Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 163 entries, all of them here in full.
May 4, 2015 · 141 words
Princess Whatzername
So the entire world, apparently, is holding its breath waiting for the Windsors to make up their minds about what to call the latest Blessed Event. Public opinion seems to be holding out for “Victoria,” which is certainly keeping it in the family. But I think the Windsors should go a little more 21st Century […]
Read entry →April 30, 2015 · 186 words
I Am Play’d
I am gradually uploading my ebooks to Google Play. They’re not all uploaded yet, but they should be within the next week or so. I haven’t moved my stuff onto Google for a number of reasons, among them (1) I’m still mad at Google for trying to glom the copyright of every living writer in […]
Read entry →April 28, 2015 · 350 words
Who You Gonna Call?
I was chez Abraham last night, and watched as Kat played one of the XCom series, video games about an elite force of soldiers tasked with repelling an alien invasion of what looks to be Middle America. Just as Master Chief leads the elite alien-fighting Spartans in the Halo series, and Nathan Hale leads another elite a
Read entry →April 25, 2015 · 447 words
POV
The other day, I wrote a few pages. And when I looked at them, they struck me as mediocre. They weren’t bad, mind you. They got the job done, they got my protagonist where she needed to go. But they didn’t sparkle, they didn’t fizz, and when I read them I didn’t hear the little voice […]
Read entry →April 22, 2015 · 420 words
La Vie Bohème
This article points out that authors’ incomes have declined nearly 30% since 2005. “The creative industries are thriving, generating £76bn per annum, yet professional writers have seen a near 30% reduction in earnings in recent years . . . Consequently many are no longer able to sustain a career. The one truly irreplac
Read entry →April 18, 2015 · 1,005 words
Watching Now . . .
Someone— Connie Willis, I think— was saying just the other day that when writers want to talk about writing, they rely on movies or TV, because people have these in common much more than books. I think I’m about to prove her right. TV series are treading water right now, because they’re saving all their [&h
Read entry →April 16, 2015 · 605 words
The Froomistat Conundrum
Uh-oh. Our hero is in trouble. “Captain! The enemy’s Vetch Cannon are proving more than a match for the shields generated by our Krump Vanes!” “Blast it! I warned the Admiralty that this would happen!” “We’re really getting a pounding, sir!” “Mr. Blazey— do we still have those froomistats in the hold?” “Yes, sir,
Read entry →April 12, 2015 · 157 words
Holograms for Human Rights
The right-wing People’s Party in Spain has passed a series of draconian security laws that criminalize the following: Protesting the government without the government’s permission. Carrying out meetings Taking photographs or videos of police without the permission of the police. For “being present at an occupied space”
Read entry →April 12, 2015 · 79 words
I Seem To Be An Album
Alert reader Andrew Coyne informs me that my novel Voice of the Whirlwind seems to have inspired an album by rising electronic music star Access to Arasaka (whose name is itself a reference to the Cyberpunk 2020 card game Netrunner). The album is écrasez l’infâme, the defiant battle cry of Voltaire quoted by Steward in
Read entry →April 9, 2015 · 123 words
On the Road Again
Spot the fish in this picture. I’m not sure I can do it myself. I know there’s a frogfish in the frame somewhere, but I’m not sure which of the lumps is fish and which is coral. The guide said, “If you see a piece of coral with a frown on it, that’s a frogfish.” […]
Read entry →April 8, 2015 · 1,104 words
Revisiting the Classics
As part of my program to revisit books that I liked when I was younger, I recently re-read Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land for the first time since I was in college. Oh, my. I should point out that as a young person I read all the Heinlein I could find. (Have Space Suit, Will […]
Read entry →April 1, 2015 · 257 words
Crisis Mode
I’ve been in Crisis Mode since I returned to the mainland last week, and so I haven’t been posting much. The term is misleading, however, because there’s no actual crisis. There’s just a bunch of annoying tasks with deadlines, one after the other, so that I barely have a chance to catch my breath. None […]
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