Monthly Archives: September 2020
The Big Idea: Rebecca Coffindaffer
Posted on September 30, 2020 2 Comments
Sometimes, despite all your efforts to the contrary, you have to think about being the hero. Or so author Rebecca Coffindaffer might argue, in the context of her novel Crownchasers. REBECCA COFFINDAFFER: I love a reluctant hero. I’ve loved them ever since I sat, wide-eyed, as my dad read The Fellowship of the Ring out […]
A White Supremacist, For White Supremacists, Counting on White Supremacists
Posted on September 30, 2020 139 Comments
Last night, after catching up with a debate that it turns out I was 100% correct not to watch live, and thus still have a TV that’s functional because I didn’t throw something heavy at it, I wrote this on Twitter: (checks news) So basically the big news of the debate is a white supremacist […]
Answer Time!
Posted on September 29, 2020 25 Comments
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for (since last Monday)! I have picked a handful of questions from all your lovely inquires. If I didn’t pick yours, I’m sorry, there were seriously a ton of really good ones that I did not pick simply because I didn’t have a solid, clear cut answer, […]
The Big Idea: Lauren Shippen
Posted on September 29, 2020 5 Comments
Do you love a good villain story? Who doesn’t enjoy a nice anti-hero now and again, right? Take a trip to the dark side with author Lauren Shippen’s newest release, A Neon Darkness, and see just how bad a good person can be. LAUREN SHIPPEN: I never thought I would write a villain story. It isn’t that […]
Sunset, 9/28/20
Posted on September 28, 2020 5 Comments
Because it’s been a long day, and you deserve a moment of beauty. — JS
What We Knew, What We Know, and Why It Matters
Posted on September 28, 2020 142 Comments
Does the New York Times’ extensive and highly-researched dive into Donald Trump’s taxes tell us anything we didn’t know before? As a practical matter, yes: Donald Trump actively avoided releasing his taxes for years, and now we have the actual facts and figures out in the open — or, at least, the actual facts and […]
Mayhaw Jelly and Novel Crunch Time: Two Unrelated Things in a Single Post
Posted on September 27, 2020 18 Comments
First: as we recently did a survey of fancy jams here on Whatever, a reader (who I will let self-identify if they wish in the comments) sent along a type of jelly I had not heard of before: mayhaw jelly, “mayhaw” being a seasonal fruit in the South of the US, apparently ripening in May, […]
And Now, Something Relaxing
Posted on September 26, 2020 3 Comments
It’s not that I was having a stressful Saturday — it was in fact mostly fine! — but the world is a lot these days, isn’t it, and you might need a moment to center yourself. This lovely new song by musician Rachel Croft just might do the trick for you. Enjoy, and have a […]
Get Gud, Scrub
Posted on September 25, 2020 86 Comments
I’ve always loved video games. My whole life, I’ve been enamored with the gaming world, from the PS2 to the Nintendo Switch, from arcade machines at the movie theater to the PC (which is obviously the best but we’ll save that for another post). But there is one thing I’ve been noticing recently that I […]
In Which I Offer An Opinion So Contentious It May Rock the Very Fabric of Our Society
Posted on September 24, 2020 101 Comments
And it is: Brach’s Mellocreme Pumpkins are the best mass-produced, fall-themed candies of them all. Discuss. — JS
The Art VS the Artist
Posted on September 23, 2020 127 Comments
Last night, I wrote a post for the blog. It was only about seven hundred words, and it took me probably an hour or just over that to write it. In the post, I was talking about how much I liked a piece of media, and telling all of you to consume the media, too. However, […]
Hey, I’m Doing an Audible Live Event Tomorrow (9/24/20)
Posted on September 23, 2020 6 Comments
In which I will discuss my Number One Top Audible Plus Listen(ed to) audiobook Murder By Other Means, and other things about writing and life and cats and stuff and things. If you’re not doing anything tomorrow (September 24, 2020) at 8pm ET, come on by. And if you are doing something at the time, […]
Autumn’s First Sunset
Posted on September 22, 2020 3 Comments
It’s very dramatic. It would be lovely if this was as dramatic as this autumn was going to get. But I wouldn’t count on that. — JS
The State of Masking in Trump Country: An Anecdotal Report
Posted on September 22, 2020 135 Comments
I had a doctor’s appointment today (spoiler: I’m fine, everything’s fine), and I was excited about it because I haven’t been out of the house for a while and also I bought some new masks and I was excited to try one of them out. The new masks are triple layer (one of the layers […]
The Big Idea: R. B. Lemberg
Posted on September 22, 2020 4 Comments
Who needs to be the Chosen One at the age of thirteen, or to save the world at sixteen? With The Four Profound Weaves, author R. B. Lemberg takes us on a fantastical journey with an older character, one whose story has just begun. R. B. LEMBERG: I’ve been writing in Birdverse, my LGBTQIA+ centered […]
Ask Me a Question!
Posted on September 21, 2020 80 Comments
Hey, everyone! Today I thought I’d mix it up and have a Q&A. I’ve been writing on the blog for over a month and a half now, and I thought to myself, these people read my posts, but how much do they really know about me? Obviously, you probably know at least some stuff, considering […]
Internet Speed Update
Posted on September 21, 2020 32 Comments
This will sound slightly ridiculous, but I can’t tell you how nice it is to have reasonable internet speeds after close to two decades of having to make do with substandard bandwidth relative to the rest of the county. When I moved to Bradford in 2001, the only local internet provider had speeds of 9600 […]
The Big Idea: Karen Osborne
Posted on September 21, 2020 5 Comments
Sometimes, good things can emerge from bad circumstances. Author Karen Osborne’s newest book, Architects of Memory, is a prime example of that. What started as a medical emergency spiraled into a novel about facing one’s fragility. Read on as the author shares her emotional journey from pain to novel. KAREN OSBORNE: An orthopedist once saved my […]
Clash of the Geeks, Ten Years On
Posted on September 20, 2020 22 Comments
In the more innocent days of 2010, I commissioned artist Jeff Zugale to create the amazing image above, of me as an orc, doing battle with a totally ripped Wil Wheaton, who is astride, of course, a unicorn pegasus kitten. The image was designed to evoke wonder and curiosity, like “what the hell?” and “why […]
Smudge’s Grand Plan for the Weekend
Posted on September 19, 2020 13 Comments
It’s not a bad plan, to be honest. I may emulate it. — JS
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying