Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 122

The Weekend

Here’s your pretty sunset picture for the day. Have a lovely weekend!

The Return . . .

So you all said you wanted more Caroline Sula, the heroine of the Praxis novels. I wrote “Investments,” which featured co-protagonists Martinez and Severin, and you all said, “Thanks, Walter, that was very nice, butwe want more Sula!“ Well, I hope to heck you all meant what you said, because I’ve just sold “Impersonations” to the new novella line at Tor.com, and it’s all Sula, lots of Sula, doing Sula-type things. Sula, you may remember, was assigned to Earth at the conclusion ofConventions o...

Superior Moon

Here we view Lake Superior beneath a (nearly) full moon. The first part of my road trip was full of frenzied travel, the second filled with visits to relatives, and now I’m on my own and kicking back. I’ve rented a one-bedroom “condo” with a kitchen, and tonight I roasted myself a chicken, ate it with a tossed salad and some pasta, and stared out the door at the lake till the sun went down. I expect the leftovers will last me several days. I also went for a trail hike today— the first real ex...

Wisdom from the Marmot

If you’re at least as smart as your average marmot, you’ll want to subscribe to my newsletter and get a free Hugo- and Nebula-nominated ebook! Now I call that equitable! (If you’re already a subscriber, you’ve already received an email offering the ebook, so you won’t have to join all over again.)

Misty Morning

Here through the mist we see theEdgar A. Speertaking on a cargo of taconite, which is the shit iron ore we’re left with after the good stuff has been mined. Below in the mist, the little boat seems a visitor from another world. Taconite, by the way, can be turned into steel, but only through enormous, complex industrial processes. Since the waste products include asbestos, miners are subject to pleural conditions including mesothelioma. When I was a tad, enormous amounts of taconite tailings...

North Shore Sunset

I’ve spent several days on the Iron Range enjoying the warm hospitality of my relations. The only drawback of being in that lovely part of the world is that the whole region seems a stranger to actual high-speed internet. Twice I found myself eating a truly mediocre lunch in a restaurant because they had wi-fi and I could check my email. (If you’re trying to reach me, be patient.) I’m now in a place on Lake Superior’s North Shore, with a wonderful lake view and a spotty internet connection....

Duluth

As the photo will attest, my wanderings have taken me to the city of my birth and the original source of my literary inspiration, Duluth, Minn. Alas, the sign on the city limits, “Birthplace of Walter Jon Williams,” seems to have been taken down for repair. (And honestly, who else do they have? They make a big deal about Bob Dylan, who was born in a hospital here, but Dylan actually grew up in Hibbing, 75 miles away. (When Duluth wishes to draft me for their literary festival, I stand ready....

Glorious Sights of Kansas (Volume 1)

I could open this essay with a lame joke about Dorothy not being in Kansas anymore, but I think it’s better if you just imagine it. Anyway, if Dorothywere in Kansas she’d be able to look at space capsules and an SR-71 Blackbird and many other aerospace goodies, that is if Dorothy were in Hutchinson, where the Cosmosphere is. The Cosmosphere was the creation of a determined local woman named Patty Corey, who loved astronomy and aerospace and began what started as a planetarium and astronomy mu...

Road Trip

I’m on the road, looking for America or the world’s best BBQ or maybe just lightin’ out for the territory. Kathy’s decided to remodel the kitchen, which will involve about a month’s worth of destruction, construction, inconvenience, and noise. I found myself unable to work, eat, or sleep, and so I’m going on a road trip till it’s all over. Today’s journey took me east by north across a whole lot of two-lane blacktop. The car is doing well. The advantage of so much featureless landscape is tha...

Punchdrunk

So I’ve been trying to wrangle some software to do some basic, simple tasks, and it’s taken three days. Three whole days I’ll never see again. Three days in which, believe me,I’ve had a lot of other things to do. This isn’t helped by the fact that Comcast has apparently decided I’m not allowed to send files anywhere, or for that matter receive files. Because they’re Comcast, I guess. So that’s why I haven’t been posting here. Or doing a whole lot besides staring at a screen and cursing. Just...