Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 101 entries, all of them here in full.
November 12, 2006 · 424 words
Jack
Jack Williamson died the other day, 80 years after publishing his first science fiction story. He was 98. He had no less than three books out in 2005, pretty impressive for a nonagenarian. Jack was one of the first writers I actually got to talk to. I was a college student, and attended a science […]
Read entry →November 9, 2006 · 635 words
Luck Storm
“Walter, you have the weirdest damn luck.” Maureen McHugh told me this toward the end of 2005, in reference to that year’s Luck Storm, which involved a couple of surgeries, co-writing the game Last Call Poker, a five-month infection, heavy (and necessary) use of narcotics, and ridiculous amounts of money falling from t
Read entry →October 25, 2006 · 1,492 words
Fear
I recently encountered two artifacts. One was scary, the other wasn’t. The first was Pulse, a Japanese horror film I’d rented thinking it was science fiction. The plot involved ghosts who were using the Internet to communicate, to creep people out, and eventually to transform them into more ghosts. It was basically Rin
Read entry →October 21, 2006 · 908 words
Okay, So I’m A Fan
Just got back from the Rolling Stones concert. It was a great concert, well worth the bloated ticket price. It was held in the Sun Bowl, which against all reason has very little parking. I spent 45 minutes circling the stadium amid a swarm of equally bewildered motorists before I managed to find a parking […]
Read entry →October 19, 2006 · 219 words
Daniel’s On A Roll (2)
Stand by for a purely commercial announcement. Which isn’t surprising, considering that this blog is (in its own rambling, inept way) all about self-promotion. What should cause jaws all over the world to drop to the floor is that I’m about to use this space to promote someone else. Daniel Abraham’s new novel, A Shadow
Read entry →October 19, 2006 · 411 words
British Invasion
So I’ve got my ticket for the Rolling Stones tomorrow night. And I’ve got my motel room reserved, since they’re playing in El Paso. So now I’m ready to get another hole punched in my little ticket of music history. I believe the Stones may be the only British Invasion band still touring, and the […]
Read entry →October 18, 2006 · 531 words
The Rift
My autumn rural idyll continues. Last weekend we visited the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, which is open to the public only one day per year. Sevilleta was formerly the enormous Campbell Ranch, which was deeded over thirty years ago to the Nature Conservancy, which in turn gave it to the government, with many res
Read entry →October 17, 2006 · 243 words
Say This Tongue-Twister, Or Else!
From our friends in Japan, here’s another variation on their venerable tradition of sadistic game shows. Unlike the US, where people need a shot at a million dollars in order to humiliate themselves this painfully, these hardy contestants are probably competing for a wall plaque, a bag of candy, or a selection of beads
Read entry →October 12, 2006 · 196 words
Win One, Lose One
Elif Shafak has been acquitted of “insulting Turkishness” in her novel The Bastard of Istanbul. The judge took all of 90 minutes to dismiss the charges as baseless. Shafak did not bother to attend the trial, as she was giving birth in California at the time. Go, her. Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya
Read entry →October 6, 2006 · 1,625 words
Leaf Peeping
Last week, Kathy had a three-day trip to northern New Mexico to recruit students for the college where she works. I decided to go along. This is my favorite season in New Mexico, and this would be a terrific opportunity for leaf peeping. Our first night was spent in Chama, which sits in a valley […]
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