Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 123

Customer Service

So Walter, I hear you asking, how did you spend your lovely Monday afternoon? Why, I was dealing with Comcast Customer Service, and it was themost pleasant thing in all the world. To give you an idea of theutter pleasantness of the whole thing, I refer you to the letter below, which I wrote to Comcast when the whole thing was still fresh in my mind: [letter begins] I spent one hour and forty minutes online with a customer representative to discuss the fact that my Xbox 360 wouldn’t connect to...

Wrapping Up the Bear

The 2015 edition of Taos Toolbox is over, save for the big celebratory dinner tonight. The students were a talented, ambitious crew, and they worked hard, which meant Nancy and I had to work hard, too. The students have scattered all over the county, shopping or sightseeing or just getting away. I’m just bumping around the lodge, looking faintly lost, because I lack the energy for anything else. It was a harmonious group, despite not having our usual bear sighting (which is a good omen). The...

Lighter Than Air

I’m still busy with the last 48 hours of the workshop, so please enjoy this picture of pretty balloons.

El Dia de la Marmota

Here’s a large, fat marmot that came up onto the second-floor balcony the other day. He remained in this pose, pensive or possibly praying, until someone came out of their room unexpectedly, at which point the marmot gave a piercing shriek and headed for the hills. Apparently he lives under one of the buildings. Taos Toolbox continues, and over the weekend we’ve had talks by Carrie Vaughn and by indiepub guru Emily Mah, both of which were received ecstatically. (If I’m any judge of ecstasy, a...

Peter Dinklage + Coldplay

So what do you think they might be singing about?

Double Rainbow

I’m up the mountain for the 2015 edition of Taos Toolbox, where we’ve just done the first round of critiques for some talented new writers. Posts may be on the rare side for the next couple weeks.

Words From the Yogi

The great Yankees catcher Yogi Berra was famous for his “Yogisms,” malapropisms that kept the sports press amused (and Yogi in the headlines). Things like,“I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.” Which is amusing enough, but maybe I (and the rest of the world) have been underestimating Yogi’s profundity all this time. I’d been assuming all along that “Yogi” was a name or nickname from whatever part of Old Europe the Berra family hailed from, but I re...

Write-a-Thon

The Clarion workshop’s annual Write-a-Thon is underway. First, you go to this page, and then you either write, or you sponsor, or both. The money raised helps to create scholarships for Clarion. Which is a six-week workshop that can really change your life. (I’ve taught there. I should know.)

Two From the Toolbox

I’m gearing up for this year’s Taos Toolbox, which starts this weekend. But before I climb the mountain to begin my yearly two-week struggle for quality genre literature, I thought I’d pass on my congratulations to a couple Toolbox graduates whose books have recently been published. First up is Alan Smale, whoseClash of Eagles,which was workshopped at Taos Toolbox, has been released from Del Rey. It’s the first of atrilogy, people, and it’s an alternative history in which Roman legionaries cr...

Dad’s Day

Here we are at Father’s Day, and here I am, a big-headed blond Minnesota kid, with my dad. I believe I am helping him read a comic book. You can tell it’s Minnesota by the big heaping piles of white snow visible through the window. I’d like to thank my father for being gentle, understanding, and loving, and helping to give me something like a perfect childhood. (Having a perfect childhood was a handicap when it came to becoming a writer, but after diligent practice I believe I have overcome i...