It’s a December List
Filled with things that I hope you like.
Number One
An update! And a bit of an orientation for those of you who are new, and might justifiably be wondering what the hell Dispatches from Inner Space even is.
USUALLY, it’s a place for short fiction and armchair philosophy, and for a good long spell there, I was serializing a novel called Arch/Eternal. (An update within an update: I’m almost done with the next draft! Which means only like two dozen drafts to go! (I’m kidding. (I hope.)))
Lately, though, this is the place where I periodically succumb to a spasm of guilt and pump out an update. Like this one!
Life is BUSY. Especially during the holidays. Especially with two real little kids. Especially when you’re desperately trying to help a new business survive its first year. Yes, those are excuses. But you know what, sometimes excuses are true.
Anyway the point is, whether you’re new or old (figuratively or literally), I’m very glad you’re here, and I solemnly promise to continue to publish things I feel like publishing, while also hoping that you like at least some of it enough to stay.
Meanwhile, to those heroes who are actually giving me actual money for what I’m doing here, I can promise you that you are getting exactly what you are paying for, which is the support of my relentless efforts to write things worth reading.
Number Two
Something something Christmas music.
First, read this:
Or, if you don’t feel like clicking into that, here’s the links to all three Hot Christmases:
And now, for Christmas 2023, may I present the hotly anticipated follow up:
I have it on good authority that these are the best alternative Christmas mixes you can find. They represent decades of perennial obsession.
(Hot tip: The Oh Hellos were my most exciting discovery this year. The last track might as well have sprung forth directly from the innermost chambers of my heart.)
Oh, also, bonus:
Trust me, it’s really good in a pinch.
Number Three
I’ve been meaning to dedicate an entire essay to Randall Munroe. But the list of essays I’ve been meaning to write is hundreds strong, so instead of talking about how truly incredible and wonderful and awe-inspiring it is that this man has been publishing three comics a week on xkcd for something like fifteen years, including occasional works of jaw-dropping interactive art, all while managing to stay outside and above the toxic culture wars that have deadened so much other creative expression on the Internet…
Instead of writing about all that, I will recommend you go watch this right now:
What If? was a spin-off of the tri-weekly xkcd webcomic, then it became two (wonderful, worth every penny) published books, and now it’s a YouTube channel with two videos.
If we’re very very lucky, there will be five hundred more.
Number Four
This one comes with an apology.
I went to see Godzilla Minus One by myself after way, way too much time away from the theater (two months or something). My expectations were high. They were exceeded.
This is not only the best Godzilla movie ever made (yeah, not a high bar), it’s also a contender for the best movie this year. If it didn’t have to fight with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it might even win.
Anyway you don’t need to care about Godzilla at all to love this movie. It does right what every American blockbuster has been doing wrong for at least a decade now: delivery eye-popping spectacle grounded by challenging, authentic human stories. I cried like six times.
I have no idea how this movie performed. It was made in Japan, by Japanese people, in Japanese. If you don’t know Japanese, you have to read subtitles. If that bothers you, grow up.
The apology part is that this movie only lasted in the theaters about two weeks. And now it’s gone. Replaced by Wonka and Aquaman 2.
So…sorry.
As of now, you can’t find it streaming anywhere either. But maybe Santa will swing back around early next year and seduce the streamers into a bidding war.
Number Five
Dispatches from Inner Space - Vol. I: Shadow & Fire will be published on Kindle on December 20, 2023.
As a quick reminder, this is an anthology of short fiction, most of which was published right here on this Substack over the course of its first year of life. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t looove reading fiction with an email client:
Here’s what you can do: Pre-order!
Here’s what you don’t have to do: Pre-order!
MORE IMPORTANTLY
I want reviews. And ratings! For the algorithm. It would be so swell (swole?) if a handful of new readers found the book because you, my faithful subscribers, swarmed the ratings.
Here’s the thing, though, you can’t review the book until it’s out. So expect an urgent, pleading, shamelessly desperate request for your reviews next Wednesday.
In the meantime, I cordially invite you to read the book. By what magic is such a thing possible? By the magic of digital files. All you’ve got to do is reply to this email to let me know you want it, and I’ll send you an advance copy.
But ONLY if you agree to leave a review on the 20th. That’s the catch.
That means there are two ways to get a digital copy of my book without directly paying for it first:
Becoming a paying subscriber (so, indirectly paying for it)
Agreeing to leave a review on the date of its release
And to be perfectly honest, I’d prefer you go with option 2.
Thank you in advance.1
Is this not the most passive aggressive signoff imaginable? “Because I know you will do the thing I am asking you to do, I will thank you now, to save myself the trouble of remembering to express gratitude later.”
Love ALL the exciting updates! Also, stoked to hear such good things about “Godzilla Minus One” - definitely gonna watch as soon as I am able to!
Congrats on completing the Anthology!
Ha HA! Godzilla is still in the theaters where I live and I'll go see it on Monday! Thanks so much for the recommendation! So excited!