rhienelleth | Reading

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/26/well-it-finally-happened/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59885

I always wondered which of my books would be the first to be banned, and now I know:

As noted above, I’ll likely have more to say about this when I get back the JoCo Cruise, but for now, two points, which I may expand upon in a later post:

1. On a personal level, I don’t expect this ban to move the needle much, positively or negatively, for sales of Lock In, which has been out for a dozen years now;

2. Please refrain from exclaiming “Having your book banned just means you’ll sell more!” or something similar in the comments. One, it’s absolutely not true for the vast majority of books that get banned; the usual result is a net loss for authors and publishers. Two, this is sort of comment that, however well-intentioned to be supportive, minimizes the seriousness of book banning as an intentional policy. The busybodies banning books in New Braunfels targeted more than 1,500 books, not just mine. None of that is a thing to be happy about; there is no actual upside to book bans.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/26/well-it-finally-happened/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59885

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/25/a-quick-check-in-from-mexico/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59882

Oh, hello. The JoCo Cruise is in full swing now and last night we had the “land concert” in Loreto, Mexico, and while there (and in between snapping pictures of the performers), I got this photo of Krissy. She was having a good time.

And so am I! Fabulous cruise with fabulous people and it’s humming along nicely. I’ll post about it more when I’m back on land, I’m sure. In the meantime, I hope you’re all well.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/25/a-quick-check-in-from-mexico/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59882

ilonaandrews_blog_feed

Posted by Moderator R

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/book-support/

https://ilona-andrews.com/?p=40731

There’s been a lot of focus lately on the new readers joining us, and I wanted to take a moment to talk to the people who have been here all along.

Thank you.

Many of you have cared for these books for years, even longer than I have. My inbox is always full of questions, recommendations, fun stuff that reminded you of IA, and only the occasional emotional spiral about a detail I’ve never even considered from the stories we love. As House Andrews have said many times before, that makes it all worth it. You are seen and you are beloved.

At release time, one particular question shows up enough that I know the Horde speaks with one voice: “What’s the best way to support the book?”

It’s true that readers who understand the publishing ecosystem tend to behave in certain ways. And people call the BDH many things on the mean streets, but never ‘uninformed’ – so let’s get into it.

The cold reality is that what happens in the first few weeks after a release matters far more than it probably should. Visibility drives everything. Willingly or not, we all live somewhere in the algorithm.

Reviews

They don’t need to be long, and they don’t need to be polished critique. Most of us have been on the other end, quickly checking for best fit before our decision battery runs out. Clear, in spaces where new readers will see them, and soon after release is what usually matters here.

Reviews also don’t have to be positive. Whatever yucks your yum could easily be the next person’s favorite thing! If you go straight to the one-star reviews to see what the haters say, I see you. I’ve bought books so fast my credit card was left spinning because of DNF reasons that sounded amazing to me. Female protagonist is too bossy, my left foot!

I know purists will pipe up and say they never look at a book that has less than 4.5 stars etc, but bestseller data don’t lie. This is what a good audience reach looks like for a book – all sorts of people read this and felt things about it:

Word of mouth

Recommending the book, talking about it, posting about it.

There’s another thriving misconception here that it needs to go viral, or it only counts if it’s done by “big account” influencers. Most of us trust recommendations from people we know far more than the new BookTok engagement driver who mentions the same book as everyone else for the 127th time in a row.

From bestie to bestie and book club to book club, that’s how good books travel.

Library requests and bookstore interaction

We all know that librarians are the superheroes of Book World. There’s no way to overstate how influential they can be in making good books available to the right audience. So request the book you want, check it out, bring it on the librarian’s radar. They’ll take it from there.

Equally, bookstores don’t take wild guesses when it comes to what they stock. Demand drives decision. If you’ve ever found a favorite book by browsing the shelves of the local retailer, there’s a good chance it got there because enough people asked for it, preordered, bought, and showed interest in it and others of the same genre/type.

Why is any of this important to us? We already know what we like, what we’re buying and in how many formats.

Because this is how we get ants

Visibility doesn’t stay contained to one book.

New readers discover one series, and then go looking for everything else. That’s how older series find new life, stay relevant and *ahem* continue.

The questions about sequels come up a lot and I don’t mind answering them every day, that’s part of why I’m here. Woot, Mod R gets the big bucks! But those answers don’t change from post to post and derailing the attention from the new releases isn’t getting us the wins we think. If a series isn’t marked as Finished or Finished for Now on the Release Schedule page, it will continue when the time and creativity allow for it. They’re not forgotten, and we’ll be the first to know as soon as a release date is official.

Speaking of behaviours that work against the very thing we’re hoping for: there’s the instinct to hold off until a series is complete before buying it or starting on it. It’s understandable, but it is also a self-fulfilling prophecy. A series that doesn’t sell and doesn’t get early momentum is a series that isn’t viable and won’t continue. I could sugarcoat it, but you know I’m your girl that keeps it real.

Watch on YouTube

This all applies to book releases in general and none of it is prescriptive. Read only what you want, because life is short and the news cycle even shorter. Support however is convenient. Ignore all of this entirely if you prefer, or as always, take what is useful and leave the rest.

As for This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me in particular – it’s an idea House Andrews has wanted to explore for a long time, and worked hard to bring into the world.

