Sean Williams

from Einstein to Gutkind

Tue, 13 May 2008 23:54:51 GMT

"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish."

Albert Einstein, 1954, in a letter being auctioned this week.

If I had a few easy grand lying around, I'd be tempted.

playing god isn't as fun as it should be, sometimes

Mon, 12 May 2008 03:19:58 GMT

I'm in a bit of a funk because yesterday I killed off a secondary character, one I'd become quite attached to during the writing of The Scarecrow. I want to be kinder to him, but there's no possibility of un-killing him. His death is critical to the story; without it, both the character development and plot unravel. Although I knew it was coming before I started the book, still it makes me sad. Sometimes bravery isn't enough; sometimes good people die.

That's a good sign, right? If I'm feeling so upset about it, readers might be too?

Funny how after 29 books this is still an open question.

prognosis: negative

Sat, 10 May 2008 00:04:49 GMT

Today Boing Boing posted a piece about a lightbulb that's burned continuously for 107 years.

Does this guy look like the Janitor from Scrubs or what?

He sure has a hungry look in his eyes.

to become grey

Tue, 06 May 2008 08:30:31 GMT

I was listening to Visage's "Fade to Grey" today and it occurred to me (long after it should have) to look up a translation of the spoken word sections, thinking they might be something from an obscure French existentialist, quoted long after his sad and empty death in perhaps one of the coolest, most futuristic songs ever written.

Alas, it's just the English lyrics translated into French. What a waste! Still, I like the oddly dimensioned bag with its "fixed and cold eyes." I'd be hiding too, I reckon.

Here's the version spewed forth by Dictionary.com's free translator service:

"A man in an isolated station
A bag its dimensioned
Fixed and cold eyes
Show fear when it
Turns itself to hide

The rain feels as an English summer 
Hear the notes of a remote song 
Leaving behind a poster 
Hoping that the life was not also long

To become gray"

what am i doing?

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:30:21 GMT

This flurry of posts (three in four days--whew!) isn't an indication of business as usual. Alas, I'm on a tight deadline to finish The Scarecrow and can't write more than a sentence at a time on anything else.

I did, however, find time to talk to the wonderful satimaflavell for the latest issue of the specusphere. You'll find the interview here. Satima asked great questions. Take a look.

PS. I'm also launching Malcolm Walker's debut novel, The Stone Crown at the SA Writers' Centre tonight. If you have a fondness for Susan Cooper, Alan Garner and Robert Holdstock's Arthurian/contemporary fantasies, you'll like this book as much as I did.

PPS. I'm late in pointing out that Earth Ascendant had its world premiere as a spoken word release through the great guys at Audible. You can buy it at their website (or through iTunes) and get a walk-through of the next million or so years of history, easy.

PPPS. Oh, and The Force Unleashed has a new cover.

Onward and upward!

what am i reading?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:21:49 GMT

Courtesy of the excellently-named Marshal Zeringue:

What is Sean Williams Reading?
Writers Read: Sean Williams (the full version, comes with free Rob Shearman plug*)

So many books, so little etc.

* And by that I don't mean a plug shaped like Rob Shearman, although I suppose there could be a market for such a thing.

eye in the sky

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:16:27 GMT

Is it just me, or does anyone else see a face in this picture of the centre of our galaxy?

we are DEVO

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:08:46 GMT

Gary Numan in 2006. Zappa and War of the Worlds in 2007. Iron Maiden in 2008, and now Devo. My daggy youth is haunting me, and I love it!

All I need is the 1980 line-up of Tangerine Dream and ELO to reform, and Robert Palmer to come back to life, and I'll be in heaven.

DEVO AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2008

Thursday 31 July 2008 - Festival Hall, Melbourne
Friday 1 August 2008 - Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Saturday 2 August 2008 - Splendor in the Grass Festival, Byron Bay
Tuesday 5 August 2008 - Thebarton Pavilion, Adelaide
Wednesday 6 August 2008 - Metro City, Perth

Interview in OUT

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:20:41 GMT

Dan Rubinstein of OUT magazine recently interviewed me for their transgender issue. Why? Because Saturn Returns features a male character "reborn" into a woman body, and the third book plays with his gender even more overtly. The piece didn't make the print version, alas, but has appeared on-line.

Here's the link to Dan's final version, and below the cut is the full interview, which runs over two thousand words.

1) In the past decade, how do you feel gender politics have changed in sci-fi? Has it evolved? How so?

I can't speak for all SF, but I know that my own writing has been thoroughly influenced by Japanime. Shows like Ghost in the Shell and Last Exile, and Studio Ghibli's recent adaptation of Ursula Le Guin's Earths books, Gedosenki, feature characters that, to our Western eyes, seem profoundly ambiguous in a gender sense. Some people are confused or confronted by that, but I and lots of other viewers have found such characters all the more interesting for that very reason. And anyone writing seriously about the future--in which all aspects of human life and culture must be examined, alongside technology and science, to see how they might change--must come up against this issue at some point. It's one thing to talk blithely bout life extension, increasing intelligence or physical fitness, freedom from disease, etc--but to ignore the gender flexibility that will inevitably come from a greater understanding of our own bodies would be irresponsible, or at least a failure of imagination. Science fiction, on the whole, is in my opinion, the only genre that can fully explore both the question and the many, many available answers.

Anyway, to answer your question, I think the rise of the New Space Opera has given SF writers a new venue in which to explore this issue. Formerly, I suppose, it might have fallen more readily under the Mundane umbrella--near-future fiction, set right here on Earth. Now, thanks to writers like Iain M Banks, transgender characters own the galaxy.

2) Are there any events or scientific breakthroughs that have occurred lately that have influenced your latest book?

Not really. Saturn Returns is set 877,000 years from now, so what's happening in the biosciences now bears little relevance to the events in the book. But I've been following social developments--like the rise of the asex movement--with great interest. I take these and other developments as a very positive sign.

3) What inspired you to address this as a topic?

Again, I can't speak for most people, but gender issues have fascinated me all my life. Doesn't every man wonder what it would be like to be a woman--and vice versa? The cage of gender is one I've not exactly railed at, but I've often wished I could change it at will, if only to see what life is like on the "other side". I've also wished sometimes for the ability to turn off or on certain aspects of sexuality. Most people, I guess, would think immediately of drugs like Viagra that allow men to have sex more ably, but I'm talking about turning desire off, not on--desire for a particular person or gender, or desire in general, because it can be distracting sometimes. Possessing greater control--possessing choice--over this aspect of life, like health and longevity, could only make us happier, saner people, I'm sure.

So in this series I decided it was time to explore the topic more intimately. Sex and sexuality are themes I've touched on before, but never so overtly because they are hard to write about. That's the challenge I felt ready to face at the moment. Every time I hit a wall in that area--the thoughts "Will anyone want to read this?" "Can I possibly write well about this?" or especially "Am I going too far?"--I forced myself to press on. Meeting and overcoming internal blocks is half the battle with writing. I would never know what I was capable of if I didn't push myself, hard.

4) What issues does your character face when he's reborn as a woman? Any challenges?

Imre Bergamasc occupies what we would consider a fairly masculine role in his society--leader of a band of mercenaries and political aspects who has until now presented himself as "male". On paper, he's an action hero. (That he looks like a character lifted straight from a Japanime show, though, is a clue that what passes for "male" in his world is not the same as that of present-day movies and TV shows.) When he wakes as a partial amnesiac in the body of a woman, his quest to return the gender he finds most familiar mirrors the rediscovery of his self. He's not unhappy in his new body because it's female; he's unhappy because he no longer looks like himself.

His journey back to the way he wants to be is a complex one--of course, or there'd be no story!--because there are multiple versions of himself out there with whom he has no contact, and which he initially regards as his "true" self, but from which he later feels alienated. Eventually (in the book I'm writing at the moment, the third in the series) he comes to question his usual gender and consider a move back to female, or elsewhere. I've always known exactly where Imre would end up; getting him there is a large part of the fun.

5) Did you find it easy or hard to write a character like that? Did you take any cues from existing characters or real life personalities as inspiration for him (and later, her)? Or maybe you built upon other characters in your earlier works?

I've never written a character like Imre Bergamasc before. Letting him find his own voice has been a joy for me, and I've sought inspiration for that voice in sources not usually associated with space opera. Gothic literature is one such source--a veritable cavalcade of confused, tortured souls obsessed with bodies, incest, trasngression, and the like. Then there's the music of electronic pioneer Gary Numan--whose lyrics literally provide the words for another character in the book. But ultimately, as with most characters, Imre has my voice--he shares many of my anxieties and curiosities about gender and sex, and although I have yet to manifest any of them the way he does, I do feel that he comes from a place in me that rarely gets to show itself. Letting that part of me free has been liberating.

For instance, very early in the novel, there's a scene where Imre, in his new and unfamiliar female body, masturbates. To me, that seemed an obvious move, and it's one I discovered (after asking around) that most of my male friends would also try. I grew up in the 1980s, the era of bad gender-swap movies, and it was an immense relief to be able to explore an issue that I had always wondered about as a teenager. :-)

6) Now that real technology has advanced so far in the past 50 years, (in some cases, catching up to what was once considered sci-fi of the past -- cell phones, virtual worlds, etc) do you feel these kinds of "internal" and philosophical frontiers (cloning/gender/memory/perception) are becoming more poignant?

I think we as a culture are beginning to realise that we are limited solely by our imagination. We have been making our dreams (and some nightmares) reality for long enough now that to have sunk in. So the issue of what we can do is becoming less important for some writers than how we feel about it when it happens. I'm heartened by the mainstream's recent embrace of science fiction tropes (time travel, cloning for body parts, and post-apocalyptic landscapes, to name just three) because it shows that our culture is ready to start internalising some of the hypotheticals that have been bouncing around in SF for years. I hope that technologically-blurred gender lines will be something else the mainstream looks at soon.

7) Is there anything that a real transgendered person could learn from your character's struggle, as far as learning about identity goes?

I would hesitate to claim that, having experienced life as a transgendered person only secondhand. That said, I hope that my portrayal of world in which a person's interior is considered more important than their exterior is a positive one. Imre's former companions--including a lover--treat him no differently as female as they did male, and he expects the same things from himself too, regardless of gender. His transformation from female to male is accepted as uncontroversial--and future transformations are regarded the same way.

There's a clear distinction in this world between sex and gender. Imre is a masculine character in a female body. He retains the masculine pronoun throughout. That he has a female body in no way changes the person he is, within that body.

Changing gender in this world is no longer a political statement, or a declaration of identity. Neither is it as easy as changing clothes or hairstyles. It's more like having cosmetic surgery.

That's not to say that I believe that the body has no influence on the mind. They are intimately connected in our society, and will likely remain that way in the foreseeable future. I simply wanted to present a case in which they might not be so firmly connected. That is the principle thing I'm hoping to bring to this debate. Imre is a man in a woman's body, but he never once ascribes the changes in his character to any subtle "femininity" he might have inherited with that form. The world allows him to be who he is, regardless of what he looks like. His role in that society depends on his character, not his chromosomes.

8) Why do you think we don't see more transgendered people in other mediums of sci-fi (gaming, film)?

That's a curly question. Is it the audience or is it the producers of the media? Probably a little of both. I have a friend who works in the computer game industry, a woman, and she has occasionally expressed frustration at the alpha male mentality endemic in the industry. Women must be large-breasted and sexually available for the hero; men must be square-jawed and hypermasculine in all things. The persistence of this stereotype is justified by the need to satisfy the appetites of teenage boys and young men, who make up the vast majority of game players. But has anyone tried to add a little gender-blurriness to see what happens? In the context of a good story--something many games lack--much can be accommodated, I'm sure. The industry should be more flexible and have more faith in its audience.

9) What do you think the social and political landscape of gender politics and identity will be like in 50 years? 100 years?

That's a very difficult question to answer. You and I both live in countries that fail to recognise gay marriages--something I find utterly incomprehensible in this day and age. I hope this situation will be turned around soon, but who really knows what the future holds? The steep rise of conservative values in the last decade took me by surprise, and although I hope the pendulum is swinging back here in Australia, it's a little too early to tell. Society is so divided, and will probably remain so as world population rises and resources are stretched thinner. I don't have a lot of confidence that broader social issues will be high on the agenda when crops are failing and icecaps are melting.

That said, I have a lot of faith in the current generation, who are growing up in a world where gender issues can be openly discussed among friends or on line, or even in the classroom. I think that's laying important groundwork for the world of the future. One day, gender reassignment procedures will be simpler, cheaper and (I hope) less controversial. People like me might be able to see what life is like in a different body. That has to make us better people, and our society healthier. So there's hope for the future, too. I'm looking forward to it.

10) Is there anything else you'd like to add? Feel free to vent!

Ha! Where to stop? :-)

I'll just say that my decision to make Imre's transformation non-political is itself a potentially political statement. For many people, this is a very real and a profoundly traumatic situation, and I would never want them to think that I am trivialising their feelings or experiences. These are important issues to share and discuss, and I hope only that I've added something new to the debate, in a small way--that a future might exist in which we are liberated from a present-day anxieties, so people can be who they want to be, how they want to be, and they will be judged for the former, not the latter.

I'm also aware that I'm writing from what might seem to be a privileged position, being a married white male in city famous for its churches (and its gruesome murders, but that's another story). There's no value in claiming first-hand experience at this particular issue. But I do have gay friends, of both gender. I have experienced desire for, fantasised about, and kissed men. In that sense, I think I'm completely normal. The difference between what society regards as normal in the ideal and what actually passes for it in the real world is fascinating to explore, and I am very pleased that I can write about this issue in a way that doesn't immediately brand it as being anything other than it is.

Icon courtesy of Nick Stathopoulos.

revived and revibed

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:00:31 GMT

Thanks, everyone, for the best wishes (the haiku remedies particularly helped). I'm back on-deck now and pondering which news to blog first: Swancon, the launches of Magic Dirt and The Changeling, finishing The Grand Conjunction, the Ditmar Awards, my Dickless status, the wonderful rain in Adelaide...?

I guess I'll start with the first one and work my way through. Swancon was a blast. Thanks to everyone involved for putting on another wonderful show. There have been reports posted on-line and I don't see the need in repeating what's been said many times over, but the guests were wonderful, the masquerade was a hoot, and the weekend in general went by in a happy, drunken blur. "Tick...tick...tick...tick...BOOM!"

A very big thank you to everyone who attended the launches, and even engaged in audience participation when pressed to. Magic Dirt is out and proud, and available from Ticonderoga in two splendid editions. Buy it now, if only for the cover! The Changeling is just as beautiful, imho, and a very different read. The feedback has been wonderful. I hope every kid in Australia reads and is freaked out by it.

Saturn Returns might have missed out on the Philip K Dick Award (despite Jay Lake's most excellent spruiking of it on the night), but it was still a splendid spread to be part of. Receiving the Ditmar Award at Swancon was icing on the cake, really, and I'm enormously grateful to everyone who voted for it. Kudos to everyone else nominated, and congratulations to the other winners on the night. This is such a talented and good-natured community. There will never be enough awards to go around.

My damaged status had everything to do with sleepless nights and exposure to the real world, and bore no relation at all to the cold and wet Adelaide to which I returned home. Perfect weather, really, to dive into the final edits of The Grand Conjunction, the last book in the Astropolis series. It's been a long and winding road, writing this book; I'm both relieved and sad it's done. So often I don't know what books are about until I've finished them, and in this case it appears I've spawned another romance: one in which the collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda plays a role, but a romance all the same. I'm a sucker for it, I guess.

My next projects are The Scarecrow (the last of this round of kids' books) and completely reorganising my study (you know, because there's never a good time so it might as well be now). Lined up after that are a thriller, another YA novel, PhD stuff, and appearances here and there. I'll report on the latter as they grow nearer.

For now, I'm off to have some soup.

Thanks for being such a wonderful bunch of people. I am sending you all happy vibes.

i haz a germ

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:24:18 GMT

that swancon lurgyhas followed me home againtoo sick to write hai

a quote to be remembered for

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:46:00 GMT

"Life is just one big banana. Science fiction allows us all to peel open the reality and discover the yellow truth inside."

Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

plot synopsis project - take 2

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:02:15 GMT

After so gratuitously jumping the gun last week, I may be guilty again of getting in ahead of the rest of the world, but what the hey. It's the 18th here. :-)

...drumroll...

Plot Synopsis Project (Is this a kick-arse list or what?)

Patricia Bray (pbray): http://www.sff.net/people/patriciabray/synopsis.html

Chaz Brenchley (desperance): http://desperance.livejournal.com

Mike Brotherton: http://www.mikebrotherton.com

Tobias Buckell: http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/2008/02/01/ask-me-a-question-was-crystal-rain-sold-as-part-of-a-series/

S.C. Butler (scbutler): http://scbutler.livejournal.com

Barbara Campbell: www.barbara-campbell.com/inside.htm

David B. Coe (davidbcoe): http://davidbcoe.livejournal.com

Jennifer Dunne (jennifer_dunne): http://jennifer_dunne.livejournal.com

S.L. Farrell (sleigh): http://sleigh.livejournal.com

Diana Francis (difrancis): http://difrancis.livejournal.com

Gregory Frost (frostokovich): http://frostokovich.livejournal.com

Felix Gilman: http://www.felixgilman.com/wordpress/

Jim C. Hines (jimhines): http://jimhines.livejournal.com

Jackie Kessler (jackiekessler): http://www.jackiekessler.com/blog

Mindy Klasky (mindyklasky): http://mindyklasky.livejournal.com

Misty Massey (madkestrel): http://madkestrel.livejournal.com

C.E. Murphy (mizkit): http://mizkit.livejournal.com

Naomi Novik (naominovik): http://naominovik.livejournal.com

Joshua Palmatier (jpsorrow): http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com

Maria V. Snyder: http://blog.myspace.com/mariavsnyder

Jennifer Stevenson (smokingpigeon): http://smokingpigeon.livejournal.com

Michelle West (msagara): http://msagara.livejournal.com

There’s also a book available that has other samples of plot synopses in it. It’s called I Have This Nifty Idea: Now What Do I Do With It? (Amazon; Mysterious Galaxy), edited by Mike Resnick. Check it out for more samples!

more on the AWW woes

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:26:15 GMT

If you're interested in reading more about the woes of Adelaide Writers' Week, Stephen Orr has written a wonderful piece for ABC news. Wander by and leave a comment. It will be read.

Also, I'll be on ABC radio this afternoon saying much the same thing.

As Stephen says: "Frankly, I'd rather be writing my fiction than opinion pieces, but some things can't go unsaid, that's the whole point of being a writer."

ETA: Here's the version of the piece on Articulate, where comments can be left.

plot synopsis project

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:30:13 GMT

I'm one of a group of authors banding together to post synopses of published novels on-line in order to give aspiring writers an idea of how we manage that process (or mismanage it, as the case may be). Accordingly, here's everything I was able to rustle up on from my hard drive. (And what a mad archaeological scramble it's been down there this morning...)

The earliest pitch is for The Resurrected Man, the latest for the Astropolis and Broken Land series (so beware: there will be spoilers*), covering twenty-five novels and eight series. File sizes range from uber-tight, one-page outlines to sprawling epics in their own right, thus demonstrating that there's no right way to do it.

I hope it helps.

ETA: I am premature posting this, as you'll gather from the comments below. The gang of scribes will be posting en masse on the 18th of the month, when I'll be on the road. I'll edit this entry shortly after then to link to other posts on the subject. Stay tuned!

Astropolis
Books of the Cataclysm (pitch)
Books of the Cataclysm (synopsis)
Books of the Change
The Broken Land
Evergence
Geodesica
Orphans
The Resurrected Man

* As plots change dramatically between pitch and execution, I feel perfectly safe putting the outlines up here. By comparing the two Cataclysm documents, you can see just how much things evolve, including plots and book titles.

The Changeling arrives!

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 02:02:19 GMT

I'm not getting out much at the moment so was very pleasantly surprised to see The Changeling on the shelves already. My excitement knows no bounds! I am very proud of this book (and the sequel, which I finished page-proofing last week) and keen to know what everyone thinks of it.

(A reminder: this is the book I wrote for my Masters a couple of years ago. It went through several transformations before finally finding a home with HarperCollins here in Australia. I'm still trying to sell it overseas, but for some reason my fantasy novels always struggle to find their place in the US and elsewhere. I remain hopeful.)

Here's what some noteworthy people have said so far.

