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
Another week down. Enjoy the weekend! | Continue reading
Because I assume most people lead full, rich and happy lives that do not revolve around the Internet, some of you may not be aware that a couple of days ago Writer Twitter blew up because a writer and editor named Jason Heller wrote a thread about day jobs, the first post of whic … | Continue reading
In today's Big Idea, Keith R.A. DeCandido is here to represent for The Bronx, and why it's a fantastic setting for his new urban fantasy novel, A Furnace Sealed. KEITH R.A. DeCANDIDO: Finding an urban fantasy novel that takes place within the confines of New York City is about as … | Continue reading
https://youtu.be/bNGzjZC8dxQ The Falling Joys, enjoyed by many Australians and maybe seven Americans, back in 1990. This song "Jennifer," which is pretty great. Hope you like it. | Continue reading
It's always delightful for me when I learn a compatriot from my journalism days branched out, as I did, into the literary world. In this case, it's E.E. Williams, with whom I shared a newsroom twenty five(!) years ago, writing mysteries, of which My Grave is Deep is the latest. I … | Continue reading
I figure this will hold you until tomorrow. Have a good night! | Continue reading
So, in my time as a fiction writer, I've been nominated and/or was a finalist for a fair number of awards, and in some cases I've even won them. And in the course of more than a dozen years of being nominated/becoming a finalist/occasionally winning, I've learned some things abou … | Continue reading
There are worse ways to start a week than to find out one of your novels is a finalist for an award. Head On is a finalist for the Audie Award (that's for audiobooks), in the category of science fiction. Other books that are finalists in the category: Artemis, by Andy Weir, read … | Continue reading
The top picture here is from yesterday, roughly at 10:30 am, and the second picture here is today, just a bit after noon. By this evening all that snow will be gone because it's currently 48 and we'll get up to 57. As a reminder, a couple of days ago we were in negative temperatu … | Continue reading
Whoa, February already. And to start the month off, please enjoy this very fine stack of new books and ARCs that have come to the Scalzi Compound. What here is ringing your bell? Tell everyone in the comments. | Continue reading
And my in-house editor is ready to go! Also, it's cold as balls right at the moment: -2, without windchill. Yes, I know other places in the US are colder at the moment. You know what? -2 is cold enough. This isn't the Freeze Your Gonads Off Olympics. And if it is, I'm happy to… | Continue reading
It will be no surprise to learn Kevin J. Anderson has written a lot of novels -- he's one of the most prolific authors working today, not only in the genre of science fiction and fantasy, but in all of fiction. But he's also written quite a lot of short fiction as well. Over the… | Continue reading
My hotel room overlooks a dog park, how cool is that? As I believe I noted before, I'm here in town for a couple of days to have meetings and schmooze and maybe even see a friend or two, as one would here in the City of the Angels. Should be fun. How was your… | Continue reading
In today's Big Idea, James Fell explains the title of The Holy Sh!t Moment, and how it perfectly encapsulates not just the book, but the process of making the book itself. JAMES FELL: I wasn’t keen on the title. The sample chapters and proposal were ready. We just needed a name. … | Continue reading
Mmmmm... snowy parking lot. I'm in Chicago for personal reasons (no public appearances, sorry), and then I'll be off the Los Angeles for meetings (also no public events). My life is interesting. This is it for updating here today, but if you need more of me, I and Leigh Alexande … | Continue reading
Google's spellchecker attempting to correct "all right" to "alright." NOT OKAY WITH THAT, GOOGLE. | Continue reading
This week I have two -- count them, two! -- super sized stacks of new books and ARCs for you, and here is the first of them, filled with reading goodness. What here is calling to you through the computer? Tell us in the comments! | Continue reading
Most of you know I was a professional film critic waaaay back in the day, and one of my hobbies every year is to look at the Academy Award nomination list when it comes out and guess, based on my experience, which people/films will walk away the awards. My prediction rate: Pretty … | Continue reading
Every hero has a journey -- or so it would seem -- but does that have to be the journey we expect them to take? Django Wexler asks that very question in this Big Idea for his new novel Ship of Smoke and Steel. DJANGO WEXLER: There's a story we like to tell in science… | Continue reading
Hey, there! Would you like a short story from me to help you get through your Monday? Of course you would. So here it is: "A Model Dog," which I wrote for The Verge as part of its "Better Worlds" series of optimistic science fiction. In it, two engineers at a very large tech comp … | Continue reading
This one taken around 11:45pm with my Nikon, and for which I did no prep; this is basically me taking a couple dozen shots freehand and picking the least blurry one. This is the one that turned out the best. It's not too bad, all things considered. And of course it was beautiful … | Continue reading
Actually the picture is from yesterday, but since the view is essentially unchanged (including the sky), I figure it's probably fine to post. We're in Detroit for the annual ConFusion convention, which I have been attending since 2005 and which I consider my "home" convention. It … | Continue reading
Author David Mack knows what you expect out of a book series. But with The Iron Codex, he's making the argument that you should sometimes get something else than what you expect. Let's read his thoughts on why this is. DAVID MACK: In the publishing industry, there are certain exp … | Continue reading
