Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 50

Don’t Blink

So the good news is that the paella was much better on the second try.  Jasmine rice was surprisingly good with the dish.
The bad news is that early Monday I’m having eye surgery.  Keep your fingers crossed.

New Zealish

I will be a participant in this year’s Worldcon, which was to be held in New Zealand but will now be held online.
I’m posting my appearance schedule below.  The first time given is New Zealand time.  I’ve found that to convert from New Zealand time to Mountain Daylight Time (where I live), you need to add six and then subtract 24.  For instance, if the program item is at noon on Friday in New Zealand, then you add six hours (to 1800 or 6pm), then cross the Date Line and subtract 24, which means ...

Tapa Out

So last night’s experiment in cuisine was seafood paella.  I’d never made paella before, and I’ve probably eaten it less than half a dozen times in my life, but I had a new skillet that I thought would do a good job with it, and the ingredients were to hand, including the terrific saffron that Patricia Rogers gave me a while back.
In addition to shrimp and bay scallops, the paella had ham, chicken, and chorizo.  I looked online for recipes, and found dozens of them, all claiming to be authentic ...

Relocking

Here you find me and my sparring partner Heironymus Bash ready for the renewed New Mexico lockdown that begins Monday.  Bars will be shut.  Indoor restaurants will be closed, though there will still be takeout and outdoor patio dining at half capacity.  Masks are mandatory in public, even for joggers and other people doing exercise.  Anyone from out of state is supposed to isolate for two weeks, though somehow I doubt they will.
The sad thing is that our governor did everything right.  Locked do...

Toolbox Turnout

I’m delighted to report two new novels by graduates of Taos Toolbox, The Wysman by Dorothy A. Windsor, who was at the very first Toolbox in 2007, and Bad Parts by Brandon McNulty, who attended much more recently than 2007, though I cannot recall the exact year.
The Wysman is a YA fantasy, and you can read more about it here.
Bad Parts is a supernatural thriller, “a page-turning tale of Faustian bargains.”  More information right here.
Happy reading!

Boxen

One thing that lockdown permits is time for a lot of big projects, provided that the projects can be carried out at home.   So right now I’m involved in boxing up a lot of original manuscripts, which I’m donating to the archives at Texas A&M, where they will spend eternity in a climate-controlled bunker, just a shelf or two away from George RR Martin’s huge archive, which includes (among other things) his Greek fisherman’s cap.  (I wore one before he did, but had to give it up when he got famous...

independence

We decided to do a big Fourth of July celebration, just the two of us, in part because we need cheering up.  So I put on a patriotic aloha shirt, with US Navy ships on it, then made some lovely, tender sous vide ribs, collard greens, and sweet corn, and there will be ice cream for dessert as soon as there is room in our stomachs.
And we’re watching Hamilton, which is overwhelming even on the small screen.
Have a good, safe Independence Day, friends, and watch the fireworks from a distance.

Podded

The Coode Street Podcast usually does lengthy interviews with writers, but has responded to the COVID by doing short ten-minute interviews in which we talk about what we’re reading in lockdown.
So here I am, along with my reading.

No Two Alike!

I’ve been spending recent days signing my name over and over again, signature sheets for the forthcoming Best of Walter Jon Williams from Subterranean Press.  It’s an edition of 1000, but I have to sign something like 1500 sheets, because mistakes can happen in production and sometimes my signature sucks a lot more than usual.
Though it has to be said that even my best signatures suck.  Penmanship was always my worst subject in grade school, and I learned to type when I was eight or nine, and fr...

Something Unique

I’ve been spending recent days signing my name over and over again, signature sheets for the forthcoming Best of Walter Jon Williams from Subterranean Press.  It’s an edition of 1000, but I have to sign something like 1500 sheets, because mistakes can happen in production and sometimes my signature sucks a lot more than usual.
Though it has to be said that even my best signatures suck.  Penmanship was always my worst subject in grade school, and I learned to type when I was eight or nine, and fr...