I Return!

When I started this blog, I launched into scientific reporting and speculation right off the bat, without introducing myself, because hey, the science will speak for itself and attract lots and lots of people.

Yeah. So, since I'm starting over in a way, I thought I'd say a little about myself. Ease people in. Warn them. That kind of thing. (You can also head over to the About Me Page, but this is different info, so keep reading.)

I'm a writer. Maybe not a great one yet, but I'm trying. I write speculative fiction, which probably sounds really presumptive and snobby, but it's a more concise term than "fantasy, science fiction, alternate history, the occasional bit of horror, and oh yeah, superheroes". I'm currently working on a novel that incorporates elements of all the above, minus the horror. As yet, I'm unpublished, unagented, the whole deal.

I'm a reader. I read everything from bus ads to cereal boxes to fanfiction*, but mostly I read fantasy and science fiction. I'm big on urban fantasy at the moment, but my bookshelves and 'have read' list have a lot of comic fantasy, contemporary fantasy, space opera and harder sci-fi, classics, mythology, pop science, pop history, and textbooks. I'm also quite interested in steampunk, but as of yet have only read 2.5 books that qualify, so I can't really call it a Thing yet.

I'm a nerd. I get excited about science possibly more often than I should. Life on Titan, string theory., quantum physics, exoplanets, King Tut's death, newly discovered species, water on Mars and the Moon, bog bodies, neuropsychology and cognition, languages, robots—all of these and more have gotten me squealing recently. I'm also interested in human history and by extension archaeology**, nanotechnology, and music. There's likely more than that, but I don't remember them right now. I'm sure they'll turn up in the course of my blogging.

I'm a geek—as if all the above didn't give that away. You can expect me to be a geek most of the time here.

So, um, yeah… This blog's going from Oh, Look At The Wonderful Science to more of a standard, run-of-the-mill writer's blog, with posts on everything that interests me, not just the science, although obviously the science is still going to be pretty predominant. But I'm also planning to talk about books, things I notice in daily life, and my own thoughts on writing.

I don't want to end on that note. Instead, some science links?

Have we found Caravaggio's bones?
Bending light (take note of the scientists' names in the second paragraph)***
One more crazy thing that water does

* Yes, I know.
** Hominids are awesome.
*** Yes, I also like puns.