Julia Vee's Blog, page 7

Nebula Tasting Menu, Part 1

For me, the awards times are a fun opportunity to try something new. I especially like the short story and novelette length nominations because it increases my odds of finishing them in time before the winners are announced. This year I had a bit of a head start, having already enjoyed Mary Robinette Kowal’s Calculating […]

LATE TO THE PARTY: ZOMBIE edition

This book came out in 2014 but I only got around to reading it last month. I don’t know why I waited so long. It was really one of the best books I’ve read all year. The Girl With All The Gifts is a post-apocalyptic zombie-ish novel. (Which begs the question, can it even be a post-apoc film […]

Start Where You Are

I always love this time of year because people start reflecting back on their year.  For me, I like to see progress.  In order to see progress, I have to have a benchmark to see how far I’ve come. January 1 to December 31 is traditional but certainly even shorter benchmarks are helpful. I walk daily. […]

Your Book Would Go Great With My Workout

We went from wildfires to storms and flooding.  This can make it challenging for me to get my evening walks in with the dog. Although, she doesn’t seem to mind it as much as I do when she tracks mud all over the house. There are presently dirty towels all over the entryway. I often […]

The Things I Didn’t Buy on Cyber Monday

I always buy a lot on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.  I do it all online.  Mostly, I try to take care of stuff that’s been dangling out there for a while and it’s a good enough reason to get the thing for a discount. Last year I bought an Instant Pot […]

Sometimes You Need a Coach to Find Your Getup and Go

It’s been dark in the mornings. Really dark. The fires have been ravaging California and smoke clouds our landscape. It’s been tough to get up the last few mornings. I knew I needed something extra–more than just a gallon of coffee (although that does help!) So I dug out something that helped me before…a coach. […]

5 Veteran Creatives Storming Sci-Fi and Fantasy

Hey, it’s a holiday that means a lot to me. Here are some people who served this nation and then went on to write kickass books. I think we say “Thank you for your service” and mean it, but there’s also one more thing you can do to show your appreciation, which is to see […]

Modern Monsters

The day after Halloween is always a little rough. I had a third cup of coffee this morning to cope. When I was out with my kids last night, I saw more adults than kids. It got me to thinking about how much we all love about Halloween. In addition to the freedom to be […]

Worldcon 76, LeVar Burton, and Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™

I’ve never been a con person.  A friend of mine is an artist (Rob Chang’s gorgeous artwork here) and when we were kids, we went to a Comic Con to hang out with other comic book artists.  That was over 20 years ago! This year Worldcon is coming to San Jose and so I’m going to […]

Hearts, Flowers, and Light Sabers

The alternative title for this post was going to be “everybody loves love.” What am I talking about? Apparently one of the top two selling books of the Star Wars franchise of all time, even after all these years… is The Courtship of Princess Leia (Star Wars). According to Wikipedia (yes that’s right–this book has it’s […]