January Question
When will we see another Recluce book? Will you consider writing one about druids of Naclos? At present, I’m working on another Imager Portfolio book, and since I’m only about halfway through it, I...
View ArticleExtremism in Pursuit of…
Everywhere I look, today, large numbers of people are taking things to extremes, and declaring they’re exercising their Constitutional rights. Some are; and quite a few are carrying the exercise of...
View ArticleThe Current Economics of E-Books
The mass market paperback book is rapidly becoming a threatened species. Now, I knew that the paperback market has largely collapsed, as least for science fiction and fantasy, but until I talked with...
View ArticleWhy “Higher” Education Isn’t the “Solution”…
… or not nearly what those who endorse it claim. Far too many social theorists, educators, and politicians push more education, especially higher education, as a solution to the problem of too many...
View ArticleA Reality Check?
After President Obama’s State of the Union, quite a number of Congressional Republicans were both perplexed and almost outraged. Why, the Republicans had won overwhelming majorities in the House and...
View ArticleWriting Despair?
A recent Locus writers’ roundtable addressed the question of “the unpublished writer’s despair,” and from the discussion it appears that there is a lot of despair out there, most likely because there...
View ArticleModern Barbarians and Civilization
The word “barbarian” derives from the Greek “barbaros,” which originally meant someone who did not speak Greek, i.e., an outsider, and since then its derivations through Latin and French have come to...
View ArticleFootball and Writing
I don’t watch much in the way of sports, especially professional sports, but I did watch the Super Bowl this past weekend, and I couldn’t help but come away with an observation…although most writers...
View ArticleThe “New” Economics as Magic
Right now, I’m getting the very strong feeling that the U.S. economic system is running on what amounts to faith in magic. Every statistic I look at seems to be unsustainable… and most of those...
View ArticleThe Illusion of Ability
Talent, or ability, by itself, is overrated. So is pure intelligence. Over the years, I have seen so many people with great talents, and others with incredible intellectual brilliance, fail, sometimes...
View ArticleFebruary Question
Will you be touring or doing any signings on the east coast any time soon? At present, outside of appearances at LTUE, Worldcon in Spokane, and World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., I...
View ArticleHistory – Real and Fictional
This past weekend I was at LTUE – a science fiction and fantasy literary symposium/conference in Provo, Utah [and the reason why there was no blog last Friday was because my not-so-trusty and...
View ArticleAwards and F&SF
In almost every artistic field, there are awards for excellence and achievement, and the F&SF world is no exception. While it isn’t as well known a field to many people, it’s not exactly small,...
View ArticleDetermining Moral Fiber?
Most human beings would like to believe that they are moral or ethical individuals, at least in their own terms, and most would like to prosper or, especially, succeed beyond their wildest dreams while...
View ArticleInadvertent Media Demonization?
Several weeks ago, a police officer in Salt Lake City went to investigate a report of a man with a snow shovel behaving erratically. When the officer found the man, he asked for his name. Within...
View ArticleMore Snow Thoughts
Outside of one snowfall right after Christmas, where we live in Cedar City had experienced on of the driest winters on record. From the second week in January until the third week in February, we also...
View ArticleArticle 1
I still haven’t read that much F&SF recently, but from the books I have read, there are a few that struck me as worthy of mention, beginning with The Three-Body Problem, a Chinese novel by Cixin...
View ArticleMarch Question
In your fantasy series, you always write about people who have magical talents. Have you ever thought about writing a book in any of those worlds with a protagonist who has no magical abilities? That...
View ArticleExtremes
The problem with the political extremists on the left and right could be described, crudely, is that each side doesn’t believe their excrement is odoriferous. What do I mean by that? For example, the...
View ArticleWhere Were the Adults/Parents?
With all the uproar over the shootings of Michael Brown and now Anthony Robinson, I’m very definitely getting the impression that both the protesters and the media are simplifying the situations to the...
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