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The Big Idea: Veronica G. Henry

Posted on February 2, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi 1 Comment

Author Veronica G. Henry has come up with a library that truly has all the answers, thanks to its ever-evolving AI. Take a tour through The People’s Library in Henry’s Big Idea, and don’t forget to pay your late fees.

VERONICA G. HENRY:

The first time I realized that the past, present, and future can be contained in one essence was when I discovered the library. For in the absence of a more suitable reality, stories can provide a transformative diversion. In quiet moments, when I reflect on seasons of births and deaths and that middle part we call life, I also think of libraries.

I don’t know the when, but I know the where. It was in my hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. that I first wandered into a library. The details are fuzzy, so I’ll flex a little creative muscle. I was an infant, already curious, definitely precocious. Determined even then to pursue the quest for more. Baby me was swathed tight against the winter cold, nestled protectively in my father’s determined arms. He marched through those painted oak double doors and introduced me to a new world and an obsession that persists to this day.

That’s how I like to remember it, anyway.

Though my career initially steered me towards a decidedly more left-brained path, the love of the written word and fate prevailed. I also became an author, one who alternates drafting my novels between home, the occasional coffee shop and yes, libraries. So it was inevitable that someday, I’d pen a story in the magical setting that planted that literary seed so long ago.

Inspiration struck as it occasionally does for me, in the form of an article. The feature extolled a library in Denmark where you could borrow a person instead of a book. Each had a title: unemployed, refugee, bipolar, etc., and in this mutually beneficial exchange, “readers” learned through conversations that challenge you to confront your own prejudice. Was it true? I didn’t much care. Because there, my friends, was my Big Idea.

The People’s Library was in large part, inspired by that article. If that was the kindling, the technical part of my brain supplied the spark. Though familiar to me, artificial intelligence (AI) was still a relatively new concept for the masses when I began writing. That changed faster than anticipated. Much of what we see today is specialized, task-focused systems that mimic human intelligence. However, its evolution, artificial general intelligence (AGI), is the promise of autonomous learning, thinking, and adapting. Think of AI as a really smart single-focus tool and AGI as analogous to the exponentially more complex functionality of a human mind.

This technology became the backbone of my future library. Only there would be no need to borrow a real person, but instead, an AGI replica of some of history’s most fascinating figures. The virtual personage, or virtus as I call them, were born. There was and still is a part of me that is as intrigued as I am terrified by this idea. I didn’t want to write it. That meant without a shadow of a doubt that I had to write it.

As the core idea solidified, I turned my attention to characters. Was there any doubt that my protagonist would be a librarian? Not for a second. She’d be forced to work in this futuristic library that is in direct opposition to everything she believes in. Echo London, anti-tech synesthete became my curator of The People’s Library. To say that she accepted the role with little grace, is an understatement. I drew inspiration from every librarian I’ve ever met and even Regina Anderson Andrews, the first African American woman to lead a NYPL.

As for the rest of the characters, I had to stop myself from thinking about all the fascinating historical figures I’d welcome the opportunity to chat it up with and focus on those who would best serve the narrative. One of the central questions that Echo wrestles with is human consciousness. What defines it, where it originates, how it exists before it finds its way into a human body. I needed a cast of deep thinkers with specialized skillsets to help her along that journey. So as not to introduce any spoilers, I think it’s best to let you discover the rest of the team organically. They were a ton of fun to research and write.

I’ll close with this food for thought. If you were to visit a future library where you could borrow a living, thinking, seemingly exact replica of a historical figure, would you? And if you did, whose consciousness do you wish you could converse with today?

The People’s Library: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powells|Sistah Sci-fi Signed Copy

Author Socials: Website|Bluesky|Instagram

A Scientific Experiment For Your Saturday

Posted on January 31, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi 48 Comments

Though I am a bougie bitch, there’s nothing quite like a mug full of Swiss Miss hot chocolate. I am an especially big fan of their Marshmallow flavor, so you can imagine my shock when I learned about their Marshmallow Lovers flavor that comes with even more dehydrated white chalk block marshmallows.

I’m willing to bet you didn’t even realize there were two different Marshmallow varieties of Swiss Miss to choose from. Aren’t you so glad I taught you something useful?

Anyways, I, as a Marshmallow lover, decided to see which Marshmallow Swiss Miss variety was superior. Were there enough marshmallows in the Marshmallow flavor to sate my love of them, or did I need to purchase the Marshmallow Lovers box?

Using a digital scale and some math (not easy for me), I have come up with some numbers for your consideration.

So, if you went to Kroger right now and were wanting to buy just a regular, standard size pack of hot chocolate, you’d have your choice between an 8-pack of the Marshmallow Swiss Miss, and a 6-pack of the Marshmallow Lovers Swiss Miss. Both are currently listed as selling for $2.99. I’m sure you’re wondering, well why does the lovers pack have two fewer envelopes than the regular Marshmallow pack? It’s actually because each hot chocolate packet in the Marshmallow Lovers box comes attached to a separate packet that contains the marshmallows, whereas the regular Marshmallow packs have the marshmallows in the hot chocolate envelope rather than being a separate entity.

Anyways, I decided to rip each of one open and weigh them out.

I went with the Marshmallow Lovers packet first. After zeroing out a bowl on a digital scale, I dumped only the contents of the hot chocolate packet into the bowl. The powder came out to 40 grams. I then threw in the marshmallows. The total weight was now 45 grams. A whopping 5 grams of marshmallows in the Marshmallow Lovers packet.

I zeroed out a new bowl so there was no residual powder to contribute to the weight of the Marshmallow packet. I dumped it in the new bowl, then carefully removed each marshmallow from the powder so I could weigh the powder alone first. 38 grams of powder. I threw the marshmallows back in. 39 grams.

