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.
May 19, 2023 · 553 words
Worst. Trip. Ever.
After 24 hours in planes and airports I’ve returned from the Med, jetlagged, miserable, in considerable pain, and without Kathy. This trip sucked. Bad luck struck on my first day in Valetta, when I tripped on a marble stair and seriously damaged my right knee. The heavy frames on my sunglasses blocked my view of [&hell
Read entry →May 8, 2023 · 69 words
Cast Ashore
So after 30 hours in airports and aircrafts, we finally washed up on the shores of Malta. Here is a photo of Valetta Harbor at night, taken from our hotel. Valetta was named after Jean Parisot de la Valette, Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, who defended the island during the Ottoman siege. […]
Read entry →May 6, 2023 · 798 words
Royalty
There’s an indescribable something about being stuck somewhere, waiting for the plane to arrive, and having nothing to watch but a horror film which I thought at first was Invasion of the Frog-Faced Chinless People, but which turned out to be the coronation of Charles III of the United Kingdom. I am not by any [&hellip
Read entry →May 5, 2023 · 171 words
Malta Bound
In just a few hours we’re going to be flying off for another archaeo-maritime adventure. After something like 20 hours in planes and airports, we’ll arrive on the island republic of Malta. After a couple days to recover from jet lag, we’ll be getting on a smallish boat to visit Tangier and circumnavigate Sicily. As [&h
Read entry →May 5, 2023 · 166 words
Quenelles!
So the other night I had some friends over for a Spring Feast. Starters were cappelletti stuffed with chicken, cheese, and herbs, served with a lemon-cream sauce and asparagus. Chief protein was sous vide leg of lamb, served with a chickpea salad with vegetables, herbs, and mint. Dessert we never got to. Too full even
Read entry →May 1, 2023 · 292 words
Questing
You know how the Internet allows you to dive deep on some weird, forgotten subject? I’ve fallen victim to the deep dive syndrome more than once, diving on turnspit dogs, Venetian galleys, Bobbitt worms, and Anglo-Saxon kings. It’s all by way of wasting time while pretending to educate yourself. The latest quest was a r
Read entry →April 20, 2023 · 74 words
Can’t Stop Talking
This seems to be the season when you can’t walk the internet without stumbling over one of my interviews. The odd thing is that they’re all different, and that I hardly ever have to repeat myself. Here I am interviewed by Selina of Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA. I’d like to think it’s a […]
Read entry →April 16, 2023 · 429 words
Terran Prize Awarded!
The Terran Prize for 2023, sponsored by George R.R. Martin and awarded by Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress, has been awarded to Santiago Márquez Ramos. The prize consists of tuition and lodging at this year’s Taos Toolbox workshop, and is awarded to applicants coming from a non English-speaking background. Santiago
Read entry →April 11, 2023 · 167 words
Freedom . . . from water
I was starting to breathe the air of freedom, for I’ve done all my Taos Toolbox reading and delivered the taxes to the accountant, which between them was taking up about 80% of my energy. And then the water pressure died, and there was no water in the house. This necessitated an after-hours visit from […]
Read entry →March 31, 2023 · 526 words
It’s Never A Good Day When Your Septic Goes Bad
If you’re allergic to discussions involving human waste, read no farther. I forgive you. We’ve hired some people to renew the trim on our house, and three days ago they discovered that a freshwater spring had opened in the back yard. Which is arid New Mexico sandy desert, so a freshwater spring isn’t exactly what [&hel
Read entry →March 29, 2023 · 156 words
I’m on TV!
I haven’t been posting here because I’m being buried in work. None of this— except writing the novel, I hope— will matter a damn in ten years, but I still have to do it, beginning with my taxes, which for last year is incredibly complex. But for those of you looking for more of ME, […]
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