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.
December 25, 2015 · 56 words
Tamales
Here in New Mexico we celebrate the holidays by eating tamales, decorating the graves of our kin, and setting things on fire. Whatever your solstice tradition may be, may you practice it in joy and peace. (Though if it doesn’t involve tamales and setting things on fire, I feel just a little bit sorry for […]
Read entry →December 22, 2015 · 152 words
Third Time’s the Charm!
I’m pleased to report that I’ve completed the process of making the three Praxis novels available outside North America. All revised! Improved! At a better price! And just in time for the holidays! Conventions of War, the third in the series, is currently available at Google Books, Amazon, iBooks, and Kobo. Because App
Read entry →December 22, 2015 · 548 words
Following the Money
My friend Constance, who I’ve known since our college days, has written fantasy as “Constance Ash,” and now something very different in a collaboration with her husband, the musicologist and historian Ned Sublette. This is The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry. Which is about the single mos
Read entry →December 19, 2015 · 102 words
Parkour on a Bicycle
I’ve been doing holiday-type stuff, which leaves me little time for thought or leisure or posting on my blog. Within a single week, I’m scheduled for three potluck dinners, one birthday dinner (not mine), and a concert in Santa Fe (with dinner). Right now I’m home, but I’m exhausted. So in my absence, by all […]
Read entry →December 11, 2015 · 271 words
Getting Expansive
I’m off doing karate things all weekend, so I thought I’d leave you with some entertainment. Here’s one of the trailers for The Expanse, the new Syfy series based on the books by James S.A. Corey. (Disclosure: Jimmy Corey’s a pal of mine.) I was in Santa Fe last week for the premiere of the first […]
Read entry →December 9, 2015 · 243 words
Two Goodies
My campaign to make all my work available throughout the world continues with the second of my Praxis books, The Sundering, which is now available as an ebook outside North America for the first time. Find it at Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, and Google. (As with previous attempts I’m not 100% confident about the Kobo and iBook
Read entry →December 9, 2015 · 351 words
Muppets Go Boom
After my initial analysis of The Muppets, I’ve continued watching, and come to the conclusion that one thing missing from the new show is incredible levels of violence. The reality in which the Classic Muppets lived was both plastic and volatile. Muppets were always being eaten, blown up, transformed, annihilated, stre
Read entry →December 6, 2015 · 184 words
Independence Day
It’s Finland’s Independence Day! And what better way to celebrate than to convene a singing flashmob at Helsinki’s central station? Forwarded by friend of the blog Marcus Prest, this video was made to support presidential candidate Pekka Haavisto, who made it to the final round a few years ago but lost. The song is “Fi
Read entry →December 2, 2015 · 84 words
Make 2016 Your Year!
Today, December 1, is the first day of the application period for Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy. This year’s instructors will be Nancy Kress and Walter Jon Williams, ably assisted by special lecturers E.M. Tippetts and James S.A. Corey. The workshop will take place July 10-23
Read entry →November 30, 2015 · 681 words
Through the Publishing Wormhole, to You!
One of the great injustices in the world is that my Praxis books have not been available as ebooks outside of North America. As a crusader for justice, I have set out to right this wrong! Not that it was easy. I had first to retrieve the rights from my U.K. publisher, which never exercised […]
Read entry →November 27, 2015 · 102 words
Subterranean Rogues from Tequila
Today I received my own personal copy of the illustrated, slipcased Rogues collection, edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois, and published in a limited, signed edition of 500 by Subterranean Press. The volume has my story “Diamonds from Tequila,” as well as stories by Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Gillian Flyn
Read entry →