Hi From Kansas City
Okay, to be honest, I wrote this before I left because I don’t think I’ll be stopping for a moment on Friday…when I will be in Kansas City, Missouri. (The...
No Saints, Just Sinners
Black Sails 3.5 Today’s bad decision: You always walk away with the money. So what if you have to change your name. She’s somewhat smart. You aren’t,...
We Reap What We Sow
Review: Parable of rhe Sower by Octavia E. Butler This is where I confess that I haven’t read as much Butler as I should have. Parable of the Sower is a less...
Hi, I'm a Book Reviewer
Okay, I know. I review for this blog…but now I’m also going to be reviewing for Dirty Magick Magazine. This means I’m now specifically looking for urban...
Cliffhanger!
Doctor Who 2.7 “Wish World” Well, guess who’s back. I wasn’t one of the fans who guessed right on the identity of Mrs. Flood…who both is and is not the Rani....
City of Last Chances
Review: City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky Is this book a socialist manifesto? Is it cosmic horror? Is it a ghost story? It almost tries to be too...
At Balticon
Okay, this one is queued and by the time you see it I’ll be in Baltimore getting ready for the con. If you want to buy books, hit me up. I have a suitcase...
Sails and Songs
Black Sails 3.2 Bad decisions this week: 1. Underestimating Eleanor Guthrie. 2. Thinking Eleanor Guthrie is dead (which is also underestimating Eleanor...
Arr Pirates Speculative Fiction?
On November 14, 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson published The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys. You’ve probably never heard of it. Or rather you have, because it is...
Areas of Broken Reality
Review: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer This short novel makes no sense. Which is good, because it’s clearly not meant to…and there’s likely an unreliable...
Balticon Schedule and More
First of all, here’s my schedule for this year’s Balton: Friday 5:30pm - Reading with Randee Dawn Saturday 10am - Underutilized Bases for Magic Systems...
More Bad Decisions
Black Sails 2.8 Oh, well…how about some bad decisions. Okay, here’s the thing? Eleanor had to rescue Abigail, it wasn’t a bad decision even if it does seem...
A World Without Childhood
Childhood is an important part of the human experience. Our extended maturity period has been cited many times as part of why we are the smartest species on...
Alchemists Rule
Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett It’s rare to get an entire fantasy world where the primary magic system is alchemy, but Bennett does this...
Flap, Flap, Flap!
So, this has not been a fun week. Instead of working, I spent last Friday…having emergency eye surgery. Look up posterior vitreous detachment. Or don’t. You...
Is This Your Lucky Day?
Black Sails 2.6 Don’t listen to Max. Just don’t. It looks very much like she’s selling prize locations to multiple crews now, with predictable results. Billy...
Two Popes, No...
Tomorrow, all of the Cardinals who haven’t achieved the age of 80 go into conclave to choose a new Pope. Supposedly, God guides them. In reality…ideally...
Robots and Time Travel
If you’re wondering what happened to Friday’s post…guess who spent all of Friday getting emergency laser eye surgery. I’m on a bit of a screen time...
Nuke It From Orbit...
Doctor Who 2.3 “The Well” Doctor Who is at its best when it leans into horror. “Nuke the site from orbit.” We all finish the sentence…well, the older viewers...
Hugs, Not Kisses - the Importance of Non-Romantic Relationships in Spec Fic
Many years ago, somebody told me as a baby writer that I had to have a consummated romance involving my main character or “Nobody would read my books.”It...