Ian Tregillis is a novelist, scientist, screenwriter, man of leisure, and mammal. His alternative history trilogy, The Milkweed Triptych, is forthcoming from Tor books, starting in 2009. Enjoy your stay, but do mind the tentacles.
Recent Blog Entries:
Thursday, January 19 2012, 10:29 AM Tuesday, January 17 2012, 11:54 AM Monday, January 9 2012, 11:13 AM Friday, January 6 2012, 11:18 PM Wednesday, January 4 2012, 10:31 AM Monday, December 19 2011, 08:15 AM Friday, December 9 2011, 11:37 PM Wednesday, December 7 2011, 10:29 PM Tuesday, November 29 2011, 06:42 PM Saturday, November 26 2011, 05:35 AM
Blog Archive
Thursday, January 19 2012, 10:29 AM Tuesday, January 17 2012, 11:54 AM Monday, January 9 2012, 11:13 AM Friday, January 6 2012, 11:18 PM Wednesday, January 4 2012, 10:31 AM Monday, December 19 2011, 08:15 AM Friday, December 9 2011, 11:37 PM Wednesday, December 7 2011, 10:29 PM Tuesday, November 29 2011, 06:42 PM Saturday, November 26 2011, 05:35 AM
Blog Archive
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OUT NOW: The Audible.com Edition of The Coldest War - 01/17/12 11:54 AM
Either I'm Psychic, Or Robot Sharks Are Just Plain Funny - 01/09/12 11:13 AM
Book vs Film vs Film: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Redux - 01/06/12 11:18 PM
A Cryptic Christmas Package - 01/04/12 10:31 AM
Human for a Day: Out in the Wild - 12/09/11 11:37 PM
Historical Infamy and the Ruthlessness of Time - 12/07/11 10:29 PM
Help Shave My Friend Kat's Head, and Help Rachel Breathe - 11/26/11 5:35 AM
Milkweed Crosses the Pond - 11/23/11 8:52 AM
The Funniest Thing I've Seen This Week - 11/10/11 11:24 PM
The Coldest War Is Still on Track - 11/08/11 3:47 PM
Oh, So That's What Sorcery Looks Like - 11/03/11 11:8 PM
Checkerboard Heroes and a Guest Post at the Night Bazaar - 11/01/11 8:47 PM
And Then The Irony Meter Exploded - 10/26/11 9:57 PM
The Glamorous Life of a Writer - 10/23/11 3:26 PM
The 5-Second Attention Span Makes Audiobooks A Challenge - 10/19/11 10:2 PM
A Random Photo, Because I'm Tired - 10/17/11 10:33 PM
I Call It, "Planet Me" - 10/13/11 7:2 PM
The Shawshank Waterproofing - 10/13/11 7:0 AM
When Does a Racecourse Become a Treadmill? - 10/12/11 12:11 PM
Overheard at Dinner - 10/10/11 11:4 PM
Things To Do On An Idle Friday - 10/07/11 9:33 PM
An Eerie Red Glow Circumscribes My Life - 10/04/11 3:58 PM
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - 10/02/11 6:53 PM
More Milkweed Updates: Schedules and Audiobooks - 09/28/11 7:28 PM
My Writing Space Smells Like Death - 09/26/11 11:24 PM
Santa Fe: Gateway to the Stars - 09/24/11 7:59 PM
The Coldest Copyedits... - 09/21/11 10:4 PM
Confusing Parking Signs: A Report From the Trenches - 09/19/11 7:16 PM
Parking Signs - 09/17/11 9:50 PM
Interview With E. E. Giorgi - 09/15/11 9:26 AM
My Enemy: Sleep - 09/13/11 10:12 PM
Breakfast With the Beatles - 09/11/11 10:53 PM
This is How the Day Gets Off to a Fine Start - 09/08/11 10:12 AM
Joining the Cult - 09/06/11 10:3 PM
Another Special Conversation - 09/03/11 9:53 PM
A Very Special Telephone Conversation - 09/01/11 4:25 PM
My Bubonicon 43 Schedule - 08/24/11 10:26 AM
Six Things That Did Not Happen Today - 08/16/11 8:34 PM
Hayao Miyazaki - 08/14/11 6:23 PM
A Brief PSA Re: Spelling My Name - 08/11/11 10:22 AM
The Strange Elasticity of Time - 08/09/11 2:3 PM
Convention/Panel/Self-Promotion How-To Guides - 08/07/11 7:11 PM
Another Short Post, Because It's Friday and the Fever Hasn't Subsided - 08/05/11 12:16 PM
What is the Fractal Dimension of "Boy Meets Girl"? - 08/02/11 9:32 PM
Reason #17 to Stock Up on Aluminum Foil - 08/01/11 9:17 PM
New Cover Art for Bitter Seeds and The Coldest War - 07/28/11 9:28 PM
The Virus(es) Inside Me - 07/26/11 9:29 PM
My WorldCon Schedule - 07/24/11 4:31 PM
Tom Sawyer - 07/23/11 5:8 PM
In Which I Decline a Free Ticket to Mars - 07/21/11 5:32 PM
Cover Art and the Table of Contents for "Human for a Day" - 07/20/11 10:31 PM
Soviet Electrode-Powered Supersoldiers - 07/19/11 4:23 PM
Overheard at Lunch - 07/16/11 8:56 PM
Blurbs That Might Be In My Future - 07/14/11 8:43 PM
I Have Seen Cover Art - 07/12/11 8:51 PM
Whether High, Low, or Popular, Culture is All the Same to Me - 07/10/11 12:8 PM
A Short List of Airports, And Their Properties - 07/08/11 6:0 PM
An Interesting Perspective on the Las Conchas Fire - 07/06/11 5:8 PM
Our Very Own Limestone Adventure - 07/04/11 10:2 PM
I Used Tools, Yet Still Have 10 Fingers - 07/01/11 9:27 PM
I'm Safe - 06/27/11 10:47 PM
Not My Favorite Reason for Vacation - 06/26/11 11:15 PM
The Peculiar Sensation of Living Like an Adult - 06/24/11 7:8 PM
The World Shrinks Under the Weight of Madness - 06/22/11 11:24 AM
It Isn't a Thin Line So Much As a Twisty Knight's Tour - 06/20/11 11:6 PM
Bobby Fischer Against the World - 06/18/11 9:7 PM
Recent Annoyances Conveyed as a Series of Open Letters - 06/16/11 12:50 PM
Something Random While the Laptop Is Still Down - 06/14/11 11:43 PM
Death by Registry Error - 06/12/11 5:4 PM
Free Excerpts from Fort Freak - 06/10/11 9:54 AM
Why The World Smells Like a Fireplace - 06/08/11 3:6 PM
The Hunt for Zero Point - 06/06/11 7:47 PM
Shape-Changing Illuminati Lizards - 06/04/11 10:12 PM
But Consider The Source - 06/02/11 3:54 PM
"Peak Helium" in the Mainstream Media - 05/29/11 2:12 PM
A Very Short Post About Nothing, Because I Can't Wait For This Week To Be Over - 05/27/11 9:52 PM
Memories of My Friend, Margit - 05/25/11 10:9 PM
Another Attempt to Reconnect Leads to an Obituary - 05/23/11 2:23 PM
More Action Shots from Rio Hondo - 05/22/11 7:14 PM
Rio Hondo, Day 4 (Recorded Live, Rebroadcast on Tape Delay) - 05/20/11 10:19 AM
Live from Rio Hondo, Day 3 - 05/18/11 6:55 PM
Live From Rio Hondo, Day 2 - 05/17/11 1:9 PM
Live from Rio Hondo, Day 1 - 05/16/11 3:42 PM
Phantom Time - 05/14/11 8:25 PM
Podcast Interview at Adventures in SciFi Publishing - 05/12/11 4:3 PM
Dear New Mexico Weather: You Are Not Listening - 05/11/11 1:2 PM
Brief Update on "Peak Helium" - 05/09/11 4:34 PM
