David J. Williams

The nice folks over at Fantasy Bookspot have published an interview with me in which I touch for the first time on the relationship between 9-11 and my book (hey, they asked), in addition to revealing some behind-the-scenes moments in my quest to get the #$# book published.

In other news, Balticon was great fun, and featured me being on at least two more panels than I’d thought: one on Arthur C. Clarke, and the other on megastructures in SF. I also did the first post-publication reading of THE MIRRORED HEAVENS, which must have been at least somewhat successful, since a member of the audience fell asleep during the middle of it. I think this had more to do with him than me, though, because I tend to act like I’m on coke when I’m doing my readings. (If you don’t believe me, come on out to Borders Baileys Crossroads tomorrow night.) Beyond that magical moment, highlights of the con include meeting John Hemry, author of the Lost Fleet series, and one of the blurbers of my book, as well as the weapons in space panel that Hemry moderated, in which a bunch of us had a great discussion ranging across near future vs. far future universes, kinetic energy vs. directed energy, and unmanned vs manned vehicles. Very interesting indeed. Had some great conversations with Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray too . . . knew them both by reputation, but it was awesome to actually have the chance for some drinks.  Oh, and Jeri Smith-Ready gave me a signed copy of Wicked Game that she scored at a local Border’s (the dealer’s room had sold out, given that her book’s flying off the shelves). . .she rulz!

I’ll be at Balticon this weekend; schedule is as follows:

The Outlaw Panel (don’t ask), 7.p.m. Friday

Writing Military SF, 9 p.m. Friday

Space Weapons, 7 p.m., Saturday

And I’ll be doing a reading as well. The schedule says 3 p.m. on Sunday. Forwarded emails from Balticon’s organizers say 4 p.m. The cats in the alley behind my apartment say, well, they say so many things. All of it loudly.

Some of you might recall that Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review was kind enough to post a very complimentary review of THE MIRRORED HEAVENS last week. Well, Graeme has gone one better, and is holding a contest in which he’s giving away two copies of the book! Check it out here.

That’s the good news; the bad news is you’ve only got until this Saturday, the 24th of May. Don’t let this golden opportunity to acquire free content pass you by!

By the way, I can’t help but notice that on his site, Graeme claims to have “found himself working some of the most disgusting jobs known to man.” I’m not exactly sure what jobs he’s referring to, but I just want to state for the record here that I’ve done time at Toys R Us, being bombarded by Geoffrey the Giraffe’s propaganda, and listening to the same goddamn forty minute tape loop of early 80s songs for months on end. (Before that, there actually was a time I quite liked Mandolin Rain.)

Yes, I know. There are jobs that far, far worse. Doesn’t mean I don’t have my scars.

But enough about me. What are you still doing here? Head on over to Graeme’s site and get busy.

Well, it’s out there. In bookstores. The thing that sat on my computer and grew for all those years has finally gone forth into the world. My thanks to everybody who made Day 1 such a success: everyone who went and bought the book, everybody who’s planning on coming to the reading next Tuesday (Baileys Crossroads Borders, if you’re in the area), everybody who’s given their support. Special thanks to veteran scribes David Louis Edelman and Jeri Smith-Ready for advice and counsel on What This Would Be Like (they were right), and to John Joseph Adams (aka Slush God) for this awesome piece in SCIFI.com.

And so we’re off to the races. The book seems to be doing fine on Amazon (did I mention you can buy it there right NOW? Just checking)–and just as important, it’s been sighted at numerous bookstores. The next few weeks will be critical in getting off to a strong start. And hey, Memorial Day weekend’s coming up. Like my high school English teacher used to say, there’s nothing that makes for better beach reading than guys in powered armor kicking the shit out of each other (though my memory may be a little hazy here). The plot thickens . . .