Last weekend, juggling a whole slew of commitments, I careened through space and time, miraculously arriving without a moment to spare at AnomalyCon, Denver’s premiere steampunk and alternate history convention. The other time travelers in attendance sported top hats, bustles, corsets, and aviator goggles, and they all looked fantastic. I had serious costume envy. After […]
Monthly Archives: March 2015
A Critical Approach to Requiem in La Paz
Last month my novel Requiem in La Paz received a lengthy write-up in The New York Review of Science Fiction. It would be a complete understatement to say I felt deeply honored. After all, the February issue featured essays by Stephen R. Donaldson and Samuel R. Delany, plus reviews of new work by Kelly Link […]
Spring in my step
Winter is officially over, but I’m not ready to say goodbye. I plan to hang on by my toes ’til there’s nothing left but mud. With the fading snow on my mind, I drove up to Nederland on the first day of spring to try out my new snowshoes. (They’re Crescent Moons, made here in […]
Così fan tutte
Consider yourself warned. The following post is a mere bagatelle, nothing but opera and fashion and confectionery. If you’re on the prowl for meatier fare, now is the time to prowl on.
I have been and always shall be
You know how a conversation with an old friend always seems so easy? There’s a certain fluency that we long for, in that effortless social space where being friends isn’t hard work but just is. As we find ourselves scattered across the globe, our relationships mediated by self-serving Facebook posts, random tweets, or hurried holiday […]
Sonoran Desert
There are museums in this world, and then there are museums. The Sonoran Desert Museum near Tucson is one of the latter. Where else could you find both desert bighorn sheep and giant saguaro cactus? Or beautiful desert flowers like Penstemon parryi? Or fuzzy (but not exactly cuddly) Teddy Bear Cholla? Part of the Sonoran […]
No life like Lowell life
Lowell, AZ is perched on the edge of the Lavender Pit, a huge copper mine near the Mexican border. At first glance, it resembles a movie set or a ghost town. The buildings appear untouched since the fifties, and vintage automobiles line the only street in town. But if you look closely, you can find […]
Tombstone
On the way to Bisbee for The General’s birthday, we stopped in Tombstone and discovered cowboys and lawmen congregating near the O.K. Corral. None of them looked like Val Kilmer or Sam Elliott, but that was okay with me. The courthouse nearby was filled with artifacts and history. I was particularly drawn to a room-sized […]