Huge fan of his writing. I could blather on but I won't.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 6:25 AM on May 8, 2013

Oh, I think it's nice. As far as wedding crimes go, this is waaaay down the list. And anyway, if they're hipsters, all their friends are hipsters too. In which case they liked it just fine. Let's remember who the actual audience for this was.

In other words: Let them have their fun. It's hard to feel too judgemental about people expressing their love for each other in a way that makes them happy and doesn't actively inconvenience or annoy anyone to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 3:38 PM on May 1, 2013

Balna Watya:

"So Scalzi does directly say that class doesn't affect the difficulty level."

But I do not say that class/wealth does not play a role in the game or how it is played -- in fact I explicitly say the opposite; it's right there in the bit quoted. This is a fact I see elided quite a bit, which is unfortunate because it then means people are not considering the metaphor in full.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 5:51 PM on April 29, 2013

"Why would anyone look for sf reviews in a magazine called Romantic Times?"

This could be flipped around to ask why you assume that people who subscribe to a magazine called Romantic Times would only read romance. Assuming they occasionally read out of their primary genre -- and do you only read one genre? -- why would those subscribers not want reviews of books in other genres from a review source... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 10:35 AM on April 25, 2013

Science fiction, as a genre, is mostly dead.

Meh.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:38 AM on March 26, 2013

Malor:

"As much fun as your books are, that's where they really fall, because we know perfectly well they can't happen."

Pish and tosh. I did write a modern replica of a Heinlein tale with Old Man's War, and because I knew more than he did (or more accurately, others discovered more about the nature of the universe than was known before, and I was in the fortunate position to receive that... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 9:00 AM on March 26, 2013

In the acknowledgments for Old Man's War I thanked just about everyone I knew, because you know what, I didn't know if I would ever have another novel again, so why not? The publisher was happy to let me go on for three pages (it's a cheap way of making an author happy) and those friends were happy to see their name in print in a book of mine. Everyone wins.

For The Human Division, the acknowledgments run roughly the same length... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:38 AM on March 8, 2013

CBrachyrhynchos:

Haven't they always been a luxury item?

Hardcovers, yes, basically. There have been pulps and paperbacks for some time that were slotted into the mass-market niche. In the industry, we're noticing the mass market being eaten by electronic books while the hardcovers seem to be doing all right (relatively speaking). People like hardcovers as status symbols, tokens of esteem regarding the writer and as gifts; I... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 6:39 AM on February 23, 2013

This thread tickles me.

What I write next may have spoilers.

1. In point of fact, I never describe the color(s) of the uniforms of the Intrepid's crew during the course of the book.

2. Likewise, our protagonists don't hear of the phrase "redshirt" until well into the story.

3. I would agree that "redshirt" is more of general category than a literally... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 12:26 PM on February 20, 2013

We have agricultural fields on three sides of us, which are filled with field mice and other sorts of creatures which, left to their own devices, happily migrate into our home. All our cats are working cats as well as pets.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 5:10 PM on January 30, 2013

All I could think of when I saw the photo was "thank God I lost ten pounds last month."
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 9:05 PM on January 21, 2013

It wasn't until I saw this macro that I made the connection between the "ABC song" and Mozart.

Which means I was in my 40s.

SHUT UP YOU
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 11:39 AM on January 12, 2013

I think it's awesome that he's been at the "Fuck it, I'm going to have fun" stage of his life for decades now.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 1:31 PM on December 22, 2012

From my point of view this isn't actually complicated:

1. Get the science that we know to be correct as correct as you can get it.

2. Extrapolate intelligently from there for the purposes of your story.

There, you're doing science fiction.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 5:30 AM on December 19, 2012

Zoo:

"I just read redshirts, so I'm pretty sure this isn't how either one of us defines science fiction."

Interestingly, I've seen the argument made that Redshirts isn't science fiction at all. It's hard to have a discussion about it without spoiling the book, but I think it's an interesting and possibly defensible argument.

For my part, I would agree that the book was written without much scientific rigor involved.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 9:38 AM on December 19, 2012

This story beat mine for the Hugo this year AND I AM FURIOUS --

-- that because I was competing in the category, as emcee of the ceremony his Hugo was the only one I wasn't able to place into the hands of the eventual winner, i.e., Ken.