Because Even Wolves Have Standards - 05/07/11 11:19 AM
Who Wrote This? (A Silver Lining) - 05/05/11 4:54 PM
Dear New Mexico Weather - 05/03/11 9:35 PM
Plot as Snowfall - 05/01/11 10:11 PM
Revision as a Bloody Battlefield - 04/27/11 9:39 PM
My LepreCon Schedule - 04/25/11 9:29 PM
Reading Through the Eyes of Another - 04/23/11 12:4 PM
Time Travelers Among Us - 04/21/11 9:26 PM
Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith - 04/19/11 9:20 PM
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: DARPAspeak for Gotterelektrongruppe - 04/17/11 5:32 PM
Some Random Stuff Because I'm Tired - 04/15/11 7:41 PM
Happy Birthday, Bitter Seeds - 04/13/11 3:54 PM
Nice Piece About the New Mexico Writing Community - 04/11/11 2:13 PM
Giveaway Winners! And Why I Am A Completely Ineffectual Adult - 04/09/11 4:35 PM
This Machine Is Not Responding - 04/07/11 12:49 PM
Reasons Why Squirrels Are Smarter Than I Am (Part 3 of N) - 04/05/11 11:9 AM
Petite Lap Giraffe is the Epic Win - 04/03/11 12:12 PM
My Science Fiction Legacy - 04/01/11 7:46 PM
Ur-Bar Contest & Reviews - 03/28/11 9:41 AM
The Totally True Story of How I Almost Got Caught in a Tim Powers Ghost Trap - 03/26/11 4:41 PM
Cthulita - 03/24/11 9:25 AM
Jeanie Davis Pullen - 03/22/11 12:19 PM
Book Giveaway: Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 5 - 03/20/11 5:57 PM
Why Do People Hate Spoiler Warnings So Much? - 03/18/11 8:27 PM
Two Free Stories - 03/16/11 9:20 PM
Followup to the Milkweed Update Post - 03/15/11 10:24 AM
MILKWEED UPDATE (or, What the Hell is Going on With The Coldest War?) - 03/13/11 3:5 PM
Number Stations - 03/11/11 12:37 PM
The Voynich Manuscript - 03/09/11 9:59 AM
The Mountain is High But the Reading Is Great - 03/07/11 12:1 PM
Choose Your Own Incredibly Boring Adventure - 03/05/11 10:8 PM
Somewhere, Rip van Winkle is Laughing at Me - 03/03/11 1:17 PM
Overheard At Work Today - 03/01/11 5:19 PM
An Alternate History of Genre Television, 1993-2009 - 02/25/11 7:1 PM
"What Doctor Gottlieb Saw" and "Still Life" Featured on the Locus Recommended Reading List - 02/23/11 11:53 AM
Now Shipping: Tales From the Ur-Bar - 02/22/11 10:35 PM
The Most Surreal Moment of My Boskone Experience - 02/20/11 4:33 PM
Why I Hate Insomnia - 02/19/11 4:18 PM
0.01% of My Photos From Australia - 02/17/11 8:49 AM
Bubonicon 43 - 02/15/11 9:13 AM
My Boskone 48 Schedule, or, How To Avoid Difficult Questions - 02/13/11 2:20 AM
Peak Helium (Part 3 of 3) - 02/11/11 9:49 AM
Peak Helium (Part 2 of 3) - 02/09/11 10:41 AM
Peak Helium (Part 1 of 3) - 02/07/11 12:24 PM
Paper Airplanes from Space - 02/05/11 4:30 PM
Now Shipping: Best SF & Fantasy of the Year, Volume 5 - 02/04/11 5:59 PM
Weather, part 2 - 02/03/11 11:4 PM
Bus Stop Weather - 02/02/11 2:53 PM
When Memes Coalesce - 01/29/11 12:28 PM
Writing Difficult Decisions - 01/27/11 4:5 PM
The Seedy Underbelly of Science - 01/25/11 9:6 PM
This Is Warfare in the Future - 01/23/11 1:8 PM
A Duty to Science - 01/21/11 12:5 PM
Chronicle of Sorrows - A Challenge Issued - 01/19/11 11:47 AM
Chronicle of Sorrows Walkthrough - 01/18/11 7:41 AM
And Speaking of Anthologies: Tales from the Ur-Bar - 01/16/11 7:25 AM
Antimatter from Thunderstorms - 01/14/11 6:17 AM
The Mainspring of His Heart, the Shackles of His Soul - 01/12/11 5:28 AM
The 2011 Hugo Awards - 01/10/11 11:7 AM
Chronicle of Sorrows: We Have a Winner! - 01/07/11 3:6 AM
Were the Sky a Madeleine, It Would Taste of Lavender and Rose Petals - 01/05/11 11:25 AM
Bitter Seeds on Two^H^H^H Three "Top Reads of 2010" Lists - 12/28/10 10:36 AM
Some Nice Noise as the Year Winds To a Close - 12/16/10 10:19 AM
Clarion Now Open for Applications - 12/14/10 12:33 PM
On My Christmas Wish List: A Mechanical Robot That Devises Story Plots - 12/06/10 4:31 PM
"Still Life" To Appear in the Year's Best - 12/02/10 3:36 PM
My Pony, It Knows One Trick - 11/19/10 2:12 PM
Cincinnatus is Damned at the Galaxy Bookshop Blog - 11/16/10 4:49 PM
Somewhere, Kage Baker is Laughing - 11/09/10 2:3 PM
More on World Fantasy - 11/08/10 1:17 PM
My Favorite TV Commercial (Autumn 2010 Edition) - 11/03/10 10:32 PM
WFC, The Best Convention Ever - 11/01/10 11:4 PM
Caro Emerald... - 10/07/10 11:6 PM
New Story Online at Apex Magazine - 10/05/10 12:5 PM
Back from Australia with Coldest War News - 10/03/10 3:9 PM
Remarks Delivered at the 34th Annual Williamson Lectureship - 08/19/10 11:17 AM
Research Materials - 08/15/10 3:58 PM
Interview at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist - 08/12/10 10:6 AM
Thank You, Alice Ann, Wherever You Are - 08/11/10 10:49 PM
The End - 07/16/10 4:38 PM
The Joy of a Weight Lifted - 07/13/10 9:29 PM
New Story Appearing in AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR - 07/10/10 6:32 PM
Further Proof We Live in the Slow Zone - 07/07/10 10:53 PM
Toy Story 3 - 06/27/10 11:10 AM
Dear SEO Company Representatives - 06/23/10 9:9 PM
Book vs. Film: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - 06/19/10 12:32 AM
Nottingham - 06/16/10 9:54 AM
About That Sorrowful Chronicle - 06/14/10 7:11 PM
From the Department of Serendipitous Side Benefits - 06/11/10 5:3 AM
New Milkweed Story on Tor.com! - 06/08/10 9:26 AM
Click. Click. Click. - 06/05/10 6:21 PM
If You Enjoy Listening to Me Babble Like an Idiot... - 06/02/10 8:26 PM
Because I Haven't Posted About Cephalopods in a While - 05/23/10 9:39 PM
Bitter Seeds on Sword and Laser - 05/19/10 6:17 PM
As If I Needed Another Reason to Love Terry Pratchett - 05/15/10 8:48 PM
Audio Book Update - 05/13/10 6:33 AM
Homecoming (The Part with Photos) - 05/11/10 10:25 PM
Seen in the Wilds of Oslo - 05/08/10 3:43 AM
Where We Talk of Hats - 05/06/10 11:34 PM
Bitter Seeds Going Back for "Rush Reprint" - 05/05/10 3:9 PM
Audiobook News! - 05/03/10 9:21 PM
Homecoming (Part 1) - 04/26/10 11:23 PM
New Giveaways! - 04/20/10 10:15 AM
No Produce Thrown = Success - 04/19/10 11:43 AM
YetiStomper's April Picks - 04/16/10 5:46 PM
Hometown Reader Photo - 04/15/10 10:3 PM
Bitter Seeds on io9! And a Reader Photo, and a Strange Encounter. - 04/14/10 8:44 PM
