Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 135

Load Up For All Saints’ Day

Part Four of theHardwired serial released on November 1, which happens to be All Saints’ Day, but you can pre-order it via iBooks, Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords! It will be available via Barnes & Noble as well, but they won’t give me a link to it until the day of release, because . . . because they’re Barnes & Noble, I guess.


If you preorder now, Part Four will show up on your favorite reading device just after midnight, so that you can sit down and read it while munching your Halloween treats!...

Calling the Fire Brigade

I see that Private John Steel is still hanging from the church steeple at Ste.-Mère-Église. Can someone please cut him down?

Aristotle

From the St.-Pierre church in Caen: a carving of Aristotle being ridden and flogged by Campaspe, the mistress of Alexander the Great.
Perhaps the moral lesson intended by this carving is best left to the medieval imagination.

On the Beach

Seventy years and several months ago, my dad was bouncing around in a small boat just off this inoffensive-looking beach, which was then covered with obstacles, burning ships and tanks, and a lot of dead soldiers. My dad was ready to join Eisenhower’s great crusade, and though he didn’t land until three days after the Omaha Beach invasion, he watched the whole thing from his transport along with everyone else in his unit, leaning over the rail even though all the officers kept telling them to...

After Monet

And the best thing was . . . the public toilet was named after Marcel Duchamp.
How perfect was that?

Reflexes

The sad fact is, Henry spoiled us. After ten days of Henry planning our travel, our meals, and arranging our public appearances, our travelers’ instincts had faded. Thus, when catastrophe struck, we found ourselves with small resource.
Yesterday we flew from Tel Aviv to Paris. The plan was simple: we’d arrive at 11pm, clear customs, rent a car from Hertz before their desk closed at midnight, then drive to a hotel where I’d arranged a reservation.
Of course that’s not what happened. The plane wa...

Jazzar

Henry and Daniela took us to Acco today, the ancient city known in Crusader times as St Jean d’Acre. The old city is still surrounded by massive (mostly Ottoman) fortifications, and the huge stone headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller, with its vast echoing gothic halls and conspiratorial underground tunnels, still survives (mostly because it was buried in sand and rubble till the 20th century).
I find myself without the time for a proper appreciation of the town and its history, but I thoug...

Wikiday

It’s my Wikiday today, by which I mean the date given as my birthday in Wikipedia. This date is not my actual birthday, and I’ve never corrected the error, firstly because errors in my biography make me seem more interesting than I actually am, and secondly, because the error makes it more difficult for people to steal my identity. But all that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t celebrate
The Icon Festival is over, having ended rather late last night and leaving me exhausted. But exhaustion is no reason...

First Breathless Report

I’ve been extremely busy since arriving in Tel Aviv, racing off in one direction on sightseeing excursions, then dashing in another direction to participate in the Icon Festival.
Everyone has been amazingly friendly and supportive, and my events have been well attended. My signing had enough people to fill the hour, but not so many that I couldn’t interact with each of the readers as they arrived at my table, and pose for pictures when necessary. Pretty much perfect, in other words.
I’d like in...

Let the Toolbox Roll!

The dates for next year’s Taos Toolbox have been set!
The two-week master class for science fiction and fantasy will be held June 28-July 11, 2015, in Taos Ski Valley. Nancy Kress and I will be teaching, with special lecturers Carrie Vaughn and Emily Mah Tippets.
The application period begins December 1, 2014.
Toolbox has a very good record for producing writers who can sell fiction (and get nominated for awards), so if you’re serious about your work and want to get into the game, you’ll definit...