We know better than anyone else what kind of ride we’re in for when that happens. For the Horde!

The post Book Support first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/book-support/

https://ilona-andrews.com/?p=40731

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/24/the-big-idea-tiffani-angus-val-nolan-3/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59871

You know ’em, you love ’em, authors Tiffani Angus and Val Nolan are back again with another installment of their speculative fiction guidebooks. Hop on board the Big Idea to see how they’ve done it again in Spec Fic for Newbies Vol. 3: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Even More Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

TIFFANI ANGUS & VAL NOLAN:

Imagine a classic scene: A car driving down a lonely rural road… a bright light overhead… an examination table aboard an alien spacecraft… and then, instead of the typical medical business, our protagonist—let’s call her Sally—finds herself sitting across from an extraterrestrial. This being communicates with a curious thought-to-text translator device it places on the table. When the entity speaks, its words appear in the air between them:

“My species has learned all we can about your physiology. Now we wish to know about your culture. Does your society… tell stories?”

Sally, who’s been studying Creative Writing, is only too happy to discuss this. “We sure do,” she says. “Lots of different kinds! Science Fiction stories, Fantasy, Horror. And they take all sorts of different forms, like written fiction, TV shows, comics books…”

The alien’s already wide eyes expand even further. “And your species just instinctively understands how to tell these stories?”

“I mean, kinda. We’ve been doing it since we sat around campfires in the Ice Age. But we benefit from practice, you know? Plus, it helps to have guidance from enthusiastic instructors. Not literary snobs who want to make everyone write the same way as them but people sympathetic to the kinds of stories you want to tell.”

“And does one need to go to a school or university for this?”

“Not necessarily. Some people who’ve taught Creative Writing at universities have written books about it.” Sally looks around, finds her backpack (which conveniently materialized beside her), and pulls out a copy of Spec Fic for Newbies Vol. 3: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing Even More Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror by Tiffani Angus and Val Nolan. “This, for example, helps novice scribblers and even more seasoned writers learn how to write thirty different subgenres and major tropes. It gives deep dives into the history and development of each subgenre or trope, offers spotter’s guides to their typical manifestations, and provides writing exercises to get you started. Plus, it’s all based on real classroom experience!”

“Subgenres…” The alien’s word floats in the air. “We have heard of these. So many to keep track of.”

Sally thinks about this for a moment. She reaches for the translator. “Can I…?”

The alien nods.

Sally quickly finds the translator’s settings and alters a couple of font choices. “There,” she says, returning the device, “I’ve set it so that when I mention a subgenre that’s in Spec Fic 3, it will appear in bold. That’s what they do in the book. Like all this”—she gestures around the silver room—“is a recognizable Alien Abduction narrative. But the book covers everything from Dinosaur Tales to Swashbuckling Fantasy to Fungal Horror to Superheroes.”

“Fascinating.” The alien considers the book. “I wish I’d been able to study this.”

“They don’t teach Creative Writing at Space Academies?”

“Our universities mostly produce Mad Scientists,” the alien says. “Oh!” It points at the bolded word. “It did the thing!”

Sally smiles. “It’s fun, isn’t it? Plus, when Angus and Nolan discuss subgenres in the other volumes of the series, they underline its name so you can track it down easily.”

“Yes.” The alien turns Spec Fic for Newbies over in its spindly fingers. “I was wondering: can I just jump in with this third volume?”

“Oh absolutely! They’re all stand-alone books. Though if you want to know more about the previous ones…” She takes out her phone. “Have you got wi-fi here? Like, space wi-fi?”

The alien turns the translator upside down and shows her the password.

“Okay, cool,” Sally says, logging on. “So, Angus and Nolan have written about the previous volumes on Scalzi’s blog. You can read about Volume One here and Volume Two here.” She passes her phone to the alien, who reads the blog posts with interest.

“And people find these guides useful?” it asks.

“Useful and enjoyable,” Sally says. “The first two volumes were included on the Locus Recommended Reading List and shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Association Awards and British Fantasy Awards. Those are, like, big deals on our planet.”

“The section on Magic Schools and Dark Academia sounds interesting,” says the alien, now looking through the table of contents. “As does the section about Magical Realism.”

“I like some of the horror stuff myself,” Sally says. “I’ve lately given a go to writing about Near Death Experiences and Urban Gothic and Weird Fiction.”

“And?”

“And I’ve been trying lots of things that I never thought I’d try. The book is really encouraging that way. Angus and Nolan don’t believe in gatekeeping. The whole ethos of Spec Fic for Newbies revolves around bringing people into the realms of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror by giving them the tools to explore these really rich and rewarding imaginary worlds.”

“I see there’s lots of jokes, too,” the alien says, the translator registering its chuckles as a series of curious emojis.

Sally makes an affirmative noise. “Yeah, the authors have a really snarky sense of humor. Angus and Nolan don’t take themselves too seriously, which is another thing that separates this book from the really dry, old-school academic writing guides. Though, of course, that doesn’t mean the book isn’t smart—”

The alien holds up the section on End of the Universe stories. “I can see that.”

“—but it does mean it’s approachable. Anyone can read Spec Fic for Newbies. Anyone can learn from this book. That’s their big idea!”

“Bugs!!!” the alien suddenly shouts.

“Where?!”

“Page 229!”

Sally laughs. “I haven’t got to that part yet!”

“This book tells us much about humanity,” the alien says, “as well as things about Elves and Kaiju.”

“And we’ve barely even covered half of the subgenres here!”

The alien returns the book to Sally. “Where can I get my own copy?”

“Direct from Luna Press.” She opens up the website. “Or from any of your usual retailers.”

“I think I would like to beam down and pick one up right away!”

“Great,” says Sally, “let’s go get you writing!”

Spec Fic For Newbies Vol. 3: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Amazon UK|Blackstone UK|Waterstones UK

Author socials: Tiffani’s Website|Val’s Website|Tiffani’s Bluesky|Vals’ Bluesky

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/24/the-big-idea-tiffani-angus-val-nolan-3/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59871

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/23/a-bacon-taste-test-because-thats-what-the-internet-is-for/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59858

Today I was ordering a panini from the local sandwich joint, when I saw behind the counter that they had individually packaged slices of bacon. Though I have tried many a cured meat throughout the years, including dubious meat sticks, I have never seen individually packaged, fully cooked, flavored bacon. Of course, I knew I had to try every flavor they had available, especially since they were only a buck a piece.

Check these bad boys out:

Four individually packaged pieces of fully cooked bacon, each in their respectively colored packages based on the flavor.

These bacons come to us from Riff’s Smokehouse, creator of hot sauces and bacon, apparently. Here we have four out of their five flavors, as the fifth flavor was not available to me.

Each piece is 110 calories, and has 5g of protein per slice. When selecting my pieces, I actually rifled through the shop’s selection a good bit to find some sizeable pieces, as slice sizes were not all that consistent, funny enough. There were some skinny mini pieces of bacon! So, if you find these in the wild, find yourself a thicc slice.

Thankfully, you can see through the back to the full picture of what you’re getting into:

The four packages of bacon, flipped over so you can see each piece in its entirety through the clear plastic.

Anyways, the package says to microwave them for 5 seconds, but I figured most people who are buying these “on-the-go” bacons will not have immediate access to a microwave, so I actually tasted each piece right out the package first, and then microwaved them and tried them all again. Science!

I started with the Sweet flavor. The bacon was sort of stiff, like a bit hard to chew through. It was a little sweet but not as sweet as I would’ve imagined the flavor “Sweet” to be. Definitely not overwhelming if you’re not the biggest fan of overly sweet meats. After microwaving it for five seconds, it didn’t seem all that warm, so I microwaved it for another five (ten total, for those counting along at home), and promptly burned my mouth on the literally sizzling piece of meat. So, don’t do ten seconds.

For the Sweet & Spicy flavor, it was actually a little bit tougher than the previous piece. Reminded me a lot more of something like a jerky. Jerky-esque, if you will. Initially, I didn’t think it was spicy at all. It just had sort of a more savory, smoky flavor, but after microwaving it it actually got more of a kick to it, leaving a touch of heat in the back of my throat.

For the Red Curry, I was sure this one would be spicier than the rest, but it was oddly sweet. The spices involved gave it a nice complexity that the regular “Sweet” didn’t have to it. This piece had a really good texture with lots of fattiness throughout (I like chewy, fattier bacon). After microwaving it, it crisped up just a little bit and tasted even better warm.

Finally, for the Raspberry Chipotle, I once again expected heat what with chipotle being in the name. No heat came, but it had an excellent raspberry flavor that wasn’t artificial tasting or too overwhelming. This piece had a nice, softer texture and was the thickest cut out of all the pieces I’d had. This was my favorite of the four.

If you go on Riff’s website, you can buy a variety pack of all five flavors, with three pieces of each, for a little less than $33. This comes out to about $2.15 a slice. If you commit to just one flavor, you get 12 pieces for $23 bucks, which comes out to $1.91 a slice. So, pick your poison! I’d go for the variety pack, because variety is the spice of life. If you get it and try the fifth flavor I didn’t get to, let me know how it is.

Are you a crispy bacon or chewy bacon person? Do you like maple syrup with your bacon? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/23/a-bacon-taste-test-because-thats-what-the-internet-is-for/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59858

ilonaandrews_blog_feed

Posted by Ilona

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/admin-stuff-2/

https://ilona-andrews.com/?p=40728

We are getting closer to the release of This Kingdom and we are still very snowed in with the deadlines.

Quick news and admin things:

We are in the internet blackout for the next 2 weeks, while we work on the book and tour. Mod R will be taking the wheel.

Our store is closing tonight and will reopen in mid-April with new Maggie merch.

If you want art prints of the work from Candice, Helena, Leesha, and Luisa, we will post those for you as they become available.

We will be doing a Zoom event for those of you who cannot come to see us in person, but it will likely be mid-to-late April, as we are finishing Book 2, and we will be fried after the tour. Please save your questions. Mod R will put up a spoiler and question thread and we will do a long Zoom event and try to answer most of them.

We will have a website dedicated to Maggie and it will go live shortly after the release. Mod R will give you the details.

Quick answers:

Is This Kingdom a romantasy?

Why does this keep coming up?

Genres evolve organically. They exist to help readers to find a book that matches their reading preferences. It’s a shorthand for saying, if you like books with X, here are some titles that might be fun. For some reason, people get very heated about it. I had a whole post on it, but there is no time to devote to it.

