Sometimes I see a video of someone doing something and immediately think, why didn’t I think of that sooner? One such thing is the idea of a “gift closet,” which is a collection of items you have that are meant specifically for gifting to other people on such occasions as: bringi … | Continue reading
So, you’re a person who has decided to embark on a creative journey of self-expression — to make art, in other words. First off, this is awesome! The universe needs more people making art, whether that art is writing, painting, music or any other form that humans are capable of c … | Continue reading
Revenge is a dish best served cold, and in author Shami Stovall’s case, her desire to get back at those who have wronged her ended up being just what she needed to write a John Wick-esque revenge story. Sharpen your skills and your blades, and follow along in the Big Idea for her … | Continue reading
They say writing can be a good outlet for grief, but feelings might get complicated when the person you’re grieving was supposed to co-author the book you’re writing. Despite author Griffin Barber’s deep, personal loss of his mentor and friend Eric Flint, he managed to complete 1 … | Continue reading
Did you think you’d get away with it? Did you think he wouldn’t find out? Saja always finds out. And now you’ll just have to live with him knowing. In other news, we’re coming right up on the one-year anniversary of Saja’s official adoption. He was clearly alive before then, so b … | Continue reading
Oysters: you either love them or hate them. Author and oyster-aficionado Virginia Shaffer has spent years turning her passion for oysters into a comprehensive look at the world behind the shell. Grab a lemon wedge and dive into the briny depths of the oyster community in Oyster S … | Continue reading
Here’s some nice news to start the week: The Shattering Peace is a finalist for the Dragon Award this year, in the category of Science Fiction Novel. Also in the category: The Faith of Beasts by James S.A. CoreyRadiant Star by Ann LeckieOperation Bounce House by Matt DinnimanSlow … | Continue reading
This cover song has an interesting story to it, which is that it’s a song from a video game called “Deathloop.” In the video game, the singer is supposed to have been a huge star but has lately gone kind of venal around the edges, and also there’s a whole time loop thing going on … | Continue reading
Back in February I did a long post about “AI” and why I wouldn’t use it for my own writing, and one of the reasons I gave was “the fact that ‘AI’-generated text is not copyrightable and I don’t want any issues of ownership clouding my work.” Well guess what? A hot and buzzy debut … | Continue reading
Yeah, they got me doing a lot of things this year, plus I’ll be at the Hugos because, you know, up for Best Series and all (hey, remember to vote for the Hugos, okay? You got about another week to do that. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you again soon). But the most important thing: I’ … | Continue reading
Hey wanna see our new front porch furniture? As you’ll know, we recently redid a lot of our outdoor environs here at the Scalzi Compound — the front porch because a wind storm knocked out a substantial part of the railing, which meant redoing it, and as long as we were doing that … | Continue reading
To mock a classic trope in your own story, one must first unabashedly love that trope. Author Alex Shvartsman is a die-hard sci-fi fan, which gives him the perfect angle to write his own take on things. Follow along in the Big Idea for his newest novel, The Best of All Possible P … | Continue reading
And look! He’s a mlem going! Truly, a quality cat photo. Have a great weekend, y’all. See you back here on Monday. — JS | Continue reading
The Humble Bundle Deal we have going with 22 of my works has been running for three weeks now, and in that time we have raised almost $35,000 for World Central Kitchen — but all good things must come to an end, and the end of this one is at around noon tomorrow. So if […] | Continue reading
If you knew you only had weeks to live, how would that change your attitude towards life and death? What if you had been dead before, and this was your second, but brief, go-around? Author C. J. Beshara examines life and death through the eyes of the titular main character, as we … | Continue reading
And what a handsome statuette it is, too. For those needing a refresher, the Astra is an award given out by the Hollywood Creative Alliance, which mostly has given out awards related to film and television, but this last year decided to branch out into books as well, a decision w … | Continue reading
