Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

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

Nancy Sinatra Gets a STAR

When: Thursday, May 11, 2006, at 11:30 a.m.

Location: 7000 Hollywood Blvd, near Orange.

My advice to young women starting out is hang tough, don’t quit — even if it takes 40 years. ~Nancy Sinatra

Another rather odd star, like Vanna. She basically had the one hit, and never would have had that if she hadn’t had a famous father. I ...

More details »

Novels

Demon

Demon is the third book in the Gaean Trilogy.

Gaea, the world and goddess, has gone insane; she kidnaps the son of the witch Robin. Cirocco Jones and the Titanides set out in search of him into a headlong confrontation with the monstrous power of Gaea.

Demon is … a novel that’s packed full of individual moments and scenes ...

More details »

Movie Reviews

Mystic River

This movie is so far above your typical murder mystery that it would be better to invent a whole new genre to contain it. I read the book—twice. Once when it was new, as I’m a major fan of Dennis Lehane, and once again when the movie was about to be released, because of the complexity of the plot, and because I didn’t want to miss any detail, any nuance, if it was as good as I ...

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

Manikins

Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they aren’t after you, and you might be right.

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 ...

More details »