Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 128
March 9, 2015
Analog Me
I’m in search of lost time, as Proust might put it. I’ve got a closet full of slide carousels documenting my various travels through the multiverse, and I’ve just bought a scanner/converter to bring them all into the digital age. So for the last few days I have been soaking in nostalgia for the lost worlds of my youth.Here I am, barely out of my teens, on the island of Hvar, trying to hitchhike down the Dalmatian coast, which is hard because there’s no road, and you have to flag down a boat....
March 7, 2015
The Multiverse on Sale!
Implied Spacesis now on sale for $0.99 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords.It’ssupposed to be on sale at iBooks, but for some reason Apple seems not to have got the word. This situation may be corrected by the time you read this, however.
The book was originally published on such a garbled schedule that most of my readers never found it. If you haven’t encountered the book before, consider this your invitation.
March 4, 2015
Lessons for Writers: Dr. Funkenstein
I’ve been enjoying the autobiography of George Clinton, with its somehow perfect title,Brothas Be, YO Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You?I really didn’t follow Parliament/Funkadelic back in the day, for various reasons. I liked my rock and roll more straight up. P-Funk was so prolific, with its various incarnations— Parliament, Funkadelic, P-Funk, the Rubber Band, P-Funk All Stars, Brides of Funkenstein, the Horny Horns, etc.— coming out with on the order of six LPs per year, t...
March 3, 2015
Bloody Jane
“From this period, the intimacy between the Families of Fitzroy, Drummond and Falknor, daily increased till at length it grew to such a pitch, that they did not scruple to kick one another out of the window on the slightest provocation.”
Who was it, d’ye think, that wrote such an elegantly balanced Augustan sentence, and with such a sting in its tail?
Here’s another sample:
“Lovely and too charming Fair one, notwithstanding your forbidding Squint, your greasy tresses and your swelling Back, whic...
Who was it, d’ye think, that wrote such an elegantly balanced Augustan sentence, and with such a sting in its tail?
Here’s another sample:
“Lovely and too charming Fair one, notwithstanding your forbidding Squint, your greasy tresses and your swelling Back, whic...
March 2, 2015
Skunked
More details about the fusion reactor being developed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, courtesy ofAviation Week.
“We would like to get to a prototype in five generations. If we can meet our plan of doing a design-build-test generation every year, that will put us at about five years, and we’ve already shown we can do that in the lab.” The prototype would demonstrate ignition conditions and the ability to run for upward of 10 sec. in a steady state after the injectors, which will be used to ig...
“We would like to get to a prototype in five generations. If we can meet our plan of doing a design-build-test generation every year, that will put us at about five years, and we’ve already shown we can do that in the lab.” The prototype would demonstrate ignition conditions and the ability to run for upward of 10 sec. in a steady state after the injectors, which will be used to ig...
February 25, 2015
To the Moon, Alice!
If Paul Allen builds it, it will fly.
The world’s largest aircraft, with a wingspan wider than a football field is long. Longer even than the Hughes Spruce Goose, which is still the largest to date.
The world’s largest aircraft, with a wingspan wider than a football field is long. Longer even than the Hughes Spruce Goose, which is still the largest to date.
February 23, 2015
Eye of Newt, Toe of Frog, Balm of Tiger
I am feeling particularly yeasty at the moment, because I’ve actually had a good night’s sleep, followed by a long, peaceful nap.This hasn’t happened lately.
Something like two-and-a-half years ago, I woke sleeping on my left side, with my left arm pinned under me. This resulted in a good deal of left shoulder pain, which for some reason shifted over to the dominant right shoulder even though I hadn’t slept on it. Some deep-tissue massage at the hands of the former masseuse for the Green Bay...
February 22, 2015
How Art Is Made
I’m swamped with work and other obligations right now, and telling you about all that process would be boring for all of us, so I thought I’d post a video of someone else’s process. Check this out, it’s fascinating.
February 19, 2015
I Am Back
. . . but it took a lot longer than I expected.
There were delays flying to Boston on Thursday— I won’t detail them all, but there werelots— and my bag didn’t make it, and when I got to the hotel early in the evening my room wasn’t ready, and I really wanted a shower. Theydidgive me a free dinner, so I ordered a couple glasses of the most expensive wine on the menu, which felt justified to me. Eventually whoever was squatting in my room (a hostess with Emirates Air, I believe) was crowbar’d ou...
There were delays flying to Boston on Thursday— I won’t detail them all, but there werelots— and my bag didn’t make it, and when I got to the hotel early in the evening my room wasn’t ready, and I really wanted a shower. Theydidgive me a free dinner, so I ordered a couple glasses of the most expensive wine on the menu, which felt justified to me. Eventually whoever was squatting in my room (a hostess with Emirates Air, I believe) was crowbar’d ou...
February 11, 2015
Genius Quest!
Taos Toolbox, the master class for science fiction and fantasy, still has a few openings! The workshop will be taught June 28-July 11, 2015, in Taos Ski Valley, and will be taught by myself, Nancy Kress, and special lecturer Carrie Vaughn.If you want to bring your literary genius to the next level, you need to get your application innow!
