This was a fun one to write, even if it did go a little dark at first. The idea for it came from this article about a couple in San Francisco who received an outrageously huge warning fine ($1,500) for parking their car in their own driveway. In the comments to the article, I wrote:… Continue reading Short Story: The Body Tax
Tag: politics
“Every age fraught with discord and danger…”
Every age fraught with discord and danger seems to spawn a leader meant only for that age, a political giant whose absence, in retrospect, seems inconceivable when the history of that age is written. Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion.
How SFWA ruined science fiction (and why it needs to die)
There was a time when science fiction was bigger than fantasy. More people read it, more authors wrote it, and more editors demanded it. Would-be fantasy authors were steered toward writing science fiction, because they knew that it would sell better than the stuff they actually wanted to write. Now, the roles are reversed. More… Continue reading How SFWA ruined science fiction (and why it needs to die)
Why books written by mothers are better than books written by childless women
I never know which posts of mine China Mike Glyer is going to pick up for his pixel scroll, or whatever he calls the daily bucket of chum that he feeds the folks over at File 770 (the ones who aren’t Chinese bots, anyway). I’ve written at much greater length about my 2022 reading resolution… Continue reading Why books written by mothers are better than books written by childless women
“It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
So I DNFed Timescape by Gregory Benford today. I didn’t like any of the characters, and the retro-future view of the 90s as a dystopian post-climate catastrophe wasteland was predictably bad. But this quote from the afterword got me to thinking: Habitual readers of science fiction will feel right at home with some features of… Continue reading “It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
Why I won’t be publishing “The New Covenant” as a free short story single
For short stories, I typically self-publish them first as free ebooks, until I have enough of them to bundle together in a collection. I’ve found that this is a great way to give new readers a taste of my writing and engage my already existing fans. It also helps to market the collections, which is… Continue reading Why I won’t be publishing “The New Covenant” as a free short story single
Reading Resolution Update: March
My 2022 reading resolution: Read or DNF every novel that has won a Hugo or a Nebula award, and acquire all the good ones. So March is usually the time where people get tired of their new year’s resolutions and either give them up entirely or put them on the back burner for a while.… Continue reading Reading Resolution Update: March
Unpublishing “Payday”
In the next few days, I’m going to unpublish my short story “Payday.” It will still be available in the collection In Times Such As These, but I think it’s about time that its run as a free short story single should come to a close. (For those of you who may not be familiar… Continue reading Unpublishing “Payday”
Navigating Woke SF, Part 4: Götterdämmerung
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation today, after his sexual harrassment scandal that has seen an overwhelming number of women come forward. As tempted as I am to dive into the politics of this story, I bring it up only to provide context for this: Yeah, I’m cringing too. For the last several years—arguably, since… Continue reading Navigating Woke SF, Part 4: Götterdämmerung
Camp NaNoWriMo: Day Three
Words written: 1,778 Total stories written: 1 Total words written: 2,775 Total words remaining: 27,225 Total words behind: 129 Made good progress today. I’m still a bit behind where I should be, but not by very much. It’s a lot easier to write 30k words in a month than 50k words. Maybe I’ll make the… Continue reading Camp NaNoWriMo: Day Three