Because we keep finding it on Earth in even the most apparently inhospitable places…like the Rancho La Brea tar pits.
Lloyd Alexander dies
Lloyd Alexander has died. From SF Scope: Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 30 January 1924, he was a children’s fantasy author for half a century (though he did also write several adult novels). He won the 1970 Newbery Award, and was a National Book Award Finalist, for The High King. His books include three well-known …
Mentors and mentees mingle at McNally Robinson
Some time ago I was selected to be one of the mentors for the Saskatchewan Writers Guild‘s first Online Youth Mentorship Program. I enjoyed it very much. I worked with three young writers, Danita Stallard of Estevan, James Waldner of Biggar, and Arnav Jatukaran of Regina. I had at least one face-to-face meeting with all …
What a setting for a science fiction story!
A Neptune-sized planet made of hot ice and shrouded with steam, orbiting a star just 30 light years away. More important than its fictional possibilities, of course, is the fact that it seems to have a lot of water, albeit it in ultra-dense, ultra-hot solid form. A little further out from its sun, and it …
SCORE one for efficiency
This being hockey playoff season, everyone is talking about scores. In the hope I might be taken as something other than a science geek, I thought I would, too. So let me tell you what the score is regarding SCORE–the Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity. SCORE is a joint research project by four U.K. …
Ain’t it the truth…
A great quote posted at About Last Night which seems particularly apropos since I’m in the throes of rehearsing Oklahoma! (I’m playing Jud) with Regina Lyric Light Opera: “Modern kids are raised with the understanding that people don’t spontaneously burst into song at crucial moments in their lives. And isn’t that a horrible thing, to …
To keep his community theatre alive…
…a U.S. police officer stole a Canadian writer’s play. A long-time community-theatre-type myself, I can understand the panic when it looks like an organization may go under. But that’s no excuse for plagiarism.
A great literary event in Saskatoon yesterday…
…will be blogged about soon. Watch this space! (Er, well, watch this blog. This particular space will scroll down as I continue to post. But you know what I mean.)
The Nebula Awards…
…have been handed out. These are the awards nominated for and voted on by active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which would include me (finally!) this year, although I’m ashamed to say I didn’t vote (I simply hadn’t read enough of the nominees)… Novel: Seeker, by Jack McDevitt (Ace, Nov. …
What is "Spock" up to these days?
Taking beautiful photographs of large nude women, of course.
"Shipwrecked and abandoned"
This ties in nicely with the earlier post of my CBC column on virtual worlds: Warren Ellis searches for signs of life in Second Life. Lots of people have had lots to say about the recent hype surrounding Second Life, but very few have addressed the basic experience of the world — that you’re incredibly …
From MUD to MOO to a whole Second Life
This week’s CBC Web column… *** The search for new worlds to visit isn’t confined to the crew of Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise, nor does it necessarily involve outer space. These days, you can find all the strange worlds you could ever want to visit right on your computer–worlds populated with other visitors from the …
My latest live walk and vlog
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