Dragoness Eclectic's Journal

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/04/09/the-big-idea-justin-feinstein/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=60051

What are stories but information laid out before the reader? What if that information was conveyed through multi-media formats and told through emails, newsletters, and other digital means of communication? Author Justin Feinstein has brought us something truly unique in his new novel, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored. See how he twists traditional storytelling methods in his Big Idea.

JUSTIN FEINSTEIN:

I didn’t set out to write a novel told through “found” digital files; it happened organically.

My debut novel, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is comprised of chat transcripts, emails, TED Talks, error messages, and other digital detritus from a near-future AI company. But it wasn’t the result of some grand epistolary vision – I just started writing a chat between an aging, jaded copywriter (i.e., me) and a hyper-intelligent bot he had been hired to teach the nuances of advertising. I didn’t even know what I was writing, maybe a script?

As the dialogue evolved beyond consumer motivation and taglines, and into larger issues like sentience and purpose, I realized I had a larger story on my hands. Other characters (both human and bot) emerged, as well as other file formats. Every time I added a new element, it would offer its own unique opportunities for character and plot development.

For many months I toggled between writing and tinkering with a posterboard covered with Post-it notes, color-coded for different file types. The modularity of the format lent itself well to this process, which is a normal step for screenwriters and one that, as I learned, can provide much structural value to a novelist. It also helped keep me engaged on days that the blank page felt too daunting. I’d move a note from here to there, or add a new one and notice how it would affect the story. Even in revision, long after I’d dismantled the posterboard, I was still shuffling sections around to play with the chronology and build tension or sustain momentum.

It’s worth noting that while Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is my debut novel, I’ve written both another novel and a memoir, neither of which I was able to sell. For those books, I just started writing and kept going until they were done. So, both the process of writing this book and the format itself were foreign to me, and a big departure from how I’d worked in the past (and seemingly an improvement).

As a result of this newfound process, I became hyper aware of the order of information, its consequences for characters, and how it could guide the reader. For example, a mundane error message might not hold much weight early in a story, but the same error message in a later spot could bring significant narrative impact, due to the built-up context.

It was also fun to explore the tonal potential of these different formats. As anyone who has ever worked for a large corporation knows, company-wide emails are often saturated with an everything-is-fine and nothing-bad-is-happening perkiness that borders on the maniacal. Writing them made the company in my novel, Uniview (“The most trusted name in AI”), feel like a character itself. Since the story is linear, I was able to use weekly all-company emails (aka, The Weekly View) as a summation of what was happening, or at least the way UniView wanted to “spin” it. This added a layer of depth to the narrative, since both company employees and readers of the book knew the reality behind the spin.

Once I had a draft that I felt good about, I shared it with my wife, Julia Fierro (founder and director of the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop, and a damn good editor). I was hoping for some validation and slightly worried that I had created a Beautiful Mind-esque monster that only made sense to me. Fortunately, Julia was impressed and in awe that I had managed to write a book with no exposition or character interiority (i.e., thoughts) – a fact I was somehow only loosely aware of. It wasn’t that I had intentionally avoided it, just that it didn’t fit within the structure I had stumbled into.

That said, I did leverage little tricks to provide context where needed. If a character was entering a physical environment for the first time, they could comment on it or interact with it – like how the copywriter in my book, Noah, bumps his head when getting in a car and jokes about his lankiness, or how he later notes that the AI lab looks like a Swedish furniture showroom. He also has a call early on with his therapist, which is a helpful narrative vehicle for getting to the heart of a character’s fears and desires.

But Julia’s main note for me was that the video surveillance “scenes” in the book felt flat with only dialogue and made them nearly identical to the MP3s/audio recordings. It was a great note, and one I sat with for a while. She was right, but breaking the structure and format of the book for only one file type (i.e., by adding descriptions of what was happening) just felt wrong.

Eventually I landed on not just a solution, but what would become a key component of the book. The head of HR at UniView is a bot, Lex, who handles nearly all aspects of the employees’ lives, well beyond their work. The company champions a symbiotic relationship in which its bots monitor all aspects of employee behavior (hence the book’s title) and tailor their AI offerings accordingly. So, I was able to pepper the video scenes with “behavioral notes” from Lex, which served the double duty of describing gesture and movement in scenes, while simultaneously characterizing her through reactions and commentary. And even though she “doesn’t make mistakes,” the few moments where she struggles to interpret sarcasm or nuanced behavior are some of my favorite in the book.

