Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 21

Questing

You know how the Internet allows you to dive deep on some weird, forgotten subject? I’ve fallen victim to the deep dive syndrome more than once, diving on turnspit dogs, Venetian galleys, Bobbitt worms, and Anglo-Saxon kings.

It’s all by way of wasting time while pretending to educate yourself.

The latest quest was a result of listening to Fluffy Hunter’s classic “The Walking Blues,” which opens with the line “I got a man who likes to hucklebuck.”

Hucklebuck?

What, pr...

Can’t Stop Talking

This seems to be the season when you can’t walk the internet without stumbling over one of my interviews. The odd thing is that they’re all different, and that I hardly ever have to repeat myself.

Here I am interviewed by Selina of Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA. I’d like to think it’s a pleasant and informative interview, marred only slightly by some Zoom filter removing the upper right corner of my head.

Terran Prize Awarded!

The Terran Prize for 2023, sponsored by George R.R. Martin and awarded by Walter Jon Williams and Nancy Kress, has been awarded to Santiago Márquez Ramos. The prize consists of tuition and lodging at this year’s Taos Toolbox workshop, and is awarded to applicants coming from a non English-speaking background.

Santiago Márquez Ramos was raised in México and Latin America. He lived in Querétaro, Bogotá, Bayamón, and Monterrey before studying psychology and computer engineering at Boston U...

Off Again

So I’m off to the Llano Estecado for the annual Jack Williamson Lectureship, this year featuring guest Arkady Martine. I’ll hope the plumbing doesn’t blow up while I’m away.

Either way, I’ll check in when I get back.

Freedom . . . from water

I was starting to breathe the air of freedom, for I’ve done all my Taos Toolbox reading and delivered the taxes to the accountant, which between them was taking up about 80% of my energy.

And then the water pressure died, and there was no water in the house.

This necessitated an after-hours visit from our plumber, who fixed the problem in two minutes.

See, when last week’s horrific sludge incident took place, I unscrewed the well’s breaker box to see if there was a problem, and there ...

It’s Never A Good Day When Your Septic Goes Bad

If you’re allergic to discussions involving human waste, read no farther. I forgive you.

We’ve hired some people to renew the trim on our house, and three days ago they discovered that a freshwater spring had opened in the back yard. Which is arid New Mexico sandy desert, so a freshwater spring isn’t exactly what anyone was expecting. Some work with a shovel uncovered a PVC pipe from which water was flowing. This was near our septic tank, but the water seemed clean. The pipe had been sl...

I’m on TV!

I haven’t been posting here because I’m being buried in work. None of this— except writing the novel, I hope— will matter a damn in ten years, but I still have to do it, beginning with my taxes, which for last year is incredibly complex.

But for those of you looking for more of ME, I’m happy to point you at this video on Tubi, in which I am interviewed at length on Zoom. There’s 90 whole minutes of me, responding to questions by author and biographer Jake Brown.

I’ve viewed only a few...

Kicked Into Shape

Edward Willett not only delivers an regular podcast interviewing writers of SF&F, he’s also been editing big doorstopper collections of (mostly) original SF for three volumes now, and he’s opened a Kickstarter for Volume IV.

Give the fella a hand, won’t you?

Speaking Polish

The multitalented Scott Edelman has been conducting interviews with writers at restaurants since before the pandemic. Here he interviews me over a Polish meal at South Boston’s Cafe Polonia.

As well as more recent events, the interview focuses attention on my early career, which may be of interest to some of you.

Again, Episode 193 of Eating the Fantastic.

Success, One Toolbox at a Time

Warlock at Law, by a husband and wife team writing as R.L. Baranowski, has just been released.

The Baranowskis attended Taos Toolbox in 2019, just before the pandemic brought everyone to a screeching halt. Everyone but writers, see, because we work in isolation anyway.

What impressed me about the Baranowskis was that they were dedicated, hardworking, and organized. Writers aren’t usually organized, but these guys were, and they seemed to have a plan.

Looks like the plan worked, a...