Mary Robinette Kowal

So… hey. I went on book tour for Ghost Talkers in November, specifically, the week of the election. It was…difficult. Audiences were way, way down as in — places where I’d previously had standing room only were half-empty. At this point, it’s not likely to hurt me because, honestly, the book itself came out in […]

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a number of people tell me that they had made their first appointment with a therapist. They told me because they didn’t feel safe telling their family. Let that sink in for a minute. A complete stranger was safer than their family. Are you one of those

I’m heading out on book tour this week. Maybe I’m coming to your town? Tuesday November 8 – 7:00 PM University Bookstore 4326 University Way NE Seattle, WA 98105 Wednesday November 9 – 6:30 PM Murder by the Book 2342 Bissonnet St Houston, TX 77005 Thursday November 10 – 7:30 PM Mysterious Galaxy 5943 Balboa Ave #100

I participate in NaNoWriMo every year, but it’s not for everyone, and that’s okay. The thing I want you to know, as we go through the month, is that you don’t have to feel pressured into writing. So I want to talk a little about some commonly passed around advice that can make you feel

Sometimes, someone you’re fond of turns out to be an asshole. Holding them accountable is part of being a friend. It helps them be better. I have a colleague/student/friend who has been awful to other people. Not to me, and that isn’t a defense. Ever. Their behavior is inexcusable. Defending my asshole friend’s behavior would make me complicit in it,

Kate had an infectious laugh. She would be sitting, quietly knitting on something, and you might be fooled into thinking that she wasn’t paying attention, but then she would come out with a zinger. Her sense of play expressed itself in words. The cruelest thing about the cancer she fought was that it stole her

Happy book release day to Seanan McGuire and Once Broken Faith. I’m the narrator for the audiobooks for her October Daye series and these are some of my favorite books to narrate. Compelling characters? Oh yes. But I think that Seanan doesn’t get nearly enough credit for the quality of her prose. It’s really easy to

The British Sound Archives has a recording of Arthur Conan Doyle talking about how he came to write Sherlock Holmes and his beliefs about Spiritualism. This was recorded in 1930 and is fascinating. He relies on personal experiments to prove that it worked and sees Spiritualism as something that can exist side-by-side with other belief

I am so proud of MidAmeriCon II and their safety staff. Why? Because I violated the Code of Conduct and they held me accountable. It would have been really easy for them to give me a pass because I’m “Someone” and to say, “Oh, it doesn’t really matter” for me. Even though it was stressful