Monthly Archives: April 2021

Krissy at the Golden Hour

The “Golden Hour,” i.e., roughly the hour before sunset, is often a photographer’s favorite time of the day to shoot, because the light is flattering and the shadows are not directly up and down. I took this picture of Krissy during the golden hour yesterday. It supports the thesis reasonably well. Also, it’s one of […]

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2021 Hugo Award Finalist Follow-up

Having now had a day to look at the Hugo Awards Finalist list and to think about it, I’m now ready to share some thoughts. With me for this examination of this year’s edition of science fiction’s premier award is my always reliable Fictional Interlocutor, to feed me leading questions that always make me look […]

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Greatness Adjacent

For as long as I can remember, people have asked me, “what is it like to have a famous father?” Of course, it’s only ever people at conventions, or in my rural town, as my dad is what I like to call “Little League Famous.” This just means he is only well-known within certain communities, […]

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2021 Hugo Award Finalists

Spoiler: I’m one! And very happy to be so. Here’s the full list. Best Novel Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Gallery / Saga Press) The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit) Harrow the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom) Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tordotcom) Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury) The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books) Best Novella […]

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The Big Idea: Caroline Hardaker

If memory serves correctly, it doesn’t ever really serve correctly. Follow along with Caroline Hardaker as she tells us just what that means in the Big Idea for her first book, Composite Creatures. CAROLINE HARDAKER: The Fallibility of Memory  Have you ever told a story about something that happened to you, only for a friend to […]

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Meanwhile, Back at the Scalzi Compound

What’s been going on in Scalzi land? Well: Beast News: The Beast is currently at the local shop, being restrung and serviced. As I noted on Twitter, when I brought it into the shop the fellow there looked at it mostly with resignation, as if to say, yup, well, this is my life now, and […]

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A Trip to Stillwater

Hey, everyone! I hope your weekend is going well so far. This Saturday is a rainy one, but before it started pouring, I went to Stillwater Prairie. It’s a reserve/park with lots of nice trails, a river, and a pond. I wanted to see if I could get some good pictures of flowers starting to […]

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The Beast Arrives in Bradford

Look at this ridiculous thing. It’s here, and it’s delightful. And also has arrived reasonablyish intact — one of the six string necks has two busted strings and one string on the seven-string neck has weirdly migrated to another string’s slot, and a strap on the frankly ridiculous gig bag has ripped away from the […]

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A Sweet Review For You This Friday

I feel like my reviews are just getting more and more random. Like, last time was toasted corn crackers, this time it’s honey lollipops. I buy weird shit, okay? I am weak to the powers of Facebook advertising. They just know exactly what I want! Before I even know I want it! Anyways, today’s products, […]

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The Big Idea: Oliver K. Langmead

‘ When you think of things that may outlive you, do you think of your children, your students, maybe even your pets? In Oliver K. Langmead’s Big Idea, he tells you of something else that will outlive you: trash. These objects we throw away, as well as climate change, play a huge role in the […]

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A Winter Wonder Worldcon

Discon III, this year’s Worldcon, is moving from August — when it was likely to be entirely virtual — to December, when at least some of it is likely to be able to done in-person, including the Hugo ceremony. Some folks are going to get rocket-shaped holiday gifts, for sure. How do I feel about […]

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The Big Idea: Leah Cypess

Sometimes stories aren’t really about the main character: it’s the side characters and their stories that make the main character’s world so vibrant. Author Leah Cypess gives one of these side characters a voice in the first novel of her Sisters Ever After series, Thornwood. LEAH CYPESS: Many years ago, I wrote a book that I thought had […]

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Second Shot Down

And right on schedule, too. It’s been a few hours now and so far no side effects, not even soreness around the shot site (yet). My first one was likewise relatively symptom-free; I felt tired the day of, and went to sleep early, but otherwise no problems. Having now had my second shot, I’m now […]

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A Look At the FabFitFun Spring 2021 Box

Welcome to another post of me gushing about my love of subscription boxes! Today, I will be telling you about one that I have been getting for quite a while now, just over a year, in fact. It’s called FabFitFun, and it’s a subscription box that contains a variety of items pertaining to beauty, fashion, […]

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The Big Idea: Nancy Werlin

Missing conventions in these unprecedented times? So is New York Times best-selling author Nancy Werlin. Follow along as Werlin takes you on a tour through her train of thought in creating her newest novel, Zoe Rosenthal Is Not Lawful Good, which began with a convention. NANCY WERLIN: The Big Idea: I just want to hang […]

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Spoiler-Free Thoughts On Invincible So Far

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… an Amazon Prime original animated series about superheroes? Interesting. I hadn’t heard of Invincible at all until my friend mentioned it, and I was shocked I hadn’t seen anything about it. Me, loving superheroes, immediately watched it. At the time I watched it, the first […]

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