Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 3,175 entries, all of them here in full.
February 21, 2008 · 139 words
Best Crit Ever
Last night we had our monthly meeting of Critical Mass, our local workshop. Usually our critiques tend to be a bit rambling and tentative, or at least mine do, but last night’s most incisive crit came from new writer (and my former Clarion student) Ian Tregillis. I reconstruct it as best as I can:“If I’m […]
Read entry →February 12, 2008 · 175 words
Cyber Command Strikes Again
Back in December I posted about Air Force Cyberspace Command. Now we know more about it. 5-10,000 people. $2 billion budget. California, Texas, Louisiana, Colorado, and New Mexico are competing for the headquarters. (If New Mexico can’t have it, I’m rooting for Louisiana. But New Mexico really needs to have it. We have
Read entry →February 12, 2008 · 274 words
Science Fiction Timeline
From Technovelgy, we have this spiffy Science Fiction Timeline, which charts the first mention of SF ideas.Here’s the list to 1869, just to get you started. 1638 Weightlessness (Godwin) – first discovery of concept (from The Man in the Moone by Francis Godwin) 1726 Geometric Modeling – eighteenth century NU
Read entry →February 4, 2008 · 576 words
Torchwood
So now we’ve got the second season of Torchwood running on BBCA. Tonight’s episode was a very good one, I think possibly because the story was a very human one, about the private agony of someone who wasn’t one of the series characters.The series characters are, basically, the problem with the show. When the focus [&he
Read entry →February 4, 2008 · 132 words
Not Caring XLII
Today marks the forty-second continuous year in which I have not given a damn about the Super Bowl.I’ve never watched one. I’ve never been to a Super Bowl party. I’ve never even been invited to a Super Bowl party.At a gathering of Wild Card authors last night, I talked for two and a half hours […]
Read entry →January 30, 2008 · 55 words
Audience Participation
Still working. And so, clearly, the only way to keep us both amused is to make you talk.Here’s a quote from Steven Weinberg. “With or without [religion], you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”Discuss.
Read entry →January 30, 2008 · 479 words
Kitka
I haven’t been visible here much, have I?It’s that working-two-jobs thing. I’m writing the novel, and I’m doing the Other Job that I can’t talk about (yet). It focuses the time budget wonderfully. I simply ignore everything that I’m not being paid to do.Which includes blogging, unfortunately.Yet Kathy and I managed to
Read entry →January 20, 2008 · 81 words
Roswell? Moi?
Not sure how I got talked into this, but I’m appearing on Clear Image Radio on Sunday, January 20, at 10pm EST.The subject: Roswell.Of which I actually know some fairly arcane stuff, but still.I don’t know what I’ve let myself in for here, but I believe they stream their broadcasts. And if anyone wants to […]
Read entry →January 18, 2008 · 57 words
Eat It and Like It
A shout-out to Making Light for pointing me in this direction.Here’s a foreign cooking show that won’t be turning up in a U.S. version anytime soon.We have a host in studded leather named “Hard Gay.” Small children. Pelvic thrusts. Suggestive food. Suggestive suggestions. More small children. And disco. Yes. Hard Gay m
Read entry →January 15, 2008 · 68 words
This Week’s Poll
So here I am in L.A., totally surrounded by people much more informed than I am.Or maybe they’re just more loudly opinionated. We’ll see.But in any case, I’m too busy to post anything particularly profound right now, so I think I’ll just let y’all talk.Here’s a question that came up on one of my listserves.If […
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