Last Girls and Beer!
So, first off, we postponed the June Books & Brews to July because nobody could make it. This means we have two events in July. The first is at Settle Down...
Who is Mrs Frost?
The caption on this, delivered in perfect Hermione voice by a small child: He must have crashed it. Again. Doctor Who 1.9 “Empire of Death” So, Sutekh has...
Computers in Space!
I had the great privilege to spend a bit of time with Vandi Varma in Pasadena. She’s a leading NASA roboticist and is one of the two people who wrote the...
Nebula Winners Analysis Part Two
And now for part two. Nebula Award for Short Story Winner: “Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200” by R.S.A. Garcia Apparently everyone wanted cute robots...
Off in Ohio
Once again, I’m not actually here. I’ll most likely be in the Columbus convention center doing…well, I don’t know yet! After that I’ll be at home for a while...
Cliffhangers...Grumble.
Doctor Who 1.8 “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” …and I won’t see the second half right away. Dang it on the timing of cliffhangers! I really thought Susan Triad...
Turbulence, AKA Why You Should Always Wear Your Seatbelt
On my fight back to Pasadena something bad happened. Suddenly our plane was tossed, entering about a 30 degree roll and sliding sideways. It was over very...
Nebula Winners Analysis Part One
Splitting this into two parts…one this week and one next! This week I’m going to talk about the three awards that are not for adult literary works - the Game...
Back from Pasadena
Highlights of the Nebula conference:The volunteer who came up and had a Barbie doll accept the Ray Bradbury award for the Barbie novel. Hollywood people...
The Sordid History of Digital Rights Management
So, anyone who has bought my ebooks might have noticed that they are DRM free…mostly. Sometimes a distributor will slap the technology on my books unwanted...
More Hugo Thoughts So Far
Recency bias is a thing. Turns out everything I’ve read this week has been rereads or excerpts, except for the most recent October Daye novel, which was...
Pasadena, Ho!
Barring some hideous flight problems (Good news, it’s not a Boeing) I’ll be in Pasadena when you read this, doing professional development. Con season will...
Disasters, Apocalypses, and Social Media
Movie review: The Wandering Earth II: Burn CW: Child death, cute robot dog “death” (The robot dog’s probably backed up, but…) I don’t normally review second...
The Precious Place of the Sail Trainer
Photo is of the Amerigo Vespucci in New York in 2017. When I got to Baltimore, I couldn’t help but notice an extra set of masts. The Constellation is a...
Novels and Hugo Thoughts
Just a couple today, then some quick thoughts on my Hugo reading so far. Review: Starter Villain by John Scalzi This book is vintage Scalzi. You pretty much...
Balticon Was Awesome
Great panels, amazing people, fantastic empanadas and a visit from the Ecuadoran Navy bearing chocolate. (The picture is the deck of the Guayas, the navy’s...
Badass Gungans and Land Mines
Actual Arizona, just saying… Star Wars: The Clone Wars 3.21 “Padawan Lost” During a mission, Ahsoka, sent to perform a flanking mission up a tough cliff, is...
Big Dumb Objects and Thoughts on The Expanse
I finally, this week, finished reading The Expanse…and I have thoughts. The Expanse is, at its core, a variant on the Big Dumb Object trope (or should we...
Mea Culpa
So sorry - have ponies! I meant to do Thursday and Friday posts before I left for Balticon. But Amtrak melted down Wednesday night and I was worried about...
The Sun's Angry Today - Let's Talk Geomagnetic Storms
Last week right before the geomagnetic storm that hit Friday, somebody asked me “Where is this happening?” This was a perfectly intelligent professional…but...