Uncategorized Category
Winter Meander
Posted on January 28, 2023 7 Comments
I downloaded a new synth and fiddled a bit with it today, and this is what came out. As the title implies, it’s a bit of a meander rather than a proper composition, but it was still fun to put together. At some point I’m going to some actual songs, with, like, lyrics and stuff. […]
A Gentle Reminder
Posted on January 28, 2023 22 Comments
There’s a current kerfuffle in the speculative fiction space and some folks are wondering why certain authors/notables in that space haven’t chimed in (this has not been directed at me, as I’m not in that particular space, but some others I know of). This is a good time to link back to this, which I […]
Where is My Mind
Posted on January 27, 2023 4 Comments
I’ve had a ridiculously good week this week, enough so that it’s done my brain in just a bit. Some of it you know, some of it you will know soon, and some of it I won’t be able to tell you for a while. Just know I’m happy but mildly discombobulated at the moment. […]
A Mildly Disappointing Snowpocalypse
Posted on January 25, 2023 28 Comments
We were told for the last couple of days that today we could expect anywhere from four to eight inches of snow, and that we should probably all just stay in our houses and hunker down while the stuff blanketed the earth (and roads, and electrical wires, etc). So we did — I mean, I […]
The Great Leveler
Posted on January 24, 2023 12 Comments
The house that we bought on the property adjacent to our church is no more; neither is the rubble of that house when it was torn down. What’s left now is dirt, laid over the former basement space of the house by the machinery you see here, and soon to be blanketed in snow thanks […]
Hey, Wanna Know Who Won This Year’s Robert A. Heinlein Award?
Posted on January 24, 2023 72 Comments
And as you might expect, I’m pretty damn happy about it. Not only because it’s an award named for Heinlein, who is an undeniable influence on me (you may recall that the Publishers Weekly review of Old Man’s War said “Though a lot of SF writers are more or less efficiently continuing the tradition of […]
“My Year of Dicks” an Oscar Nominee!!!
Posted on January 24, 2023 6 Comments
It had been on the shortlist (i.e., the step before actual nomination), but as of this morning’s Oscar nomination announcements, it’s officially a nominee. Which means Pamela Ribon, my friend who wrote its screenplay, is also an Oscar nominee! This is genuinely the best news of the day, as far as I’m concerned. It’s not […]
The Kaiju Preservation Society Out in Paperback Today
Posted on January 24, 2023 8 Comments
And what a lovely trade paperback it is, too. It doesn’t look too much different from the hardcover, with a only a few graphic design changes to push a review quote, and to announce the book’s NYT bestseller status (thanks for that, folks, by the way). If you want to pick up this version, it’s […]
Chengdu Worldcon Now Accepting Credit Cards
Posted on January 23, 2023 6 Comments
For those folks outside China who wanted to get a membership at this year’s Worldcon in Chengdu, but were stymied because the Worldcon site wasn’t accepting payments from outside China, there’s good news: The site now accepts credit card payments. I tried it myself and the site acknowledged my payment and membership (although, please note, […]
Absconding With My Wife For the Weekend
Posted on January 19, 2023 6 Comments
Guess who is having a weekend off with his spouse? If you guess “Why, it would appear John Scalzi is,” then you are 100% correct. We’re off to see friends and hang about and enjoy each other’s company. Honestly, sounds ideal. I believe Athena will be posting something in the next couple of days, so […]
Family Portrait, WWII Style
Posted on January 15, 2023 14 Comments
In this photo you will see, from left, my great uncle Roy, my grandmother Jean, and my grandfather Mike. This would have been taken during World War II so my grandmother and grandfather would have been in their early 20s, which makes this officially the youngest I’ve ever seen them in a photo. The photo […]
Wipeout, Rural Ohio Style
Posted on January 12, 2023 37 Comments
Our afternoon today was interrupted by a knock on the door and a young man standing on our porch. He had come to inform us he’d made a bit of a mess of our yard, down by the road. What happened was, it has been raining more or less constantly today, and the young man’s […]
Two Pets, One Door
Posted on January 11, 2023 5 Comments
And from Sugar’s point of view, this is exactly the way things should be, with her on the inside and the dog on the outside. Don’t worry, they switched places almost immediately thereafter. — JS
The Dispatcher: Travel By Bullet Signed, Limited Print Edition Now Available for Pre-Order
Posted on January 9, 2023 8 Comments
Yes, the third installment of the New York Times best selling Dispatcher series will soon be available in a signed, limited hardcover edition from Subterranean Press. If you don’t know what that means, it means that every copy of the book will be signed by me, and that we’re only making a couple thousand of […]
Meanwhile, These Two Buttheads
Posted on January 7, 2023 10 Comments
Smudge and Charlie were playing around this morning, and at one point, Charlie was playing in a manner I thought was maybe a little too rough, so I told her to back off. She came up to me to apologize, at which point Smudge launched an unprovoked attack on her butt. So I said to […]
A Slow Day at the Scalzi Compound
Posted on January 6, 2023 8 Comments
Sugar speaks for the entire household today; it’s been a day of a whole lot of nothing. Part of that is due to at least one member of the clan being under the weather, which necessitated a lot of rest, and everyone else just going along with the vibe. Don’t worry, we’re all fine, it’s […]
Spoiler: It Wasn’t a Tornado, It Just Looks Like It Was
Posted on January 5, 2023 17 Comments
You may recall that we purchased the house next to The Old Church, which was in poor repair, with an eye toward bringing it down and doing other things with the land. Today was the day it was torn down; here is the wreckage. It will not, I promise, be there long. But while it […]
For Your Consideration: “My Year of Dicks”
Posted on January 4, 2023 8 Comments
My ridiculously talented pal Pamela Ribon, who came up with me in the (now very) old school “Online Journals” community, and has made a name for herself writing novels, humor, television and some animated films you have heard of, has an animated short titled My Year of Dicks, which follows a teenage Pamie in her […]
What I Have Eligible for Award Consideration This Year, 2023 Edition
Posted on January 3, 2023 6 Comments
Actually a fair amount! Best Novel: The Kaiju Preservation Society, Tor Books, March 2022, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, editor; Best Novella: The Dispatcher: Travel By Bullet, Audible Studios, September 2022, Steve Feldberg, editor; Best Short Story: “Grizzly Bear Conflict Manager” (April 2022) and “End of the Year PR Missives From Scrooge & Marley” (December 2022), both […]
Happy New Year!
Posted on January 1, 2023 19 Comments
We rang it in, literally. (I did a poll on Twitter asking if I should ring the church bell at midnight. 91% of respondents said yes. So…) — JS
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying