mark roth-whitworth

A few months ago, I mentioned that Histria had signed a distribution agreement with Simon & Schuster… it’s for real. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Becoming-Terran/Mark-Roth-Whitworth/9798888601822

I assume folks reading this know of filking (it’s got a wikipedia page). Well, an interesting note: my son got me for a holiday present a book I’ve wanted for years, “The Mayor of MacDougal Street”, a memoir by Dave Van Ronk. (He lived mostly in NYC, you see, and that’s the Village.) If you’ve… Continue reading Something for filkers

I have to apologize for not posting much of anything, especially the last three months. The alleged “real world” is overwhelming, and I do what I can..even if it’s being another person out at the rallies, and writing towars my widest audience. Things have gotten much worse, to where Peter Thiel is *almost* as smart… Continue reading An apology, to old and new visitors

The assumption, bolstered by the Drake equation, is that any race that reaches interstellar space will Conquer the Universe. This is bullshit, and here’s why, for two major reasons – technological, and societal. For us to detect them, or for them to detect us, they have to meet the following qualifications, first, that they use… Continue reading Why There Is No Fermi Paradox

Yeah, I know, it’s been weeks. I’ve had issues with leg pain, and they just did a procedure yesterday. Only one part of my leg still is aching, and nothing above pain level 4, not the 5-7 I was getting. So, we got to Worldcon. And cons are now… strange. After a lifetime as a… Continue reading Worldcon trip report, #3

We got into Seattle, all right, but because of the locomotive issue, once again, no leisurely lunch. I’ve been having an Issue with my right leg the last month-plus, so I really have to lean on my walking stick… but they had nothing in the station. So, I ran around and around outside, found Chinatown,… Continue reading Seattle Worldcon Trip Report #2

Wherein we take public transit – the bus and the Metro – to Union Station, Washington, DC, and wait for our train. They seem to have combined the Floridian with the Capital Limited. And it’s four hours late. It finally pulls in, and we hear there were mechanical issues… We should have guessed this was… Continue reading Our Worldcon Trip Report, #1

I realized the other day that I had no link to start reading the chapters from either book (you were supposed to have been reading all along…) I’ve just set up a link to the series for Becoming Terran (and in the process, found that I’d skipped the numbering from 8 to 10). The link… Continue reading An apology to everyone I’ve sent here to read chapters…

Here’s one, and please feel free to answer. WHY do folks like so many villains? From Blackie Duquesne  in Doc Smith’s Skylark series, to Darth Vader, and on – why? What makes them someone to root for – is it power? Are the heroes too bland? Most of the times, the heroes start out weak… Continue reading Villains? Why do people like villains?

I suppose this is an ongoing argument of mine. What is called “real literature” has changed over the decades, but there is a long-standing bias against what’s referred to, derogatorily, as “genre”. The usual argument is that genre isn’t “real literature”. The older arguments were that it was formulaic, and on a more explicit level,… Continue reading Literature and genre