The Cambias Digression

Notes and thoughts on everything from what I had for breakfast to the fate of the Universe.

  • Diversity and DragonCon

    In recent years the cozy cameraderie of the science fiction world has been disrupted by controversies over diversity and tolerance. We've been told that SF is too white, too male, and too straight, and that we need to Do Something to change that. I'm not going to grapple with the question of whether the demographics…

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  • Happy Publication Day

    Today is the official publication date of the Hieroglyph anthology. Huzzah! A word about publication dates: they're almost meaningless. At one time the pub date (that's cool writers-n-publishers slang for publication date) was the day the book actually went on sale. You still see that occasionally, for big best-seller releases like the later Harry Potter…

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  • Here Be Dragons: Dragon-Con 2014

    My talented wife Diane Kelly was invited to participate in this year's Dragon-Con in Atlanta as a science panelist. I tagged along, for several reasons. My first priority was to work in a little book promotion for A Darkling Sea and the upcoming Corsair. To that end I volunteered to help man the SFWA table…

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  • Reading the Hieroglyphs

    The Hieroglyph anthology gets its official release September 9, and the publishers are leaking some teaser material. You can go here to read a preview of the e-book version on Scribd. Or you can download a PDF excerpt here, including the introduction by Lawrence Krauss and the essay "Innovation Starvation" by Neal Stephenson which inspired…

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  • I Have Joined the Pod People

    I have left the silent era and entered the world of podcasting. Rob Wolf interviewed me for his New Books in Science Fiction and Fantasy podcast. You can go here to listen to me talk about A Darkling Sea, Aztecs, why roleplaying games are different from novels, Bone Wars, my obsession with getting stuff right,…

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  • Congratulations Hugo Winners

    Congratulations to the winners of the 2014 Hugo awards, and to all the nominees.  The winners: Best Novel: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie Best Novella: "Equoid" by Charles Stross Best Novelette: "The Lady Astronaut of Mars" by Mary Kowal Best Short Story: "The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere" by John Chu Best Related Work: We Have Always…

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  • Double-Barrelled Short Fiction!

    It has been quite a while since I've published any short fiction, but now I have two stories coming out back to back. In September the valiant War Stories anthology from Apex Books hits the beaches, and my story "Contractual Obligation" will be in the first wave. The operation is led by tactical masterminds Jaym…

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  • Armadillocon 2014 A.D.!

    The Armadillocon 36 committee very kindly invited me to be a participant in this year's convention, so I accepted. My talented wife and I decided to make a weekend mini-vacation of it, and flew to Austin on Friday. The City Austin surprised me. Last time I was there was in the early 1990s, when Austin…

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  • Armadillocon, Featuring ME!!

    This coming weekend I will be a guest at Armadillocon 36, in charming Austin, Texas. If you happen to be deep in the heart of Texas this weekend, come by. Here's what I'll be doing. Friday, July 25 4-5 p.m.: Cool Locations Which Haven't Been Used — A panel discussion; the title pretty much says it…

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  • First Impressions of Fifth Edition

    Wizards of the Coast is rolling out their latest edition of the venerable Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game this summer. This isn't just a new version of the game, though; the designers' stated goal was to create a version of D&D which would reunite the game's fan base, and bring back into the fold all…

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