David D. LevineScience Fiction Author

Coming November 7 from Caezik SF & Fantasy: The Kuiper Belt Job by Hugo and Nebula winner David D. Levine!

In a Solar System well inhabited by humanity but far from settled, a gang of grifters and thieves — the scattered survivors of a big job gone very wrong ten years ago — must reunite to break the gang’s erstwhile leader out of captivity. But after ten years, no one is who they were… and some are not what they seem.

The Kuiper Belt Job is a caper story in space, a mash-up of Firefly, Leverage, and The Expanse. It’s an ensemble piece with complex character relationships and a twisty, compelling plot, but beneath the entertaining surface it raises deep questions about identity and personhood. In a world where minds can be copied, what does it mean to be “me”?

Preorder here!

• Powell’s (signed!): https://www.powells.com/book/the-kuiper-belt-job-9781647100902/2-1
• Bookshop.org (powered by local independent booksellers): https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-kuiper-belt-job/19675912
• Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-kuiper-belt-job-david-d-levine/1143138805
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kuiper-Belt-Job-David-Levine/dp/1647100909

Ebook and audio preorders are not yet available.

As you may or may not know, I have This One Weird Tooth.

It is, in fact, the oldest of my teeth — my first adult tooth. When it came in, the baby tooth would not come out, no matter how I wiggled it. My parents shrugged and advised patience. The adult tooth did not heed this advice; it came in behind the baby tooth that refused to vacate. The recalcitrant baby tooth was eventually pulled, but the damage had been done.

To prevent a recurrence of this undesirable situation, I had to return to the dentist for each and every loose baby tooth, so that it could be evicted with pliers. This series of unfortunate and painful events led me to a strong dislike of dentists, which meant that I didn’t see the dentist for seven years after graduating from college. Eventually my girlfriend-at-the-time convinced me to mend my ways, and I went back. It took three painful visits to scrape my teeth clean, after which I became a reformed non-dentist-goer. Ever since then I have taken meticulous care of my teeth, brushing and flossing at least once a day and visiting the dentist three times a year. My teeth and gums are in excellent shape.

Except for This One Weird Tooth. My dentists and hygienists have been impressed, indeed amazed, at how well I have been able to take care of This One Weird Tooth and its associate gums, despite the fact that it’s too tight for a brush. I have worked out some gymnastics with floss that have kept it pretty clean, and regular dentist visits have made up the difference. But just about every time my dentist would suggest that maybe I should look into doing something about it.

At my last dentist visit the suggestions ended. “I’m giving you a referral to a periodontist,” she said, and brooked no further temporization. So off to the periodontist I went, where scans were taken and an extraction-and-bone-graft was scheduled.

The procedure is tomorrow. I have drugs to take, including Ativan for anxiety, Zithromax for infection, and Advil for pain. I will be on soft foods for a week or two.

I do not want to do this.

It will be okay.

Goodbye, old friend.

I just launched the app formerly known as Twitter and I see:

• 2 posts from people I follow
• Ad
• Post from someone I follow
• 2 suggested posts
• “Who to Follow” (3)
• Ad
• Post from someone I follow
• “Creators for You” (3)
• 2 suggested posts
• 2 posts from people I follow
• Ad
• Suggested post
• Post from someone I follow
• Ad

So that’s 7 posts from people I actually follow out of 18 total (and that’s counting the three-banger “Who to Follow” and “Creators for You” as 1 each). Less than half.

Please note that the ads are marked only by a small gray “Promoted” at the bottom, and the suggested posts look exactly the same as posts from people I follow. The only way I can tell a post was suggested is to hover over the poster’s userpic and note that it presents a “Follow” button instead of “Following.” If the algorithm is selecting posts that look similar to what your friends post (e.g. something about the WGA strike), you might not immediately notice that a post was put into your feed by the algorithm rather than being posted or retweeted by your actual friends.

This means that information Twitter has selected for you, for reasons of its own, hits your brain with the same perceptual filters you apply to posts from your friends. It might be on the same topics your friends post about, but it may not be factual and may not align with their values. Do you see how dangerous that is?

Well, my flight from Minneapolis to Winnipeg was canceled, so I missed my first scheduled panel. But I will be there soon! In fact, I am on a plane to Winnipeg right now! So here’s my remaining schedule:

10:00 AM, Saturday 22 Jul 2023 CDT – 1 hour 15 minutes
Kaffeklatsche: David D. Levine
Delta Hotel – Fort Garry

11:30 AM, Saturday 22 Jul 2023 CDT – 1 hour 15 minutes
Editors are Sort of Human Too, You Know!
Convention Centre – York 2

4:00 PM, Saturday 22 Jul 2023 CDT – 1 hour 15 minutes
The Next Pandemic
Convention Centre – York 4

1:00 PM, Sunday 23 Jul 2023 CDT – 25 minutes
Readings: David D. Levine
Delta Hotel – St. James

I’ve been authorized to share this snippet of the draft cover of my new novel The Kuiper Belt Job, coming November 7 from Caezik SF & Fantasy. It’s a found-family heist novel which I describe as a cross between Firefly and Leverage in the universe of The Expanse. Excited!

So a few days ago I learned about a Westworld-themed LARP (Live Action Role Play event) being held in Spain, at Sergio Leone’s Western studio. You can play a Guest, a Host (robot), or a corporate employee. It sounded amazing! Unfortunately, I found out about it just after signups had closed.

On a lark, I sent in an application anyway.

I got in.

It’s March 9-12, 2024.

conscience.notonlylarp.com

Here’s a review of a previous run of this LARP.