Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 206

Our Tribe (Gabba Gabba Hey)

So when did it become okay to write about our tribe?I am prompted to this question by reading Among Others , by Jo Walton.  Which is about growing up as an Anglo-Welsh science fiction reader in the 1970s— the sort of person who reads Delany and Heinlein and Plato's Symposium all at the same time, and who listens to the dialog the books are having  in her head; but there's absolutely no one to share this with, because there is no one else who's part of the tribe or would remotely understand.Mor...

1983: The Writer's Life

This is one of a long dang series of posts on my early days as a professional writer.But first, a confession.  There were two versions of my post for 1982.   The first relied on my memory.  The second, in which I relied on my tax records for 1983, is the more accurate.  (That's the one you can read now.)  The inaccurate post was up for maybe twelve hours before I discovered my mistake and posted a correction.Here's what happened.  As I wrote in my previous post, my job writing historical...

Dagger and Coin

Daniel Abraham writes unconventional fantasies like The Long Price Quartet and the Hugo-nominated "Cambist and Lord Iron" (available here in podcast form).  Now he's launched a new high fantasy series, Dagger and Coin, with its first volume, The Dragon's Path.The packaging is rather conventional, leading you to believe that this is going to be a huge, sprawling fantasy epic with a varied cast involved in a giant, continent-wide war against the forces of ultimate evil.Which is true.  So I...

I'm Tired . . .

. . . so listen to these guys talk while I take a nap.
Thank you.


Why 'Star Wars' Is Secretly Terrifying for Women — powered by Cracked.com

1982: The Writer's Life

It'll be Tax Day in less than a week, and preparing my own 1040 has reminded me that it's time for another installment of The Writer's Life.As you will no doubt recall, this is Part Four of a series of posts about my early years as a writer, with my old tax returns supplementing my fading memory.1982 was the year my career writing historical fiction was flushed down the Toilet of Doom.  In fact practically every writer of historical fiction went down that same toilet at the same time. ...

Waldo/Herzog

That slash between "Waldo" and "Herzog" is meant to call to mind the slash between "Marat" and "Sade."  Because this is one extreme artist, Werner Herzog, giving his own unique voice to the work of another artist— namely, the creator of "Where's Waldo?"

May I just state that I've really enjoyed Herzog's sense of humor ever since his star turn in Incident in Loch Ness?

Jamoke

About a year ago I started drinking coffee again.I'd avoided coffee for at least 25 years, and for a very good reason: it made me sick.  If I had coffee— even coffee ice cream— in a few days I'd come down with stomach pains, sometimes very severe, and they'd go on for days.  This was part of the gastritis from which I'd been suffering since I was 22— coffee was the only thing I knew of that would absolutely bring on a gastritis attack.Working this out took a number of years, because the...

Sometimes These Things Take Time

I'm currently working on a novella that I've been planning for over twenty years.  I think I came up with the idea in the late 1980s.I guess you could say I'm not the fastest writer around.The story is the latest installment in the "Dead Romantics" series, in which I craft science fiction stories about writers.  Past installments have featured Poe ("No Spot of Ground"), Mary Shelley ("Wall, Stone, Craft"), and Nietzsche ("The Last Ride of German Freddie").  "Red Elvis," which features, well, ...

Steal This Book. (This Magazine. This Song. This Idea.)

Some of the finest writing advice I've ever encountered, boiled down into one brief blog post, with illustrations.  (via Steven)
HOW TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST (AND 9 OTHER THINGS NOBODY TOLD ME)

Sieges Perilous

There are just a very few places left at Taos Toolbox, this year's master class for science fiction and fantasy, taught by Nancy Kress, Walter Jon Williams, and special lecturer Jack Skillingstead.
If you're planning to write this kind of thing, your future could be beckoning right this very minute.