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Submitted by donsakers on Fri, 05/22/2020 - 5:00pm
In honor of Balticon weekend, let me say a little about sf convetions ("cons").
I started going to cons when I was 16, and I’ve been attending them ever since. In round numbers, I would say I’ve probably attended upwards of 200 cons big and little, near and far. I’ve met some of my dearest friends (including my husband) at cons; I’ve made professional deals and done a lot of promotion for my writing; I’ve learned a million things and had enormous fun.
Submitted by donsakers on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:47pm
As I write this, Maryland is beginning to ease restrictions on some businesses and relaxing stay-at-home orders. Other states are taking more aggressive action. Personally, as a soon-to-be 62-year-old diabetic, I'm going to continue staying at home and resisting physical contact with others.
Submitted by donsakers on Fri, 05/08/2020 - 1:56pm
My preliminary schedule for the upcoming Virtual Balticon arrived. Free registration is required for each session, but most sessions will be available later on YouTube. Details will be posted here.
Submitted by donsakers on Thu, 05/07/2020 - 1:32pm
Tom Bombadil isn't simply the most interesting character in LOTR; in my opinion, he is the most important character in the entire mythos. Stick with me.
Submitted by donsakers on Fri, 05/01/2020 - 1:22pm
Last night I finished up and posted episode 2.20 of The Rule of Five. Hands down, this project is the most fun I've had writing in a long time. The first two years (season one) Melissa and I spent a lot of time setting up the universe, the characters, and the many plot threads. With the climactic episode of season one, we were able to start bringing all those elements together, tying up some of the threads and moving characters away from their silos.
Submitted by donsakers on Fri, 04/24/2020 - 1:40pm
Adjusting to staying home or working from home is a challenge. I went through that adjustment when I retired, nearly four years ago.
I was fairly good at time management and productivity within the framework of a work schedule (weird as that schedule was: two night shifts a week and alternate Saturdays). When that framework went away, I had to learn new ways to get things done.
Submitted by donsakers on Fri, 04/17/2020 - 11:43am
The May/June 2020 issue of Analog is out. In my book review column, "The Reference Library," I talk about the ways shifting audiences have shaped the science fiction field. I also review books by Ben Bova & Gordon R. Dickson; Patrick Chiles; Robert Mitchell Evans; Michael R. Johnston; Sharon Lee & Steve Miller; Wil McCarthy; Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, & Steven Barnes; Kristine Kathryn Rusch; and Robert J. Sawyer. Read it online here.
Submitted by donsakers on Fri, 04/10/2020 - 1:12pm
I've seen much discussion of wearing masks while out in public. Here I'm not talking about medical-grade masks for health care workers or others who need them, but simple fabric masks for the general public.
Biologically, the benefits of masks are questionable. They may help reduce exposure (in both direftions) by some amount—but the difference between passing ten billion virus partices with a cough and passing only two billion mightnnot matter as much as we think.
Submitted by donsakers on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 11:20am
COVID-19 continues to restructure our world. Balticon, the big annual sf con usually held on Memorial Day, has been canceled. As I write this, the US has overtaken China in number of COVID-19 cases. That's the number of tested, reported cases. Due to our botched testing, we still have no idea of the actual number of cases—except that it'sm larger than the official number.
