Family Friendly Journal

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/19/the-big-idea-auston-habershaw/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56136

There’s magic to be found everywhere you look, even in a mall! At least, such is the case in author Auston Habershaw’s newest novel, If Wishes Were Retail. Come along in his Big Idea to see how this idea initially set up shop in his brain.

AUSTON HABERSHAW:

When I graduated from college, I had a really clear idea of what I wanted to do with my life: I wanted to be a novelist. I’d already written a novel during college (I will never inflict it upon anyone, I promise) and I figured, if I worked hard and focused on my goals, I’d be a professional author making a comfortable salary by the time I was 25. 

I’ll pause here for your peals of laughter. 

…

Done yet? No?

…(checks watch)…

Okay, okay—the point here is that I needed to get a job in order to pursue my dreams. For that period of time (my early-mid twenties), the idea was to get a job that wouldn’t occupy much of my attention so that I could focus the balance of my efforts towards writing. That’s how I wound up doing a lot of odd jobs and minimum wage gigs. I was a coffee barista, a restaurant server, a lifeguard, a swim instructor, a theme park performer (I dressed as a pirate), an SAT tutor, a hotel bellhop, and so on and so forth. I spent most of my time broke and barely able to pay rent and in the evenings I bashed my head against a keyboard until words came out and I published exactly nothing. I was exhausted, usually hungry, but still chasing that dream. 

And that, right there, is where If Wishes Were Retail comes from. Everybody’s got a dream, right? And the world just gets in the way, you know? Money, opportunity, luck, health, family—the list of obstacles to “making it” are endless, or so it seems. Enter the genie.

I mean, everybody’s thought about it, right? If you could get 3 wishes, what would they be? We ask ourselves that, over and over, because just about no one is content with the state of their lives. There’s always some mountaintop we have yet to reach, and the only way we feel we’ll ever get there is, essentially, an act of God. A lottery ticket. A mysterious stranger, offering us a deal for our soul. A genie in a lamp. Rare, mythical things; unheard of strokes of fortune. We all recognize that is never going to happen to us. The world just doesn’t work that way. 

But what if it did? Say we have a genie and he’s just there, you know? In public, doing his thing. Anyone can just walk up and make a wish. Now, of course, the genie has goals of his own and dreams he’d like to see realized, so he’s charging money for wishes. Cash. Walk up to him with a stack of twenties and plonk it down and BAM, you could have the life you’ve always wanted. What would you wish for? How much would you spend?

When preparing to write this book, I asked people I met those two questions. I would say “what if you could make a wish, but it cost money? What’s the wish? What would you pay?” This was a fascinating experiment. First off, a lot of people wouldn’t wish at all. They assumed the genie was malevolent and they wouldn’t get what they paid for. Second, people would make outrageously powerful wishes (World peace! A cure for all cancers! My own private moon!) and then offer some piddling sum, like ten bucks or something. “What’s it matter,” they’d say. “It doesn’t require any effort on the part of the genie! What does he care?” Everyone agreed, though, that the money—having to pay for a wish—sort of ruined the “magic” of it all. Money got in the way of their dreams. 

I wanna repeat that last bit: money got in the way of their dreams. Ya THINK? Could, possibly, money and the way our economic system works interfere with people’s ability to achieve happiness and satisfaction in their lives? NO, SURELY NOT. Everyone, we live in capitalism, the fairest and most beautiful-est system ever, where the only thing that stands between you and complete material and spiritual satisfaction is hard work! Just work hard, and everything will work out! I have been informed by my lawyers that this is entirely 100% accurate with no loopholes or conditions whatsoever. 

Hang on, someone is handing me a note…

…oh.

Oh no.

And, not only, does our capitalist system make it difficult to achieve our dreams, it also just so happens that we, fallible mortal creatures that we are, are incorrect about what we want! We wish for stupid, selfish things! We seek self-destructive ends! So, like, even assuming you manage to run the gauntlet of 21st century late-stage capitalism to somehow, maybe hack your way to the top of the artisanal bagel shop market only to realize you hate it and are miserable anyway. And that, friends, is a super-common problem that not even a genie can fix! How’s the genie supposed to know that you would hate being a fashion mogul? And even if he knew, would you listen to him if he told you?

