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.
April 21, 2018 · 403 words
No Dreck
Some days you get lucky, and you turn on the TV and find something you’ve absolutely always wanted to see. This happened to me on Wednesday, when I watched the second episode of Season Three of The Expanse. The episode was written by James S.A. Corey themselves, and the climax featured a space battle between Rocinante
Read entry →April 18, 2018 · 139 words
Artificial Reality
Here’s tonight’s crescent moon, with Venus in the lower right corner. Venus is red because she’s close to the horizon. This is actually Photoshopped. The reason it’s Photoshopped is that my new Canon hardly ever manages to focus properly on a distant object sitting in the sky. If only I could focus manually . . [&helli
Read entry →April 17, 2018 · 535 words
News from the North
Last year’s discovery of a tomb beneath the restored Church of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey, may yet produce the body of St. Nick himself, and settle whether Santa is buried in Turkey, or in Ireland (which claims it), or in Italy, where Venice and Bari both claim his body,(or maybe just parts thereof). But this [&hell
Read entry →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
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