Category: science-fiction
-
Contra Graham :: the War to Define YA Meaning and Maturity
Often in literary circles people will “punch down,” as critics of Charlie Hebdo have claimed. But sometimes it’s worse. Sometimes we kick the kids and even the young adult readership. As any family, the literary community is messy. We have a great many flaws to work through. But one issue that can wait no longer…
-
50 Reads for Writers
Often I get questions like: If you didn’t go to school for writing, how did you learn? How do I improve as an editor? Are there any good books out there for writers? What’s wrong with this story? …among others. A long while back I shared twenty-three books. I’ve since expanded that list to a nice, round fifty. If…
-
Our Technological Wish List
These aren’t “Tall Tower” or “Hyperloop” or “3D Printing Organ” ideas, they’re just tweaks on current software. I would love for us to add more tweaks in the comments and see if we can’t get a nice list going.
-
Dead Christ
Holbien fishes bodies from the Rhine // stone or marble forms a slab // he clears green mold, seaweed, the guts // it takes to paint a Chrorpse, // and spreads them out to prompt his work.
-
Engineers use SciFi writers to revive American Innovation
Hieroglyph is a space for SciFi writers, engineers, scientists, and artists to collaborate on creative, ambitious visions of the near-future. Neal Stephenson noticed a serious void in the optimism of science so he helped create an online collaborative between the people who dream things up and the people who make dreams real. Right now, they’ve…
-
050: La Fin du Monde
Read the world’s ending in a book again today and I laughed not out of disrespect but determination to laugh I’ve determined laughter helps us finish strong. It’s not the first book today printed whose themes feature the end of the world it’s a popular transition from fantasy to science fiction to move from eschatology…
-
26 Practical Things My Inner Kid Needed to Learn
Often in the course of a week, I find myself thinking, “Man, I wish I’d have known that when I was ten.” I’m jotting down those tidbits that came to mind: 1. Always fill up your gas tank. It took my wife’s habit of creating peace of mind to drill this into my head, but…
-
Why Nonfiction Writers Need Style Editors
Let’s face it: most nonfiction sucks. And let’s face it, this seldom comes from bad content. If you hope to publish in the nonfiction world, they keep a not-so-best-kept secret called “the book proposal.” I write proposals for nonfiction writers and the gist goes: “if you have a nonfiction book idea, never write the manuscript.…
-
Why I, an Adult, Believe in Santa
As you prepare your Christmas lists, let me tell you a story… A long time ago in an oppressive empire far far away, there lived a Saint known to all as Nicolas. We know that Nicolas oversaw the diocese of Myra in Lycia (south-western Asia Minor) during the fourth century. Story goes that he rescued three…
-
“Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.”
Recent Work Miscellany The following articles by yours truly will come out next month, this month or next year at this time: “To Prevail or ‘How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Flak’” in Hollywood and Vine (article, May/June 2012) “Poker in the Pokey” in Poker Pro (article, June 2012)* “Stamping the Name” in Encounter (article, May 2012)…
-
M.I.T. Free
No, that’s not a typo. Thanks to Logan K. Stewart’s suggestion, I’m now going to take on M.I.T. free at the same time as my Harvard Classics readings. Basically, there’s a list of classes: Courses by Department Aeronautics and Astronautics Anthropology Architecture Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Biological Engineering Biology Brain and Cognitive Sciences Chemical…