I wrote this book to reflect upon the ways in which our grind-mentality, sleep-when-you’re-dead, coffee-is-for-closers culture has led us astray. Our society has created essentially infinite obstacles in an unending labyrinth that we have been told leads to happiness and fulfillment and we expend such massive amounts of energy seeking these things only to miss sight of all the things we could have that are right in front of us. It’s tragic sometimes, but it’s also funny and absurd and just, like, life you know? What are you gonna do, not be human?

Anyway, I wrote a book about this. It’s funny and it has a genie in a failing mall seen from the point of view of a teenager with big dreams, just like I was. Just like maybe you were or even are. Here’s hoping it’s exactly what you want and exactly what you’re willing to pay. 

If Wishes Were Retail: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powell’s

Author socials: Website|Bluesky|Facebook

Read an excerpt.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/19/the-big-idea-auston-habershaw/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56136

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/18/mixology-monday-at-salar/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56115

If you’ve been reading my posts for a bit, you may remember me doing a piece or two over my favorite restaurant, Salar. The posts I’ve done have been featuring their wonderful monthly wine dinners they host, but today I’m here to talk about one of their other monthly events I enjoy: Salar’s Mixology Monday!

This was the second Mixology Monday I’ve attended, the theme of this one being “Blended Beverages.” Listen, I’m a basic white girl, you already know I love a fun, blended bevvie. What I dislike, though, is the sound of a blender, especially if I’m dining at a fine establishment. It totally ruins the vibes and detracts from the classy aura of a really nice restaurant.

Fortunately, our lovely mixologist for the evening feels the exact same way, and the event was held on the secluded back patio of the restaurant so we wouldn’t disturb other guests. Salar’s back patio is my favorite patio in Dayton. It has a beautiful pergola, pretty string lights, and tons of plants that make it feel vibrant and lush.

Check out the mixologist’s setup:

I thought it was odd there was a dish of poppyseeds, but upon closer inspection it was black lava salt for rimming the glass. My (silly) mistake!

Since Salar is a Peruvian restaurant, I started off with a blended Pisco Sour, which I was informed is the national drink of Peru.

This was so light and refreshing, the fact it was all icy and frozen only added to that refreshing-ness. She actually let me mix this myself, which was fun.

One of my favorite things about Salar is that when you dine here, their version of “bread for the table” is housemade pita and hummus, which was served at this event, as well:

Their hummus is so unique, it’s super herbaceous and fresh tasting, and their pita is perfectly golden brown and crisp. I love that they start you off with something so fun compared to just regular bread and butter (not that I don’t also love good bread and butter).

Unlike their monthly wine dinners, where everyone is served their own plate per course, the Mixology Mondays have a smaller crowd (only about ten people) and are more casual in tone, so the food is served family style on larger platters that get passed around, and you just take however much you want and put it on your own plate.

Here’s some roasted veggies we were served:

There was also a salad with grilled chicken, elote, and some kind of really yummy green dressing over top, but I failed to get a picture of that one. I do, however, have a picture of the tofu dish the kitchen made for someone with dietary restrictions, and that looked tasty:

Actually, I now notice that the salad the tofu is sitting on top of is definitely the same salad mix that the one with chicken had, so just imagine that salad but with chicken on top instead and that’s what I had.

Of course, gotta get our second bev going:

I absolutely love this pineapple glass it was served it, plus the pineapple toothpick and pineapple frond decoration was so cute. This drink was made with blackberries, raspberries, I honestly don’t remember what else but it was so fruity and totes delish! I felt transported to a hammock on a beach.

Even though I came alone, everyone was sat at one long table and I ended up having some great conversations with my tablemates. It was so fun chatting, sharing food, sipping our drinks, it was definitely more friendly and chill than I was expecting. Good vibes all around.

And to finish the evening, a strawberry margarita made with Mezcal, with a tajin covered lime for optimal enjoyment:

As you can probably tell, it was pretty warm out so the drinks did tend to melt kind of quickly, but they tasted just as good in liquid form as frozen form, so I can’t complain too much.