There is no hard and fast definition of Romantasy. Again, people will argue to death over it, but at the core it is a subgenre of fantasy romance typically featuring a coming of age protagonist, set in a world of high fantasy, and focused heavily on romance. It’s a very fun genre, aimed at a mostly female audience, and it offers great escapism.

Now I have to define all this, argh.

Fantasy – genre that has magic, a fantastic element or force, which is impossible to explain by current science.

Romance – genre that focuses on a love story with a happy ending. The relationship is the plot and the book cannot exist without it.

Fantasy Romance – romance with fantasy elements. Romance is the story.

Romantic fantasy – fantasy with romance elements. Romance is there but is not the story.

High Fantasy – fantasy that takes place in a different world, some place other than Earth.

Low Fantasy – fantasy that takes place on Earth changed by magic.

So, to sum up: romantasy = young protagonist, a different world with magic, relationship is the story. There are other criteria people mention: first person, lighter worldbuilding, fae love interest, etc, but those are mostly details. You have to have the first three elements for the romantasy definition.

What about an older protagonist?

Romantasy, as it exists right now, tends to do the same thing as NA genre tried to do: it sets its narrative in the time of firsts. For contemporary romance, it is the first time living on your own, first job, first serious relationship. Romantasy deals in first love and finding your place in the world. Older protagonists already have some life experience, and their stories tend to fall under a more general genre of Fantasy Romance.

This Kingdom is not a romantasy. It is a portal fantasy, a high fantasy (we never see Earth,) an epic fantasy, and a fantasy with strong romantic elements. It focuses heavily on politics, intrigue, action, and yes, it has a strong romantic element. There are several love interests. They are very hot, as the art demonstrates, and they are compelling.

This Kingdom will absolutely appeal to the romantasy audience, as the early reviews show. People kicked their feet and described the slow burn as “delicious.” By the definition of the subgenre, this series is not a romance. It is closest to Game of Thrones, except not as dark, and without incest.

How dark is it?

The first three chapters of the book are probably the darkest, so if you made it through the preview, you are good to go. We don’t write super dark or bleak or hopeless. Our bread and butter is action mixed with humor, high stakes, and sparks of romance.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be dark moments. You can’t have high stakes without them. We will be killing people. We will be killing one particular person repeatedly. You must have darkness for light to exist. In storytelling that means that there must be low points for the high points to shine brighter.

If you want the technical know-how of the entire commercial fiction, here is the super secret of how it works – we scare and upset you, and then fix things, and you feel happy.

How much worldbuilding is there?

A lot. The worldbuilding is extensive, it is worth it to learn it, and it does pay off. If you are coming from a lighter worldbuilding, there is quite a bit, but it will make rereads more enjoyable. A lot of people read the early copies multiple times. We will have the website, with cast of characters, etc.

HEA?

Oy, Steve, oy. Yes, the series will have an HEA.

When is the second one?

Aaaaaaa! Ahem. The second one is being written right now. We are coming up on the final part and anticipate the final length of 175,000-180,000 words. We are at 155k right now. 150k. We have to edit this scene and it’s in cuts right now, so I am going to resurrect and rework it, and then we will be back to 155k.

Dear BDH, stay fluffy and chalant! We love all of you, we will see you on tour, and we will treat you to fun extras after the book comes out.

Okay, now I have a question for you: places to eat along our tour stops. The ideal restaurant will be close to the hotel and will be open late. We have three places:

Near Washington Avenue, Minneapolis
Near Joseph-Beth Bookstore in Lexington
Near Dulaney Valley Road, Towson, MD

Any suggestions are very appreciated.

The post Admin Stuff first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/admin-stuff-2/

https://ilona-andrews.com/?p=40728

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/20/view-from-a-hotel-window-3-20-26-san-diego/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59840

There is a parking lot visible in the photo, I will note. That said, this is not the usual parking lot photo from when I travel.

San Diego is lovely. But then, when is it not. We will be in it only briefly before setting sail on this year’s installment of the JoCo Cruise. Try to have fun without us for a week.

Oh, and happy equinox! Spring is here. Thank God.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/20/view-from-a-hotel-window-3-20-26-san-diego/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59840

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/20/death-is-a-beautiful-cobalt-blue-release-day/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59832

Hey, everyone! You may remember my post from 2024 over my friend Jon R. Mohr’s album he released that summer, Bioluminescent Soundwaves. Well, I’m happy to report that Jon has come out with a brand new song, Death is a Beautiful Cobalt Blue.

Watch on YouTube

This eleven-minute composure featuring the vocals of Julie Elven is a piece that comes from deep within Mohr’s very soul, as it is the result of years of stress and existential crises. He mentions that this work is inspired by T. J. Lea’s story, “I Bought My Wife a Life Extension Plan,” which he listened to the audio drama of in January 2025.

Watch on YouTube

According to Mohr, the story really spoke to him and was practically a mirror to him and his wife, who was diagnosed with POTS back in 2023.

Following the diagnosis, her job let her go, and each following job failed to accommodate her medical needs appropriately. Between the medical stress, job insecurity, financial complications, and facing the physical struggles of POTS, the couple experienced their fair share of breakdowns and emotional turmoil.

