A new year. Time for resolutions, right? Right. Except that a few years back I resolved to no longer make resolutions. Ironically, it’s one of the few I ever wound up keeping. Instead, I use this wonderfully arbitrary and booze-infused time of year to make plans. Because, really, is there …
As you might be able to tell by the title, I’m fed up with a number of the stock, boring, and stupid plots that get dressed up as “Science Fiction,” though they also show up in other forms in series drama. These tropes represent the functional equivalent of training wheels …
Time for your vegetables again — these are some of the highlights of my research journeys hither and yon in the great wasteland of cyberspace. Hope you enjoy!
The following is intended for other writers working to find their stride. I hope something in the following meanderings is useful to you as you hash out your process. Fall is crazy, right? Halloween, Thanksgiving, School restarting, Christmas, RenFaire, Dickens Faire, conventions, festivities, and all those bleeding birds nesting in …
Time for your vegetables again. Here’s some of the fun stuff that’s flitted across my desk in the last few weeks. Crazy Silly Creative Things To start off with our garnish, you could do no better than watching this 3 minute video about what Welshmen really do with sheep. Don’t …
The question came up on Twitter today: Are cons worth the time and money? Opinionated though I am, it’s not an easy question to answer. So here’s a quickie list of the pros and cons garnered from a scarce four years of con-going experience:
If 2007 was the year I got serious about writing, then 2010 was the year when attitude and education caught up with intent. Think of it as the difference between declaring a major (2007) and doing your first internship in a Ph.D. program (2010). Up till this year, I did …
I’ve taught about a dozen people to drive so far, and it’s not because I’m an adrenaline junkie or a glutton for punishment. It’s because, all things being equal, I prefer the company of people who are competent, empowered, and self-possessed, and there are few things in this world that …
It’s NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month, when many of you who don’t normally write will be trying to write a short novel in 30 days (and some of you who normally do will try to get a jump start on projects that need doing). Generally people find it easy …
And, from the kitchen this weekend we have for you a lovely Link Salad, with leaves of history and science, garnished with a healthy dose of whimsy. But first, I begin with a special treat for my free-wheeling brewer friends. Beer has always been a problem in space — not …