Robert Charles Wilson
@wilsonspin.bsky.social
Hugo Award-winning author of SPIN, BLIND LAKE and a bunch of other novels, plus short story collection THE PERSEIDS and nonfiction semi-memoir OWNING THE UNKNOWN.
Taking a little time for some vintage science fiction, especially the work of John Christopher, whose opus I somehow neglected. (I did read and enjoy his Tripod trilogy many years ago, and I’m looking forward to No Blade of Grass, The Long Winter, and The Ragged Edge.)
March 3, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Taking a little time for some vintage science fiction, especially the work of John Christopher, whose opus I somehow neglected. (I did read and enjoy his Tripod trilogy many years ago, and I’m looking forward to No Blade of Grass, The Long Winter, and The Ragged Edge.)
A Publishers Weekly article about the near-death of the mass market paperback, and you can spot a copy of my novel Spin in the photo that illustrates it. Sort of like coming across your own name on a tombstone.
February 27, 2025 at 3:54 PM
A Publishers Weekly article about the near-death of the mass market paperback, and you can spot a copy of my novel Spin in the photo that illustrates it. Sort of like coming across your own name on a tombstone.
Celebrating Flag Day today—and reclaiming the flag from the “convoy” quislings, at a time when we face an unprecedented threat from south of the border. (Also bracing for the winter storm heading for southern Ontario!)
February 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Celebrating Flag Day today—and reclaiming the flag from the “convoy” quislings, at a time when we face an unprecedented threat from south of the border. (Also bracing for the winter storm heading for southern Ontario!)
We’re shopping more carefully now that Canada is under economic threat—postponing big purchases, planning more plain-&-basic meals, avoiding US products, buying Canadian wherever possible. This country is worth any sacrifice we might have to make. Canadians have done it before & we can do it again.
January 27, 2025 at 8:27 PM
We’re shopping more carefully now that Canada is under economic threat—postponing big purchases, planning more plain-&-basic meals, avoiding US products, buying Canadian wherever possible. This country is worth any sacrifice we might have to make. Canadians have done it before & we can do it again.
Every year after Christmas dinner Aunt Felicia would entertain the family with her reenactment of a scene from Ridley Scott’s Alien.
December 24, 2024 at 1:58 PM
Every year after Christmas dinner Aunt Felicia would entertain the family with her reenactment of a scene from Ridley Scott’s Alien.
Once a year I have to take the platter off my sixty-year-old idler-drive turntable and oil all the mechanical bits that need lubricating.
This is the sort of entertainment you don’t get with Spotify.
This is the sort of entertainment you don’t get with Spotify.
December 23, 2024 at 1:36 PM
Once a year I have to take the platter off my sixty-year-old idler-drive turntable and oil all the mechanical bits that need lubricating.
This is the sort of entertainment you don’t get with Spotify.
This is the sort of entertainment you don’t get with Spotify.
Some Canadian art for tomorrow’s solstice: Lawren Harris, “Winter Morning,” 1914. I don’t mind these dark and moody winter days—great for sitting by the window and writing—though they tend to wear out their welcome by the time February staggers into March.
December 20, 2024 at 3:14 PM
Some Canadian art for tomorrow’s solstice: Lawren Harris, “Winter Morning,” 1914. I don’t mind these dark and moody winter days—great for sitting by the window and writing—though they tend to wear out their welcome by the time February staggers into March.
This 4-LP boxed set was distributed by the Book of the Month Club in 1964, and they must have made a million of them—they’re a yard sale mainstay, the opposite of “collectible” vinyl. But it’s actually a pretty good introduction to the pre-Dylan folk scene.
December 18, 2024 at 1:57 PM
This 4-LP boxed set was distributed by the Book of the Month Club in 1964, and they must have made a million of them—they’re a yard sale mainstay, the opposite of “collectible” vinyl. But it’s actually a pretty good introduction to the pre-Dylan folk scene.
