Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 68

Black Beret

Motored up to Santa Fe last night to see the (seemingly) immortal Richard Thompson, OBE, and his current four-person trio.  I donned a black beret in tribute. Pardon the amateur quality of the video (not by me), but it has the virtue of showcasing Thompson’s phenomenal guitar skills in a song that is a tribute to his guitar heroes.  Here he plays like Django, Les Paul, Chuck Berry, Hank Marvin, and (now and again) Richard Thompson. Also, check out the phenomenal drummer Michael Jerome, who f...

Abandoned Carcass

Shoshana Zuboff takes aim at surveillance capitalism. . . . the digitization of everything was giving technology firms immense social power. From the modest beachheads inside our browsers, they conquered, Blitzkrieg-style, our homes, cars, toasters, and even mattresses. Toothbrushes, sneakers, vacuum cleaners: our formerly dumb household subordinates were becoming our “smart” bosses. Their business models turned data into gold, favoring further expansion. Google and Facebook were restructurin...

Collegiality

Presenting a video in which I and about a dozen other writers discuss the collaborative project that is Wild Cards.

Sympathique

I’ve been trying to work hard and mostly failing, so I might as well listen to Pink Martini and surrender to the mood. The chorus is a riff off the French composer Poulenc, and translates as follows: I don’t want to work I don’t want to lunch All I want is to forget And I want to smoke Except that I like lunch and don’t care for tobacco, that pretty much describes my present.  In my current mood, I’ll settle for 50%.

Sea Smoke

My home town of Duluth was hammered last week by the Polar Vortex, and so of course there were various photos of frozen eyelashes and stalled cars and people bundled up like the Michelin Man.  (Fortunately it didn’t last.  In a single day the temperature went from -31 to +31.  That’s Fahrenheit, of course, since if we were talking Celsius that would be far more alarming.) There’s another weather phenomenon that I find fascinating, and that’s sea smoke, seen here in this video from Sky Candy...

Cover Reveal

Here’s the cover  for Quillifer the Knight, which I am reliably informed will be released in October 2019. Unfortunately Greg Manchess wasn’t available for the new cover, but the excellent Alejandro Colucci stepped in and did a splendid job.

Now Hear This!

Friend of the blog Allen informs me that the audio book of Metropolitan is now available, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller. I’m sure City on Fire was recorded at the same time, so probably by the time you finish listening to this one, the sequel will be available.  So there’s no reason to hesitate! Find it on Amazon/Audible or iTunes. My agent has been doing a good job at selling audio rights, and there are some new audio books available that might pique your interest. Angel Station appeared a fe...

Cavorting

I would like to report further on my trip to Los Cabos, but there isn’t a great deal to report on.  I wrote every day, but other than that, I relaxed.  I spent a lot of time sitting under umbrellas, reading or watching the whales cavort just offshore.  In addition, I spent a certain amount of time eating and drinking. I also cultivated the art of the siesta. The one significant activity was a whale-chasing cruise, which succeeded in harassing a couple humpback whales.  (They didn’t seem to mi...

Hasta la Vista

Last night in Cabo.  My friends have been terrific, the hospitality was wonderful, the drinks pretty great.  (Never had a tequila that tasted like pecan praline before.  You’d think that would be bad, but you’d be wrong.) I’ll be returning to the world tomorrow, but in the meantime I’ll be enjoying the last of my time without any responsibility but having a good time.

 

Have a Flight!

And pour an extra one for yourself, Etaoin Shrdlu, because you’ve won the contest!  I am in fact in Cabo San Lucas, a guest of my longtime friend Terry Boren, whose relations own a timeshare. It’s not exactly a vacation, because I’ve been writing every day, but normally my week is full of all sorts of expectations other than writing, and this week I have no expectations at all (other than writing). So Etaoin, please contact me privately with your address, and The Accidental War will be wingin...