I could hardly believe my eyes. A measly one gram of marshmallows in the Marshmallow pack? It felt like too little, but if you go for the upgrade of the Marshmallow Lovers, you lose out a whole two envelopes!

If you add it all up, in the entire Marshmallow box, there is 304 grams of hot chocolate, and 8 grams of marshmallows. For the Marshmallow Lovers, we’re looking at 240 grams of hot chocolate, and 30 grams of marshmallows. 25% less powder, but almost 4 times the amount of marshmallows. Is it worth it to buy the Marshmallow Lovers package? It’s tough to say.

Part of me is tempted to buy the Marshmallow Lovers package just so Swiss Miss knows there’s someone out there that loves their marshmallows. They have to see demand if I want them to keep making it, right?

On the other hand, I could just buy regular Swiss Miss and put my own marshmallows in it. I don’t need Swiss Miss to supply me with their little freaky mallows, I can just throw mini Jet-Puffed marshies in any cup of hot chocolate I want, and as many as I want. I am not limited to a mere one or even five grams.

For now, I will drink the Marshmallow one, because the 30-pack of it was selling for a really good price, so it just made sense to get the bulk box. I will absolutely go through it all.

Do you like hot chocolate? What do you like to top yours with? Have you tried the Marshmallow Lovers variety yourself? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

A Conversation Between Scalzi and Kluwe

Posted on January 30, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 6 Comments

Yesterday evening, I and author, political candidate and former NFL player Chris Kluwe got together at Ann Arbor’s Downtown Library to talk about books, libraries, politics and the general state of the world, among other topics. And they recorded it! And put it on the Internet! And you can see it above. The conversation starts at about the 8:50 minute mark and runs about an hour, including audience Q&A. Enjoy.

A Quick Thank You To A Kind Reader!

Posted on January 29, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi 27 Comments

Hey, everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to thank a reader who sent me some very lovely spices from Penzey’s. It really made my day to open a package I wasn’t expecting and get something so awesome!

Two variety boxes of Penzey's spices, each containing eight glass spice jars. Plus one free sample packet!

So many commenters have recommended this spice brand to me, so I’m stoked to try it out finally. Also, I didn’t realize they were glass jars until I actually touched them. The fact that they’re glass just makes them so much better, honestly, like how aesthetic and nice is that?

Gift giving is my love language, so it really means so much to me that someone thought of me enough to send such a kind gift. A truly perfect housewarming gift!

I won’t name them in the post, in case they don’t want the attention, but if it was you please feel free to claim your glory in the comments, you rock!

Can’t wait to whip something up with these spices, especially the more unique ones.

-AMS

The Big Idea: Miles Cameron

Posted on January 29, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi 5 Comments

Author Miles Cameron is here today to introduce you to book number one of his space opera series. Though the first of many to come, there’s plenty of spaceships, drama, and war to go around, so strap in for the Big Idea of Artifact Space.

MILES CAMERON:
In 2018, I was sitting at a small SFF con in London with Alistair Reynolds, one of my favourite all-time Science Fiction authors, and I confess I was being a bit of a fan boy, telling him all about what I loved in his books, and he waited me out and then said something to the effect of ‘I hear you spent time on an aircraft carrier.’ The two of us then chatted away for half an hour about life on a carrier and how much we both thought it might be the closest thing to life on a big spaceship, when my editor (up until then I mostly wrote historical fiction and fantasy) turned around in her seat and said, ‘I’d buy that.’
When you are an author, these are very important words. I marked them down. I began to consider how I’d write a science fiction novel loosely based on ‘life on an aircraft carrier.’ Still, despite my military service, I wasn’t really interested in writing ‘military sci-fi’ per se, and I wrote myself some notes and—did other things.
A year later, I was writing a series of historical novels based in fifteenth century Venice and I became fascinated by the idea that Venice—a maritime state—built enormous (for 1450) galleys that carried on most of the trade with the Islamic world, travelling for months and even years on pre-determined routes that linked far-off lands like England and Egypt. I loved the idea that these Venetian seamen would, in the same trip, see so many disparate societies.
These ships doubled, in time of war, as major fleet elements. The idea of combined trade and military fascinated me, and Venice fascinates me still, and there it was—Great Galleys, like spaceborn aircraft carries, on long trade missions to the stars. I mean, there it was, except that it lacked a story.
I have a belief that art makes art; some of my best ideas have come to me while watching a good live play, an opera, a ballet, or a movie. I’m not sure exactly why; there’s an element fo free-association to watching people perform, I suppose—but it always works for me, and in the case of Artifact Space I was watching Florence Pugh in ‘Little Women,’ the last time I went out before COVID and lockdown here in Toronto. I sat there, watching this wonderful performance of one of my favourite books from childhood, and suddenly it was all there. I knew how I would design the human sphere to reflect Venetian trade routes; I saw how I could have the book start in a futuristic Saint Mark’s Square (the heart of Medieval Venice) and I suddenly saw my protagonist and the arc of her story. I think one of the problems of my first ‘Big Idea’ was that the aircraft carrier wasn’t a story—it was an idea. Venice in space was an idea. Both were backdrops on the way to world building. I have the good fortune to be a second-generation author, and one of my father’s favourite sayings was ‘an idea is not a book.’ True words. The aircraft carrier was not a book. Even the idea of Venice in space was not a book.
But Marca Nbaro is a protagonist with a back story and a future arc, and putting her, via Florence Pugh playing Amy March, aboard a ten-kilometre spaceship trading with aliens—it all came in a second. I knew Marca, I knew where she was going and I knew the set of secrets at the heart of the series that would drive the action. I could see the events–alien contact, Artificial Intelligence and its possible flaws, and the difficulties of a trade empire suddenly forced to act as a polity in the face of threat and change.
Good stuff. Other writers have been there before; I’m a huge fan of C.J. Cherryh and she won a Hugo writing on similar themes in Downbelow Station, one of my favourite books of all time. But I had one more ‘Big Idea’ to toss into the mix, because politics interests me and we live, right now, in ‘Interesting Times.’ I wanted humanity to be trapped in someone else’s war, bit players in a larger play, forced to make society-altering decisions just to survive. I wanted to show change, the sort of change people my age have already seen sweeping over us; technological change, societal change, political change.
Interstellar trade, giant spaceships with thousands of crew, massive political change, Alien contact, and one somewhat battered orphan trying to find her place in the universe. Sitting in the theater as the lights came up, it was, I promise you, all one Big Idea.

