You know what they say about power, right? So does Ryan Van Loan, and for his novel The Justice in Revenge, he looks at the famous saying, and tries to seek the truth of it. RYAN VAN LOAN: My Big I… | Continue reading
I’m having a busy day today — good, but busy — so in case you’re having one too, here’s a piece of music to give you four minutes of breathing space. Enjoy. — JS | Continue reading
Look, the whole fuckin’ point of M&M’s is that they are the milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hand™. So this unholy monstrosity is not only questionable the level… | Continue reading
Last night Athena tweeted this: “Now, wait,” you say, “isn’t all cookie dough edible? Because if not I’ve been doing cookie dough wrong this entire time.” No, it… | Continue reading
There’s a lot going on in that head of his. You know, relatively speaking. For a cat. And though he’s getting up there in years, he’s still a pretty darn handsome dude. Onward to … | Continue reading
So you’ve created a world for a book series, and the series… ends. What becomes of the world and the characters in it? Can you go back? How do you go back? And why? Lots of questions, w… | Continue reading
I watched The Matrix last night for technically the first time, but between the internet and being in the room when my parents have had it on, I’ve seen a lot of it in bits and pieces, and ce… | Continue reading
Author Jason Fischer gives us a look at the first installment of the Books Of Before & Now series in today’s Big Idea. Come along as he tells you of the epic journey Papa Lucy & The B… | Continue reading
I missed this when it came out about a month ago. So here it is! I get a nice shoutout at the beginning. — JS | Continue reading
Author Sarah Henning has returned to the Big Idea, to subvert your classic fairytale expectations and take them for a spin in the second book of her Kingdoms of Sand and Sky series, The Queen Will … | Continue reading
I’ve never been the biggest fan of stand-up comedy. Growing up, I never wanted to watch somebody just stand there and tell stories I couldn’t relate to, or say jokes I didn’t real… | Continue reading
Wind your way towards Sidewinders, the second installment in Robert V. S. Redick’s Fire Sacrament trilogy. Follow along in his Big Idea as he tells you of the genius that went into creating t… | Continue reading
Film director Richard Donner, best known for Superman and the Lethal Weapon series, has died, and this makes me sad. As I noted on Twitter, he once sent me a thank you note when I was a critic, bec… | Continue reading
Here’s a deep cut from Prince for you. — JS | Continue reading
Maybe an unbroken chain of clouds across the sky isn’t all that big of a deal, but you know what? I thought it looked pretty neat. In other news, I’m close to finishing my current writi… | Continue reading
She’s replacing William Lawhorn, who stepped down in late June, in the wake of some various and persistent communication issues at the convention, which among other things occasioned the resi… | Continue reading
Which is to say, today’s the day our hibiscus plant decided to offer up its first bloom of the year. It’s been a rough year for the hibiscus plant — it wintered in the garage, whe… | Continue reading
“Appearances can be deceiving.” In author E. J. Mellow’s Big Idea, she tells us a bit about how she plays off this phrase in her newest novel, Song of the Forever Rains. E. J. MEL… | Continue reading
It’s been almost a decade since The Avengers (2012) came out, and since that fateful day little thirteen year old me saw it in theaters, Loki has been my favorite Marvel character. Now, Marve… | Continue reading
This tweet explains why. Upon examination the wallet was old, torn and empty, suggesting it had been abandoned to the trash or that the neighbors gave it to their own dog as a chew toy, but still. … | Continue reading
Welcome, everyone, to a special edition of me trying Japanese snacks! As you might have been able to tell from the title, I’m not trying a Sakuraco box today (like I did in my last four snack… | Continue reading
Pretty cool. There’s a whole story about it, including a little more detail about the story, over at Tor.com right now. — JS | Continue reading
We’re having fun. We just had milkshakes for dinner. I regret nothing. Hope you’ve been having a lovely weekend too. — JS | Continue reading
Baen Books sent me a ton of stuff recently, so, guess what? It’s an (almost) Baen exclusive stack of new books and ARCs this week! Anything here catching your eye? Talk about it in the commen… | Continue reading
No, not the ukulele. I use that all the time. The travel bag! Krissy and I are doing a weekend getaway, and in doing so it’ll be the first time in (counts) at least fifteen months that I will… | Continue reading
