Sometimes stories aren’t really about the main character: it’s the side characters and their stories that make the main character’s world so vibrant. Author Leah Cypess gives one … | Continue reading
And right on schedule, too. It’s been a few hours now and so far no side effects, not even soreness around the shot site (yet). My first one was likewise relatively symptom-free; I felt tired… | Continue reading
Welcome to another post of me gushing about my love of subscription boxes! Today, I will be telling you about one that I have been getting for quite a while now, just over a year, in fact. It’s cal… | Continue reading
Missing conventions in these unprecedented times? So is New York Times best-selling author Nancy Werlin. Follow along as Werlin takes you on a tour through her train of thought in creating her newe… | Continue reading
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… an Amazon Prime original animated series about superheroes? Interesting. I hadn’t heard of Invincible at all unti… | Continue reading
And now, some of the questions I didn’t answer at length, answered briefly: Jim Randolph: I gather one of the things that you get satisfaction from is the work (both art and music) that you h… | Continue reading
In which I quickly answer some questions of a writeresque bent. Let’s get started! Chris: What are your views/experiences with collaborations – whether in a book, film, or television setting … | Continue reading
No foolin’, April’s first stack of new books and ARCs has got something for just about everybody in it. What here is a book you’d like to have for your own this spring? Share in t… | Continue reading
srs asks: Whenever we visit family in Ohio, they like to take us to Marion’s pizza. As an Ohio resident, can you explain the appeal? (I didn’t think it was bad, just completely unremarkable and not… | Continue reading
That’s right, y’all, I have been vaccinated! To be more specific, I got my first dose of Moderna. I’m due for my second shot at the end of the month. In case you didn’t see,… | Continue reading
Steve Calhoun asks: Does the money satisfy? I mean this sincerely. I know it’s probably nice to be rich. And I’m personally much better off this year than I’ve been in years past but I also find th… | Continue reading
Ever feel like “the algorithm” just knows too much? Would you trust an algorithm with something as important as space travel? In Thomas K. Carpenter’s newest Audible Original, Sat… | Continue reading
Susanpeak asks: What is it about Krissy that dogs like so much? You mentioned that Charlie has already attached strongly to her, and I remember Kodi did so as well (and I assume Daisy?). Why? I sho… | Continue reading
Rick asks: Being a child of the late 20th century, I always thought the USA was somehow immune to fascism, and I’m honestly surprised to discover recently that this isn’t the case. Is this simple n… | Continue reading
Have you ever considered going vegan, or living a zero-waste lifestyle for the sake of the environment? It might be a good idea, especially if we get judged later in life for how we fought against … | Continue reading
Matt C asks: I recall in a different post you mentioned you spent a summer on a houseboat when you were young? Can you elaborate on the story of how it came about and some or all the shenanigans th… | Continue reading
Last week, I was advertised a snack food on Facebook while hungry, and inevitably bought it. The tempting snack I am referring to is called “Craize”, a company that sells flavored toast… | Continue reading
For this one, two questions, coming at the same topic at different angles. First, this from Dominic Morton: Should we teach “the classics” in high school? In the past I felt like the novels and pla… | Continue reading
In this Big Idea for Tower of Mud and Straw, author Yaroslav Barsukov looks at potentially-fraught relationships, and how he approached them for his Nebula award-nominated novella. YAROSLAV BARSUKO… | Continue reading
Michael Doherty has a question about publisher practices around book sale numbers. Specifically: I’ve never understood why publishers appear to be so cagey about the numbers of books they sell. Hav… | Continue reading
It’s Monday, and that means it’s time to start this year’s Reader Request Week! To kick things off, Matt S asks: Computers today are mostly consumption devices. Tablets, cell phon… | Continue reading
Family. Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em — but it seems that in one way or another we return to them. This seems to be the case in Dorothy Winsor’s ne… | Continue reading
One always wonders, when one brings a new dog into a house full of cats, how the cats are going to handle the intrusion of a big, dimwitted extrovert of an animal that is a dog, particularly when i… | Continue reading
