Ever since I was little, I've loved Greek mythology. And since the beginning, Athena has been my favorite being in all of mythology. You may say I'm biased, but today I'm going to tell you all the reasons why Athena is literally the best. And to be fair, I'll also mention the tim … | Continue reading
This might be the biggest stack of new books and ARCs I've posted in a while -- and it has quality as well as quantity. Anything here that you would want to make its way into your own reading stack? Tell us all in the comments! | Continue reading
Howdy, everyone! Today I have a game in mind I thought y'all might find interesting. It's called Voez and is a rhythm game made by Rayark, which has also made Cytus and DeeMo. I've always loved rhythm games. I used to play Dance Dance Revolution on the PlayStation 2 back when I w … | Continue reading
And now, one in an occasional series of reminders that in fact I live in rural America: Here's my neighbor, in the hay field across from my property, baling the summer's first crop of the stuff. After the hay's been cut and baled, the field basically looks like my yard for a whil … | Continue reading
When Joshua Viola first thought up the idea of what would eventually become Denver Moon, he realized that what it really needed was collaboration. How did Viola make that happen? Time to find out. JOSHUA VIOLA: You never know when a story idea is going to turn into something you … | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! Today I found out there is going to be a sequel to the cinematic masterpiece known as The Lego Movie, and it's called The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which just makes me laugh, honestly. I wanted to share this with you all because I think the first one is just … | Continue reading
https://youtu.be/aH1ZEw8k1ag?t=1s Athena and I thought it would be fun to try an occasional podcast with the two of us, in which we talk about entertainment we've both seen and possible other topics as well. So, in the spirit of trying new things, here is the first edition of Joh … | Continue reading
That's right, here's a short, available-nowhere-else excerpt from The Consuming Fire, coming in October from Tor Books! Are you ready? Are you ready for this? Are you hanging off the edge of your seat? Well, here it is! "A lawyer is here.” “Toss him out a window.” “Her, actually, … | Continue reading
Writing for a blog is weird. It's been really difficult for me to decide what to write about, so difficult in fact that it's led to me not posting as much as I want to because I just have no idea what to write about. Everything I've posted has been surface level; the reviews, my… | Continue reading
The sequel to The Dispatcher may have been announced in this New York Times article about audiobooks. And before you ask, yes, there will be a print/ebook version as well, some time after the audio publication. | Continue reading
Happy 2nd of June! Today I am very busy cleaning out my closet and sorting things that I brought home from college, so I'm going to share some more of my photos with you! Last time, there was a lot of people asking what camera and lenses I use. Everything on the last post and… | Continue reading
Almost a platonic ideal of a sunset, really. Have a great weekend, folks. I'll be spending mine writing. | Continue reading
First of June, First of June, summer reading is starting soon! And here are some new book and ARCs to be thinking of for your sunny summer enjoyment. What here looks refreshing to you? Tell us in the comments! | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! Today I'm going to be showing you my brand new tiny little herb garden! As many of you know, I thoroughly enjoy cooking, and cooking often involves the use of herbs and/or spices. I'm sure many of you have experienced the struggle of needing 1/4 tsp of a spice an … | Continue reading
I liked it, quite a bit in places, and (snarking aside) I can also see why it did (relatively) underwhelming business in its first weekend: it's light in the way Star Wars films haven't been before. Star Wars films have had humor, and have had snark, and have had quips and banter … | Continue reading
What happens when a science fiction writer goes back in time? A serialized novel following up one of the most intriguing woman characters of 1859! Brenda Clough explains how she got from here to there for her series A Most Dangerous Woman. BRENDA CLOUGH: I have always thought of … | Continue reading
One thing I wholeheartedly believe in is volunteering. Community service should be a part of everyone's life, even if it's a small part. Recently, I started volunteering at the Humane Society of Preble County. It is a no-kill shelter for dogs and cats in Eaton, Ohio. Eaton is ove … | Continue reading
If there's one thing I love, it's animated shorts. I have a pretty short attention span, so I particularly like watching shorts because they have so much to offer in such a short amount of time. Most shorts don't have dialogue in them, or if they do it's very limited, or sometime … | Continue reading
Technically, the first strawberries of late spring, as we've got a four weeks to go to solstice. But here in the US our cultural summer is Memorial Day to Labor Day, so, well, here we are, with these very nice strawberries from the little patch we have right in the front of our l … | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! I've decided to do a running thing called "What You Should Be Watching" and it'll be me telling you about a show I think you should watch. To kick it off, I'm going to recommend one of my all-time favorite cartoons, Voltron: Legendary Defender. This more recent c … | Continue reading
I'm sitting here in Sky Harbor, getting ready for the trek home. With any luck I'll be there early evening. Without luck I will be stranded in DFW. I'm hoping for luck. Phoenix Comic Fest, where I've been for the last several days, was a lovely time with lovely people and I'm gla … | Continue reading
Automattic being the owners and operators of Wordpress, which hosts this site, and on whose software this site runs. Here is their updated privacy policy. I've made a permanent link to it here on what is now called my Site Disclaimer, Comment and Privacy Policy page. | Continue reading
Yesterday I went with my mom and grandma to the movies and saw Solo: A Star Wars Story. Personally, I have always felt very disconnected from Star Wars as a whole. Even though I grew up in and still am part of the science fiction community, I have never seen the original six Star … | Continue reading
As we roll into Memorial Day Weekend, here's a quick stack of new books and ARCs for you to peruse. Does anything here look like your ideal summer reading? Tell us which ones in the comments! | Continue reading
