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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 ...

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Looking Back

The Alex

I seldom buy Los Angeles magazine. If you’re seeking a place where you can pay $100 for a plate of sushi, this slick mag rag is where to start looking. Or if you’re shopping for a $150,000 Patek Philippe wristwatch, you can’t go wrong in the pages of LAMag. (I have a question for anybody who might know something about $150,000 ...

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Novels

Red Lightning

“The heart-pounding space race is on,” exclaimed Publishers Weekly about Red Thunder, while The Washington Post called it “realistic – and funny.” Now, award-winning author John Varley continues the adventure with a novel featuring a new generation of spacefaring heroes…

“Mars sucks.” And if anyone’s allowed to say it, Ray ...

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Movie Reviews

Down the Shore

Da shore dey talkin’ about is da Joisey Shoah. Bailey (James Gandolfini) runs an almost-defunct small amusement park near the ocean. (This was actually filmed in 2008, and the park was later nearly wiped out by Hurricane Sandy.) His beloved sister has died from cancer in Paris, and the first he hears of it is the arrival of a Frenchman who married her over there. He has inherited half of ...

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Short Fiction

Just Another Perfect Day

You have only today to live — again, and again, and again.

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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.

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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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