The Hieroglyph anthology was born in Arizona and nurtured at ASU, at the Center for Science and the Imagination. The center is an academic effort to mash up SF writers and scientists and see what comes out. Hieroglyph is one child of the center. This anthology of ambitious near-future SF was goosed along by Neal Stephenson’s poke at society …
Sometimes you stumble into something unexpectedly awesome. I was invited to attend a poetry reading at The Grape Choice in Kirkland, a small and very nice wine shop down by Lake Washington. I like poetry.  I used to write and read poetry a lot, and even now I occasionally publish a poem or pop off …
Most mornings, I sit down at 5:00 and write until 6:00 or 7:00, getting out about 1,000 words. The last few weeks have been frustrating. Â I’ve been driving toward the finish of a book that just doesn’t want to end. Scenes keep getting added. Â Some will come back out; this is not going to finish …
I was hemming and hawing about taking David Brin’s Existence with me (it’s pretty big for airplane reading, and I am going to WORLDCON where I will acquire books whether I want to or not). But then I read the first page and the damned thing is going with me (partly because it’s David, partly …
I always love “Clarion Season” here in the Seattle area. Â Great writers and earnest, brilliant students all converge on our area, parties and readings ensue, and the write-a-thon happens. Â This is the second year I’ve done the write-a-thon. Â It’s kind of a “please sponsor me and I’ll write to some specific goal” event, and …
Well, it’s Clarion West Write-a-thon time again. Â Clarion West is one of the best intensive workshops available for aspiring speculative fiction writers. Â The money they raise goes to help with expenses (which are legion) and with scholarships. I hope to have a lot of people sponsor me, even at the price of giving up a …
I promised some more reviews of non-fiction. Â There was a bit of serendipity to me reading this book: Â one of my co-workers, Christian Knight, came up and told me about the book by telling me the first story in the book (which is about how mops were improved). Christian is a creative guy who writes …
Reading Recommendation: Imagine How Creativity Works, by Jonah Lehrer Read More »
Writing is lots of work, a lot of rejections, a lot of work, a lot of learning, and – once more – a lot of work. Occasionally there’s a reward. Â I recently received a really great reward that I can finally talk about (translate that as the contracts are signed and in hand at …
Mayan December is different than my other work. Â That doesn’t mean readers of The Silver Ship and the Sea might not like it, some clearly do. Â But – very different than my other work — every unsolicited email or review or comment has been from a women. Â A lot of my science fictions readers are …
The strangest things happen to writers.  This morning, I woke up with an essay in my head: I gave a talk to a bunch of eighteen and nineteen year-old students at the University of Washington earlier this week. None of them were old enough to remember a pre 9/11 world. They have never traveled without …
