Tag: writers

  • Sunday Morning Housekeeping: Books, Blogs, Writing, and Writers

    16 Feb 2025 » 2 min read

    Yesterday, without much fanfare, I posted the first of a new series I’m writing called “Shelf-Life.” Each episode in the series is centered around a book on my bookshelf. The inaugural episode centers around Race Against Time by Piers Anthony. I was happy with how it turned out. If this is your cup of tea, check it out.…

  • Remembering Barry N. Malzberg

    31 Jan 2025 » 10 min read

    I. The Passage of the Light Barry N. Malzberg died on December 19, 2024. I got an email from my friend Michael A. Burstein on December 20th alerting me to his passing. Of the many writers I got to know over the years, Barry was the closest thing to a mentor that I had. Each…

  • The John McPhee Exception

    13 Jan 2025 » 2 min read

    I read one thing at a time. That is to say that I read many things through a given day, contemporaneously but not simultaneously. Typically, I am listening to an audiobook (Reagan: His Life and Legend by Max Boot as I write this); and have a paper book on the nightstand (Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion…

  • Thoughts on Substack’s Subscription Model

    27 Jan 2022 » 4 min read

    A few months back, for the first time ever, I paid to read a blog. It was Joe Posnanski’s blog, “Joe’s Blog” on Substack. I absolutely love Joe’s writing. His book, The Baseball 100, was my favorite book of 2021 out of more than 80 books that I read last year. I even managed to…

  • The Hardy Boys

    09 Nov 2007 » 1 min read about Reading & Books

    Working my way through the A’s in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction last night before going to bed, I came across an entry for Harriet Adams which took me by surprise. She was the editor of a publishing syndicate beginning in the 1930s. Quoting from the Encyclopedia, here’s what surprised me: Under a variety of…

  • Protected: Rob’s blog…

    22 Apr 2007 » 1 min read about Science Fiction

    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

  • Thank you’s, part 1

    11 Feb 2007 » 1 min read about Writing & Publishing

    Having sold my first story a few weeks ago, this week I finally got around to sending out some short “thank you” messages to writers who have influenced me and given me encouraging words not to give up over the years. Today I sent a note to Piers Anthony. Growing up (in junior and senior)…

  • Protected: Sometimes it’s crazy who reads this blog!

    31 Dec 2006 » 1 min read about Science Fiction

    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

  • Which science fiction writer are you?

    27 Dec 2006 » 1 min read about Science Fiction

    I came across this on pussreboots blog and I couldn’t resist taking it. Two things: (1) Isaac Asimov is my favorite science fiction writer (so I was pleased with the result); (2) the results weren’t rigged; I took the test once and tried to answer the questions honestly. I am: Isaac Asimov One of the…

  • Rendezvous at Penn Station

    25 Dec 2006 » 2 min read about Writing & Publishing

    It might sound like the title of an Agatha Christie novel, or even some science fiction thriller from the 1950s. But this is, in fact, a true story, though no less dramatic and suspenseful than its fictional counterparts. You see, I can add to the list of science fiction writers I have met. Yesterday, at…

  • Happy Birthday Janet Asimov!

    07 Aug 2006 » 1 min read about Reading & Books

    Today is Janet Asimov’s (widow of Isaac Asimov) 80th birthday. I remembered it was her birthday today because she shares a birthday with science fiction and fantasy writer Piers Anthony. Earlier today, I did a search for Janet Asimov and found that she has just come out with a new book. The new book, put…