LAUNCH DAY! Bitter Seeds in the Big, Wide World - 04/13/10 10:18 AM
The 34th Annual Jack Williamson Lectureship - 04/07/10 12:6 PM
Fantasy Book Critic Weighs In! - 04/05/10 10:50 AM
Bitter Seeds at SFRevu - 04/01/10 3:13 PM
Chronicle of Sorrows (2) - 03/27/10 6:43 PM
It's Real - 03/25/10 10:10 AM
Chronicle of Sorrows - 03/22/10 11:34 AM
Boskone - 02/16/10 8:15 PM
My Boskone Schedule - 02/08/10 9:24 PM
Where To Pre-Order Bitter Seeds - 02/07/10 3:50 PM
Sigh. Thanks For the Teamwork, Guys. - 01/30/10 11:52 AM
New Post at Tor.com: Almost Like We Planned It - 01/26/10 11:58 AM
Taos Toolbox - 01/08/10 11:4 PM
Is It A Royal Flush? - 12/23/09 10:7 AM
An Open Letter to the People on My Bus Who Like to Jabber Incessantly at 7 AM - 12/17/09 10:52 PM
Turn Down Your Lights (Part 2) - 12/04/09 9:53 PM
Overheard at a Halloween Party - 10/26/09 12:4 PM
Introducing the Portable Letterpress - 10/14/09 10:10 AM
Introducing the Aetheric Electro-Imager - 10/10/09 2:59 PM
Wide World of Sports, Here I Come - 09/19/09 10:41 AM
A Nine-Word Synopsis of '9' - 09/11/09 9:40 AM
You'll Never Be Late For Dinner - 09/09/09 11:0 PM
Spree Killers of the Deep - 09/06/09 12:44 PM
While You're At It, I'll Take One Of Those Diskos Things, Too - 09/03/09 9:0 AM
Bubonicon 41 - 08/26/09 9:50 PM
Breaking the Silence with Milkweed Updates - 08/24/09 3:47 PM
True Story - 05/02/09 10:36 PM
Endings Matter (Part 3 of 2) - 04/14/09 4:36 PM
The 33rd Annual Jack Williamson Lectureship - 04/09/09 10:13 AM
Management Services: Contact Problems - 04/08/09 10:39 AM
Endings Matter (Part 2 of 2) - 04/06/09 8:54 PM
Endings Matter (Part 1 of 2) - 04/03/09 11:42 PM
Don't Be Evil... Unless There's a Good Angle To It - 03/20/09 11:43 PM
Who's Crazy Now? - 03/16/09 9:38 PM
Watchmen, or, Philistine, Thy Name is Ian - 03/09/09 12:47 PM
Mass Signing Chaos in Albuquerque Tomorrow - 03/06/09 4:21 PM
Palimpsest - 03/05/09 2:56 AM
Next Time You're in Boston, Can You Swing Through Brooklyn And Pick Up Some Macaroons? - 02/24/09 4:28 AM
Publication Dates - 02/23/09 4:58 AM
Contestants, The Clock Will Begin When The Last Glacier Recedes. Ready? Go! - 02/11/09 4:20 AM
Download a FREE PDF of C. C. Finlay's New Novel, The Patriot Witch - 02/07/09 1:42 AM
Boskone 46, Lensmen 0 - 02/03/09 2:33 AM
Moving to Big Iron - 02/01/09 4:42 AM
The State of the World: Busted - 12/09/08 9:4 AM
Because He's Twice as Talented As the Rest - 10/17/08 8:5 AM
I Could Watch Bill Nighy Read the Phone Book - 10/14/08 8:21 PM
"Checkmate," Said our Clockwork Overlords - 10/09/08 6:21 PM
Just Because I Love Clocks Doesn't Mean I Update the Blog in a Timely Fashion - 10/01/08 7:51 AM
Having Cheated Death, I Now Await My Superpowers - 07/21/08 11:39 AM
Love, Freeze Rays, and Supervillainy - 07/15/08 5:10 PM
A Long Overdue Update, In List Form - 07/13/08 9:49 PM
Killer Robots and Their Telepathic Monkey Overlords - 05/28/08 2:50 PM
It's Not Supervillainy, But It's Getting There - 05/23/08 3:28 PM
Contact - 05/22/08 3:53 PM
Babylonian Steampunkery - 05/20/08 9:11 AM
A Sexagesimal Fairy Tale - 05/19/08 1:8 PM
Live from Rio Hondo, 2: No Bear Attacks (Yet) - 05/14/08 4:54 PM
Live from Rio Hondo - 05/13/08 2:16 PM
They Say They Were Laughing With Me - 05/10/08 2:0 PM
Occupational Hazards of the Writing Life - 05/08/08 9:1 AM
Done, With 4 Days to Spare - 05/01/08 2:36 PM
I'd Be Delighted With Three - 04/29/08 10:28 AM
The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics - 04/28/08 6:23 PM
Because Some Things Never Go Out of Style - 04/24/08 1:13 PM
An Alternative History of 1982-Today - 04/22/08 1:6 PM
Reasons Why Squirrels Are Smarter Than I Am (Part 2 of N) - 04/21/08 11:38 AM
Adobe Site of the Day! - 04/17/08 9:34 PM
Reasons Why Squirrels are Smarter Than I Am (Part 1 of N) - 04/10/08 2:52 PM
Hello, Deviantartists! - 04/06/08 11:26 AM
Crimes Against Grammar (Real, Perceived, and Premeditated) - 04/04/08 2:58 PM
United States of America v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins - 04/02/08 7:27 PM
Match It For Pratchett - 03/23/08 8:38 PM
Orbital Attack Electromagnets, part II - 03/13/08 9:32 PM
Why Stuff is Boring (A Case Study) - 03/11/08 8:52 PM
Because the Best Shows Explain the Premise in the Theme Song - 03/05/08 7:56 PM
Cosmology 101: The Sun is Held in Place by Six Eiffel Towers - 03/02/08 8:47 PM
Opulent, Glamorous, & Smelly - 02/23/08 9:23 PM
Free eBooks with a side of Orbital Attack Electromagnets - 02/11/08 6:35 PM
Axis Mundi - 02/10/08 12:22 PM
The Floating Arcology: Breeding Ground for Supervillainy - 02/07/08 9:46 PM
The Inside Straight Signing: Standing Room Only - 02/03/08 12:0 AM
On signings, and the importance of chocolate - 02/02/08 10:10 AM
2012
January
So This is 2012 - 01/19/12 10:29 AMOUT NOW: The Audible.com Edition of The Coldest War - 01/17/12 11:54 AM
Either I'm Psychic, Or Robot Sharks Are Just Plain Funny - 01/09/12 11:13 AM
Book vs Film vs Film: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Redux - 01/06/12 11:18 PM
A Cryptic Christmas Package - 01/04/12 10:31 AM
2011
December
The Audible.com Edition of Coldest War is Moving to January 17 - 12/19/11 8:15 AMHuman for a Day: Out in the Wild - 12/09/11 11:37 PM
Historical Infamy and the Ruthlessness of Time - 12/07/11 10:29 PM
November
Thanksgiving - 11/29/11 6:42 PMHelp Shave My Friend Kat's Head, and Help Rachel Breathe - 11/26/11 5:35 AM
Milkweed Crosses the Pond - 11/23/11 8:52 AM
The Funniest Thing I've Seen This Week - 11/10/11 11:24 PM
The Coldest War Is Still on Track - 11/08/11 3:47 PM
Oh, So That's What Sorcery Looks Like - 11/03/11 11:8 PM
Checkerboard Heroes and a Guest Post at the Night Bazaar - 11/01/11 8:47 PM
October
The Wild Cards Movie - 10/30/11 7:13 PMAnd Then The Irony Meter Exploded - 10/26/11 9:57 PM
The Glamorous Life of a Writer - 10/23/11 3:26 PM
The 5-Second Attention Span Makes Audiobooks A Challenge - 10/19/11 10:2 PM
A Random Photo, Because I'm Tired - 10/17/11 10:33 PM
I Call It, "Planet Me" - 10/13/11 7:2 PM
