by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 2, 2014 | Blog
A few weeks ago I found my mind wandering as I ran on the elliptical machine at my gym, and my mind went wandering back to Mass Effect. In particular I found myself pondering the fate of the clone from the DLC CITADEL. The writers gave us a pretty ambivalent ending for that particular adventure. Yes, the clone fell from the cargo bay of the Normandy either by his/her own choice or because of an action by Shepard prime, but this is Shepard so is he/she really dead? My assumption was no he...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 5, 2014 | Blog
I admit I’m a political junkie so this developing story in New Jersey about the bridge and the Sandy relief money has had me fascinated. I watched a lot of Governor Chris Christie’s press conference where he tried to put the bridge scandal behind him, but as I was watching I spotted the moment when Christy took that one step too far and probably wrecked his chances to escape unscathed. It happened when he was talking about David Wildstein, the man who had implemented the command...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Feb 1, 2014 | Blog
I’ve been driving madly toward the end of the latest Linnet Ellery book so I haven’t had a lot of time to write up posts. I’ve had a couple in mind and here’s one of them. When I bought the sports car it came with satellite radio. I figured I’d used it until the free offer ran out and then not bother to renew, but the bastards got me hooked. I love On Broadway and Pops and Symphony Hall. I can also listen to news if I’m so inclined. There’s a lot to choose from, and it will certainly help...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 20, 2014 | Blog
No this isn’t about martinis and disappointment when they’re stirred rather than shaken. Today we are celebrating MLK (Martin Luther King) Day here in the United States. This morning I was indulging in my morning ritual of reading through various news sites before I got into the days work. There were a number of terrific articles about the slain civil rights leader, and reprints of a number of his speeches. And every article was followed with a deluge of the most grotesque,...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 15, 2014 | About Writing
A friend of mine and a terrific writer just landed a job with a miniatures gaming company as their head writer. Up until now they have been using folks in the gaming community who fancied themselves writers, but hadn’t really put in the blood and sweat like my buddy. My friend attended Viable Paradise and Taos Tool Box. He’s written several novels and lots and lots of short stories. He has a tool box that’s pretty well stocked with the tools of our peculiar trade. And now...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 11, 2014 | Blog
Andrew Sullivan is pretty okay. I took real offense over his stance in a CNN interview about this pregnant woman who is brain dead in Texas, but being forced to remain on a ventilator as a human incubator over the objections of her husband her, her father and her own DNR. The fetus was not viable when she suffered brain death, and the fetus was probably denied oxygen for such a length of time that the damage will be severe, but Texas has intervened. Sullivan was saying the child should have a...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 7, 2014 | Blog
While I was sweating on the rowing machine yesterday the TV right above me was tuned to CNN’s new reboot of Crossfire. They were having a global warming debate with Newt Gingrich and some other Republican neither of whom were scientists on one side, and one actual scientist on the other side, and some guy who worked on climate change issues for the White House. The Newtster and the other guy admitted that temperatures were rising, but it wasn’t going to be a big deal, and we were...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 6, 2014 | Blog
I’ve been on a non-fiction kick for the past month. Maybe because I’m having to wait for new novels from my friends and talented authors — James S.A. Corey, Daniel Abraham, Drew Karpyshyn, Emma Newman, — hurry up, guys. Anyway, I started this non-fiction kick with Rachel Madow’s terrific book DRIFT. It outlines the subtle steps that have occurred since the 1950’s that have undermined the Constitution and it’s ability to keep us from entering wars on...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 6, 2014 | TV & Movies
I’ve been reflecting for several days as to why I found HER so singularly unsatisfying, and frankly dull, and I think I’ve pinpointed the issues. The first and obvious one is that this felt like an interesting question that had been asked and answered years ago by the science fiction community and for readers and writers in the field this really was old hat. When I attended the AI conference a number of years ago the issues of user bonding with their AI helpers was already under...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 29, 2013 | TV & Movies
I saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug last Saturday, but I’ve been really busy with company and cooking Christmas dinner and in general having fun so I’m just getting around to writing up my thoughts. Also, I just didn’t care that much. The movie neither pleased me or pissed me off so I didn’t feel compelled to say something. And that’s the problem — it just left me feeling… well, meh. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good. It just...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 19, 2013 | Blog
I got back from my long day of driving to and from Farmington to discover that a new outrage fit had broken out on both sides of the political fence over this guy from a reality show called DUCK DYNASTY. I’ve never see the show. Just seen pictures of the bearded males of the clan. So apparently daddy gave an interview to GQ (kind of a new look for a men’s fashion magazine, but whatever), and daddy said some thing about gays that is in line with his fundamentalist beliefs and...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 16, 2013 | About Writing
If you hang out on my wall on Facebook it’s probably clear I’ve been struggling with this latest urban fantasy novel. Some of that was due to getting picked as one of the top S.F. and fantasy novels of 2013 — Kirkus – Best fiction 2013 science fiction & fantasy. Boy has this ever left me frozen. Here’s the mind games I’m playing with myself. Oh my god! This is awesome! But wait, the new book sucks! This will be the one that proves I have no...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 15, 2013 | Blog
The final climax of my next EDGE book takes place in Turkey because Ataturk seemed like a perfect candidate to have known about my Prometheus figure and be affected by him. I loved the fact that Hagia Sophia in Istanbul had begun as a church, became a mosque, and was turned into a museum by Ataturk. It was such a sane and sensible solution to the clash of religions and cultures, a celebration of art and people rather than competing gods. But now there is a move afoot to turn Hagia Sophia...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Dec 14, 2013 | About Writing
That’s my excuse for why I’ve been a stranger for so long, and it’s just so easy to pop up a little post on Facebook. Anyway, we had the big DANGEROUS WOMEN launch party at the Jean Cocteau theater on Monday. 7 writers, 2 editors and a partridge in a pear tree. Okay, there wasn’t actually a partridge. It was a lively evening with interesting questions posed by George, brilliantly witty comments by Gardner Dozios, and insightful comments by the likes of Carrie...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Nov 24, 2013 | Blog
As we have pondered the sober fiftieth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination I’m struck and infuriated by Right Wing pundits trying to claim that Kennedy was a “conservative”. Yes, he went to the right of Nixon in being anti-Communist as a political move, but the man who could write this: “If by a “Liberal” they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who care...
