Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 272 entries, all of them here in full.
June 14, 2009 · 276 words
Rectified
I have written elsewhere of my experiments with beer-can-up-the-butt chicken. It’s tasty, it’s ridiculously easy, and it’s a lot easier to clean up than if you used your grill’s rotisserie attachment. But there are drawbacks as well. It’s easy for the chicken to topple over and start a fire or get burned. I’m not sure
Read entry →June 10, 2009 · 872 words
Shortcuts Through the Ghetto
I was reading a fantasy novel the other day, by one of those “widely-acknowledged masters of the genre” we’re always hearing about, and the story had a familiar sort of shape.(1) Young woman moves into spooky old house in a small village filled with eccentric relatives and retainers. (2) Spooky things happen. (3) Heroi
Read entry →June 10, 2009 · 342 words
Planets Found and Lost
News from the World O’ Science:We may have seen our first extra-galactic planet. Micro-lensing may have shown that a star in the Andromeda Galaxy has a planet six times the size of Jupiter.The advantage of microlensing is that it works best for more distant objects, so it’s ideal for planet hunting in other galaxies. I
Read entry →June 10, 2009 · 130 words
Two More Appearances For Your Pleasure
I seem to be everywhere online these days. First, there’s an interview with me on Tor.com, wherein John Joseph Adams and I discuss This Is Not a Game. And next, TINAG is reviewed by Paul Raven on authors-books.com. I feel we should read This Is Not a Game as a genuine hybrid, an effort to […]
Read entry →June 10, 2009 · 56 words
My Book Fixes Computers!
This Is Not a Game can inspire you to fix your computer! Or so Zachdude reports over on My iPC. Getting your computer fixed is clearly one of the side benefits of owning the novel. More benefits will be revealed in time: clearly you need to get your copy now, if you haven’t already.
Read entry →June 8, 2009 · 62 words
Avalé This!
The week’s mail brought copies of the new l’Atlante edition of Implied Spaces, translated by our very own Jean-Daniel. The title seems to translate as “Pocket Worlds.” Or maybe “The One Who Gobbles Worlds.” It has to be admitted that either meaning would fit the story. I have a feeling the Benjamin Carré artwork isn’t
Read entry →June 6, 2009 · 295 words
Fun With Swine Flu
Where has Walter been this week? I hear you ask. I’ve been in the mountains above Taos with a bunch of friends, eating well, hanging out, and trying to get the hot tub to work. (Stuck valve now fixed.)All was well until yesterday, when one of our number came down with flu-like symptoms and confined […]
Read entry →May 30, 2009 · 1,427 words
Day Four: Hattushas
Part of this was typed on a Turkish keyboard when I was actually in Turkey, so you may find some of the typeface unusual. On our first full day in Ankara we decided to leave town, sınce Obama was vısıtıng and the entıre central cıty would be shut down. (Lıttle dıd we know that he […]
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