Actually, everything is groovy. Wednesday was "Elevengeddon" at the Poisoned Pen bookstore, in which more than eleven authors signed books for people, and yesterday was given over to a couple of panels and then mostly hanging out with friends. Above you will see my friend Olivia, … | Continue reading
Good evening, everyone! Today I've been really busy with schoolwork and running errands, and I realized I should probably post something before it gets to be too late in the day, since not everyone is as much of a night owl as I tend to be. For today's post, I thought I'd share w … | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! Today I'd like to introduce you to some songs I really enjoy, by an artist named Sam Tinnesz. I have composed a little playlist of my five personal favorite songs of his. His music is dark, intense, ominous, melodic, honestly almost hypnotizing, and I hope you en … | Continue reading
As a reminder, starting today(!) I will be in the lovely and very hot town of Phoenix for Phoenix Comic Fest (previously known as Phoenix Comic Con), to sign books, be on panels and do a whole lot of schmoozing. And you(!) can be a part of that, if you happen to be in or… | Continue reading
Hey guys! To kick off day two of writing on Whatever, I have decided to post a recipe. There were a surprising number of people in the comments of yesterday's post that said they were looking forward to seeing what I make in the kitchen, and I was planning to make something today … | Continue reading
I've had a couple of people ask me how the European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation law (which goes into effect on Friday) affects this site and how I run it, so, let me talk about that very briefly. One, on a personal level, aside from asking for an email address … | Continue reading
Here you go, folks: Another very fine stack of new books and ARCs that have arrived at the Scalzi Compound. What here is catching your eye? Tell us in the comments! | Continue reading
Howdy, y'all. Today is my first day as my dad's intern, and this is my first Whatever post! My dad is off writing some silly book or something along those lines, and because he is busy he tends to neglect this website a little bit, so I am here to ensure that posts are posted… | Continue reading
Where to start the second book in a series? If your answer is "after the first book, duh," allow Cat Rambo to offer another option to you, which she employs in her novel Hearts of Tabat. CAT RAMBO: My second novel is out as of May 20, and it’s a satisfying feeling. At the same… | Continue reading
Here are some lovely photos I took whilst I was away from the world. Enjoy! Hope you had a good week. | Continue reading
Ever have that story that decides that now is the time it is going to be told, and you get to be the lucky person to tell it? Nicola Griffith does, and now her novel So Lucky is out in the world. Here she is to explain how the one led to the other. NICOLA… | Continue reading
Hey there, folks -- Just a quick note to say that with the exception of a Big Idea post tomorrow, I'm going to be away from Whatever (and Twitter! and Facebook! and all of social media!) for a week. Why? a) I'm getting close to final deadline on The Consuming Fire, so I need to m … | Continue reading
And now, to wrap up Reader Request Week 2018, short takes on some of the questions I didn't otherwise get to: Laura: A topic I’ve been pondering is to what extent the proliferation of entertainment & informational choices — Internet, cable TV, smart phones — is an overall boon … | Continue reading
And now, for your delight, short answers to some of the writing-and-writing-life-related questions I got this year for Reader Request Week: jlanstey: Having acquired a new office chair, thoughts on furniture and home interior design generally. Some classic SF writers (Heinlein, L … | Continue reading
Another Friday, another tasty stack of new books and ARCs that have come to the Scalzi Compound. I see some very fine work in this one -- what here is catching your attention? Share your thoughts in the comments! | Continue reading
Gregory asks: I’m curious about your ‘public speaking’ role. I know you have representation and are available for events. I would like to know things like what advice do you have for other folk who don’t do much public speaking? Do you have any formal training? Why should somebod … | Continue reading
Well, this is a sort of ironic question to address on my birthday, from Theo, who asks: Do you think about mortality frequently or do you try to put it out of your mind? Do you think it’s better to ignore it or jam pack as much as you can into every minute with one… | Continue reading
When I went out on tour for Head On last month, I wrote a new, funny short story to perform for the audiences, on the thinking that since they went out of their way to come see me, usually on a weeknight, they should get something special that no one else gets: in this case,… | Continue reading
Wait, I'm almost done with my 40s already? As most of you know every year on my birthday I take a picture of myself, a sort of "state of the Scalzi" photo. This is this year's, brought about in part by the fact that my allergies have picked this very day to kick in and… | Continue reading
Here's a question sure to be fun for everyone! Gottacook asks: Does it seem to you that consciousness of Robert Heinlein as a singularly influential SF writer has precipitously faded in the past several years? (Not that this would be a surprise, as the 30th anniversary of his dea … | Continue reading
Kaci asks: Having just read the Twitter post, I’d really like to know your theory of coolness and why some people will never be cool. She's referring to this Twitter conversation between me and the Washington Post columnist Alyssa Rosenberg: https://twitter.com/AlyssaRosenberg/st … | Continue reading
Calven13 asks: This question would invite all sorts of dumbshittery, I get that, but: how do you suppose a cottage industry in attacking you for being ‘far left’ became a thing? There are actual far left authors they could go after, it’s not like Steven Brust or China Mieville ar … | Continue reading
https://twitter.com/scamperbeasts/status/990254020760686594 Bill asks: Given the attachment we humans tend to have with our pets, how do we rationalize the treating them as commodities, food, or things (rather than beings)? I mean, Bill, I hate to be the one to break it to you, b … | Continue reading
Let's start off the 2018 Reader Request Week with a topic that several of you were interested in because of recent news, although I'm using Laura's question to get us started: What are your thoughts on Incels? While I think the type of guy has been around for always, their organi … | Continue reading