Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 3,180 entries, all of them here in full.
April 16, 2019 · 458 words
Soldier of Arete
Alas. According to multiple sources Gene Wolfe has died at the age of 87 in his Illinois home. I’ve been on a mini-binge of Gene’s books lately, mostly recently Home Fires, and I think the mini-binge will have to continue. I admired Gene’s plain, clear style, which was an ideal surface beneath which to hide the machina
Read entry →April 11, 2019 · 245 words
Metropolitan for the Masses
My novel Metropolitan is now on sale for $0.99, or for whatever $0.99 is worth in your local currency. The ebook may be found at the following online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple, Google, Kobo [NOTE: the price has not yet dropped on Kobo, but it should. Very soon now. Really.] I’m stupidly proud
Read entry →April 9, 2019 · 95 words
No Longer Anonymous
Friend of the blog Anonymous— I presume not the entire hacker collective— tells me that the audio book of City on Fire is available! Go forth and listen! (While checking to see where I could find the book, I discovered that the reader reviews of City on Fire on Amazon all properly belong to a more recent bo
Read entry →April 4, 2019 · 92 words
Estecado
This year I am once again in Portales, NM, the cultural capital of the Llano Estecado, for the Jack Williamson Lectureship. The usual gang of fun-lovers is here, including Connie, Courtney, and Cordelia Willis, Toolbox survivors Sheila Hartney and Lauren Teffeau, Emily Mah, Sarena Ulibarri, and many others. Cordelia, w
Read entry →April 2, 2019 · 87 words
Toolbox Nominees!
Once again Hugo voters have inexplicably failed to recognize my greatness, but I’m very pleased to note that they have recognized the greatness of a number of veterans of Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy. Kelly Robson got a novella nomination for “God, Monsters, and the Lucky Pe
Read entry →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
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