Within this story, Mohr says it entailed the most beautiful depiction of death he’d ever heard, and it brought him comfort. He decided then and there that he’d believe in this version of the afterlife, even if it made no sense, because all that mattered was that it brought him comfort, and that works for him.

Things are much better now, with Mohr’s wife having a great remote job and a better handle on her physical symptoms, plus the two of them are closer than ever. The journey through all of this made Mohr truly appreciate friends, family, and the simple things in life.

In Mohr’s own words:

“Death Is a Beautiful Cobalt Blue is the result of all of that. It’s an exaltation of life, loss, beauty, and grief. It doesn’t shame or try to hide pain or the negative aspects of life. It welcomes all of it, because I feel so lucky to be able to experience all these things and truly know what makes life worth living. I also consider myself very lucky to both know what intense happiness and intense pain feel like. Because all of it is life. THIS, now, is all I can guarantee to be true and real.”

So, there you have it. A baring of a composer’s soul and struggles, as well as his joys and comforts. I hope you enjoy it, it really is quite beautiful.

Don’t forget to follow Jon on Instagram, and have a great day!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/20/death-is-a-beautiful-cobalt-blue-release-day/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59832

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/20/today-in-look-at-this-dork-2/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59826

Krissy and I are on our way to the JoCo Cruise, and as you can tell, we are excited! Well, I am excited, Krissy is, as ever, tolerant. Also I have brought a tiny ukulele, because, after all, is it really a vacation without a tiny ukulele?

Don’t expect too much from me over the next week. Don’t worry, Athena will be around and posting good stuff. As for me, my plan is to get on a boat and not look at the rest of the world for a while. It’s a good plan, which is why I do it annually.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/20/today-in-look-at-this-dork-2/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59826

scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/19/the-big-idea-lynne-m-thomas-katy-rawdon/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59819

Like two peas in a time travel pod, archivist and author Katy Rawdon teamed up with Hugo-award winning editor Lynne M. Thomas to craft the perfect time travel narrative. Take a closer look at famous time travel stories from all across the globe in The Infinite Loop: Archives and Time Travel in the Popular Imagination, with a foreword from one such writer herself, Connie Willis.

KATY RAWDON (a.k.a. KATY JAMES):

Archives are made of time. Time is made of archives. Archives are where time gets mixed up, turned around, and pulled apart.

I have always been obsessed with time, frustrated with it, wanting to tear at it and see what’s behind and underneath it. No doubt that’s why I became an archivist some thirty years ago, so that I could look at the physical remnants of time and preserve them, see what’s missing, and organize and interpret time’s leftovers for people who, wisely, do not think about time all the… time.

When I was approached to submit an idea (a big idea!) for a book series jointly published by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) called Archival Futures – a series that tackles big ideas around the archival profession – there was only one possible topic for me to write about: time.

While the phrase “archives are like time travel” is thrown around a lot, I knew the relationship between historical records and time was far more complicated. Archives reinforce and challenge our very conceptions of time, of what has happened, of what will happen, of what is truth and what is unknowable. The evidence of archives can be used to demonstrate how the past is so much more faceted than the narrow stories of history we tend to tell ourselves and others. Archives can also be selectively wielded as propaganda, or erased to allow for falsehoods to sprout and flourish in the empty spaces. Time can be illustrated, illuminated, rendered invisible, or constructed in new ways using the material items created in the course of history.

Unfortunately, all of this turned out to be so complicated that the series’ word limit of 50,000 was never going to cover it, as I painfully discovered while writing the book proposal.

I am forever grateful that the inimitable Lynne M. Thomas stepped into my creative mess and provided direction: Why not analyze the depiction of both archives and time travel in popular narratives (books, television, movies, etc.) and see what we could unearth? As a romance author (Katy James) as well as an archivist (Katy Rawdon), I was more than happy to spend time in fictional worlds in order to better understand my non-fictional archivist profession.

It turns out that we unearthed a lot – about cultural views regarding time and time travel, the popular perception of archives and archivists, and the ways current archival theory and practice intersect (or don’t) with ideas about time and time travel.

How does time work? How is it understood by different people and cultures? How do archives help or hinder our understanding of the past (and future)? How can popular narratives about time travel and archives guide archivists to shift their methods to a more expansive, inclusive, transparent approach? How can archival workers apply current archival theory and practice to all of the above ideas to better serve their communities and increase the use of archives?

Researching this book and synthesizing all of the swirling concepts was a real mind-twister of an exercise, trying to write our expansive, big ideas while keeping it succinct and legible for archivists and general readers alike.

We hope we’ve succeeded.

LYNNE M. THOMAS:

Sometimes, if you’re very lucky, the right project turns up at exactly the right time. As a professional rare book librarian, twelve-time Hugo Award winning SFF editor and podcaster, and massive Doctor Who fan, I had a moment of “I was literally made for this” when Katy explained her concept for the book to me and asked me to join her. My initial contribution was more or less “but what if we add Doctor Who examples to make all this time stuff understandable,” and then … we got excited. Because when you have the chance to dive deep into a particular rabbit hole that looks perfect for you specifically, you lean hard into your personal weird.

