Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 156 entries, all of them here in full.
March 10, 2016 · 665 words
To MFA or Not to MFA
There’s always been a debate in the writing community over the usefulness of creative writing programs. My own experience with creative writing courses in college wasn’t particularly positive— I don’t think the experience benefitted me as a writer, but I didn’t hate it, either. Now with the huge increase in creat
Read entry →March 6, 2016 · 101 words
The New City
So let’s say you’ve managed to get around the barriers Amazon has placed around Metropolitan, and you’ve read it and liked it. Which means you should check out the sequel, City on Fire, which is not only available but which has a handsome new cover, built around a striking painting by the English artist Ann Marie [&hel
Read entry →March 6, 2016 · 96 words
More Joy From Amazon
So Amazon gave me my buy button back, but now they’ve sent a message to everyone who’s bought a copy of Metropolitan: An updated version of your past Kindle purchase of Metropolitan (Metropolitan Series) by Walter Jon Williams is now available. The updated version contains the following changes: Improved formatting for
Read entry →March 4, 2016 · 259 words
Amazon— May They Choke on My Vomit
So here I am running a sale on my Metropolitan ebook, as detailed a couple posts ago. And then comes a notice from Amazon Quality Control saying that they blocked my book from sale! Now what horrible quality control issue was so urgent that they had to completely block my book from sale during the […]
Read entry →February 29, 2016 · 58 words
Going Viral
The last few days I’ve been laid out by a virus, and I’ll probably be laid out for a while yet, so let me direct you to James Patrick Kelly’s column in Asimov’s magazine. Jim interviews me, Carrie Vaughn, and new writer Alan Smales on the subject of series. The tag line? “Don’t be afraid to […]
Read entry →February 27, 2016 · 176 words
Bright Lights, Big Sale
My Nebula-nominated novel Metropolitan is on sale for a mere 99 cents, and may be purchased at Amazon, Google Play, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble. If you’re interested in more about the novel and its, um, colorful history, you’re welcome to check out the series of essays I wrote about it, the Worldbuildi
Read entry →February 24, 2016 · 236 words
Wild Cards Bundled
Wild Cards fans may know of two “nearly lost” Wild Cards books, Deuces Down and Death Draws Five. These were published in the early 2000s by ibooks, inc.— which was a company run by publisher Byron Preiss, and is not and never was the iBooks run by Apple. Byron Preiss died in a car accident in 2005, […]
Read entry →February 23, 2016 · 165 words
Toolbox Rocks
Four Taos Toolbox veterans have been nominated for this year’s Nebula Awards! Congratulations to Fran Wilde for Updraft, Lawrence Schoen for Barsk: The Elephant’s Graveyard, Kelly Robson for the novella “Waters of Versailles,” and David Levine for the short story “Damage.” Updraft has also been nominated for the Andre
Read entry →February 17, 2016 · 447 words
Boskone 53
I’ll be spending the weekend at Boskkone 53, Boston’s stellar science fiction convention. (Our motto: “It’s still about the books! Except when it’s about the whiskey! But it’s mostly about the books!”) But beforehand I’ll be in Cambridge, MA, for a signing and chat at the Pandemonium bookstore, Thursday at 7pm. The sig
Read entry →