Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 136 entries, all of them here in full.
May 17, 2018 · 52 words
A T. Rex is Reading My Mind!
This edition of Dinosaur Comics pretty much sums what’s been going on in my head since I bought the latest model MacBook. If part of this isn’t showing up on your screen (darn MacBook anyway!), click on the art to get the whole picture. Copyright (c) 2018 by the excellent Ryan North.
Read entry →May 16, 2018 · 337 words
Sabotage in the Home
Of course you knew that when you installed Alexa, Siri, or Google’s Assistant in your home, you were installing a spy. You just trusted that Amazon, Apple, or Google would use your information for good, or at least would not actively harm you. What you may not have known is that these assistants aren’t just […]
Read entry →May 15, 2018 · 273 words
Grumbling
So my innards are grumbling, and I expect the next few hours won’t be any fun at all. I’m doing my prep for tomorrow’s colonoscopy. You have my permission not to envy me. I’m mentioning this not to elicit sympathy— because there is none on the Internet— but to remind those of you of a […]
Read entry →May 10, 2018 · 319 words
Hello, Columbus
I am in Columbus. The one in Ohio, not the one in New Mexico that Pancho Villa attacked, or the one in Indiana, or the one in Georgia; and certainly not the Columbus City in Iowa, or the Columbus City in Alabama. (If Columbus founded any more cities in North America, I’m unaware of them.) […]
Read entry →May 7, 2018 · 526 words
Archivum Secretum
The Vatican Secret Archives houses 53 linear miles of documents going back 12 centuries, much of it handwritten in Latin using archaic script. It’s not Secret, exactly, it’s just inaccessible, because in order to look at one of the documents you actually have to be there, in the Vatican, along with your knowledge of La
Read entry →May 4, 2018 · 172 words
Crawling
I few nights ago, I woke from a really scary nightmare. I don’t remember the dream at all, which is a shame, because judging from my reaction to it, it would have made an excellent premise for a fright film. At any rate, I woke very suddenly, with my heart pounding and my eyes wide […]
Read entry →April 29, 2018 · 1,061 words
Something About Cabell
I have lately been revisiting the works of James Branch Cabell. (rhymes, by the way, with “rabble”) Insofar as Cabell is remembered these days, it’s as a writer of fantasy fiction. The best of his fantasies were reprinted in the Sixties as part of Ballantine’s Adult Fantasy Series, which is where I found him when [&hel
Read entry →April 26, 2018 · 83 words
Double News Day
So a big box of proofs for The Accidental War arrived on my doorstep today. Looks very action-y, doesn’t it? The Accidental War will be released in September, but it’s already available for preorder at your favorite book venue. Since I got a whole box of them, I’ll probably be running a contest shortly. Stay tuned. Els
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