writing

Monday various

  • It probably should come as no surprise, but I’m pretty much in complete agreement with Noel Murray about last night’s Lost finale. “These are the new myths. Now it’s up to us to misinterpret them.” I liked the episode a whole lot.

  • Meanwhile, Terry Pratchett is maybe a little harsher than I would be about Doctor Who and the title character’s deus ex machinations. I’m not entirely convinced there’s real value in rigidly defining science fiction and fantasy this way. (And, unlike him, “Small Worlds” is one of my least favorite Torchwood episodes.) But he makes some good points, while still happy to enjoy the show for what it is. [via]

  • Speaking of Doctor Who, here’s an interesting take on The Comparative Lives of the Doctor.

  • Here’s a scary thought from the New York Times:

    Ask a first grader to identify Bugs Bunny and the response more likely than not will be a blank stare.

  • And finally, Neil Gaiman on Ray Bradbury [via]:

    So when the wind blows the fallen autumn leaves across the road in a riot of flame and gold, or when I see a green field in summer carpeted by yellow dandelions, or when, in winter, I close myself off from the cold and write in a room with a TV screen as big as a wall, I think of Ray Bradbury . . .

They say it’s Sunday


Me, at around two or three years old.

How did I spend today? Well, I worked on the New York Times crossword and thoroughly failed to complete it, despite getting a couple of the themed answers. I joined friends for our weekly writing group, meeting again after a long hiatus. And I read a little. I still have off tomorrow, but it’s amazing how quickly this weekend flew by.

Tuesday various

Tuesday various

  • It goes without saying that “Arizona’s draconian new immigration law is an abomination,” right? [via]

  • In semi-related news: Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black. [via]

  • The Canadian Science Fiction Review is an interesting idea, though I’m not sure I like their chances for getting fully funded by May 15, I’m sad to say. I was also surprised to discover that On Spec, “the Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic,” isn’t an SFWA qualifying market. [via]

  • I’m an editor, and even I don’t think we should get book royalties. [via]

  • And finally, Neil Gaiman on the path not taken:

    The nearest to a real job I ever came actually, is when I was starting out as a young journalist, my father informed me—he knew that I’d starve as a journalist—he had this great idea, I could show off show homes and I could write while I wasn’t showing people around, and I sort of really didn’t want to say no because it was such a kind thing to do, and I was starving.

    So I got on a bus and I went all the way across London by bus and went to this place where I was going to meet this guy for an interview and I sat in the reception for an hour, then they said “we’re really sorry, he’s had to go home, it’s too late” and I said oh okay, and I went back across London by bus. And then I thought, well that was that. I didn’t plan on going back across London by bus, it was a ridiculous bus journey, so I never went back, and that was the nearest I ever got to having a real job.

    Imagine if that guy had shown up!

Wednesday various