Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 58
November 12, 2019
Speak Swordfish, and Enter
The public Borsalino reveal took place at a culturally appropriate venue, a speakeasy, where I enjoyed my long-delayed birthday dinner. The bookshelf behind me is a secret door. The password was not “Swordfish.” Vernon’s Speakeasy cooks a damn good meal, but a degree of romance is lost by the fact of alcohol now being legal. On the other hand, look whose table they gave me!
November 10, 2019
Ring in the Toolbox Time!
Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy, will take place June 7-20, 2020, in Angel Fire, New Mexico. Chief writer-wranglers will be Nancy Kress and Walter Jon Williams, aided by special guests George RR Martin and indiepub guru EM Tippetts. George continues to fund the Terran Award, providing tuition and lodging for a writer from a non-English-speaking country (who nevertheless wishes to write in English). Taos Toolbox continues to turn out writers of a high caliber who sell their wo...
November 7, 2019
All Spoilers
Etaoin suggested I create a topic for Quillifer spoilers, and so here it is. Feel free to discuss the details of Quillifer the Knight‘s complicated plot, or indeed anything else. Anyone who hasn’t finished the book are now warned.
November 5, 2019
Barefoot Knight With Cheek
Quillifer the Knight has been released!
And we’ve got flap copy if you want it! Rogue. Joker. Lover. Reluctant conspirator. The ambitious young Quillifer was knighted for services to the crown, but then was banished from court by a queen who finds him obnoxious. Now, after a two-year voyage to improve his fortunes, Quillifer returns to court and is plunged immediately into a maelstrom of intrigue that triggers duels, plots, amours, and rollicking adventure. Bounding back and forth from the high councils o...
October 30, 2019
Flying Into Los Angeleeez
I’m off to L.A. for the World Fantasy Convention. I’m taking it easy, I’m not doing signings or other programming. If you want something signed, you’ll have to track me down, but I won’t be hard to find.
October 27, 2019
Me an’ Bogart an’ Them
It’s been a long autumn, what with hip replacement and all the deadline pressure and stuff, and my birthday is happening around now, and so I decided I deserved a really nice birthday present. Maybe something I’ve always wanted. It so happens that I’ve wanted a Porsche since I was about eight, and ever since I was in my twenties, when I saw Casablabca and the eponymous Alain Delon/Jean-Paul Belmondo gangster film, I’ve wanted a Borsalino. Turns out the hat was cheaper. So here I am in my handmade Italian fedora, just like...saw and
October 25, 2019
Making Scoville Proud
Tonight’s culinary odyssey was courtesy of our hunter friend Kyle, who laid some ground venison on us. We could have made venison burgers, I suppose, but I decided to be a little more adventurous and make venison chili. Kathy had bought a ton of freshly-roasted green chile back in August, and this seemed another chance to make use of New Mexico’s most celebrated ingredient. First, some definitions. “Chili” is a meat stew that originated in Texas. It isn’t Mexican food, it isn’t Tex-Mex, in fact it’...
October 23, 2019
Reviews Too Late: Money Heist
While recovering from surgery I binged, mainly continuing my exploration of Spanish TV with Money Heist (Casa de Papel, “House of Paper”) I do like an intricate caper, as my Maijstral books demonstrate, and this is probably the longest caper ever filmed, something like sixteen hours of television originally split into two seasons. (One crime over two seasons!) The series was one of the most-watched in Europe last summer, which attracted the interest of Netflix. When Netflix acquired the series it was re-edited int...(Casawith Money
October 19, 2019
No Break. Maybe Some Whisky.
I have finished Fleet Elements, which is either Praxis Book VII (according to me) or Praxis Book V (according to the publisher). Objectively, it’s Novel XXXIII. The text has been sent on to the Power What Is. I am celebrating the completion by working on something else. Some day I’ll take a break, but it won’t be now.
October 18, 2019
On the Western Slope
For those of you on the Western Slope, you might want to mosey over to Vail on 6PM on Monday for a science fiction symposium being held at The Sebastian Vail, 16 Vail Rd, Vail, CO 81657. Along with me, the symposium will feature this near’s Nebula novelist Rebecca Roanhorse, Emily Mah, and Jack Mitchell. Because I haven’t recovered enough to drive, I’ll be bouncing over the Rockies in a small commuter jet during a snowstorm. Feel free to pray for me. (Hope they remember to turn on the de-icers.)
