point of view

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Point of View (Un)Settled

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chaos - help - deposit photos

It’s done. * whew * We’re moved into our new place, and everything’s back to normal again. * laughs maniacally * I wish. We took possession of the new place back on February 25th, and then spent two grueling weeks painting, shelf lining, moving boxes and small furniture, and all the other little things you have to do when you move: address changes, purchasing shower curtains, making install appointments, walkthroughs, unpacking all those boxes, and on and on. All while trying to reply to emails and keep at least some parts of the business humming. Oh, and did I mention … Read more

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Point of View: A New Flash Story

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AI Prompt - deposit photos

Hey all… we’re going into move mode this week, so there won’t be a newsletter next Monday. For my “column” this week, I banged out a flash story that’s been bouncing around in my head this week… hope you enjoy it! Vibe Science “It’s really incredible.” Trevor stared at the wall of video call faces in his Vibe Scientist group. Fifty of the most important Vibe Science influencers. Most of them were nodding in agreement.  “I’m leveraging all the main LLM’s—Clod, Grope, Capricorn, TalkDDT—into one super powered AI client, trained on the entirety of human knowledge, with a specialization in climate science.” … Read more

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Point of View: “I’m Your Number One Fan”

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Elizabeth Nunziato and Jason Kuykendall in Misery at the B Street Theatre

It’s “fans” week here at the worldwide headquarters of J. Scott Coatsworth, Incorporated. First off, a tale from the dark side of fandom. We saw an amazing production of Misery (the play) – written by the same guy who penned the screenplay for the movie. It was produced at our local B Street Theatre, and featured two of our favorite local lead actors – Elizabeth Nunziato and Jason Kuykendall – who are married in real life. It was a surprisingly funny production, bringing out all the latent dark comedy in the piece, mostly due to Nunziato’s great talent as an … Read more

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Point of View: A House in (Good) Chaos

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man with boxes - deposit photos

Hey y’all… just a short missive from me today. Life is going to be crazy for the next few weeks/months. We’re moving at the start of March, and are madly packing boxes, buying furniture, and finding homes for some of our old stuff. If you are in the Sacramento area and want some artwork (or various pieces of furniture or appliances), let me know and I’ll tell you what we have. I’m also busy organizing the Sacramento Book Festival, coming up on April 19. We have a fantastic team – I am by no means doing this on my own … Read more

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Point of View: But Is It Art?

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painter - deposit photos

I was just thinking about the difference between a writer and an artist. A writer, of course, is a kind of artist, crafting their works with a pen instead of a brush. And I’m going to make some generalizations in this column, so please bear with me. It seems to me that art – the kind you make on paper or with a physical medium like sculpture, is more of a focused craft. It requires lots of concentrated time working on a single piece to get it right. I enjoy drawing, and I’m pretty good at it, but I don’t … Read more

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Point of View: What Do We Owe Our Readers?

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thoughtful writer - deposit photos

i’ve just received a wonderful review from a friend for Down the River, the second book in the River City Chronicles. In it, the reviewer talks about how the story provided such a great escape from all the awful things going on today. It made me think once again about the responsibility that we, as authors – and especially those of us who write speculative fiction – have to our readers and to the world at large. On the one hand, as a purveyor of science fiction, part of what I try to do is to reflect on what’s happening … Read more

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Point of View: SacAnime!

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Liminal Fiction at SacAnime Winter 2026

We just wrapped SacAnime 2-26 and we had a blast. New this year – bingo cards for common anime con sights – giant weapon, character carrying their own head, Deadpool, and much more. Sharing some photos from this fun event:

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Point of View: Kempt

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kempt

I’ve always liked collecting words, and one of those collections is words that don’t have an opposite equivalent, or have one that’s rarely used or with a different meaning: So today I’m offering you a little something different. Enjoy my little mm flash-fiction romance featuring the opposites of these words: Cameron had always dressed peccably – a shabby t-shirt, rumpled cargo shorts, and flip flops. But that day, when he strode into the room chalantly, every eve followed him. He looked so kempt, so put together, and he crossed the room in a reckfull manner, carefully navigating the crowd to … Read more

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Writer Fuel: You Can’t Go Back

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pearl - deposit photos

We got a good lesson this week in “you can’t go back.“ Twenty years ago, we first visited Portland and its shiny new district, the Pearl. It was built in an area that used to be an industrial wasteland, one of the blighted areas near downtown Portland. It started out with a conversion of a couple old single story brick warehouses into condos, with the cement loading docks serving as their front patios. Portland had some very smart urban zoning policies, including forcing developers to include storefronts / windows on the ground floors of all buildings, encouraging public art, and … Read more

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Point of View: Mortality

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calvin hobbes

I’m fifty-seven years old, verging on fifty-eight, and I just got some unwelcome news. My PSA level (prostate-specific antigen) is a bit high. Not four-alarm-fire high, but that together with the fact that I’m Caucasian (higher risk) and that my Dad and my Uncle Dave (his brother) both had prostate cancer at this age means that I’m headed to the Urologist for a biopsy. And yeah, even if I have it, this is one of the most survivable cancers. And it’s far from a certainty that I do. But nevertheless, it’s a sobering reality check. I am reaching the age … Read more