The journal

November 21, 2018 · 263 words

No Turkey Here

Here in the States we’re about to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, which was established by Abraham Lincoln as a day of fasting, repentance, and prayer, and is now celebrated as a day of feasting and football. (The repentance comes the day after.) Unfortunately I can’t invite you all to the house to enjoy my Seriously [

November 20, 2018 · 96 words

We’re Baaaack!

Taos Toolbox, master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy, will return in 2019! The workshop will take place July 7-20, 2019, at our location in Angel Fire, New Mexico. Nancy Kress and Walter Jon Williams will instruct, with the assistance of special guests George R.R. Martin and E.M. Tippetts. Like last ye

November 14, 2018 · 160 words

Wild Cards Hulu

Variety has reported that two new original Hulu series will be based on the George RR Martin shared-world series Wild Cards. Hulu is developing multiple shows based on the “Wild Cards” book series, which is edited by “Game of Thrones” scribe George R.R. Martin. Variety has learned from sources that the streamer is set

November 11, 2018 · 0 words

A Century Ago

November 9, 2018 · 708 words

Matters Economic

I haven’t been posting here because I’ve been traveling, and either I was very busy or there wasn’t sufficient internet access, or there was no place to put my laptop so I could write on it. (Amazing how many bedrooms have no chairs in them. Or tables. Or tables that aren’t completely filled with delicate […]

October 27, 2018 · 289 words

A Scandal of Somm Sort

As those of us who’ve seen the movie Somm or the TV series Uncorked will attest, there is an organization called the Court of Master Sommeliers which offers restaurant wine stewards a number of ranks leading up to Master Sommelier, a rank which will guarantee the winners a well-paid job at a posh restaurant. The only h

October 27, 2018 · 110 words

Invasion of the Grillidae!

So has anyone seen anything like this? It may be a little hard to view, but what you’re seeing is a swarm of crickets climbing the west wall of our house. By nightfall they were all clumped in a black mass beneath the eaves. Now, a couple days later, they’re mostly still there. Since it had […]

October 24, 2018 · 119 words

Born Under the Sign of Godzilla

NASA— or maybe just a coupla scientists staying up late drinking— have looked at a new map of gamma-ray sources discovered by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope and begun plotting new constellations based on popular culture. The list includes the Hulk and Godzilla, as well as Einstein and the Eiffel Tower. This

October 24, 2018 · 673 words

Recap

I’ve begun work on Volume VII of the Praxis series, which so far does not have a title, and I’ve ran smack into the problem of information control. Information control, as I tell the participants at Taos Toolbox, is crucial for the writer. Too little information and the reader is bewildered. Too much and the […]

October 22, 2018 · 485 words

Lifestyles of the Rich and Stupid

One of the joys of reading contemporary literary fiction is enjoying the wealth of close observation that literary fiction demands. Close observation, done right, is delightful, but you have to hope that whatever is being observed is worth the effort, and so often it isn’t, as (for example) when the subject is adultery

October 18, 2018 · 120 words

One-Act Play

SCENE: I (hereafter ME) am driving down the freeway in my car. The phone rings. ME: Hello? RUSSIAN ACCENT: Hello. Where are you right now? ME: I’m in my car, driving. RUSSIAN ACCENT: Can you pull over? This is an important message. ME: No, I can’t pull over. RUSSIAN ACCENT: Are you sure? This is […]

October 17, 2018 · 309 words

Sunshine Superhouse

Last autumn we decided to install solar panels on our home. We got bids from three solar companies, but SolarCity’s bid was so much lower than the others that I never even went back to the others to see if they could put in a competing bid. Installation was delayed because we needed to replace […]