Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 243

First New Rule from Worldcon

So here's my first new rule from the Worldcon:No more Utilikilts.This is strikingly similar to my first observation from last year's Worldcon, but it's obvious that people weren't listening last year. Please note that I am not opposed to Scottish dress. When a Scot puts on a kilt he is stylin'. Just check this picture. The outfit is not just about the kilt. It's also about the velvet jacket with

High Class

I'm off to Worldcon in Montreal for the next week, so I thought I'd leave you with something to chew on.I was talking with genius New Mexico writer Daniel Abraham the other day, and once again he demonstrated why we all think he's going to rule the world before he's fifty. (And if not him, his kid.)He announced that he'd figured out the difference between genre and literary fiction. Which is

Nag Time

Have I nagged you lately to buy This Is Not a Game? Or Implied Spaces? I thought not.

Sold Out!

The Subterranean Press edition of Songs of the Dying Earth has sold out! They won't be printing any more. But look what Uncle Walter has found for you! A handful of copies remain in an obscure, hard-to-find online venue. If you don't buy a copy now, you'll have to wait a year or more for the Tor edition.

Reviews Too Late: Banlieue 13

"Banlieue" literally translates as "suburb," but colloquially means "the hood"--- the French have saved their inner cities, but at the cost of moving the Projects out into the country. In this French film produced by Luc Besson, Banlieu 13 has been walled off from the rest of France, and given over to the gangs.Well, it's no sillier than Escape from New York.And, like Escape from New York, the

Worldcon Schedule

My schedule for Anticipation, the Montreal Worldcon:When: Thu 14:00Location: P-513BTitle: Twitter, Facebook, My Space: Social Media and WritingSession ID: 766All Participants: James Strauss, Jenny Rae Rappaport, Mary RobinetteKowal, Walter Jon Williams, John PicacioModerator: Mary Robinette KowalDescription: What's all the buzz about the new social media? Writingshort-short-short stories on

Superheroes With Chemistry

Hey, kids! It's the Comic Book Periodic Table of the Elements!

West of Java

Some really gorgeous pictures of Krakatoa during its current eruption. With an explosive force 13,000 times the power of the atomic bomb that annihilated Hiroshima, the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa killed more than 36,000 people and radically altered global weather and temperatures for years afterwards. The eruption was so violent and catastrophic that no active volcano in modern times has come

Soul Storage

Is your life weighing you down? Lighten up! If your soul is keeping you from finding the happiness you deserve, there is an easy, painless and safe solution. Remove it, store it, and walk away a happier person. The Soul Storage Company's patented De-Souling™ technique actually allows its clients to have their souls removed, whether permanently or just for a little "mental vacation." After a

Strange States

Oxford University physicists have created a brand new form of matter.Scientists claim to have created a form of aluminum that's nearly transparent to extreme ultraviolet radiation and which is a new state of matter. It's an idea straight out of science fiction, featured in the movie "Star Trek IV." . . . To create the new, even more exotic stuff, a short pulse from a laser "knocked out" a core