Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 268 entries, all of them here in full.
January 21, 2010 · 1,083 words
Reviews Too Late: The Good Shepherd
The Good Shepherd (2006) was a pet project for Robert de Niro. He’d been trying to make his fictionalized history of the CIA for ten years, but one director after another was, er, “suddenly unavailable.” (You might think there might be a story there. I’m sure there wasn’t. Ahem. [Looks nervously over shoulder.]) Anyway
Read entry →January 19, 2010 · 69 words
Possibly the Longest Year of Your Life
Did I mention that I’ve completed the rewrite of Deep State, the sequel to This Is Not a Game? This would be the New Improved Deep State, Now with Editorial Input. I expect the book will appear in a year or so. You’ll all have something to look forward to in 2011! As an aside, […]
Read entry →January 19, 2010 · 51 words
Pounding. Throbbing. Throbbing. Pounding.
I was reading a review of This Is Not a Game today that mentioned it was a “heart-pounding” thriller.I didn’t actually intend TINAG to be heart-pounding. I was going for suspense rather than terror.But if your heart pounds anyway, that’s okay with me. I have no objection at all.
Read entry →January 14, 2010 · 68 words
Haitian Relief Page
100,000 dead in Haiti. That’s 9/11 times 33. That’s twice the number of casualties in the London Blitz. Google has set up a disaster relief page for contributions to relief organizations, including UNICEF and CARE. Doctors Without Borders gets mine.On this page you can also donate directly to Haitian hospitals, which w
Read entry →January 12, 2010 · 215 words
Walter’s First Contest
I’ve never run a contest before, but now that This Is Not a Game has appeared in paperback, I find myself in a generous mood. As in years past, this year we produced a calendar for 2010, in this case featuring photos taken by me in Turkey and in France, including this one of the […]
Read entry →January 12, 2010 · 472 words
The Praise is Endless as the Sea
This Is Not a Game has grown up, into a mass-market paperback! (Yeah, okay, that doesn’t make sense, but bear with me.) Probably on that account, there have been a lot of reviews appearing in the last few weeks, so I’m going to take a few moments to point to them with pride.From Hornswoggler:And if […]
Read entry →January 11, 2010 · 44 words
On The Beach
The Dutch artist Theo Jansen has been building odd wind-powered beach creatures for years now, intending that eventually they will live and roam in herds, independent of their human creators. Here’s a video of Jansen explaining the method behind his madness. [via Bob Norton.]
Read entry →January 8, 2010 · 235 words
Your Brilliant Writing Career Awaits!
Amazingly, applications for Taos Toolbox are still open! This means you can still have that brilliant writing career you’ve been dreaming about! All you have to do is go to the Taos Toolbox web site, and follow the instructions thereon! If you’re accepted, you’ll join me and Nancy Kress and Carrie Vaughn in Taos next [
Read entry →January 8, 2010 · 485 words
News Hour
Just some news tidbits that flew my way. #1. Why economists are skinflints. In recent research, University of Washington economists Yoram Bauman and Elaina Rose found that economics majors were less likely to donate money to charity than students who majored in other fields. After majors in other fields took an introdu
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