Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 165

Geek Fail!

So there is an actual political controversy now over President Obama’s mentioning the “Jedi mind meld,” with demi-geeks and geek wannabees claiming that he mixed up Star Trek and Star Wars, which should never be done, ever.
I feel duty-bound to point out that there isa Jedi meld, and that furthermore I was the first person to write about it, in my one-and-only tie-in novel, 2002′s Destiny’s Way. as well as the related novella “Ylesia.”
And furthermore, you can just google “Jedi meld” and learn...

After the Flood

My house doesn’t have a furnace proper, it has a boiler that pumps hot water to registers in each room. Which is a terrific, energy-efficient system, right up to the point where the water pump springs a leak. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the boiler room that flooded, but the closet of the room next door. Which room happens to serve as our (desperately overcrowded) library.
All of which is by way of saying that it’s really lucky that Ty Franck got sick. I was planning on gaming with Ty an’ Daniel an...

The Fin Revealed!

My last post challenged you loyal readers to identify the strange aircraft in the photo (which loyal reader Lektu correctly identified as a Caproni CA 22), and to explain the bizarre canvas-covered fin on the top wing.
Despite deeply charming suggestions such as sun shades and camp beds— which I wish didexist, because it would imply a much more interesting world— the correct answer did not emerge. Which is not surprising, because this aircraft is completely unique.
What the fin apparatus actual...

Mystery Plane

Here’s a challenging one for all you members of the Ground Observer Corps! What is this aircraft?
And yes, the strange canvas-covered fin-like object above the wing is a part of the plane.

Vox Dei

Last week I ranted at some length about fiction I’d encountered that failed to convince me that I should care about it, either because of the trivial issues it raised or because the author made no attempt to convince me that any of the action was plausible.
Over the last week I’ve been thinking about these issues, as well as mentally reviewing some work that I’ve liked. And I’ve come to the conclusion that plausibility may not be as big an issue as voice.
Some writers— including some I know per...

Food. Heroes. Awards. Toolbox.

Over on her blog, Taos Toolbox grad Fran Wilde has a perceptive interview with Taos Toolbox grad (and current Nebula nominee) Saladin Ahmed on writing, food, and workshops.
He says very nice things about Taos Toolbox, and also about my cooking.
So hey! Be like Saladin! Come to the workshop, pay attention, finish your work, and then maybe you’ll get a fistful of award nominations just like him!
Ha! I dare you to prove me right!

A Twain of Twains

Last night I met the actor Hal Holbrook. Which is less impressive than it sounds: he met a lot of people last night, at a meet-and-greet backstage after one of his performances as Mark Twain.
Holbrook is 89 years old. He first came to Albuquerque in 1941. He’s been doing Mark Twain longer than I’ve been alive.
I’ve seen Holbrook’s Twain three times, the first time on television, the other times live in concert. He chooses different material for each concert, so in the concerts I’ve seen he only...

Mighty Steroid Eyes

My eyes are much better, thanks for asking. (And thank you, everybody, for the kind inquiries.) A couple days ago my doc gave me some steroid drops, presumably so that the muscles in my eyes would grow big and strong like Russian wrestlers.
At any rate, the light sensitivity and pain have both faded, if not disappeared entirely. This morning, I was able to look out the window at the snow-covered fields and not fall screaming to the floor clutching my eyes. Which, quite frankly, was getting a l...

More Notches on the Ol’ Toolbox

The Science Fiction Writers of America have announced the Nebula nominees for this year, and I’m excited!
Not because I’m nominated, because due to the usual inexplicable series of errors I haven’t been. (I await the recount. Or failing that, cosmic justice. )
But Taos Toolbox has reason to be proud! Saladin Ahmed, whose Throne of the Crescent Moonwas actually workshopped at Toolbox 2007, has been nominated for Best Novel!
And Lawrence Schoen (class of ’11), has been nominated in the Novella cat...

And Speaking of Fiction

So over in the New Republic,of all places, Ian McEwan (“One of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945″) asks what happens when a novelist loses his faith in fiction. And I found myself nodding in agreement as I read along..
Novels? I don’t know how or where to suspend my disbelief. What imaginary Henry said or did to nonexistent Sue, and Henry’s lonely childhood, his war, his divorce, his ecstasy and struggle with the truth and how he’s a mirror to the age—I don’t believe a word: not the r...