Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 3,174 entries, all of them here in full.
September 23, 2015 · 199 words
Big Bundle, Big Books, Big Savings
So StoryBundle has a deal for you. They’ve bundled six novels, each of them nominated for the Philip K Dick Award, and by Elizabeth Hand, Pat Murphy, K.W. Jeter, Gwyneth Jones, Lisa Mason, and Kathy Koja. These ebooks are completely free of DRM and can be read on any device. And the best part is: you […]
Read entry →September 20, 2015 · 1,025 words
Dragging It Out
Dish Network gave me a free premium channel the other week, and so I watched The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part I. Which was a kind of masterpiece, because in a film over two hours long nothing really happened. What’s going on is that the success of the Twilight films, in which the final volume of the trilogy […
Read entry →September 18, 2015 · 308 words
Dreaming of the Lost City
So why am I dreaming of the City by the Bay? Which is to say, Duluth? It’s been over a month since I returned from my childhood haunts in Minnesota. When I was there, I found myself dealing with a tangible, material place, which however pleasant was substantially changed from the terrain where I grew […]
Read entry →September 17, 2015 · 172 words
Room to Roar
This one’s been echoing in my skull all the day. I have to say it’s just the sort of song you need to get you out of bed in the morning. This is “Give Us Room to Roar” by Ruth MacKenzie, from her album Kalevala: Dream of the Salmon Maiden. I can’t seem to find out […]
Read entry →September 17, 2015 · 46 words
Staying Busy
I seem to be having a busy week, with little time for posting here or indeed anywhere. If I weren’t actually accomplishing stuff, I’d probably be annoyed. Please enjoy this picture of some 3500-year-old martial artists engaging in their daily practice. Remember: exercise keeps you young!
Read entry →September 13, 2015 · 378 words
Refugee Mario
So when I was a young, callous person, I designed a board game called The An Loc Survival Game. An Loc, for the young folks among you, was a town in Vietnam that was the centerpiece of a 66-day battle of mutual annihilation between North and South Vietnamese forces, the latter assisted by insane amounts of […]
Read entry →September 7, 2015 · 231 words
Six of One
Something old Something new Six brand-new books Just for you I am insanely pleased to announce that I’ve sold six new books, three each to two different publishers. “Something old” would be three new books in the Praxis series, sold to David Pomerico at HarperCollins. Readers have been wanting more of Martinez and Sula
Read entry →September 5, 2015 · 273 words
Catching the Wind
Welcome to a world of wind and bone, songs and silence, betrayal and courage . . . I am beyond pleased to note that Fran Wilde— Taos Toolbox 2012— has sold her first novel Updraft to Tor, and that it’s now out to rave reviews. The book was also workshopped at Toolbox, so I’d like to […]
Read entry →September 3, 2015 · 67 words
Even More of Me
I’m pleased to report that I’ll be teaching at the 2016 Paradise Lost workshop, held April 28-May 1 in San Antonio, Tx. My fellow teachers include Jaye Wells and new writer (and Taos Toolbox graduate) Fran Wilde. I taught at this workshop a couple years ago and had a great time, and I think the […]
Read entry →September 1, 2015 · 536 words
The Persistence of Music
Bubonicon was fun, and I was fully engaged with panels, signing, reading, and hanging out with friends; but I came back with a bad cold, so the last couple days have been devoted to coughing, sneezing, gurgling, and swilling down cold meds. Possibly because I’ve been taking it easy and staying away from distractions, I
Read entry →August 25, 2015 · 76 words
Looking Up
Things are looking up, so here’s a view upward, in a photo I took in York Minster some years ago. The rest of the week is going to be very busy, and culminate in Bubonicon 47, New Mexico’s annual science fiction convention, where I shall be in attendance, and (judging by the schedule) rather occupied. […]
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