The Shawshank Waterproofing - 10/13/11 7:0 AM
When Does a Racecourse Become a Treadmill? - 10/12/11 12:11 PM
Overheard at Dinner - 10/10/11 11:4 PM
Things To Do On An Idle Friday - 10/07/11 9:33 PM
An Eerie Red Glow Circumscribes My Life - 10/04/11 3:58 PM
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - 10/02/11 6:53 PM
September
More Things That Smell Like Death - 09/30/11 6:44 PMMore Milkweed Updates: Schedules and Audiobooks - 09/28/11 7:28 PM
My Writing Space Smells Like Death - 09/26/11 11:24 PM
Santa Fe: Gateway to the Stars - 09/24/11 7:59 PM
The Coldest Copyedits... - 09/21/11 10:4 PM
Confusing Parking Signs: A Report From the Trenches - 09/19/11 7:16 PM
Parking Signs - 09/17/11 9:50 PM
Interview With E. E. Giorgi - 09/15/11 9:26 AM
My Enemy: Sleep - 09/13/11 10:12 PM
Breakfast With the Beatles - 09/11/11 10:53 PM
This is How the Day Gets Off to a Fine Start - 09/08/11 10:12 AM
Joining the Cult - 09/06/11 10:3 PM
Another Special Conversation - 09/03/11 9:53 PM
A Very Special Telephone Conversation - 09/01/11 4:25 PM
August
Back to the Grind (or, My Heart is a Shriveled Raisin) - 08/30/11 9:50 PMMy Bubonicon 43 Schedule - 08/24/11 10:26 AM
Six Things That Did Not Happen Today - 08/16/11 8:34 PM
Hayao Miyazaki - 08/14/11 6:23 PM
A Brief PSA Re: Spelling My Name - 08/11/11 10:22 AM
The Strange Elasticity of Time - 08/09/11 2:3 PM
Convention/Panel/Self-Promotion How-To Guides - 08/07/11 7:11 PM
Another Short Post, Because It's Friday and the Fever Hasn't Subsided - 08/05/11 12:16 PM
What is the Fractal Dimension of "Boy Meets Girl"? - 08/02/11 9:32 PM
Reason #17 to Stock Up on Aluminum Foil - 08/01/11 9:17 PM
July
Overheard After Accidentally Crashing a Cocktail Party - 07/30/11 9:40 PMNew Cover Art for Bitter Seeds and The Coldest War - 07/28/11 9:28 PM
The Virus(es) Inside Me - 07/26/11 9:29 PM
My WorldCon Schedule - 07/24/11 4:31 PM
Tom Sawyer - 07/23/11 5:8 PM
In Which I Decline a Free Ticket to Mars - 07/21/11 5:32 PM
Cover Art and the Table of Contents for "Human for a Day" - 07/20/11 10:31 PM
Soviet Electrode-Powered Supersoldiers - 07/19/11 4:23 PM
Overheard at Lunch - 07/16/11 8:56 PM
Blurbs That Might Be In My Future - 07/14/11 8:43 PM
I Have Seen Cover Art - 07/12/11 8:51 PM
Whether High, Low, or Popular, Culture is All the Same to Me - 07/10/11 12:8 PM
A Short List of Airports, And Their Properties - 07/08/11 6:0 PM
An Interesting Perspective on the Las Conchas Fire - 07/06/11 5:8 PM
Our Very Own Limestone Adventure - 07/04/11 10:2 PM
I Used Tools, Yet Still Have 10 Fingers - 07/01/11 9:27 PM
June
Photos of the Las Conchas Fire Approaching My Office - 06/29/11 1:44 AMI'm Safe - 06/27/11 10:47 PM
Not My Favorite Reason for Vacation - 06/26/11 11:15 PM
The Peculiar Sensation of Living Like an Adult - 06/24/11 7:8 PM
The World Shrinks Under the Weight of Madness - 06/22/11 11:24 AM
It Isn't a Thin Line So Much As a Twisty Knight's Tour - 06/20/11 11:6 PM
Bobby Fischer Against the World - 06/18/11 9:7 PM
Recent Annoyances Conveyed as a Series of Open Letters - 06/16/11 12:50 PM
Something Random While the Laptop Is Still Down - 06/14/11 11:43 PM
Death by Registry Error - 06/12/11 5:4 PM
Free Excerpts from Fort Freak - 06/10/11 9:54 AM
Why The World Smells Like a Fireplace - 06/08/11 3:6 PM
The Hunt for Zero Point - 06/06/11 7:47 PM
Shape-Changing Illuminati Lizards - 06/04/11 10:12 PM
But Consider The Source - 06/02/11 3:54 PM
May
When Cartoons Were Real People - 05/31/11 10:58 PM"Peak Helium" in the Mainstream Media - 05/29/11 2:12 PM
A Very Short Post About Nothing, Because I Can't Wait For This Week To Be Over - 05/27/11 9:52 PM
Memories of My Friend, Margit - 05/25/11 10:9 PM
Another Attempt to Reconnect Leads to an Obituary - 05/23/11 2:23 PM
More Action Shots from Rio Hondo - 05/22/11 7:14 PM
Rio Hondo, Day 4 (Recorded Live, Rebroadcast on Tape Delay) - 05/20/11 10:19 AM
Live from Rio Hondo, Day 3 - 05/18/11 6:55 PM
Live From Rio Hondo, Day 2 - 05/17/11 1:9 PM
Live from Rio Hondo, Day 1 - 05/16/11 3:42 PM
Phantom Time - 05/14/11 8:25 PM
Podcast Interview at Adventures in SciFi Publishing - 05/12/11 4:3 PM
Dear New Mexico Weather: You Are Not Listening - 05/11/11 1:2 PM
Brief Update on "Peak Helium" - 05/09/11 4:34 PM
Because Even Wolves Have Standards - 05/07/11 11:19 AM
Who Wrote This? (A Silver Lining) - 05/05/11 4:54 PM
Dear New Mexico Weather - 05/03/11 9:35 PM
Plot as Snowfall - 05/01/11 10:11 PM
April
They Like My Extensive Experience With Aspirin - 04/29/11 9:27 PMRevision as a Bloody Battlefield - 04/27/11 9:39 PM
My LepreCon Schedule - 04/25/11 9:29 PM
Reading Through the Eyes of Another - 04/23/11 12:4 PM
Time Travelers Among Us - 04/21/11 9:26 PM
Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith - 04/19/11 9:20 PM
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: DARPAspeak for Gotterelektrongruppe - 04/17/11 5:32 PM
Some Random Stuff Because I'm Tired - 04/15/11 7:41 PM
Happy Birthday, Bitter Seeds - 04/13/11 3:54 PM
Nice Piece About the New Mexico Writing Community - 04/11/11 2:13 PM
Giveaway Winners! And Why I Am A Completely Ineffectual Adult - 04/09/11 4:35 PM
This Machine Is Not Responding - 04/07/11 12:49 PM
Reasons Why Squirrels Are Smarter Than I Am (Part 3 of N) - 04/05/11 11:9 AM
Petite Lap Giraffe is the Epic Win - 04/03/11 12:12 PM
My Science Fiction Legacy - 04/01/11 7:46 PM
March
Project Carve-the-Moon Proceeds Apace - 03/30/11 8:28 AMUr-Bar Contest & Reviews - 03/28/11 9:41 AM
The Totally True Story of How I Almost Got Caught in a Tim Powers Ghost Trap - 03/26/11 4:41 PM
Cthulita - 03/24/11 9:25 AM
Jeanie Davis Pullen - 03/22/11 12:19 PM
Book Giveaway: Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 5 - 03/20/11 5:57 PM
Why Do People Hate Spoiler Warnings So Much? - 03/18/11 8:27 PM
Two Free Stories - 03/16/11 9:20 PM
Followup to the Milkweed Update Post - 03/15/11 10:24 AM
MILKWEED UPDATE (or, What the Hell is Going on With The Coldest War?) - 03/13/11 3:5 PM
Number Stations - 03/11/11 12:37 PM
