It's a little-known fact that I can sing in Russian.  I rarely do it--I believe the last time I did so in front of other people was at the Writers of the Future banquet last year, where I sang a verse or two of "Katyusha" for the benefit of the Ukrainian and Russian artists at my table. I can only... read more »

No, it wasn't to the Mutara Nebula. A few weeks ago, I got an email from Trevor Quachri, managing editor of Analog, asking if I would be interested in attending the Nebula Awards Weekend as a guest of Analog.  (The Nebulas are like the Oscars for science fiction writing.)  I jumped at the chance. (more…)

On October 16, 1973, Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  I was six years and seven months old, and I didn't care a bit about that.  But I did write a story, which my teacher was kind enough to type up for me.  I then illustrated it. (more…)

I'm going to be swamped with stuff tomorrow, so I'm posting this a little early. In 1990, there was an Earth Day Special on TV featuring an all-star cast. My family still quotes lines from it.  Just because I'm a conservative doesn't mean I can't enjoy funny environmentalist propaganda. So here are a couple of skits that were particularly memorable:... read more »

My short story "Accounting for Dragons" is now available in issue 8 of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show.  The story is accompanied by an awesome illustration of a dragon by Nick Greenwood. Several friends also have stories in the issue: John Brown, Matt Rotundo, and Aliette de Bodard. I wrote "Accounting for Dragons" at the Odyssey workshop last year,... read more »

A friend of mine, Nancy Fulda, has created a marvelous website called Anthology Builder.  The basic idea is this: you go to the website, pick a bunch of short stories by various authors, and they get printed up in a nice paperback volume and mailed to you.  (And the authors get a little money when you do that.) This is... read more »

My friends Janci and Drew created a list of the best and worst Buffy episodes.  It's a pretty good list, but I have my quibbles. Here's my list, with commentary. Once More, With Feeling - This is the musical episode, and it's generally considered by fans to be the best episode.  I agree.  The songs are great, but more importantly,... read more »

...then you need to read this news story.

I love my GPS, which I bought a bit over two years ago.  I use it all the time.  But there are a few things that I wished it could do. First, the maps and location data it has on board are static.  Each year, I can purchase a disc with an update, but that data is already a few... read more »

My friends Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells have a weekly podcast called Writing Excuses.  I've listened to the first seven episodes (plus the bonus ones) and found them very interesting.  The episodes are 15 minutes each, focusing on different aspects of writing.  The advice on writing is very insightful, so I recommend it for my writing friends.  I... read more »