. I’m generally a pretty lazy person, so I might […]
The Big Idea: Theodora Goss
Posted on July 27, 2018 5 Comments
For European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman, author Theodora Goss considers a famous Victorian book, character and author for an extended thought on who and what can truly be called a monster. Grab your stakes and let’s hammer this one home, shall we? THEODORA GOSS: In The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, I brought […]
A Little More On Recent Worldcon Stuff
Posted on July 26, 2018 33 Comments
I just did a tweetstorm about the recent contretemps involving Worldcon. As many of you know, there was a dustup about programming (among other issues) for which the head of the Worldcon apologized and took action on, including bringing in a team headed up by Mary Robinette Kowal to help fix things. Here’s what I wrote […]
The Big Idea: Craig DiLouie
Posted on July 26, 2018 2 Comments
One of the great questions in literature, genre or otherwise, is: What makes a person a monster? In One of Us, author Craig DiLouie takes a crack at the question… and the answer. CRAIG DiLOUIE: My novel One of Us began as a misunderstood monster novel and ended up a much more ambitious examination of prejudice. […]
The Love-Hate Relationship With Travel
Posted on July 25, 2018 45 Comments
Who doesn’t love traveling? Everyone loves a good vacation; so many amazing places to go, spectacles to behold, adventurous things to do, traveling is enriching and can be super awesome! Unfortunately, traveling is also expensive, and tiring, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Personally, traveling is one of my favorite things to do. It’s so nice […]
The Big Idea: Kali Wallace
Posted on July 24, 2018 3 Comments
City of Islands is author Kali Wallace’s first children’s book, and in writing it, she was thinking about where the balances were in telling a story for children, and still telling a story with some complexity. For her Big Idea, she’s here to talk about finding that balance, especially in today’s times. KALI WALLACE: Adults […]
Beat Saber: AKA the Coolest Game Ever
Posted on July 23, 2018 9 Comments
Hey, everyone! Hope you all had an awesome weekend. This weekend, thanks to my friend, I got to try virtual reality. More specifically, I played Beat Saber for like, three hours, and my arms are extremely sore. Beat Saber is this awesome rhythm game where you basically have two light sabers, red in the left […]
Being Seen at Worldcon
Posted on July 23, 2018 30 Comments
A Twitter thread on the recent contrempts at Worldcon 76, where many newer writers (including some Hugo finalists) were not represented on the initial programming slate: 1. A thought about new(er) writers and Worldcons: My first Worldcon (and indeed convention) was in 2003. My novel Old Man's War wouldn't be published for two years. No […]
That Tor Library eBook Lending Thing
Posted on July 22, 2018 54 Comments
Last week Tor Books announced that it would start windowing ebooks for libraries, which means that new ebook titles from Tor would now be available to libraries four months after their commercial release. So as an example, a book that’s released in August would be available to libraries in ebook form in November (print versions […]
Travel Itinerary Plus Photos
Posted on July 20, 2018 23 Comments
Hello, everyone! I’m here today to tell y’all about my upcoming travel schedule. On Tuesday, I leave for New York City, where I will be staying with my wonderful friends, Meg and Will. New York City is such an awesome place and I’m so happy to be going for the third year in a row. […]
News Books and ARCs, 7/20/18
Posted on July 20, 2018 13 Comments
Another week of summer passed, another summer weekend on tap, and a perfect time to catch up to these new books and ARCs that have arrived at Scalzi Compound. Anything in this stack that you’d enjoy reading on a warm summer night? Let us know in the comments!
View From a Hotel Window, 7/20/18: Cleveland
Posted on July 20, 2018 1 Comment
And what exactly am I doing in Cleveland? I have a private speaking engagement! Which, uh, means you can’t come unless you’re part of the organization I’m doing the speaking engagement for. Sorry, Cleveland. Know my love for you exists anyway. Hope you’re having an excellent Friday regardless.
Learn More About Me: My Favorite Anime
Posted on July 20, 2018 8 Comments
One thing about me you should know is that I love anime. If you’ve seen any of my “What You Should Be Watching” posts, you’ll know that I love cartoons, too. Anything animated! Artists are amazing! But that’s a separate thing entirely. So today I’m going to tell you about my all-time favorite anime, Black […]
The Big Idea: Jason Denzel
Posted on July 19, 2018 1 Comment
Someone once said that life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. Jason Denzel can relate to that — life certainly happened to him between writing his previous book on his new one, Mystic Dragon. Here’s how he incorporated what was going in his life into the writing. JASON DENZEL: There’s that old […]
You Deserve A Flower
Posted on July 18, 2018 14 Comments
View this post on Instagram Summer blooms. A post shared by Athena Scalzi ⭐ (@ascalzi98) on Jul 6, 2018 at 8:01pm PDT Hey everyone, you all deserve a flower! What for? For whatever you think you did well on this week! Maybe you cleaned your room for the first time in months, maybe you did […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying