Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 116

Too Kermit to Quit

After you see this, you’ll probably have to go down to the cellar to find your jaw, after which you may attempt to reattach it.

Pour le Weekend

After you see this, you’ll probably have to go down to the cellar to find your jaw, after which you may attempt to reattach it.

Getting Expansive

I’m off doing karate things all weekend, so I thought I’d leave you with some entertainment. Here’s one of the trailers forThe Expanse, the new Syfy series based on the books by James S.A. Corey. (Disclosure: Jimmy Corey’s a pal of mine.) I was in Santa Fe last week for the premiere of the first two episodes, which I saw in an actual theater, with popcorn and free booze and TV stars and GRRM and all the goodies you get with a premiere. And the experience was a double helping of CompleteAweso...

Two Goodies

My campaign to make all my work available throughout the world continues with the second of my Praxis books,The Sundering, which is now available as an ebook outside North America for the first time. Find it at Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, and Google. (As with previous attempts I’m not 100% confident about the Kobo and iBooks links, because I live in North America, and I’m not allowed to see my own work because I’m not allowed to buy it! I have to say this is really annoying.) For those of you who h...

Muppets Go Boom

After my initial analysis of The Muppets, I’ve continued watching, and come to the conclusion that one thing missing from the new show isincredible levels of violence. The reality in which the Classic Muppets lived was both plastic and volatile. Muppets were always being eaten, blown up, transformed, annihilated, stretched, kicked, shot, duplicated, and having their heads smashed by mallets. OnThe Muppets, very little of this is going on. A recent episode was built around the idea that Gonzo...

Independence Day

It’s Finland’s Independence Day! And what better way to celebrate than to convene a singing flashmob at Helsinki’s central station? Forwarded by friend of the blog Marcus Prest, this video was made to support presidential candidate Pekka Haavisto, who made it to the final round a few years ago but lost. The song is “Finlandia,” by Sibelius, with lyrics written after the Winter War of 1940, when Finland barely survived a ferocious conflict with the Soviet Union. In case you want to sing along...

Make 2016 Your Year!

Today, December 1, is the first day of the application period for Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy. This year’s instructors will be Nancy Kress and Walter Jon Williams, ably assisted by special lecturers E.M. Tippetts and James S.A. Corey. The workshop will take place July 10-23, 2016, at the deluxe Angel Fire resort near Taos, NM. If you’ve been thinking about applying, this is really the year you want to do it. Trust me on this.

Through the Publishing Wormhole, to You!

One of the great injustices in the world is that my Praxis books have not been available as ebooks outside of North America. As a crusader for justice, I have set out to right this wrong! Not that it was easy. I had first to retrieve the rights from my U.K. publisher, which never exercised them. (And in fact might have been unable to. Ebooks did not exist in the U.K. when that contract was signed, and instead there was some ambiguous language in the contract allowing the publisher to utilize...

Subterranean Rogues from Tequila

Today I received my own personal copy of the illustrated, slipcasedRogues collection, edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois, and published in a limited, signed edition of 500 by Subterranean Press. The volume has my story “Diamonds from Tequila,” as well as stories by Joe Abercrombie, Neil Gaiman, Gillian Flynn, Carrie Vaughn, and many other household names, each story illustrated by Ken Laager. It’s lovely, and the collectors among you should take note. The publisher’s website says “...

Beatdown

IfThe Force Awakensisn’t at least this awesome, I’m going to be terribly disappointed.