In the spring of 2008, I changed my life. I was 34 years old, and for the previous 13 years–starting when I graduated from university with a bachelor’s degree in computer science–I had been working in Silicon Valley as a…
My CoNZealand Schedule
Most of us won’t be in New Zealand for Worldcon this year #becauseofthepandemic but there will still be plenty of online programming to overwhelm everyone, as per usual. Here’s what I’m up to next week (links go to Grenadine): 17:00,…
Happy Captain Picard Day
Roughly four years and three months ago, something happened in Portland, Oregon (and on the internet). Something… Wunderful. The Oregonian reported on it at the time: “Google Maps prank officially renames Portland’s Tilikum Crossing after Captain Picard.” And a few…
All Words are Black
You may have seen the #BlackoutBestsellerList and #BlackPublishingPower tags trending on social media in the past few days. TL;DR: sometime this week, buy at least two books written by Black authors to show the publishing industry that readers want more…
In Which LOCUS Brings Me News of the World
(The publishing world, that is.) Because I am a bad friend, it wasn’t until I got this month’s issue of LOCUS Magazine that I learned of two recent book deals involving awesome writers. But now I’m so excited I have…
#NEBULAS2020
This coming weekend is the SFWA Nebula Conference Online, where this year’s Nebula Awards (for works published in 2019) will be presented. The whole event is virtual this year, so we’ll all be watching the same awards ceremony livestream on Saturday night. And…
Research Rathole: Three Hamburgers a Week?!
Who the hell eats three hamburgers every week?
Three Months of Free Fiction!
Okay, don’t get too excited: I’m only posting one thing every month, so it’s just three short stories. But they are all new, original works, and explicitly in conversation with the current state of the world… February: “Cats Don’t Care…
Am I a bad person because I don’t wish people Happy Birthday online anymore?
Asking for a friend. Because I do appreciate the flood of messages I get on Facebook when my own birthday rolls around, but at some point in the last few years I just… stopped doing the same for others. Partly…
Looking Back at 2019
Every year, DeeAnn and I send holiday cards to friends and family. We used to print out a one-page newsletter to stick inside each card, which would include a handwritten note, but as our mailing list got longer the time…