This post is a lightly-edited version of one that went out in my newsletter. If you like it, please consider signing up. I send out about ten newsletters a year. They include posts like this, reading recommendations, and sometimes some of my writing. My son just came home from fighting wildfires in Washington State. The …
Fire and Water…Musings on Climate and Governance Read More »
Last night, mom and dad and I sat in a favorite restaurant in Mesa, Arizona, and swapped holiday stories while a musician sang a mix of holiday, country, old folk, and hippie songs. The songs were full of the past, and prompted me to ask my parents about their favorite holiday memories. Mom’s reminded me …
I recently completed a Masters in Fine Arts at Stonecoast.  A number of people asked me why, and others have whether or not it was worth it. So here’s my write-up, which might help mid-career authors who are considering an MFA. First – a brief description. Stonecoast is a low-residency MFA through the University of …
A review of my most recent four book series (in two duologies) came out yesterday.  Duology 1 is The Creative Fire and The Diamond Deep, and Duology 2 is Edge of Dark and Spear of Light. All of them came out from Pyr. The second two books came out because after I finished the first story, I wanted to explore …
I’m really touched and flattered and pleased….and a bit shocked happy.  I just learned that Edge of Dark is a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award. The award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States. The award is …
In my day job (IT Management), it’s normal to go back to school mid-career to get new skills and hop up a rung. Apparently the creative writing career is different; the goal of the MFA is to get published, and after you are published, you don’t really need one. But I’ve never been conventional. I …
End of First Semester: Being a Mid-Career MFA Student Read More »
Nanowrimo is not for everyone, and generally, its more for newer writers than me, although I do know many other pro writers who nano. Â For any who don’t know, Nanowrimo is all about writing 50,000 words in a month, which the size of a smallish novel (My novels are usually 120,000 words). At any rate, …
I’m currently at the 100 Year Starship Symposium.  This symposium was started by DARPA and is now run by Mae Jemison, who was the first black female astronaut to go into space. At the moment, I’m hearing about the 1400 planets that have been found.  That’s only in the last twenty years – it was roughly …
It seemed like I should give people a bit of an update about Google Glass, and what the experience of being a Glass Explorer has been like for me. First, I’ve met a number of really great people through Glass. Â I spent the first month basically wandering alone and not seeing anyone else wearing Glass …
Some things belong to deep geekdom. Filk music is one of those things. Â John Anealio’s album includes songs about (among other things): An angry robot who discovers the singularity Dressing up like a storm-trooper on Halloween The challenges of being a geek dad Nanowrimo (and if I have to tell you what that is, you …
Filk Recommendation: John Anealio’s Laser Zombie Robot Love Read More »
