The hungry sheep look up and are not fed.
Hey everybody, Greetings from the smoke-filled cozy apocalypse of the upper Midwest, where the sun rose orange and heavy this morning and Scott and I had an...
Another visit to cancerland, the world's worst vacation destination.
Hey, folks, Not going to bury the lede here, everything is big-picture fine and there’s no recurrence; don’t worry. I am however still having some post-...
We had some good machines, but they don't work no more.*
Lily-of-the-Valley was my grandmother’s favorite flower. When we moved into this house, I was thrilled to find a thriving plantation of it around the base of...
--30--
The Folded Sky draft is handed in. I’ve been working on this book for five year, with breaks to do other stuff along the way, and I am glad to have handed it...
If you can't achieve synthesis, how about an orgy of violence?
One of the most fascinating elements of modern speculative fiction, that descendant of scientifiction, of SFF, of sci-fi, of fantastical literature, of...
I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date--
oopsie
When you play more sports you're going to need more stadiums: the Rainbow Age of Speculative Fiction
Hey, folks, At worldcon, I was arguing (in the rhetorical barcon sense, not the having a fight sense) with a friend about the Rainbow Age of Science Fiction,...
To serve Mankind. I mean, to save $20.
I got my blood pressure taken by a marsh-wiggle last week. I went to see a podiatrist about my persistent recurring metatarsal pain, and discovered that his...
Spóla update
The trainer who is working with Scott's new horse sent this. Apparently she was sacked out completely for over an hour, which is a good sign with horses....
People jumping out of perfectly good spaceships, 30% off.
Hey everybody! Just wanted to let my UK/Commonwealth readers know that IN CELEBRATION OF THE DAY, the paperbacks of MACHINE and ANCESTRAL NIGHT are 30% off...
Fellas, it's been good to know you.
I was pretty sure Gordon Lightfoot was going to live forever, but I see on the slowly entropizing Twitter machine that he’s passed away. So this seems like a...
I'm sorry your mom blew up.
So the bird food I'm giving the birds? Has raisins in it. And I don't think birds like raisins. I am John Cusack's mom in BETTER OFF DEAD*. "It's got raisins...
Barnes & Noble pre-order sale!
Hey folks! Just a quick heads up that pre-orders are 25% off at B&N for the next three days, and The Origin of Storms trade paperback is on their list!...
Bonus cat photos for paid subscribers
You see the problem here:
We all like to think we'd resist the evil overlord's mind-control powers...
…when we can’t even force ourselves to move an inconvenient cat. Good morning, folks, and happy Monday to you all. We missed the aurora of a lifetime last...
Sekrit Projekt, and trying out this Notes thing.
Hey, folks, So I alluded to a project I was working on that involved an NDA. I can tell you that it’s a novelette for a shared world anthology, and that it’s...
Tired, sore, and plumb wore out... but hanging in there
Hey folks, Sorry it’s been quiet around here—I’ve been on deadline and overwhelmed with tasks and some lingering post-surgical complications (yes, from 2021,...
Here's the audio podcast from this month's Fantastic Fiction at KGB, with guests Scott Lynch & Elizabeth Bear. ;)
In which I read the opening to the Karen Memory novel I'm working on, ANGEL MAKER, and Scott reads a selection from MORE THAN FOOLS FILL GRAVES, a Gentleman...
Reading at KGB Bar on Wednesday!
Does what it says on the box.
Nirbachito Dosti Golpo
I am so pleased to announce that my first collection of stories in Bengali, translated by Anushtup Sett and edited by Dip Ghosh, are now available from...
My first Bengali publications and a relevant link or two
Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study newsletter is often fascinating, and it’s interesting to see her re-upping this piece about capitalism and multi-level...
One does not simply walk out of Omelas.
As I write this, I have my first cold with sore throat since November of 2019 and though it’s mild, I have to say, I didn’t miss this. I’m testing negative...
Book Club Post for 6 February 2023
Hey folks! I've actually managed to... read some books? Seems fake, but there you are. I was not a fan of Story Genius by Lisa Kron, or to give it its full...
That awards eligibility post that seems to be de rigueur these days...
Does what it says on the tin.
Learned helplessness is a toxic meme
tl:dr pinkertons breaking strikes something something gilded age.