I don’t know that I’ll ever write a solely digital file-based book like Your Behavior Will Be Monitored again, although I’ll probably keep working with mixed media/epistolary formats. But I can say that playing with Post-it notes is officially part of my process now.

Your Behavior Will Be Monitored: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powell’s|Village Well

Author socials: Website|Bluesky|Instagram

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/04/09/the-big-idea-justin-feinstein/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=60051

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/04/08/the-big-idea-corry-l-lee-3/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=60032

Endings are called endings because things end there… but then what? What goes on beyond “the end”? Corry L. Lee is thinking about that very thought, and in this Big Idea for Imbue the Sky, offers some insight.

CORRY L. LEE:

The end of many stories is the Big Bad’s defeat. But is that really the end? If, say, someone had killed Hitler before WWII, would everything have been fine? What about his cronies, his generals, everyone invested in the fascist machine?

In Imbue the Sky, I wanted to explore what happens after the resistance succeeds. The dictator’s dead (hurray!)… but, left behind, is a power vacuum and loads of oppressive systems. In the Bourshkanya Trilogy, the (now-dead) Supreme General has two likely heirs: his sadistic eldest son, groomed for the role and supported by the brutal State police; and his more reasonable daughter, a mage and politician struggling with the State’s “might makes right” mentality. Then there’s the resistance, scrappy and small, with radical ideas of power to the people.

Add in our heroes who, together, assassinated the “unkillable” Supreme General, but now find themselves on opposing sides of a three-way civil war.

Through outlines and early drafts, I worked out the civil war’s progression and how I wanted it to end. But time and again, something wasn’t working. The problem was one of scope.

Most fantasy series, The Bourshkanya Trilogy included, grow in scope from one book to the next. This series began with intimate character, relationship, and magic growth inside the physical confines of a travelling circus (Book 1, Weave the Lightning), grew to working undercover for the resistance within the fascist state’s magical military (Book 2, The Storm’s Betrayal), before becoming nation-spanning in Book 3 (Imbue the Sky) with its civil war. Romances and friendships have shattered, and hundreds of kilometers separate our protagonists. 

The spark in the first two books came from the personal struggles, the push-and-pull of relationships, the tug between characters who cared deeply but wanted different things. How could I hold onto that heart while landing a satisfying ending with revolutionary scope?

I will claim that my answer to this is my Big Idea but, in reality, it was my Big Struggle.

To figure it out, I returned to the core of my original story: two people on different sides of the fascist state. The question of how a person frees themself from fascism fascinated me when I started drafting this series, and it has only become more relevant. In the real world, political rhetoric has become more polarized and aggressive, overflowing with intolerance and hate. 

And I wondered: how do we come back from hatred? Can we make mistakes and still be good? How many of our actions are shaped by our environment, and how can we turn toward forgiveness, understanding, and hope?

With this, Imbue the Sky’s Big Idea began to gel. The core of this story was not its battles or its epic magic (though those would remain, because fight scenes!!!). The heart of this story was characters fighting back toward their best selves—while raising arms against injustice. For some, the fight became about holding onto their light in the face of war’s brutality. For others, it involved realizing how their choices had broken relationships and figuring out how to (try and) mend them. Still others needed to soften their staunch convictions and accept that decisions are not always clear-cut; that sometimes, only by embracing an uncomfortable gray middle ground, can we nurture true growth.

In these questions, I found the end of the series. Not the culmination of the civil war’s battles (though that, too). Not (just) the weaving together of disparate aspects of the magic system into one explosive finale. But the weaving together of lives. 

The relationships at the end of this series have all shifted dramatically. Not all mistakes can be walked back, not all burned bridges rebuilt. But by looking critically at our choices and the paths they’ve started us down, by being vulnerable and admitting our mistakes, we have a chance to shift the course of history. 

It takes great strength to face your fears and reach for hope; to risk pain and be vulnerable; to risk failure and strive for a better world. In Imbue the Sky, the personal is political. The story doesn’t end when the dictator dies. In a way, it’s only the beginning.

Imbue the Sky: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powell’s|Solaris Books

Author socials: Website|Instagram|Facebook

Read an excerpt. 

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/04/08/the-big-idea-corry-l-lee-3/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=60032

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/04/07/dilly-dallying-in-denver-day-1/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59994

Last month, I went out to Colorado to visit one of my besties from college (Alex) for their birthday. I was out there for a week, and three of those days were spent in Denver, where they were kind enough to host me in their lovely apartment. In those three days, we explored so many different amazing restaurants, cafes, the botanical gardens, and even went into Boulder. I’d like to share the details of my trip with y’all, so buckle in because we are flying first class to Denver, baby!