I always say that when you're nominated for an award, and you look at the slate and can find no work that you would be pissed off to lose to, then you've already won, so you should just relax and just enjoy the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 4:26 AM on November 9, 2012

Voted last week. Been haranguing people to vote nearly every day since. I'm in Ohio. If Obama wins the state, you know who to thank.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:07 AM on November 6, 2012

Those of you who took an IQ test, what were the circumstances and how did you find out what you scored? How young were you, and did it affect how you think about yourself?

I took several when I was a kid and my mother told me rather later what my score had been. By that time I was old enough to know a) I probably had a fairly high IQ and b) through occasionally regrettable experience, IQ didn't correlate highly to one's success as a human being.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 4:31 AM on November 5, 2012

This reminded me that my own high school did a Summer Reading List, in which all the incoming students picked a book to read from a list (returning student all had to read one particular book). The school still does it, here's this year's list. If I remember correctly, I read Flatland (loved) and the Mill on the Floss (hated), although not in the same year.

I didn't like Catcher in the Rye when I was a teen, mostly because a) I found Holden to be as... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:11 AM on November 4, 2012

WE CAN REBUILD HIM.

WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 10:11 AM on October 19, 2012

In one of those interesting coincidences, I once took a writing class taught by Richard Stern, the fellow who wrote that review of Catch-22.

On the first day he declared that no one would be allowed to turn in any science fiction stories, since the genre didn't constitute real writing.

This being right after Less Than Zero had come out, the entire quarter we were treated to stories of jaded college... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 4:26 PM on October 17, 2012

"John Scalzi, if you're reading this"

I AM ALWAYS READING.

And that's fine. If you paid me once at any point, we're all good.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:49 AM on October 11, 2012

This is what I wrote on my own personal Facebook profile (i.e., the one that's only accessible to people I know and like in the real world, not the fan page):

The closer we get to the election the more I am reminded just how incredibly awful Facebook is for communicating complex and in-depth political thought, and yet how perfect it is for reducing the political thoughts one has to the level of hollering for one's favorite sports teams.

I would... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 2:47 PM on October 3, 2012

Catlet:

"I like that goats are the inevitable conclusion."

Ironically, I very recently sold a book called "101 Uses For a Spare Goat."

(P.S.: This is actually true)
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 9:28 AM on September 29, 2012

WE ARE ALL MONSTERS, Y'ALL
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 12:33 PM on September 8, 2012

My procrastination enders:

1. My mortgage

2. My wife "Where the FUCK is the next chapter?!?"

They both work equally well.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:26 AM on September 8, 2012

At least it didn't have "all right" as one word.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 9:50 AM on September 7, 2012

Well, the prose in that essay was purple, at least.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 10:38 AM on September 6, 2012

I name characters after people I know and warn them a) that I am likely to kill the character off in a horrible way, b) it's not a reflection of my personal feelings for them, I'm just really bad at character names.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 10:34 AM on September 6, 2012

Danila:

"In my mind I've always thought 'don't read reviews of your work' to be a general rule because movie directors and musicians are always saying it."

Yeah, but the movie directors and musicians are lying; they read their reviews too. What you eventually have to do is realize you can't make everyone happy all the time, and that if you try, you'll probably end up making no one happy.

With regard to Amazon reviews,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 6:13 AM on August 28, 2012

Natalie Merchant's cover of "Gulf of Araby" is extraordinarily sad, and helped me come to grips with my wife's miscarriage. But it never fails to make me cry.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 11:36 AM on August 24, 2012

Oh, and then there's "When She Loved Me," which should probably be subtitled "A child's introduction to the end of love." One of the most effective uses of a song in an animated movie ever, which is saying something.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 12:05 PM on August 24, 2012

I'm mildly surprised to learn this is a big thing; speaking as a Californian who went to school in Chicago a quarter of a century ago, this accent has been around for a while now. And I definitely notice it in my friends from Michigan and northern Ohio.