It’s been just about one full month of having my 2026 Honda Civic Sport Touring Hybrid, and I wanted to quickly give some further thoughts and opinions on it. I just went out and checked how many miles I have on it so far before writing this, and I am quite literally at 1500 mile … | Continue reading
Saja wants to know what’s up! Well, my young cat, let me tell you: OpenAI says its “AI” hacked another “AI” company, apparently just for funsies: No, really, that’s the gist of it. OpenAI put the “AI” into a sandbox in order to test its capabilities, it escaped from the sandbox a … | Continue reading
There is art all around us, and poetry can be found in places you’d never expect. Author Ali Trotta speaks on the true power of poetry in the Big Idea for her newest poetry collection, Offerings for Ordinary Gods. ALI TROTTA: I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of who gets to … | Continue reading
Left North Carolina early in the morning, made it back home to Ohio a little after 2pm, and along the way drove through just about every summer weather pattern short of an actual hurricane or tornado. One does forget how immensely large this country is, and also how lovely it is … | Continue reading
It’s the one at my hotel, and it doesn’t look like it’s been used the entire summer long. Which kinda makes sense, this is an airport hotel, after all, and thus, I expect, not a hotbed of competitive traveling beach sports. I still give the hotel points for trying. ConGregate 12 … | Continue reading
We all hear voices in our brain, but what if they were coming from your other heads?!? Author John Wiswell’s main character is a multi-headed dragon with a lot of contradicting opinions. Though a dragon, you may find his inner turmoil more relatable than you’d expect. Take flight … | Continue reading
It’s very warm here today, but at least there is shade. I spent the day traveling here in order to be part of the ConGregate science fiction convention this weekend. I will have panels and do other stuff! If you’re in the neighborhood, come on down. — JS | Continue reading
Out here in the boonies, many of our neighbors have golf carts that they use for very short trips not on the official roads, like going to visit friends, or hauling their trash cans from their houses at the end of a long driveway to the curb, and then back again. Krissy has alway … | Continue reading
I like to play pickleball with my mom in the mornings. It’s not an everyday thing, but when we do, I enjoy it. Every time we play, I always notice the ants on the court. It’s really only when I bend down to pick the ball up, but I always see them scurrying away from […] | Continue reading
Though the author of The Curve of the World has passed, her story lives on. Her editor, Nisi Shawl, is here to take us through what she believes Vonda N. McIntyre’s Big Idea was. Let’s have a look, and pay our respects in the process. NISI SHAWL (EDITOR): We may never truly know … | Continue reading
Yesterday, I wanted a canister of nuts as a snack from Kroger, and I bought this Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Almond, Cashew, & Pistachio Mix. I love honey roasted nuts, and cashews and pistachios are two of my favorite nuts, so it sounded like a great mix. It was ten dollars. When … | Continue reading
The world makes up stories and stories make up the world. Author Arvind Ethan David aims to challenge the narrative of some of these stories in the Big Idea for his newest novel, The Great Game. Follow along as he tells you about some of the greats, and questions if they’re reall … | Continue reading
If you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you might remember one of my posts from just over five years ago showcasing a brand called Waxing Kara that sold honey, candles, tea, and skincare products. Well, I’m happy to say their brand is doing better than ever, and has actually … | Continue reading
If you read this site regularly, then you’ll know in the past year there’s been a marked increase in “AI” spam and scams designed to try to con writers (generally, and in the emails that come here, me specifically) into sending money off to strangers for various marketing service … | Continue reading
What now? South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham Dead: And it must be said, not especially missed by most people on Bluesky and Threads, although I have to admit not going to X to see how the bots there are reacting to his passing. I remember him mostly for not having a spine with … | Continue reading
These days, Sam Bisbee is an Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated producer of film and television, but at the turn of the century, he was trying his hand at being a musician, releasing a few alt-rock albums that I thought were pretty good, even if rock and roll stardom eventually eluded … | Continue reading
