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.
July 26, 2023 · 420 words
Rain in the Opera
The Duomo in Palermo was built at the command of William II the Good. (William was the son of William I the Bad. Father William doesn’t seem to have been particularly bad, as medieval monarchs go. He seems to have acquired his monicker because he had a tendency to promote competent commoners over the heads […]
Read entry →July 25, 2023 · 151 words
In A Parallel World Near Yours
Lots of stuff going on in the world of Wild Cards. A new original anthology, Pairing Up, has been published here in the US. I’m not in it, but these guys are: “Trudy of the Apes” KEVIN ANDREW MURPHY“Cyrano d’Escargot” CHRISTOPHER ROWE“In the Forests of the Night” MARKO KLOOS“The Wounded Heart” MELINDA M. SNODGRASS“Echo
Read entry →July 17, 2023 · 110 words
Loving Couple
From the National Museum in Reggio Calabria, a rare double burial dating from either the Paleolithic or Mesolithic, or maybe the boundary between the two. The two were buried in a cave. The man’s left arm is around the woman’s shoulders, and the woman rests her head on the man’s shoulder. I can imagine the […]
Read entry →July 11, 2023 · 229 words
Personal Appearance
Here we see Roger II of Sicily being crowned by none other than Jesus Himself. Usually it’s a bishop or pope doing the investing, but in this case Roger outranked both, at least in Sicily, so he went straight to the Savior. His father Roger I— who wasn’t a king, but gets a number anyway, […]
Read entry →July 7, 2023 · 999 words
Segesta
By Sunday everything had improved except the weather. Kathy reported that she was swiftly recovering from the worst effects of COVID, and my knee had improved to the point where I could walk nearly pain-free. (I think what might have happened was that my accident had knocked free a piece of cartilage, which was moving
Read entry →July 5, 2023 · 1,566 words
The Laughter of Carthage
We return, after I’ve caught up with some of the sleep I lost at Toolbox, to Mediterranean adventures. Saturday was the worst day. Kathy’s COVID was peaking, and her ribs were aching and she was coughing continually, and I was a long way off and unable to help. I was exhausted and stressed and pretty […]
Read entry →July 1, 2023 · 125 words
On Their Way
Taos Toolbox for 2023 ended this morning, with all the participants flying off to their splendid futures. The two weeks were busy and exhausting and most of all rewarding. I’d like to thank Nancy Kress for being a wonderful co-teacher, and Emily Mah, Diana Rowland, and George RR Martin for being inspirational guest spe
Read entry →June 18, 2023 · 147 words
Reunion
Taos Toolbox 2023 started tonight, and Nancy Kress and I met our 18 new colleagues whose work will be our work for the next two weeks. But that’s not who we see in this photograph. This is the class for 2022, or most of it. Because they’re having a reunion right now, just as the […]
Read entry →June 14, 2023 · 1,193 words
Stream Away
“Everything became big tech — the Amazon model of ‘We don’t actually have to make money; we just have to show shareholder growth.’ Everyone said, ‘Great. That seems like the thing to do.’ Which essentially was like, ‘Let’s all commit ritual suicide. Let’s take one of the truly successful money-printing inventions in th
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