Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 176

Devaluation

Now that the London Olympics are under way, giving television viewers the chance to view sports, like judo or archery, that they only care about every four years, we can brace ourselves for the inevitable editorials pointing out how the Olympic ideal has been debased by (choose one) nationalism, money, professional athletes, money, television, or money.
Okay, so the sports have been debased. But what about the medals?
This year’s Olympic gold medals aren’t gold . . . much. They’re 92.5% silver,...

Version the Second

Right, here’s an alternate version of the Brig of War cover.
The main objections to Version the First were the green and orange type— the orange in particular, I’m guessing— and the various highlights and shadows I added to the typeface.
The green and orange were the same shades used in the art— I was hoping to harmonize the colors. I hoped the orange would reflect the gunfire and pick up the reddish tinge of the clouds.
The highlights and shadows were necessary to make the type visible, particu...

Brig of War, First Effort

Here’s my first try at a cover for Brig of War (formerly The Raider). Let me know what you think.

Dorothy, We Found Your Home, And It’s Not In Kansas

Would you trust this architecture department?

Beach Party

Tonight the Clarion students took me out for a farewell beach party. Good company, sand as light as talcum powder, and the sea as profound as ever.
Afterwards there was tequila and, um, tequila.

TGIF

Okay, my part in Clarion is over. Over, that is, except for the Celebrating at the Beach, in which I will partake this evening.
Everyone has been very hospitable. The students have been energetic, highly organized, and very talented, and they’ve made my job easier than I had any right to expect.
As they are not draped over the furniture in attitudes of despair, I feel that perhaps I haven’t done my job properly; but I guess I’ll have to leave that to Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, who follow...

Comic-Con Newbie

I’m now installed in academic splendor at UCSD and have started my Clarion teaching gig. The students seem to have been drawn from a very large talent pool, and I’m impressed by their technical abilities.
But I arrived on Friday, and the actual teaching didn’t start till Monday morning . . . so what did I do in the meantime?
That would be what is seems now to be called San Diego Comic-Con International, which I gather is the world’s largest gathering of pop culture fans. Comic-Con had very kind...

To Clarion!

I’ll be teaching Clarion for the next week, and so my appearances here may be few, and brief.
Yes, it’s my third workshop in, like, six weeks. And my fourth trip out of town.
And it will be awesome!

Missing the Wire

For all its virtues, David Simon’s Treme can’t replace David Simon’s The Wire in my affections.
Unfortunately, neither can this.
Yes, it’s Wire: the Musical!

[via Chris East]

The Wire: The Musical with Michael Kenneth Williams from Michael Kenneth Williams

Got It In One

It took about ten seconds for John MacMichael to guess the answer to my last quiz.
Yes, I was in Seattle. I was there for my agent’s annual retreat, and I caught the Tutankhamun exhibit while I was there.
The exhibit was full of lovely stuff, but I was annoyed at the misleading advertising, which makes use of Tut’s golden sarcophagus. Tut’s golden sarcophagus isn’t actually in the exhibit. Nor were any of his other sarcophagi. Nor was Tut himself.
There was one golden mask, the one in my last po...