Cheap ebook of THE STONE IN THE SKULL! Locus Recommended List appearance by THE ORIGIN OF STORMS!
Hey folks! It's a great week in Lotus Kingdoms news--not only is The Stone in the Skull available for $3.99 at your favorite ebook retailer (Barnes & Noble)...
When your brain won't brain like a good brain should
Hey folks, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve been dealing with burnout, anxiety, autoimmune bullshit, and a whole lot of resurgent c-PTSD for the...
The Origin of Storms trade paperback is on sale for pre-order at Barnes & Noble RIGHT NOW.
You know how to handle this.
Toxic Smurfette Syndrome and how to avoid it.
THERE CAN BE ONLY... lots and lots, actually.
Book Club post for Monday, January 16, 2023
Happy Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Day! I finished reading Vivian Shaw's GRAVE INTENTIONS last night and found it charming and satisfying. Witty...
Avoidance is a trauma response
So sometimes I have a hard time making myself do things. Sometimes it’s because there are Too Many Things and I am tired. Sometimes it’s because I am sick....
Horse update
It's been a while, but Ormr is doing great. His rehab seems to be working (again) and that persnickety ankle is sound at walk, tolt, and canter and nearly...
Book club for Monday 9 January 2023
Hey, folks, what are you reading? I haven't finished anything new except a buttload of Atlantic Monthly and newspaper articles, and I listened to the...
Typing is easy. Telling stories is hard.
More on metrics.
Book club post for Monday, January 2, 2023
I finished my first book of the New Year last night: Elizabeth Hand’s Hokuloa Road (Gift link to a thoughtful Washington Post review there) and it was really...
Fuck multitasking and fuck metrics, too
I got up this morning, did some morning chores (filling humidifiers, emptying cat boxes) and checked the mail not because I forgot Monday was a holiday but...
What would this look like if it were easy?
My friend Elise Matthesen asked this the other day somewhere on the socials. (I can’t remember where and I can’t find it to link, but here’s a link to her...
Some peripheral thoughts on The Peripheral
We’ve finished watching The Peripheral, and I’ve been thinking about how amazing and hopeful it is that this wildly successful mainstream hit is entirely...
Fascism is a fandom, and people leave fandoms all the time.
I mentioned parasocial relationships a post or so ago, and that got me thinking about what those relationships provide and how they function and that led me...
Kirstie Alley died last week, and I am having some feelings about it.
I've never been somebody to pretend that the connection we feel in a parasocial relationship isn't real: of course it is, and in some ways it's both the...
Jenny Casey, Audiobook Edition
Well look at this. I'm thrilled to announce that all three Jenny Casey books are available for purchase or pre-order as audiobooks in the US... finally. :D...
Behind the times on the book club again
But I did actually manage to read a few things this month. One was How to Keep House While Drowning by K.C. Davis, which I recommend to everybody feeling...
I have a new hobby
It's stealing "No Geese Allowed" signs. Sometimes, the best way to deal with overwhelm is to be goose, do crimes. The sign beside the sidewalk sale is too...
Cancer is the gift that keeps on giving (no terrible news, don't worry.)
Well, I think I mentioned here that my last mammogram came back clear. However, I had a real fucking adventure on the way to Viable Paradise, which was that...
Book club! I got NOTHING read in October.
Nothing I can talk about anyway, it was all student manuscripts for Viable Paradise. What did you read that was amazing? I have about seven books I’m halfway...
I'm not leaving twitter just yet but I am branching out. Also, anthology!
Hey folks, just wanted to stick a flag in the fact that I have resurrected my camped but ignored counter.social account (it’s @matociquala, surprising...
New Story Day!
Not only is Tasting Light, edited by A.R. Capetta and Wade Roush, out today, featuring ten new hard SF stories for teen readers (and adult readers too!)...
Horse updates: all is chaos!
Ormr is fine, first off—but everything has been a lot lately. We’ve managed to find a new farrier, but Ormr, after 15 years barefoot, is not on board with...
An actual book club post despite my abject failure to read almost anything lately
So I have managed to finish three whole books in the last two months, which may be an all-time low. (I’ve been reading a lot of articles and news coverage,...
There's no such thing as a free lunch, and other bullshit lies we tell each other.
Trust me, I'm 9/10ths of an anthropologist