We all have those moments we wish we could take back. In Winders, some people just might be able to. How might that work — and how might that affect those who could do it? Author Ryan O’… | Continue reading
I’m in my ancestral county right now, the primary reason being to attend the delayed memorial service of a dear friend (it was last night and was bittersweet but also wonderful in its way), b… | Continue reading
My good pal James Cambias, who not entirely incidentally here is a terrific science fiction author, passes along this note to me about a fundraiser for the town he lives in: “The non-profit F… | Continue reading
I’d been thinking of getting a Les Paul, and this blacked-out special edition was speaking to me aesthetically, so, what the hell, I got it. I showed it to Krissy when it arrived and it spoke… | Continue reading
For Once Upon a Wardrobe, author Patti Callahan considers a story and a world most of us know, to tell a story that many of us may have not considered — but without it, that earlier beloved t… | Continue reading
We got Charlie on March 20, and we were told at the time she was about five or six months old, which means she was probably born around this time in October of last year. We decided for convenience… | Continue reading
In Nothing But Blackened Teeth, author Cassandra Khaw looks at the ties that bind us… and why we might not cut them even if we have the tools to do so. CASSANDRA KHAW: Nothing But Blackened T… | Continue reading
As you all know, every year around mid-November, I do a thing with Jay and Mary’s Book Center, my local bookseller, where I encourage people to buy my books there as holiday gifts, and when t… | Continue reading
It’s a busy weekend here at the Scalzi Compound, for various reasons (most positive!), but I saw this hibiscus unfurling early today and thought you all might like to see it, too. It’s … | Continue reading
I was slightly stunned to see the response to this giveaway: Nearly 2,400 entries, 1,000 of which came in the first two hours. Makes me feel all warm inside, it does. Nevertheless, it’s now t… | Continue reading
In The Hidden Ones, author Dave Ring is looking at a part of human relationships that sometimes gets short shrift in the world of fiction — but in many way is the part of human relationships … | Continue reading
Look! It’s an Advance Reader Copy of my upcoming novel The Kaiju Preservation Society! And also, Charlie, who is convinced that nibbling on a the ARC is a excellent way for her to get her rou… | Continue reading
Surprise! I have a book out today! It’s the “Tor Essentials” edition of Redshirts, my Hugo and Locus Award-winning novel about a doomed spaceship crew trying to change their fate.… | Continue reading
As anyone who has ever written a near-future novel will tell you, the problem with that sub-genre is that “the future” keeps catching up with you in unexpected ways. Marjorie B. Kellogg… | Continue reading
In October of 2008, after years of dealing with site software that was less than stable and had difficulty handling the load of traffic, I switched Whatever over to WordPress, both as software and … | Continue reading
Here’s a happy dog with a stick to keep you company until I get back. — JS | Continue reading
In her debut novella Finches, author A.M. Muffaz looks at marriage in a way many of us here in the United States might have never considered, and the damage that can be done when promises assumed a… | Continue reading
Spoiler: It was me. They were having a little clinic at our local library, so it was convenient to do. The shot itself was painless, and now I’ll have a day or so of feeling vaguely crappy an… | Continue reading
From the yard and deck today. Because who doesn’t like flowers? (If you don’t like flowers, please keep it to yourself, thanks) — JS | Continue reading
For Eighth Grade Vs. The Machines, middle grade author Joshua Levy decided that there was a certain concept that he wanted to put at the core of his middle-school-in-space tale. Was it action? Adve… | Continue reading
Facebook and its associated services Instagram, Whatsapp and Oculus went down for several hours yesterday, coincidentally after a damning 60 Minutes interview with a whistleblower on the service. W… | Continue reading
There’s a central, motivating emotion at the heart of The Death of Jane Lawrence, and despite what the title may imply, that emotion is not “fear.” No, it’s something that, … | Continue reading
I mentioned before that the crabapple in front of our house had reached the end of its life this year; today brings the actual end as its (mostly already-dead) body is taken out and a new tree is b… | Continue reading
First: Hey, look, I got an ARC of The Kaiju Preservation Society today. Here it is with cat for scale. It’s always cool to get ARCs of one’s book, because it’s a nice physical rep… | Continue reading