How many weeds do you have to whack before the weeds tell you to knock it off? In author Jo Miles new sci-fi novel, there might be more than meets the eye to a stubborn, vegetation filled planet. Grab a machete and hack your way through the Big Idea for The Final Chronicle of Yen … | Continue reading
Oh God, here we go again: Trump’s New Air Force One is a Sitting Duck: More specifically, it “lacks the defensive measures of the previous model,” which might be an issue when one has foolishly started an unnecessary war with an enemy that feasibly has the capability to at least … | Continue reading
“Innocent until proven guilty” isn’t always as black and white as it may seem in some cases. Author Bryan Gruley takes a look at what happens when other factors are at play in a seemingly open and shut case of murder. Plunge into the icy depths of the Big Idea for his newest nove … | Continue reading
At the time one didn’t think of it, because of course one never does at the time, but looking back from the vantage point of 40+ years, “this “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was one of the most 80s songs with one of the most 80s videos that ever 80ed the 80s. Bonnie Tyler! Jim […] | Continue reading
Death is a rather big part of life, so it makes sense that author Haralambi Markov kept writing about it, whether that was intentional on his part or not. In the Big Idea for his newest collection of short stories, Markov talks about his own experience with mental illness and dea … | Continue reading
(The Short Version: Athena rescued two adorable kittens but cannot keep them and is offering them free to a home who will take them as a package deal. They have been to the vet, are healthy, have been vaccinated and gotten rid of fleas and ear mites, so that’s all been taken care … | Continue reading
The action of writing does not require artistry, but the artistry of writing requires action. That action being sitting down and actually doing it, even if it is hard. Writing coach April Dávila is here today to introduce some new methods that are sure to get you focused and moti … | Continue reading
Well, this has been a day, hasn’t it? I’m going to be brief about all of it: Graham Platner Accused of Rape: I think Chris Kluwe got the right of this one on Bluesky: I personally kinda tapped out with the Nazi tat, because I was pretty sure at that point that nothing good was [… … | Continue reading
Happy Day After Independence Day! It’s on a Sunday, which means you have time to recuperate! Well, it’s over now: Happy to say this weekend’s event was one that brought an entire nation together, and, for a moment, healed its wounds as we celebrated the potential and promise of t … | Continue reading
Starting today and going for the next three weeks or so, 22 of my books are up on Humble Bundle, and this time my selected charity is World Central Kitchen, which, true to the name, goes around the world, feeding people in disaster areas and war zones. They deserve the money! You … | Continue reading
Earlier this year we had a rather unfortunate incident involving our 25-year-old stand-up freezer, in which the condenser failed while the thing was full of frozen things, which quickly became rather disgustingly unfrozen. The clean-up was stinky and terrible and no fun at all. A … | Continue reading
It’s currently 93 degrees here (Fahrenheit), but thanks to the humidity the heat index means it feels like 106 (41 Celsius), or so the weather report in my phone tells me, the one that also tells me we have an extreme heat warning through eight PM. I went out in this stuff becaus … | Continue reading
In no particular order: 1. No, I’m not feeling particularly engaged with the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, but that’s mostly because a malignant narcissist decided to make a national celebration mostly about himself, and that malignant narcissist is also an actual f … | Continue reading
“What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.” Author Clara Ward has always been drawn to the ocean, spent time teaching others about the ocean, and now has featured the ocean in their newest novel, Dream the Deep. Dive into their Big Idea to see how deep the water goes … | Continue reading
Ever wonder what really goes on after the “happily ever after” line? Author Shalini Abeysekara had closed the door on her previous novel, but left the door unlocked as she came back to that world to bring us This Blade of Ours, the sequel she never expected to write. Follow along … | Continue reading
I’m still traveling, so no huge update today (although I am fine! Everything is fine!), but I want to post this shot of the Ferris Wheel at Chicago’s Navy Pier the other night. It feels very June to me. Onward to July. — JS | Continue reading