Artifact Space: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powell’s

Author socials: Website|Bluesky|Instagram

Protest Music From Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg

Posted on January 28, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 28 Comments

When the history of the moment is said and done, there are going to be people who wished they had been on the same side as Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg, and some who will lie that they had always been. But they will know the truth, and so will others. It won’t be forgotten.

— JS

The Big Idea: Salinee Goldenberg

Posted on January 28, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi

When you have two great ideas, why not have them work together to get the best of both worlds in one story? Author Salinee Goldenberg decided to do just that for her new novel, Way of the Walker. Enjoy hearing about her process of combining these ideas in her Big Idea.

SALINEE GOLDENBERG:

‘In its bare reality, decolonization reeks of red-hot cannonballs and bloody knives. For the last can be the first only after a murderous and decisive confrontation between the two protagonists. This determination to have the last move up to the front, to have them clamber up (too quickly, say some) the famous echelons of an organized society, can only succeed by resorting to every means, including, of course, violence.’

-Franz Fanon, The Wretched of The Earth 1961

There were two ravenous wolves of ideas within me when I sat down to write Way of the Walker. In one corner, we have an anti-colonialist war epic inspired by the late Rattanakosin era of Siam and the surrounding conquest of Southeast Asia by western powers. In the other, a character study, an anti-hero saga starring our headstrong protagonist Isaree, an estranged phi hunter on a journey of self discovery, defined by her uncompromising morals and a mission to administer the justice she sees absent in the world.

These two Big Ideas circled the story, which at times, frantically evaded capture, a juicy, nimble deer that refused to be devoured completely by one or the other. I needed to force my two hungry wolves to politely share this meal — to collaborate on its consumption in a viably publishable amount of words. Even though Way of the Walker is a stand alone, the real life inspiration behind the world of Suyoram began with my first novel, The Last Phi Hunter, a dark fantasy adventure inspired by Thai culture, folklore, Buddhism, and mythology. I didn’t want just a snapshot into a fantastical world, I wanted it to feel alive. A living world breathes, grows, dies, evolves… so I explored the effects of modernization in rural lands, the nostalgia of fading traditions, the death of mysticism, the yearning for a life that never was. I dipped my toe into the historical inspirations behind the world of Suyoram, but for the heavy themes in Way of the Walker, there was no shallow end to wade into. I had to dive in headfirst.

Something that deeply interested me has always been how Thailand avoided colonization throughout the centuries as competing European powers descended upon the resource rich region and violently established control. Fortuitously, Siam’s geographical location served as a buffer between the British Empire and French Indochina, but Monkut and his heir Chulalongkorn (King Rama IV and V, respectively) realized that subjugation would be inevitable without drastic action.

They educated their nobility overseas, adapted western fashions and architecture, and passed democratic legal and social practices, to the extent that some historians contend that Siam “colonized itself” in order to be perceived as culturally equal by the encroaching imperialists. Through territorial concessions, policy reforms, and diplomatic ingenuity, Siam remained independent, and the name of the country was eventually changed to Thailand in 1939 — “Thai” literally translating to “free.”

However inspiring this was, I wasn’t interested in writing a court intrigue dense with complicated political discussions. I wanted action, magic, murder, romance, mayhem! So the historical set up was only a jumping off point for the second wolf to come in. The “Grisland” antagonists in Way of the Walker are a conglomeration of western-coded oppressors, and I pulled more inspiration from struggles for sovereignty not only from other Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Malaysia, but from all around the world — Algeria, Cuba, Bolivia, Kenya, Palestine, and more — no colonized peoples are ever alone.

Revolutions arise from the oppressed, the working class, the people, which the protagonists from both books are — but Ex from The Last Phi Hunter wasn’t the right lead for this story. His daughter Isaree, however, has grown up in the shadow of atmospheric violence, and was the natural evolution for this point of history. The injustices she witnesses and a crisis of faith drive her to seek answers, to seek power, and ultimately, to strike back at the oppressors, despite the personal cost. She’s heroic, but flawed, and not without limitations.

The worst of these limitations was a narratively practical one. Isaree is a viciously fun character to write, but she’s all predator, instinct and raw power, with one foot into the world of devas and spirits, but can’t tell a treaty from a roll of toilet paper. How do I dig into the meat of a decolonialist narrative if the protagonist has no framework for geopolitics, or international trade wars, or, well… that’s where the Big Idea splits into a secondary POV — the renegade prince sent to kill her, as a favor to appease the king’s allies. With this insider view, we see what Frantz Fanon calls the “colonist bourgeoisie” perspective, which was the mediator bridge I needed, and made for great drama.

I had big ideas for this novel, but it’s something I’ve wanted to explore for years, and I was hungry for it. When I made the last edits, and the pass pages went to print, I can honestly say my appetite was satiated, and I settled in for a two-day victory nap. So if you’re itching for an action-packed fantasy war epic with an angry yet hopeful bichaotic protagonist, and big contemplations of what it means to punch up with a fist full of magic and a heart full of rage, go check it out.