The incoming US president called our prime minister the “governor” of a “state,” so I thought I’d check, and as of dawn’s early light the flag was still there.
December 13, 2024 at 5:23 PM
The incoming US president called our prime minister the “governor” of a “state,” so I thought I’d check, and as of dawn’s early light the flag was still there.
The older I get, the more my record collection feels like a time machine: eavesdropping on the past by listening to music. “Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section” was recorded (superbly) in Los Angeles in 1957—the year Sputnik went into orbit and Paul McCartney was introduced to John Lennon.
December 9, 2024 at 9:36 PM
The older I get, the more my record collection feels like a time machine: eavesdropping on the past by listening to music. “Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section” was recorded (superbly) in Los Angeles in 1957—the year Sputnik went into orbit and Paul McCartney was introduced to John Lennon.
Revisiting the (relatively) obscure corners of my record collection again, and this is a good one: straight-up electric blues circa 1965 to warm up the room on a chilly day.
December 7, 2024 at 12:29 PM
Revisiting the (relatively) obscure corners of my record collection again, and this is a good one: straight-up electric blues circa 1965 to warm up the room on a chilly day.
In his book @mattstrassler.bsky.social often uses air and wind as an analogy—air as a medium, wind as a field, sound as a wave—which always reminded me of the Christina Rossetti poem:
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
December 6, 2024 at 1:47 PM
In his book @mattstrassler.bsky.social often uses air and wind as an analogy—air as a medium, wind as a field, sound as a wave—which always reminded me of the Christina Rossetti poem:
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
Lately I’ve been listening to some of the more obscure discs in my collection. Not sure how to describe this one—quasi-psychedelic big band jazz exotica? Very much of its time (1967), eccentric and kinda kitschy but oddly enjoyable.
December 5, 2024 at 12:27 PM
Lately I’ve been listening to some of the more obscure discs in my collection. Not sure how to describe this one—quasi-psychedelic big band jazz exotica? Very much of its time (1967), eccentric and kinda kitschy but oddly enjoyable.
The local thrift shop has been a dry well for the last few months, but I found these today.
December 2, 2024 at 7:34 PM
The local thrift shop has been a dry well for the last few months, but I found these today.
Forthcoming Italian edition. Gorgeous cover art!
November 30, 2024 at 3:44 PM
Forthcoming Italian edition. Gorgeous cover art!
I wouldn’t know a boson from a fermion if it bit me on the ankle, but I do love reading popular science books. This looks like an especially good one.
November 27, 2024 at 5:12 PM
I wouldn’t know a boson from a fermion if it bit me on the ankle, but I do love reading popular science books. This looks like an especially good one.
Len Deighton’s Bomber is a fine novel, and I was fascinated to learn it was the first work of fiction to be written on a word processor—an IBM MT72 “the size and shape of a small upright piano.” Deighton was the only private individual IBM allowed to own one, circa 1969.
November 25, 2024 at 11:34 AM
Len Deighton’s Bomber is a fine novel, and I was fascinated to learn it was the first work of fiction to be written on a word processor—an IBM MT72 “the size and shape of a small upright piano.” Deighton was the only private individual IBM allowed to own one, circa 1969.
It’s chilly in the great outdoors today. “A deep and dark November,” to paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel.
November 22, 2024 at 4:50 PM
It’s chilly in the great outdoors today. “A deep and dark November,” to paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel.
Since I’ve been introducing myself as an author, I should mention that I’m also married to one. Sharry’s biographical account of Neil Young’s childhood was published by ECW Press in 2014 and remains in print ten years later. “Supremely compelling”—Rolling Stone.
November 22, 2024 at 3:35 PM
Since I’ve been introducing myself as an author, I should mention that I’m also married to one. Sharry’s biographical account of Neil Young’s childhood was published by ECW Press in 2014 and remains in print ten years later. “Supremely compelling”—Rolling Stone.
By their books ye shall know them: introducing myself with shelfies, final instalment.