The Voynich Manuscript - 03/09/11 9:59 AM
The Mountain is High But the Reading Is Great - 03/07/11 12:1 PM
Choose Your Own Incredibly Boring Adventure - 03/05/11 10:8 PM
Somewhere, Rip van Winkle is Laughing at Me - 03/03/11 1:17 PM
Overheard At Work Today - 03/01/11 5:19 PM
February
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Self-Promoter - 02/27/11 8:5 PMAn Alternate History of Genre Television, 1993-2009 - 02/25/11 7:1 PM
"What Doctor Gottlieb Saw" and "Still Life" Featured on the Locus Recommended Reading List - 02/23/11 11:53 AM
Now Shipping: Tales From the Ur-Bar - 02/22/11 10:35 PM
The Most Surreal Moment of My Boskone Experience - 02/20/11 4:33 PM
Why I Hate Insomnia - 02/19/11 4:18 PM
0.01% of My Photos From Australia - 02/17/11 8:49 AM
Bubonicon 43 - 02/15/11 9:13 AM
My Boskone 48 Schedule, or, How To Avoid Difficult Questions - 02/13/11 2:20 AM
Peak Helium (Part 3 of 3) - 02/11/11 9:49 AM
Peak Helium (Part 2 of 3) - 02/09/11 10:41 AM
Peak Helium (Part 1 of 3) - 02/07/11 12:24 PM
Paper Airplanes from Space - 02/05/11 4:30 PM
Now Shipping: Best SF & Fantasy of the Year, Volume 5 - 02/04/11 5:59 PM
Weather, part 2 - 02/03/11 11:4 PM
Bus Stop Weather - 02/02/11 2:53 PM
January
If I Were Half as Cool as Brian May - 01/31/11 9:45 PMWhen Memes Coalesce - 01/29/11 12:28 PM
Writing Difficult Decisions - 01/27/11 4:5 PM
The Seedy Underbelly of Science - 01/25/11 9:6 PM
This Is Warfare in the Future - 01/23/11 1:8 PM
A Duty to Science - 01/21/11 12:5 PM
Chronicle of Sorrows - A Challenge Issued - 01/19/11 11:47 AM
Chronicle of Sorrows Walkthrough - 01/18/11 7:41 AM
And Speaking of Anthologies: Tales from the Ur-Bar - 01/16/11 7:25 AM
Antimatter from Thunderstorms - 01/14/11 6:17 AM
The Mainspring of His Heart, the Shackles of His Soul - 01/12/11 5:28 AM
The 2011 Hugo Awards - 01/10/11 11:7 AM
Chronicle of Sorrows: We Have a Winner! - 01/07/11 3:6 AM
Were the Sky a Madeleine, It Would Taste of Lavender and Rose Petals - 01/05/11 11:25 AM
2010
December
In Which I Speak of More Lists, And Then Feel Badly About It - 12/31/10 10:27 AMBitter Seeds on Two^H^H^H Three "Top Reads of 2010" Lists - 12/28/10 10:36 AM
Some Nice Noise as the Year Winds To a Close - 12/16/10 10:19 AM
Clarion Now Open for Applications - 12/14/10 12:33 PM
On My Christmas Wish List: A Mechanical Robot That Devises Story Plots - 12/06/10 4:31 PM
"Still Life" To Appear in the Year's Best - 12/02/10 3:36 PM
November
The Funniest Thing I've Read in the Past Few Weeks - 11/22/10 3:57 PMMy Pony, It Knows One Trick - 11/19/10 2:12 PM
Cincinnatus is Damned at the Galaxy Bookshop Blog - 11/16/10 4:49 PM
Somewhere, Kage Baker is Laughing - 11/09/10 2:3 PM
More on World Fantasy - 11/08/10 1:17 PM
My Favorite TV Commercial (Autumn 2010 Edition) - 11/03/10 10:32 PM
WFC, The Best Convention Ever - 11/01/10 11:4 PM
October
This Is How I Know I'm Enjoying A Book: - 10/13/10 11:28 PMCaro Emerald... - 10/07/10 11:6 PM
New Story Online at Apex Magazine - 10/05/10 12:5 PM
Back from Australia with Coldest War News - 10/03/10 3:9 PM
August
Bitter Seeds Audiobook & A Pop-Cultural Interview - 08/27/10 3:35 PMRemarks Delivered at the 34th Annual Williamson Lectureship - 08/19/10 11:17 AM
Research Materials - 08/15/10 3:58 PM
Interview at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist - 08/12/10 10:6 AM
Thank You, Alice Ann, Wherever You Are - 08/11/10 10:49 PM
July
The Perils of Fantasy Alternate History - 07/27/10 11:7 AMThe End - 07/16/10 4:38 PM
The Joy of a Weight Lifted - 07/13/10 9:29 PM
New Story Appearing in AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR - 07/10/10 6:32 PM
Further Proof We Live in the Slow Zone - 07/07/10 10:53 PM
June
Things for Which a Minnesota Childhood Did Not Prepare Me - 06/30/10 8:43 PMToy Story 3 - 06/27/10 11:10 AM
Dear SEO Company Representatives - 06/23/10 9:9 PM
Book vs. Film: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - 06/19/10 12:32 AM
Nottingham - 06/16/10 9:54 AM
About That Sorrowful Chronicle - 06/14/10 7:11 PM
From the Department of Serendipitous Side Benefits - 06/11/10 5:3 AM
New Milkweed Story on Tor.com! - 06/08/10 9:26 AM
Click. Click. Click. - 06/05/10 6:21 PM
If You Enjoy Listening to Me Babble Like an Idiot... - 06/02/10 8:26 PM
May
Just 364 Shopping Days Left Until Next Towel Day - 05/26/10 5:35 PMBecause I Haven't Posted About Cephalopods in a While - 05/23/10 9:39 PM
Bitter Seeds on Sword and Laser - 05/19/10 6:17 PM
As If I Needed Another Reason to Love Terry Pratchett - 05/15/10 8:48 PM
Audio Book Update - 05/13/10 6:33 AM
Homecoming (The Part with Photos) - 05/11/10 10:25 PM
Seen in the Wilds of Oslo - 05/08/10 3:43 AM
Where We Talk of Hats - 05/06/10 11:34 PM
Bitter Seeds Going Back for "Rush Reprint" - 05/05/10 3:9 PM
Audiobook News! - 05/03/10 9:21 PM
April
Homecoming (Part 2) - 04/28/10 10:25 PMHomecoming (Part 1) - 04/26/10 11:23 PM
New Giveaways! - 04/20/10 10:15 AM
No Produce Thrown = Success - 04/19/10 11:43 AM
YetiStomper's April Picks - 04/16/10 5:46 PM
Hometown Reader Photo - 04/15/10 10:3 PM
Bitter Seeds on io9! And a Reader Photo, and a Strange Encounter. - 04/14/10 8:44 PM
LAUNCH DAY! Bitter Seeds in the Big, Wide World - 04/13/10 10:18 AM
The 34th Annual Jack Williamson Lectureship - 04/07/10 12:6 PM
Fantasy Book Critic Weighs In! - 04/05/10 10:50 AM
Bitter Seeds at SFRevu - 04/01/10 3:13 PM
March
Chronicle of Sorrows (3) - 03/29/10 3:23 PMChronicle of Sorrows (2) - 03/27/10 6:43 PM
It's Real - 03/25/10 10:10 AM
Chronicle of Sorrows - 03/22/10 11:34 AM
February
Keep an Eye on That Tregillis Fellow (Before He Steals Your Silverware) - 02/27/10 5:16 PMBoskone - 02/16/10 8:15 PM
My Boskone Schedule - 02/08/10 9:24 PM
Where To Pre-Order Bitter Seeds - 02/07/10 3:50 PM
January
Another New Post at Tor.com: So We Have This Plot Hiccup... - 01/30/10 10:3 PMSigh. Thanks For the Teamwork, Guys. - 01/30/10 11:52 AM
New Post at Tor.com: Almost Like We Planned It - 01/26/10 11:58 AM
Taos Toolbox - 01/08/10 11:4 PM
2009
December
