The Writing Life

When I was an unpublished novelist, struggling to break through, to find an agent, to find a publisher willing to pay me for the privilege of seeing my work on a store bookshelf, I thought the biggest day of my writing life would be the day of my first sale. And it...

Let there be ants

Imagine you have in your possession a fantastic new game: a programmable, mechanical ant farm. This farm consists of some dirt and water and plants, as well as a few mechanical ants that have tiny programmable brains in them. These ants are also able, by a fun...

Science Thursday

Get this: If you could get in your car and drive to Proxima Centauri, which at four light-years away is the closest star to Earth, it would take you approximately 38,262,857 years to get there, if you drove 70 mph.38,262,857 years? I get bored during the 1-1/2 hour...

The Road to Publication: The Agent Search

If you’re interested in selling a novel, you probably know that finding an agent is the usual first step on the road to publication (after completing the manuscript, of course). The most common way to start the search is to consult the Guide to Literary Agents...

Writing from New York City

I wrote my first short story when I was eleven years old. It was called (I think) “World War III and the Laser Interceptors.” The only reason you write something like that when you’re eleven is because you are genuinely interested in storytelling....

Time to Have an Idea

Recently I was asked by a science-oriented periodical to submit short story for their upcoming fiction supplement. I didn’t have anything suitable to send them, but I would nevertheless like to submit something, which means I have to write a story from scratch....

Driving quiz: Are you a jackhole?

Everyone is required to take an exam before being issued a driver’s license, but there are two problems with this: a) when you’re sixteen, you care a whole lot more about impressing the opposite sex than you care about driving skills, and b) half the shit...

Winner!

In college I met a guy named Brian Weir, who is one of the most competitive and passionate people I’ve ever known. His willingness to do anything, no matter what the sacrifice, makes him a tough competitor. You know the type of guy I’m talking about....

How to pray

I know someone who teaches a class where a recent assignment was this: write out directions for a specific activity of the student’s choice. The following is a verbatim response, and if these directions are accurate, they help explain why my childhood prayers...

We’re not talking about the cat’s pajamas

Some of you may have seen this recipe on the Internet, but how many have actually plunked down the cash to create this work of art? Not many, I’m guessing. So now I’m going to reveal to the few who are interested how to make a kick-ass novelty dessert for...