All in all, both the food and the drinks were super summery and tasty, the conversation was easy-going and fun, and it was just a pleasant way to spend a Monday evening. I look forward to the next one of these I attend.

What’s the best complimentary bread and butter you’ve had at a restaurant? Do you like pisco sours? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/18/mixology-monday-at-salar/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56115

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/18/the-big-idea-aimee-ogden/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56109

Coming back to ideas with fresh eyes is always a good idea. For author Aimee Ogden, it was eight years before she revisited the story that would come to be her newest novella, Starstruck. Check out her Big Idea to see how she made this story shine.

AIMEE OGDEN:
Ten years ago, I had the Big Idea that would become Starstruck: a world where each falling star held a soul that would animate whatever plant or animal it fell on. What would happen if those stars stopped falling? And what about when something got a soul that was never supposed to have one?

I wrote a book I loved about that idea—a fantasy for YA readers—and queried it with around a hundred different agents. And I got an equivalently hundred-adjacent number of rejections. C’est la vie écrivaine; I cried, presumably ate a cookie or two about it, and buried it in my trunk of failed stories, never to be seen again.

It turned out that out of sight did not mean out of mind. Starstruck haunted me (the book itself embodied, occasionally, in the person of a friend who also cared about it a lot), until two years ago, I exhumed the story’s corpse, and I was happy to find it still had good bones. They just needed to be arranged into a different order; and there was a fair bit of carrion flesh to strip away, too, to pare it down to a novella.

I still had a magical world of falling stars. I still had the same main characters: an abandoned human child, a gentle fox, her pragmatic radish wife, and a rock with delusions of destiny. Even the climactic moment stayed almost unchanged from the original version, except for the paring back of some elements that had proved extraneous to the story.

But the original version was YA, and the story had centered around the human boy. I hadn’t read widely enough yet to expand my conception of what a lead character could or should be. Coming back to it, I knew right away that I only wanted to write about a middle-aged radish. A magical middle-aged radish with a soul, and her enormous love, and her silent, squashed-aside regrets, and her utter inability to cope with a chunk of granite that told her it had a name and a birthday and a favorite color.

If I’d been paying more attention, I probably should have known where the story’s emotional heart lay the first time around—in the original version, the final scenes take place from the radish perspective. Even before I understood this was her story, I must have sensed that the needed closure could only come from her.

Or maybe I couldn’t have known yet. Eight years is a big gap to develop and change as a writer, and to accrue emotional baggage besides. Without that time, and without the double regret of failing with and then abandoning Starstruck, it couldn’t have been the same book. And as pleased as I was with it the first time around, it’s better now for its chance for maturation, and I have more room in my well-used, middle-aged heart with which to love it. Maybe you do, too. How do you feel about radishes?

Starstruck: Publisher website

Author Socials: Website|Bluesky

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/18/the-big-idea-aimee-ogden/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56109

Posted by John Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/18/today-in-look-at-this-dork/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56102

Someone is a little too excited to be on the Scalzi Bridge, with the Scalzi Church in the background to the left, about to have dinner at the Ai Scalzi restaurant. It was an all Scalzi day yesterday, you see. And it was all lovely, even if the dork pictured above clearly was not at all cool about it. Shine on, silly dork!

— JS

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/18/today-in-look-at-this-dork/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56102

Posted by Athena Scalzi

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/17/the-big-idea-john-wiswell-2/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56098

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Author John Wiswell tells us of a tale that usually ends in revenge and violence, but imagines a world where our hero chooses kindness instead. Follow along in the Big Idea for his newest novel, Wearing The Lion, and see where empathy takes us.

JOHN WISWELL:

You deserve better than revenge.

I know, you want to catch your father’s murderer and duel them to the death, but then you’ll leave the scene feeling hollow and unfulfilled. Or worse, the pursuit will corrupt you into becoming the kind of person you hated. And there’s a great likelihood that your quickness to action will make you hurt the wrong person, and then you’re inspiring revenge in others. Think better of it now, because I will throw the book across the room if you kill the villain’s entire crew but spare the villain at the last minute because otherwise you’ll be “just like him.”

