Another first draft bites the dust.  Now to edit, catch up on emails, sleep, and generally start to be human again.  Writing three thousand words a day for seven weeks has left me feeling like a bit of a machine, but not, you know, in a good way.

I'll start posting here again soon--perhaps with the name of the book, once I'm allowed to tell people what it is.

Thanks for your patience!

For everyone in Adelaide who hasn't already booked a ticket (yes, I'm looking at you):

The Theatre Guild presents 50 taut, terrific minutes of theatre, featuring

All tickets $15 - cash on the door.

World premiere tomorrow night! 

(I am excited.)

Thank you, Simon A of Bookgeek, for this awesome line:

"breathless space combat and desperate gambits...a truly jaw-dropping piece of SF extrapolation and large-scale thinking"

But the review is a masterpiece in and of itself, and a touching lament to Imre Bergamasc. Farewell indeed. I'm going to miss the old gal.

(That isn't a spoiler, btw, except on the issue of gender. There'll be no more in the series, so what happens next is entirely up to your imagination.)

Also, from The Age: "Williams' world-building skills--and the ambition and intricacy of his ideas--make this top-flight SF fiction" (with a superfluous "fiction" there, thrown in as a bonus).

And Stuart Mayne in aurealisXpress: "rip roaring science fiction adventure... [Sean Williams] he has the ability to invent horizons that defy belief. That is a grand gift."

I'm very excited by how well this book has been received. Long may it continue!

The Adelaide natcon was a hoot.  That's my official con report.  I had a ball.  It was great to see so many familiar faces, and a few new ones too.  Thanks to everyone who made it happen.  I hope it won't be another 20-odd years before we have another con here in SA!

I'll just add quickly that I was completely bowled over to be the recipient of this year's Peter McNamara Award.  Will write more about this later, probably.  I still can't quite believe it...

The awesome Nameless competition is now open for business!

If you don't know what that is, check the link above. In brief, a clutch of the grisliest writers on this foul isle put together a blood-soaked round-robin story--and you could be the person to finish it!

I was fortunate enough to get the penultimate section. My instalment is now online. I tried to tie the previous sections into (yet another) shock-horror revelation, while at the same time making it a standalone short-short. See what you think:

Another event for your diary!

When: Wednesday 3rd June 7pm

Where: The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel (The Gov) 59 Port Rd, Hindmarsh (Adelaide)

How: FREE event but booking required. Register at EventBrite

"Join best-selling sci-fi author Sean Williams and astronomer and popular-science writer Fred Watson as they explore how science and science fiction borrow from each other to entertain and to expand knowledge of the universe. Plus share with us their love of astronomy, cosmology and writing. Clare Peddie, The Advertiser’s science writer will facilitate, and the evening will include a musical interlude with Fred Watson on guitar."

(This is for the Great Big Science Read, a Big Book Club / Science Outside The Square collaboration.)

Next Thursday, June 4, Julie Czerneda will be appearing at Dymocks Rundle Mall to give a reading and take questions. Come along at 6.00 for a 6.30 start to get the jump on what Conjecture's very special guest will be sharing with us over the weekend. There will be plenty of nibbles and drinks.

THEN immediately afterwards everyone is invited to come to the cocktail lounge of the Electric Light Hotel for a Pirate Ditmar Party. Why pirates? Because they're always cool. Why Ditmars? Well, it's a long story. There won't be any actual awards (probably) but there will be Haigh's chocolate frogs in honour of the infamous Suncon cane toads. If you don't know what that means, come along and find out!

Both events are within walking distance of the Holiday Inn. Here and here are directions.

Please feel free to pass this on to anyone who might be interested.

I hope to see you there!

It's my birthday today, and how better to celebrate it than by reminding myself of times when I used to have hair?  Well, kind of.


Was I secretly a member of Devo?  It's hard to remember now.

Anyway, this snap has become something of poster for the most excellent and suddenly very popular Awkward Family Photo site, and has therefore popped up in all sorts of places recently.  (The first link of this sequence takes you to the original AFP post, with currently 165 hilarious comments and a clearer version of the pic.)  The thing to note is the calculator watch.

Ah, those were the days!

Here's the press release:

In celebration of the 2009 Ditmar Awards, Ticonderoga Publications is offering fans of Sean Williams a special deal. For every order of Aurealis Award-winning Magic Dirt, we'll send you a free, signed copy of Ditmar-nominated Earth Ascendant. Offer available until the announcement of the awards at Conjecture in Adelaide.

To take advantage of this excellent deal, simply order Magic Dirt now at indiebooksonline.com

"This is a book no self-respecting lover of Australian speculative fiction can afford to be without." — Aurealis

"This is an enthralling collection." — ASiF

I reckon that's a pretty good deal.  Pass it on to anyone who might be interested.

One quick thing before I go.  Gary of Concept Sci-fi has given me my second review of The Grand Conjunction, and it's as exciting as the first.  Not just for lines like "epic space scenes spanning portions of time that the mind can barely comprehend" and "the words just seem to flow so easily that you're halfway through the book before you even realise it" and "an absolute winner and a joy to read", although they are of course wonderful on every level.  I'm excited for two other reasons.

One: Gary liked the ending.  "All of the loose ends are tied up nicely, and you're left with a nice warm 'cosy' feeling rather than a 'is that it?' feeling."  That concurs with Liviu Suciu's "the ending is pitch perfect", and suggests that I nailed at least one of my objectives (perhaps two, counting the humungous space battles).  After being criticised for leaving readers unsatisfied in previous series, I was determined to do it differently this time. I listen to feedback, and I know there's always room to improve. Looks like I did something right here.

Two: Gary again echoes Liviu, who said about the beginning, "I had to close the book and look at the cover to make sure I am reading the right book and then flip some pages to make sure pages from another book were not inserted inside by mistake - so great was the cognitive dissonance I suffered".  Gary's response was similar: "My initial reaction on pages one and two was 'what the hell has this got to do with Astropolis?' But the truth is that this bit of the book was actually the best bit for me."  He concludes: "Sean really has proved that he's an exceptionally talented writer who doesn't just do sci-fi and fantasy - Sean, if you're listening, you REALLY should write a detective novel!"

I'm listening, and I'm very pleased indeed.