Author: Lawrence Person

Lawrence Person is a science fiction writer living in Austin, Texas. His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, Analog, Postscripts, Jim Baen's Universe, Fear, and several anthologies. He also edits the Hugo-nominated SF critical magazine Nova Express, and runs the Turkey City Writer's Workshop. His non-fiction has appeared in National Review, Reason, Whole Earth Review, The Freeman, The World & I, Science Fiction Eye, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and Slashdot.org. He owns such a large library (mostly science fiction first editions) he had to buy a two-story house to put it in, and then adopted a golden retriever to drag him out of his house on a regular basis. He also makes a mean batch of salsa.

Seems A Little Steep

This video was posted to a Fark thread on rickety bridges. The view is less awe-inspiring than bowel-clenching, especially when you get to the parts where part of the trail has fallen away…

Books Read: Kage Baker’s The Women of Neil Gwynne’s

Kage Baker, The Women of Neil Gwynne’s Subterranean Press, 2009. By now you’ve probably heard that Kage Baker died of a particularly aggressive form of cancer on January 31 of this year. I did not know Baker (I may have said hello in passing one Armadillocon), and thus have no particular insight into her as… Continue reading Books Read: Kage Baker’s The Women of Neil Gwynne’s

Books Read: Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris

I know Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris is regarded as a classic, and the version I read (the U.S. first edition) evidently suffers from being “double-translated” (Polish to French to English), but this is still a bit of a dated slog. The characters combine the flat-effect of stereotyped scientists with the foolish incompetence of a horror-movie protagonist.… Continue reading Books Read: Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris

Upshot: Never, Ever EVER Buy Cars From Texas Auto Center

I had glanced at the headline on this story about a rogue auto-dealership employee disabling people’s cars using a remote black box, but didn’t realize this had occurred in Austin. The dealership used a system called Webtech Plus as an alternative to repossessing vehicles that haven’t been paid for. Operated by Cleveland-based Pay Technologies, the… Continue reading Upshot: Never, Ever EVER Buy Cars From Texas Auto Center

Books Read: Joe R. Lansdale’s Vanilla Ride

Joe R. Lansdale Vanilla Ride Random House, 2009, $24.95 It had been nearly a decade since the last Hap & Leonard novel, so it was good to catch up with them again. The last one, Captains Outrageous, occasionally suffered from having too many people on stage at the same time, which is why it was… Continue reading Books Read: Joe R. Lansdale’s Vanilla Ride

ABE Books Doesn’t Know Dick

I stopped dealing books on ABE Books eight years ago because it was obvious they wanted to nickle-and-dime dealers to death, as well as force us to sign up for third party re-sale programs that were previously voluntary. Plus the people in charge didn’t strike me as the smartest knives in the toolbox. Speaking of… Continue reading ABE Books Doesn’t Know Dick

Dan Simmons Signing Followup (With Pics)

I’ve been meaning to post about the Dan Simmons signing last Tuesday, but it’s been a busy week. I hadn’t seen Simmons since he came through to sign at Adventures in Crime and Space for (IIRC) The Crook Factory. At the time I did an interview with him for Nova Express, except that I cleverly… Continue reading Dan Simmons Signing Followup (With Pics)