Way of the Walker: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Books-A-Million|Bookshop|Powell’s

Author socials: Website|Instagram

My Minor Annoyance Of The Day

Posted on January 27, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi 16 Comments

I ordered some Valentine’s themed goods from Michael’s recently, including these heart print champagne flutes. I ordered these because they’re actually made of glass and all other V-Day themed “glasses” I found were actually acrylic, and also way too expensive for plastic fucking cups. How are you going to charge almost ten dollars per “glass” when they’re plastic? Yet these actual glasses were four dollars. Wild.

Anyways, lucky me, two of them arrived shattered:

Two completely shattered champagne flutes sitting on a granite countertop.

(Ignore the multiple packs of Liquid Death in the background, I was trying to fit the cans in the fridge. And YES I like Liquid Death, I don’t care if it’s kind of cringe marketing.)

If you follow my dad on Bluesky or Instagram, you might have seen not too long ago he posted that three of the four (much nicer) champagne glasses he ordered arrived completely broken:

View this post on Instagram

Thankfully, he was able to get a refund, but it was genuinely a hassle. My refund for my two much cheaper glasses was a lot easier, and now a whopping seven dollars is back in my bank account.

Look, this post isn’t about getting refunds or being disappointed by broken glasses, it’s about the fact that somebody needs to start a delivery company that specializes in fragile packages and doesn’t just fastball your package at your front door. You can put “fragile” stickers on a package all you want and that mail carrier is still going to treat it like how airline workers treat your three hundred dollar suitcase. Aka NOT GOOD.

I’m serious, if there were a delivery company that guaranteed careful handling and extra care to get your goods to you in one piece, I’d be thrilled. I’m gonna start needing white glove delivery on every single package at this rate because I’m tired of hearing my package sound like a maraca when I bring it inside.

So, there you have it. My minor annoyance of the day. I shall live.

-AMS

The Big Idea: A.C. Wise

Posted on January 27, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi

We’re all just trying to be good people, and sometimes in that journey we make mistakes. Perhaps the same goes for ghosts, as author A. C. Wise suggests in the Big Idea for her newest novel, Ballad of the Bone Road. Fae queens, paranormal detectives, and famous Hollywood ghosts, oh my!

A. C. WISE:

The big idea behind The Ballad of the Bone Road started out as several small ideas. The names Brix and Bellefeather made their way into my head and struck me as the perfect names for a pair of supernatural investigators. Around the same time, the line “When I was twelve years old, I met the Devil in an oak tree,” popped into my head. Finally, misheard song lyrics put the image in my mind of two young lovers in a hotel room summoning a ghost and becoming a throuple.

Those three bits of inspiration may not have happened in that exact order, but they happened close enough to each other that it seemed reasonable to me that they would all be part of the same story. The big idea then became a question – how do these pieces fit together? How do I get all these people in the same place and how best to complicate their lives?

While the original line about meeting the Devil in an oak tree didn’t survive fully intact, I realized it was a fundamental part of Bellefeather’s backstory and why she makes the choices she does throughout the novel. Brix, then, would obviously meet the lovers and get caught up in their haunting, which turns out to be far more complicated than any of them could have anticipated.

My previous two novels, Wendy, Darling and Hooked, are a duology of sorts, inspired by Peter Pan. I wanted Ballad of the Bone Road to be something different, but there are certain themes that carry across all three works, namely characters making bad choices in response to trauma. At their core, the characters in all three novels (with the possible exception of James aka Captain Hook) are mostly trying to be good people and do the right thing, but they make a fair number of missteps along the way. They hurt those around them by holding on too tight or by pushing them away; they let fear drive them until it forces their hands and they discover they know how to be brave.

Ballad of the Bone Road is inspired, to a certain degree, by the glamor of the silver screen, an art deco aesthetic, and stories of the fae that depict them as inhumanly lovely and dangerous in equal measures. There are also ghosts, of course there are ghosts, but what happens when a haunting is accidental and more melancholy than malicious? Instead of driving out their ghosts, what if those experiencing the haunting were doing everything they could to hold on?

Even if the initial ideas may have been small and disparate ones, they all came together in the end, and I’m pleased with the questions the book poses and the ways the characters respond to the situations they find themselves facing. They are flawed and imperfect and human – even when they’re not exactly human – and most of them are just trying to do the best they can.

Ballad of the Bone Road: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Forbidden Planet|Waterstones

Author socials: Website

The Best Lunch Deal Around: Amar India North Restaurant

Posted on January 26, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi 8 Comments

So often I write about extravagant, expensive dinners and specialty dining events, but today I’m here to tell you of an absolutely banging bargain lunch.

I love Indian food, but it’s scarce to come by in my area. The closest establishment to me is Amar India Restaurant, and it’s actually its north location in Vandalia rather than its original location in Centerville, which is considerably further south from me.

Amar India North has a lunch menu that starts out at a mere ten dollars, and only goes up to about fifteen dollars if you get one of the more expensive dishes like the lamb curry. There’s also chicken curry, chicken tikka masala, I think a fish curry, and the one I always get, saag paneer.

Once you pick your main, it comes with rice, naan, their vegetable of the day, and a small dessert. This is what the saag paneer platter looks like:

A stainless steel platter with different sections, one filled with rice and the naan on the side, one containing the dessert, one holding the vegetable of the day, and of course a section holding the saag paneer.

Two pieces of plain naan, rice, a big ol’ portion of saag paneer, pointed gourd as the vegetable of the day, and two jalebi for the dessert. I have had this platter three times and each time the vegetable has been different, but never the dessert, which is a shame because I’d love to try some of their other desserts, especially the kulfi and Gulab jamun.