So we know there are problems with revenge. But what are the alternatives?

It’s something I’ve been exploring for my entire life. It’s tough to begin thinking about because our narratives of justice overflow with blood. We’re taught to seek culturally fetishized violence. We’re promised that reprisal will give us catharsis and justice. Mythology is rich with these narratives. Every king has made enemies who would like to get back at him. And the gods? They never drop a grudge. 

Mythology is the richest place to explore this theme. Myths tell us what we think about ourselves, which is why every generation wants to remix them, ear cocked for the sound of truth. What does it do to the traditional revenge narrative if the hero refuses to hurt anyone? No cracking goons’ skulls. No blowing up a dragon’s lair. Instead, we’d follow someone who was hurt and carried that hurt in his heart, but because of that, didn’t want to see more suffering in the world. Perhaps his entire journey toward “revenge” would actually be about finding the right thing to do.

Heracles (“Hercules” to the Romans) is such an interesting character from this point of view. His was never a revenge story. The gods drove him mad and made him slay his children, and for that he set out on the twelve labors in order to gain forgiveness. All that hydra-chopping and lion-punching was about being sorry. The modern eye jumps to thinking he shouldn’t be sorry, but vengeful toward the gods.

As it is, few Heracles retellings ever reflect on him slaying his family at all. He’s too busy doing epic stuff to be bothered with mourning. It’s like if Spider-Man never thought about Uncle Ben again.

That sort of violation would change you for the rest of your life. Doing violence with your hands ever again could be nauseating. You might do literally anything to avoid hurting others, especially if your labors were carried out to get justice for your children. When the gods said to kill that invincible lion, you could technically do it. You’d have Zeus’s strength. But that same strength would give you an opportunity to find another way through the labor. And in feeling like a monster yourself, you might find yourself relating to outcast creatures. You might find kinship with the invincible lion, and the hydra, and the titans. They might know what it’s like to feel wrong.

That became the heart of Wearing the Lion, my retelling of the Heracles myth. It changes the entire nature of his great labors. If you won’t hurt anyone—and if your power can’t solve your problems—then you have to adapt.

There is a long tradition in masculinity whereby those of us who have been hurt want to hurt others. It’s a lesson we learn before we can speak, treated as immutable nature. As I grew up, these narratives went from entertaining to exhausting. It hurts to see someone use their few resources on things other than supporting survivors, on sheltering people, healing and feeding them. There’s something about losing enough in your life (and helping others through their darkest times) that reveals how paltry retribution is. Survivors deserve better.

Yep! I accidentally wrote about the crisis of masculinity. I swear it wasn’t on purpose. 

But it was important to me to write about someone wrestling with these principles and looking for a better response to loss. The harm cannot be fixed. This sort of loss is not something you just “heal” from. It’s the sort of vacuum that makes revenge appealing, because in uncertainty, norms call to us. When Heracles rejects revenge and instead goes on the labors to understand what is really happening in the heavens, he starts to sound truer to me.

In his struggle, he questions if anyone can understand what he’s feeling. He thinks he doesn’t fit in with the world anymore. That he doesn’t belong around people. Who understands feeling that lost? Monsters.

Yes, his first new friends are a giant lion and extremely opinionated hydra. The creatures his labors send him towards know what it’s like to not fit in. They know what it’s like to not have answers. Grief isn’t something you can get tough enough to ignore. Heracles’s struggle with his culpability, and his quest to figure out which god is behind all of this, requires more than strength. It requires sides of the character I fell in love with while writing.

When Heracles is set against monsters while starving for peace, there’s the potential for a different kind of family. A found family of the creatures that civilization would never let near itself. Rather than skinning the Nemean Lion, Heracles winds up carrying it everywhere on its shoulders, because it demands snuggles. It’s ferocious about snuggles. Heracles bonding with these creatures, learning how to give support and feel worthy of it himself, are things I didn’t know I needed to write.

Wearing The Lion: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Bookshop|Powell’s Books|Oblong Books

Author Socials: Website|Bluesky|Instagram|Substack

Read an excerpt.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2025/06/17/the-big-idea-john-wiswell-2/

https://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=56098