Quotes from John Scalzi

Sarah Monette, Chris Roberson, Brandon Sanderson, K. J. Bishop and Steph Swainston

I felt vibration as my shield began to plow through Coral's upper atmosphere; Asshole rather unhelpfully chimed in that we had begun to experience turbulence.

I'm a seething cauldron of disconnected rage on the inside, Lieutenant.

Then we caught the presidential debates. The people you folks elect are sort of scary.

In a perfect world this wouldn't be necessary, but I don't live in a perfect world, I live in rural Ohio. [Blog post mentioning Internet Access problems where he lives: whateverDOTscalziDOTcom/2019/02/26/smudge-shot-plus-internet-update/]

There is a saying along the lines of not trying to teach a pig to sing because it wastes your time and annoys the pig. I want you to know how many times I have stood in pig-filled rooms, and longed to annoy. I

This man had gone to new places, met new races and exterminated them on sight. He looked all of twenty-three years old.

Whoever had my room last left a big pile of poopfruit on my desk, Niamh yelled, from their room. Seriously, what the actual fuck?

What we don't know can't hurt us.

a classic children's book from Catherynne Valente.

Hello, Anon-a-Writer! In one hand I have a restraining order, and in the other I have a Taser. Which would you like to meet first?

But my writing won't ever reflect the diversity that literature in general should be capable of. You need writers whose lives are not like mine for that.

Too many details and I'm out of my very peculiar little closet (it's a lovely closet; it smells of pine and desperation).

I want to be there when you question him." "No you don't." "I really do." "Let me put it another way, Lord Marce. Fuck you, go away.

How will this affect my piano playing?" and he said, "Don't worry, you'll still be able to play the piano," and I said, "Wow! I wasn't able to before!" And then they gassed me.

I'm going to shoot him twice now. We still need to bring him in alive, I said. I didn't say I was going to kill him, Powell replied. Just that I was going to shoot him twice.

Wicked isn't crazy, it's just got religion

Part of what makes us human is what we mean to other people, and what people mean to us.

But for the last couple of days Marce had been fighting a cold, which made his snoring both louder and more random. When it woke Cardenia up, Marce sounded like he was two cavemen having a very urgent conversation with each other about discovering fire, or hunting a feral hog, or something else along that line.

You come to us with some very nice scores from the Academy, Mr. Dahl." "Thank you, ma'am," Dahl said. "Is Flaviu Antonescu still heading up the Xenobiology Department?" Collins asked. "Yes, ma'am," Dahl said. "Please stop appending 'ma'am' to every sentence, Dahl, it sounds like you have a vocal tic.

Here's one way to colonize: You take two hundred or three hundred people, allow them to pack what supplies they see fit, drop them off on the planet of their choice, say "see you," and then come back a year later—after they've all died of malnutrition brought on by ignorance and lack of supplies, or have been wiped out by another species who wants the place for themselves—to pick up the bones. This isn't a very successful way to colonize.

With all the paperwork done and all the problems of the village solved, I did what anyone in my position would do: I took a nap. Welcome to the rough and tumble world of colonial village ombudsmanning. It's possible it's done differently elsewhere, but if it is, I don't want to know.

You're insane! Call me HAL and make me sing 'Daisy, Daisy'.

In the end I am who I am. I am what I have made myself and what has been made of me. Part of who I am is who you are too; I have given you me as well. I would take your name and hold it in me, and whisper my name in your ear.