With a title like Scales and Sensibility, you might be forgiven if you thought that you knew the primary influence on Stephanie Burgis’ new novel. But, as it turns out, you’d only be sc… | Continue reading
I don’t necessarily post hotel window picture when I’m doing personal travel (because when I travel for myself, it’s not the Internet’s business), but this one is kind of fu… | Continue reading
I am disbelieving of the news that Spice is delivering to me, about the status of the month of September, 2021. And yet, here we are, at the end of it nonetheless. In other news, I am likely to be … | Continue reading
If you like your Big Idea pieces full of science fiction metaphors and similes, I’ve got some good news for you: Today, editor Steven Leonard has jammed this essay full of them. And for good … | Continue reading
We’re still about six months out from the release of The Kaiju Preservation Society, but that doesn’t mean reviewers haven’t been getting their hands on it already — and lov… | Continue reading
This branch from a dead tree fell into the yard today, and Charlie was very very very excited, because there are very few things in the world she likes more than a really big stick. Sadly for her, … | Continue reading
For today’s Big Idea, Boston University history professor Charles Dellheim delves into Nazi stolen art — and from whom it was stolen — as an introduction to his book Belonging and… | Continue reading
This is a song from “Deathloop,” the video game that’s caused me immense frustration recently by being awesome and yet not wanting to play nice with my computer. That said, this s… | Continue reading
Over on the University of Chicago Class of 1991 Facebook page, one of my classmates asked if any of us could remember what essay questions the College asked of us when we were applying (there were … | Continue reading
This is the first time I’ve ever seen these things, although a quick visit to Google suggests they arrive seasonally and have done for the last couple of years. In this particular case, despi… | Continue reading
A super-sized stack of new books and ARCs for you this Friday. What here would make for lovely fall reading? Share in the comments! — JS | Continue reading
We remember our own lives, mostly… but what if we had access to memories beyond our own lives, and not just in the form known as “books” and “recorded media”? J.D. Moy… | Continue reading
Our neighbor Bob texted Krissy and told her to tell me to get out my fancy camera because something big was about to come down the road. He was right; about twenty minutes later, and preceded by th… | Continue reading
Fantasy and science fiction are often considered two sides of the same coin, but Jason Sanford has another theory about both, and in today’s Big Idea, he shares that hypothesis with you, and … | Continue reading
Today’s the first day of autumn here, and the weather is rainy and gloomy, and temperatures have dropped by more than 25 degrees from yesterday, and yet the crabapple tree right off from our … | Continue reading
Interesting video from the Kurzgesagt folks about whether individual action can make a difference on the climate change front. The short answer is no (no matter how much you as an individual work t… | Continue reading
There are emotions we all experience, because we experience other emotions first. In the Big Idea for Under the Whispering Door, author TJ Klune talks about one of those follow-up emotions, and why… | Continue reading
Tomorrow’s the first day of Autumn up here in the northern hemisphere, and while the persistent cloud cover here in Bradford suggests I will not be able to get a shot of tonight’s sunse… | Continue reading
When it comes to his new novel The Escapement, author Lavie Tidhar is definitely not clowning around. (is passed note) Oh, wait, that should be, is definitely clowning around. Well, sort of. Look, … | Continue reading
And when the rainy day is a Monday? Well, forget it. He’s just gonna nap through the whole darn thing! Also, for those of you born after, oh, 1971, who might not get the reference: There, now… | Continue reading
Bethesda and Arkane have made some of my favorite video games in recent years, most notably the Dishonored series, which had a delightful balance of worldbuilding and the ability to magically hoist… | Continue reading
Another Friday, another fine stack of new books and ARCs to peruse! What here is catching your eye? Share your thoughts in the comments. — JS | Continue reading
Sometimes, the killer hook for a thriller isn’t a plot point, or even the first line of the novel, but something else… something that comes even before that. Lee Matthew Goldberg explai… | Continue reading
Our hibiscus plant nearly died because after keeping it in a heated garage all winter, we replanted it too early in the spring and it got snowed on, so the hibiscus flowers this year have been few … | Continue reading