It may not look like much saag paneer but I can assure you it’s a generous portion size for the price. I’m pretty sure the saag paneer platter in particular is thirteen dollars, plus I always get a mango lassi, which is $4.50, so in total I’m spending less than twenty dollars for a very filling and very delicious lunch! I truly think this is such a good deal and you get to support a local business.

I know the Centerville location used to have a lunch buffet. I don’t know if they still do but I’d like to make it down there sometime soon to see for myself. There’s also a Beavercreek location under the name Jeet India Restaurant, so I’ll have to check that out next time I’m in the area.

I just had this meal on Friday but now I’m already craving it again after telling y’all about it. Especially the mango lassi, I really could drink a gallon of that stuff.

Oh, and while you’re at Amar North, they just opened an Indian grocery store right next to the restaurant called Anand Indian Grocery. I popped in there on my latest visit to the restaurant and they have a huge selection of items, including specialty produce and cooking ingredients like ghee and tons of spices, plus the biggest bags of rice you’ve ever seen.

They also have tons of fun and unique snacks and sweets, and even ice cream flavors I’ve never heard of.

If you’re in the Dayton area, I highly recommend making it out to Amar North for their lunch special sometime this week. It’s between the hours of 11am and 2pm. I think I’ll go again tomorrow for a nice solo lunch.

Do you recommend any lunch specials in the Dayton area? Are you also a big saag paneer fan? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

The Travel Gods Demanded a Sacrifice

Posted on January 26, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 28 Comments

I was away this weekend visiting a friend and seeing a concert, and my return home was delayed a day because of the weekend snowstorm. Heading back, I managed to avoid the crash on the I-70 that closed all the eastbound lanes of the interstate, but as you see, that luck came at a price: Immediately upon returning home my boots de-soled. The travel gods, apparently, needed a sacrifice.

These boots, as it happens, are nearly twenty years old, so the sacrifice was reasonable. It wasn’t like I had just gotten these shoes. In fact, the fact they were twenty years old was probably why they became a sacrifice; after two decades, the glue had clearly desiccated into nothingness. I can’t complain. I got good value out of these boots. The travel gods may take them to Shoehalla with my blessing.

In other news, I need new boots; there’s a ton of snow on the ground and my Sketchers are not gonna handle that. A-shoppin’ I will go.

— JS

Minnesota In My Thoughts

Posted on January 24, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 16 Comments

I’m away and mostly offline this weekend but I’m seeing the news. Minnesota, you deserve so much better than what this government is doing to you.

— JS

BEHOLD I AM OLD

Posted on January 23, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 47 Comments

Today there was an ache in my knee even though I had not particularly exerted myself, and I wondered what that was about when it hit me: There was a storm coming. I am now one of those people who can tell when a storm is coming by aches and pains.

Excuse me, I’m going to go lay down in my grave now.

— JS

A Very Mid Attempt To Incorporate More Protein Into My Dinner

Posted on January 22, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi 30 Comments

I have never been one to care too much about the amount of protein a meal has, but sometimes I see a recipe on Instagram that boasts low calories and high protein and actually looks good, and I find myself tempted to try them out. I mean, if I can eat something healthy-ish and it tastes good, then it’s a win-win, right?

So, after seeing this Buffalo Chicken Hot Pocket recipe, I decided to give it a shot. It seemed like as good a place as any to start with higher protein meals.

View this post on Instagram

Even though the recipe looks long, it’s all pretty simple ingredients, though I did have to go buy quite a few.

So let’s talk about how “quick and easy” it was to make this, how much I had to buy to make it, the time it took, how many dishes it made, and if it actually tasted good.

Diving right in, the first thing was acquiring the ingredients. I shopped at Kroger.

First up, I had to buy a pack of chicken, which ended up being Simple Truth Natural Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Family Pack for $16.52. I used all this chicken even though it was a big ol’ family pack. Next was Sweet Baby Ray’s Mild Buffalo Wing Sauce for $4.29. I used almost the entire bottle. A block of Philadelphia Reduced Fat Cream Cheese was $3.49. The recipe only needed about a fourth of the block. The recipe calls for a 0% fat Greek yogurt, so I picked Oikos Triple Zero Plain Greek Yogurt, which has zero added sugar, zero artificial sweeteners, and is zero percent fat with eighteen grams of protein (per 6oz serving). I used most of the 32oz container, which was $6.79.

Though I have all-purpose flour, bread flour, and gluten-free flour, I did not have self-rising flour, so I bought King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour in a five pound bag for $6.29. For the mozzarella, I usually like Sargento’s shredded mozzarella because it’s the only whole milk one I tend to find, but since the recipe specifies a fat free mozzarella, I just went with Kroger Low-Moisture Part Skim shredded mozzarella in the 4-cup size bag for $3.99. I picked Jack’s Special Mild Salsa for my “tomato salsa” which was $4.99 but I have most of the container left over. I also bought Simple Truth Organic Chives for $2.49. And last but not least I bought a Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning 1oz packet for a whopping $2.39.

I had Daisy brand cottage cheese on hand already, both the whole milk version and the low-fat version, but for this recipe I used the whole milk type since it didn’t specify. Oh, and I used actual whole milk for the quarter cup of fat-free milk it calls for. You’ll just have to live with my substitution.

So, in total, I spent $51.24 on stuff for just this one recipe. I always say you can’t cook dinner without spending fifty bucks, and boy oh boy does that remain true. I swear it’s a literal constant in my life.

Moving on from cost, the first thing to do was to add a bunch of stuff into the Crockpot and let it get cooking. That part was really easy, you just throw the chicken in and add all the spices and whatnot on top, give it a mix and let it cook on high for a couple hours. The only dishes I used for this portion were measuring spoons and a measuring cup. Disclaimer: I did not add the white onion, therefore I saved myself from using a knife and cutting board.