Time travel stories often feature archives to prove the narrative truth of characters’ experiences. The main character goes into a locked room full of dusty boxes, and immediately finds the one piece of documentary evidence they need to solve their problem, or make sense of their experiences. And yet archivists—the people tasked with organizing and running archives—are almost always invisible or nonexistent in these very same narratives. When we do show up…well, it feels like writers haven’t talked to an archivist lately.

That…bothered us. It turns out, when you have professional archivists and librarians who are also active writers and editors in science fiction, we have thoughts and opinions about how archivists and librarians are portrayed (or not) in fiction and nonfiction. But we thought, maybe we’re seeing a pattern that doesn’t exist, it’s just that “red car syndrome” thing where experts pay more attention to the areas of their expertise in the narratives than non-experts do. So… we checked. We looked at dozens of time travel stories across novels, comics, television series, and films. We discuss Doctor Who, of course, but also Loki, Star Wars, works by Connie Willis (who wrote our foreword), Octavia Butler, Jodi Taylor, Rivers Solomon, Deborah Harkness, and H.G. Wells, among many, many more. We also looked at a whole lot of archival literature—how archivists and librarians talk about themselves, their professions, and their work to one another. And because we are both academic librarians, we laid out our findings in a peer-reviewed book.

What we learned is that there’s a massive divide between what pop culture thinks we do, and what we actually do, and the even greater divide between the level of resources pop culture thinks we have, and what we actually have…and we posit multiple ways to close those gaps.

The Infinite Loop is where archives and pop culture’s image of archives meet and have a long overdue chat. Our hope is that these conversations will lead to archivists being better able to explain what we do, and have that knowledge spread far and wide across popular culture. Ideally, with some time travel stories that feature archivists as main characters. It’s well past time.

The Infinite Loop: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Powell’s|Inkwood Books

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/19/the-big-idea-lynne-m-thomas-katy-rawdon/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59819

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Posted by Moderator R

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/a-fandom-glossary/

https://ilona-andrews.com/?p=40727

You asked for it, and you were absolutely right, so here it is.

Like any self-respecting fandom, we, the readers of Ilona Andrews’ books, have picked up our own shorthand and running jokes along the way.

This is a quick reference for new readers and a refresher for anyone who needs it.

Us on Horde parade. Art by Sophia @blossombythesea

Ilona Andrews, IA, House Andrews, HA – these all refer to our authors, Ilona and Gordon, who co-author all our favorite adventures and are the reason we are here. The “House” part of HA comes from the Hidden Legacy series, in which powerful magic families call themselves Houses.

BDH – acronym that stands for Book Devouring Horde. That’s us! The readers and fandom of Ilona Andrews’ books: beloved, spoiled, and very enthusiastic. We named ourselves this far back in the mists of time (around 2013, as far as I can tell), inspired by the Hope Crushing Horde alien species from the Innkeeper Chronicles.

There is no official membership, no tiers, no badges. You don’t have to be BDH to enjoy the books, but you might end up here anyway. One of us! One of us!

W*it, P*tience, D*lay – the Horde’s least favorite four-letter words, usually censored. As our name suggests, we like to devour books. Unfortunately, books have a habit of not being released every other week. So waiting, patience and sometimes delays it is, but we are not happy about it.

Ripper Cushions – is a reference to a Horde-favourite moment in volume 4 of the Innkeeper Chronicles series, and our way to say “repercussions”. Also a much-sought-after design item, because the Ilona Andrews merch store had Ripper Cushions cushions at one point!

Chalant – we try to be a stiff-upper-lip kind of Horde, but when we’re too emotionally compromised, our chalant persona comes out. It’s a reference to this Horde scene (that’s right, we go on adventures sometimes!). “We cannot be nonchalant! We are very chalant!” When it gets the better of us, we erm….have been known to do things.

Steve – a fictional fandom figure. The BDH contains multitudes, but Steve only has the one tude. Chaos. He is our stand-in troublemaker, and we love and accept him despite his tendency to set things on fire. First appeared in this classic BDH moment Ilona wrote for us.

Fluffy – we are the best fandom ever. This is known. When our intensity dials up to 11, however, we are gently encouraged to be more fluffy. I won’t make a roster of our achievements to date because I don’t want to give anyone ideas, but suffice to say House Andrews do not negotiate with terrorists, and directly contacting people involved in the publishing process to mention fish-sleeping arrangements is a no-no. Plus, being fluffy gets us snippets and treats! The word itself is a reference to an old British comedy sketch.

Ferrets – the unofficial mascot of the BDH, usually brought up in “Have ferrets. Will infiltrate” type of contexts. They come from a memorable heist scene in White Hot (Hidden Legacy 2). House Andrews write many amaing animal characters, but these tiny ninjas have stolen our hearts.

Barsa barsa barsa – one of the alien species in Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper 5) communicates by only repeating the word “barsa”. The Horde found this very easy to identify with, as we have been known to adopt the same communication pattern ourselves ~~daily~~ at times (Sequel sequel sequel, When when when, Klaus Klaus Klaus). It’s now something of a war cry.

Metal Rose – wherever there are readers, there are ships (a romantic pairing of characters). Of course, the BDH has many, but our oldest and most referenced one is the Metal Rose. Based on a scene in Magic Burns, Kate Daniels 2, this ship involves Julie Olsen, a magical street orphan, and Derek, the protagonist’s werewolf sidekick. How their story grew, who they became, and why this ship still sails in our hearts years later is yours to discover.

