Today in The Big Idea, author Meg Elison delves into her latest novel The Book of Flora, and radical power of a single, very short, word. MEG ELISON: It’s impossible to talk about the third and final book in a series without talking about the whole thing. The big idea of the thir … | Continue reading
We've moved into town and are staying at the hotel we were at for our 20th anniversary, and which also happens to be reasonably well located for the meetings and meet-ups I have planned over the next couple of days. Ytterbium, this year's Eastercon, was lovely and everyone involv … | Continue reading
I may be in London right now but that doesn't mean I can't still show off the new books and ARCs that came to the Scalzi Compound this week! Here they are. What here intrigues you? Tell us all in the comments. | Continue reading
This fabulous person who also happens to be my wife is celebrating a birthday today, and in the UK, no less. If you wished to convey your birthday felicitations to her, I would not look askance upon it. She's the best person I know. | Continue reading
It's a parking lot, not only in an entirely different country, but in an entirely different continent! And Heathrow Airport is in the background, which is actually cooler than it sounds. I'm here for Ytterbium, this year's Eastercon, where I am a Guest of Honor, and everything is … | Continue reading
When, as a writer, you find yourself caught between two tropes, what do you do? And is it a bad thing that you're confronting two separate writing tropes in the first place? In her series that began with the book Amberlough and continues now in Amnesty, the third book, author Lar … | Continue reading
Enjoy it because it's the last one I'll probably post for a bit -- I'm traveling for a couple of weeks to places where buildings get in the way of sunsets. But this is a pretty one at least. It should hold you. | Continue reading
For this Big Idea, Ashok K. Banker writes an epistolary essay to someone who is not me, about his new novel, Upon a Burning Throne. Who is the recipient of this letter, and why is sent to them? Read on. ASHOK K. BANKER: Hey there, Effie. We’ve known each other a while, you and I. … | Continue reading
Los Angeles is looking a little noir today. And I had an adventure getting here; my connecting flight from Chicago was diverted to Denver when it was discovered that the toilets on the plane wouldn't flush. I mean, fair call, and probably the right decision, but I had a meeting … | Continue reading
If you're a writer, is it better to be the proverbial tortoise or the proverbial hare? And does either matter as long as you're still running the race? Michael Moreci considers this topic today in his Big Idea, and how it relates to his newly released novel, We Are Mayhem. MICHAE … | Continue reading
It's a nice spring day here at the Scalzi Compound. I even went for a walk. How is it where you are? | Continue reading
I wrote this on Twitter today, and am posting it here both for archival purposes and also because, hey, it's applicable in this medium as well. A general statement because it's happened to me more than once here on Twitter and elsewhere: So, hey, if I'm noting a good thing happen … | Continue reading
For a bit of time Sunday night and Monday morning, I was Amazon's #1 author -- not just for science fiction, or for science fiction and fantasy, but for all books. JK Rowling was number two, James Patterson was number six, and Stephen King was number ten. So, that's nice for me. … | Continue reading
My friend Olivia came to visit Ohio for a few days, and so I showed her the sights of the area, including this particular traffic sign, meant to alert automobile travelers that this particular road is frequented by Amish buggies, so they should be aware of them. To Olivia's disap … | Continue reading
There it goes, behind the neighbor's barn. So long, sun! See you again in about ten hours, more or less. | Continue reading
"You enjoy the nice weather, okay?" Hope your weekend is a good one, folks. | Continue reading
The people authors know in their life are often significant in their fiction, either through their presence or their absence. In discussing her novel The Luminous Dead, author Caitlin Starling reflects on a person in her life who is very important to her, and how that person has … | Continue reading
It is very important to him that you are made aware of this critical information. Look at his face. It is very serious indeed. | Continue reading
Spice has appointed herself my front-line editor today. She thinks my dialogue is fine but that my imagery needs work. She's fussy that way. | Continue reading
Spice just hopped up while I was taking pictures of the stack and I figured, hey, books and cats, two things Whatever readers love a whole lot, why not get a picture of both? And here we are. Do you see a title (or two, or more) in the stack that intrigues you? Let us… | Continue reading
"Belly of the Whale" by Burning Sensations. It's very 80s video. https://youtu.be/ocRVFI4EggM | Continue reading
Sometimes you think a book is going to go one way, and then it goes another, and that turns out -- perfectly fine, actually! Elizabeth Bear had a bit of that experience with her new novel Ancestral Night. Here she is to explain the zigs and zags. ELIZABETH BEAR: Ancestral Night h … | Continue reading
It's a very New York view, I have to say. Also, yes, I was just here. Surprise! I'm back again. And the reason I'm back is that tonight I'm talking with V.E. Schwab about the re-release of her first novel, The Near Witch. I read it on the plane. It's darn good. We'll be at… | Continue reading
In today's Big Idea for her new novel The Light Brigade, author and Hugo winner Kameron Hurley explains how a bit of family history is the root of her story of soldiers in the far future. KAMERON HURLEY: I grew up around stories of war. My grandparents met in liberated France in … | Continue reading
