While I was away from home for a couple of days, my author copies of When the Moon Hits Your Eye arrived, and here is one of them, with cat for scale. The cover looks absolutely fantastic in person, which is a fact you’ll see for yourself in just a smidge over a month from […] | Continue reading
Putting yourself out there isn’t easy, but it certainly is necessary. Author and life coach Shari Leid explores this idea in the Big Idea for her newest book, Table for 51. Follow along on her journey not just through the US, but her journey through connecting with others. SHARI … | Continue reading
First, look, here’s the cover to the UK edition of The Shattering Peace, the seventh book in the Old Man’s War series. The UK cover is very orange! And why not. I like it. Second, if you are interested in a signed/personalized copy of the US version of The Shattering Peace, Subte … | Continue reading
Sequels, prequels and other-quels (which is not a real word but you get the idea): When it comes to “-quels,” James L. Cambias has given them considerable thought, especially for his “Billion Worlds” series. In this Big Idea for The Miranda Conspiracy, Cambias delves into what ki … | Continue reading
Author Cory Doctorow is here to tell us a bit of interesting history behind one of the most well-known places in the US: Silicon Valley. Read on to see how the laws of the land played a role in his newest story, Picks & Shovels. CORY DOCTOROW: Why Massachusetts Isn’t California Y … | Continue reading
“Love to Be Loved” has been one of my favorite deep cut Peter Gabriel songs for a while now, so I thought I would give it a swing and see what it sounds like coming out of me. The answer: Well, Peter Gabriel has nothing to worry about, but I don’t hate it! I sung […] | Continue reading
I can’t help but think that snow plow drivers just really dig their jobs. You get to drive around all day and shove snow with a huge metal plow! And maybe drop dirt off the back of your truck! And then you get nine months off! All right, I imagine that the snow plow drivers […] | Continue reading
Specifically, the latest COVID vaccine, and the first half of the two-part shingles vaccine. Both in the same arm, which I know some people do not feel is wise, but then I am was not planning to do anything strenuous with my left arm today anyway, and also, Krissy and my Valentin … | Continue reading
Heroes and villains: We use these words to describe people, but how do we make the determination of which is which… and when? Premee Mohamed is thinking about this in One Message Remains, and in this Big Idea for the story collection, is offering some insights on when and where t … | Continue reading
Clearly, he’s not a fan. Why are there HVAC dudes in the house at all? Because last weekend our furnace apparently decided it only wanted to work intermittently if at all, and while I celebrate those who decide they want to reduce their workload and enjoy a slower-paced lifestyle … | Continue reading
Sometimes all you need to write a good story is an amalgamation of things you like. For author Hache Pueyo, this was a wide assortment of things that she figured would come together better the more she wrote. Lo and behold, a novella was made! Read on to see which fancies of Puey … | Continue reading
Ever since I got really into creating charcuterie boards, I’ve been getting ads on Instagram consistently from AppyHour Box; a subscription box of artisan meats, cheeses, and accoutrements. Everything you’d need to put together a charcuterie board of your own. I always told mysel … | Continue reading
Sometimes, being alone can be a nice break in your hectic day to day activities; a breath of fresh air. Other times, being alone can be terrifying, even panic-inducing. Author Michael Nayak explores the theme of isolation, taking being alone to the extreme in his newest novel, Sy … | Continue reading
Yes, I have a book out in March! Yes, I am touring to support it! I will be visiting: Columbus OH (with Mary Robinette Kowal); Louisville KY; Knoxville TN; St. Louis MO;Saratoga Springs NY;Decatur GA;Concord NH;Austin TX;Brookline MA;andHarrisburg, PA. (And possibly there will be … | Continue reading
As you all know by now, we bought a church a while back with the intent of using it as office space for Scalzi Enterprises, and while Krissy has had an office here for some time now, I hadn’t gotten around to furnishing my own office space, because I was both busy and lazy. I […] | Continue reading
