Sean Williams's Blog, page 4

nanowrimo #1

Today is day two of NaNoWriMo. Yesterday I wrote 1800 words of my novel before being driven to write a new short story instead, only my second for this year (123rd all up). The day before that, I wrote 4000 words, which don't count to my total. I know it's not a race or anything, but ... well ... typical.

It's nice to be moving again. I've spent too much of this year thinking about writing and writing about writing, and not enough time actually doing it.

Back to the coalface I go ...

splishy splashy

Here's the final draft of my zoo poem, which was launched last week as part of the inaugural Adelaide Water Forum. To get the full experience, you'd have to go to the zoo itself to hear the soundscape in all its glory, but this is a start. It was a marvellous project to be part of, and an immense honour to be invited. Enjoy!

(Note: the formatting seems to be a little screwy. Am I the only person who can't make LJ tabs work properly?)


What do you see? gleaming shimmers
silver swimmers
waders, striders
swoopers, divers
croakers, callers
lone mud-crawlers
wrigglers, mopers
gulpers, gropers
 --from spring to shining sea.

Through drought and flood, in salt and mud,
the river’s winding, toiling
shaping, roiling
rippling, cooling
snaking, pooling
trickling, draining
all-sustaining
in depths and shallows
past farm and fallow
 carving its way as it goes.

Drinking, floating
soaking, boating
surfing, diving
splashing, thriving-- Look at water long enough and you’ll see yourself,
in the ripples and foam,
with the cod and the pelican.
We are the water sprites of this dry earth,
dependent upon
the crystal tonic that bathes us from our birth.

Our words dance on wavetops like birds
but our music taps a deeper current still
--as the river, always downhill
to where the tree-roots of truth are
growing, groping
thinking, drinking digging fast into the soil.

The river runs
and so do we--
birds and people
creatures and trees
--swimming, reflected,
in water.

wet

Tomorrow sees the launch of "Reflections on Water", a poem commissioned from me by the Adelaide Zoo and the Environmental Institute at Adelaide University on the theme of "water is life", which (performed by multiple voices and combined with numerous sound-effects) will form the backbone of a soundscape that everyone will hear every time they go to visit the pandas (or any of the other marvellous critters living beyond the zoo's awesome new entrance).

I'll post a link to the finished text once it goes live, but here, to whet (ha ha) your appetite, is my first stab at it. This is nothing like the final product, nothing at all: for one, it's a villanelle, whereas the finished piece has no formal structure; for two, this is far too didactic. But it was an enjoyable warm-up, and I'd hate it to disappear forever (ah, vanity).

it means much more than getting wet.
The calling frog, the birds’ refrain,

the wheat, the sheep, the sugarcane--
all linked by water’s vital net.
Think of this next time it rains:

the river’s creep across the plain
though muddy is life-giving yet;
the calling frog, the birds’ refrain

depend on this life-giving vein
to survive drought’s blistering threat.
Think of this next time it rains:

before you pour it down the drain,
waste not, want not; don’t forget
the calling frog, the birds’ refrain.

Their songs need never be in vain
if we ensure their needs are met.
Think of this next time it rains:
the calling frog, the birds’ refrain.

booty

For all my whining about viruses, September was good to me:
 
From bottom to top: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (out now!), Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears , Australis Imaginarium , Blutschuld , Castle of the Zombies and Planet of the Cyborgs (coming soon!), Sprawl , and The Shrieking Pit.

Behind: Writers of the Future: the First 25 Years.

Somewhere, a forest has died.

unleashed again

Well, The Force Unleashed hit the stores in the US today, and I'm excited by that, even though it might be a while before I see it on the shelves here. I half-joke that it's the book that gave me RSI--true, I had to write it in four weeks, and true also that I'd written at that speed in the past to no ill effect--but we sometimes make similarly rebukes of our children, and that doesn't mean we love them any less. I really enjoyed writing TFU II and I hope readers will enjoy it too. It definitely wasn't something I knocked off for the money. I thought there was some value to it, otherwise I would've saved my time, and my wrist. That's all.