I flew first class out of Cincinnati through Delta, and every time I fly through Cincinnati, I always try to stop and have a drink and a snack at Vino Volo. I love Vino Volo and if an airport has one, I’m there. I’ve been to the one in Minneapolis, the one in D.C., and I think one in California, maybe their Sacramento location? Anyways, Vino Volo is an airport-exclusive wine bar that has offerings like a charcuterie plate, soups, salads, flatbreads, just some light bites to go along with your wine, beer, or cocktail. So even though it was 10am and my flight was about to board, you know I had to get a little caffeine in me with an espresso martini.

I had a very short layover in Minneapolis, and made it into Denver at about 2pm. I took the train all the way to my friend’s apartment which is literally directly across from the train tracks, and our awesome reunion began. Also, I’ve never taken a train by myself before, I have only had friends in New York help me with the subway, a friend in Portland come with me on the bus system, and friends in Norway help me with the bus while I was very drunk, so public transportation isn’t my forte. It took me so long to figure out where the train was, how to get there, what ticket to buy, and what train to get on. I literally did not know what I was doing but I just hopped on one and hoped it was going the way I needed it to, and it did!

While I was visiting, it was Restaurant Week in Denver. If you’re unfamiliar with it, Restaurant Week (in any given city that participates) is where tons of restaurants in the city will offer a special, pre-fixe menu exclusive to the week, and usually offer it at a hell of a steal. The restaurants participating can offer their menus at four prices, $25, $35, $45, or $55 dollars. This gives people who maybe can’t splurge on a Michelin-star meal a chance to try multiple items for a fraction of the cost.

In our efforts to be culinarily and financially savvy, we also tried to hit specific happy hours. So our first meal in Denver was at Uchi, with an early reservation time of 4 o’clock so we could check out their happy hour menu.

Uchi is over in the RiNo district, so it’s super close to Denver proper. Uchi is founded by James Beard Award winning chef Tyson Cole, and actually has multiple locations across the US. It is upscale, chic, and incredibly inviting with its warm wood and atmospheric lighting. The servers are friendly, the drinks are delish, and the food is truly next level.

Here’s the happy hour menu:

Alex and I knew right off the bat that we wanted to do the omakase. A nine-course tasting menu of chef’s choices. What could be better?

And of course, we needed a fun bevy to go with our meal:

I got a sake that was on the happy hour menu called “Hoyo Sawayaka Summer Breeze” and they brought it to me in an overfilled tasting glass that (intentionally) spilled out into a wooden box that the glass resided in. They said that the overpour is a traditional symbol to represent hospitality and appreciation for the guest. I was told I could pour the glass out into the box and drink out of the box, but I decided to just drink out of the glass and then the box. I wanted the experience but didn’t want all of my drink to be out of the box.

The Summer Breeze sake was quite good! It was a little bit drier than I expected, but it was very light and crisp. I’m glad I tried it.

Alex got the Nikko mocktail, which you will see in a photo further on. Non-alcoholic amaretto, coconut milk, raspberry, and pineapple. This was a deliciously creamy drink that wasn’t overly sweet, but had such a nice tropical flavor to it.

Finally, our first course came:

Raw oysters on the half shell! This presentation was beautiful, and two oysters for each of us was the perfect start. These oysters were so fresh, not fishy at all, and made even more fresh by the microgreens on top. Served cold and fresh, just how I like ’em. The oysters are normally five dollars a piece, so this being the first course of a $60 nine course meal was already a good sign.

Up next were these tuna temaki with avocado. Now you can see our bevs, too!

I love a temaki, it’s like sushi in a different font! The simple combo of tuna and avocado with rice and seaweed is a certified classic, absolutely nothing wrong here.

For our third course, we got tempura fried Japanese pumpkin:

I truly love tempura fried anything and I especially love when it’s pumpkin. It’s so similar to a sweet potato with it’s slightly sweet and earthy flavor. The tempura on the outside was so perfectly crispy, my friend and I agreed it was delightfully crunchy.

This next course was extra special, because it was actually a birthday gift from the kitchen for my friend:

First, can we appreciate how cute the little happy birthday sign is? Alex kept the paper fish as a keepsake. Anyways, what we have here is raw ocean trout atop a butternut squash puree, topped with beet chips, apple, and microgreens. This was so good. The ocean trout was tender and had a beautiful, non-fishy flavor, the butternut squash puree was a wonderful accompaniment and its smooth texture contrasted the crunchy beet chips and crisp apple perfectly.