When in Chicago, go look at a Monet painting of Venice, they always say (actually no one’s ever said that but even so). I have an Art Institute membership, so when Krissy and I had a moment away from Capricon we dropped in and looked around. It’s always lovely to be there, and I’ … | Continue reading
Where I am in town for Capricon, where I will be doing a reading and signing and DJing a dance on Saturday night, because that’s my side gig, making nerds move rhythmically. If you’re at the convention, I hope to see you at one or all of these things. If you’re in town but not [… … | Continue reading
People often ask me if I read my dad’s books. The truth is, I never really have before. Despite his numerous novels and several short stories, there is very little by him that I have actually read. I would like to change that, and I’d also like to review them honestly. So here we … | Continue reading
Sometimes, you outgrow the story you’re trying to tell. In author Caye Marsh’s case, this meant a rewrite of a novel she thought she had already completed. Read on to see how she, and Station in the Sky, grew. CAYE MARSH: My first published work, a novella titled Peace In The Sky … | Continue reading
Friendship is magic! This, on several levels, is the lesson for this Big Idea for Why On Earth, an anthology of unusual alien invasion stories. Rosiee Thor and Vania Stoyanova, the editors, are laying out what it all means, start with their own first encounter. ROSIEE THOR and VA … | Continue reading
I love all forms of spa-type self care. Things like massages, facials, manis, pedis, saunas, all that good stuff, and I always encourage other people to get these things if they have the means to do so. So when I got an ad on Instagram for True REST Float Spa, my interest was piq … | Continue reading
As any translator will tell you, translating a piece of fiction isn’t about simply transcribing words one-to-one from one language to another. It’s about capturing a vibe — making sure the tone and intent of the piece come through in words when a mere transliteration would fail. … | Continue reading
First, here’s the cover to the Korean edition of Starter Villain, and I have to say, I like it a lot. I’ve been impressed at how many of my overseas publishers have done their own take on the US version’s now-iconic cover, and how good most of them have been. It’s fun to see them … | Continue reading
Because I was curious how I would cover a Tori Amos song, and today was the first time in a long time I had a day to just fart about with music. I’m not unhappy with it! Enjoy. — JS | Continue reading
Well, I bought some high ticket items last year slightly earlier than I might have, mostly electronics and a car (although the car we needed when we got it). Otherwise, the estimates I’ve seen on how much the – announced! – tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China are likely to c … | Continue reading
What a month. Here comes another one. Hang in there, folks. — JS | Continue reading
Also, it still sucks that Bowie is gone. That’s all I have for you tonight, I’m still in my post-novel writing brain recovery period. — JS | Continue reading
Any olive lovers out there? Well, I certainly am one! In fact, I tend to like quite a lot of pickled things, evidenced by my post over pickles a while ago. So when I got an ad on Instagram for a brand called “Olive My Pickle“, I was definitely interested in what they had to […] | Continue reading
Though we all have seen multiverse stories before, it doesn’t mean they can’t still be fun and interesting. Here to prove that is author Josh Mendoza, who has just come out with his newest novel, Shadow of the Eternal Watcher. Follow along in his Big Idea to see how he plans to s … | Continue reading
Yes! This is the official 14,000th post on the site! Mind you, there were many written before 2003 (the year the official archives go back to), but they’re not on the site now because they were written as hand-rolled HTML and I am lazy and did not manually cut and paste them into … | Continue reading
I turned in the manuscript to the seventh Old Man’s War novel a week ago, and now look at this: the cover to the novel, called The Shattering Peace. Once again, we’ve turned to the master, John Harris, to give us a cover with the scope and drama of the novel itself, and clearly, … | Continue reading
I was visiting my friend in Columbus last week, and we wanted to dine somewhere fancy. This was a bit of a challenge, though, as my friend is gluten free. Now, while there a lot of gluten free options in a place like Columbus, most of them are bakeries or very casual eateries, li … | Continue reading
