Operatic

December 19, 2018

Lo!  It’s another photo from our 2019 calendar! This is Olavinlinna (“St Olaf’s Castle”), a 15th century fortification on a Finnish island near the Russian border.  The castle was built by the Swedes to keep the Russians out, but in the early 18th Century Sweden ran out of the money necessary to defend themselves and […]

Read the full article →

Gifts for Readers #6: The Invisible City

December 19, 2018

Brian K. Lowe’s The Invisible City is #6 in my list of recommended reading from veterans of Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy. Here’s the flap copy: Captain Charles Clee stumbles onto a secret archaeological expedition from the 23rd century and finds himself stranded nearly one million years in the […]

Read the full article →

Moody

December 17, 2018

Here’s one of my favorite pictures in the new 2019 calendar.  It’s a small boat tossed on a moody monochrome ocean, with a moody skyscape above.  If it weren’t for the bit of color provided by the setting sun, you’d think I’d printed this out with silver nitrate or something. The only thing that prevents […]

Read the full article →

Gifts for Readers #4: While Gods Sleep

December 16, 2018

. . . Aaaaand now we are at  #5 of my reading recommendations, all by veterans of Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy.  (And if you want to write SF or fantasy, why not click the link and find out what it’s about?) L.D. Colter’s While Gods Sleep appeared the […]

Read the full article →

Pleasantly Tart

December 16, 2018

I think it was nine years ago when Jean-Bertrand gave us a memorable dessert, a kind of upside-down apple tart.  I was delighted by two things: first, by the tart itself; and second, by the discovery that actual French people cook from recipes by Julia Child.  (And why not?  They’re thoroughly tested and in their […]

Read the full article →

Gifts for Readers #4: Arabella the Traitor of Mars

December 14, 2018

Here we are at #4 of my gift suggestions for readers, all books by veterans of Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy. Arabella the Traitor of Mars is the third in a series by Hugo-winning author David D. Levine, beginning with 2016’s Andre Norton Award-winning Arabella of Mars. The series […]

Read the full article →

Tall and Narrow

December 13, 2018

Here’s another photo from our 2019 calendar.  This is an interior view of something called the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood— lighthearted name, that— in St.  Petersburg, Russia.  It is built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was mortally wounded by a nihilist bomb in 1881. Alexander was progressive as autocrats […]

Read the full article →

Gifts for Readers #3: The Moons of Barsk

December 11, 2018

Looking for something to read over the holidays?  Or something to give a reader friend? Here’s the third recommendation I’m making of a book written by a Taos Toolbox veteran. (And by now I suspect that, if your ambition is to write, attending Taos Toolbox might be a smart thing to do.  We really do […]

Read the full article →

The Scare

December 10, 2018

I write about my Wild Cards story “Witness,” touching on the Red Scare, agent of Moscow Christopher Marlowe, and other UnAmerican Activities. (Try not to look at the photo at the top of the page, it might scald your retinas.)

Read the full article →

Gifts for Readers 2: Walking Through Fire

December 6, 2018

Here’s another fine gift for the reader in your life.  Or for yourself. Sherri Cook Woosley is another Taos Toolbox veteran whose book appeared in the same week as my previous recommendation, Lauren Teffeau’s Implanted. Walking Through Fire, from Talos Press, wasn’t workshopped at Toolbox, but we workshopped the sequel, and it was a nonstop rocket ride through […]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →

Contact Us | Terms of User | Trademarks | Privacy Statement

Copyright © 2010 WJW. All Rights Reserved.