Wide World of Sports (reprise) - 12/27/09 5:15 PMIs It A Royal Flush? - 12/23/09 10:7 AM
An Open Letter to the People on My Bus Who Like to Jabber Incessantly at 7 AM - 12/17/09 10:52 PM
Turn Down Your Lights (Part 2) - 12/04/09 9:53 PM
October
Turn Down Your Lights (Where Applicable) - 10/30/09 8:40 PMOverheard at a Halloween Party - 10/26/09 12:4 PM
Introducing the Portable Letterpress - 10/14/09 10:10 AM
Introducing the Aetheric Electro-Imager - 10/10/09 2:59 PM
September
Newsletter - 09/23/09 10:3 AMWide World of Sports, Here I Come - 09/19/09 10:41 AM
A Nine-Word Synopsis of '9' - 09/11/09 9:40 AM
You'll Never Be Late For Dinner - 09/09/09 11:0 PM
Spree Killers of the Deep - 09/06/09 12:44 PM
While You're At It, I'll Take One Of Those Diskos Things, Too - 09/03/09 9:0 AM
August
The Battle of Britain in Stained Glass - 08/31/09 12:22 PMBubonicon 41 - 08/26/09 9:50 PM
Breaking the Silence with Milkweed Updates - 08/24/09 3:47 PM
June
There's A Trick To It: Don't Get Bitten - 06/13/09 1:32 PMMay
Losing the Senescence Lottery - 05/12/09 10:26 PMTrue Story - 05/02/09 10:36 PM
April
Two Awesome Books Available Today - 04/28/09 6:7 PMEndings Matter (Part 3 of 2) - 04/14/09 4:36 PM
The 33rd Annual Jack Williamson Lectureship - 04/09/09 10:13 AM
Management Services: Contact Problems - 04/08/09 10:39 AM
Endings Matter (Part 2 of 2) - 04/06/09 8:54 PM
Endings Matter (Part 1 of 2) - 04/03/09 11:42 PM
March
Suicide Kings, Minus Christopher Walken - 03/29/09 5:11 PMDon't Be Evil... Unless There's a Good Angle To It - 03/20/09 11:43 PM
Who's Crazy Now? - 03/16/09 9:38 PM
Watchmen, or, Philistine, Thy Name is Ian - 03/09/09 12:47 PM
Mass Signing Chaos in Albuquerque Tomorrow - 03/06/09 4:21 PM
Palimpsest - 03/05/09 2:56 AM
February
Hey, Who Replaced My Favorite Adventure Yarn With This Zoology Textbook? - 02/26/09 10:17 PMNext Time You're in Boston, Can You Swing Through Brooklyn And Pick Up Some Macaroons? - 02/24/09 4:28 AM
Publication Dates - 02/23/09 4:58 AM
Contestants, The Clock Will Begin When The Last Glacier Recedes. Ready? Go! - 02/11/09 4:20 AM
Download a FREE PDF of C. C. Finlay's New Novel, The Patriot Witch - 02/07/09 1:42 AM
Boskone 46, Lensmen 0 - 02/03/09 2:33 AM
Moving to Big Iron - 02/01/09 4:42 AM
2008
December
5 Songs You Never Hear While on Hold - 12/11/08 8:44 PMThe State of the World: Busted - 12/09/08 9:4 AM
October
"Boo," Said the Lunatic in Boston - 10/31/08 8:29 AMBecause He's Twice as Talented As the Rest - 10/17/08 8:5 AM
I Could Watch Bill Nighy Read the Phone Book - 10/14/08 8:21 PM
"Checkmate," Said our Clockwork Overlords - 10/09/08 6:21 PM
Just Because I Love Clocks Doesn't Mean I Update the Blog in a Timely Fashion - 10/01/08 7:51 AM
August
Schedules - 08/04/08 10:46 AMJuly
Slivers of Ticks, and Tatters of Tocks - 07/23/08 1:44 PMHaving Cheated Death, I Now Await My Superpowers - 07/21/08 11:39 AM
Love, Freeze Rays, and Supervillainy - 07/15/08 5:10 PM
A Long Overdue Update, In List Form - 07/13/08 9:49 PM
May
Could This Be The End For Mr. Calliope? - 05/30/08 9:24 AMKiller Robots and Their Telepathic Monkey Overlords - 05/28/08 2:50 PM
It's Not Supervillainy, But It's Getting There - 05/23/08 3:28 PM
Contact - 05/22/08 3:53 PM
Babylonian Steampunkery - 05/20/08 9:11 AM
A Sexagesimal Fairy Tale - 05/19/08 1:8 PM
Live from Rio Hondo, 2: No Bear Attacks (Yet) - 05/14/08 4:54 PM
Live from Rio Hondo - 05/13/08 2:16 PM
They Say They Were Laughing With Me - 05/10/08 2:0 PM
Occupational Hazards of the Writing Life - 05/08/08 9:1 AM
Done, With 4 Days to Spare - 05/01/08 2:36 PM
April
Conveyances for a More Civilized Time - 04/30/08 8:50 AMI'd Be Delighted With Three - 04/29/08 10:28 AM
The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics - 04/28/08 6:23 PM
Because Some Things Never Go Out of Style - 04/24/08 1:13 PM
An Alternative History of 1982-Today - 04/22/08 1:6 PM
Reasons Why Squirrels Are Smarter Than I Am (Part 2 of N) - 04/21/08 11:38 AM
Adobe Site of the Day! - 04/17/08 9:34 PM
Reasons Why Squirrels are Smarter Than I Am (Part 1 of N) - 04/10/08 2:52 PM
Hello, Deviantartists! - 04/06/08 11:26 AM
Crimes Against Grammar (Real, Perceived, and Premeditated) - 04/04/08 2:58 PM
United States of America v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins - 04/02/08 7:27 PM
March
Match it For Pratchett, redux: Watch This Space! - 03/25/08 10:7 AMMatch It For Pratchett - 03/23/08 8:38 PM
Orbital Attack Electromagnets, part II - 03/13/08 9:32 PM
Why Stuff is Boring (A Case Study) - 03/11/08 8:52 PM
Because the Best Shows Explain the Premise in the Theme Song - 03/05/08 7:56 PM
Cosmology 101: The Sun is Held in Place by Six Eiffel Towers - 03/02/08 8:47 PM
February
Look Out in the Black-Out! - 02/28/08 10:6 PMOpulent, Glamorous, & Smelly - 02/23/08 9:23 PM
Free eBooks with a side of Orbital Attack Electromagnets - 02/11/08 6:35 PM
Axis Mundi - 02/10/08 12:22 PM
The Floating Arcology: Breeding Ground for Supervillainy - 02/07/08 9:46 PM
The Inside Straight Signing: Standing Room Only - 02/03/08 12:0 AM
On signings, and the importance of chocolate - 02/02/08 10:10 AM
Close
So This is 2012
Recent Blog Entries:
So This is 2012 - 1/19/2012, 10:29 AM OUT NOW: The Audible.com Edition of The Coldest War - 1/17/2012, 11:54 AM Either I'm Psychic, Or Robot Sharks Are Just Plain Funny - 1/9/2012, 11:13 AM Book vs Film vs Film: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Redux - 1/6/2012, 11:18 PM A Cryptic Christmas Package - 1/4/2012, 10:31 AM The Audible.com Edition of Coldest War is Moving to January 17 - 12/19/2011, 08:15 AM Human for a Day: Out in the Wild - 12/9/2011, 11:37 PM Historical Infamy and the Ruthlessness of Time - 12/7/2011, 10:29 PM Thanksgiving - 11/29/2011, 06:42 PM Help Shave My Friend Kat's Head, and Help Rachel Breathe - 11/26/2011, 05:35 AM
Show all blog entries
