For years, Cory Doctorow has carved one of the most idiosyncratic paths in the genre of science fiction and fantasy, combining feats of speculative fiction with a life of political and social advocacy in the tech sphere. So it’s no surprise that his new novel Red Team Blues combi … | Continue reading
Some stories beg to be written, and sometimes characters do the same. In author Kat Howard’s case, she intentionally left a door open for her character to walk through so she could write her again. Read on to see how this turned into her newest novel, A Sleight of Shadows. KAT HO … | Continue reading
If you were waiting for the text-based editions of the third installment of the Dispatcher series, good news: They’re out! Both the signed, limited hardcover edition of the book, and the ebook version, are generally available. As the hardcover edition is both signed and limited, … | Continue reading
A note for the folks who visit the site directly, rather than see these posts via email/RSS feed: For several years I’ve had a sidebar widget that posted last several tweets here; Athena has one too. However, at the end of the month Twitter is severely restricting access to its A … | Continue reading
I had low expectations when I went to the theater to see the The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but somehow it was worse than I was prepared for. Maybe that’s my fault for having at least a shred of hope going in, as I had seen from several trusted sources that it wasn’t actually that … | Continue reading
You may recall that we’ve created a corporation, the Scalzi Family Foundation, to manage and focus our charitable giving out in the world. If you’re wondering what that might entail, here is our first thing. (For those of you who don’t want to click through, we’re sponsoring the … | Continue reading
And you see some very strange things while you are here. Cool! But strange. Welcome to the weekend. Any plans? If you’re in Los Angeles, you should come to the LA Times Festival of Books, where I will be appearing on a panel on Sunday at 1pm. But if you are not going to do […] | Continue reading
One day this will be me! Move over, Nunnally Johnson! (He was a screenwriter, by the way.) This trip to LA has been fun and interesting and I think fruitful so far, with lots of meetings about some cool things which may or may not ever come to pass, but no matter what people have … | Continue reading
For a few months, I’ve had my eye on an upcoming restaurant called Speakeasy Miso, as I patiently waited for them to open their doors in downtown Troy. Last week, they held a soft opening to showcase their drinks and izakaya style bar food, and I jumped at the opportunity to fina … | Continue reading
She’s fabulous, but you knew that, and it’s her birthday today, which you may not have known. If you wanted to wish her a happy day, you could do so in the comments below. — JS | Continue reading
Here on Earth, we have a pretty decent view of the universe (when it’s not cloudy, or when there’s light pollution, or the sun is out, or…). But the universe looks different depending on where in you stand. Or so Dr. Philip Plait suggests, in his new book, Under Alien Skies. PHIL … | Continue reading
They’re for Krissy. Because she’s great, that’s why. But I thought you might like to see them too. — JS | Continue reading
Sunday is not the usual day for releasing new music, but then it’s not like my homemade electronic stylings are a cog in a huge music company machinery, it’s just me uploading stuff through Distrokid, so: Hey! Guess what! I have a new EP out today! It’s called How Far From Home D … | Continue reading
The air is warming, the buds are blossoming, and, look! A stack of new books and ARCs has arrived at the Scalzi Compound! What here is catching your eye? Share in the comments. — JS | Continue reading
Ten days ago I posted a freelance job listing for a researcher and I wanted to update everyone on the status of things there. One, wow, I got a huge response and nearly 200 applicants, nearly all of whom (at a rough first glance) are ridiculously qualified. This is terrific and I … | Continue reading
The Victorian Era is a world we think we know… but as Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold tell us in this Big Idea for Death By Silver, beneath what we think we know is a world that must be inferred… and then explored. MELISSA SCOTT & AMY GRISWOLD: It’s not too much of an exaggeration … | Continue reading
If you read the Big Idea posts — and you should! — you’ll know at the end of each post there is the post-essay informational part, which includes links to booksellers, excerpts from the book, and then links to the author’s personal site and Twitter presence. Well, starting today, … | Continue reading
People are a mish-mash of where they or their ancestors have come from, and where they are now (among, of course, many other things). But as Piper J. Drake makes clear in this Big Idea for Wings at Once Cursed and Bound, these elements of who were are are often in unexpected comb … | Continue reading
Got back our taxes from the accountant today. This year’s taxes are, to put it charitably, a tangle: not only my usual hodgepodge of royalty and option statements, but also matters attending to the church and its renovation, our rental property, interest and investments, and a bu … | Continue reading
All too often, people can do the wrong things for what they think is the right reasons. In author Chika Unigwe’s Big Idea, she goes into detail about how things done out of “love” can end up hurting people, and how this sort of situation inspired her new novel, The Middle Daughte … | Continue reading
I mean, just look at that expression. It says “It doesn’t matter to me whether you live, or are thrown screaming into a thresher,” and it says it with style. Take notes, people. This is how it’s done. — JS | Continue reading
I asked the Bing AI to write a paragraph about the Easter Bunny in my style. This is what it wrote, and then this is the conversation we had afterward. Bing: Here is a paragraph I wrote in the style of John Scalzi about the Easter Bunny: The Easter Bunny was not amused. He had [… … | Continue reading
From the band boygenius, whose new album The Record is getting all the accolades, and deservedly so; it’s my favorite album of the year so far. Enjoy, and have a reflective and worthwhile Good Friday and/or Passover or final day of the work week, depending. — JS | Continue reading
It’s pretty all right, I guess. I’m in town for an event tomorrow (4/7) at the City Winery (details here, if you haven’t seen me write about it here already), and I got in a day early to get situated and to visit around the town. As some of you may know, certain politicians from … | Continue reading
