Annalee Newitz's discussions

Haha . . . just FYI, there are no book publishers in creation who pay by the word. Not that they don't publish monstrosities, mind you. Just saying. Read more

Well, true. I haven't seen any that were based on non-epic poems. Have you? Read more

I have changed the line breaks — sorry, I got them from the YouTube page of the filmmaker. And by the way, yes, it is a poem. Read more

I actually just finished Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and I know what you mean about the romance aspects of the story. But I think what impressed me most was how it was also a novel about choice, and the myth that there is a way to choose to "be yourself" without being shaped by other people. The god of night is always… Read more

He's working on a sequel! Read more

Tachyon and DAW are both indie presses. Read more

Yep! Read more

That came out in 2011, and was on our best list from last year! Read more

I really liked that book, but I didn't think it was a best of the year. I've included a lot of Banks' work on our previous best books of the year lists, though. I thought Surface Detail was simply masterful. Hydrogen Sonata wasn't quite up to that level. Read more

Or you just need to have remote access to a device near the person's chest. Read more

Nice. Yeah, I took all morning classes so I had no idea. Now I'm hunting for crow roosts around San Francisco. Read more

I urge everybody to go get this at their local libraries! And give your librarian a smile, too. Read more

Maybe the next episode in the series was predicted by the ancient Maya? Read more

Katniss delivers the total smackdown to the Engineers and that squid alien thing in Prometheus. That is my educated (and sophisticated!) opinion. Seriously Prometheus was a mess, people. Hunger Games was a hard-hitting, intense flick about an all-too-plausible future. Read more

Wow! I went to Saddleback College. I'm sad I missed this. Read more

That is why I bribe them with peanuts. Read more

I try to be careful about washing up after I feed the jay who eats out of my hand. The crows never touch me, though. Actually my main concern is the fact that they poop all over my balcony and porch, which I have to hose down once in a while. :) Read more

Well they are urban scavengers, which means they probably depend entirely on humans for food already. Either they get it out of garbage cans, beg scraps on the street, or find people like me who feed them. I'm certain that I'm not the only peanut dispensary in town. Read more

They're on Amazon. Read more

They are related, but different species. Blue jays have a characteristic crest on their heads, and a shorter beak. Both are corvids. Read more