I've been posting interviews to Twitter and Facebook but have saved a few for here, just to mark the occasion. So:

"Anything that broadens people's experiences, makes them aware of what goes on outside the little boxes they live in, opens their eyes to the fact that there may actually BE something outside their little boxes, is automatically a good thing, I think. A story doesn't have to be true to be effective in this regard; it just has to be convincing, to have an impact, to leave an impression. When someone manages that, the world has become a better place." (Angus & Robertson Edwardstown)

"It would have been easy to write TFU as a by-the-numbers slash-and-hack adventure, but I think it deserved more than that. As to how I do it…? There’s no specific technique.  One tries to put oneself in another’s shoes, to feel compassion for them no matter how monstrous they behave. This works for real life as well as novels. When you’re in, you know it, and you start writing." (EUCantina)

"Sometimes I get into trouble with my editors for being too obscure, but I figure it’s a risk worth taking. And always, among the millions of fans of the EU, there’s at least one who appreciates the effort." (Literary Clutter part one)

"I have been offered other franchises that would have been fun and high profile, but always it’s a juggle between original work and tie-ins. I don’t want to do one at the expense of the other. I want to have my cake and eat someone else’s too." (Literary Clutter part two)

And now, enough typing. Time to eat some celebratory cake!

ladnews @ 2010-10-05T17:49:00

Confused about digital publishing, like my userpic? Then git along to one of if:book Australia's upcoming events--Everything Australian authors  should know about digital publishing but were afraid to Google--featuring Mark Coker (founder of Smashwords), Richard Nash, Chris Meade, Kate Eltham ... Do you need more incentive? It's going to be informative and mind-blowing. Go on, git!

recent reading #11

Another mixed bag, reflecting more books read on planes, books picked up secondhand, recommendations, work reading, and impulse purchases. Not sure what I'll move onto next. There are still ten Patrick O'Brian books in my stack, but I'm savouring them, knowing I'll be devastated when there are none left...
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger (cute)Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen (not as satisfying as Pride & Prejudice but funnier)Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler (really wanted to like it as much as other books I’ve read by her, but couldn’t finish it)Blacksad by Diaz Canales and Guarnido (brilliant)Worth Dying For by Lee Child (as smooth and sharp as an icepick, but much more enjoyable)f2m by Hazel Edwards and Ryan Kennedy (terrific)Florence & Giles by John Harding (couldn’t finish)The Mad Hatter’s Holiday by Peter Lovesey (in progress)The Prestige by Christopher Priest (liked it much more than the movie, which I loved--so it gets a huge thumbs-up from me)Galileo’s Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson (moving and fascinating)The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (the weakest, to my eyes, of her recent novels, but still awesome, and so much better than I could ever write)BTW, I've started posting this information over at goodreads as well, so if you're interested in watching it unfold in real time, pop by and take a look.

This is also a test cross-post to Facebook and Twitter. Fingers crossed!

before melbourne...

...there was Au Contraire. Despite my usual utter laziness when it comes to con reports, I’m here to tell you just how awesome it was because, you know, Aussiecon wasn’t everything. :-)
 Au Contraire was small, but that was no impediment. Lots of wonderful people attended, including (but not limited to) Ryan Scott Kennedy (co-author of f2m ), Jay Lake, Cheryl Morgan, Kate Kligman, Nicole Murphy, Jeremy Byrne, Paul Mannering, Elizabeth Knox, Russell Kirkpatrick, and many others. Some I knew...

thanks from the ORD

With WorldCon now long behind us, I am remiss in being so slow in publicly thanking all the volunteers who helped out with the SFWA suite.  Given that I couldn't be there, and that everyone was so busy doing their own things, I'm hugely indebted to those brave people who stepped in to make sure a difficult situation was made the very best of.  It was a trial against unspeakable odds, but these fine folk were more than equal to the task.  A good time was had by some, occasionally, and that's a...

worldcon

Here's my Worldcon schedule. In addition, I'm presenting at the Hugos, going to at least one other launch, and even hosting a party (there's probably going to be a bash in the SFWA suite after the Voyager party on Friday; more on that later). I'll also be in and out of the SFWA suite, so stop by and say hello. It'll be great to see you there!

THURSDAY
5:00 - Film, TV and spec fic (I arrive late Thursday, so I'm a maybe for this one)
(Note: I'm down for a kaffeeklatsche at 3:00 but won't have lan...