Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 156 entries, all of them here in full.
January 26, 2016 · 2,190 words
Mr. Norway
Some of you may have noticed that I contributed to a discussion of hard vs. soft science fiction over at Tor.com. One of the things I’ve noticed about so-called hard SF is that a lot of it isn’t all that hard— the science is often extremely speculative or sometimes even non-existent— but the label attaches
Read entry →January 22, 2016 · 218 words
Caviar
Who’s this little guy? Why, he’s one of the Opistognathidae, of course. Otherwise known as a jawfish. If he look as if he’s got his mouth stuffed full of caviar, it’s because his mouth is in fact stuffed with caviar. The jawfish females lay the eggs, after which the males hold the eggs in their mouths […]
Read entry →January 20, 2016 · 444 words
David
Science fiction editor David G. Hartwell suffered a fall in his home on January 19th, while carrying a bookcase up the stairs, and suffered a “massive brain bleed.” I’ve just received the word that he’s died. I was never one of David’s authors, but I’ve known him for more than thirty years, and I […]
Read entry →January 19, 2016 · 117 words
Soaring
This is a spotted eagle ray, caught in another photo by Troy. Your heart always gives a leap when you see one of these soaring in silent majesty over the reef. They have a wingspan of over eight feet, and they’re fast. They’re shy around people, and if they become aware of you they leave you […]
Read entry →January 18, 2016 · 360 words
The Goldilocks Zone
For those of you trying to break into this business, this is the season to start thinking about workshops. And we’ve got workshops of for every size, every budget, and every variety of time commitment. First up is the granddaddy of them all, Clarion. Clarion is a six-week-long journey into writing, with an emphasis on
Read entry →January 15, 2016 · 410 words
Action Me
Here’s another photo by Troy, this time of Action Walter in Action in the Water. And if you don’t like looking at me, you can look at the fish. Win/win! Being on a live-aboard dive boat is sort of like being in the nicest military on earth. Everything’s very regimented and works according to a […]
Read entry →January 14, 2016 · 440 words
Reviews in the Nick of Time: The Big Short
First I have to say that, with all respect to The Force Awakens and JJ Abrams, this is the movie I wanted to see this holiday season. Due to various delays, including the movie not showing any closer than 65 miles away, I didn’t get to the theater till this week. Check out the star power […]
Read entry →January 13, 2016 · 80 words
Lion Fish
I’ve taken a lot of photos of lion fish over the years, but none this good. This was taken by Troy, the Aggressor’s pro photographer, who had the advantage of a camera that probably cost about $10,000 more than mine, which is the underwater equivalent of a Kodak Brownie. That said, this is an invasive species […
Read entry →January 11, 2016 · 475 words
Things Seen
From the boat I saw the green flash for the second time in my life. Rob, the chief engineer, told me that conditions looked about right, and so I paid special attention as the sun went down into the sea, and was rewarded by a moment of purest, brightest, emerald green. The video doesn’t do […]
Read entry →January 10, 2016 · 380 words
Iron Dome
WTF? Qu’est-ce que c’est? Scattered about the ocean floor off the Northwest Point of Providenciales are found a number of these curious objects. Once upon a time, they formed an actual iron underwater dome used during the filming of a pilot episode for a French reality show, a sort of Francophone version of “Survivor.”
Read entry →January 8, 2016 · 105 words
Iron Diver
I am in port but not yet ashore, and will leave the boat early tomorrow to catch my 0900 flight home. Here I am with my medal and certificate as an Iron Diver, for “completing all available dives” during my week aboard the Turks & Caicos Aggressor. (That would be 26.) They misspelled my name, […]
Read entry →January 1, 2016 · 175 words
Shake
I’m off to an Undisclosed Location in the Caribbean at 0800 tomorrow morning, for seven days on a boat with (I’m hoping) NO INTERNET CONNECTION! Nothing to do but hang out with some interesting people, say hi to the fishies, and grok the natural world. I thought I’d leave you with something in the festive […]
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