Category: Writing
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An Old-Fashioned Science Fiction Gathering (Day 2)
On Sunday the 27th, most of the participants rose early (since both the Hartwell and Cambias households involve young children who think that sleeping past 7:30 is "late"). We breakfasted at one of the inns in Westport called The Inn In Westport, then gathered again at the bookstore to watch David Hartwell interview Gregory Benford.…
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An Old-Fashioned Science Fiction Gathering (Day 1)
Over the weekend of May 25-27 I was a guest of David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer at their bookstore in Westport, NY. The occasion was a "mini-con" devoted to Hard Science Fiction. The headliner on the card was Gregory Benford, who inspired the theme of the weekend with his famous remark about writing Hard SF…
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Ozblogging: The Emerald City of Oz, Part 3
Since Aunt Em and Uncle Henry have come to Oz for good, it only makes sense for them to see some of the country. Accordingly, Dorothy, the Wizard, Em and Henry, Omby Amby (the commander of Oz's all-officer Army), Billina the Hen, and the Shaggy Man all set out aboard a wagon drawn by the…
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How I Did It #10: Parsifal (Prix Fixe)
I remember the moment I got the idea for this story very precisely. I was in a car, driven by Gavin Grant, heading eastward on the Massachusetts Turnpike bound for the Boskone science fiction convention in the February of 2005. Kelly Link was the third person in the car; she and Gavin had recently moved…
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The Power of Pictures
Since I'm a writer, I naturally think that all the writer-stuff is important in a work of fiction: the story, the plot, the setting, and so forth. When I gripe about movies that bother me, my complaints are usually about writer-stuff (and music; I pay attention to music). So it's humbling to realize that one…
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Evil Characters
There's an interesting post up at Sarah Hoyt's blog about motivations for villainous characters. She takes the position that no one is consciously evil, and evil behavior is usually motivated by a desire to do good or to fit in. This is a very common view in science fiction; it's practically the default. With some…
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Eckener SPEAKS!
My story "The Eckener Alternative" is now available via podcast, on the venerable Escape Pod audio webzine (or whatever the kids are calling them this week). Download it and listen on your next boring commute through time!
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The Editing Paradox
At the moment I have a lot of editing and rewriting to do. I'm finishing up the first draft of a novel and I know I need to go back and make some improvements. And at my last writing workshop the group gave one of my short stories a thorough working-over, so now there's that…
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How I Did It #9: The Eckener Alternative
I am ridiculously proud of this story. Back in 2004 I heard that David Moles and Jay Lake were putting together an airship theme anthology, All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories. Now, I've been an airship nut since fourth grade. I've written nonfiction articles about them for Airpower and Balloon Life magazines. So I decided that it…
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I Recommend You Read This
Locus magazine just released its 2011 "recommended reading" list for SF and fantasy. My novelette "Object Three" made the cut. You can read it in the November/December issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. UPDATE: Don't forget, Hugo Award nominations for 2012 are open until March 11!
The Cambias Digression 