Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 32

Return to Portales

I will be the guest of honor at the 45th Jack Williamson Lectureship, April 7-9, in lovely and hospitable Portales, NM. Connie Willis will be the toastmaster, and I assume the usual assortment of New Mexico writers and fans will be present, along with representatives of the Williamson family.

It occurs to me that I was present at the very first iteration of this event, which must have been— gulp— 45 years ago. Jack kindly invited us to his house for drinks, a generous gesture in what w...

Sharing

Mary Anne Mohanraj leads a discussion of writing for shared worlds. Besides myself, there’s fellow Wild Cards writers David Levine (and Mary Anne), and Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman (and Mary Anne) of Tremontaine.

This panel was recorded Saturday afternoon at ICFA, and the amusing thing was that though we were all present at the conference, we were broadcasting from our separate hotel rooms.

ICFA

I’m off to the International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts. Which is held in Florida, where people demand the freedom to infect their friends, co-workers, and family with a deadly virus, but aren’t allowed to say the word “gay.”

I’ve got a single panel on Friday, on “the business of writing,” which I guess I know about. There’s a signing somewhere, but I don’t have a time yet. The rest of the time I’ll be hanging out and talking to people, so come and talk.

My Kind of Stamp

Ukrposhta, the Ukrainian post office, will release a new stamp based on the iconic moment when the border guards on Snake Island transmitted, “Russian warship, go fuck yourself!” The design, by artist Boris Groh, won a contest over nineteen other entries.

I hope that we’ll be able to buy these stamps once they are available. It’s a way to get money to Ukraine.

Kicking Off

The Kickstarter for Shaper of Worlds, v. III, has kicked off. Here’s your link.

Shaper of Worlds features fiction by writers featured on Edward Willett’s Aurora Award-winning podcast The Worldshapers. (My interview may be found hereabouts.)

Besides myself, contributing authors include Cory Doctorow, James Morrow, Cat Rambo, Griffin Barber, Jane Yolen, and Many Many More.

In addition to anything you wish to plunk down for the anthology, if you pony up CDN $400 (a little over $300U...

Return to Caraqui

I’m currently writing my Great Lost Opus, which is to say the third book in the Metropolitan sequence, which was never written because my editor was fired and his fiction line canceled before I could get started. I’ve been promising it for 25 years, and I’ve decided that it’s time to deliver.

Starting work on this long-delayed project involved my reading the first two books, Metropolitan and City on Fire, for the first time in many years. And my reaction, from the perspective of 25 years, ...

St. Javelin Bless Ukraine

St. Javelin

The heroic resistance of Ukraine has inspired volunteers from all over— most impressively American veterans, who are carrying their weapons and skills over the water to join what Zelensky is calling his “international legion.” Since over the last twenty years the U.S. military has become the most efficient, competent, and dangerous fighting force in all history, this is nothing to sneeze at— although there’s a chance that the war will stagger to a bloody end before any of these ...

Live From the Mother in Law Lounge

Okay, people, it’s still Mardi Gras till I say it ain’t!

Here we see Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Band playing “Hold That Tiger” in a live performance from the Mother in Law Lounge.

Life on a Cruiser

Disney has opened their Star War: Galactic Starcruiser resort. The reviews have not been ecstatic.

Billed as the ultimate immersive Star Wars experience, the Galactic Starcruiser (centred on its Halcyon hotel) is a top-to-tail recreation of a Star Wars spaceship. During a two-day stay, which costs around £4,500 for a family, guests will be plunged into their very own app-dictated storyline where they’ll be sent on missions, asked to sneak away to clandestine meetings, trained in the art of ...

Kick That Starter!

Editor and podcaster Edward Willett is opening a new kickstarter for Shaper of Worlds, v. III, featuring stories by authors interviewed in his Worldshapers podcast. The actual Kickstarter hasn’t launched yet, but here’s a preview page.

I’ll have a story in the anthology, along with Cory Doctorow, Cat Rambo, James Morrow, Jane Yolen, and a couple dozen more.