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.
March 30, 2019 · 105 words
Microsoft Hurts Kitten!
Microsoft continues their slide down the slippery slope into security work by going after the Iranian hacking group Charming Kitten, also known as Ajax, Phosphorous, and APT35. They’ve successfully petitioned a court to take over the group’s 99 domains, which were used in spear-phishing attacks on journalists and dissi
Read entry →March 27, 2019 · 1,539 words
“Black as the Pit From Pole to Pole!”
I have lately been enjoying some examples of black humor, which may confirm my moral depravity the eyes of some of you, but if so I think you’re wrong. According to Wylie Sypher, black comedy strengthens the oppressed and damages the morale of the oppressors. “To be able to laugh at evil and error means […]
Read entry →March 17, 2019 · 184 words
Sunder Yourself!
I’ve spent most of the last week with colleagues at the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, which involved basking by the pool in the balmy Florida weather, enjoying the hospitality of the hotel bar, and a number of excursions to local restaurants. I believe some mention was now and again made of [&
Read entry →March 11, 2019 · 473 words
Every Story is a War
So I did some writing on the new novel the other night, and I thought it was okay, but when I went back the next night I realized I’d written crap. Not uninspired, not unfocused, just plain bad writing. It sucked. I found this so demoralizing that I didn’t write much the second night, but I […]
Read entry →March 8, 2019 · 386 words
Collected Again!
My story “Foreign Devils” may be found in the new collection Making History, edited by Rick Wilber. This is a collection of classic alternate history stories, by Karen Joy Fowler, Gregory Benford, Sheila Finch, Rich Larson, Lisa Goldstein, Kathleen Goonan, Harry Turtledove, Eileen Gunn and Michael Swanwick, Maureen McH
Read entry →March 6, 2019 · 258 words
‘Tis the Season
It’s award season, so it’s become customary for authors to announce which of their works are eligible for Hugos and whatever. (When I started, anyone who tried this would have been ridiculed until they’d be embarrassed to show themselves sober at the Hugo Loser’s Party, but now it’s just a part of business.) Be that [&
Read entry →March 5, 2019 · 56 words
All Beaded Up and No Place to Go
Happy Mardi Gras,Y’all! I put on my beads and went to town today, but I couldn’t find a second line anywhere, so I had a cup of mediocre gumbo at a supposed Louisiana restaurant and went home. At least this video has over two and a half hours of music appropriate to the season. Enjoy!
Read entry →February 28, 2019 · 947 words
Megalo-Happenings
I’ve always felt there was a place for megalomania in art. (Go big or go home, right?) And recently one of the most megalomaniacal works in history premiered in Paris. Eleven years in the making, financed by a pro-Putin oligarch, over a dozen feature films plus 700 hours of ancillary material, and shot in an […]
Read entry →February 26, 2019 · 360 words
Throwing Flame
Today I had a flamewar. The good kind, the kind fought with actual flamethrowers. Well, flamethrower, singular. I was the only person who had a flamethrower, which is another reason why it was the good kind of flamewar. Every winter we have to go out and burn out last year’s crop of weeds, which has […]
Read entry →February 22, 2019 · 253 words
Tasting
So the other night we held a scotch tasting with our friend Sue Lampson. (Fortunately her nondrinker husband Alan was available to drive her home.) The bottles I contributed are shown above, ranging from sweet/sherry/vanilla on the left to smoky and peaty on the right. Sue brought her own box of goodies, and so we [&he
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