The next time I see this glowy orb, my new book will be out. | Continue reading
Originally posted on Twitter but reposted here in compact form, and for those who don't venture to that service: The Last Emperox comes out tomorrow! Before it does, let me take a moment to make a small request from those of you who have ordered the book: Patience and grace. The … | Continue reading
https://youtu.be/BqsbhbSw6Gs Hello, everyone, it is I, the junior Scalzi! I have come from the deepest and laziest depths of quarantine to bring you a post that I have been meaning to write since January and just haven’t gotten around to. I figure now is a better time to write it … | Continue reading
Because it appears someone needs to say these things out loud, some thoughts, for the consideration of readers, about authors, particularly novelists. Warning: This is long. 1. Authors aren't machines: Which is to say, we do not reliably and through a purely mechanical process ex … | Continue reading
Talking about The Last Emperox, coincidentally enough! (Note: It's not a coincidence.) You can find the audio segment as well as a transcript at this here link. It's about seven minutes long. A fine little amuse-bouche for your Saturday. | Continue reading
A very fine stack, if I say so myself. Let me know what intrigues you in the comments. Also, as a matter of process, I should note that for a while you might expect to see fewer stacks of new books and ARCs. Not because I'm less interested in posting in them, or (as would have… | Continue reading
A shocking revelation about Danielle Trussoni's past turned into the big idea for her novel The Ancestor -- and more than the novel beside. She's here now to tell you about the revelation, and how it lead to her newest projects. DANIELLE TRUSSONI: My new novel The Ancestor is abo … | Continue reading
There's a site that purports to track how well one's county is following social distancing protocols, and I was curious how my own county was doing in their estimation, so I put it into site. Turns out, Darke County, OH is not going all that great: It has a score of "D", meaning … | Continue reading
A book doesn't have to have a single big idea -- it can have ideas of all sizes, combined to make something new. A.J. Hartley had a few ideas for his "Steeplejack" series, of which Firebrand is the second, and today, he's here to explain them, and what he's done to make realize t … | Continue reading
I meant to post it yesterday but then got distracted. By things. And stuff. You know. Today: Did an interview for the upcoming book release. And having done one thing today, I excused myself from everything else for the rest of the day. This quarantine work schedule is something … | Continue reading
In a world that's full of dystopias and which frankly feels more than a little dystopian itself these days, Chandra K. Clarke asked: Is that all there is? Her novel Echoes of Another is her way of trying to answer that question. CHANDRA K. CLARKE: One of my favorite Sidney Harris … | Continue reading
When thinking about how to develop a magic system for her new novel Weave the Lightning, a big idea came to Corry L. Lee... almost like a bolt out of the blue. CORRY L. LEE: I love reading the adventures of diverse protagonists. Except... what’s this? There’s magic! There’s space … | Continue reading
Today I actually left the house for the first time in two weeks (minus walks up and down my rural Ohio road), in order to travel up to Michigan, where I signed copies of The Last Emperox at the Subterranean Press warehouse. Usually when I head up there to sign books I make a day… | Continue reading
I've been quarantining for three weeks now. How am I doing? Let's break it down, in no particular order: 1. Weight: Quarantining offers many opportunities to confront the question "Am I Hungry or Just Bored," and I know that left to my own devices I will graze incessantly, so I'v … | Continue reading
Because I once wrote a book about a global viral pandemic, I was asked by my local newspaper to prognosticate about what changes we will see from the coronavirus in the future. I answered largely in generalities, because that's the sort of interview it was. You may find the inter … | Continue reading
It's pleasant to think of where I live as a bucolic paradise, and a lot of the time it is just that. But one does have to remember that nature includes the less than pretty parts, like, for example, hundreds of recently-metamorphosed houseflies congregating on one's back porch an … | Continue reading
And here we are: Another intriguing stack of new books and ARCs that have come to the Scalzi Compound. What is calling to you this week? Tell us all in the comments. | Continue reading
Spice is performing it for you! Enjoy. Also, spring is now here in Ohio, which means some sun but mostly clouds and rain, but when it's sunny we all go out into the outside. Social distancing means something different when you live in a rural area -- I took a three and a half mil … | Continue reading
https://youtu.be/_a90ObpSqXE Best known for Fountains of Wayne, but the songwriting mastermind behind a surprising number of other perfect pop songs, dead at 52 from coronavirus-related issues. A very bad day for music, and a reminder that the coronavirus is going to take a lot f … | Continue reading
Hold on to your butts: in this Big Idea for her new novel Now, Then and Everywhen, author Rysa Walker eyes the topics you're not supposed to talk about... and then totally goes there. RYSA WALKER: There’s an old adage that you should never discuss politics or religion in polite s … | Continue reading
It's a busy day for sales here in Scalzi Land, so let's dig right into it: Today (April 1, 2020) only -- and not an April Fool's joke -- You can download the ebook of The Collapsing Empire for free as part of the Tor.com eBook club. This is for US and Canada only. Also… | Continue reading
Last Thursday Krissy, who has been appointed the Person Who Leaves The House to Shop, reported that once again she had been unable to find toilet paper, or paper towels, while she was out shopping. We had been back from vacation for nearly two weeks at that point, and the Great T … | Continue reading
Sometimes you wake up from a nap and a cat is right there, being all, like, "hey, what's up." And it is disconcerting. So naturally you take a picture. | Continue reading
We got back from the JoCo Cruise on March 14, and March 15 was our first full day back in the world, so today marks two full weeks since I've basically holed myself up in my house. In the first week back I had two trips out to the grocery store, both observing full social… | Continue reading