These are some of the books I’ve written, in their various editions and translations. Amazing what stacks up after forty years in the business. (I’m not prolific, just persistent.)
These are some of the books I’ve written, in their various editions and translations. Amazing what stacks up after forty years in the business. (I’m not prolific, just persistent.)
November 21, 2024 at 2:19 PM
By their books ye shall know them: introducing myself with shelfies, final instalment.
These are some of the books I’ve written, in their various editions and translations. Amazing what stacks up after forty years in the business. (I’m not prolific, just persistent.)
These are some of the books I’ve written, in their various editions and translations. Amazing what stacks up after forty years in the business. (I’m not prolific, just persistent.)
By their books ye shall know them: introducing myself with shelfies, part three.
This time it’s nonfiction. The shelf mascots are one astronaut Smurf and two glow-in-the-dark saucer aliens that formerly served as place card holders at a bar mitzvah reception.
This time it’s nonfiction. The shelf mascots are one astronaut Smurf and two glow-in-the-dark saucer aliens that formerly served as place card holders at a bar mitzvah reception.
November 20, 2024 at 11:19 AM
By their books ye shall know them: introducing myself with shelfies, part three.
This time it’s nonfiction. The shelf mascots are one astronaut Smurf and two glow-in-the-dark saucer aliens that formerly served as place card holders at a bar mitzvah reception.
This time it’s nonfiction. The shelf mascots are one astronaut Smurf and two glow-in-the-dark saucer aliens that formerly served as place card holders at a bar mitzvah reception.
Photo from yesterday’s jaunt through the local park. Posting it because we’re approaching that season in Toronto when the sky closes like a steel vault and sunlight begins to seem like a dimly-remembered phenomenon from the Before Times. Note to my January self: blue skies are an actual thing.
November 19, 2024 at 9:46 PM
Photo from yesterday’s jaunt through the local park. Posting it because we’re approaching that season in Toronto when the sky closes like a steel vault and sunlight begins to seem like a dimly-remembered phenomenon from the Before Times. Note to my January self: blue skies are an actual thing.
By their books ye shall know them: introducing myself with shelfies, part two. Today it’s general fiction. Nothing like a systematic collection, just a remnant fraction of all the books that have passed through my hands. Some books come and go, some linger—it’s one of the mysteries of life.
November 19, 2024 at 1:31 PM
By their books ye shall know them: introducing myself with shelfies, part two. Today it’s general fiction. Nothing like a systematic collection, just a remnant fraction of all the books that have passed through my hands. Some books come and go, some linger—it’s one of the mysteries of life.
By their books ye shall know them: introducing myself with shelfies. Today it’s a random chunk of my SF/F collection. In the coming days I’ll do fiction and nonfiction.
Lots of 20th century sf here—it’s a particular interest of mine—but I don’t claim it’s superior to what’s being written today.
Lots of 20th century sf here—it’s a particular interest of mine—but I don’t claim it’s superior to what’s being written today.
November 18, 2024 at 3:05 PM
By their books ye shall know them: introducing myself with shelfies. Today it’s a random chunk of my SF/F collection. In the coming days I’ll do fiction and nonfiction.
Lots of 20th century sf here—it’s a particular interest of mine—but I don’t claim it’s superior to what’s being written today.
Lots of 20th century sf here—it’s a particular interest of mine—but I don’t claim it’s superior to what’s being written today.
Do you read randomly or systematically? My own reading has always been a drunkard’s walk through genres and subjects. Last week it was Arthur Schlesinger’s The Crisis of the Old Order. This week it’s Len Deighton’s Bomber. Next week…I don’t know, but I have my eye on Playground by Richard Powers.
November 18, 2024 at 12:33 PM
Do you read randomly or systematically? My own reading has always been a drunkard’s walk through genres and subjects. Last week it was Arthur Schlesinger’s The Crisis of the Old Order. This week it’s Len Deighton’s Bomber. Next week…I don’t know, but I have my eye on Playground by Richard Powers.