While I’m on the subject of Internet sites I wish I’d discovered earlier, here’s one that I also love:

SF Gospel: Explorations of religion in science fiction and popular culture

While some think that science fiction and religion shalt not mix, I completely disagree. Science fiction and fantasy is the perfect place to explore religious themes, especially as the genre as a whole is one of ideas and “what if’s” … and so it’s a safe place to ask questions such as, “What if, instead of eating the flesh of Christ, Christ instead ate your flesh?”

(Just in case anyone is wondering, that is a Philip K. Dick reference.)

Hello, my name is Jerry J. Davis, and I am a Dickhead.

In fact, not only am I a Dickhead, but I’m proud of it.

I’m such a Dickhead, in fact, that I mourn the idea it took me such a long time to discover this absolutely wonderful blog: http://totaldickhead.blogspot.com/

I have been a major fan of Philip K. Dick’s writings since I first stumbled upon A Scanner Darkly way back in the days when old Phil was still alive. Over the years I had managed to collect a copy of every single one of his books, some of them signed, and they saved my buttocks during the DotCom Crash when I had to unload them on eBay to save my house from foreclosure.

I miss the books, yes, but I’m heartened by the idea that they’re all back in print and not so hard to get anymore.

David Gill’s Total Dick-Head blog, as I am equally heartened to discover, is a great source of up-to-the-moment Philip K. Dick news, etc. I had never even thought to look for something like this.

And some wonder why mass media is so paranoid about, and hostile toward, the blogosphere? It gives readers what they want, instead of what mass media wants to give them.

Every once in a while I stumble upon a great Internet site I wish I’d known about earlier.

This is one of them: http://www.novelandshortstory.com/blog/

It seems the Writer’s Market of yore is reinventing itself online, and this is part of it. I remember in the pre-Internet days I used to live and breathe the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market books, shelling out good money for them every year. It was the fiction market’s bible.

When the Writer’s Market put itself online and then wanted to charge for access, I signed up for a while but quickly found I could get all the market listings I wanted for free from places such as Spicy Green Iguana (which now seems to be stagnating) and (my personal favorite) Ralan.com.

This blog, however, brings back the old warm-and-fuzzies from my days of dog-earing the old fiction bible, and has a great “Friday Feast” market news post that keeps you up to date on who’s buying and who’s gone on hiatus, etc.

This month Dark Energy SF was a featured market on WOW! Women On Writing.

Cool! Thanks, girls! You might consider listing Quantum Kiss as well.

• Odyssey, the venerable fantasy writing workshop, is now offering free online podcasts of their lectures: Odyssey Podcasts
• MIT offers a recent lecture by Joe Haldeman on The Craft of Science Fiction (requires Realplayer): Haldeman’s Craft of SF

Enjoy!