John Scalzi
@scalzi.com
I enjoy pie.
Social Media FAQ: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/04/16/the-official-john-scalzi-social-media-faq/
Social Media FAQ: https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/04/16/the-official-john-scalzi-social-media-faq/
The most important post on Bluesky today
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 29, 2025 at 2:38 PM
The most important post on Bluesky today
Along with the racist fake grievance of "apologizing for being white," there's also the fact that a bunch of white folks seem to believe (and/or are willing to suggest) that even acknowledging systemic advantages they get for being white is the equivalent of being "forced to apologize."
Next time someone says they don’t have to apologize for being white anymore, ask them to tell about the most recent time they were forced to apologize for being white and who made them do it.
December 29, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Along with the racist fake grievance of "apologizing for being white," there's also the fact that a bunch of white folks seem to believe (and/or are willing to suggest) that even acknowledging systemic advantages they get for being white is the equivalent of being "forced to apologize."
You know, if you screencap something I said here to get around the possibility that I might detach my quote, that's pretty much an automatic block
December 29, 2025 at 2:42 AM
You know, if you screencap something I said here to get around the possibility that I might detach my quote, that's pretty much an automatic block
Ahhhh, the sideways rain has arrived
December 29, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Ahhhh, the sideways rain has arrived
Tonight in the December Comfort Watches: Roxanne, in which we are asked to believe that a successful, witty, kind man with excellent social skills, a good career and his own house would have difficulty finding a partner merely because of a prodigious proboscis.
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/28/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/28/t...
The December Comfort Watches 2025, Day Twenty-Eight: Roxanne
The one problem I have with Roxanne is, alas, its central premise: that its protagonist, Charlie “C.D.” Bales (Steve Martin) is tragically undesirable because of his unusually long nose…
whatever.scalzi.com
December 29, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Tonight in the December Comfort Watches: Roxanne, in which we are asked to believe that a successful, witty, kind man with excellent social skills, a good career and his own house would have difficulty finding a partner merely because of a prodigious proboscis.
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/28/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/28/t...
On a tangential note I appear to have won Whamageddon, this may be a first
December 28, 2025 at 7:37 PM
On a tangential note I appear to have won Whamageddon, this may be a first
I'm writing a lot about "AI" today so as compensation please accept this picture of Spice the cat being so very over my apparent enthusiasm about whatever it is I am enthusiastic about
December 28, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I'm writing a lot about "AI" today so as compensation please accept this picture of Spice the cat being so very over my apparent enthusiasm about whatever it is I am enthusiastic about
I've seen this said a couple of times today and now want team jerseys that say "Genie Stuffers" on them
Why is it that tech and AI boosters keep saying "you can't put the genie back in the bottle" when making arguments about AI's supposed inevitable dominance? Did they not read the story? The genie does, indeed, go back in the bottle. Maybe we should start there.
December 28, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I've seen this said a couple of times today and now want team jerseys that say "Genie Stuffers" on them
Reposted by John Scalzi
Conventions, if you use AI do not be surprised if creators turn down your invitations to be guests or even to be on panels.
Do not use tools trained on stolen work from creators and then tell them you want to honor or uplift them - that’s not what you’re doing. You’re stealing and being lazy.
Do not use tools trained on stolen work from creators and then tell them you want to honor or uplift them - that’s not what you’re doing. You’re stealing and being lazy.
December 28, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Conventions, if you use AI do not be surprised if creators turn down your invitations to be guests or even to be on panels.
Do not use tools trained on stolen work from creators and then tell them you want to honor or uplift them - that’s not what you’re doing. You’re stealing and being lazy.
Do not use tools trained on stolen work from creators and then tell them you want to honor or uplift them - that’s not what you’re doing. You’re stealing and being lazy.
I don't know how many times it needs to be said that you absolutely should not let fucking "AI" anywhere near your legal contracts, either in creating them or evaluating them, but apparently it needs to be said at least one more time, so allow me to say it again, here, right now
December 28, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I don't know how many times it needs to be said that you absolutely should not let fucking "AI" anywhere near your legal contracts, either in creating them or evaluating them, but apparently it needs to be said at least one more time, so allow me to say it again, here, right now
The temperature is going to drop at least 40 degrees(F) between today's high and tomorrow's, so that's going to be fun
December 28, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The temperature is going to drop at least 40 degrees(F) between today's high and tomorrow's, so that's going to be fun
AI in a nutshell
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 28, 2025 at 3:20 PM
AI in a nutshell
There is the category of "t-shirts too decrepit to be worn outside the house," yes, but other than that all t-shirts should be fair game to be worn anytime, this is egalitarian nature of the t-shirt and I will die on this extremely irrelevant hill
You mean you don't have 'A', 'B' and 'C' drawers for your tees? How do you know not to grab one with stains or holes for social occasions, or you know, just leaving the house?
December 28, 2025 at 3:03 PM
There is the category of "t-shirts too decrepit to be worn outside the house," yes, but other than that all t-shirts should be fair game to be worn anytime, this is egalitarian nature of the t-shirt and I will die on this extremely irrelevant hill
I don't have any special connection to Ms. Bardot except to note that by the time I was cognizant of her she had already ascended into the realm of mythological people, like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and, collectively but not necessarily individually, The Beatles
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...
