Writer. Scientist. Thoroughly Disappointing Flesh Muppet.
(or, I Am A Visionary, Part 2)
A while back, I posted about DARPA experiments into the possibility of using cranial electrodes to enhance peoples’ performance at particular tasks. (Which is just slightly reminiscent of a particular book.)
Now reader Chris Bachmann just sent me — Thanks, Chris! — this link to a piece in Wired.
Sibling #1: Our dad is the guy with the crazy hair who looks like a wizard.
Sibling #2: You could just point to him. Or you could say he’s the guy in the red shirt.
Sibling #1: I like my way better.
Which sister is correct? YOU DECIDE.
I’ve been thinking about blurbs this evening. ARCs for The Coldest War won’t be going out quite yet, but blurbs—that mysterious, magical currency, that thing both revered and reviled—are on my mind.
I had the great pleasure of blurbing (is that the verb?) Jo Anderton’s debut novel, Debris, which is coming out from Angry Robot in December. (This is the part where you get really jealous. It’s very good, and I got to read it months ago. Still waiting for Jo to send the sequel, even though I know it’s finished and just sitting there…)
Jo’s book marked the first time I’d been asked to blurb something. I was delighted to do it, because I happened to know Jo is a knockout writer. But I was also a little alarmed. I worried that my endorsement would actually degrade Jo’s project. After all, who the heck am I? Just some guy.
But anyway, yeah. This week’s glimpse of new cover art got me thinking about potential blurbs for The Coldest War.
A nice surprise that came clear out of the blue today: I’ve seen the new covers for the mass market paperback edition of Bitter Seeds and the hardcover/ebook edition of The Coldest War.
It’s too early to unveil them yet. But I will say this: Wowsers!
I just can’t wait to have framed prints hanging in my house. Can’t. Wait. They’re gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. And, when seen together, they’re clearly part of the same series– that elusive “package” has finally materialized! And it is good. It is very good.
This weekend embodied, in a nutshell, the entirety of my relationship to culture (whatever that is).
Speaking, of course, as somebody whose entire knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons and Muppet Show riffs on famous performances.