We Write!
The image of the starving artist/writer/musician in the garret has existed for a long, long time. So has the fact, in many cases. In many cases, too, at the same time as producing books or art or music that endured and is loved by millions. In sf, H Beam Piper springs to mind, but the... Continue Reading →
It's dusk, and all I can see is tattered, shredded dark clouds against the last dusty orange-pink of a sky paling into purple blackness, with the flat line of a dark sea and the silhouette of dark cape thrusting out into it, with a solitary point of light near the end of it. Working, as... Continue Reading →
I have no problem with parents deciding for themselves - and for their families - what they consider morally and ethically correct, appropriate and normative. That's their job. My wife and I have our own standards, which are not shared by all of our friends, but all of us respect each other's different points of... Continue Reading →
There are several articles I came across over recent weeks that I bookmarked for potential use as source material for blog posts. I haven't been able to do so yet, but they're too good to leave alone: so I'm going to put them up here, and recommend that you click over to the source and... Continue Reading →
A hundred and one… point 4… No, not Dalmatians. Although there are spots, many of them, and inimical aliens who remind one of Cruella. And plenty of evil and dim-witted hench-villians. Words, words, words. Thousands of words. 101.4K of them… I don’t believe there is one I haven’t… Ok, I am being silly. But it’s... Continue Reading →
It's an awkward time to be a writer in these (dis)United States. We see the ravages of identity politics destroying almost everything that held us together as a nation. Both because of and in response to that, reactions to those holding different views are getting more knee-jerk, more emotional, more extreme from one day to... Continue Reading →
Oh dear. Perhaps a good time to read something else. I’m about to wax philosophical again. I’m frequently told that is the side of me I should keep locked away in a dark closet somewhere and fed on alternate Tuesdays. That may well be because I contend that the only natural and inviolate human right... Continue Reading →
In a recent article, the BBC examined the genre of so-called "gothic" literature, and drew obvious parallels between it and "horror" books. I simply won't read horror - I've seen far too many real-world horrors to want any reminder of them, even in fantastical format - but I enjoy authors like Larry Correia, whose Monster... Continue Reading →
So-called "cancel culture" is spreading like wildfire across the literary landscape. It's got to the point where employees of publishers are trying to exercise a veto over what books their employers publish. As one progressive commenter put it, "Nobody has a human right to a lucrative book contract without regard for whether their opinions are... Continue Reading →
Delay of game for coffee and a little Christmas shopping this morning. You see... no, let me back up a little. This has been an interesting year. You know that. For me, it's been oddly normal with an underlying foundation of pure stress. I go to work five days a week, wear a mask, deal... Continue Reading →
Mad Genius Club 