Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 142

Caribbeaneana

So here’s the first view of the Caribbean, from the seaside here in Ft. St. George. Personally I could have done with more blue sky, but on the whole there’s not a lot to complain about.
I’ll be boarding the larger boat on the right tomorrow, for a week at sea.
The flight in was full of groups of missionaries, each group distinctive in its own particular t-shirt. Since the country is already pretty much Christian, I guess they’re here to convert the natives from Christianity to some other kind...

Drop in the Ocean

So I am going tothis place. Yeah!
I’m going to be on the boat for a week or so, and there probably won’t be Internet there. Or if there is, no bandwidth to speak of. So once I get on the boat on Saturday, posts will be rare, and possibly nonexistent.
So I’m taken care of. How are y’all spendingyour summer?

Coverlike

So here’s a possible cover for my upcoming story “Video Star.” I looked long and hard, but failed to come up with any stock art that came close to illustrating the story. Short fiction doesn’t make enough money to justify commissioning a custom piece of art. So I was left with a standard SF landscape of some kind, or a picture of some guy with a TV for a head, or maybe . . .this.
I also have a version without the Ralph Steadman splotches.
So what do you think?

Conquering the World

I’m happy to reporttwo foreign translations today! My conquest of the world is assured!
First up is the long novella “Elegia per Angeli e Cani,” which as “Elegy for Angels and Dogs” broke the record for longest piece of fiction ever published byAsimov’s. Published by Delos Digital, the story is available only in electronic formats.
Delos has also published an interview with me. You’ll be amazed at how well I speak and write Italian!
Second up is “Elvis le rouge,” the cover story on the new Folio...

Jay

I’m getting damn tired of writing obituaries in this space.
It’s bad enough when I write about the honored veterans of the field, like Fred Pohl, who died full of years and honors. But it’s far more discouraging to write about someone talented and joyous and unforgettable who was taken before his time, before he had a chance to write all the works that would have assured his place in the field’s collective (and sadly flawed) memory.
Not that Jay Lake didn’t write great stuff. 10 novels, over 30...

In the Post

So today I find my prose in theHuffington Post. Not a political article, but a brief appreciation of a long-defunct TV show.
Why? It’s all in aid of promotingDead Man’s Hand, the Weird West anthology edited by John Joseph Adams. You’ll find a story of mine in there, but that’s not what I’m writing about. I’m writing aboutThe Wild Wild West, the Sixties spy/western mashup that ended up— inadvertently, I imagine— inventing steampunk. (I really can’t think of any precursor that’s older.)
While the...

Sleepless

I saw this, and now I’m so terrified I can’t sleep. And when I do sleep, my slumbers will be troubled by nightmarish legions of identical roller-skating accordion-playing sub-debs singing thepolka from hell!
So I thought I’d better share this, because if I can’t sleep, neither should you.

Time for Wolf Time

My novelette “Wolf Time” is now available for download on Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Smashwords. And it’s a mere 99 cents! What have you got to lose?
There was a period of my career when my longer pieces were regularly spawning short fiction, and this is one of those stories. When I finishedVoice of the Whirlwind, I knew that the story of Steward, the protagonist, was over— but I also liked Reese, his friend/puppetmaster who killed him in the penultimate scene. So I decided to continue...

Breaker Breaker

There’s a Philip K Dick story which I read decades ago, and which I don’t remember very well, but I remember the key scene, so that’s okay.
In the key scene, the protagonist walks into a dark room and reaches for the light pull cord that he’s pulled many times before, but it isn’t there, and instead there’s a light switch on the wall. And the protagonist comes to realize thatall of reality has shifted since the last time he walked into that room, and the light switch is the proof, and that he...

Vodka and Vikings

I don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting Eastern Europe, but if you ever go, there are certain conventions that should be observed. One of them being that at some point you have to go out and drink lots of vodka with the locals. Lots of vodka. Lots and lots of vodka.
Back in the year 2000 I was the guest of honor at Polcon, in Gdynia, Poland (which is a port town just across the bay from Gdansk). It was not only the Polish national convention, but also Balticon, the big convent...