No longer working for the Three Initial Company has an unexpected occupational hazard: I forget when Labor Day is. Fortunately, a post this week reminded me it was coming up. And then, as reminders often do, it jogged my memory about a previous post that was much more interesting than having a day off work: what was it like to actually work in ancient Egypt? So I dug it out of the archives, dusted off the sand, and decided it was time for an update. Turns out working in ancie

July 21, 1969. My leg bounced with nervous excitement as Neil Armstrong descended the ladder. I was sixteen years old, crammed into the living room with family and friends, and convinced I was watching gods walk on the moon. Who else but gods could stride between worlds? It wasn’t the first time space had dazzled me. Eight years earlier, on May 5, 1961, my teacher marched our class into the school auditorium, where a hulking nineteen-inch black-and-white television perched on

I've loved ancient Egypt for as long as I can remember. The theology, the magick, the sense that the universe runs on laws both visible and hidden. It shaped me as a reader and eventually as a writer. So when I say Pauline Gedge gets it right in The Scroll of Saqqara, I say that as someone who has spent years walking those sands in books, in imagination, and in real life. So, what about this book? Amazon sez Prince Khaemwaset, son of Ramesses II and revered physician, longs f

Years ago, I read an article on happiness. The author posed a simple question: If someone gave you $10,000, would you buy a car or take a vacation? (Yes, it was that long ago—back when $10k could still buy a car.) The advice was clear: choose the vacation. A car starts to disappoint you the minute you leave the lot. Dings, spills, depreciation—it’s all downhill. But even the worst vacation becomes a lifelong story. The memories—good, bad, or catastrophic—grow more entertainin

My leg bounced with nervous excitement as Neil Armstrong descended the ladder. July 19, 1969. I was sixteen years old, crammed into the living room with family and friends, and convinced I was watching gods walk on the moon. It wasn’t the first time space had dazzled me. Eight years earlier, on May 6, 1961, my teacher marched our class into the school auditorium, where a hulking nineteen-inch black-and-white television perched on the stage. We watched Alan Shepard launch into

I started this as a reminder to my forgetful self about which books I'd read and what I thought about them. I hope you find it useful. Fourth Wing was hailed as the romantasy of the year. Fourth Wing is Harry Potter as a soldier with dragons. A rather wimpy girl (Violet) is forced by her mother (a general) to enter a war college and become a dragon rider. Generally, I'm not a fan of books with dragons in them, but I made an exception for this one. It covers just about every