I'm going to be at the ConFusion science fiction convention this weekend, and if you're going to be there (or are considering going, and you should!), here is what I'll be doing and when: Friday 9pm (Michigan Ballroom): Dance Party. That's right, I'll be DJing on Friday with danc … | Continue reading
She announced it last night. Here is her platform, which I encourage you to read if you are a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (and even if you are not). Some of you may recall that I was SFWA president once, from 2010 to 2013. Mary Robinette was my vi … | Continue reading
In today's Big Idea, Brenda Clough explore the issues of power, and superpowers, and whether both are more trouble than they are made out to be -- and how that affects her new trilogy, of which The River Twice is the first installment. BRENDA W. CLOUGH: I was born in Washington D … | Continue reading
In fact, she is totally judging you. She is in reality the most judgmental of all our cats, the cat voted Mostly Likely Not to Be Angry, Just Disappointed (although in fact she's got a temper, so don't cross her). Busy Monday around here. How was yours? | Continue reading
"What? You want me to pose for a photo? Well, I suppose I could --" " -- wait, what?" "Oh, I get it. Smudgeception. Very cute, human." | Continue reading
Eight years ago I wrote up this piece about my revenue streams, talking about where it is my money comes from. In 2010 I had just made the switch to having the majority of my income be from writing fiction, after two decades of having other sorts of writing be my primary source o … | Continue reading
Got a request: https://twitter.com/alanhogg/status/1084115158186815495 So I read the piece. And here are some thoughts, informed by having been both a professional critic and reviewer, and a professional creative artist. These thoughts, perhaps not surprisingly, get longer as I g … | Continue reading
Hey, it's 2019, and this is our very first stack of new books and ARCs for the year! See anything here that you would like to inaugurate your 2019 reading list with? Tell us all in the comments. | Continue reading
So I put on one of those YouTube "videos for cats" -- usually videos of birds and small mammals scampering about -- to see if the cats would, in fact, be intrigued by them. The answer, for Zeus at least, is yes. I eventually had to turn it off because he was trying to figure… | Continue reading
An email from a reader today, which (to paraphrase) noted I don't seem to mix it up as much with dickheads here or elsewhere, and wondered whether that had to do with maturity or just because everyone's moved on. Maybe both? On the personal level, I'm rather less feeling the need … | Continue reading
"I had not been sufficiently informed of the recent temperature drop and resulting snow, which was not here previously. Please let me back into the house." (Spoiler: I let her back in. Eventually.) The next ten days will be at near-freezing temperatures. I expect a lot of indoor … | Continue reading
These are crowns for a molar and pre-molar, respectively, from top, and the teeth they were applied to are right next to each other in my mouth, which is why I got them at the same time; didn't seem much point to getting just one of them done. These are my first crowns, so I… | Continue reading
Who tells the story of a novel? For her new novel The Widows, the question is not an academic one for Jess Montgomery -- her story of 1920s Appalachia hinged on the right voice to tell the tale. JESS MONTGOMERY: A few years ago, we were planning our first trip to visit our younge … | Continue reading
Tim Miller, David Fincher to Create Adult-Themed Animated Shorts Series for Netflix I'd watch that. | Continue reading
What's being passed around among authors in the last few days: The latest Author's Guild survey, which shows that the median income for all authors (from their books) is $6,080, while the median income for full-time authors is $20,300. That $6k median figure is down significantly … | Continue reading
My mother posted this on Facebook a few days ago, and I thought I'd also post it here so it didn't get lost down the Facebook memory hole: This is a picture of me and my grandfather, Michael Scalzi. I'm guessing I'm about four or five in that photo, so this would be from 1973… | Continue reading
Today's Twitter kerfuffle (not counting the enduring discussion of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knowing how to dance, much to the consternation of some conservatives) comes courtesy of this Washington Post article, in which a "mommy blogger" by the name of Christie Tate discusses why … | Continue reading
https://youtu.be/MGn9x4-Y_7A Cultural critic and commentator Lindsay Ellis (disclosure: a friend of mine) has a video up talking about "The Death of the Author," which is a primer and discussion of that particular literary theory, and whether it makes sense to apply it to work to … | Continue reading
Can a "big idea" be a bad idea? Author James L. Cambias (who has been one of my favorite writers since we were both at the University of Chicago together) grapples with this problem, and how confronting this issue made his new novel Arkad's World all the better. JAMES L. CAMBIAS: … | Continue reading
For 2019 I didn't do any resolutions, because over the course of time I can't say that I've found them particularly useful, either as an encouragement or as a goad. For me, the way it usually works is that I decide to do things, or I don't, and my behavior changes accordingly. Wi … | Continue reading
For those of you casting about for things to nominate for various awards this year, here's what I have that's eligible. Best Novel Head On (April 2018; Tor Books; Patrick Nielsen Hayden, ed.) The Consuming Fire (October 2018; Tor Books; Patrick Nielsen Hayden, ed.) Best Related W … | Continue reading
Yup, this pretty much covers it, I'd say. Also, hello and welcome to 2019! How was your new year? | Continue reading
Smudge has the right idea. I'm talking the next few days off and probably won't be back until January 2, 2019. That's next year! Just in case you didn't know. I hope you enjoy these next few days of seasonal downtime and that your new year is bright and full of hope. See you on… | Continue reading