Magical Mommies
I want to love Dr. Who again. I really do. But it’s getting hard right now. I admit Matt Smith just never quite worked for me. The manic delivery, and the very strong sense that the solutions to the various problems were less solutions then just frantic hand...
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
A couple of weeks ago my dear friend George R.R. Martin underwent the Ice Bucket Challenge to combat ALS also know as Lou Gerig's Disease. I lost my half brother John to this horrible disease when he was only 60. It attached his throat first so he was soon unable to...
My Trip From Hell
Yesterday I flew home from Britain, and it was not an experience I want to repeat anytime soon. The day before -- Monday -- I had gotten soaked in the rain, but didn't think much of it. On Tuesday I got to the airport in plenty of time, got on my flight, ate my...
Things I’ve Learned About London
So here are a few things that I've learned on my last day in London. Never, ever try to go to a museum, particularly the Victoria & Albert on a bank holiday when it is raining. The line literally went around the block. I opted to save this for another trip....
London: The Horse Side of History
After the War Rooms I found myself at an impressive building that housed the Horse Guards. I'd never visited that museum so I rushed in and spent another hour studying the history of the Horse Guards. They were founded basically in a reaction to the Civil War and...
London and The Weight of History: The War Rooms
I set forth on my wanders at 10:30 this morning, and got back to the hotel at almost 5:00. All of this was done on foot, I might add. After consulting a map I struck off in the general direction of the Imperial War Museum, and shortly came upon St. James's Park....
Writers “Rooms”
Despite being fundamentally solitary creatures I think writer's have a great need for community. Getting to spend a few days in the home of fellow writers Emma Newman and Peter Newman has been bracing and rejuvenating. It's like being at a convention without all the...
Places of Beauty
I've been in Britain for the past week and a half. The first part was spent at the World Science Fiction Convention in London. (Largest Worldcon ever). I met my new editor from Titan books, and the owners of Titan. Caught up with old friends, made new ones and...
800 Years
As I’ve watched the world in general and the Middle East in particular go up in flames I’ve found myself thinking about the power of social media, and the weakness of the theory that democracy can be sprayed onto a culture and a people. Or in the case of the...
Writer Woes
I'm having one of those days where I am questioning everything about this current novel. I finished a book that is just one action event after another, and my book has none of that because it's set in the first year at a military academy, and it's establishing all...