The post A Fandom Glossary first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/a-fandom-glossary/

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Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/19/anthropic-settlement-information-not-for-me/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59810

The legal firm that is apparently handling at least some of the Anthropic Copyright Settlement case has started sending out notifications of some sort to presumably affected parties. Small problem: Some of these were sent not to the addresses of the presumably affected parties, but to mine.

I have not opened these notifications, as they are not addressed to me, so I don’t know what’s in them or what they say, and I will be henceforth disposing of these notifications unopened. However, if you are Jody Lynn Nye, Sarah Hoyt, Eric S. Brown, Christopher Smith, or the estate of Eric Flint, please be aware that JND Legal Administration is trying to inform you of something (probably that you have works that are eligible to be part of the class action suit).

I have contacted the firm in question and told them about these incorrect addresses and, for the avoidance of doubt, also informed them at no other affected author than me lives at my address. Hopefully that will take. That said, I would not be surprised if I get more notifications, not for me. What a wonderful age of information we live in.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/19/anthropic-settlement-information-not-for-me/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59810

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Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/18/here-have-a-nice-little-sunset/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59806

Spring will be here soon! I can tell by the sun!

(No, seriously, I can)

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/18/here-have-a-nice-little-sunset/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59806

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Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/17/the-big-idea-j-m-sidorova/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59799

How is it that fairy tales persist? In the Big Idea for The Witch of Prague, author J.M. Sidorova suggests that it might be because they are malleable and can be made to fit more times and places than just their own. To what use has the author put them here? Read on.

J. M. SIDOROVA:

When I think about a Big Idea of a novel, what comes to my mind first is more of a premise, an inceptive sprout from which the novel had grown. In this regard, The Witch of Prague grew out of a common fairy-tale archetype: an old hag gives a magic gift/poison apple to a young girl; think Sleeping beauty, forests, and castles. Except in this case, the archetype was invoked by true stories my Mom had told me about her young adulthood.

Thus, forests became the Cold War era Eastern European bureaucracies, castles became government departments, and the relationship between the hag and the young girl became complicated, as I, in the act of reimagining the fairy tale, subverted the heck out of it.

That said, this novel took a long time to become what it is now; it evolved in fits and starts while a sizeable chunk of my life was going by and the world was changing, and as a result it became a repository of symbolic representations for the ideas that are not new but have been important for me to unpack and highlight.

There is the Hunt of a Unicorn that, historically, fronts a host of contradictory ideas about power asymmetries between women and men; and then there is a Stag Hunt, which, as an example of a game of trust (or, more broadly, public goods game theory, like it’s better known cousin, the prisoner’s dilemma), stands for a balance of trust/cooperation vs. predation/competition in a given society.

There is also the Orwellian idea that authoritarian regimes not just restrict speech and writing, but, far more insidiously, they warp the very meaning, usage, and purpose of words, of the language itself. My main character, Alica, who’s grown up with mild dyslexia, is primed against such shenanigans because she’s always thought words were treacherous and out to get her, and one of her ways of fighting back was to invent an imaginary friend, a live typewriter with spider legs and word-swatting pincers.

So many different symbols, in other words, that at some point even I, their compulsive collector, felt that it was too much. And my awesome editors, Rachel Sobel and Huw Evans of Homeward Books, were of the same opinion: wait, is the Stag the same as the Unicorn or not? Author, explain thyself! So I went on an editing rampage, and I think I fixed things, and now all symbols are there to serve the story.

But the big — or at any rate the permeating — idea that I would like to foreground since we are talking speculative fiction here, is what constitutes magic in this book. I think if one creates an alternative, fully magic-enabled reality for one’s tales, one can give a reader an escape, a full-on suspension of disbelief and all that, and that is fine. But if one instead injects bits of fantastical or magical into our viscerally recognizable reality, one gives a yearning, gives flickering moments of disassociation, of belief, “what if it were real?” It’s like magic comes to you, instead of you taking a vacation to go see magic.

And of course, so many works of speculative fiction do one approach or the other or anything in between. I personally, prefer the latter end of the spectrum over the former. So, what I was trying to do in The Witch of Prague was to have seemingly small, tenuous even amounts of magic within a historically accurate reality, and I was interested to work with this premise: what if magic was generated from scratch under certain unique constellations of circumstances and human lived experiences and emotional states, for instance, extreme trauma or enduring hope or devotion?

It wouldn’t be by anyone’s design, and it would be hard to predict what or who would become the magic’s “carrier” once it was produced. It would be a sort of undomesticated, involuntary magic for which no one really knows the rules or capabilities, though one could make assumptions or jump to conclusions according to one’s beliefs or character, in trying to harness it to one’s own benefit.

If we agree that as humanity, we have always been “producing” magic in our stories, histories, and self-narratives (“it was a miracle that I survived!”) as a matter of belief or metaphor, to help us parse reality or even just to communicate it — then my premise in this novel simply takes this fact and implements it. Literally and physically.

The Witch of Prague: Asterism|Homeward Books

Author socials: Website|Blog

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/17/the-big-idea-j-m-sidorova/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59799

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Posted by Ilona

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/art-reveal-lord-doran-arvel/

https://ilona-andrews.com/?p=40721

The tour of Kair Toren continues. Today we bring you a portrait of Doran Arvel, the head of the Arvel household and current Lord Commander of the Defender Order.

