Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 129

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...

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.

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...

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!

Dan Is The Man

I am pleased, and not a little astounded, to report that Dan Dos Santos, who painted the original cover forImplied Spaces some years ago, has very kindly allowed me to use the painting on my ebook. For free. Because he’s an awesomely nice guy.
Neither he nor I have the rights to the original coverdesign, or the lettering, so I’ll have to do the design myself. Which is fine, because the original was optimized to be seen on a shelf in a bookstore, and this one has to be optimized to be reduced t...

My Boskone Schedule

I’ll be at Boskone this weekend, and I’m scheduled for a whole weekend of events, including panels, a signing, and a kaffeeklatsch.
So if you’re in the Greater Boston Area, by all means head to the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, come over, and say hi.

Wild Cards: Inside the Series

Friday 18:00 – 18:50, Griffin (Westin)

Dating back to 1987, the Wild Cards series continues to be as popular as ever with readers and writers alike. Wild Cards writers Walter Jon Williams, Carrie Vaughn, and David Anth...

New Contest

I’m at it again! For free downloads of the audio editions of the three Praxis books, please tell me who is in this photo, and what he’s playing at.

Reviews Too Late: Fury

I’m sitting here doing my taxes, which normally means that I’m diverting myself from the task by watching action films, most of which are sufficiently predictable that they don’t require my full attention. And here was Brad Pitt in Fury,newly available on Xbox for a token sum. So hey, I downloaded it.
Furyis a post-9/11 war movie, for all that it takes place in World War II. After 9/11, war became sacralized, along with warfighters. War has become a holy endeavor, an absolute neverending sacra...

Meet Mr Cephalopod

I’m doing my taxes, and so I considered uploading a photo of a receipt with a undecipherable scrawl on it by way of explaining how I’m spending my time. But then I thought you’d probably enjoy this more.

Joey

We’re in the last hours of my promotion on The Rift, so if you want a copy for a mere 99 cents, go forth now and find it onAmazon,iBooks,Kobo,Barnes & Noble, orSmashwords.
There is a character inThe Rift who is one of my very few attempts to draw someone I’ve met in real life. The character would be Jean-Joseph Malraux of Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, the captain of a Mississippi towboat, and who a great many readers immediately recognized as Joey “Big Reel” Grillot of New Orleans.
I describe him i...