Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 109

Award Winner

Congratulations to Taos Toolbox veteran Fran Wilde, whose Updraftwon the Andre Norton Award for young adult fiction, and also the Compton Crook award for best science fiction, horror, or fantasy novel (no age mentioned). Updraft was workshopped at Toolbox, and despite being perhaps the most altitude-impaired studentever at Toolbox, Fran seems to have paid some attention. Congratulations also to Toolbox grad Lawrence Schoen, who was nominated for the Nebula forBarsk, but ended up coming home w...

Hardwired Sale

My best-selling book of all time,Hardwired, is now on sale for a mere 99 cents. Feel free to pick it up at Amazon, iBooks, Google Play, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. I’ve never putHardwired on sale because it’s always sold so well at the ordinary price. But then I reflected that more of my readers started withHardwired than anything else. It’salways been a sort of gateway drug into my other fiction. So I should probably open the gateway by putting it on sale, and a hope a lot of peop...

Reviews Too Late: Admiral

The original title of this Dutch film isMichiel de Ruyter,but as this title means nothing to audiences outside the United Provinces, the American release is retitledAdmiral. (Thus prompting confusion with the Korean filmAdmiral, about the naval hero Yi Sun-sin, orAdmiral,the Russian film about the naval hero Alexander Kolchak. This particularAdmiralis about a Dutch naval hero so revered in his own country that he is probably the only person in history to be awarded the rank of Lieutenant-Adm...

Stories. Bundled.

Once again I have a book available as part of a StoryBundle. The last one sold like hotcakes on a winter’s morning, and this one should as well, because StoryBundle is an amazing freaking good deal. Basically, you pay whatever you want for the first three books, which areErrantry: Strange Stories by Elizabeth Hand, Lewis Shiner’sCollected Stories, and my ownGreen Leopard Plague and Other Stories. Pay 99 cents! Pay 10 bucks! Go ahead, pay half a million dollars— I dare you! But if you pay at...

P-Hack

Via ace mathematician Michael Wester, we have ace correspondent John Oliver ranting about the media’s demand for cute pop science. After viewing this video, you will be able to answer the following true/false questions correctly. 1. Does champagne make rats live longer? 2. Are babies made of chocolate? 3. What will keep the doctor away— apples or hugs? Note that the last is not actually a true/false question. But given the standards displayed in these studies, that hardly matters.

Fête des Mères

EPSON scanner image It’s Mother’s Day here in the States, so I thought I’d post a photo of my mom dating from her period as a lingerie model. I vaguely remember this photo being taken. We were on vacation in a lakeside cabin in northern Minnesota, where I spent the day on or in the water, my dad fished, drank beer, and grilled steaks, and my mom finally got a chance to relax. I owe a great deal to my mother, who clawed her way out of poverty, out of the cult in which she was raised, and in...

From the Hi Ball Lounge

Since we’re heading into the weekend, I thought I’d program a bit of entertainment for you folks. Live from the Hi Ball Lounge, it’s Miss Lavay Smith and Her Red-Hot Skillet Lickers. Put on a smoking jacket, pour yourself a gin gimlet, and give it a listen.

Going Urban

I’ve just hatched a new theory. Which is a callow, trembling thing just out of the chrysalis, but I may be onto something, so bear with me. My theorizing was spurred by this last weekend at the Paradise Lost workshop, for which I read some of the stuff that is called “urban fantasy,” which is distinct from theother stuff that was called “urban fantasy” thirty years ago. My theory concerns the former. Mostly. So here it is: Urban fantasy is a fantasy and/or horror story, set more or less in th...

Drinks for the Season

I’m busy trying to finish a novel and a copy-edited manuscript ofImpersonations,the short novel that will appear from Tor later this year. Meanwhile the American election season rolls on. New Mexico’s primary, which takes place next month, may actually matter in some way, which it never has in my lifetime. Usually by the time we get around to voting, the presidential candidate’s already been decided, and leave us with the exciting choice for state treasurer or something. Makes me want to have...

Go Pro

I haven’t been online much, because I’ve been reading manuscripts in preparation for the Paradise Lost Writers Workshop and Retreat, taking place in San Antonio this weekend. I’ll be teaching and offering critique of others’ work, along with Jaye Wells, Ken Scholes, and former Toolboxer (and Nebula and Andre Norton and Compton Crook Award nominee) Fran Wilde. Nor will Fran be the only Toolboxer in the house— I’ll also be hanging with Barb Ferrer, Sean Kelley, Rosie Smith, Effie Seiberg, Sand...