I’m reading only women for a year
Earlier this year, K.T. Bradford published an article with the simple title, “I Challenge You to Stop Reading White, Straight, Cis Male Authors for One Year.” It set a lot of people aflame. “Reverse sexism” and “reverse racism” and such. (Which, I should be clear is a dumb argument.) Neil Gaiman, who is the literal “posterbook” for the article, tweeted his support. And John Scalzi added, “Someone once told me they wanted to read my books but were reading only women for a year. I said, cool, my books will be there in a year.” I didn’t act on the post. I Read more…
Move to Tacoma
I forgot to post this here earlier, but recently my good friend Marguerite started a website called Move to Tacoma. It’s a neighborhood guide, a blog, and full of interesting interviews. Including me! I was the second guest on her podcast and talked about our city’s strengths and our tendency to sometimes try to copy our neighbors (cough, Portland). So if you want to hear me talk about my hometown, you should definitely check it out. I was really happy with how it turned out. And hey, if you really like it, you should think about moving to Tacoma!
Still here.
I realize, to my chagrin, that it’s been two and a half months since I’ve posted here. As I said in my last post (way back in 2014) I am taking my writing more seriously. The Little Book of Boards is complete in all its forms (Kindle, paperback, and audiobook). I’m also working hard on The Iron Harvest. One of the big signs that I’m within shooting distance of the end when I create a scene-list of everything I know I have left to write. And I created that list just a few days ago! So that’s a very good thing. Read more…
“Tacoma is not Portland North!” on Move to Tacoma
I made this my rallying cry earlier this year at the RE: Tacoma talks. I was excited to delve into the topic on my friend and Tacoma real estate agent Marguerite Martin‘s new podcast, Move to Tacoma! Tacoma is Not Portland North with Erik Hanberg – Episode 002
2014—The Year in Writing and Other Creative Endeavors
On this last day of 2014, I wanted to take a moment to look back over the year in writing and creative pursuits. I didn’t accomplish nearly what I’d hope. But there were some nice surprises on here as well. I wrote the first 200 pages of The Iron Harvest, the sequel to The Lead Cloak. I wrote The Little Book of Boards, a board member’s handbook for small (and very small) nonprofits. It will officially launch early in 2015, but the Kindle book is already available. On a lark, I wrote The Queen of Neptune, a Veronica Mars novella. Read more…
I went and did it. I wrote fan fiction.
I don’t know if you’re familiar with the show, but let me tell you a little bit about Veronica Mars. The show—featuring a high school detective with sass and grit—was surprisingly adult, and surprisingly fun. Somehow it balanced real drama with sharp wit and banter reminiscent of a 1940s noir. Both Mary and I loved it, and we were sad to see it go after its third season. This year, Veronica Mars was revived. The 2013 Kickstarter that financed the movie paid off handsomely—the movie was released widely and renewed interest in the show. An official novel was released that picks up the Read more…
Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Ubiquity, and Goldfish Crackers
Comics without covers As I kid, I read a bunch of comic books. Actually, scratch that. I had a collection of a few dozen comic books, but I just read them over and over again. None of them had covers. And it’s not because I was a destructive child.
The iPhone
My last two letters sent via TinyLetter touch on many topics–from chess to the 1939 World’s Fair to transistors on a computer chip. But they actually go together quite well because they both are about the iPhone in one way or another. How we make calls, how the phones stack up against old computers from the 90s. I will confess that I’m biased, but I think they are both good balances between informative and interesting. Here’s the letter called “Long-Distance” and the second letter called “50x.” Worth checking out for both the history and future of technology. And, of course, you could read them Read more…
Frank Herbert and his Lost Archives
I thought this was an intriguing project and I wanted to share it here before the Indiegogo campaign wrapped up. Erik Jorgensen is working on bringing the “lost archives” of Frank Herbert to light. Herbert’s writing as a journalist is not nearly as well known as his masterwork Dune, of course. But what a journalist like Herbert chooses to pay attention to is revealed in his writing. Jorgensen has digitized his writing from 1949 – 1953 in Santa Rosa, California. Maybe someone should do the same with Herbert’s writing in the Puget Sound area, no? Good luck, Erik, on getting the Read more…
Our robotic future
With the rise of drones, we’re becoming a lot more conscious of how little robots are interacting with us in everyday life. Recently Mary and I watched an interesting and funny film about that very topic set in the near future called Robot and Frank. Frank is dealing with some kind of Alzheimer’s or dementia and his son, who lives five hours away, thinks a robot will be make his own life a little easier by taking care of Frank for him. It’s touching, and funny, and also has some jewel heist scenes, which you know always make a movie better. Read more…
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