As I'm sure most of you have figured out by now, the Trump era is one unending shit show after another, and for a lot of people in creative fields, it's making it hard to focus on your work when you know that the world is on fire. In my case the problem is compounded… | Continue reading
For this Big Idea piece, author Todd McAulty explains his new novel The Robots of Gotham by interviewing one of our incipient robot overlords. Pay attention; what you learn here could save your life from the mechauprising! TODD McAULTY: Todd McAulty: First off, thank you so much … | Continue reading
Now that I've had a day to sleep and reinflate my brain a bit, some additional thoughts about completing The Consuming Fire and my writing life in general at the moment: 1. I like it! I think it's good! I also think it's not quite the novel I thought I was writing when I started, … | Continue reading
Bit and pieces, ideas and musings -- sometimes you just have to wait for the one thing that makes it all a story. C.L. Polk was waiting for the one thing to thread all the parts together to make Witchmark into the novel, and found it in a monochromatic piece of history. C.L. POLK … | Continue reading
I posted a picture of myself at the beginning of my deadline rush and said I would post another when it's done and (likely) I was a real mess. Here's the promised "after" picture. It's not as bad as it could be because a) I did actually manage a three-hour nap, b) I threw over… | Continue reading
As of about five minutes ago. Wheeee! For those of you not aware, this is the follow-up to The Collapsing Empire, and in fact follows directly after the events of the book. Emperox Grayland II, Kiva Lagos, Marce Claremont and Nadashe Nohamapetan are all back, along with explosion … | Continue reading
Today is Father's Day, as many of you may already know, and since it is Father's Day, I feel justified in bragging about my dad, so that's exactly what I'm going to do! My dad is possibly the most awesome person I know. If you've ever seen my dad perform or read any of his… | Continue reading
It has come to my attention that not a lot of people have heard of or seen Dreamworks' The Road to El Dorado. This is a downright shame and I'm here today to promote it and all of its awesomeness! If you're looking for a movie that is fun, colorful, hilarious, heartfelt, and has … | Continue reading
As many of you already know, we have three cats. Sugar, Spice, and Zeus. I know a lot of people have a hard time picking their favorite of their pets, because how could you possibly choose between all of your loving, adorable pets? Well, it's easy for me, because Zeus and Spice a … | Continue reading
Not done with the book yet and lots to do before it's done. But I wanted to note that on this day 24 years ago I proposed to Krissy. 25 years ago tomorrow, we went on our first official date. 23 years ago on Sunday, we were married. It's our traditional three-day anniversary peri … | Continue reading
Photo courtesy of https://www.piquafarmersmarket.com/ Today I went to a farmer's market in the next town over! I am a huge fan of the idea of them, but have never actually been to one before. Most of the time, they're too early in the morning for me (anything before noon is too e … | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! Today I was going through my past tweets, and I found a poem from junior year I wanted to share! If you follow me on Twitter, I posted this poem last year (I was not a junior last year, but I found it in my Google Drive and posted it), so sorry if… | Continue reading
Welcome to the second post of "What You Should Be Watching"! I know it's only the second time I've done this, but I'm gonna go ahead and throw a curve ball in by making it about a YouTube channel. I just really wanted to share with y'all this amazing YouTuber I watch named Beth L … | Continue reading
For her novel Fault Lines, author Kelly Jennings thinks up not just one, but two, civilizations, each with their own rules, laws and social preferences. And just what happens when these two cultures clash? Read on. KELLY JENNINGS: J. Cherryh is a big influence on me, as anyone wh … | Continue reading
Hello again! Lately I've been listening to less techno/electro than I usually do, even though it's my favorite genre of music. I had a single dorm at college, so whenever I was studying or doing schoolwork, I would just put some techno on in the background. Now that I'm home, I l … | Continue reading
I have exactly one week to finish The Consuming Fire. I have, well. A lot to go to be done. I am taking this picture now so you have an idea of what I look like as I begin this marathon sprint. When I finish the book, I will take another picture. I think the… | Continue reading
Ever since I was little, I've loved Greek mythology. And since the beginning, Athena has been my favorite being in all of mythology. You may say I'm biased, but today I'm going to tell you all the reasons why Athena is literally the best. And to be fair, I'll also mention the tim … | Continue reading
This might be the biggest stack of new books and ARCs I've posted in a while -- and it has quality as well as quantity. Anything here that you would want to make its way into your own reading stack? Tell us all in the comments! | Continue reading
Howdy, everyone! Today I have a game in mind I thought y'all might find interesting. It's called Voez and is a rhythm game made by Rayark, which has also made Cytus and DeeMo. I've always loved rhythm games. I used to play Dance Dance Revolution on the PlayStation 2 back when I w … | Continue reading
And now, one in an occasional series of reminders that in fact I live in rural America: Here's my neighbor, in the hay field across from my property, baling the summer's first crop of the stuff. After the hay's been cut and baled, the field basically looks like my yard for a whil … | Continue reading
When Joshua Viola first thought up the idea of what would eventually become Denver Moon, he realized that what it really needed was collaboration. How did Viola make that happen? Time to find out. JOSHUA VIOLA: You never know when a story idea is going to turn into something you … | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! Today I found out there is going to be a sequel to the cinematic masterpiece known as The Lego Movie, and it's called The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which just makes me laugh, honestly. I wanted to share this with you all because I think the first one is just … | Continue reading
https://youtu.be/aH1ZEw8k1ag?t=1s Athena and I thought it would be fun to try an occasional podcast with the two of us, in which we talk about entertainment we've both seen and possible other topics as well. So, in the spirit of trying new things, here is the first edition of Joh … | Continue reading
