Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 49

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...

California Burning (Again)

Here’s tonight’s sunset, as viewed through a smoky murk blown all the way from California’s wildfires.  We’ve been breathing the stuff for weeks, but this is the worst it’s been.

Mad Science

Just before lockdown in March, the Albuquerque Museum had an exhibition devoted to the Muppets.
Here we see Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker in a typical pose.

Launching Today

My sometime student Susan Forest has published the second book in her Addicted to Heaven YA series, Flights of Marigolds.  (The first was Bursts of Fire.)
The book launches today— which happens to be the day that Susan won the Aurora Award for best YA!
I’d say she’s having a good weekend.
“A definite twist to the fantasy genre is that while the logical consistency of the magic is there, the book (and series) is meant to focus on addiction and its many incarnations. It is an unusual subject choic...

Praxis Price Point

I’m not sure who arranged this, but The Praxis is available today on ebookdaily.com for $1.99.
Check it out!
UPDATE!  I’m told it’s the same price on Google Play.

So Then This Strange Thing Happened

As I mentioned in a reply to a previous post, my eye surgery went very well.
It had, however, an unanticipated consequence.  (I’m getting used to unanticipated consequences where medical procedures are concerned.)
When I had cataract surgery in my left eye in 2014, I asked for a closeup lens.  I’d worn monovision contact lenses for years, and then had monovision Lasik, with the left eye adapted for reading, and the dominant right for distance vision, and I knew that monovision worked for me.
(An...

Evil High Priestess Still Popular

I just got a note from Google, which keeps track of everything, to inform me that the most popular page on my blog is a 2012 post about Madonna being the High Priest of Satan.
It’s good to be remembered, but I hadn’t thought it would be for this.

Virtual Worldcon

Despite the odd technical glitch, I’ve been enjoying the world’s first virtual worldcon.  It’s a very science fiction-y thing, meeting and seeing friends scattered over the States via a server in New Zealand.
I’ve had a good time on my panels, and my reading (from Fleet Elements) seemed to be well-received.  (I think I had more people listening to my virtual item than I usually get at a live reading.)
After the reading I was supposed to meet with my readers in one of the chat rooms, but technica...