Author Archives: Christian

Zenn crops up on Hometown Reads. So, yay Zenn.

Just a quick shill for Zenn’s appearance on the Iowa City site-page of Hometown Reads. And thanks to the HR peeps for the signal boost!    

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Why did dinos – and eventually, humans – rule the planet? We’re both weeds…. sorta.

Intriguing theory in a recent Astrobiology Magazine arty re: mass extinction opening up niches for “weedy” species to take over.  Explains a lot about some humans I know…

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Why sci fi writers aren’t your damn Eightball when it comes to predicting the future… tho apparently Mark Twain came close that one time.

Poor Mr. Spock. Forced to interface with the Enterprise’s lame non-interwebbed ‘puter… Why the lameness? Physicist Laurence Krause explains, revealing why SF authors & scriptwriters are chained to the past just like every other meat-bag non-prophetic mortal. Totally common sense-ical … Continue reading

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I live in (the rural Oort Cloud-ish outer reaches of) one of the planet’s coolest cities for authors. Just sayin’…

The Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature humans are awesome humans when it comes to being the kinda humans that authors appreciate. Also: I need to get into town and pick up one of those t-shirts. That is all.

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About your order of robots to go… you want mad ambulatory skills with that?

I grew up with robots that (who?) got around like humans. Or ostriches. From C-3p0 to Robby in Forbidden Planet and Lost in Space, my robots… had legs (cue ZZ Top). OK, Robby was more breadboxes with wheels, but you … Continue reading

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U always figure ETs would be wierder than anything on Earth? This little guy begs to differ.

Meet the carnivorous sea slug that uses its huge, gelatinous head as a fishing net to catch its prey, identified as Melibe viridis. pic.twitter.com/Shdwy8aDRF — Sofía M. Villalpando (@sofiabiologista) March 28, 2017 Meet Melibe Viridis. Tiny but terrifying. Envelops its … Continue reading

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Thanks for sharing, facebook-Dana.

Well, isn’t this special? (Yes. Yes it is. Never gets old.) FB pal Dana snapped these retro-tree-fiber-pulp specimens hanging out in ye local shoppe somewhere. Note that they’re trying to be cool-by-association with cool-kid Scalzi in the upstairs apartment….

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How do ya find a literary agent? Sometimes, they find you…

At cons or workshops where I’ve been on panels, I’m usually asked “Dude, how did you land an agent?”   (or maybe it was “Dude, how did YOU land an agent?!” but let’s not quibble). Well, there’s a site-page for that. Back when my first novel, Zenn Scarlett, was about … Continue reading

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A big ‘scope gets a power-boost, turns mirror-gaze to Alpha/Proxima Centauri system

The big-ass Very Large Telescope down in Chile gets a new pair of exo-goggles. Then, as part of the $100 million Breakthrough initiative searching for off-world life, it’ll zoom in on the could-be rocky-earth-like planet we think is orbiting Proxima Centauri, our nearest stellar neighbor. Will this give … Continue reading

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Passengers in this film get their wake-up call just a tad early…

The groggy, suspiciously attractive Passengers of this SFX extravaganza take us on a sort-of-world-ship, half-light-speed journey to a nearby star system with a habitable planet. Stasis for the travelers is the key, but things go pear-shaped when two of the ticket-holders wake up  … Continue reading

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