After a few days of not blogging, mostly because I’ve been both tired and busy, not necessarily in that order, I went out to Borders. And there I saw something that made me very happy. Star Trek Magazine #20. The cover has Jean-Luc Picard, with a Borg drone loomed in the background. A light blueContinue reading “On Seeing It In The Wild”
Tag Archives: Writing
On a Challenging Writing Market
From now until the end of the month, editor Robert Smartwood is taking submissions for an anthology of “Hint Fiction.” What is Hint Fiction? From the submission guidelines: Its a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story. The thesis of the anthology is to prove that a story 25Continue reading “On a Challenging Writing Market”
On Today’s Word Coinage
I had to coin a word today. “Hyper-south.” I was writing some dialogue. Two characters were talking about a situation that had gone horribly wrong. “It went south,” as one might say. But then the situation, which really couldn’t or shouldn’t have gotten any worse, did. Saying it went “further south” didn’t work. It wasContinue reading “On Today’s Word Coinage”
On Merlin, Sword-Pulling, and Random Research
Last night I was talking with a friend of mine about the Todd Klein print I ordered, “Drawing the Sword.” I’ve been on a medieval kick since May. The release of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun kicked it off, then a reading of The Saga of the Volsungs to reacquaint myself withContinue reading “On Merlin, Sword-Pulling, and Random Research”
On This Week’s Musical Discovery
I’ve learned over the years that writing is occasionally less a planned activity than it is a series of serendipitous accidents. Consider the BBC’s Scotland Introducing podcast. I can’t tell you why, over a year ago, I started listening to this podcast. But I do. Every Friday, I download the new episode and give itContinue reading “On This Week’s Musical Discovery”
On the Kindle Revolution
Let’s suppose that someone has a Kindle, Amazon’s eBook reader. Let’s suppose that they like to read my website. Now they can read it on the Kindle! I spent an hour last night setting things up with Amazon, and for a subscription price of $1.99 a month, you can now have Allyn Gibson and hisContinue reading “On the Kindle Revolution”
On My Next Publication
Star Trek Magazine editor Paul Simpson announced this today on TrekBBS: Coming soon to a newsstand near you – Star Trek Magazine 20, which includes a wonderful extract from Una McCormack’s great new DS9 novel The Never-Ending Sacrifice. Also this month, courtesy of Allyn Gibson, a complete history of the Borg, including their appearances inContinue reading “On My Next Publication”
On Questions About Writing
In the past few days — since Shore Leave, really — I’ve been asked a number of questions on writing. Like where I get my ideas from. Like what’s my writing process. Like what kind of music do I listen to. Like what are my plans for publication. Like how do I see my writingContinue reading “On Questions About Writing”
On Writing About Bloom County
Life is strange sometimes. This morning, I’m writing an article about Bloom County. Growing up in the 1980s, I loved Bloom County. Sadly, at the span of twenty years since its ending, I remember very little of its original run, except for the extended sequence of strips where Bob Woodward wrote an expose on theContinue reading “On Writing About Bloom County”
On My Shore Leave 2009 Schedule
The schedule for this weekend’s Shore Leave convention here in Baltimore was released on the con’s website this morning. What do I have on tap? Friday Meet The Pros — Hunt/Valley Foyer, 10pm to WheneverThis is where I get to autograph stuff. I will gladly autograph the April issue of Previews, the one with myContinue reading “On My Shore Leave 2009 Schedule”