Monthly Archives: May 2019
New Books and ARCs, 5/31/19
Posted on May 31, 2019 10 Comments
As May winds down and June begins, here’s a stack of new books and ARCs to help you greet the new month. Which of these would you like to welcome June with? Share in the comments!
The Big Idea: Anna Kashina
Posted on May 30, 2019 5 Comments
In today’s Big Idea for her novel Shadowblade, author Anna Kashina reminds us that behind all the swashbuckling, there’s often a serious purpose. ANNA KASHINA: During my Shadowblade blog tour, I have written several posts emphasizing the fun I had writing this novel, and I hope that readers picking up this book will experience the […]
In Which I Learn That I Live In Me
Posted on May 30, 2019 31 Comments
There’s a site out there that scraped Wikipedia entries from the last few years, and then put up a map of the United States where the place names were replaced with the person associated with that place (in apparently whatever capacity) whose Wikipedia article was looked at the most. For Bradford, Ohio, and perhaps not […]
E-Mail Issues Today
Posted on May 29, 2019 6 Comments
My mail provider is telling me they’re having a major outage regarding mail services today, so if you’ve sent me email today it may be a while before I see it and/or am able to respond. Update, 2:04pm Eastern: email is back up. If you sent me mail between about 6am and 2pm and it’s […]
Agent to the Stars, Fuzzy Nation and The Android’s Dream: Now Out in Trade Paperback
Posted on May 28, 2019 10 Comments
Today’s the first time I’ve ever had three books out on the same day: Tor is re-releasing my stand-alone novels Agent to the Stars, Fuzzy Nation and The Android’s Dream in spiffy new trade paperback editions. These new editions come with spiffy new covers, which all share type treatment with Redshirts, my other stand-alone novel […]
Good Morning, Moon
Posted on May 28, 2019 7 Comments
Here was the moon just before sunrise today. Not bad. Also, and somewhat unrelated, some of you may have heard there were tornados in my area last night. There were, but none of them hit anywhere around me. I’m fine, the house is fine, the cats are fine. We’re good. Not everyone can say the […]
Smudge the Ninja Claims Another Victim
Posted on May 27, 2019 18 Comments
It was brutal. Brutal. (Actually Smudge and Roxy, the shih-tzu in question here, are very good friends. But brutal interspecies carnage sounds so much more interesting than “and then they booped noses.”) Hope your Memorial Day is going well.
Oh, Hey, I Had an Impossible Burger Finally
Posted on May 26, 2019 45 Comments
I had it when I was in California. It was fine! And I would eat another one. For those of you unawares of what an “Impossible Burger” is, it’s a burger made with plant-based “meat” made by Impossible Foods. It’s mostly soy and a few other ingredients, including “heme,” which is what gives it that […]
The View From Harris Creek
Posted on May 26, 2019 16 Comments
Here’s a view I’m not sure I’ve shared with you before: a picture of Harris Creek, which more or less parallels the street I live on, from the bridge that goes over it. I took the picture as I was taking a walk yesterday (I pulled a leg muscle last week, so I’ve been walking […]
Marketers Hate This One Weird Trick, Discovered By a Dad, To Keep Your Gmail Inbox Uncluttered!
Posted on May 23, 2019 37 Comments
Which is: Make a filter that takes any email with the word “unsubscribe” in it and punts it directly into archived mail, rather than sending it to your inbox. Since nearly all marketing email has a footer that explains (in very small type) how to unsubscribe to the mail, all of it will now bypass […]
The Big Idea: Bryan Camp
Posted on May 23, 2019
Even when you write fantasy, the real world can influence your work. So Bryan Camp discovered when recent events caused to rethink the design of his latest novel, Gather the Fortunes. BRYAN CAMP: When I sold my first novel, The City of Lost Fortunes, I was lucky enough (and had a savvy enough agent) to […]
New Books and ARCs, 5/22/19
Posted on May 22, 2019 29 Comments
Here’s a very excellent mid-week selection of new books and ARCs that are available for your perusal. What here would you want on your own shelf now or in the near future? Share your thoughts in the comments.
I Had an Overnight Flight and Then Slept Until 1pm and My Brain is Mush, So Here’s Smudge, Posing Dramatically
Posted on May 21, 2019 17 Comments
I figure that will hold you until my brain comes back. Also: What a great weekend at the Nebula conference, and not just because one of my best friends won the Nebula Award for Novel. It was good enough that I don’t actually mind my brain is mush today.
The Big Idea: Maurice Broaddus
Posted on May 21, 2019 4 Comments
Honestly, Maurice Broaddus had me as a reader of The Usual Suspects when he described it as “Encyclopedia Brown meets The Wire,” but as this Big Idea shows, there’s so much more going on here. MAURICE BROADDUS: The Usual Suspects is a bit of a departure for me. It’s a middle school detective novel (think […]
Sunset, With Wife and Cat
Posted on May 15, 2019 9 Comments
Seriously, this photo has everything (photographic-wise, anyway) you come to Whatever for! I’m traveling tomorrow and will be in Los Angeles through Monday, taking meetings and also taking part in the Nebula Weekend, where among other things I will be participating in the mass autographing on Saturday afternoon, which is totally open to the public. […]
Tim Conway Gone
Posted on May 14, 2019 32 Comments
Comedian Tim Conway passed away today, and I posted a thought on Facebook which I’ll share here as well: “It occurs to me that one day every celebrity I ever loved growing up will be gone, and it will feel a little bit like being orphaned.” I will add that at age 50, their ranks […]
The Big Idea: W.M. Akers
Posted on May 13, 2019 11 Comments
In novels, detectives follow the “big cases” — but what about the other cases, which need solving? W.M. Akers considers them, and the person who would chase those down, in Westside. W.M. AKERS: You will probably never solve a murder mystery. You will probably never personally investigate arson, a hit-and-run, a kidnapping, a bomb threat, […]
Krissy and Athena, Mother’s Day 2019
Posted on May 12, 2019 6 Comments
My two favorite people on the planet, but of course you know that already. Happy Mother’s Day to you, if you are, or have ever had, a mother.
Smudge is Here to Announce the Results of the Birthday Pledge Drive
Posted on May 11, 2019 15 Comments
Two days ago I encouraged people to donate to RIP Medical Debt, a non-profit that wipes out medical debt here in the US, and in return I would (if pledge goals were met) write a short story and do an audio version of the story as well. This pledge drive was in commemoration of my […]
50
Posted on May 10, 2019 75 Comments
You didn’t know this because I didn’t say anything about it, but I recently had a brief mid-life crisis, which I thought was about turning 50. And because I was efficient about it, I had it last year. What had happened was, after I was done with my book tour for The Consuming Fire in […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying