What is Speculiction? Well, as much as I'd like to think this blog is a special little corner of the web, a place where the most cosmopolitan of thoughts are rendered for the masses to revel over, I know much better. There are a million other sites doing what I'm doing with more focus and purpose. Living in a foreign country (a place where typical social interactions do not allow me to exercise the English language in a most satisfying way), this blog is really just a place to keep my writing and vocabulary skills up to par, and to maintain some habit of critical thinking. I'm not in it for money. (And for those who care, I'm not woke and I don't wear a MAGA hat. Currently I consider myself Independent as there are no parties which represent my moderate view.)
Thus, there is no overarching concept, no business model guiding Speculiction. I write - ahem, produce content - based on my extra-curricular activities (aka whims). There is no advertizing, and I don't earn a cent. What this means is that you are likely reading this for one of two reasons: either you randomly stumbled upon my blog having searched for some book you're looking for a review of, or your interests happen to relatively coincide with mine and you occasionally check in to see how things are going. (Hello! :)
Around 70% of Speculiction's content is based on books. There is a heavy emphasis on speculative fiction of all shapes and sizes, but reviews of non-fiction and other varieties of fiction appear regularly. Some of my favorite authors are Rudy Rucker, Catherynne Valente, Paul Di Filippo, Elizabeth Hand, Christopher Priest, Nick Harkaway, Jeffrey Ford, Ian Macleod, and others. Video games have crept back into my life the past few years, and so the occasional such review will appear. Before settling down in Poland, I lived in and traveled to many different countries, the photos and commentary of which you will find still lingering around the blog, as well as the occasional fresh post when we get the family organized and pointed in some direction. I have also been known to occasionally get fed up with some aspect of popular culture and go off on a rant. And something relatively new to the blog is board games. Like video games, board games are creeping back into my life after many years away. I'm realizing it's among the best social time a person can spend in life, and thus let my whims extend into the writing of board game reviews. Yes, the blog is a clutter.
So, feel free to do whatever you like here: read, comment, like, dislike, or leave as silently as you came. When the 21st century is done and dusted, for sure Speculiction will fall into the "blog fodder" category, I understand. Nevertheless, I'll keep plugging away, trying to keep the wolves of time from taking what few English language and critical thinking skills I have remaining. If I write something you like in the process, all the better.
Jesse
jessehuds - a-with-a-circle-around it - gmail