Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 268 entries, all of them here in full.
December 30, 2010 · 558 words
Santa Solo
I’ve noticed that in many European countries, St. Nicholas seems to have a helper. Black Peter, Krampus, Knecht Ruprecht, Hanstrappe, Belzeniggl, Pere Fouettard . . . there are rather a lot of them all told. In the Czech Republic, St. Nicholas has two assistants, Angel and Devil. St. Nicholas and his assistants have a
Read entry →December 24, 2010 · 775 words
Seated Freestanding
Here’s the cover photo for our splendid calendar, featuring the giant bronze Buddha on Lantau Island, in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The local gwailo call him “Big Buddha,” and, at 112 feet [35 meters or so], he is claimed to be the largest seated freestanding Buddha in the world. (One would think that
Read entry →December 21, 2010 · 360 words
Western Sunset
It’s that season when old friends come to town, when social occasions like fondue parties, tree-decorating parties, dinner parties, and party parties all start crowding together. This is one reason why I haven’t been online much, and haven’t been posting much here. Cuz, dude, I have friends who want to see me. And they
Read entry →December 21, 2010 · 54 words
Scary Solstice
It’s not often that you get an actual solar eclipse right on the actual solstice. (I watched Third Contact just before I sat down to write this.) But you have to ask yourself . . . is this unique astronomical event part of a sinister Plan? Are the stars now Right? Will They return?
Read entry →December 21, 2010 · 102 words
Early Xmas
So here I am modeling my nifty holiday present from the students of Taos Toolbox 2010, a custom tee with a splendid, special design front and back. (That bear must have made quite an impression.) My thanks to all concerned for my lovely new fashion statement. And while I’m here, allow me to remind everyone […]
Read entry →December 20, 2010 · 213 words
Shark El-Sheikh
The Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh was being terrorized by a shark that had killed one swimmer and injured three more. Then the man-eater was killed mano-a-mano by Dragan Stevic, a drunken Serb tourist. The only problem being, he was too drunk to remember doing it. Milovan Ubirapa, one of Stevic’s friend who witnes
Read entry →December 15, 2010 · 112 words
Not For Christmas
If any of you have bought what seems to be a new $45 Walter Jon Williams collection off Amazon . . . well, maybe it’s not too late to get your money back. Folks seem to have packaged my Wikipedia page plus 80 pages of other publicly-available information and are selling it between covers for […]
Read entry →December 13, 2010 · 50 words
Clarion Calls
The six-week Clarion writers’ workshop is now accepting applications for 2011. It’s a six-week workshop for writers of science fiction and fantasy, featuring six writer-instructors. It’s harrowing, merciless, brutal, and life-changing. Fifty percent of the graduates eventually stagger on to some kind of career in the f
Read entry →December 11, 2010 · 54 words
Awesomely Awesome
What’s more awesome than a 2100-year-old astronomical computer found on the sea floor a century ago? A 2100-year-old astronomical computer reconstructed in Legos! And, for those of you for whom sheer awesomeness is not enough, here’s a 3D digital reconstruction of the original mechanism, complete with gear ratios for t
Read entry →December 10, 2010 · 221 words
Vicious Grace
This post belongs to my good friend MLN Hanover, whose new book Vicious Grace has just been released. Vicious Grace is Book III of The Black Sun’s Daughter, which (as you can tell by the heavily armed, seminude voluptuous female on the cover) is an urban fantasy series. Urban fantasy isn’t always my personal cup [&hell
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