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
Notes from the 13th Floor
A few months ago Lee’s Mom, Helen, told us she’d like to take us to Hawaii again, as she did three years ago. That time we went to Maui, this time it would be Oahu and Kauai. I knew nothing about Kauai, but Oahu … Where do you start? How much can you see in four days on Oahu?
Lee’s brother, Tim, was also going, and they made all the arrangements. Lee and I decided to rent a car on ...
More details »Novels
Rolling Thunder
Lieutenant Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Podkayne Strickland-Garcia-Redmond – otherwise known as Podkayne – is third-generation Martian with a planet-sized chip on her shoulder. Her grandfather Manny was one of the first men to set foot on Mars. So Poddy has some equally planet-sized shoes to fill…
That’s why she’s joined the Music, Arts, and Drama Division ...
More details »Movie Reviews
The Great Bank Robbery
A western comedy that’s a lot better than I expected. There’s this un-robbable bank in a small Texas town. It’s full of gold from some of the great gangs of the time, like the James’s and the Youngers, maybe Butch Cassidy. Guys who can’t just deposit it and who don’t trust their companions not to steal it. It’s protected by guards with Gatling guns. So no less than three gangs set out to ...
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
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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