In Florida, everything eats you. In fact, sometimes the earth itself opens up and devours you.

The craziness here extends to the very rock beneath (temporarily) your feet.

People who treat service employees poorly should be deported to Somalia. Or rather, “expatriated” would be the more correct term, it’s just that “deport” has a better ring to it.

Either way, send them all to Somalia. No great loss.

I’ve read this article about three times now since it was published, which is rare for me. It is damn great.

Fantasy does not have to be hamstrung by the social conventions of the past. If you want those social conventions in place for other story reasons then you can get around that too by bringing women into the story. Terry Pratchett’s Monstrous Regiment has a lot to say about the different kinds of women you might find on a battlefield, and the many different reasons why they might be there despite restrictive social mores. Or, you know, you could read some actual history, because for all its patriarchal leanings, you will find that women’s roles in war were a lot more varied than many people expect.

I’ve never, ever understood the reason that fantasy and sf insists on being restricted to replicating 1950s social roles and mores. It is just completely senseless.