Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

I've enjoyed the writing of Paul T. Riddell for almost two years now, since I first encountered him in this interview on SFSite. He is an essayist on science fiction, film, comics, and occasionally Texas politics and lifestyle (he lives in Dallas). He's also a fine writer who presents penetrating commentary and scathing wit. Riddell's essays have been archived at a website called The Healing Power of Obnoxiousness (see link at left), the tagline for which is the charming bon mot "Clubbing fanboys like baby seals since 1997". That gives a good taste of Riddell's sense of humor and his "No sacred cows" attitude.

Sadly, Riddell announced recently on his Delphi forum that due to hosting issues his site will vanish as of July 1, and he is seriously considering allowing the site to go away permanently rather than locate a new host at this time. Below are links to some of Riddell's essays that I have especially enjoyed.

:: Turning Science Into a Sport

:: When 'Bah, Humbug!' Just Isn't Enough (This one is especially hilarious -- subtle ways to spread something other than joy during the Holidays.)

:: Applying Natural Selection to an Unnatural Problem (Riddell's favorite targets of derision are MBA's. Here is one of his attacks on them.)

:: The Steve Irwin of Science Fiction? (SF's need for an evangelist.)

:: Advice for Writers: The True Story

:: It Ain't Valuable If They Ain't Buying (This is probably my favorite of Riddell's essays, a kind of "tough love" article for beginning writers who must recover from the shock of pouring their soul into a story only to receive a soul-less rejection.)

I assume that all of these links will be broken as of 1 July, so read these soon. And this is just a smattering; Riddell is quite prolific. I could have listed another ten articles here without much effort. I hope he eventually returns HPoO to the Web.