HeyJaredJanet Stilson
I'm a sci-fi/fantasy novelist and a journalist who loves to share thoughts on the best entertainment out there--and what's keeping me up at night. Cooking is my therapy and so are cats! More at janetstilson.com.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 5
- Latest publication
- Sep 26, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 18, 2026
Latest issues
Climbing a Monster (opens the original)
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Once upon a time, I encountered a monster that just about did me in. Not a monster in the Frankenstein sense, but rather a 13,500 foot behemoth called Mt. Kinabalu. Located on the island of Borneo in Malaysia, it’s the highest peak in maritime Southeast Asia.The wildlife on the mountain was spellbinding, especially the leaping lizards. And the view from the summit was staggering. Far, far below in the daybreak splendor, a sparkling sapphire sea was studded with an archipelago of emerald-green is
Brilliant Misfits and Their Chosen Realms (opens the original)
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Also: Worldcon Sightings, ‘Star Dogs,’ a Supernatural Football Star, and More! One of my first jobs as a journalist was at Variety newspaper, the so-called showbiz bible. At the time, the New York editorial office contained a few eccentrics, and every journalist in the bureau was a man except for me. Desks were crammed together cheek by jowl. A venerable reporter in the desk just in front of mine had several towers of press releases stacked up. I sometimes flinched at the sight of his false teet
Close Encounter of an Extraordinary Kind (opens the original)
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About a million years ago, I had a chance to visit Cartagena, Colombia. It’s a magical city, with 16th century walls that were built to keep out Caribbean pirates; vibrantly colored Spanish colonial architecture—and when I was there, the great author Gabriel García Márquez had a home in the city. As you may well know, he’s the author of such extraordinary novels as One Hundred Years of Solitude and famous for his magic realism writing style. Some may say that magic realism doesn’t qualify as fan
How to Ignite Ideas for Sci-Fi and Fantasy Tales (opens the original)
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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey,’ Tchaikovsky’s ‘Elder Race,’ and Apple TV’s ‘Sugar’Have you ever read a novel and wondered about the initial sparks that ignited the story idea in the author’s mind? That was one of the questions that I had after reading Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Elder Race. (More thoughts about the book itself in a separate story below.) As many of you probably know, Tchaikovsky
Jane Austen Meets Regency Magic in ‘Jonathan Strange’ (opens the original)
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