Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 227

Ideas. Execution.

Majorly big Twilight fan Kayla Patterson has written an open letter to Universal Studios, accusing them of, like, totally, ripping off Stephanie Meyer when they made a movie about a werewolf.I actually started to like werewolves after seeing Jacob Black and all his awesomeness on the big screen at the movies. That was until I saw your crappy remake of what you call to be a "were wolf". I don't

Leaps and Bounds

Watching the skating at the Winter Olympics while improving my vocabulary. I've learned that many of the jumps are named after the person who invented them. The lutz is named after Alois Lutz, the walley after Nate Walley, the axel after Axel Paulson, and the salchow after Ulrich Salchow.And the toe loop, of course, is named after the great British amateur, Sir Basil Toe-Loop.

With a Mighty Bound I Land in the OED

I've invented a brand new word. Soon you will all be using it.It's "googledy-squat." Which is what you get when your search engine can't find the information you want.

A Nebula Nomination Could Soon Be Yours!

The Science Fiction Writers of America have released the list of this year's Nebula nominees. And you know what's the second thing* I noticed about it? Two of the nominees in the short story category--- Will McIntosh and friend-of-the-blog Saladin Ahmed--- are graduates of my Taos Toolbox workshop! Amazingly enough, there is still room available in this year's workshop! Just click the link, and

All About the Rocks

I've been enjoying the Winter Olympics quite a bit. Where else can you hear people intone sentences like, "Right now, you're looking at the future of curling!"But I've gradually become fascinated by the sport. It's cool, it's got strategy, and for a sport that's all about control, it still features players heaving great big chunks of granite at targets very, very far away.It's sort of like lawn

Dead Egyptian Blues

A new series of genetic tests has revealed that poor young King Tut suffered from a raft of genetic disorders, including a cleft palate, club foot, and Kohler's disease, which was slowly destroying the bones of his left foot. He probably had to walk with canes. He was the poster-boy for why you shouldn't be the ultimate product of multiple generations of brother-sister incest.All these disorders

In Seattle

The workshop went well, but my, it do rain here in Seattle.

The Naked Reader

Here I thought I was off to Seattle, but I couldn't quite pass up informing you of an event on the other coast: the Pinchbottom Burlesque event, "Naked Girls Reading Science Fiction."The event takes place at "the plush and decadent upstairs lounge at Madame X in Greenwich Village," and costs $25. Among the readers is Nasty Canasta, who has been known to dress up as a naughty version of both the

Hello, Mt. Ranier!

I'm off to Seattle for the Friday night signing and reading at the University Book Store from 7pm, and Sunday's workshop at the Richard Hugo House. I don't know what my internet situation will be, so you may not hear from me for a while. Try not to ruin riot while I'm away.

Elegance

Courtesy of Jonathan Ravid, I'm pleased to present the extremely elegant cover to the Israeli edition of Implied Spaces.