Monthly Archives: June 2020

Five Things: June 16, 2020

I’ve been out running errands! Fully masked and observing social distancing! Here are five things anyway. Date-a-versary! 27 years ago today, Krissy and I went on our first official date, at the El Presidente restaurant in Visalia, followed by dancing, which is kind of our thing. Krissy told me years later that she knew she […]

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The Big Idea: Doug Engstrom

Doug Engstrom is thinking about today’s troubles and woes, and how some of them rely on people one thing and corporations… doing another. From there it’s just a hop, skip and jump to the world of his new novel, Corporate Gunslinger. DOUG ENGSTROM: One of the things that’s appalled me as I’ve grown older isn’t […]

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Five Things: June 15, 2020

Slow news day today, amirite? Here are five things. 26 years ago today I proposed to Krissy. Now, maybe this is not the top news story of the day for the rest of you, but for me, you know, it’s pretty significant. Also, in case it’s not evident and you’ve not heard this story before, […]

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The Big Idea: Ryk Spoor

When thinking about epic fantasy, how epic is epic enough? And at what point might things become too epic for a single band of heroes? Author Ryk Spoor has opinions on these questions, and how they helped to inform his latest (epic!) novel, The Mask of Ares. RYK SPOOR: Epic fantasy has a lot of […]

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To Talk, Or Not

Easyrihiner asks, in the comment thread from yesterday’s Five Things post: What’s your take on authors/artists that aren’t talking about current events right now? I don’t attach a value judgment to it. There are any number of reasons why a creative person isn’t commenting on current events. Some reasons, and in no specific order, might […]

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Five Things: June 12, 2020

I’ve been busy moderating comment threads today, but let’s see if there are five things in the world I want to talk about: Tucker Carlson losing advertisers for being a blatant racist, again. Because, I mean, this isn’t exactly the first time, is it? Which does leave hanging just how many advertisers Fox News have, […]

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Generation X and Trans Lives

So, I’m going to preface this thing I’m about to write by being as clear as I can be about this, so there’s no confusion or ambiguity on this score: Trans women are women, trans men are men, trans non-binary folks are non-binary folks, and trans rights are human rights. I’m non-squishy on this. I […]

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Five Things: June 11, 2020

Here’s today’s big news! In five convenient bits! I got a haircut: Which I recognize is not big news for everyone else, but which feel significant for me, since it’s the first one I’ve gotten since the quarantine started. I went to my usual person, whose salon was recently re-opened. She was taking things seriously, […]

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The Big Idea: John P. Murphy

The creative advantages to anger: Are there any at all, ever? John P. Murphy says… perhaps! And explains how they were put to work in his novel Red Noise. JOHN P. MURPHY: Red Noise is about anger. I wrote it in 2017, at a time when a lot of us were angry for good reasons. […]

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Five Things: June 10, 2020

Annnnd here we go for today: Trump wants CNN to apologize for a poll that has Biden ahead: Oh, bless his sad little heart. I do understand it’s been a bad couple of weeks for the president, what with botched photo ops and hiding in bunkers and behind gates and his open racism not working […]

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The Big Idea: A.J. Fitzwater

In today’s Big Idea for their novel No Man’s Land, author A.J. Fitzwater gives a good example why it’s a good idea to support local businesses: because you may find something there that opens a lost world to you. A.J. FITZWATER: Books talk. Within a moment, across the years, decades, centuries. They speak to each […]

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Five Things: June 9, 2020

Okay, let’s see what’s up in the world and with me today: He pushed himself! A study in contrasts between the two men vying to be the president for the next term: Trump is suggesting the 75-year-old man who was injured whilst being abused by the Buffalo Police sorta, you know, made himself fall harder; […]

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The Big Idea: C. S. E. Cooney, Jessica P. Wick, Amanda J. McGee, Mike Allen

This Big Idea post for the collection A Sinister Quartet represents an actual record: The largest number of authors co-writing a single Big Idea piece. I’m going to get out of the way here and let them do their thing. CSE COONEY, JESSICA P. WICK, AMANDA J. McGEE, MIKE ALLEN: A Sinister Quartet pays tribute […]

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Five Things: June 8, 2020

Well. Quiet weekend, huh?  Here’s today’s five: Defunding the police: It’s a catchy phrase, all right, and one designed to provoke outsized responses on the right and the left, and at least mild consternation for the people who don’t think they’re either on the right or the left. It’s a lot catchier than “Don’t make […]

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The Big Idea: Tim Major

When you have kids, it can really mess with your focus and ability to do things. But can it also be an inspiration? Ask Tim Major, who in this Big Idea for his novel Hope Island, has some thoughts on this very subject. TIM MAJOR: Probably, all new parents are entirely preoccupied with the act […]

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Thinking More on #PublishingPaidMe

Over on Twitter right now, there’s an active hashtag called #PublishingPaidMe, in which writers are divulging their book advances, in part to see if there are systematic biases against writers of color and other marginalized groups. Well, my last major book deal is literally public knowledge, and I didn’t see that there was much downside […]

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Spam Filtering Note

In the last couple of days I’ve been getting emails from folks asking if I’m moderating people more than usual and/or have revoked people’s posting status. The answer: Nope — but it does appear the site’s spam filter is being unusually aggressive recently, and comments have been getting kicked into the spam folder. That being […]

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Five Things: June 5, 2020

Here’s today’s five for you: It’s a police riot: Or so Jamelle Bouie says in the New York Times, and there’s certainly been enough evidence in the last week to show that the police working the protests aren’t exactly treating the folks protesting the death of George Floyd with the same tender care and respect […]

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DreamHaven Books & Comics Fundraiser

A couple of days ago I posted about the fundraiser for Uncle Hugo’s, the science fiction bookstore that was razed to the ground last week during the protests in Minneapolis. At the same time, another science fiction bookstore, DreamHaven Books & Comics, took damage as well, although fortunately not as much. Nevertheless, damage was done, […]

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