First: Look! A sunset! Isn’t that pretty? Let’s all bask in its orange cloudiliciousness for a moment. Second: Some dude snuck his way into my Facebook account and it was shut down after it became clear it was breached. I’m in the process of recovering the account, but honestly w … | Continue reading
Who do authors write for? E.E. Williams has no uncertain opinions on this matter, and in this Big Idea for No More Tomorrows, invites you along for an exploration of this topic. E. E. WILLIAMS: WRITING FOR YOURSELF MEANS HAVING ONLY ONE READER. Write for yourself. That was the ad … | Continue reading
The attempt was made roughly an hour ago, as the deer stood in my lane at a bend in the road, giving me almost no time to register that it was there, much less do anything about it. Even so, I managed to both swerve away from the thing and still stay on the road, […] | Continue reading
It’s looking thorough the Red Cube by Isamu Noguchi, which is located at 140 Broadway, in downtown Manhattan. There’s a lot going on here, and I’m happy I got it into a picture. New York City was fabulous as ever, but now I’m home and happy to be here. I may sleep all day tomorro … | Continue reading
I saw my first live drone display and of course it was an advertisement. In this case, for a new Pac-Man game. The advertisement was effective, since everyone at the restaurant I was at had their phones out and were taking pictures of it (including, obviously, me). But it was sti … | Continue reading
As you can see, it’s a totally normal place with totally normal stuff around. Today for me was a panel and a signing, both of which went well. I’m taking a break in my hotel room before I go off to do crimes, by which I mean probably get something to eat. CRIMINALLY. It’s a […] | Continue reading
It’s a lovely day here in the Big Apple, and I took a long walk in it, from Midtown to Downtown, just because it was Autumn in New York. I recommend it for anyone. New York Comic Con has started and I’ll be at it tomorrow and Saturday, with panels and signings. Please check with … | Continue reading
Few things in life are harder than watching your parents age. Author Christina Consolino is no stranger to this struggle, and explores the difficult topic of her own parents declining with age in her newest novel, The Weight We Carry. Read on to see what drove Consolino to share … | Continue reading
Early voting has begun in Ohio, so if you’re registered to vote in this November’s election, and you already know how you’re going to vote, why wait? I voted today (and was the 63rd person in my whole county to do so) because I still have quite a lot of travel to do between now [ … | Continue reading
Sometimes, in the times with the most trial, a single thing can make the difference between despair and survival. In this Big Idea for A Light Most Hateful, author Hailey Piper shares what that one thing might be. HAILEY PIPER: What if, in the moment your life shattered to pieces … | Continue reading
Whew! I am at home for one whole day before I set off to New York City to participate in New York Comic Con. It’s not a lot of time, but it’s enough time to see family, pet the cats and get a moment to decompress before heading out and doing it all again. Even […] | Continue reading
Some people prefer the company of “me, myself, and I”. Would that still be true if there were actual copies of yourself you could hang out with? Author Caitlin Starling brings us a new take on doppelgangers in her newest novel, The Last One to Leave the Room. Follow along in her … | Continue reading
Those of you following my travel here will remember I was meant to be in Wichita roughly three weeks ago as part of my book tour, only to be thwarted by the fact that United Airlines couldn’t manage to keep its planes in good enough condition to fly, so I had to cancel and resche … | Continue reading
Now that I get to be at home for a whole weekend, I am back on my bullshit and covering another song, this one by Boygenius, the “supergroup” of three notable solo artists (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus), whose album The Record is probably my favorite of this entir … | Continue reading
‘Tis the season! These were arranged by Krissy in our front yard. It’s a nice little autumnal moment. Slow moving day today. I’m seriously considering napping through most of it. — JS | Continue reading
Lots of places! Here’s a quick run down, so you might have a chance to catch me in one place or another: Tomorrow (10/6): Bexley, Ohio: I’m in conversation with VE Schwab about her NYT Bestselling new book The Fragile Threads of Power. 7 PM! Here’s the link for tickets. Monday (1 … | Continue reading