I’ve mentioned before that when it comes to making music and using the stuff for doing that on the computer, I am still at a stage that I would consider “enthusiastic amateur.” This is to say, I like playing with all the toys that I’ve accrued, but my knowledge of how they all wo … | Continue reading
While strong emotions like sadness or grief can be powerful motivators for writing, author Courtney LeBlanc was determined not to let the heaviness of her poems overwhelm her reader, and turned to a fellow poet for help. Come along in her Big Idea to see how she solved her proble … | Continue reading
I’m looking for a freelance researcher to help me generate some data for my upcoming novel. The data I require will be (to put it mildly) somewhat esoteric but absolutely needs to be rooted in physics and other scientific knowledge that we already know today. The researcher will … | Continue reading
If you’ve ever wondered if aliens are out there, author Ness Brown is right there with you. In their new novel, The Scourge Between Stars, aliens might be a lot closer than the characters think. Follow along in Brown’s Big Idea to see if we’re really alone in the universe. NESS B … | Continue reading
I’m going to be performing at Wesley Stace’s Cabinet of Wonders alongside Chris Collingwood (Fountains of Wayne), Dave Hill, Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom), Vicki Peterson (The Bangles), Queen Esther, Kim Richey and of course Wesley Stace himself. Most of them will be performing mus … | Continue reading
More space-y electronica from me, for you. Not just you, mind you. For anyone! But also, you. Enjoy. (PS: This one rewards headphones) — JS | Continue reading
Thinking about the potential change your choices carry can be paralyzing in the decision-making process. Such is the case in author Stark Holborn’s newest novel, Hel’s Eight, and in Stark’s own journey for writing it. Follow along in the Big Idea to see how overcoming this led St … | Continue reading
(Photo by Gage Skidmore (see original), used under Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 2.0) . Additional editing and typography by me.) The question has never been whether Donald Trump is a criminal. Everyone knows exactly what he is. The question has always been whether he would … | Continue reading
Welcome, everyone, to another Universal Yums review! The last one I did was in November, and then I paused my membership because the holidays were coming up and I knew I was going to be too busy/too full of holiday goodies to be able to focus on snack boxes. But the pause-period … | Continue reading
Have you always wanted to give speculative fiction writing a go, but felt like you could use a hand, or two, or five? Authors Tiffani Angus and Val Nolan are here to lend you all the hands you might need with their new guidebook, Spec Fic For Newbies. TIFFANI ANGUS & VAL NOLAN: A … | Continue reading
I’m thinking a lot about music these days, in no small part because of my own fiddling with the form, so I’m curious: Can you think of a song that so affected you that the first time you heard it, you stopped everything else you were doing to listen to it all the way through? […] | Continue reading
What is an urban legend without people to tell their tale, and spread fear into the hearts of others? Luckily, author J. L. Worrad is here with a new novel to keep the legend of his hometown monster alive. Read on to see how he utilizes this boogeyman in The Keep Within. J. L. WO … | Continue reading
One of the synthesizer plugins I have has a preset called “Los Angeles 2019,” and if you’re nerd enough to get that this label is meant to evoke Blade Runner, then you’ll understand why I had to play with it. This is what came out. Dark, clattery and slightly spooky. Enjoy. — JS | Continue reading
Coming up with one main character can be hard enough, but author Lavanya Lakshminarayan came up with over twenty in her debut novel, The Ten Percent Thief. Read on to see how all these individual stories took form and shaped into one book. LAVANYA LAKSHMINARAYAN: I first met my a … | Continue reading
That moment when the world has begun to warm, but the trees haven’t quite caught up with the news. In another month, these branches will be full of new leaves. For now, though, still bare as in the dead of winter. Makes for a pretty shot, however. — JS | Continue reading
It’s the first book stack of spring! What here would you want to read over a newly blossoming weekend? Share in the comments! — JS | Continue reading
There’s a story here. Every year on the JoCo Cruise (the nerd extravaganza cruise I participate in annually, on which I act as head of its literary track, moderate panels, do readings and DJ a nerd prom), there’s a final concert on the last full day of the cruise. The musical per … | Continue reading
You know Spring has sprung when the cats station themselves by the windows and chitter, apparently trying to convince the newly-active birds to come closer, for reasons. The birds, it must be said, are generally not convinced, and even if they were the cats still have a pane of g … | Continue reading
A beloved part of childhood celebrations has a darker past than most people realize — and for author Leopoldo Gout, this is only one secret that the past holds, which came to be part and parcel of how his novel Piñata came to be. LEOPOLDO GOUT: Piñatas can be seen as a symbol of … | Continue reading
I haven’t baked anything in a while, and it was starting to make me sad, so I said to myself, well why don’t I just bake something? So I did! I chose this lemon loaf for a couple different reasons, the first being that I scrolled past it on Instagram and thought it looked good [… … | Continue reading
Philip K. Dick once asked if android’s dreamed of electric sheep; author Blair Austin wonders about the dreaming habits of another entity entirely in the Big Idea for his first novel, Dioramas. BLAIR AUSTIN: What if the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition (1906-11) fell asleep … | Continue reading
Welcome to Spring, and longer days. Unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere. In which case, sorry, shorter days for you. Don’t worry, we’ll switch places in about six months. — JS | Continue reading
During the pandemic, lots of people took on projects to keep themselves busy; mine was building out a music room with an eye toward eventually writing and recording music. Along the way Krissy expressed an interest in bass guitar, so I got her one and told her that she and I woul … | Continue reading
I met MaryLeigh Roohan on the JoCo Cruise, and I was told she was a musician and then she and I geeked out over Emmylou Harris, so I endeavored to look her up when I got back on land and had a decent internet. And, wow, is she ever a musician; this song “The High […] | Continue reading