David Cornish's cover blurb was severely truncated, as they have to be to fit in such a tiny space. This is the full quote: "Two of the things that delight me in Sean Williams’ work are his vision and his fearlessness: he will happily smash planets and obliterate galaxies, annihilate entire races and alter the course of all history as we know it. In contrast, this dark tale is of the isolated struggle of one small boy. Yet Ros, half-starved son of a desperate farmer, is pushed far beyond his life of lonely and mundane misery as he becomes entangled with elemental forces beyond his comprehension and barely in his control. In a smashed and parched land so reminiscent of the back-slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges in summer, the beautifully grim and driving narrative had me hooked, deeply anxious to learn Ros’ fate. Sean Williams is an acknowledged master of adult stories, and in The Changeling he proves that wonderful and terrible tales for younger folk are well within the ambit of his prodigiously talented and prolific pen. I, for one, am gagging for further instalments."

Stuart Payne was very kind indeed in Aurealis: "a master-piece of speculative fiction... [Williams'] skill is as limitless as the universe."

Dave Luckett was no less effusive in The West Australian: "I think that one test of good art is the extent to which it builds from tradition without sacrificing innovation. Sean Williams' The Changeling passes that test, and many others. This is speculative fiction of the highest quality."

Thuy On in The Age was less flattering, allowing that it "follows the archetypal young-adult fiction format of a vulnerable teenager confronting and overcoming great obstacles" but feeling compelled to add "although it's streaked with fantastical elements" as though the two are mutually exclusive. Oh well. He did mention that there are "scary elements in this tale that might be unsuitable for younger readers, such as a blood-letting 'weather-worker' and crab-like, hard-shelled monsters that drag their live prey deep down in their burrows." If I hadn't written the book, that last line would've made me want to buy it for sure!

Best of all, Justin Ackroyd gave me a recommendation in the Slow Glass Books catalogue. Woohoo!

aww, fwiw

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:42:52 GMT

(This post was supposed to air before Sunday, but I was distracted by deadlines, cold viruses, etc.)

For those who don't already know, I've decided not to attend Adelaide Writers' Week this year. Some of the reasons behind this decision are professional (writers should be paid at or near ASA rates, for instance, especially by publicly funded organisations) and some are personal. These problems have been weighing heavily on me in recent years, and it's with a mixture of frustration and irritation that I've finally come to accept that there's probably nothing I can do about them, except be elsewhere.

Note that I'm not asking anyone to join me in my sad, one-person boycott. Note also that I'm not speaking with my SA Writers' Centre hat on (or any of the other hats I occasionally wear). I'm just a writer who's become so disillusioned and disheartened by my behind-the-scenes experiences with AWW that I no long enjoy the event itself. I'll be happier at home, getting some work done. Not even the chance of bumping into William McInnes can make me change my mind.

So if anyone's in town March 2-7 and would like to catch up, we'll have to find somewhere else to do it. Luckily, there are plenty of choices! I highly recommend Thea Tea Shop, which makes the best Taiwanese vegetarian food I've ever tasted. Yum.

magic dirt cover

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:56:18 GMT

Below, in all its glory, is the cover of Magic Dirt: the best of Sean Williams. Classy, huh? The photos are taken by Mike Mission, whose extraordinary "asphalt archaeology" snapshots from Manhattan Island were recently featured on Boing Boing. There's a much larger version of the cover here, if you want to see the pictures we've chosen in more detail.

I'm also very pleased to reveal that intro to the book is written by John Harwood, author of the brilliant The Ghost Writer (winner of the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel and the Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award, also listed in the very credible Miles Franklin Award and Commonwealth Writers Prize) and the forthcoming The Séance. Because I love the intro so much (and am immensely flattered by the things he says) I've pasted a paragraph below the cover.

The book itself is available in limited and numbered editions through Ticonderoga Publications and will be launched at Swancon. Comes with free haiku!

"Reading these stories is like lucid dreaming, in which you dream that you’re lying awake in your own bed; the room is exactly as it would be in waking life, until the impossible intrudes. Sean Williams doesn’t simply stay one step ahead of his reader; he knows how to make you believe you know exactly where he’s going, while steering you down a far more sinister path. The immediacy of the action is never compromised, but there’s an unnerving resonance, a shadow cast (shadows often carry a particular charge in his work) which doesn’t quite match up with the object supposedly casting it."

two things I've learned in recent days

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:59:05 GMT

#1: The word for "quickly" in Japanese is "haiyaku". (Has anyone held a speed haiku event before? How could you resist???)

