Category: Blog

I’ve been seeing  a lot of interest in my robot stories, ever since “The Three Laws of Social Robotics” came out in Analog.  So this page is a guide to where readers can find more of my stories about Maradia’s robots. Continue reading “Maradia’s Robots”

‪I never dream about my house. I dream weird new houses, which made sense when it looked like we’d have to sell this house and move away. But this morning, I think my brain tried to dream about my house. The result was a strange hybrid of the bones of the house I grew up in, set on the hill where I live now, with all of the furniture stripped away and stolen. Continue reading “House Dreams”

I finished writing a novella today that I started sixteen years ago.‬

I wrote 194 other stories and 7 novels between the time when I started this novella and when I finished it.‬

I decided, out of curiosity, to watch Super Mario Bros. (1993), and… well… um… that was… bewildering.‬

‪The five-year-old’s unsolicited review: “It’s sad because it’s not like the game.” (Although, he seemed delighted while actually watching it.)‬

So, today, I hatched plans for a novel that involves a Norwegian forest cat captain who runs into a giant world turtle in space and also (separately) a space opera version of Camelot that centers on Guinevere, except she’s a sentient plant alien. So much writing to do!!!!

I can’t think of anything that screams, “Making a prequel was a baaaaaad idea and we regreeeeet it!” more than giving up after two years and jumping the characters forward in time until it’s not a prequel anymore.‬

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“If we learned anything, we learned we’re not yet ready to learn everything.”‬

‪This is such an incredibly cheap, lazy, and anti-science sentiment. Just because knowledge must be handled responsibly doesn’t mean the answer is to simply throw it away.‬ Continue reading “Watching Star Trek Struggle”

Space Unicorn Blues by T. J. Berry is a wild ride; a really fun mash-up of space opera and fantasy. I’m looking forward to the sequel!‬

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The LEGO Movie 2 is weirdly beautiful and mind-bending; a solid statement on toxic masculinity; and possibly the best use of Batman ever.‬

‪Also, the spaceship guy really speaks to me — “Loving spaceships is my one defining trait!”‬

The eleven-year-old: “They’re texting me Hamilton stickers. I ought to respond with more Hamilton stickers. That’s how conversation works.”‬

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The game mechanics in Yoshi’s Woolly World are EXCELLENT for playing with a little kid, because when they keep dying, you can just eat them — causing the little kid to laugh hysterically — & carry them through hard parts in your mouth or else spit them at things as ammunition.‬ Continue reading “Hamilton and Yoshi”

My eleven-year-old — who aspires to be the next Meryl Streep and has long resented that we haven’t moved to LA and gotten her a role on a TV show — watched the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend song “I Want to Be a Child Star” tonight with increasingly widening eyes. At the end, she said, “I’ve just rethought everything.”‬

I’ve been outlining a new sci-fi novel & came up w/a beginning today — only to realize in horror that this novel wants to be in 1st person present tense. Why?? Why??? I mean… I can figure out good reasons for it… but still. I usually only write that PoV for flash fiction.‬