Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 133 entries, all of them here in full.
August 9, 2019 · 243 words
Behold the Mighty Leviathan!
This is the Leviathan, at 72 inches the largest telescope in the world from 1845 to 1917, over seventy years. She was built by William Parsons, the third earl of Rosse, on his substantial estate at Birr Castle. He subsequently used Leviathan to investigate nebulas, which he discovered were not vague blobby things in th
Read entry →August 8, 2019 · 574 words
Rhymes with “Rainy”
This is Castle Dunsany, home to the second oldest peerage in Ireland and to Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, the soldier, poet, playwright, and fantasist who published under the name Lord Dunsany. Castle Dunsany is not normally open to the public, but we were privileged enough to rate a tour from the voluble and char
Read entry →August 8, 2019 · 236 words
NewStone
Here is Newgrange, a 5200-year-old tumulus constructed during the New Stone Age. It is younger than Carnac, just a little older than the oldest bits of Stonehenge, and much older than the Pyramids. The huge megaliths that make up most of the structure, and which corbel 20 meters upward in the burial chamber, were broug
Read entry →August 2, 2019 · 180 words
The Acropolis Where the Parthenon Is
I’ll be leaving in a few hours for Ireland, where I’ll be spending ten days or so traveling around the country in a busload full of Rick Wilber’s friends (some of whom happen to be my friends as well). After which I’ll be attending the Dublin Worldcon. I’m so beaten to splinters by the harrowing […]
Read entry →July 30, 2019 · 414 words
Mink on the Brink
So it was our last night in Iceland, and we were having a last Icelandic supper in the excellent Harbor Restaurant, right on the waterfront and a short (rainy) walk from our hotel. Last chance for arctic char! Last chance for reindeer! So many decisions. . . The place was so slammed that it took […]
Read entry →July 27, 2019 · 131 words
The Big Book of Me.
I am pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of The Best of Walter Jon Williams, from Subterranean Press. 200,000 words of, well, me, with short fiction drawn from the forty years of my career, including stories that have never before been collected. Also, signed. By me. By hand. Which is a good deal less fun t
Read entry →July 22, 2019 · 502 words
In Search of a Sequel
So there was this science fiction convention being held at a spa hotel, which meant that in addition to seeing your favorite SF writers on panels, you could go to a sauna or a hot tub or a massage, or you could have your chakras aligned or your colon cleansed or whatever. Instead of being […]
Read entry →July 21, 2019 · 114 words
Remember the Doom
A useful reminder: if you’re plotting your next novel with index cards, it’s always handy to have this one in reserve. Taos Toolbox 2019 is over, and the attendees are returning to the various corners of the globe whence they came. I’d like to thank them for their talent and hard work, and wish them […]
Read entry →July 13, 2019 · 58 words
Carpet
Here we see a lovely carpet of lupines. They were imported from Alaska to Iceland because they are hardy plants that stabilize the soil, and the soil of Iceland has a tendency to get blown out to sea during storms. Of course I am of the generation that, when the subject comes to lupines, promptly […]
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