Category Archives: Writing

Observations from the Audience

Elvira and I saw Neal Stephenson speak at the Bagdad theater last night here in Portland. We’ve been to several author events hosted by Powell’s over the last few months and without exception they were fun and enlightening. This was … Continue reading

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The Wars That Never Was

In honor of George Lucus picking your pocket again releasing the Star Wars films on Blue Ray, I thought I’d reprint this old essay, where I took the liberty of re-plotting the Star Wars prequels so they didn’t suck. I … Continue reading

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Silencio

Um, wow, 2 weeks of silence. That makes me a bad host, like inviting you to a party at my place and then ignoring you. For 2 weeks. Nothing terribly exciting to report as an excuse, I’m afraid. I’ve just … Continue reading

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All Stories Are Ghost Stories

“To tell a story is always to invoke ghosts, to open a space through which something other returns…” –Julian Wolfrey There’s an absence in the room. A cold spot in a conversation. Everyone present swears they saw something, but what, … Continue reading

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More Human Than Human

Note: This is a bit from the novel in progress that I cut. It’s a little too much of an info dump and I found a better way to convey the same information in half the words, while doing some … Continue reading

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Architecture of the Mind

Over at BLDBLOG, Geoff Manaugh interviews China Mieville about the role of architecture and urban space in science fiction and fantasy. I’d quote a bit but there’s so many great ideas being discussed, I’d end up pasting in the whole … Continue reading

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The Hardest Part About Writing A Novel

Hypothetical people who only exist in my head are constantly asking me, “Keith,what’s the hardest part of writing a Novel?” Well, HPWOEIMH, you’d think it’d be coming up with an interesting plot, or not repeating yourself with descriptive passages or … Continue reading

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Upping the Resolution

It’s a brand new year and so time to make resolutions! But let’s be honest, most resolutions frankly suck. They’re something vague about loosing weight or being a better person or goodwill towards humanity.  You can easily ignore these resolutions … Continue reading

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Dickens in a Dirigible

A few weeks back, Charlie Stross opened a can of virtual worms in this post about the weekpoints of Steampunk as a genre. I observed the hubub from a safe distance (those zeppelin jockies have explosives, man, even if they … Continue reading

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The New Cacophony is Old Again

Dumping this here for later reference.Because I seem to have wandered into that haunted house and want to think more about why the mirror turn the way they do, what flavor of smoke is being used. (Link via Bruce Sterling) … Continue reading

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