Also, who else is loving the dishware here? This plate is excellent.

Back to our regularly scheduled omakase, we have what I’d consider to be the most beautiful dish of the evening:

I can’t remember if this was bluefin tuna or yellowtail tuna, but it was definitely tuna and it was dressed with ponzu. The mandarin orange slices accompanying it had all of the white parts removed by hand to avoid that bitter pith flavor, and it is topped with roe (I can’t remember what kind!) and microgreens.

This tuna was so succulent and had a lovely mild flavor, paired with the sweet and juicy mandarin slices and bright ponzu, oh my gosh. This dish was seriously an absolute harmony of flavors, everything worked together so perfectly to create a delectable bite. One of my favorite bites of the evening.

Then we had these crispy rice squares:

If I remember correctly, these were topped with salmon, creme fraiche, and lemon zest. What part of that equation isn’t delicious?! We had yet to have any misses in the dishes.

Next was a course that was cooked fish, much to my surprise. This was their seared walleye:

The walleye was served hot and flaked apart nicely, I do think this was a little bit of a small portion for the two of us to share, but honestly everything else was already such a steal price-wise that a smaller course isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Especially because this next course was HUGE:

This giant pork chop served alongside a truffle soy glaze and apple puree, with granny smiths on top, was truly divine. The truffle flavor in the sauce was prominent but not overwhelming, the apple puree was so smooth and creamy, and the crunchy breading on the outside of the perfectly cooked pork chop was just the right level of golden brown. This was an absolute home run of a dish. And look at that nice bowl!

Finally, it was time for dessert, and as stuffed as we were, we couldn’t wait to dive into this dish:

Sweet cream gelato, chocolate mousse, and fried milk balls, topped with some sort of cocoa crisp thingy that I can’t even remember! I truly did not know what to expect with fried milk balls, but lordyyy they were so good. Crispy outside, basically sweetened condensed milk on the inside, like a lava cake but with milk. The sweet cream gelato was unbelievably bomb, and this was a showstopper dessert all around.

Oh, also, I ordered a cocktail a couple courses prior to the end, and it never came but I was like, eh that’s okay. But then it ended up being on my bill, so I brought it up to the server and he apologized immediately, took it off my bill and gave me the cocktail on the house!

For sixty dollars a person, this meal was incredible. Fresh flavors, unique combinations, beautiful presentations, good service, and food that I definitely can’t get around Bradford. We loved everything, and this was definitely a great birthday dinner for my friend.

After going back to their apartment and digesting for a bit, we decided we needed a late night matcha, and hit up Milk Tea People just before they closed. Alex highly recommended their matcha to me, so while I did end up getting a strawberry matcha, I couldn’t resist also getting the drink that was truly calling my name: the black sesame jasmine cream.

Alex got the orange blossom matcha on the right there, which was slightly floral and definitely more matcha-y/earthy than some sweeter, creamier matchas end up being. For my strawberry one, it was good but it was much less sweet than I anticipated, with the strawberry portion being more like a tart, fresh strawberry flavor. I actually ended up adding strawberry milk to mine to make it sweeter and creamier.

The black sesame drink was my favorite, though, with very prominent black sesame flavor, nice and sweet, and extra creamy. These drinks were a bit more on the expensive side with each one being nine dollars.

We spent the rest of the evening catching up and spilling tea, and I got plenty of pets in on their cat, Callie:

Day one complete and I was definitely beat from traveling, but stay tuned for day two!

Have you been to Denver before? If so, have you been out to Uchi? Don’t forget to follow them on Instagram, and have a great day!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/04/07/dilly-dallying-in-denver-day-1/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59994

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/04/04/today-i-am-ten-or-the-miracle-of-scalziyears/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59954

And you say to yourself, what? Scalzi, you are not ten years old today! You are just barely a month away from being 57! The only juvenile you are is juvenile elderly! Stop being a faker, you faker!

To which I respond: Yes, I am fifty-six and eleven(ish) months old… on Earth. But as you know, I have a minor planet named after me, and its orbital period is just a shade under 5.7 earth years long. If you were to position 52692 Johnscalzi (1998 FO8) on the day of my birth, today is the day it would have made its tenth complete orbit since then. Thus, ten ScalziYears. Today, I am ten ScalziYears old.

How will I celebrate such a momentous occasion? As it happens I have a gathering of friends at the church today. It’s for something else entirely but I might bring a cake anyway. And otherwise, I’m taking it easy. It’s nice that this time around it slots in just between Good Friday and Easter. Easter Saturday always feels a little left out of the holiday swing of things, I’m glad this year to give something to do.