Author Delilah S. Dawson has returned to the blog for a fifth Big Idea. Today she brings us Bloom, her newest romance-horror novel that mixes sweet with… bloody. Read on to see how this book came to be, with a little help from her daughter. DELILAH S. DAWSON: Did you know that yo … | Continue reading
This time on the Audio Fiction list. This one is a monthly list, which means Starter Villain got onto the chart despite having only eleven days to do it. I think that’s pretty damn cool, actually. So now the book is a New York Times best seller on three separate charts, which is … | Continue reading
If you spend your whole life thinking about death, are you even really living? Author Daniel Hope brings us some excellent existential questions like this in the Big Idea for his newest novel, The Inevitable. Follow along as he guides you through a robot’s, and in a sense a human … | Continue reading
It’s not exactly a surprise that Kevin McCarthy is no longer Speaker of the House, probably most of all to McCarthy himself. As a condition of his ascendance into that position, which took fifteen rounds of rather embarrassing haggling, he had to agree that a motion to vacate the … | Continue reading
I read one book in 2020, one book in 2021, one book in 2022, and so far in 2023, I have read one book. This makes me kind of sad. I’ve talked about it on here before, but I used to love reading when I was younger, and ever since I became an adult, I […] | Continue reading
Everyone has a story to tell. Thanks to the organization Nature Sacred, people have a chance to write their tales in discoverable journals at Sacred Places all over the country. Alden E. Stoner, CEO of Nature Sacred and contributor to Benchtalk: Wisdoms Inspired in Nature, is her … | Continue reading
So, at the opening ceremonies of the Budapest International Book Festival this year, a couple of people gave prefatory remarks before I received the Budapest Grand Prize and participated in my own relatively brief question and answer period. One of them was actor Ervin Nagy; the … | Continue reading
This is one of those little housekeeping notes I post to point people at later: I am not accepting any additional requests for novel blurbs (or blurbs for other projects) through the end of 2023. I have a backlog of books I have been asked to blurb, and between now and the end of … | Continue reading
After two weeks on the road, I have returned home and slept in my own bed and petted my own pets, and this makes me very happy. I am not done traveling — this month I have Bexley (a Columbus suburb), Wichita, New York, Detroit, Nashville and Madison to go to — but each of […] | Continue reading
I’m on my way home to the US, but it was a near thing; my flight out of Budapest left late and I had to run across most of Munich’s airport to catch my connection and barely made it before they closed the doors. If I had to run a minute longer than I did […] | Continue reading
First and most importantly, I found the statue of Peter Falk here in Budapest. Note the height similarities. Second, I spent the day being interviewed a whole bunch, for various Hungarian news outlets. It was a lot of fun and also very tiring after a good half dozen long intervie … | Continue reading
Never before have I been so excited to share a dining experience with you all. Today I’m here to tell you about Plates & Pages, an extraordinary event put on by a restaurant in Cincinnati called Five on Vine. I had never heard of them before, but it’s the sister restaurant to Los … | Continue reading
The photo is from the opening ceremonies of the Budapest International Book Festival, just before I went up on stage and was given the Budapest Grand Prize by the mayor of Budapest, who is very tall and not a little bit handsome, and who referenced my shoes in a later presentatio … | Continue reading
The photo is from the opening ceremonies of the Budapest International Book Festival, just before I went up on stage and was given the Budapest Grand Prize by the mayor of Budapest, who is very tall and not a little bit handsome, and who referenced my shoes in a later presentatio … | Continue reading
And it’s actually a New York Times best seller twice, as it landed on both the Hardcover and Combine Print & EBook list (numbers 14 and 12, respectively). Plus it’s #30 on the USA Today list (that list covers all books being sold in bookstore, regardless of format, genre and rele … | Continue reading
I might have lied a little bit. This post isn’t as much about roller skating as it is about the lack thereof. At the beginning of the summer, I decided I needed a new hobby. One that involved physical activity and outdoor time. Because I don’t get enough of either of those things … | Continue reading
