Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 48

On Sale Now!

I am reliably informed that the ebooks of Conventions of War and The Accidental War are both on sale for $2.99 for the month of October, more or less everywhere that ebooks may be found.
Click!  Read!  Enjoy!

 

Another Fine Review

The Nerd Daily posted a fine review of Fleet Elements.
With a pace that is faster than light, Walter Jon Williams’s fifth book in the Dread Empire’s Fall series, Fleet Elements is a space opera that doesn’t disappoint . . .  great soap opera science fiction, full of gung ho rebels trying to save themselves, with a side of power hungry aliens, and some witty banter.

Back on the Keyboard

I haven’t been visible on social media in the last week because my MacBook Pro was off in the shop.  The keyboard had (mostly) held together through the completion of Lord Quillifer, but was clearly on its last legs, so off to the Genius Bar I went.
Fortunately the butterfly-switch keyboard on my machine had generated such outrage in the Apple community that Apple announced they will fix the problem for free.
When I asked how long the repair would take, the Genius said “Usually three to five day...

A Few Good Things

First, I finished Lord Quillifer in the early hours of the morning, and sent it on to my editor and my agent.  I was so afraid that the project would be Dance with Dragons-sized that I’d stopped doing word counts for the last ten chapters or so, but when I finally added them up, the book turned out to be shorter than Quillifer the Knight.  So hurrah!
My MacBook’s keyboard managed to avoid complete disintegration before I wrote THE END to the project, and I’ll be taking it to the local Genius Ba...

Final Sprint

I feel as if I’ve been sprinting to the finish of Lord Quillifer forever.  Up till now, with every page I added, the finale seemed to have receded farther out of sight, but now I think I’ve got a handle on it.  I’ve written the last big action scene, I’ve written the last big revelation scene, and now all I’ve got is the denouement, which is a collection of short scenes and shouldn’t take long.
But I’m still in a race, this time with my three-year-old MacBook Pro.  It’s a dreadful machine, with ...

And Now . . . Winter!

The big storm struck as predicted, and the temperature dropped nearly 50 degrees overnight, complete with hours of heavy freezing rain.  We didn’t get any snow, but Colorado got quite a bit.
Yesterday the high was in the 90s and the air conditioner was going all day.  Today I had to light the boiler so we could stay warm.
By next week we’ll be back in summer with the AC on again.
Autumn is usually my favorite time of year, but so far it’s not working out for me.

After A Quarter Century

The Wild Cards anthology Dealer’s Choice is back in print after 25 years.  Normally I’d say “I have a story in it,” but Dealer’s Choice is a braided novel, a single narrative written by several authors, and one of the braids is mine.

Gang Agley

Last night’s edition of “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me,” the NPR news quiz, featured a story that I wasn’t prepared to believe, involving the Scots Wikipedia, in which I wasn’t prepared to believe either.  It seems there is an attempt to render the contents of Wikipedia in the Scots language (as opposed to Scots Gaelic, which is another Wikipedia).  But the effort has gang agley, as it was revealed that an American teenager has contributed no less than 20,000 articles in what is claimed to be some kin...

Fleet Elements Gets a Star

Fleet Elements, the next book in my Praxis series, got a starred review from Publishers Weekly.
So don’t just take my word for it, we have independent testimony that this book is solid.
It still won’t be available till December, unfortunately.  But you can pre-order at your favorite bookstore.

 Fleet Elements
Walter Jon Williams. Harper Voyager, $16.99 trade paper (512p) ISBN 978-0-06-246704-1
Williams impresses with the second book of his sophisticated Praxis trilogy (after 2018’s The Accident...

Bubonicon Online

Our local SF convention, Bubonicon 52, was scheduled for this coming weekend, but was canceled on account of the pandemic.  But this Saturday, August 29, there will be a virtual Bubonicon complete with guest of honor Keith R.A. Decandidio, toastmaster A. Lee Martinez, artist guest Chaz Kemp, and many many more, including yours truly.
I do not as yet have a schedule, though I do know that my panel (on writing) will be at 4pm.  More information as it becomes available.
Please feel free to spread t...