In the part of Ohio where I live (rural western central), the primary accent is what I would label Midwest Rural, a drawl that's not southern but is definitely not like the Northern Cities accent.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 9:44 AM on August 24, 2012

So the universe is... A Dark Crystal?
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:30 AM on August 21, 2012

STUPID NATURE STOLE MY IDEA
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 8:02 AM on August 18, 2012

Please tell me you have an upcoming book about zombie aphids that create an army of clone ants!!!

I do NOW.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 8:22 AM on August 18, 2012

Escabeche:

"But it sounds like (despite the framing of the post) the advice you get at Clarion is not the point of Clarion."

It is a point of Clarion but certainly not the only point of Clarion. One of the other points of Clarion is to give the writers who attend that year a peer group that they will maintain relationships with moving forward and possibly for the rest of their lives. A... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 6:31 AM on August 15, 2012

charlie don't surf:

"I think I have the exactly appropriate amount of disdain that list deserves. Let me explain with a little story."

You disdain the list because it was created via a pedagogical process you find unnecessary? Well, find your joy there, cds.

But I think you're awfully wound up over nothing much. I entirely understand the idea that a writer doesn't necessarily need writing classes or a degree in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 11:18 AM on August 16, 2012

If you want to eat like me, six cans of Coke Zero and a handful of Red Vines will do just fine.

Yes, I will be dead in five years.

ENJOY ME NOW, PEOPLE.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 5:35 PM on August 15, 2012

The backgrounds in the demo take me back to the Web, circa 1996.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 6:53 AM on August 9, 2012

We live out in the boonies, where there are agricultural fields to east, west and south of us. rodents live in those fields. In the fall and winter, they like to migrate to warmer places. Our house is a warmer place. Occasionally they try to wander in during spring and summer as well.

Which is a long way of saying that our three cats are pets but they are also working cats. Between the three of them they do a fair amount of killing. And as a result our house is generally... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 2:18 PM on August 7, 2012

Cats are rodents?
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 2:21 PM on August 7, 2012

Clvrmnky:

"This has happened to me once, with a title from the much-loved Mefi's own [REDACTED]."

DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW.

When I was on tour I was on a plane, sitting next to a woman who was reading 50 Shades. I asked what she thought of it. She said "It's absolutely terrible, and I can't stop reading it."
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 8:34 AM on August 5, 2012

You can specify the size of the final image as one of the initial conditions.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:55 AM on August 5, 2012

"I wouldn't consider most of that list, particularly Brazil, a genre film."

Brazil, a dystopic speculative film that takes place in an unspecified future (or alternate history) Britain, is definitely genre, said man who listed film as one of the 50 canonical science fiction films in his book on science fiction film. Likewise, Donnie Darko is definitely genre as well, concerning as it does pocket universes.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 6:25 AM on August 4, 2012

[Insert reminder that at any point in history, the number of writers making a living writing has been small relative to the number of writers in that era

Insert reminder that other technological/economic changes in publishing have devastated certain classes of writers while enriching others

Insert reminder that publishing is an industry prone to "sky is falling" proclamations, possibly because its host features a group of people with a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 6:49 PM on July 28, 2012

Found my personal site. Yes, I am that much of a nerd. Hard by Google.com.au, however, which is a bit puzzling.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 2:55 PM on July 27, 2012

If the victories are vacated against a team that also had victories vacated (say a Penn State vs. Ohio State game in the last few years) DID THE GAME ACTUALLY EVER TAKE PLACE AT ALL?

(mind, blown)
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 7:11 AM on July 23, 2012

From the VV piece:

"it's a shame, however, that he doesn't fill us in on his Scientology past, and tell us his feelings about the church today."

No, it's not. He like anyone else is allowed to keep is own counsel on what parts of his personal life he chooses to make public and what parts he chooses to keep private. It's not a shame to decide there are some things about you outside the general purview.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 5:26 AM on July 23, 2012

I reviewed the Jody Grind a couple of decades ago when I was writing for the San Diego Tribune (now the Union-Tribune) and spoke briefly with all the members of the band. It was very sad what happened to them. It's good to hear she's taking another shot.
posted to MetaFilter by jscalzi at 11:02 AM on July 22, 2012