Well, I’m off to Budapest now. This is the view from earlier today, heading from Ohio to Washington; now I’m on the plane heading to Europe. It’ll be most of a day in the sky and at airports before I make it to Budapest; I splashed out on Business Class to make sure my neck […] | Continue reading
And here we have another quality parking lot photo, both foreground, and especially, background. Tonight at 7pm: Cincinnati, I’ll see you at the Joseph-Beth booksellers! And then, that’s it for this leg of the book tour. Do I go home from here? Dear me, no! I’m off to Budapest to … | Continue reading
Well, folks, if we’re talking parking lot views, it appears that we have hit the motherlode. This is an extremely impressive collection of loitering vehicles. I think it may even be a record, and in 15 years of touring, that’s saying something. Reminder that today’s event is at 4 … | Continue reading
Another airport hotel view, once again because I have to be up silly early to catch a flight — not the earliest I have to get up, that’s tomorrow — and being at an airport hotel is the easiest way to manage that. Also, after the horrendous travel day I had yesterday (I didn’t get … | Continue reading
It’s an award, given by the state of Ohio, to Ohio writers, in the shape of — yes! — Ohio. It is a very on theme award, I have to say. And I have one, for The Kaiju Preservation Society, which won this year’s Readers’ Choice Award (i.e., the one Ohioana Award that is voted […] | Continue reading
So I’m on the tarmac on SFO this morning, listening to the informational flight video as the plane is pulling away from the gate, when suddenly the informational video, and the lights, and the air conditioning, go out, followed by quiet but insistent beeping noises, followed by t … | Continue reading
About a week ago, the temperature had dropped just enough for it to feel like a real fall day. Of course, now we are back up to the 80’s despite it being the end of September, but for one glorious day it was cool and breezy, and I knew I wanted to make something that […] | Continue reading
Turns out, you can stay at the airport when you’re at SFO. Which is what I did, because I have an early flight the next day. However, I did manage to get into the city, and had a good time, with the event and with seeing friends. It’s always nice when that happens. Tomorrow, or [ … | Continue reading
Technically a marina is a parking lot! It’s lovely view, someone currently being ruined by the sound of someone running a chainsaw near by; it really drowns out the sounds of the sea lions at the marina. Humans are the actual worst. TONIGHT: I’m at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore at … | Continue reading
The waiting is over! Starter Villain, my latest novel, is out today in North America (Sept. 21 in the UK), and is available in print, ebook and audio. However you want it, you can get it! It’s available at your local bookstore, and I encourage you to get it there, but here are so … | Continue reading
Scottsdale has apparently not gotten the memo that it’s supposed to be a bit autumnal: It’s currently 100 degrees out right now, which I discovered is not an especially walkable heat when I walked most of a mile to get my COVID and flu boosters at a near(ish) pharmacy, and then w … | Continue reading
As I noted yesterday, today’s at-home music technology has the capability to take some old, muddy recordings and freshen them up a bit — make the music brighter and/or give it more dynamic range. With that in mind, I took five of the tracks from my Music For Headphones album, whi … | Continue reading
Because I’ve been nerding out about music lately, I now have a frankly ridiculous number of plug-ins for my Digital Audio Workstations, which do all sorts of cool things. One useful one is called Ozone, from Izotope, which listens to your current audio project and then does an au … | Continue reading
I’ve been traveling the last couple of days, and am about to be traveling for two weeks straight after that, so I’ve posted my usual “hey, I’m traveling, don’t expect a reply” email auto responder. This means that if you were hoping to get an email response from me about somethin … | Continue reading
Ah, the parking lot view. Simple. Classic. For those of you who ordered a signed copy of Starter Villain from Subterranean Press, today’s the day I sign them. All one thousand or so of them. It’s going to be a busy morning. And then I go back home, because I have an interview to … | Continue reading
Want to dig into the tropes and traditions of the fantasy genre? Matthew Sangster has come over from the University of Glasgow to give us An Introduction to Fantasy, and to retrace the steps that brought him to propose and then write the book. MATTHEW SANGSTER: People who love Fa … | Continue reading