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.
September 10, 2009 · 216 words
Rodents of Unusual Size
I’m back from Dragoncon, and very tired and full of headache. I’m not sure why, since I actually got sufficient sleep during the convention, and had nothing to do yesterday but drowse. Thanks to those of you who offered suggestions re my undying fame, my sincere thanks. I’ll reply in more detail when I’ve recovered [&h
Read entry →September 3, 2009 · 349 words
Online and Away
So . . . I’m off to Dragoncon. I’ll try to check in with you all, but I may be having too much fun.But since I’m going to be away for a while, I thought I’d leave you with a question. Actually, it’s the usual question. How can Walter get more fame and money?I couldn’t […]
Read entry →September 3, 2009 · 214 words
Dragoncon Schedule
Here’s my Dragoncon schedule, for those of you who may be attending: Title: Writer’s Apocalyptic RoundtableTime: Fri 02:30 pm Location: A601 – A602 – Marriott (Length: 1)Description: Want a chance to corner your favorite apocalyptic writer and ask them a question? Here is your chance to talk to some of the
Read entry →September 2, 2009 · 769 words
Reviews Too Late: Defiance
I watched my Netflix copy of Defiance the other night, and thought it would make an interesting comparison with Inglourious Basterds. I mean, here were real Jews, killing real Nazis, as opposed to cartoon Jews killing cartoon Nazis. The Bielski partisans did stuff that really mattered, like saving 1200-odd people from
Read entry →September 2, 2009 · 710 words
Great Flaming Gas Bags!
Jess Nevins at No Fear of the Future has produced a history of the zeppelin pulps, a subgenre I never knew actually existed. (I thought it was all a joke.) And yes, there really was a magazine called Spicy Zeppelin Stories. The article details a rather unusual collaboration between pulp editor Frank Armer and the [&hel
Read entry →September 2, 2009 · 76 words
Feel The Burn
It makes this New Mexican’s heart swell to bursting to know that the successful test today of the new all-American airborne laser assassination weapon was conducted right here in our state!Tremble, evildoers! Someday soon you’ll just be walking down the street working out your wicked schemes, and suddenly— just a
Read entry →September 1, 2009 · 304 words
The New Literacy
From the article by Clive Thompson (thanks to Blake Charlton).As the school year begins, be ready to hear pundits fretting once again about how kids today can’t write—and technology is to blame. Facebook encourages narcissistic blabbering, video and PowerPoint have replaced carefully crafted essays, and texting has deh
Read entry →August 31, 2009 · 456 words
Rescission
In response to Ron’s post on “Putting it Simply,” below, I dug up a statistics on government-run health care. Since most of you probably don’t read this blog for the comments on the comments, I thought I’d put them here.In countries with government-run health care, there isn’t a man with a gun telling you that [&hellip
Read entry →August 28, 2009 · 231 words
At This Rate, My Plan for World Domination Will Come to Fruition Even More Quickly!
Mark W. Tiedemann has said some awesomely nice things about This Is Not a Game over on irosf.com. When Williams is good, he is very good—and this is one of his best. He dances across the lines that blur real world and gameplaying with elegance and an acerbic sense of consequences that denies the artificial […]
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