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Equinox Sunset, 3/20/23
Posted on March 20, 2023 3 Comments
Welcome to Spring, and longer days. Unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere. In which case, sorry, shorter days for you. Don’t worry, we’ll switch places in about six months. — JS
Krissy and I Have a Band: Introducing OEMAA and “Parking Space”
Posted on March 19, 2023 59 Comments
During the pandemic, lots of people took on projects to keep themselves busy; mine was building out a music room with an eye toward eventually writing and recording music. Along the way Krissy expressed an interest in bass guitar, so I got her one and told her that she and I would form a band […]
Friday Night Music: MaryLeigh Roohan
Posted on March 17, 2023 6 Comments
I met MaryLeigh Roohan on the JoCo Cruise, and I was told she was a musician and then she and I geeked out over Emmylou Harris, so I endeavored to look her up when I got back on land and had a decent internet. And, wow, is she ever a musician; this song “The High […]
A Big Day For the Church
Posted on March 17, 2023 12 Comments
It might not look like much, but the picture you see here represents an important milestone in the renovation of The Old Church: That chimney has been capped and tuckpointed, and those white slats have sealed up an area where wind and water could get in, transferring both cold and moisture to the interior of […]
Brandon Sanderson and the Scalzi Award
Posted on March 17, 2023 10 Comments
In addition to writing a book or two that you may have heard about, Brandon Sanderson does a number of podcasts, and in this episode of one of them, he talks about many things, including something that is called “The Scalzi Award,” which he, and only he, has. What is the Scalzi Award, and how […]
The UK Cover of Starter Villain
Posted on March 16, 2023 14 Comments
Which is, as you all know, my upcoming novel, to be released this September (September 21 in the UK, to be exact). The UK cover is of a kind with the UK cover of The Kaiju Preservation Society, which I think is pretty nifty, as both books are set in contemporary time, even with their […]
My New Current Favorite Picture of Krissy
Posted on March 15, 2023 7 Comments
Taken last week during the JoCo Cruise. Don’t know if you know, but I think she’s pretty great. — JS
Appearance News: Cabinet of Wonders, April 7 8pm, City Winery, NYC
Posted on March 15, 2023 6 Comments
If you live in or near New York City and have a hankerin’ to see me live and in person, oh, boy, do I have news for you: I’ll be part of Wesley Stace’s monthly variety show, the Cabinet of Wonders, this April. I will be appearing alongside (deep breath): Chris Collingwood (Fountains of Wayne), […]
Everything Everywhere All At Once, and the Gen X Oscars
Posted on March 13, 2023 29 Comments
One, I’m delighted that it won, it was my favorite film of the last year, and more widely, it was the most “this story could only be done as a movie” movie of 2022, so a win at the awards that are meant to celebrate the singular nature of the medium is pretty great. And […]
Back in the World
Posted on March 12, 2023 37 Comments
Have returned from the 2023 edition of the JoCo Cruise, which was in many ways one of my favorites of the several I’ve been on. A longer report later, until then enjoy this photo from Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas (the young lady you see in the photo is my niece, who came with […]
Happy 25th Birthday Scalzi.com
Posted on March 4, 2023 17 Comments
Fun fact: 25 years ago today, I registered Scalzi.com as domain. Why? Because I was about to get laid off from America Online and I needed a new email address, and I figured, what the hell, get my own domain because that way I would never have to change my email again. And guess what? […]
What AI Is Good For
Posted on March 3, 2023 19 Comments
At the moment we’re all sort of freaking out about the uses of “AI” in text and art, because even as overhyped as it is, it’s still exhibiting some genuinely transformative skills it didn’t have even a year or two ago, and those skills will only get more refined as we go along. People should […]
The Alex Award Arrives
Posted on March 1, 2023 21 Comments
When I won an Alex Award in 2015 for Lock In, what that consisted of was an email from my publicist saying, “Hey, you won this award,” and a some congratulations from around the Internet. This year, when I won it for The Kaiju Preservation Society, I got a surprise phone call set up through […]
Is It Ethical to Be On Twitter In the Musk Era? A Personal Answer
Posted on February 28, 2023 67 Comments
As most of you know, very recently Scott Adams, the creator of the “Dilbert” comic strip, went full racist – or more accurately, went full racist again, just in a way that was entirely unignorable – and as result had his comic dropped by hundreds of newspapers and then by his syndicate, which cut the […]
New Books and ARCs, 2/24/23
Posted on February 24, 2023 17 Comments
Have a hankerin’ for some fine new reads? This week’s stack of new books and ARCs has you covered. What here piques your interest? Share in the comments!
OMG is the AI Coming For My Job?!???!??!!!?!?!?
Posted on February 23, 2023 59 Comments
Technically yes, as this New York Times story about people flooding science fiction magazines with AI-generated story submissions makes evident. But realistically, no, because all these generated stories are kinda trash, and anyway, it’s not the AI that’s flooding the submissions pile with crap, it’s people — scamsters looking for a quick shot of money, […]
Oh, God, He’s At It Again, or, Hey, Look, I Covered Another Song
Posted on February 22, 2023 9 Comments
If you been saying to yourself “Boy, I wish I could hear John Scalzi mangle an English accent while massacring one of Depeche Mode’s few cheerful songs,” then, boy oh boy, is today your day! Here’s me taking a whack at “But Not Tonight,” off of the band’s Black Celebration album. This was produced mostly […]
Scalzi’s First Pączki
Posted on February 22, 2023 23 Comments
Weirdly, and despite my well-known love of deep-fried dough, I somehow made it through 53 years of life without ever once eating a pączki. I can give any number of explanations for this, none of them good; heck, I lived in Chicago for years, the heartland, if you will, of Polish-American culture, and yet still […]
Hello, Savannah
Posted on February 16, 2023 10 Comments
I’m here for your book festival! Here are all the details. If you’re in the area, I hope I’ll see you this weekend. In the meantime: Look! A tree! — JS
Charlie and Me, 2/15/23 (Plus a Very Vague Announcement)
Posted on February 15, 2023 24 Comments
On one hand, the fact that today the temperature hit the upper sixties in Ohio in February may be a worrisome indicator of where things are going. On the other hand, it still was a beautiful day to hang out in the yard with the dog. So, you know. Take your silver linings where you […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying