Arriving Early with Assholes

To make sense of today’s blog post, you’ll need to first go purchase and read Kevin Kelly’s magnificent book What Technology Wants. And really, you should be reading that instead of coming here anyway. It’s one of those marvelous books that reshapes how you see the past, present, and future. You’re back? That was fast. Now that you’ve read the book you know its central premise, which is that…

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WonderCon 2024 Schedule

WonderCon Anaheim is right around the corner, and I’ll be wandering around most days trying to figure out where my next panel might be. So come give me directions! Places and times to find me: Friday:11:30am – Author Signing Area – Special Guest Signing Bring books / comics / whatevs. I’ll bring sharpies. Saturday:11:30am – Room 208 – “Writing: From Earth and Beyond” SciFi authors talking…

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Attention is a Muscle

Most moments slip by, barely noticed. Our bodies are not optimized for constant delight; they are built for survival. And the more comfortable we get — the more we fall into routine — the more our bodies and minds are able to relax and go into auto. This is why the first time you drive your first car down a country road feels so much different than the 40th time you drive that same route to and…

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Beacon 23 Season 2!

Lots of reporting this weekend about another season of Beacon 23! The first season is wrapped, and MGM+ has released a teaser for what’s in store for next year. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/beacon-23-renewed-for-season-2-mgm-1235759778/ https://tvline.com/news/beacon-23-season-2-release-date-cast-spoilers-mgm-plus-1235100479/ Also happy to report that SILO is filming again on…

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Signed Books for a Limited Time!

The “too long, didn’t watch all your YouTube video” version (TLDWAYYV): I have a very limited number of books lying about, and so Shay created a website to sell these to you all! These are for the collector / gift-giver and are priced due to rarity (first printings, first editions, out-of-print editions, etc.) Shipping within the US only, unfortunately. We will try to get these out as soon as…

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A Common Misunderstanding

I recently attended an interview with the great filmmaker and writer Werner Herzog over at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. It was a wide-ranging discussion full of insights and laughs, with Werner being his usual charming and quirky self. But he said one thing that I disagree with, something that I’ve heard several times before. He lamented the extinction of human language. He went so far as to say…

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Limits of Knowledge

Many of the fears about what AI might do in the future come from curves like this: And curves like this: But there’s an assumption in these curves that don’t follow from any observation, and that’s the assumption that knowledge and speed have no upward bound. The arrow points almost straight up, as if a vertical asymptote exists along the X axis. As if there’s a becalmed future that cannon…

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Beacon 23 is Spinning Up!

Two episodes dropping in just a few weeks! https://screenrant.com/beacon-23-show-trailer-lena-headey/ https://collider.com/beacon-23-trailer/ https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/beacon-23-trailer-previews-lena-headey-led-sci-fi-thriller/ar-AA1irJOy?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=8415001f511b4201b0b01a5e6cc7bbd9&ei=68

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Beacon 23 Release Date!

Big news for Beacon fans! The TV adaptation lands on November 12th, less than two months from now! It will premiere on MGM+, which is owned by Amazon, so I suspect it’ll be an add-on to your Prime account. I know, I know, someone should invent cable and bundle these things together… Starring Stephan James and Lena Heady, Beacon 23 tells the story of a lighthouse operator in outer space. There…

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New Book Release!

I’m over the moon to announce this one. After the amazing reception Elinor and I received for our post-card-apocalyptic THE BALLOON HUNTER, we immediately set to work on a sequel. Today it went live on Amazon! We present to you: DEATH TO ANYONE WHO READS THIS These books have been a blast to put together. I’m telling you that there’s nothing else like them on the market. Not even close. We are…

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Creativity and Consciousness

I’ve written about consciousness many times on this blog, and I’ve published a work on my theory of consciousness if you’re interested in diving even deeper (free on Kindle Unlimited, very cheap otherwise). I’ve also written extensively on my creative process. And I’ve published works about AI in places like Wired well before today’s AI revolution kicked off. That’s all to say that I’ve been…

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AI Training Permission

A comment on my previous post about not using AI in my stories — and using the copyright page to make this explicit — is worth responding to in its own post, because I think it raises important issues. The comment comes from Pat, who says: I would think a better use of the Copyright would be to declare that no AI could be TRAINED on the copyrighted work. AI has no originality, it can only take…

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AI and the Copyright Page

For many years, the copyright page has served niche functions for a very niche audience. Basically, a copyright page is there for 8 reasons that hardly anyone cares about: 1) To assure your ex that the character who resembles them in every single detail is due to a series of very unlikely coincidences. 2) To answer questions about reading order in the event that the publisher is sadistic enough…

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San Diego Comic Con

Shay and I went to San Diego last week and had an absolute blast with roughly 180,000 of our closest friends. There was epic cosplay everywhere you looked, perfect weather, the chillest vibes, and nothing but happy people. We played games (Shay trounced me at Street Fighter, winning every single round), bought books and comics, and ran into so many friends. On Thursday, I had a signing window so…

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SDCC Panel Times

If you want to find me at San Diego Comic Con, here are the two panels I’m on and my two signing times: Friday at 6pm in Room 11: How to use Hypnotic Language for Dynamic Storytelling Friday 8pm in Room 23ABC: Ghostwriting: Spirits of Vengeance in Literature Thursday 2:30-7pm at AA23: Signing Whatever You Bring Friday 3:30-5:30pm at AA16: Signing Whatever You Bring Books should be on sale in…

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Fan-Made Silo in Unreal Engine

Incredible work by Eekseye over on YouTube. As a fan of the show, they decided to recreate the ENTIRE SILO in Blender and Unreal Engine. By the end of the video, you’ll see them running around in the silo. Feels like a good start to a great video game to me… 🙂

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Thanks for your questions! All episodes of Silo season one are now streaming on AppleTV.