That's right, here's a short, available-nowhere-else excerpt from The Consuming Fire, coming in October from Tor Books! Are you ready? Are you ready for this? Are you hanging off the edge of your seat? Well, here it is! "A lawyer is here.” “Toss him out a window.” “Her, actually, … | Continue reading
Writing for a blog is weird. It's been really difficult for me to decide what to write about, so difficult in fact that it's led to me not posting as much as I want to because I just have no idea what to write about. Everything I've posted has been surface level; the reviews, my… | Continue reading
The sequel to The Dispatcher may have been announced in this New York Times article about audiobooks. And before you ask, yes, there will be a print/ebook version as well, some time after the audio publication. | Continue reading
Happy 2nd of June! Today I am very busy cleaning out my closet and sorting things that I brought home from college, so I'm going to share some more of my photos with you! Last time, there was a lot of people asking what camera and lenses I use. Everything on the last post and… | Continue reading
Almost a platonic ideal of a sunset, really. Have a great weekend, folks. I'll be spending mine writing. | Continue reading
First of June, First of June, summer reading is starting soon! And here are some new book and ARCs to be thinking of for your sunny summer enjoyment. What here looks refreshing to you? Tell us in the comments! | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! Today I'm going to be showing you my brand new tiny little herb garden! As many of you know, I thoroughly enjoy cooking, and cooking often involves the use of herbs and/or spices. I'm sure many of you have experienced the struggle of needing 1/4 tsp of a spice an … | Continue reading
I liked it, quite a bit in places, and (snarking aside) I can also see why it did (relatively) underwhelming business in its first weekend: it's light in the way Star Wars films haven't been before. Star Wars films have had humor, and have had snark, and have had quips and banter … | Continue reading
What happens when a science fiction writer goes back in time? A serialized novel following up one of the most intriguing woman characters of 1859! Brenda Clough explains how she got from here to there for her series A Most Dangerous Woman. BRENDA CLOUGH: I have always thought of … | Continue reading
One thing I wholeheartedly believe in is volunteering. Community service should be a part of everyone's life, even if it's a small part. Recently, I started volunteering at the Humane Society of Preble County. It is a no-kill shelter for dogs and cats in Eaton, Ohio. Eaton is ove … | Continue reading
If there's one thing I love, it's animated shorts. I have a pretty short attention span, so I particularly like watching shorts because they have so much to offer in such a short amount of time. Most shorts don't have dialogue in them, or if they do it's very limited, or sometime … | Continue reading
Technically, the first strawberries of late spring, as we've got a four weeks to go to solstice. But here in the US our cultural summer is Memorial Day to Labor Day, so, well, here we are, with these very nice strawberries from the little patch we have right in the front of our l … | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! I've decided to do a running thing called "What You Should Be Watching" and it'll be me telling you about a show I think you should watch. To kick it off, I'm going to recommend one of my all-time favorite cartoons, Voltron: Legendary Defender. This more recent c … | Continue reading
I'm sitting here in Sky Harbor, getting ready for the trek home. With any luck I'll be there early evening. Without luck I will be stranded in DFW. I'm hoping for luck. Phoenix Comic Fest, where I've been for the last several days, was a lovely time with lovely people and I'm gla … | Continue reading
Automattic being the owners and operators of Wordpress, which hosts this site, and on whose software this site runs. Here is their updated privacy policy. I've made a permanent link to it here on what is now called my Site Disclaimer, Comment and Privacy Policy page. | Continue reading
Yesterday I went with my mom and grandma to the movies and saw Solo: A Star Wars Story. Personally, I have always felt very disconnected from Star Wars as a whole. Even though I grew up in and still am part of the science fiction community, I have never seen the original six Star … | Continue reading
As we roll into Memorial Day Weekend, here's a quick stack of new books and ARCs for you to peruse. Does anything here look like your ideal summer reading? Tell us which ones in the comments! | Continue reading
Actually, everything is groovy. Wednesday was "Elevengeddon" at the Poisoned Pen bookstore, in which more than eleven authors signed books for people, and yesterday was given over to a couple of panels and then mostly hanging out with friends. Above you will see my friend Olivia, … | Continue reading
Good evening, everyone! Today I've been really busy with schoolwork and running errands, and I realized I should probably post something before it gets to be too late in the day, since not everyone is as much of a night owl as I tend to be. For today's post, I thought I'd share w … | Continue reading
Hello, everyone! Today I'd like to introduce you to some songs I really enjoy, by an artist named Sam Tinnesz. I have composed a little playlist of my five personal favorite songs of his. His music is dark, intense, ominous, melodic, honestly almost hypnotizing, and I hope you en … | Continue reading
As a reminder, starting today(!) I will be in the lovely and very hot town of Phoenix for Phoenix Comic Fest (previously known as Phoenix Comic Con), to sign books, be on panels and do a whole lot of schmoozing. And you(!) can be a part of that, if you happen to be in or… | Continue reading
Hey guys! To kick off day two of writing on Whatever, I have decided to post a recipe. There were a surprising number of people in the comments of yesterday's post that said they were looking forward to seeing what I make in the kitchen, and I was planning to make something today … | Continue reading
I've had a couple of people ask me how the European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation law (which goes into effect on Friday) affects this site and how I run it, so, let me talk about that very briefly. One, on a personal level, aside from asking for an email address … | Continue reading
Here you go, folks: Another very fine stack of new books and ARCs that have arrived at the Scalzi Compound. What here is catching your eye? Tell us in the comments! | Continue reading
Howdy, y'all. Today is my first day as my dad's intern, and this is my first Whatever post! My dad is off writing some silly book or something along those lines, and because he is busy he tends to neglect this website a little bit, so I am here to ensure that posts are posted… | Continue reading