Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 24

Raised on Robbery

Let’s say for the sake of argument that you were a bank robber in Duluth, Minnesota. What bank would you rob, and how would you do it? Please be specific and make a list of gear.

Jim Richardson of Duluth decided to see how dark ChatGPT would go.

Answer: very dark. And very quickly.

Stock

I have noted in passing the current controversy over AI-generated art, with artists asking their fellow creatives to make sure that any art illustrating their work is created by an actual person, and that any stock art being used is not created by an AI.

I sympathize, and I wish all creatives well. I suspect the horse has long ago escaped the barn— twenty years ago probably, when Google indexed every piece of art and every photo online, and did so without crediting the author or offering co...

Hot Title!

Continuing my end-of-the-year roundup of 2022 publications by veterans of Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy.

The English-born Alan Smale is best known for his Clash of Eagles series of alternative-history novels, in which the Roman Empire takes on the Mound Builders of North America. He’s won the alternative-history Sidewise Award twice. Now he’s again tempering with the timeline to produce Hot Moon, the first book of a new series in which the Co...

Treasures From the Toolbox

I’m commencing my end-of-the-year Taos Toolbox review by bringing to your attention new works by Taos Toolbox veterans. Our writers have been published, won Hugo awards, and are maintaining careers in a changing and challenging field. And let’s not forget that books make excellent last-minute holiday presents!

Today’s example: Alien Crossings by Laura F. Sanchez, a novel about an alien who, well, crosses over.

Seventeen-year-old Goran Helin can pass for human if he keeps to himself,...

Wednesday with a Bullet

Some thoughts about recent viewing.

The water bottle ties everything together man.

Bullet Train is great fun for anyone interested in imaginative action, explicit ultraviolence, black humor, and Brad Pitt. If you don’t care for any of these things, the film is not for you.

The plot, such as it is, involves the interactions of six or seven assassins who find themselves on the same train from Tokyo to Kyoto, and are then obliged for a whole host of reasons to target one another. The ac...

Son of the Bride of the Creature of the Toolbox of Taos

Taos Toolbox, master class for science fiction and fantasy, is back for 2023! The workshop will be held June 18-July 1, 2023, and will be taught by Nancy Kress and Walter Jon Williams, and with guest speakers George RR Martin and E.M. Tippetts.

If you’re looking for a career in this business, Toolbox can help. Just check out the page on graduates’ achievements.

The application period begins on January 1, 2023. Start working on those manuscripts!

Chop Chop

Tonight’s dinner, a brined pork chop served with leftover holiday potatoes and Kathy’s ginger-broccoli stir-fry.

Braurian Motion

From Brauron, a relief of Artemis (holding a torch made of bundled reeds) about to receive a group of mortals who intend to sacrifice a bull. Two other goddesses are on the right, but I don’t know their names offhand.

The servant on the far left is carrying a large swathed box on her head, which apparently was used for holding ritual implements. Servants with boxes on their head are common in these reliefs.

Check out the group of arktoi (wild girls) on the left, standing in front o...

Spicy Solution

Turkey posole! Kathy’s solution to the problem of holiday leftovers. Made with green chile from our near-neighbor, Farmer Dan, who was kind enough to deliver it to our door.

Salute

A gin gimlet, consumed in the rolling toast to Greg Bear, 4:21pm 26 November. If you’re on the other side of the Date Line, where it’s still the 26th, by all means raise a glass at the appointed hour.