About a month ago, I signed up for Entrecard, a link-swapping service that allows you to post a “calling card” widget in your sidebar. Regular visitors can click the card and be taken to the advertised site. Other Entrecard members can “drop” a card by clicking the link, earning a point for themselves and for [...]

I hadn’t planned to attend WonderCon this year, even though it’s held about a block and a half from my workplace. Mainly because I knew the weekend would be filled with family obligations (some now rendered moot by the rain), and I didn’t want to expend the energy it would take to juggle everything. And [...]

The 80th Annual Academy Awards are but a few days away, and I’m getting all excited. Once again, my local, brick-and-mortar video store is sponsoring an Oscars contest, and I’m determined to win a bunch of rental credits.
This year I’ve actually seen three out of the five nominees for Best Picture, so I’m not making [...]

Monday was a rather grim day on the Internet, during which the passings of actor Roy Scheider and comics writer Steve Gerber were noted.
In the science fiction/fantasy corner of the Web, there was also some sobering discussion of the realities of being a freelance writer. Nick Mamatas, author of “Move Under Ground” and “Under My [...]

Over at the Guardian Online, Edward Champion remembers Anthony Burgess.
Burgess is one of my favorite novelists, but he’s fallen out of fashion since his death in 1993. There’s a lot more to him, though, than “A Clockwork Orange.” I particularly recommend “Tremor of Intent,” an eschatological spy thriller, and “Earthly Powers,” a globe-spanning family blockbuster [...]

Well, no, not really. But the author of “Cold Granite” and “Broken Skin” is participating in BBC Scotland’s “Write Here Right Now” program. During the month of February, fledgling novelists are encouraged to compose 1,000 words a day towards a crime novel of their own invention. Sign up for the newsletter, and you’ll receive daily [...]

These days, I only make an effort to watch two broadcast TV series. With the writers’ strike still lurching along and “The Office” in receivership, I’m left only with ABC’s “Lost.” Or as I like to call it: “Gilligan’s Island: Existential Horror Edition.”
You can make an excellent case that HBO’s “The Wire” is the best-written [...]

Duane Swierczynski, author of “The Wheelman” and “The Blonde,” makes the bold move to full-time freelancing after resigning as editor of Philly’s City Paper. It’s a gutsy move, but with his deep experience in journalism, two incredibly strong novels under his belt, a new one due this May and a number of comics projects in [...]

One of the great pleasures of being a book review columnist is getting to read the latest work by your favorite authors three to six months earlier than the public at large (and be paid to do it, at that).
One of the drawbacks of a column like mine, however, is that it appears only every [...]

Over at Clarkesworld, sf author Rick Bowes has written a rueful but funny reflection on why he likes to write but hates being a writer.
The ALPHA SF/F/H Workshop for Young Writers (ages 14 – 19) will be held at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg Campus July 16 – 25, 2008 in conjunction with Pittsburgh’s science [...]