While that was cooking, I blended all the ingredients for the sauce together. I only have a very tiny portable blender meant for protein shakes and smoothies on the go (don’t ask why because I don’t even know), so I had to do it in three or four batches, which meant I mixed everything together in a bowl and then put a couple ladles worth into the blender, blended it and dumped the blended mixture into a separate bowl. Due to my unnecessary steps, you probably will not make as many dirty dishes as I did here. Or as much of a mess on your countertop.

After the sauce was completed, I got to work on the dough. This part was definitely the most time consuming, partially because I decided to be precise and weigh out my ten dough balls to make sure they were perfectly equal. The dough took some work to come together, but after enough kneading, it got there. This portion of the recipe really only took a measuring cup and a bowl, plus the rolling pin to roll out the dough. I set my dough discs aside.

Finally, when the chicken was cooked through, I was very surprised by how much liquid there was in the Crockpot. In the video, when he goes to shred the chicken after its time in the Crockpot, it’s completely dry. I was perplexed why there was liquid in mine, especially when I actually used 100g more chicken breast than the recipe called for. I didn’t want to add my creamy sauce to it while there was so much watery liquid, but I also didn’t want to dump the liquid out of the Crockpot and waste all the flavor that was probably in there.

So, I got to work shredding the chicken to see if it would absorb more as I went. Sure enough, the liquid did reduce quite a bit after the shredding, which took forever and gave my arms a workout. I decided to let the chicken and liquid keep cooking with the lid off for a little bit to see if some of the liquid would cook off or evaporate, and when it finally got decently reduced, I went ahead and added the creamy sauce mixture and all the mozzarella cheese.

It ended up shaping up nicely, and looked like the mixture in the video. All in all, it worked out, it just took extra time. To be fair, the video said cook on high for 2-3 hours and I only did two since the chicken was up to temp.

For the dough discs, I definitely overstuffed the first one, and some of the filling spilled out into the skillet while cooking it. After the hot pocket had been thoroughly browned on both sides, I figured it was done, but when I cut into it, the dough hadn’t cooked all the way through. Though the outside was brown and crispy, the inside was pretty much raw dough. If it had been cooked any longer, though, the outside would’ve burned. I wasn’t sure how to get the inside fully cooked without burning the outside, so this was certainly a predicament.

Plus, my hot pockets were much more oddly shaped than the ones in the video. I couldn’t get a consistent shape and kept second guessing how much filling to put in. It also was pretty time consuming trying to form the hot pockets, and I ended up tearing like two of them. I was definitely frustrated by now, it felt like nothing was working out and I was messing everything up.

After taking a breather and finally eating one of the hot pockets that was cooked through mostly well enough, I am sad to report it was pretty mid. It was fine, but definitely not as good as I had hoped, and definitely not worth fifty dollars and a few hours of work. Though if you consider the fact you get ten hot pockets out of this recipe, it’s only five dollars per hot pocket if you spend fifty on ingredients. I guess that’s not too bad, but I think my feelings of disappointment overshadowed the value of being able to freeze the majority for later.

I will say that there was a pretty decent amount of the chicken filling leftover, whether it’s because I filled the hot pockets the wrong amount or not remains to be seen, but I did like putting the leftover chicken mixture in a tortilla instead. Honestly my main issue with this recipe was the dough. Having the chicken mixture by itself or in a different carb vehicle actually improved my eating experience, I think.

So I would say if you make this recipe, don’t make the dough, and just find something else to put the chicken in, or eat it by itself. Though, there will be less protein in the recipe since the dough was made with protein yogurt. I think that’s worth the trade, though.

Overall, I don’t think I’ll be making this recipe again, but it wasn’t terrible or anything.

Do you like Buffalo chicken? Have you tried Oikos protein yogurt in any of their sweeter/fruitier flavors? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

The Music Studio 2.0

Posted on January 21, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 11 Comments

Some of you will remember that as a pandemic project I went and made a music studio in my basement. It was a lot of fun, and very cool — but too cool, as our basement is endemically cold, even in the summer, and spending more than a half hour in there is liable to set one’s teeth a-chatter. It ended up limiting the amount I used my studio area; for the last in year in particular I was more likely to record something at my kitchen’s center island than I was in my studio space in my basement.

Fast forward to today, and now I have a new set-up, in the room that was previously Athena’s bedroom. She doesn’t need the room anymore — she has a whole house now — and the room is nicely heated (and in the summer, cooled) and also literally ten feet from my current home office. I’ve done an initial setup, which you can see above. There’s more to be done, including bringing up some more musical equipment from the basement, most notably the drumset, but the setup here is good enough to start recording.

That is, once I get the current novel done. First things first. I consider this a bit of motivation.

— JS

Ne Zha 2: The Best Movie You Haven’t Heard Of

Posted on January 21, 2026 Posted by Athena Scalzi 25 Comments

It would stand to reason that the highest-grossing animated film of all time would be more well-known, yet it seems that Ne Zha 2 remains unknown to practically every single person I’ve talked to about it. It’s especially wild to think how many people have never even heard of the film when you consider the fact that it’s #5 on the list of highest-grossing movies of all time, right underneath Avatar and its sequel, Avengers: Endgame, and Titanic.

Not only did Ne Zha 2 become the king of all animated movies, but sits proudly in the top five of all movies. Is that not absolutely wild? So why is no one talking about it?

And I know you’re probably thinking, well of course people are talking about it, haven’t you seen all the articles over it in The New York Times, seen the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, etc.?

Listen, journalists don’t count as people. What I mean when I say no one is talking about it, is if you go into work and you ask your coworker Becky if she’s seen any good movies lately, chances are she’s not saying she threw on Ne Zha 2 with original Chinese audio.