I was on the high seas for a week and while I was away the books and ARCs piled up -- here's about half of what came in since I was away. Anything here you'd like to take on a long cruise with you? Tell us all in the comments! | Continue reading
The Netflix animated-but-really-not-for-kids series Love, Death & Robots came out last Friday, and three of the eighteen episodes were based on short stories of mine: "When the Yogurt Took Over," "Alternate Histories" and "Three Robots." So naturally folks are wondering how I got … | Continue reading
It was just the previous post. I put up some pictures that were meant to be seen only by a particular group of friends, and gave them a password to see them, that's all. Also, the pictures were nothing salacious, just pictures. In any event you can access the rest of the site jus … | Continue reading
Over the last week I was on the JoCo Cruise, and once again I took pictures of some of the concerts that happened on the boat. If you were also on the JoCo Cruise and want to relive the experience, or weren't but just would like to see some pictures of the concerts, there are… | Continue reading
I'm still off on a cruise (which has been going swimmingly, thank you very much), but I would be remiss if I didn't make you aware that Love, Death and Robots, David Fincher and Tim Miller's brand-spanking-new animated series, is now up on Netflix for your streaming pleasure -- a … | Continue reading
Bye! See you all in a week! | Continue reading
"Oh, you're going away? Here, let me make sure you have enough cat hair for the duration." Such a giving kitten, Smudge is. In other news, I'm off for another JoCo Cruise, so don't expect to see too much here in the next week or so, since I don't anticipate having a whole lot of… | Continue reading
As a film producer, Mallory O'Meara knows that the amazing designs you see in movies don't magically appear out of the thin air -- they're the work of dedicated creators and craftspeople. So when O'Meara set out to learn more about the mind behind the Creature from the Black Lago … | Continue reading
My hotel put me on the top floor, and my room has a balcony. The view is pretty nice. I'm in town for the Audie Awards, for which Head On is nominated in the science fiction category. We'll see how it does. But no matter what, I get this view, which I can be happy… | Continue reading
Hey! It's March! And to start off this month, here's a super-sized stack of new books and ARCs to peruse. As always, if there's something here you're interested in, tell us about it in the comments. And welcome to the third month! | Continue reading
It's called food poisoning! And if you look at the weight chart above, covering this week (I have one of those scales that records my weight every time I step on it), you can probably guess when I had it. I'm here to tell you it wasn't pleasant. Fortunately it seems to have run i … | Continue reading
First, let's get you all a kitten picture, stat: Yes, he's adorable. And an asshole! But also adorable. As most kittens his age are. And yes, he's still a kitten until at least late April or early May, which would be our best guess for his birthday. Enjoy these last couple months … | Continue reading
Author Brett Frischmann wrote a non-fiction book about the consequences of technology. But he wasn't done with the topic yet, nor it with him -- and that's how his novel Shephard's Drone came about. Here he is to explain what happened next. BRETT FRISCHMANN: Human beings have spe … | Continue reading
After more than a month of dealing with substandard (even for me) internet connectivity through CenturyLink, in which my already-slow internet connectivity slowed by a two-thirds, and neither a "repair" nor a new modem did anything to fix it, I decided to try something else. Spri … | Continue reading
Got a big stack of new books and ARCs this week for you to peruse and consider. What here looks like something you'd enjoy? Tell us all in the comments! | Continue reading
When the Oscar nominations came out this year, I did my first-pass guesses as to who and what would take the statuettes home, and noted I would follow-up closer to time, because things change. And this year, yow, did they -- A Star Is Born, the film I suspected would take the win … | Continue reading
Just posted a Twitter thread I want to save here for posterity, and also for those of you who don't bother with that particular service. It involves people complaining about me! --- 1. So, one of my favorite Hot Takes on Scalzi is the one that goes "I *used* to like Scalzi, but t … | Continue reading
I suppose it was inevitable: I discovered a that I am listed as a contributor two that I was not aware existed. It's a 2009 book from the National Geographic Society called The Backyard Guide to the Night Sky, credited to Howard Schneider, and for which I am listed as contributin … | Continue reading
In today's Big Idea, author Tina LeCount Myers discovers that in writing Dreams of the Dark Sky, her conscious was writing one thing, and her unconscious writing something entirely different -- and yet, it all came together in the same story. Here's how. TINA LeCOUNT MYERS: Consc … | Continue reading
She came home for the weekend so I was able to grab a few photos of her. This one turned out pretty well. Still writing that thing, so back to it. | Continue reading
Night follows day, day follows night -- or does it? It depends on where you live. And in The City in the Middle of the Night, award-winning author Charlie Jane Anders considers a world where neither follows the other, and everything that entails for her characters and their lives … | Continue reading
Meanwhile, Spice, in the background, knows better. | Continue reading
Be descriptive and detailed, yet vague. For example: "The transparent portal slid open and the creature, radially asymmetrical, used its ambulatory stalks to cross the threshold. The creature, covered in keratinous extrusions and small, dead plates, swiveled its perceptual array, … | Continue reading