I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while, but I wasn’t sure how to without making it sound like I’m fishing for compliments or throwing myself a pity party. But I think I … | Continue reading
It’s Charlie! Charlie is a very good girl, and I wanted to share her adorableness with you all! Having a dog has always been a norm in my life. Kodi was around before I was born, so she was a… | Continue reading
Well, would you look at that: Next week I have nothing on my schedule in terms of writing. You know what that means, don’t you? Yes! I will sleep in until noon all those days! And also, it… | Continue reading
Because I know you want them. Here she is in the yard this afternoon. And in case you’re wondering, she’s doing well and adjusting to home life just fine. She continues to be a good dog… | Continue reading
Well, you’re going to anyways, so strap in and come on this voyage of exciting flavors from across the sea with me! I, being me, subscribed to yet another subscription box. Though this one is… | Continue reading
So you’re here to learn the title of the novel I just completed. Excellent, because I’m about to tell you the title of the novel I just completed. The title has four words, three of whi… | Continue reading
What you speak, and how you speak it, and the things you write in the language you speak: All more complicated than you might expect, especially when the dynamics of civilizations come into play. C… | Continue reading
After months of debating with myself, I finally made a Tik Tok account. “Why so much indecision?” you may wonder. Well, it’s because Tik Tok is very much about filming yourself, e… | Continue reading
There are many reasons that Zack Snyder’s Justice League (aka Justice League: The Snyder Cut) exists, almost none of them having to do with the actual film itself. The first and foremost reas… | Continue reading
It’s been a full twenty-four hour since Charlie has been gotten, which is enough time for me to say that based on early observations, she is, indeed, a very good dog. Yes, yes, all dogs are g… | Continue reading
Charlie is a six-month old Shar Pei mix who was surrendered by her previous owners because she got too large for their apartment. The good news is: We have lots of room! And we like large dogs, alt… | Continue reading
SPOILER: It was me. I’m very happy, both with the novel, and that it’s done. More details soon. | Continue reading
Spring is almost here, and what better time to peruse a fine stack of new books and ARCs. What here is something you are looking forward to taking into a new season? Share your thoughts in the comm… | Continue reading
Characters don’t always come out right on the first try, or even the second. Author Christina Consolino tells us a little about her experience with getting the characters right in her Big Ide… | Continue reading
In virtual reality, you can be anyone you want. But what happens when the headsets come off, and you’re faced with real world threats? Author Matt Ruff explores this idea of curating a person… | Continue reading
This post was supposed to come out last Monday, but my brain said “nah,” but at least it’s here now! If you missed my posts about the first six episodes, you can find them here, a… | Continue reading
Hey, would you look at this, this is me getting my first shot of the Pfizer COVID vaccine today. You should know that the shot itself was painless — literally, if I hadn’t been taking a… | Continue reading
If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I love chocolate milk. So when I got an ad for Slate, a company that boasts a delicious, healthier, shelf-stable version of the stuff we… | Continue reading
This year’s Oscar nominee list is out, and every year except for 2020 I did a piece predicting who I thought would win and who I thought wouldn’t, based on historical trends and gut fee… | Continue reading
Remember: Pizza is a pie. — JS | Continue reading
Welcome to today’s post, where I’m going to yell about time travel in movies and shows and you’re going to like it! Or, if you don’t, that’s okay, too. We can have dif… | Continue reading
March 11, 2020, is when I peg the start of my personal plague year. I was on the JoCo Cruise at the time and had intentionally avoided news up to that point, but then two things happened. One, peop… | Continue reading
It’s not how you look on the outside, but what’s on the inside that makes you a monster. This is especially true in Gabriela Houston’s newest novel, The Second Bell. Explore Houst… | Continue reading
In another bout of culinary adventuring, I decided to make homemade bagels! One of my favorite food bloggers, Half Baked Harvest, posted a recipe for cinnamon crunch bagels, and I decided to try my… | Continue reading
See that fucking ridiculous guitar above? The one with six necks? Yeah, I just bought that shit. (My Fictional Interlocutor crashes in from the underbrush) You did what now? I bought it! I read in … | Continue reading