Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 58

Day 76

It’s 76 days since my hip replacement surgery, and my recovery continues at its usual slow pace. I wake up to pain in the mornings, because lying down causes my legs to stiffen, and then I hobble around, take some ibuprofen along with coffee and a piece of fruit, and wait till I feel better. Oddly enough it isn’t my hip that usually hurts. Mostly it’s my quads and the muscles on the outside of the shin. I’m getting more and more active, and I’ve returned to my karate class, where I mostly do...

Interview’d

I will be interviewed at the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe on November 24, at 4pm.  This will be followed by a signing at the brand-new Beastly Books, right next door, which specializes in the works of anyone interviewed at the Jean Cocteau. There will be food available, and alcohol, and probably a special cocktail named after Quillifer the Knight. Come to listen, buy a book, or make a toast!  Fun shall be had!

Lo! I am to be seen!

I will be signing Quillifer the Knight, and any other of my books you bring or buy, this Saturday at 4pm, at Page One Books in Albuquerque. I will take questions, do a brief reading, and maybe there will be food.  There often is. Attend!  It should be fun.

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!

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...

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.

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...

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.

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

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’...