What You Find Putting Lovecraft “In the Context of His Time”
On the subject of Lovecraft, to which we keep returning: My own take is that he was supremely talented at describing dread and disgust and horrifically deficient in describing anything else; his...
View ArticleWhat The Complete Puppy Shutout Means And Doesn’t Mean
Well, that happened. And we should make no mistake what it means, and what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that the Hugos no longer have any room for just-plain-meat-and-potatoes fun science fiction...
View ArticleWhile I’m At It
And another thing. A small thing, really. “I am among the finest writers working today.” Who the fuck even says that? Writers are permitted ego. You need ego to think that any silly shit that comes out...
View ArticleTo The Writer Whose Book I Probably Won’t Review In My Column
Today I received an ARC, advance reading copy, from a well-known writer with whom I spent a small local convention, who glanced at my proferred hand as if it smelled bad, walked away every time I tried...
View ArticleThese Are Not Reasons to Vote For Me For a Hugo
I have been nominated for a number of awards in my career, and even won a few. The nominations include two Hugo nods, three Stokers, and eight Nebulas, none of which I have gone on to win. That’s okay....
View ArticleStop Doing This
One thing many fans of science fiction do that never fails to bug me is react to critical assaults on their beloved books with hot declarations that critics are never right, that academics pick awful...
View ArticleSorry. We’re Keeping “Crazy.”
Sorry, guardians of sensitivity. You are not going to deprive us of the useful word “Crazy.” Or the other useful word “insane,” as applied to observed bad behavior. Sensitivity to mental illness is a...
View ArticleOn How To Be Fair Despite Preconceived Notions
Okay, so it now seems that we have to address the issue of preconception in critical appraisal. The impetus is Jonathan Jones, a critic for the UK Guardian who wrote a much-derided essay to the effect...
View ArticleDonald Trump and The Practical Limitations of the Panic Response
Of late I’ve been spending more time in the public library than my usual pickup-and-dropoff because of temporary internet connectivity problems at home, since fixed, and it seems that while they lasted...
View ArticleStop! I’m Not Done Being An Asshole Yet!
Stop! Don’t walk away! Don’t you get it? I’m STILL MAD! I still think I haven’t gotten my due! I still want to take up your time with my grievances! I declare when the argument’s over! And it will...
View ArticleTo An Acquaintance Who Wants Me to Help Write His Amazing Story
Originally published on Facebook 19 September 2014. X, You have just been through a very traumatizing couple of years. It was one of the most difficult, life-changing things that ever happened to you....
View ArticleWriters: The Long-Term Benefits of Not Being An Ass
From time to time the following comedic trope appears in movies or television: the totally out-of-control ego monster of a prominent author, who abuses everybody who gets within twenty feet of him, who...
View ArticleA Reminder That Our Imaginary Pals Are Mostly Intolerable People
First Published on Facebook 29 September 2014. A key misunderstanding people have about their relationship with fiction is the belief that their favorite characters are people they would like to hang...
View ArticleTwo Novels I Will Likely Not Be Writing
I have an idea for a novel. Let’s give it a Ludlumesque name: “The Smith Violation.” I have had this idea for years. It is one of a bunch of novel ideas I have that I have, at most, toyed with; this...
View ArticleI Say The Absolutely Wrong Thing In the Absolutely Right Way
Originally published on Facebook October 14 2014. Adam-Troy Castro, master of the fine husbandly art of deliberately saying just a few words too many. Like, just now, buying Groceries. Judi is...
View ArticleOn The Monday-Morning Quarterbacking of Ben Carson and Others
You know what the people in that public place should have done, when the man with the gun walked in and started shooting everybody? They should have rushed him. I know I would have rushed him. I...
View ArticleWriters: Bless Your Limitations. That’s Where You Find The Art.
Originally published on Facebook 10 October 2014 Here’s a secret. All fiction writers have limitations. All good fiction writers are acutely aware of their limitations. All good fiction writers are...
View ArticleAn Open Letter To Italian-Americans Protective of Columbus Day
Something I wish I could say to any Italian-Americans angry at efforts to eliminate or rename Columbus Day, because to them it’s a holiday celebrating their ethnicity’s contributions to our history:...
View ArticleWhen the Customer Irritates You With His Unreasonable Request
Originally published on Facebook Oct 13 2013. Open letter to the independent bookstore: Today I was told that a reader of my acquaintance drove past the Barnes and Noble superstore in his immediate...
View ArticleA Thumbnail Is Not A Story
Some folks of the conservative bent are throwing public snits over Marvel’s SAM WILSON: CAPTAIN AMERICA #1, in which the current Cap, a black man, fights white supremacists. They take open offense at...
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