My next ScalziYear birthday will be December 12, 2031, so you have lots of time to prepare. Get ready!

— JS

PS: that coin with my asteroids orbit on it was given to me by a fan at the San Antonio Pop Madness convention (whose name escapse me at the moment but they can certainly announce themselves in the comments), and it was super-cool to get it. The other side of the coin is just as awesome:

I have the best fans, honestly.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/04/04/today-i-am-ten-or-the-miracle-of-scalziyears/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59954

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/31/next-week-in-upper-arlington-oh/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59938

I’m popping up to the Columbus area next Monday at 6pm to take part in an event sponsored by the Ohioana Library, celebrating 100 years of Ohio authors (of which I count as one, considering that 95% of my novels, including my debut novel Old Man’s War, were written here in this state). In my event we’ll talk a bit about me and also a bit about Roger Zelazny (born in Euclid, OH), making a throughline about science fiction in Ohio. It’ll be fun! Plus I’ll probably sign books and may even talk a bit about my upcoming novel Monsters of Ohio. It seems appropriate.

In any event: See you at Storyline Bookshop in Upper Arlington, April 6 at 6pm!

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/31/next-week-in-upper-arlington-oh/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59938

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/30/march-marches-on/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59908

March was a much busier month than I expected it to be, but it also flew by and I feel like I can’t even keep track of what all happened. I don’t know how we’re at the end of March already, and yet the trip to Colorado I took at the beginning of the month feels very far away. Somehow there’s never enough time to do anything, and when I look back at what I have done it feels like nothing got accomplished at all. It’s like every single day I have no free time and am always running around doing something, but then at the end of the day it feels like nothing even got done.

This past month I’ve truly felt so overwhelmed by everything. And when I say everything I mean any and every little thing stresses me out in a disproportionate way. It’s like my brain doesn’t know the difference between a small problem and a catastrophic one, and so my response to either ends up being the most extreme reaction possible and results in a meltdown and a paralysis of my ability to function.

Every issue is day-ruining, every problem brings me to tears, nothing feels possible to overcome, whether it be the laundry, grocery shopping, or calling the plumber for the tenth time because of leaking in the basement. Everything takes so much longer to accomplish than I think it will. I am either not managing my time well or maybe just not budgeting for things correctly in the first place. Surely it’s a combination of both.

There’s always something more to do. It never ends. There is never a moment of “whew, I got everything done!” The satisfaction of completion, of achievement, never comes. The stress doesn’t end, it continues from one day into the next. I go to sleep anxious and stressed about the problems tomorrow me will face, and then tomorrow me wakes up and is stressed about the problems that have to be taken care of that day. It feels like a vicious cycle and I feel like I’ll never be free.

I keep thinking it will get better, but it hasn’t.

But if I explain the things that are causing me so much stress, I just sound ridiculous and more than a little pathetic. I mean, everyone has bills. Everyone has dishes and laundry to do. Everyone has appointments to keep. Everyone has to grocery shop and cook for themselves. These are very normal, well known life things that everyone does and manages on a day-to-day basis. So why am I drowning? I don’t even have a 9 to 5 or kids or anything that makes my life so much harder and more overwhelming than everyone else’s. In fact, I have the opposite! I have financial security and a WFH job and supportive family and friends, and I still feel suffocated by the menial, tedious, repetitive tasks of daily life.

Every task takes so much amping up for me to do. I cannot simply do a task, I have to work up to said task. I have to prepare mentally to accomplish the task. I need proper motivation, and I so rarely have it.

There are so many things within the house I thought would be done by now, like furnishing the sun room, painting the walls, fixing up the guest bedroom, and yet none of these have been accomplished despite having moved in in November. I just thought these things would be done by now. Or at least started. But they’re not. And my Christmas tree is still up.

Plus, nothing feels like it matters in the face of what’s happening in the world, but that’s a tale as old as time and told by everyone at this point. It hardly feels like an excuse anymore. Oh no, I’m witnessing unspeakable horrors all day every day! Well, time to do the dishes. At least I still have running water, unlike people near data centers. Oh, they’re building a data center twelve miles away from me? Right, right. Well, I guess I’ll just go ahead and do my taxes. Oh, the US is committing horrific acts of war with our tax dollars? Again? Right, right.

