The author in this headline is me. I got scammed. Fortunately, no money changed hands, and the scammer got away with little more than my email address, some information about my future writing plans, and my tattered authorial pride. Here’s what happened. First I received an email, out of the blue, from a major publishing … Continue reading Author Fooled by AI-Powered Email Scam
Writing
TO: Donella Meadows, FROM: Alan AtKisson, SUBJ: Return to Balaton
Dear Dana, I know you are dead, but I thought I would write to you anyway. Because, well, you never know. The view from the café, Csopak, Hungary. Low water in Lake Balaton. September 2026. The 44th meeting of the Balaton Group, that network of sustainability researchers and systems thinkers that you and Dennis Meadows … Continue reading TO: Donella Meadows, FROM: Alan AtKisson, SUBJ: Return to Balaton
Somebody somewhere bought my song “Dungeness”. That made me so happy.
I make good, steady money from my music. Good, because I like where it comes from. Steady, because it shows up every month. But it is a very, very small amount of money. Most of it comes from streaming. For example, from April to July of 2026, my dance-pop song about the Sustainable Development Goals, … Continue reading Somebody somewhere bought my song “Dungeness”. That made me so happy.
I have Seen “The Odyssey”. I’m Furious.
I knew the movie was going to be infuriating. I made a prophecy to that effect. “The Odyssey is going to make me really mad,” I said to my wife, in the car on the way to the local cinema. Not because of what’s in it. The film turned out to be a relatively faithful, … Continue reading I have Seen “The Odyssey”. I’m Furious.
The Art of Looking Away
Recently I declared a particularly pleasant, sunny day to be a “Day of Enjoyment”. I decided not to think very much about global problems: the “polycrisis” of climate, biodiversity loss, senseless wars, terrible political leaders and the like. I listened to birdsong. Messed around in the garden. Watched grebes parenting their young in the local … Continue reading The Art of Looking Away
“I will write if I survive”: An evening with Ukrainian author Alina Sarnatska
How much do you know about what it’s like to be a writer in Ukraine? Nothing? Then you are like me — before last night. Recently, I became a member of the Swedish Writers’ Union (SWU), and I immediately began receiving emails to interesting events, including an invitation to a talk and mingle with Ukrainian … Continue reading “I will write if I survive”: An evening with Ukrainian author Alina Sarnatska
I Joined the Swedish Writers Union
I write primarily in my mother tongue, English. So why was it important to me to join the Swedish Writers Union? And, once admitted, why did it feel like an honor? My written Swedish is quite fluent, but it is “bureaucrat Swedish,” honed by years working as a consultant or as a director in a … Continue reading I Joined the Swedish Writers Union
“A Lifetime of Rejoicing”: Remembering Donella Meadows
On the 13th of March, 2026, Donella “Dana” Meadows might have been celebrating her 85th birthday. But Dana passed away exactly 25 years ago (plus a few weeks). Not quite 60 years old at the time, she was taken in the full flower of her career by a sudden bacterial illness. The randomness of her … Continue reading “A Lifetime of Rejoicing”: Remembering Donella Meadows
After the Shock Fades
What happens after our shock fades? That was the question asked by an old friend and colleague of mine, Robin DiAngelo, and her writing partner Delta Shelby Larkey in an opinion article published in the Minnesota Star Tribune a few weeks ago. For those of us who count as ordinary people, and who were glued … Continue reading After the Shock Fades
Dear Santa Claus: So Sorry About the North Pole (2025 edition)
Update 17 Dec 2025: Times have changed, and I have realised that this article needs a short framing intro. Climate science is in trouble. Funding is being cut. Information is disappearing. To draw a little attention to this and other issues, I returned to a format I first introduced in 2003: a darkly humorous "Letter … Continue reading Dear Santa Claus: So Sorry About the North Pole (2025 edition)