#2: I really, really suck at rock climbing. (Thanks to dmw, I know now I'm to blame my sneakers.)

a meme for writers

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 06:01:02 GMT

What was the very first bio you ever had published?

Mine was:

"

Sean Williams lives in Adelaide and Play [sic] Radio is his first short story to appear in print.  He is the son of a priest and says he's an atheist and non-practising witch.  Apart from hoping to one day write professionally, Sean is also studying part time for his BA in music, and has also won the SA 1984 Young Composer Award.  He is currently working on a novel about the music scene in Adelaide.

"

(The Esoteric Order of Dagon (EOD) Magazine, May 1991)

Things have changed just a tad since then.

Post links if you put up your own. I'm curious.

magic dirt: the best of sean williams

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:04:17 GMT

I am very pleased to announce that Ticonderoga Publications will be releasing a hefty tome in March that contains the very best short stories I've ever written. This is it. The definitive collection, covering everything of note from 1992's WOTF prize-winning "Ghosts of the Fall" all the way to 2007's "The Seventh Letter." If it's won or been nominated for the Ditmar, Aurealis or Seiun Awards, it's in here.* If it's been recommended by Locus or any of the various Year's Bests, ditto.** Some of the stories have been reprinted before, but many of them haven't. One has never been on paper at all. Covering science fiction, space opera, fantasy, horror and mainstream (and maybe even a little haiku, if I can twist Russell's arm), with story notes and an introduction, this is huge. I am very excited.

There's more detail here and Ticonderoga's online store is here. There will be two versions, including an uber-special signed and numbered edition. The cover is still on its way, but I assure you it'll be beautiful.

Not only is this the definitive collection of my short stories, but it will most likely be my last. At the rate I'm writing them, it'll take me another fifteen years to fill another.

* Well, most of them. The good ones, anyway.
** Well, ditto again.

finally

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 22:08:39 GMT

I keep having to remind myself not to be embarrassed about being an Australian any more.

Rudd's little speech this morning helps:

Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

one of life's larger mysteries

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:57:36 GMT

Why does the sun shine?

To read my answer to this very important question*, click here and scroll down past Noam Chomsky, Uri Geller, Bob McGrath (the longest serving human actor from Sesame Street) Steve Box (twice)--no, keep going--Elliott Goblet, The Blanks (Ted's a capella group from Scrubs), Michelle Rodriguez, Alan Fletcher, Kyle McLachlan's dog Mookie, and a picture of John Rhys Davies. Then keep scrolling, 'cos you'll also find Aaron Allston, Warwick Davis, Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nick Earls, Peter Combe, and a whole lot more.

I never thought I'd be on the same page as Joe Dolce quoting Emanuel Swedenborg.

* TMBG fans will appreciate the difficulty I had not answering "The sun is a mass of incandescent gas / a gigantic nuclear furnace / where Hydrogen is built into Helium / at a temperature of millions of degrees" etc.

"Stimulate! Stimulate!"

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 03:55:57 GMT

"Mr T vs the Cybermen" is the funniest and strangest thing I've seen for days, and much less disturbing than the Dalek/Cyberman slash I came across a couple of weeks ago.

None of this, though, compares to the news that Felicity Kendall will be guest-starring in an episode of Doctor Who involving Agatha Christie. I am swooning as I type. (Did I ever mention that I grew up on Doctor Who, Agatha Christie and The Good Life novels?) That's the best slash I could ever imagine.

perhaps it's just me...

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:17:22 GMT

Amanda and I just finished watching season one and two of The West Wing--which we liked, of course, despite being so slow getting around to it. Along the way, I've become aware of an odd thing.

At the end of every night's viewing, I go to bed with the theme to "My Favourite Martian" in my head. That's not a bad thing, although it is becoming a little repetitive. And if Ray Walston or ever had a walk-on, I think my brain would melt.

I have a similar problem with the "Roslin and Adama" theme from BSG, which always leaves me humming "Scarborough Fair."

It's a problem not in the sense that I reckon the composers have stolen anything. Far from it.

I'm just suffering from cognitive dissonance because the sources couldn't be more different. It's like listening to I Killed the Prom Queen and ending up with Kylie Minogue in your head, or finishing a meal of bangers and mash with the taste of strawberries in your mouth. Bear with me until it passes.