Monthly Archives: May 2023
New Books and ARCs, 5/12/23
Posted on May 12, 2023 12 Comments
It’s Friday, and what better time to be thinking about books for the weekend. What in this stack of new books and ARCs is calling to you? Share in the comments! — JS
Universal Yums: April 2023 Review
Posted on May 11, 2023 24 Comments
Yes, it is in fact May, but I only just now got around to eating the April Universal Yums Box, so here is a late April review! This month was Belgium, and here’s all the goodies: Right off the bat, this looked like a very promising spread. There’s tons of chocolate, which is to be […]
The Big Idea: Jules Sherred
Posted on May 11, 2023 11 Comments
Cooking is for everyone, and Jules Sherred is reminding everyone of that with his new book Crip Up the Kitchen: Tools, Tips and Recipes for the Disabled Cook, which aims to help make the activity more accessible to those who might have previously felt excluded from it. JULES SHERRED: If you were to ask my […]
An Appropriate Cover: “With Or Without You”
Posted on May 10, 2023 13 Comments
Fun fact: Bono, the lead singer of U2, has the same birthday as me: Today, May 10. So I thought it might be fun to essay one of his band’s more famous songs. It’s not going to replace the original, to be sure, but I enjoyed putting it together. Additionally, a thing I learned today: […]
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Posted on May 10, 2023 50 Comments
Well, I’m no longer in my “early fifties,” I’m smack dab in the middle of them, and of middle age. And you know what? So far, at least, my fifties have been terrific. I’m very definitely in the part of my life where I am comfortable with who I am and what I’ve done with […]
The Big Idea: Lisa Brideau
Posted on May 9, 2023 2 Comments
There’s no time like the present when it comes to making positive change. That’s certainly the case for author Lisa Brideau regarding policies on climate change. Follow along in her Big Idea to see how she crafts this changed world in her new novel, Adrift. LISA BRIDEAU: I work all day on climate policy. I am […]
Visiting the Darke County Food Truck Festival
Posted on May 9, 2023 18 Comments
I’ve never been the biggest fan of food trucks. I always thought that if I wanted to go and eat somewhere, I’d like to be inside a building, not outdoors, and be able to sit and eat comfortably. So food trucks just never really fit the bill for me. However, ever since I started working […]
The Big Idea: Dorothy A. Winsor
Posted on May 8, 2023 8 Comments
Sometimes, a “big idea” is a collection of smaller ideas, which, when grouped together, are greater than the sum of their parts. Dorothy A. Winsor knows a little about this, and in this Big Idea for Glass Girl, she puts it all together for you. DOROTHY A. WINSOR: Big Ideas don’t always (often? ever?) leap […]
Cover Reveal: Starter Villain
Posted on May 8, 2023 35 Comments
Tor Books has a history of giving my novels some pretty terrific covers, and, hey, guess what? They’ve done it again! Please enjoy the cover of Starter Villain, featuring, as it does, a tremendous executive-level cat. And, yes, cats are integral to the plot of the novel. How? You’ll have to read the book to […]
Reader Request Week 2023 #10: Short Bits, Part Two
Posted on May 7, 2023 7 Comments
More short answers to pressing questions! Let’s get right to it: Theorboast: I would love to see you rate some unusual musical instruments for suitability in your band. Theorbo? Theremin? Hurdy-gurdy? Duduk and tar? As it happens I do own a theremin, and also some other vaguely unusual musical instruments such as an Omnichord, a […]
Reader Request Week 2023 #9: Short Bits, Part One
Posted on May 6, 2023 10 Comments
And now, short answers to some of the questions that I otherwise did not get to this year: Karen A. Wyle: What does it mean to retire from self-employment? Is there any purpose in declaring, to oneself or others, that one is Retired? If you stop working for a living, and don’t plan to start […]
I and Michi Trota Talk About Writing and Life and Stuff
Posted on May 6, 2023 1 Comment
And specifically about The Kaiju Preservation Society, at the American Writers Festival last year. It’s an hour long! We cover a lot of ground! Enjoy! — JS
Reader Request Week 2023 #8: The British Head of State
Posted on May 5, 2023 39 Comments
Just in time for tomorrow’s coronation, this question from Miles B: I’m British, and I’m curious what you (Americans in general, but obviously you in particular) make of the way we determine our head of state? For those of you who might be unclear about this, the head of state of the United Kingdom is […]
Reader Request Week 2023 #7: Money Among the Generations
Posted on May 5, 2023 53 Comments
David Goldfarb asks: Something that occurred to me to wonder about, a while ago: as someone who grew up poor, how do you feel about your daughter’s attitude towards money? I’ve seen posts from her where she talks in a fairly casual way about spending what to me (also upper middle class! pretty close to […]
The Big Idea: Jarrett Lerner
Posted on May 5, 2023
In A Work in Progress, author Jarrett Lerner’s character is wrestling with a monster of a problem. It’s the same problem that Lerner himself had to wrestle with in his time — a monster of a problem that is, alas, all too common. JARRETT LERNER: I’ve always loved monster stories. I can’t remember a specific […]
Reader Request Week 2023 #6: An Update On the Church
Posted on May 4, 2023 38 Comments
Several folks in the request thread have asked for an update on the church, with some additional information about what it takes to renew and refurb an old building like this into something useable. As it happens, today we got another milestone in its refurbishment under our belts, so it’s a fine time to catch […]
The Big Idea: Mick Ryan
Posted on May 4, 2023 3 Comments
There are many people who have written about war in the future, including the proprietor of this particular site. But Major General Mick Ryan (ret.) may have, by profession and inclination, a unique insight into the matter. In this Big Idea for White Sun War, he explains how his insight is married to a now-classic […]
Reader Request Week 2023 #5: That Big Damn Contract, Revisited
Posted on May 3, 2023 29 Comments
Will Glass wants to know: How’s the Big Damn Contract going? Hard to believe it’s been 8 years. Not that any of this is our business of course, but since you’ve talked about it a fair amount, your avid readers are curious. Are you satisfied with the deal you got? From Tor’s perspective are they […]
I’m the Guest of Honor at the 2023 Budapest International Book Festival
Posted on May 3, 2023 23 Comments
For those of you who can’t read Hungarian, which admittedly includes me, this is what the article screenshot above says, via Google Translate: John Scalzi will be the guest of honor at this year’s Book FestivalThe Budapest International Book Festival, which is now being held for the 28th time, is a noted event of the […]
The Big Idea: L.R. Lam
Posted on May 3, 2023 3 Comments
Dragons! Everybody loves them and they wing their way into all sorts of places in the fantasy genre. Author L.R. Lam was determined to find a fresh spin on the familiar creatures, however, and in Dragonfall, they may just have found one. L.R. LAM: For years, I’d really wanted to write myself a Big Ol’ […]
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