I know I’m sounding very doomer, and I rarely bring these types of thoughts here, but good lord March was heavy and I can’t really figure out why it was so bad. But it was, and I posted pretty much zero content. I don’t want to feel like my writing doesn’t matter, and I don’t want to feel like the things I do in my day to day life don’t matter, but that’s where I’m at right now. I know a lot of people feel the same way.

I’m hoping to catch up with a lot of posts, as I have been doing really fun and exciting stuff. And as frustrated as I am that all the good things in life are continuously tainted by the fact we live in a world run by the most evil people imaginable, I am still looking forward to sharing those good things with y’all. Because they do exist, despite it all.

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/30/march-marches-on/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59908

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/30/the-big-idea-ec-wolfe/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59898

Though we flip through a story’s pages as quickly as our eyes allow, do we ever stop to think about the story that lies in between the pages? The one that happens off-screen, out of sight, and in the background? Author EC Wolfe has, and she used these thoughts to craft a new novel in her Kerovosian Chronicles series, Shrike.

EC WOLFE:

I’m sure I’m not the first to say that real characters and stories don’t have to come from some deep place to be compelling.  Compelling characters and stories come from real places, places that we can connect to as individuals.  This is why, as an author, I spend a lot of my time asking “What if?”  Granted, asking the question aloud has gained me a reputation for being a little bit weird, but asking the questions of myself and then answering them on paper has gained me a reputation as an author.

My hard drive is full of answers to “What if?” left in folders labeled Scrap.  These ideas languish in digital purgatory until I can answer the next question, “What happens next?”  The answer to that question is singularly responsible for the second two books in the Water Girl series; I just kept answering it.

Shrike is different.

Shrike is the sixth book in the Kerovosian Chronicles, but it’s not “What happens next?” nor is it “What if?”   Shrike is the answer to a question that could have been asked in books one through five, but those books were about Chana and Thorne, and Voil and Kade, and Navi and Harker, and Ceff and Nythan, and Kerovos.

But this book isn’t about them.  It’s about the ones who brought Kerovos’s plan to fruition and yet were little more than a footnote for their troubles.  Shrike isn’t about what happens next, it’s what happened when we weren’t looking.  The Shrikes didn’t just appear and help out of the goodness of their hearts, so where did they come from?  What sort of person would take Kerovos up on a job offer?  What did it cost them and what did they gain?  Did anyone ever know what they did?

It stuck out to me that there were several stories left untold once I’d finished the fifth book, several characters that deserved the pages necessary to explain their motives, their victories, and their failures.  Like ours, the world of the Kerovosian Chronicles is full of players shuffling about on a game board, for good or ill.  Some of them stood out more, and like a tag you can’t rip out, it bothered me until I took the time to figure out why.  I realized that Kerovos had taken their glory in his eponymous book and I felt compelled to give it back to them.  It’s an honor to grant them the story they’d been denied, these characters who made choices just like you or I.  Hard choices.  Painful choices.

Like any other characters of my invention, these characters aren’t perfect.  It feels disingenuous to write perfect people since I have yet to find a person, now or in history, who was or is.  Instead, these characters are real because they aren’t perfect.  As I mentioned, it’s not deep.  You can throw a little deus ex machina in there to help them along but it’s still about the choices people make.  There are always more What Ifs and scrap on the hard drive, but for now, I’m happy to share Shrike.  A story about real people and the answer (but not really) to yet another “What happens next?”

Shrike: Amazon

Author’s socials: Facebook

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/30/the-big-idea-ec-wolfe/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=59898

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/28/going-off-the-rails/

Every year on the JoCo Cruise, the final concert includes a set of songs from musicians who passed in the previous year, and this year I sang one of them: “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne. Of course, if I was going to sing Ozzy, why not go all out about it, so here is me with Ozzy hair and glasses and all-black look, belting my brains out (the green Crocs, I will note, are original to me).

I think it went over well. And I hit most of my notes, including the high ones, which is always good. And the audience had fun with it, which was the most important part. I hope wherever Ozzy might be, he looked down and smiled rather than said “wtf.” The tribute was sincere.

For everyone about to ask, there are snippets of video on Bluesky, at the very least, and I imagine the cruise itself will post a full video at some point. But for the moment, please enjoy the photos.

Ozzy Osbourne did not leave this mortal plane; no. He has inhabited a new vessel, mild-mannered science fiction writer John Scalzi, who retains nothing of his former self but his Crocs. @scalzi.com @jococruise.bsky.social

— Kelly Wright (@omnikel.bsky.social) 2026-03-28T05:07:58.253Z

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/28/going-off-the-rails/