Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 150

Golden Seahorse

Nag Your Friends Day

It’s Nag Your Friends Day—if, that is, y0u have any friends who would benefit from attending Taos Toolbox, next year’s master class for science fiction and fantasy.
During its six years, Taos Toolbox has generated no less than six Hugo nominations for its graduates. We don’t promise you a Hugo award if you attend, but we will guarantee that your writing will benefit from the expert instruction of Nancy Kress, Ian Tregillis, and yours truly.
So tell your friends to send in their applications! Wh...

Reality Show

It’s Chef Gordon Ramsay vs. the Swedish Chef! A special treat for those of you who, like me, find yourself staring at the television late at night, watching competition shows on the Food Network.
(With a special appearance by Michael Buffer.)

Reviews Too Late: This and That

Flying twice across the Pacific, I had little to do but watch movies and eat peanuts. So I saw alot of movies, many of them last summer’s blockbusters. These are the ones I remember.
Red2: A by-the-numbers action film, with none of the wit and spark of the original. The heroes chase plot coupons for a while, then cash them in at the finale. The actors aretrying, but it doesn’t help. I’m glad I didn’t pay to see it.
Pacific Rim: Oh my God, Guillermo del Toro gave up directing The Hobbit forthis?...

Hippocampus Denise

This— the brighter red thing— is a pygmy seahorse, Hippicampus denise,hiding on a piece of fan coral.
The seahorse is very well camouflaged, as you might gather.
It’s also less than a centimeter long, which makes it rather hard to find.
I have not yet met Denise, after whom it was named.

The Last Great Hero

Nelson Mandela, the last of my great heroes, has passed away.
There’s little I can do to add to the long list of Mandela tributes now being issues across the world, save to add this: he led his country through profound revolutionary change, and he did it without spilling blood.

God and Mammon

More notes from my trip to Indonesia, demonstrating I hope that I was actually paying attention to more than just the fish.
Indonesia has more Muslims than any country in the world, but the part of Northeast Sulawesi I visited was strongly Christian, something I hadn’t known until I got there. Even the smaller villages have a church, built in the highly individual local style. These are “Protestant” churches, though whether they resemble Protestantism as practiced in the States is more than I...

Snow Day

This was the scene that awaited me this morning. A very quiet, pleasant snowfall that lasted into the afternoon, after which it all began to melt.
This is building into a big storm, though, so if you live in Texas or parts of the midwest, you might be on the alert for something less tranquil than is implied by this picture.
The second picture was taken at sunset. The lovely gold color in the trees wasn’t produced by autumn leaves: it’s the snow reflecting sunset colors, a contrast to the part o...

The Sex Organs of Parasites . . .

. . . or. if you prefer, orchids.
This picture was taken in the National Orchid Garden in Singapore, where hundreds if not thousands of unique orchid varieties are on display. Some are named after politicians or celebrities who visited the gardens. (The one named after Margaret Thatcher looked quite spiky. I suspect political commentary on the part of the hybridizer, or whatever it is you call people who invent new orchids.)
This is one of the photos visible in our new calendar for 2014,which c...

The Biggest Day of the Year!

It’s the First of December! Which means that applications are now being accepted for Taos Toolbox, the master class for new writers of fantasy and science fiction!
I have a feeling there may be a flood of early applications, so get yours in soon!