Brigitte Bardot, Movie Idol Who Renounced Stardom, Dies at 91
www.nytimes.com
December 28, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I don't have any special connection to Ms. Bardot except to note that by the time I was cognizant of her she had already ascended into the realm of mythological people, like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and, collectively but not necessarily individually, The Beatles
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/m...
Dressing myself this morning and grabbing toward a t-shirt and my brain said "no, not that one, that's a SPECIAL OCCASION t-shirt" and then I sat my brain down and had a short little discussion about the fundamental everyday nature of t-shirts
December 28, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Dressing myself this morning and grabbing toward a t-shirt and my brain said "no, not that one, that's a SPECIAL OCCASION t-shirt" and then I sat my brain down and had a short little discussion about the fundamental everyday nature of t-shirts
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains.
December 28, 2025 at 2:26 AM
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains.
I keep them all in my head. If they're interesting to me, they'll stick around until I write them. If they don't, then I'm not interested enough in them.
John, you may have written about this elsewhere, so apologies if you have. What do you do with all of your ideas? notes? sketches? digital or physical? How often do you go back to them?
Are they usually plot lines or hooks, or through lines or all of the above?
Are they usually plot lines or hooks, or through lines or all of the above?
December 28, 2025 at 2:01 AM
I keep them all in my head. If they're interesting to me, they'll stick around until I write them. If they don't, then I'm not interested enough in them.
I mean, there's "similar" and there's "employing the exact literary conceit," and mine was the second. Also, one of the contracts (it was a two book deal) got attached to "Redshirts," so it turned out okay for me.
isn't having something ready to go that's similar to an existing popular thing a situation that publishers want to be in?
December 28, 2025 at 1:47 AM
I mean, there's "similar" and there's "employing the exact literary conceit," and mine was the second. Also, one of the contracts (it was a two book deal) got attached to "Redshirts," so it turned out okay for me.
Fun fact: Years ago I signed a contract for "The Big One: An Oral History of the First Interstellar War" and then World War Z came out, was huge and we shelved it. Recently I wondered if it was time to revisit the concept AND NOW I SEE THIS UGH WHY MAX BROOKS WHY
(Also, can't wait to read it)
(Also, can't wait to read it)
New book on its way! For the last few years I’ve been working on ‘The First Hundred Hours, a story of Alien Invasion.’ Updates coming soon!
December 28, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Fun fact: Years ago I signed a contract for "The Big One: An Oral History of the First Interstellar War" and then World War Z came out, was huge and we shelved it. Recently I wondered if it was time to revisit the concept AND NOW I SEE THIS UGH WHY MAX BROOKS WHY
(Also, can't wait to read it)
(Also, can't wait to read it)
Tonight in the December Comfort Watches: Alita: Battle Angel, which answers the question: what would it be like if a cheap Cannon Films sci-fi action film from the 1980s was given a $170 million budget and 21st Century special effects? Let's find out! Together!
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/27/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/27/t...
December 28, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Tonight in the December Comfort Watches: Alita: Battle Angel, which answers the question: what would it be like if a cheap Cannon Films sci-fi action film from the 1980s was given a $170 million budget and 21st Century special effects? Let's find out! Together!
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/27/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/27/t...
Currently eating a Ferrero Rocher, i.e., what you thought was the most special expensive candy in the world when you were eight years old
December 27, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Currently eating a Ferrero Rocher, i.e., what you thought was the most special expensive candy in the world when you were eight years old
I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was fourteen because it was the one thing where I had an outsized facility for it relative to my peers, and also I liked it. I was extremely fortunate to have near universal support from friends, peers and teachers. Everyone expected me to do what I do now.
I will say that your focus on your goals was remarkable for a late teenager.
December 27, 2025 at 8:11 PM
I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was fourteen because it was the one thing where I had an outsized facility for it relative to my peers, and also I liked it. I was extremely fortunate to have near universal support from friends, peers and teachers. Everyone expected me to do what I do now.
No one ever asks to see your transcript and also, after your first real job, no one much cares about your degree, it's about your work experience. My second job didn't ask anything about my education; it wasn't relevant. When I went freelance, it was even less so.
I was a lousy college student in the grades department, but learned the material in my field. And no one ever asked to see my transcript.
December 27, 2025 at 7:56 PM
No one ever asks to see your transcript and also, after your first real job, no one much cares about your degree, it's about your work experience. My second job didn't ask anything about my education; it wasn't relevant. When I went freelance, it was even less so.
We didn't know who is going to be famous in our cohort, and we don't know who's gonna be famous after our cohort either. I remember meeting someone at one of my events who was excited that her first book was about to come out. I congratulated her and wished her well. It was R.F. Kuang. She did okay!
"I knew a lot of these people before any of us was famous" isn't something anyone breaking in wants to hear. 😆
"But how do you know who's going to be famous???"
... exactly.
"But how do you know who's going to be famous???"
... exactly.
Talking to one of these types at a con who asked how I 'got in' with so many 'famous writers' who I'd been talking to and I said "we made friends before anyone knew who we were decades ago by striking up interesting conversations and enjoying each other's company" and he kept re-asking the question.
December 27, 2025 at 7:36 PM
We didn't know who is going to be famous in our cohort, and we don't know who's gonna be famous after our cohort either. I remember meeting someone at one of my events who was excited that her first book was about to come out. I congratulated her and wished her well. It was R.F. Kuang. She did okay!