Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 3,174 entries, all of them here in full.
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 […]
Read entry →July 9, 2019 · 106 words
Frozen Giants
This was once a giantess who had captured a ship, and was towing it to shore to devour the crew. Unfortunately she lost track of time, the sun rose, and she was turned to stone. Seems kind of unfair that the ship and sailors were turned to stone as well. Also, Iceland must be hard […]
Read entry →July 4, 2019 · 334 words
Newly Arrived
Come just in time for the Glorious Fourth was a box of the uncorrected proofs of Quillifer the Knight, which will be available in bookstores the first week in November, the date having been moved, apparently, from the first week in October. All the better for the holidays! Here’s the flap copy: Rogue. Joker. Lover. Rel
Read entry →June 30, 2019 · 161 words
The Whale That Didn’t Get Away
Finally a whale lets me get close! This is the skeleton of a long-finned pilot whale, floating eerily with a number of other whale skeletons in the attic space of the Whale Museum in Húsavik. Most if not all of the whale skeletons were from strandings, though Iceland still does catch whales, some to sell to […]
Read entry →June 29, 2019 · 661 words
Breach
This is the less successful of the two photos I managed of breaching humpbacks. But then any photo you get of a breaching whale is a success, no? I shouldn’t have written “humpbacks,” because there was only one humpback jumping this day, and he kept it up for some time, as if he were indulging […]
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