VarleyLog
We Bought a Tesla!
Here’s what happened. Lee came across what looked like a tiny, yellowing IOU at the bottom of some ancient records. It was from the Tooth Fairy, and she said she was a little short of cash and would pay me a dime the next night. It was dated May 8, 1954. I was seven! She’s still in business, you know, the Tooth Fairy, so Lee tracked her down and demanded payment. The old biddy was not ...
More details »Looking Back
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Watts
David Crosby kindly comped us to a couple tickets to the Crosby, Stills, & Nash concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, the fourth or fifth-to-last appearance on their 2005 American tour. So on September 10 we got up bright and early and motored on down 101 to Hollywood, where we’d booked a room at our old standby, the Motel 6. It was a little hard to find it; 99% of Motel 6s are ...
More details »Novels
The Golden Globe
All the universe is a stage, and Sparky Valentine is its itinerant thespian–and a wanted man. His galactic roamings are bringing him closer to home, closer to justice–and closer to the truth of his strange and prolonged existence.– Ingram
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There’s a lot of humor … plenty of theatrical ...
Movie Reviews
Pitch Perfect
I was lured into this one by an Internet meme about what they’re calling “The Cup Song,” which I understand is actually a cover of “Cups (You’re Gonna Miss Me)” by a group called Lulu and the Lampshades, which in turn is a new version of “When I’m Gone” from the Carter Family all the way back in 1931. Whew! Quite a history. I just took a look at Lulu and they seem to be a nicely quirky ...
More details »Collections
Picnic on Nearside
Varley’s second story collection, originally published as The Barbie Murders and Other Stories in 1980.
Picnic on Nearside won the 1980 Locus Award for Best Single-Author Collection.
The title story, “Picnic ...
More details »Short Fiction
The Bellman
Someone once asked Benjamin Franklin “What possible use are balloons?” He answered with a question, “What use is a newborn baby?” Here are many answers…
More details »Titan: An Overview
A Short Overview of Titan
Here's a very short but quite impressive video made by Jean-Paul Verne, a fly-through of Gaea from my trilogy. M. Verne wants to be involved if a movie ever gets made. Over the years many, many people have written to me wishing these books would be made into a movie. Naturally, I'd like that, too. Let's hope this is not as close as we'll ever get.
More details »Accidental Hippies
Accidental Hippies
Sometime not long after my high school graduation I was studying at Michigan State University when my long-time girlfriend dumped me. I entered such a state of depression that I could not continue in college. So I dropped out and decided to hit the road with Chris Kingsley, my best friend in the world. Chris had much more experience of life on the road than I did, had actually hitched to ...
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