THIS is Pulp
After slogging through a few less than stellar attempts at pulp and a pair of Hugo worthy novelettes, it feels fantastic to soak up some Schuyler Hernstrom. It isn’t just palette cleansing, it’s soul cleansing. It’s writing so rich that I find myself stopping just to prolong the pleasure. ...
Dancing Around in a Suit Made of Pulp’s Skin
We were analyzing the submission guidelines for one of those modern day pulp magazines that just doesn’t seem to get it. A few objections were made, speculation ran wild about what sort of stories they would wind up with, a good time was had by all. Then the astonishingly well read...
Writers of Romance Required Reading
John C. Wright is a giant among current writers. Even as the most nominated author in Hugo history, his talents are sorely under-appreciated. His recent essay, Ugly and the Beast is a clinic on how not to write stories. If you want to understand story structure, characterization, and the subtle...
Just Getting Started
What you’re looking at here is the original starter from a 200 Land Rover Discovery II. Resquiat en pace, little starter, seventeen years was a good run. Replacing one of these things is as simple as disconnecting two wires, and undoing two bolts. It’s normally a fifteen minute job, but...
Black Company, Fingers Crossed
The Black Company is coming to a small screen near you. As a card carrying member of the pulp revolution, I tend to favor heroic fiction that fun and free-wheeling, but Glen Cook got me through a lot of years of pink slime. It’s exactly the sort of grim...
Hugo Novelette: Touring with the Alien
Tomas Diaz beat me to the punch on this review, and more power to him for that. My review was written without peeking at his. As you’ll see, he takes a far more cerebral approach to his review, and I highly recommend giving his blog a read. Where I...
Cora Lyin’
Cora, Cora, Cora, why you gotta play like dat? I was goggling about searching for Tomas Diaz’s excellent analysis of the Hugo Novelette-ettes, which is excellent. My own review of Touring with the Alien will be published tomorrow, so check back to compare. It’s a little old, but Cora...
The High Cost of The Narrative
Earlier this week two similar, yet very different, murder sprees cost the lives of innocent Americans. In fine Fake News fashion, the AP originally reported…well, take a look: Note that the correction doubles down on the misleading story. The man shouted, “Allahu Akbar,” and even after being caught out in...
Geek Gab: The Enmollisoning
In case you missed it, the Geek Gab trio invited me to share a few thoughts on reading and writing this past weekend. It’s not too late to drink from the well of my wisdom, or feast at the table of my obnoxiousness – either way, this is one...
You’ll Surely Drown
You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay by Alyssa Wong has been nominated for a Hugo Award, and since the online conversation about the Hugo Awards is driven primarily by what authors look like, it might be nice to take a moment to do something very, very different – read...