A free market of idiots

I’m enough of an ex-journalist that I’ve read with interest about Britain’s scandal-plagued scandal sheet News of the World. Short version: to feed its tabloid readership, the paper hacked into the e-mails, phones and private records of politicians and celebrities, to great financial success. So far so good, but then they broke into the voice mail of a murdered teenage … Read More

Review: the anti-western Doc

[frame align=”left”] [/frame]I love movies about the 1881 showdown in Tombstone, AZ between Wyatt Earp and the Clanton gang. My favorite is Tombstone, but I won’t sleight Gunfight at the OK Corral, My Darling Clementine, or Hour of the Gun (which actually starts with the gunfight and follows the events afterward). I can’t stand Kevin Costner’s epic, sprawling Wyatt Earp, … Read More

Interview: Genevieve Valentine, author of Mechanique

Recently I reviewed the debut novel by Genevieve Valentine, Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti. I thought it a brilliant and intriguing book, and as a writer, I wondered about the thought process behind some of the concepts. Genevieve was kind enough to answer some questions for me. The bones (in the story, circus aerialists have their human bones … Read More

Review: Mechanique by Genevieve Valentine

Bruce Springsteen says his classic song “Born to Run” is about people looking for “connection.” The great crime novelist Andrew Vachss fills his stories with people forming “families of choice” to retain their humanity against the brutal outside world. And in the same vein, the heart of Genevieve Valentine’s Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti shows how the bonds … Read More

Guest blogging on the (re)claiming of Lois Lane

[frame align=”left”] [/frame]I’m guest blogging at SF Signal about Lois Lane, and how she changed between the original cut of Superman II and the 2006 restored “Donner Cut.” Stop by and leave a comment!  

Look back in chagrin

Recently I’ve been revising an old manuscript that I originally wrote over a decade ago, and haven’t touched in at least seven years. It’s an interesting window into the past of my own creative process, and some lessons I’ve since learned are vividly displayed in all their teeth-gnashing glory. Here are some examples. 1) A little description goes a long … Read More

Interview with Teresa Frohock, author of Miserere

Teresa Frohock is both a friend and the author of Miserere: an Autumn Tale, a book I enjoyed so much that I gave her the following blurb: “Miserere is about redemption, and the triumph of our best impulses over our worst. It’s also about swords, monsters, chases, ghosts, magic, court intrigues and battles to the death. It’s also (and this … Read More

Review: Miserere by Teresa Frohock

It’s not easy working religion into fantasy. Actually, that’s the wrong word: I should say “faith.” Anyone can invent a religion: both L. Ron Hubbard and George Lucas have made millions selling their made-up beliefs. But to depict the way faith works for people, the inner process of how belief gives strength, is hard. It always runs the risk of … Read More

Just in: cover art for The Hum and the Shiver

[frame align=”left”]  [/frame]Here’s the final cover art for my next novel, out this September. The preliminary illustration used on Amazon featured a male figure, but since the book’s protagonist is a young woman, Tor’s awesome art deparment redid it. What do you think?