If you walk up to literally anyone on the street and ask “have you heard of Avengers: Endgame or perhaps Titanic?” chances are not only have they heard of it, they’ve probably seen it. So why is it not the same answer when you ask if they’ve heard of Ne Zha?

Anyways, I’m here to tell you about this incredible film, since I’m guessing even if you’ve heard of it, you might not have seen it yet, as it’s only available through streaming on HBO Max (and there’s no Chinese audio if you watch it on there).

Ne Zha 2 is an absolutely amazing film with the most spectacular animation and passion behind it. It is a true feast for your eyes, with practically every moment being worthy of being a desktop background. So often I found myself saying “oh my god that’s absolutely insane” in regards to the art and animation. Even if the story was downright terrible (which it isn’t), it would still be worth sitting through the almost two and half hours of the movie just for the art.

While I do really like Ne Zha, its sequel is better in every way. Ne Zha 2 has less childish humor that the first one suffers from, a more intricate and interesting story, develops its characters and their relationships better, and of course, superior animation.

Ne Zha is one of those movies where the last half hour makes sitting through the first hour of the film worth it, where as Ne Zha 2 is all gas no brakes. Ne Zha 2 had my jaw on the floor the entire time.

I want to talk about the story, but I don’t know how I can without just spoiling the entire movie! It’s such a… let’s say, involved plot. There’s a lot going on, and if you’re unfamiliar with Chinese mythos and gods, it can feel sort of overwhelming. Almost like when you start reading a high fantasy novel and you’re having a hard time keeping all the proper nouns straight in your head.

I honestly find it easier to keep names and places straight when the subtitles are on (which, if you watch it in Chinese, chances are you’ll probably have them on anyways).

I personally prefer the original Chinese, as I find the mouths not matching up with the English dub distracting and a lot of lines are delivered oddly in an attempt to make the mouths fit the words better.

One of the reasons I love Ne Zha and its sequel is because of its originality. So many movies that come out these days are revivals of old franchises, “live-action” remakes of old classics, and just stuff we’ve seen a hundred times before. Ne Zha and Ne Zha 2 feel so much more unique and interesting than any animated movies has felt for me in a long time.

I find it unfortunate that truly the only reason it feels like no one has heard of it is because it’s a foreign film. That’s really all it comes down to is that it’s a Chinese film, and Americans don’t consume a lot of foreign media. America pumps out so much media that foreign gems can sometimes get lost in translation.

I’ve been intentionally vague about the plot this whole time because it really feels like something you should just experience without knowing too much about it. It’s a wild ride, and one I went into pretty blind, and recommend the same for you.

If you want to watch it with the Chinese original audio with English subtitles, my best recommendation is to buy it on YouTube since HBO Max only has the English dub. I know, it sucks buying movies on YouTube, mostly because they can remove it from your library at any time and you don’t get your money back, but this is unfortunately the era of streaming monopolies and whatnot that we live in. Consuming media is difficult even though that’s all any company wants us to do.

Have you seen Ne Zha or Ne Zha 2? Did you manage to catch either in theaters? Are there any foreign films you like that you feel like most people haven’t heard of? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

Reminder: Scammers Are Out There Pretending to Be Me (and Other Authors as Well)

Posted on January 20, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 27 Comments

Three times in the last week I’ve gotten inquiries from authors, about email from an account purporting to be me. This account praised their book in a very “AI” fashion and tried to get them to write back to the account, with the end goal, no doubt, of scamming them out of money via “marketing services” or some such. These authors, quite reasonably, wanted to confirm that the email they got sent was a scam.

I was happy to confirm it, and was happy that they checked rather than allow themselves to be taken in. Nevertheless, this is one of those times where it will be useful to have a post dealing with it that I can point people to (and other people can point people to as well). So here it is, in convenient list form.

1. If I were going to contact you, about anything, it would be from my actual email address and not any other. If you get an email from “me” from any other domain, it’s not me. If you’re not sure, even though I just told you now, you can email me at my actual address and I will tell you. Actually what I will probably do is link you to this post. Hi! You’re not the first person to have a scam attempted on them!

(If you do get a suspicious email that appears to be from my actual address, and you want to double-check: one, make sure the actual reply address matches mine, and two, you can send me a brand new email, not as a reply, saying “hey, was this really from you?” I don’t mind you checking.)

2. No, I almost certainly have not contacted you to tell you privately how great your book is. I probably haven’t read your book (sorry) unless I’ve been contacted by your publisher/editor/publicist about the possibility of blurbing it. If that’s the case, the blurb would be going through that channel, not to you directly.

Conversely, if I don’t like your book, I’m not going to email you about that, either, because I’m not that kind of asshole. Similarly, I will never email you offering suggestions about how to make the work better, because that’s not my job, and also the book is already published, it’s too late for that.

The point of the scam person buttering you up (or negging you, depending) is to get you to start a conversation where they will segue into offering a “service” of some kind, which would entail you sending money, and them taking it and running off with it. Don’t fall for any of that.

3. If I had read your book outside of blurbing and thought it was terrific, it’s extremely unlikely I would contact you directly about it, and not just because I couldn’t be bothered to track down your email. What I would do is praise it publicly, through this site and/or social media. Why publicly instead of privately? Because that’s what would do the most good for you — to tell other people they should look out for your work, and maybe even buy it. That’s how you help other writers in the age of social media: Tell people about them.

4. Outside of you (or anyone else) purchasing my books, I neither want nor need your money. Likewise I don’t use any publishing, marketing or promotion services outside of my publishers. Additionally, I myself do not offer any editing/consulting services directly to other writers. To top it all off, I would never ever just randomly pull up in your email about any of the above. I am both too lazy, and have too much to do, for any of that. So if you see “me” doing any of that crap, it’s not me.