Three fridays ago I was lying in bed on the Nieuw Amsterdam, the cruise ship that the JoCo Cruise was sailing on this year, trying to decide whether or not I want to bother getting my ass up, heading down to the tender boats and going over to Half Moon Cay, our current stop on… | Continue reading
As we round the bend toward April, we have one more stack of new books and ARCs for March! What here is getting your attention as a possible Spring Read? Share in the comments! | Continue reading
The frustrating thing for me during this moment of time that we're in is that I don't think it's quite sunk in to some folks that this virus doesn't care about politics, or the economy, or in fact any human concern at all. It doesn't care about anything. It just wants to spread, … | Continue reading
Hey, I made another playlist! Enjoy. Here's the Spotify link, or follow along with the videos below. https://youtu.be/wtOgwFzhlyw https://youtu.be/f2JuxM-snGc https://youtu.be/9UVjjcOUJLE https://youtu.be/pU35pF0JYCE https://youtu.be/ygEvbYgBawE https://youtu.be/wigqKfLWjvM https … | Continue reading
Science fiction writers don't only grow up on science fiction. Their influences can be all over the map in terms of genre and medium. Just ask Robert Mitchell Evans, who for his novel Vulcan's Forge has tapped into another rich vein of storytelling entirely. ROBERT MITCHELL EVANS … | Continue reading
I've got two -- yes! two! -- new book stacks for you this week, to catch up from when I was away earlier in the month. And this is the first one! What here in this group is calling to you? The comments are waiting for your input. | Continue reading
What kind of book is In The Red? As author Christopher Swiedler relates, this seemingly simple question turned out to have a more complex answer than one might assume. CHRISTOPHER SWIEDLER: Many years ago, an instructor in a writing workshop asked me whether my sci-fi novel In th … | Continue reading
Dear creative folks (and the people who love and/or buy their work): Like many of you, I am looking at our current situation -- which it seems were are moving toward calling The Great Pause -- and wondering what this means, both in the long and short terms, for our careers and li … | Continue reading
Each year I go on the JoCo Cruise I post up photos I take at the concerts I go to (or, at least, the ones I bring a camera for). This year's collection is now up on Flickr, and you can look at it here. If you're a Seamonkey, then you'll know what I mean… | Continue reading
Seems like now is a fine time to return to one of the favorite features of Whatever -- and accounting of the new books and ARCs that have come to Scalzi Compound! What here is calling to you this weekend? Tell us all in the comments. | Continue reading
The folks over at the Washington Post have put together a piece on how the world will change after this pandemic -- not in the huge ways, but in the smaller, day-to-day ways -- and they asked me to write something for it. I did a piece on personal greetings, because, as it happen … | Continue reading
Travel delays are rarely the raw material for novels, but as Eeleen Lee found out, sometimes a little time -- and a new obsession -- can lead to inspiration, and eventually a novel, in this case, Liquid Crystal Nightingale. EELEEN LEE: In late 2005 I was stuck in transit at Charl … | Continue reading
I felt like making a mixtape today! Which I did, and it turned out exactly as long as an LP, with five songs on each side. Here it is, in YouTube video form. I also have it on Spotify, here. SIDE ONE https://youtu.be/XokbL3fR3G8 https://youtu.be/xm9ONuNAeW0 https://youtu.be/9kp3N … | Continue reading
It's not every day that your book is the debut novel for an entire publishing line, but S.A. Jones has that honor with The Fortress, which is the first release from Erewhon Books. It's a big responsibility, but as you'll see below, Jones has a big idea to match. S.A. JONES: I beg … | Continue reading
I noted this on Twitter yesterday but it bears a retelling and an archiving here: The folks at Jay and Mary's Book Center, my local bookstore, knew that I and my family were away on a cruise the week that the coronavirus started to bite down hard, and people started freaking out … | Continue reading
In the writing of The House in the Cerulean Sea, author TJ Klune looked a little history north of our border -- and current events right here in the US -- to inform his world of magic, and bureaucrats who seemingly trudge through it. TJ KLUNE: When an author gets an idea in their … | Continue reading
I'm awake at an absurdly early hour and can't get back to sleep! A perfect time to post a bunch of musings on the current apocalypse! These aren't in any particular order because see above, re: absurdly early hour. * First off, this is an apocalypse that I have to admit seems uni … | Continue reading
So, let's get right to it, folks: The book tour for The Last Emperox has to be cancelled. Why? Well, I'm pretty sure you know why: 1. There's a global pandemic going on as we speak. 2. Gathering in groups is not a great idea. 3. In a lot of the places where my tour… | Continue reading
And now for something a little different: A Big Idea about a Web site, not a book: Avatars, Inc. But it is an anthology, and it's something I think qualifies here, because as editor Ann VanderMeer explains, it's got quite a big idea behind it. ANN VANDERMEER: The XPRIZE Foundatio … | Continue reading
I snapped a picture at the Ft. Lauderdale airport yesterday while I was trying to head home and posted it on Twitter with the requisite snarky comment, and then it went viral (so to speak). One thing led to another and now the AP is distributing the photo. Now I have an AP photo … | Continue reading
It's nice. I'll be sad to be back on land. | Continue reading
At the moment, we're visiting the Dominican Republic. The temperature is 76 degrees and the humidity is perfectly bearable. I'm in a bathrobe and about to head to the spa to soak in the "hydro-pool," which strikes me as a redundant term, but, hey, whatever makes them happy. I'm s … | Continue reading
In Sixteenth Watch, author Myke Cole wants to bring your attention to a different sort of military branch -- one whose remit is different, but no less vital, than any other, and how that differing mission is vital for his novel and the story he's telling within. MYKE COLE: When w … | Continue reading
For the Big Idea about her novel Beneath the Rising, author Premee Mohamed considers the nature of one of the most important types of relationship we have, yet also the one that is many ways the least understood by those who participate in it. Which type of relationship is this? … | Continue reading