Spore, the world’s most eagerly anticipated video game ever, releases this weekend. I wrote it. Or rather, I wrote all the dialog and some of the situations in the space game, which is the last— the ultimate, if you will— of five interlinked games that make up Spore. (There’s not a lot of call for […]

It had occurred to me a few years ago that while I had lived in the southwest for many years now, I’d never been to a rodeo. Since rodeo is a backbone of the culture, particularly here in rural New Mexico where I live (I see kids practicing for rodeo events all the time), it […]

I have participated in SF Signal’s Mind Meld, in which a whole clutch of authors have been set loose on the same topic.The latest query: “How do you think media tie-in novels affect the genre of SF/F?”

My mother passed away peacefully this evening, age 92. I was with her.Five weeks ago, she was living independently in her own home. Whatever happened to her— there are symptoms but no diagnosis— happened fast. It was a relief that she didn’t linger.I have already written a tribute to her here.I have a vast and […]