Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 86
October 29, 2017
We’re Baaaack!
Taos Toolbo
x, the two-week master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy, is getting set for 2018! The workshop (June 17-30, 2018) will be taught by Nancy Kress and Walter Jon Williams, along with special lecturers Carrie Vaughn, indiepub guru Emily Mah Tippetts, and special guest George RR Martin. This is Year 11 for Taos Toolbox, so we’re into our second decade! We must be doing something right! If you want to write professionally, or if you know someone who does, then be sure...
x, the two-week master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy, is getting set for 2018! The workshop (June 17-30, 2018) will be taught by Nancy Kress and Walter Jon Williams, along with special lecturers Carrie Vaughn, indiepub guru Emily Mah Tippetts, and special guest George RR Martin. This is Year 11 for Taos Toolbox, so we’re into our second decade! We must be doing something right! If you want to write professionally, or if you know someone who does, then be sure...
October 26, 2017
October Surprise #4
Hey, I’ve released the four Dagmar Shaw near-future thrillers volumes as ebooks! New and improved, the first two with covers by Roberta Berto, and the last two with provisional covers that will be replaced by Berto covers as soon as she gets back from a trip. Which provisional cover you get depends on where you’re downloading from, since Amazon lets me put up a homemade cover and the others don’t. Anyway, if you end up with a provisional cover, you can wait till the new cover is released, e...
October 25, 2017
The Nutella War
Conflicts within a former Soviet republic are now posing a threat to the world’s supply of Nutella, the disturbingly tasty Italian hazelnut-chocolate spread. Hazelnuts are the second-largest export (after copper ore) from the Republic of Georgia, which is the third largest exporter of hazelnuts in the world. Georgia has also exported hazelnuts from its breakaway Russian-puppet republic, Abkhazia. But new rules in the European Union threatens Abkhazia’s exports, because they now require an or...
October 23, 2017
Punch-Drunk
I haven’t been posting for several days, because I’ve been trying to finish The Accidental War, which (according to the publisher) is Book IV of the Praxis series, but which (according to me alone, apparently) is Book VI, because I count Impersonations and Investments, and they don’t. See? It even has a cover! Though this may not be the actual cover when it’s released, at the moment it’s just sort of a cover suggestion the art department is playing with. Wow! Sure looks like MilSF, doesn’...
October 16, 2017
I Sign
I will be signing book this coming Saturday, October 21, at Page One Bookstore in Albuquerque. We’ll be kicking off the festivities at 4pm. I’ll be talking about Quillifer. Accompanying me will be SM Stirling, who will discuss his latest in the Change series. Fun will be had. You should come.
When Stars Collide
Want to see some “astrophysical ecstasy?” I think you do. Back in August, Caltech’s Laser Interferometer Gravity-wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a massive disturbance in the Force powerful ruction in space-time, the result of two neutron stars colliding a zillion and a half years ago, off in a galaxy far, far away. LIGO had detected collisions before, but these were of black holes, so there was nothing to look at. Neutron stars are visible, so the vast explosion was confirmed within hour...
October 13, 2017
A Heartening Sight
Courtesy of UPS, a Big Box o’ Quillifer and the new Voice of the Whirlwind paperback.
October 11, 2017
Swords on Your Shelf
Some people (like me) have swords on their shelves. Now you have the chance! The Book of Swords, with my story “The Triumph of Virtue,” is now available at your favorite bookstore, or online. My story is an adaptation of a couple chapters of Quillifer, but even if you’d read the novel, you might want to get this book for stories by Daniel Abraham, CJ Cherryh, Robin Hobb, Garth Nix, George RR Martin, and the rest of a fabulous cast.
October 9, 2017
October Surprise #3!
I’ve indiepubbed a new trade paperback edition of my novel Voice of the Whirlwind. The book is printed in very readable type on cream paper, is a generous 6×9″, sells for a very reasonable $13.99, and features a glossy cover. It will make a handsome addition to your library. The book may be ordered from Barnes & Noble or from Amazon. Completists will want both!
Quillifer Contest!
Paul Di Filippo wrote a lovely review of Quillifer for Locus Online. Here’s your takeaway: ” . . . chockful of derring-do, blood and thunder, swashbuckling, and other good stuff evocative of Rafael Sabatini, Sir Walter Scott, and the penny-bloods: venomous and dangerous court politesse, reversals, betrayals, cowardice, heroism, illicit sex, allegorical theatrical productions, dangerous hunting expeditions, privateering and, at last, open warfare against the forces of Clayborne. During all o...
