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.
April 14, 2018 · 57 words
Tiny Heads
Behold! It is a video of my Guest of Honor interview at last year’s Worldcon 75, conducted by Joshua Bilmes. The first 20 minutes or so seems to be missing, but don’t worry, we’re just getting to the exciting part! If you go full-screen, you may be able to actually see me, somewhere in the […]
Read entry →April 11, 2018 · 144 words
A Toolbox Full of Goodness
Taos Toolbox 2018 is full, with 18 talented attendees, plus instructors and speakers Nancy Kress, Walter Jon Williams, Carrie Vaughn, George RR Martin, and EM Tippets. It’s going to be awesome. And there will be plenty of inspiration on offer, because no less than three of the current Nebula nominees are Toolbox vetera
Read entry →April 10, 2018 · 307 words
Bull Piss and Mummies
Would it change the power or poetry of Rain, Steam and Speed: The Great Western Railway if we learned that the evaporative yellows that infuse the atmosphere with mystical light were wrought from the distilled urine of cows cruelly raised on a diet consisting exclusively of mango leaves? Here Kelly Grovier asks the que
Read entry →April 5, 2018 · 379 words
Miss Jones
I’ve finished watching Season Two of Jessica Jones, wherein it was demonstrated that our alcoholic, PTSD-afflicted, short-fused trainwreck of a heroine is by far the sanest person in her family. I mean, wow. Turn the cray-cray up to 11. The first season had David Tennant as Kilgrave, the creepy stalker who is, basicall
Read entry →April 2, 2018 · 211 words
Terran Prize Awarded!
The 2018 Terran Prize, founded by George R.R. Martin and consisting of a full tuition scholarship to the Taos Toolbox master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy, has been awarded to Joey Yu. Joey Yu was born in Taipei, educated in Vancouver, and now works in Shanghai as a freelance creator. He is the autho
Read entry →March 24, 2018 · 66 words
Talking with George
So here I am at the Jean Cocteau Theater in Santa Fe, being interviewed by George R.R. Martin. Right at the start he says I’m an important guy, so I must be. The whole interview runs an hour and twenty-two minutes, so prepare yourself for a surfeit of delights. I’ve had some download trouble with […]
Read entry →March 23, 2018 · 73 words
Roll Away!
It’s the weekend, so I’m off amusing myself with one thing or another. In the meantime, please enjoy Fred and Ginger on roller skates in Dance With Me, choreography by Hermes Pan. I don’t know why this dance isn’t more famous than it is, because it’s brilliant. Kathy pointed out to me that there’s only one cut [&hellip
Read entry →March 22, 2018 · 466 words
Shrinkage
So I’m halfway through reading this novel when I realize that the author has been through therapy. There’s nothing good or bad about this, and it doesn’t affect whether or not it’s a successful story, but while reading I realized that therapy can be apparent in the toolkit that the author brings to the work. […]
Read entry →March 21, 2018 · 228 words
Facebookery
Via Bruce Sterling and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, here’s how to alter your Facebook settings to opt out of platform sharing. Facebook has allowed third parties to violate user privacy on an unprecedented scale, and, while legislators and regulators scramble to understand the implications and put limits in plac
Read entry →March 16, 2018 · 408 words
Standup
So in last night’s dream I enrolled in a workshop in standup comedy. Which, I should mention, I have never had any ambitions whatsoever to do. The workshop took place in a barnlike hotel in a place like the Berkshires, with snow and winter sports, and the woman who ran the place kept telling us […]
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