The Over-Research Trap

Having written earlier about the joys of historical documentaries as well as warnings from the past, it's natural that I've recently turned my attention to historical fiction, as both a reader (expect a new review soon) and a writer. While this may seem like something of a change from the fantasy I usually work on, it's something I've done in the past, and it's about a historical subject that I'm enthusiastic about and have studied extensively. It's a pleasure to dive into the research.

And therein lies the trap. It's something several friends of mine can attest to is a common obstacle when writing historical fiction. That is problem is over-research.

Ideas: The Wonderful World of Content Moderation

Here's another item sitting around for a while in my "to post" list. A few months ago, Wired published this look at the wonderfully icky world of content moderation, one of the tech industry's biggest sources of employment. The workforces at these places dwarf even companies like Google.

Ideas: Artificial Intelligence is Scary

In recent news, computers can now beat us at video games they're not even programmed to play. I think we can now officially begin the countdown to the robot takeover.

Ideas: Bitter Harvest

So with the return to activity, I'm introducing a new category, called "Ideas". This is a catch-all, really, just to put out a lot of thoughts and things I've learned that have been percolating in my head during the hiatus.I will give this an underlying structure, however, by saying that these are mostly stories I've come across in the world at large that I want to incorporate somehow into my writing.