Little known fact about me is that sushi is my favorite food. So when new sushi places open up around me, y’all best believe I’m going to go try them out. Especially when that sushi restaurant is actually a fusion restaurant featuring Japanese small plates and Spanish style tapas … | Continue reading
20 years ago, I went to my first non-Worldcon science fiction convention, a little convention called Confusion, up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. I had such a good time I’ve come back to it every year since then (not counting the year it and everything else was cancelled be … | Continue reading
Over three years ago, I did a post over a game I was obsessed with called Friday Night Funkin’. It’s a free rhythm game on Newgrounds that’s much like Dance Dance Revolution, except you use your arrow keys to play instead of actually dancing. After all this time, would you believ … | Continue reading
I signed a thousand signature sheets! It’s for a signed, numbered edition of When the Moon Hits Your Eye (this one, in fact), and I signed two sets of number copies, on the principle of redundancy, so that if one set of the number signed sheets is somehow damaged, there’s a secon … | Continue reading
Recently I was scrolling on Instagram (big shocker, I know) and came across an ad for a cafe passport. In the past couple years I have seen many a brewery trail, winery booklets that you get stamped at each one you visit, even donut trails! But this was the first time I’d seen a … | Continue reading
The Shattering Peace, the seventh book in the Old Man’s War series, done on January 21, 2025 at 12:34 am. 80,008 words, not counting acknowledgements. It’s late by a couple of months, but (gestures at world). It’ll be out in September(ish). Gonna write some acknowledgements, and … | Continue reading
When I was a sophomore in college, there was one song in particular that I had on constantly. I mean this song was on repeat for months on end. When I think back to that school year, this song is the soundtrack to that year. And here it is; Science by Allie X: I had forgotten […] | Continue reading
Temperatures are about to drop all across North America, so what better time to peruse a stack of new book and ARCs! What here would you like to snuggle up with on a chilly winter weekend? Share in the comments! — JS | Continue reading
Nothing great! I was going to write a longer and more serious piece about this, and who knows, later I might, but right now I’m behind on a book deadline and it has priority. Nevertheless, I would feel remiss not at least posting some bit of commentary about this now. So, briefly … | Continue reading
One of my favorite stories about Linda, who was Krissy’s aunt and who passed away earlier this month, was how she welcomed me when we moved to Ohio, 24 years ago now. When I arrived at our new house, Linda was there with the rest of the family, and when she saw me, she came […] | Continue reading
Joui Wine is a chic wine bar in Dayton that I adore, but have not frequented, and I find that to be a downright shame. In an attempt to remedy this, I signed up for a cocktail class they were hosting that doubled as a book launch event for, wouldn’t you know it, a cocktail […] | Continue reading
For fuck’s sake, 2025, ease off the pedal, already. Beyond that, Blue Velvet was one of the very few handful of films that I came out of going “what the fuck did I just watch?!?”, and knowing that whatever answer I eventually came up with, I had seen a masterpiece. The film scare … | Continue reading
Lucy Dacus is one third of boygenius, whose album The Record is my favorite of the last couple of years, and she has a solo album, Forever is a Feeling, coming in March, of which this song, with its utterly charming video, is the first single. I can’t imagine I won’t be getting t … | Continue reading
If you want to know when I pretty much drew a line though my friendship with Neil Gaiman, it was when Neil acknowledged that he made moves on his early-20s nanny on her first day of employment. This meant that the absolute best case scenario of this whole situation was that he di … | Continue reading
Strange Horizons, for those of you who don’t know, is the magazine where I had my very first science fiction short story published (well, the very first I ever submitted for publication, and which also turned out to be the last I ever submitted for publication, but I’m getting ah … | Continue reading
Yesterday, I had a nice event to attend, and less time than I would’ve preferred to get ready for said event. I really needed to wash my hair, but I was out of conditioner. I knew I didn’t have time to go all the way to the closest Sephora, buy my conditioner, come all the […] | Continue reading