“Kids,” of course, being shorthand for “People between the ages of 65 and 40 who remember when Album Oriented Rock roamed the FM airwaves.” Isn’t that what “kids… | Continue reading
So, here’s an FYI for you: Yes, that’s right, I am the DragonCon literary guest of honor for 2021. “But, Scalzi,” you say, “Weren’t you the DragonCon literary gu… | Continue reading
Jenny Lawson is one of my favorite writers and humorists, and also a pal, and couple of months ago Literary Hub asked me to do an interview/conversation with her, talking a bit about her New York T… | Continue reading
Lovely, in a mellow sort of way. — JS | Continue reading
Events can change you — and in her novel Cinders of Yesterday, author Jen Karner posits that this change can go more than just skin deep. In this Big Idea, Karner explores how we react to the… | Continue reading
The room block at the hotel is open! Go get a room! (And yes, I reserved a room, and yes, at this point, I do plan to attend. I am a Hugo nominee this year, after all. And also, the idea of a holid… | Continue reading
Buying gifts for my dad, whether it be for his birthday, Christmas, or Father’s Day, is a challenging feat. This is mainly because, as many of you have seen from his ridiculous musical acquir… | Continue reading
How I spent my Fathers’ Day: In my musical man cave, trying to figure out how to make all the stuff I bought work. And the results were — well, pleasantly productive! I figured out how … | Continue reading
Today is the first day Juneteenth is a national holiday in the United States (for federal workers it was observed yesterday because today is the weekend), and I was asked in email what thoughts I h… | Continue reading
Ready for another stack of new books and ARCs? Because ready or not, here it comes! What in this stack would make for excellent summer reading? Share your thoughts in the comments. — JS | Continue reading
A couple weeks ago I took a picture of Krissy with my bass, just for fun, and she remarked — wrong-handedness aside — that she liked the feel and weight of the bass; it felt like an ins… | Continue reading
“Hey, Scalzi,” you ask, “any more choice thoughts about your new little basement studio?” Why, yes, I have a couple! * First, folks, I’m sooooooo in over my head right… | Continue reading
I’m 52, and today is the 26th anniversary of me and Krissy getting married, which means, if I haven’t entirely lost my ability to do math, I’ve been married to Krissy for almost e… | Continue reading
The women of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels have a most unusual talent — one that their society most decidedly does not approve of. Author India Holton raises the roof on this unusua… | Continue reading
Hello everyone, and welcome to another installment of me trying Japanese snacks! Today I’m reviewing the Sakuraco June 2021 Box with my dad. This month’s theme is citrus, which is perfe… | Continue reading
Author Christopher Swielder takes a look at what divides not only his characters, but people in our society in his Big Idea for his newest novel, The Orpheus Plot. Read all about how our problems t… | Continue reading
Here’s how it went down on Twitter today: Also, yes, we reserved one of the F-150 Lightnings, i.e., the new electric Ford truck that will come out next year. I wrote a Facebook post explainin… | Continue reading
You know what I heard this morning? Nothing! Which is the first for a couple of weeks; the cicadas, the literal background hum of the last fortnight, have mostly gone silent. Because they’re … | Continue reading
As a follow-up to the post from a couple of weeks ago, I now have the music room largely set up; there are a few more things I need to do and get (some acoustical tile; an actual chair), but they&#… | Continue reading
Fucking Christ on a cheese stick, I am so tired of that phrase. If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard, “as the world opens back up”, “as we return to normality”, o… | Continue reading
Ah, yes, a damsel in distress. Or, perhaps, a con artist in distress? Author Brandie June has taken a classic we all know and love, and spun it on its head in her newest novel, Gold Spun. BRANDIE J… | Continue reading
For your entertainment: 20 seconds of the very loud cicada swarm loitering on the crabapple tree in our front yard. They’re definitely swarming right now. Also, enjoy the crabapple tree while… | Continue reading
This past weekend when I visited Chicago, I did all the usual things such as visit the aquarium, go to the top of the Willis Tower, and ride the Navy Pier Centennial Wheel. Though I’ve done t… | Continue reading