Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond: Alternate History Stories

Volume 99 #4: Notes from the Buffer Zone: Foreshadowing

Previous / Next by Kristine Kathryn Rusch I just canceled out of my second concert of the fall. A favorite artist, a concert I was looking forward to, and I still couldn’t pull the trigger. Not because of the artist. Not even because of a lack of Covid protocols. Both concerts required either full vaccination […]

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Volume 98 #7: Notes From the Buffer Zone: Technological Change

Previous / Next by Kristine Kathryn Rusch I have finally lived in Las Vegas long enough to qualify for resident status at the university. I wanted that because I wanted to finish my Spanish major from forty years ago. I have taken Spanish online, and I’ve also taken some classes at those places designed for […]

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Volume 95 #6: Notes from The Buffer Zone: Science Will Save Us

Previous / Next by Kristine Kathryn Rusch Exactly one year ago, in April of 2020, I wrote in this column: Science will save us. And volunteers will (are) risking their lives to test these drugs and vaccines. And some of these folks will be unnamed in the history books, and that’s too bad. Because they’re […]

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Volume 94 #7: Notes from The Buffer Zone: Old SF Roadshow

Previous / Next by Kristine Kathryn Rusch This past month, I wrote a novel in my Spade/Paladin universe. The stories are mysteries, set at science fiction conventions. As the conventions became more acrimonious, ‘long about 2015, my willingness to write more Spade/Paladin slowed down. I hated getting criticized by people of every political persuasion for […]

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Volume 96 #5: Notes from The Buffer Zone: Stepping Into an Uncertain Future

Previous / Next by Kristine Kathryn Rusch I’m tempted to buy a book on the aftermath of the 1918 flu pandemic. I’ve been tempted to buy this (as yet unknown) book for some time now. Because of my interest in history, I know how pandemics end. Slowly and with great unevenness. I truly did not […]

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Volume 93 #7: Notes from The Buffer Zone: Heroic Lazy Sods

Previous / Next by Kristine Kathryn Rusch The German government has produced a series of amusing Public Service Announcements about Covid-19. (Yes, you saw that. I used “amusing” and “Covid-19” in the same sentence.) The videos resemble those videos that documentarians put together with interviews from survivors of some great tragedy. The older person reminisces, […]

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Volume 92 #7: Notes from the Buffer Zone, Mummies and Fleas

Previous / Next by Kristine Kathryn Rusch I get it: People are panicked—and justifiably so. Everything—everything— is in turmoil. We don’t know exactly how this will all end, and we’re tired. It’s been a long century, these past six months. I have my panic moments, and I find I’m getting superstitious. I find myself unwilling to […]

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