So This is 2012 - 1/19/2012, 10:29 AM OUT NOW: The Audible.com Edition of The Coldest War - 1/17/2012, 11:54 AM Either I'm Psychic, Or Robot Sharks Are Just Plain Funny - 1/9/2012, 11:13 AM Book vs Film vs Film: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Redux - 1/6/2012, 11:18 PM A Cryptic Christmas Package - 1/4/2012, 10:31 AM The Audible.com Edition of Coldest War is Moving to January 17 - 12/19/2011, 08:15 AM Human for a Day: Out in the Wild - 12/9/2011, 11:37 PM Historical Infamy and the Ruthlessness of Time - 12/7/2011, 10:29 PM Thanksgiving - 11/29/2011, 06:42 PM Help Shave My Friend Kat's Head, and Help Rachel Breathe - 11/26/2011, 05:35 AM
Show all blog entries
Thursday, January 19 2012, 10:29 AM
I'm not the kind of person who makes New Year's resolutions.
The very idea depresses me. If personal resolutions work for other people, encouraging them to strive for self-betterment or greater personal success, that's terrific. And I can certainly understand the urge to make a new start as the calendar rolls over. I'm not immune to the personal and aesthetic appeal of a clean slate. But I don't make resolutions.
Why not? It's really pretty simple. I'm constantly setting goals and personal milestones for myself: constantly trying to find ways to live my life that will make me feel as though I'm improving as a human being, as an adult, as a neighbor, a friend.
And I perpetually fail to achieve those goals. I have a tendency to hold myself to a standard I can't achieve, much less maintain.
Small goals, sure, those I can handle. Telling myself I'll write X number of pages before I let myself make a snack. Promising myself I'll not forget to pick up a carton of milk on the way home. Forcing myself to limit the number of Community back episodes I watch so that I can hit the sack at a decent hour. I do okay with minuscule efforts of that nature.
But I tend to let myself down when it comes to meatier goals. I don't think it's a matter of my inability to do things, or to work hard. My problem is an inability to set realistic goals. Part of me knows that it's just plain silly to tell myself that I'm going to write two short stories AND make major progress on my novel during a single week of vacation. It's crazy; I don't multitask well, and I don't write as quickly as that would require. And yet I can't stop holding myself to impossible standards.
So, for me, setting New Year's resolutions is a little pointless. I'm constantly falling short of old resolutions and devising new ones.
It's weird, too, because I'm fairly happy with where I am in my life. It's not as though I feel like my life is such an enormous failure, such a tragic waste of oxygen, that I feel the need to redeem my existence through excessive personal betterment. (Maybe it is. I can't say. It's hard to gain perspective when you're living inside the fishbowl.) I have found, over the years, that I hate the sensation of living a static life. I don't like it when I'm not working toward something. For a long time, school provided a clear path and clear goal. After the student stage of my life came to a conclusion, though, I had to find new short, medium, and long-term goals for myself. I've managed to do that, although the goals are more varied. My life is more multifaceted than it was 10 years ago. I'm very fortunate to have a full-time job that enables me to live comfortably with food on the table and a roof over my head. And I'm also extremely lucky to have a second job that brings me, if not exactly tangible wealth, a tremendous sense of personal accomplishment. My day-job career generates its own goals and personal promises to myself, but the writing side of my life is where I scratch that itch to stretch and strive and push myself.
Rereading this post, it seems oddly maudlin to me. Strange. That's not how I feel. If anything, I have high hopes for 2012. I'm delighted that this year has finally arrived. When I woke up on January 1st, I realized that hey, this is the year I will finally have new books out: paperback editions, audio editions, hardcovers and ebooks and even foreign editions. And that was a very pleasant way to start the year, in light of all the publishing turmoil during the previous 2 years.
Less than three weeks in, this year is off to an exciting start with the audio release of The Coldest War. And I've recently turned a corner in my new novel project, such that I'm seeing the project with new eyes and excitement. Even though I've been living with the new project for a number of months now, I still haven't hit the usual point where I start to loathe it. That's unusual. I tend to hate everything I write. But this new thing may contain some of my favorite work. I'll finish it this spring. That alone is thrilling to me—I haven't written so many novels that finishing one doesn't feel noteworthy. And then I'll get to spend some time brainstorming over possibilities for new novel projects. That's a very fun, very exciting feeling, too.
So, yeah. I'm pretty jazzed about 2012. And the Mayan Calendar Apocalypse be damned, I say.
Close PermalinkComments (9)
untitled -
Brit, Thursday, January 19 2012, 09:45 PM
Thumbs up for progress! Congrats on the new project, & on the audiobook, & everything else that'll be happening this year.
Thumbs up for progress! Congrats on the new project, & on the audiobook, & everything else that'll be happening this year.
Re: untitled -
Ian, Thursday, January 19 2012, 11:00 PM
Thanks. And though I'm two weeks behind the times, congratulations on your sale to Apex-- that's freaking awesome, dude!
Thanks. And though I'm two weeks behind the times, congratulations on your sale to Apex-- that's freaking awesome, dude!
untitled -
Mari, Saturday, January 21 2012, 12:22 PM
Heh. I tend to hate everything I write as well, and it's always good to hear that at least some other writers feel the same.
Congrats on the upcoming novels and new novel project!
Heh. I tend to hate everything I write as well, and it's always good to hear that at least some other writers feel the same.
Congrats on the upcoming novels and new novel project!