Ahem. Let us brace ourselves. This one is amazing. All of Helena’s work is amazing, but this one is really amazing.

Of all the Eight Families, the Arvels had the best reputation. Doran, in particular, was viewed as the kind of knight all others should aspire to be. Brave, honorable, a gifted general dedicated to his duty and devastating in battle. The main character to put all main characters to shame. The Golden Knight.

The gorgeous art is by Helena Elias. Click to enlarge. It’s worth it.

As we passed the keep’s staircase, a blond man in ornate white armor stepped
out of the doors at the top and began walking down the stairs as if he owned
the entire place. A beautiful blue cloak draped his shoulders. Another knight
followed him, keeping a respectful distance. Arvel. Had to be.

“Is that Lord Arvel?” I asked.

“Yes,” the knight said, his voice clipped. “Lord Arvel does not receive visitors
unless there are special circumstances.”

Perhaps he thought I would charge up those stairs to fangirl-rush Arvel.

“No worries, sir. I have no plans to ambush the Lord Commander.”

You can meet Lord Arvel and other interesting people in This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me. Fourteen days left.

The post Art Reveal: Lord Doran Arvel first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/art-reveal-lord-doran-arvel/

https://ilona-andrews.com/?p=40721

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Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/14/view-from-a-hotel-window-3-14-26-tucson-az/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59780

I didn’t get a shot when I got in — I was busy doing other things and then I was busy taking a nap — but here’s one to make up for the lapse. I’m in toen for the Tucson Book Festival, and if you come to it tomorrow (Sunday) I will have two panels and two signings. Come on down! And wear a hat, they’re having a lot of sun here.

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/14/view-from-a-hotel-window-3-14-26-tucson-az/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59780

mark posting in

dw_maintenance

Happy Saturday!

I'm going to be doing a little maintenance today. It will likely cause a tiny interruption of service (specifically for www.dreamwidth.org) on the order of 2-3 minutes while some settings propagate. If you're on a journal page, that should still work throughout!

If it doesn't work, the rollback plan is pretty quick, I'm just toggling a setting on how traffic gets to the site. I'll update this post if something goes wrong, but don't anticipate any interruption to be longer than 10 minutes even in a rollback situation.

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Posted by Ilona

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/blankets-and-life/

https://ilona-andrews.com/?p=40715

I’m very tired of being Ilona Andrews, so today will be a no promo day.

A while ago I started making crocheted plushies and bought a lot of yarn. In my defense, it was cheap and very soft. The plush making phase has now passed, so I was left with a large amount of yarn. The yarn that was very, very soft. Squishy soft.

I read the care instructions and it turns out it is both washable and dryer-safe. It was also light. A lot lighter than other bulky yarns.

I crocheted a blanket for Gordon.

As we all know, great photographer I am not. It is cream and French blue, it is very soft, and very textured.

The yarn is Premier Parfait Plush, colors Cream and French Blue. Warning: the dye lots very in color quite a bit. You can see there are 2 shades of blue. They sent me two skeins from a different dye lot.

Now for the pattern. I can’t find it. It was a free pattern and it isn’t in my favorites, it’s not in my library, it’s not in my pattern folder. I’m just going to write it the best I can.

Chain to desired width.

Section 1: textured elastic stitch.

Double crochet across.
1 front post double crochet, 1 back post double crochet.
1 back post double crochet, 1 front post double crochet’
Repeat Row 3
Repeat Row 4
Repeat Row 3
Repeat Row 4

Section 2: wheat braid.

Change color, half double crochet across
Half double crochet across, but in the back loop. When you do a half double crochet, there is a third loop that forms on the wrong side. We’re going to be anchoring our stitches into those loops.
Change color, 2 half double crochet, skip one stitch, single crochet, a 2-cluctsre into the skipped stitch: yarn over, draw a loop, yarn over again, draw a loop, draw through 2 loops, yarn over draw through remaining loop. The original pattern had a 3-cluster, but the yarn is so bulky that it felt too poofy. Keep going until two stitches are left, 2 half double crochets.
Repeat row 3
Change color, half double crochet across
Half-dopuble crochet across

When starting the next section, which would be double crochets, make sure that you anchor them into a back loop. If you don’t want to mess with the back loops, the pattern will still work, it just won’t have the border ridges.

Repeat until happy.

I will try to find the actual pattern for you. I’m just too tired to figure out where I saw it. It was this pretty cream blanket.

There is a lot of tired happening right now. Also, now I need to find something else to do with my hands, and I need something small. Maybe I will do a shawl. I can work on it on the plane.

The book is at 150,000. We just realized we need to add a scene at the beginning and I cannot deal with that at the moment. I need to clean the house. I need to do the taxes. Need to finish the book. I need to get images for the website designer. Instead I went to the doctor today, and now I have two more doctor appointments to go to.

I saw the sketch for the This Kingdom’s sequel and it is beautiful.

::looks at the manuscript, which is not at all worthy of the cover right now::

::exhales::

Shawls. That’s the ticket. Also, if you have Netflix, Pursuit of Jade. Grace Draven recommended it and it is so good. So, so good.

The post Blankets and Life first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.

https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/blankets-and-life/

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