5. Nearly all of the above can be applied to pretty much any “big name” writers that scammers will impersonate to gain your trust and from there, your money. You know what, most of us just don’t have time for individual outreach, and if we did, we’re not going to segue into trying to offer you publishing-related services. We have books to write and our own things to deal with.

Now, some authors do offer consulting, or do workshops, or other things. What they are not likely to do, and what should be a red flag for you, is track you down individually and offer that service directly. They will do it via their sites, or announcements through social media, or through their newsletters, etc. Beware that “personal outreach.”

6. I don’t typically encourage writers to use “AI” for anything — do your own work, it’s better that way — but here’s one thing you can do: Go to ChatGPT, or Gemini, or any other “AI,” and enter the following prompt: “Write me an email to [Your Name] telling them in no more than 150 words how awesome their book [Your Book Title] is.” Put in your name and your book title where directed, and hit enter. There, now you have an idea a) what “AI” praise looks like, so you will recognize it in a scam email, b) how fast a scammer can now produce an individualized piece of praise.

It feels good to get praise! It feels even better to get praise from someone who is, to some degree or another, successful in the field! This is why these scammers do this. They want to get past your defenses and aim for your money. The better you understand how this fake “praise” is generated, and how quickly it can be generated, the better armed you will be against it.

7. Does it feel like a scam? It’s a scam. Are you not sure if it’s a scam? It’s a scam. Absolutely certain it’s not a scam? My friend, I have some real bad news for you.

8. This should in no way preclude you, as a writer or a fan (or both!), from sending a nice email to a writer telling them how much you enjoyed their work. Write it yourself — don’t have an “AI” do it, come on now — and I recommend being brief. It is actually nice for writers to get positive email about their work from real people.

Likewise, if you are a writer, you don’t have to mistrust every complimentary email you get. In a short enough time, it becomes clear which emails are from actual people, and which ones are “AI”-generated scams (hint: the real emails tend to be more endearingly awkward). But if that “big name” shows up in your email box, it’s not only okay to give it heightened scrutiny, it’s actually necessary to do it.

— JS

A Photo of Johnscalzi, No, Not Me, the Minor Planet

Posted on January 17, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 21 Comments

It comes courtesy of the Cline Observatory at Guilford College (I have used Photoshop here to lower the noise in the image and to raise the relative brightness of the asteroid). The folks there took it as a challenge to find the minor planet with my name on it (figurately, not literally), and having located what looks to be it, compared the image to an earlier image of the same patch of sky to make sure that what they thought as the asteroid was indeed wandering through. Johnscalzi is currently at magnitude 17 (extremely dim), so the fact they managed to image it at all is kind of remarkable.

If you’re looking for it yourself, it’s currently in the vicinity of the constellation of Leo, near the lion’s butt. The precise location, for this or any other day, can be had by going here, then clicking on the “Ephemeris” link near the top, and having done that, clicking the “generate ephemeris” button at the page you’re taken to. It’ll then generate all the information you need to find it. That said, again, it’s at about magnitude 17 right now, so you’ll need a big telescope, or the ability to do time-lapse image stacking, or, probably both.

I have neither at the moment, so I’m thrilled that the folks at the Cline Observatory took a little bit of time out their evening to give it view. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m hugely thrilled to have a minor planet named for me. Being able to see it, even just a little, is also hugely thrilling.

— JS

The Charm, Such As It Is, of the Charmera

Posted on January 16, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 19 Comments

Kodak did a brisk business over the holidays with their meme camera, the Charmera, which is tiny enough to fit on a key chain and takes deeply lofi photos, especially in low light. But it cost $30 and as it happens I do need a keychain, so I thought I would try one out and see what I thought.

Inasmuch as every camera must be inaugurated with a picture of a cat, here is the very first photo out of the camera:

And here is a picture of me, with said camera, in my bathroom mirror.

These pictures are pretty terrible! But admittedly they are also inside my house where the lighting is not great. What happens when we go outside?

Nope, still pretty terrible.

Which is to be expected, as this thing comes with a 1.6 megapixel sensor (1440×1080), and the sensor itself is likely the size of a pinhead. You’re not taking pictures with this camera for high fidelity. You’re taking them for glitchy lo-res fun, in as good of lighting as you can get. This also had video, at the same resolution, but you know what, I’m not even going to bother.

In addition to the primary color mode the Charmera has other “fun” modes including ones that add frame and goofy pixel art to your picture, which, you know, okay, why not. You need to bring along your own micro memory card, and it’s a real pain in the ass to get it in, so you will probably never take it out (you can connect it to your computer via USB, which is also how it’s charged), but once it’s in you can take effectively infinite number of pictures because the individual image files are so small.

The UI is not great, the little screen on the back of the camera is too tiny to be of much use, and quite honestly I’m not sure what the use case of this thing is, other than to have it, and possibly give it to an 8-year-old so they can run around taking pictures without running the risk of them damaging anything valuable, like your phone or a real camera.

But, I mean, as long as you know all that going in, yeah, it’s kind of fun. And for $30(ish) bucks, not a huge outlay for trendily pixellated photos. I’ve made worse purchases recently.

— JS

The Academy Is…: 2005

Posted on January 14, 2026 Posted by John Scalzi 5 Comments

The Academy Is…, one of my favorite bands from this century (and yes, I feel old just typing that out), has recorded their first new album in eighteen years, titled Almost There, and will be putting it out in March. In the meantime, here is the first single from the album, “2005,” which is a paean both to that year and still being around more than 20 years later. Speaking as someone whose debut novel came out in 2005: Feel it.

Also if you want to preorder the album and merch, they have a shop.

— JS

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