Re: untitled -
Ian, Saturday, January 21 2012, 12:28 PM
Thanks, Mari! You shouldn't have any reason to hate your own writing, but I completely sympathize with the impulse.
I'm really enjoying the L'Engle reread on Tor.com, by the way. I'm getting a lot out of it, far more than I did when I tried to go back and reread A Wrinkle in Time a few years ago.
Thanks, Mari! You shouldn't have any reason to hate your own writing, but I completely sympathize with the impulse.
I'm really enjoying the L'Engle reread on Tor.com, by the way. I'm getting a lot out of it, far more than I did when I tried to go back and reread A Wrinkle in Time a few years ago.
untitled -
Mari, Saturday, January 21 2012, 03:54 PM
Well, see, nobody ever said I was reasonable about my writing...
I'm glad you're enjoying the L'Engle reread. I'm finding it difficult, because although I've enjoyed some of the books, I'm finding others dull or very problematic, and it's hard to reconcile those thoughts with my childhood love for A Wrinkle in Time -- not to mention that the problematic books are sometimes making for difficult reading. So the next author will be someone purely fun.
Well, see, nobody ever said I was reasonable about my writing...
I'm glad you're enjoying the L'Engle reread. I'm finding it difficult, because although I've enjoyed some of the books, I'm finding others dull or very problematic, and it's hard to reconcile those thoughts with my childhood love for A Wrinkle in Time -- not to mention that the problematic books are sometimes making for difficult reading. So the next author will be someone purely fun.
Re: untitled -
Ian, Saturday, January 21 2012, 08:36 PM
We're writers. We can't be reasonable about our own writing. It's part of the job description, isn't it?
You've just described exactly the problem I had when I went back and reread A Wrinkle in Time as an adult. I was really excited to revisit that book, and the sequels. I loved it, just loved it, when I was in elementary school. But when I read that book with an adult's eyes, I just couldn't believe it was the same book.
We're writers. We can't be reasonable about our own writing. It's part of the job description, isn't it?
You've just described exactly the problem I had when I went back and reread A Wrinkle in Time as an adult. I was really excited to revisit that book, and the sequels. I loved it, just loved it, when I was in elementary school. But when I read that book with an adult's eyes, I just couldn't believe it was the same book.
ever wonder -
Loren, Thursday, January 26 2012, 05:53 PM
I understand the new world of digital media, and social networks, but did you ever do a cost benefit analysis of blog writting vs. Revenue generation. I am not asking to point out any of your, "not achieving goal standards," I'm asking because I read your blog, albeit not as much as I would like, but I wonder if you were to put the hundreds of pages you have here to work on your novels, if the return wouldn't be higher, and thus more rewarding?
I understand the new world of digital media, and social networks, but did you ever do a cost benefit analysis of blog writting vs. Revenue generation. I am not asking to point out any of your, "not achieving goal standards," I'm asking because I read your blog, albeit not as much as I would like, but I wonder if you were to put the hundreds of pages you have here to work on your novels, if the return wouldn't be higher, and thus more rewarding?
Re: ever wonder -
Ian, Thursday, January 26 2012, 09:30 PM
Hi, Loren! Thanks for dropping by.
I think you might be overly generous in your estimation that I've written hundreds of blog pages :) Seriously, though, that's a very good question.
As a matter of fact, the reason I don't keep my blog as up to date as I'd like is because I have very limited writing time, and I always put the "real" writing work -- novels, short stories, interviews, etc. -- first. Tonight, for instance, your blog comment sat in the queue for several hours while I did my nightly quota of work on the current novel. So, the blog is something extra that I do if and when I have excess time and energy. It never eats into my productive writing time.
Frankly, I frequently don't enjoy the task of trying to keep the blog updated with something approaching regularity. After my day job and the self-imposed writing job, it can feel more like a chore than something fun. So it's a pretty low priority for me.
That said, another very fair question would be why I bother with the blog at all, as opposed to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and so forth. Surely the time invested in my solitary little blog would have greater long-term benefit if put into social networking instead. That's probably true. But I feel that an effective use of social networking would require more time and energy than I feel capable of putting out there.
Other writers manage it, but I haven't figured out the trick yet!
Hi, Loren! Thanks for dropping by.
I think you might be overly generous in your estimation that I've written hundreds of blog pages :) Seriously, though, that's a very good question.
As a matter of fact, the reason I don't keep my blog as up to date as I'd like is because I have very limited writing time, and I always put the "real" writing work -- novels, short stories, interviews, etc. -- first. Tonight, for instance, your blog comment sat in the queue for several hours while I did my nightly quota of work on the current novel. So, the blog is something extra that I do if and when I have excess time and energy. It never eats into my productive writing time.
Frankly, I frequently don't enjoy the task of trying to keep the blog updated with something approaching regularity. After my day job and the self-imposed writing job, it can feel more like a chore than something fun. So it's a pretty low priority for me.
That said, another very fair question would be why I bother with the blog at all, as opposed to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and so forth. Surely the time invested in my solitary little blog would have greater long-term benefit if put into social networking instead. That's probably true. But I feel that an effective use of social networking would require more time and energy than I feel capable of putting out there.
Other writers manage it, but I haven't figured out the trick yet!
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Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
April 13, 2010
Read an excerpt |
More information |
Purchase the book"A major talent... I can't wait to see more."
—George R. R. Martin
"Mad English warlocks battling twisted Nazi psychics? Yes
please, thank you. Tregillis's debut has a white-knuckle
plot, beautiful descriptions, and complex characters-- an
unstoppable Vickers of a novel."
"Tregillis delivers a dynamite first novel in Bitter Seeds."
"...'Bitter Seeds' is hands down the best debut of 2010 so far."
"[Bitter Seeds] receives my highest recommendations and will likely be
very close to the top of my best of 2010 list."
"The crème de la crème of SFF debuts this year!"
"[Tregillis] has created a unique, unsettling, and deeply
atmospheric setting; populated it with a diversity of grimly
fascinating characters; and turned up the heat with the sort of
plot that requires those characters to keep shoveling frantically
if they are ever to stay in advance of the needs of the firebox."
"The writing is, simply put, stunning...This is easily one of the most impressive debut works I've read."
"BITTER SEEDS is one of the most disturbing 'what if' alternate
history books I've ever read and this is a fabulous thing."
Bitter Seeds in the news
Interview with Adventures in SciFi Publishing Ian Tregillis on the Sword and Laser Podcast
Ian Tregillis on John Scalzi's The Big Idea
Interview with Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview with SFRevu
Interview with Mad Hatter Book Review
Interview with Apex Books
BLOG:
Thursday, January 19 2012, 10:29 AM
I'm not the kind of person who makes New Year's resolutions.
The very idea depresses me. If personal resolutions work for other people, encouraging them to strive for self-betterment or greater personal success, that's terrific. And I can certainly understand the urge to make a new start as the calendar rolls over. I'm not immune to the personal and aesthetic appeal of a clean slate. But I don't make resolutions.
July 15-18, 2011
Albuquerque, NM, USA
Albuquerque, NM, USA
August 17-21, 2011
Reno, NV, USA
Reno, NV, USA
August 26-28, 2011
Albuquerque, NM, USA
Albuquerque, NM, USA
October 27-30, 2011
San Diego, CA, USA
San Diego, CA, USA
Interview at Literary Musings
Interview with Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
An interview with the authors of Busted Flush at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview with Travis Heermann at The Write Line
9-way interview with the contributors to the Wild Cards novel Inside Straight at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
Interview in the February, 2008 newsletter of the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
An extended interview with Ian Tregillis by Ty Franck, on www.wildcardsbooks.com.