Geek Gab Returns
Huzzah! Geek Gab returns. I wasn't able to make it due to a scheduling conflict, but Daddy Warpig and Dorrinal capably hold their own. Listen to their discussion of BBC's Sherlock and the 2015 Hugo Awards controversy here.
Amazon Stumbles Over Parody Book
Regular visitors to this blog will have noticed my generally favorable disposition toward Amazon. I consider it a public service to refute the deceptive zombie memes spread by Amazon's less scrupulous detractors. These actions are rooted in my commitment to support what's best for readers and authors. In most cases…
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
My SF education reached an important milestone this week when I finished reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Published 25 years ago to great acclaim, including the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hyperion has had a long enough shelf life to obviate a formal spoiler warning. But this review won't shy away from…
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – Strength in Weakness
Today marks the release of the latest installment in Konami's hit tactical espionage series, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Since few games are more renowned for their deep, cinematic story lines than designer Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear titles, I thought I'd celebrate the occasion by examining how MGS5 reaches narrative heights…
Superversive SF Post-Hugo Livestream
Earlier today I joined Hugo nominees John C. Wright, Arlan Adrews, and Jason Rennie; plus Sad Puppies 4 organizer Kate Paulk, GamerGate morale officer Daddy Warpig, and the usual Superversive SF crew for a post-awards Livestream. Who really won the Hugo Awards? Who made the asterisk, and what does it mean? Did #GG rig the nominations? Will…
How to Format a Short Story Manuscript
When I first started out writing and submitting short stories, I spent a lot of time and effort learning how to format my manuscripts. Here are all of the short story formatting guidelines I use, conveniently collected in one place. Cover Page The margins should be one inch all around…
The World of Smog: On Her Majesty’s Service
Tonight I had the pleasure of playing The World of Smog: On Her Majesty's Service, a Victorian-themed board game with strong steam punk elements. Besides the game play, which I'll get to in a moment, I'm pleased to support World of Smog because of its origins as a fan-funded Kickstarter campaign.…
I’m Boycotting Tor Books
I've had misgivings about Peter Grant's boycott of Tor Books. To be sure, I was sympathetic toward the targets of Tor Art Director Irene Gallo's libel against thousands of SF fans and at least three of her own publishing house's writers. But I abstained from boycotting Tor because of the…
Trad Publishing Has Forever Beclowned the Hugos
This past Saturday in Spokane, the 2015 Hugo Awards were presented to the authors of the finest sci-fi and fantasy tales of the year, based solely on the merits of their work. OK. Sorry. Keyboard-shaking spasms of laughter are making it impossible to keep up the pretense. I'll start again.…
Slaying the Amazon Monopoly Zombie Meme
Author Joe Konrath wants your help in the fight against publishing industry zombie memes--misinformation that keeps rearing its ugly head no matter how many times you bash it with a crowbar. First on Joe and his brother in arms Barry Eisler's hit list: the "Amazon is a monopoly" zombie meme.…