News
(Note: to avoid
confusion with the usual abbreviation of Star Wars, Sean Williams will
be referred to here as SLW.)
For the most recent updates, click here.
Ace will begin
publishing a solo series from Sean in 2007.
"Astropolis" will be his first work in space opera without
regular collaborator Shane Dix, and his first solo science fiction novel since The Resurrected Man. The proposed titles are Saturn Returns, Earth
Ascendant, and Increasing in Light. Alongside a YA project (watch this space),
the ongoing Books of the Cataclysm series, work on a Masters of Creative
Writing, and a possible move to Japan, this makes for interesting times ahead.
The Crooked Letter has won the Ditmar Award for
Best Novel, announced at Thylacon in
Sean has been invited to be
Australian GOH at the Australian National SF
Convention (Conjure) in April 2006 alongside
international GOH Cory Doctorow,
guest editor Jonathan Strahan and toastmaster Kim Wilkins.
Sean's name has appeared on
The Celebrity Atheist List alongside such
luminaries as Joss Whedon, Keanu Reeves, Isaac
Asimov, and Barry Manilow.
The Resurrected Man is released in a beautiful hardcover in the States, courtesy of Pyr. Reviews are good: see scifi.com, SFSignal, Bella Online, Agony Column, and Pyr.
Sean has commenced his Masters in Creative Writing
at
The Crooked Letter has been nominated for a Ditmar Award in the category of Best
Novel. Sean is also nominated for a Best
Professional Achievement award (for The Crooked Letter
and "efforts in teaching").
This brings the total of Sean's Ditmar nominations to 14 (he has won
four times in the past). Results will be
announced at
Sean is currently in the
process of boxing up his manuscripts for donation to the Fryer Library at the
The Crooked Letter wins the 2004 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel.
Clarion South week
one finished. Click here for pictures.
Follow
the link to read a blurb for The Blood Debt.
Fans of The Unknown Soldier
(and Evergence) will be interested to see the art by David G Williams relating
to John Nine and Megan Moroney (a.k.a. Adoni Kain and Morgan Roche) for
a comic book version of the novel that sadly never eventuated. See here for a glimpse of what might have
been.
Re-titling of future Books of the Change: Chimaera
becomes The Blood Debt.
[more]
Review co-written with Kim
Selling of China Miéville's Iron Council
available at Internet Review of SF.
December 2004
The Crooked Letter and
Heirs of Earth
have been nominated for Aurealis Awards. They are SLW's fifteenth and sixteenth
nominations, respectively; he has won five times in the past, in the categories
of Best Fantasy Novel, Best SF Novel (twice), and Best Horror Short Story
(twice). Heirs of Earth is also the third book in the Orphans
trilogy to be nominated for an Aurealis Award.
Could it be a case of third time lucky?
The results will be announced January 22 at a special presentation ceremony
in
Also: the December 18
edition of The Advertiser
featured a list of the Top 10 Books of 2004.
The Crooked Letter
was listed in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy section alongside works by such luminaries
as Stephen King, Sara Douglass, Susanna Clarke, Terry Pratchett. Fiona McIntosh and Ian Irvine, with the blurb:
"Out of this world! One of the best
contemporary fantasies...written this year.
A story set in realms far beyond the world we know, or could
imagine."
On a personal note:
SLW's partner, Kim Selling, has accepted an Assistant Professorship at Nagoya
University of Commerce and Business, beginning next April. Although SLW's commitments for 2005 are
currently up in the air, it is likely that he will move there to join her in
November or December 2005.
October 2004
- To avoid a possible
clash with Ian Irvine's novel Chimaera, Book Two of the Cataclysm (formerly
also Chimaera, due in print April 2005) has now been re-titled The Blood Debt. In order to maintain consistency of the
titles, Book Three is now likely to become The Hanging Mountains,
and Book Four The Changeling God. Any further changes as they arise!
- On the Geodesica front,
progress continues apace on book two, Descent. The first draft is almost complete, and will
go to Shane Dix for his pass in December.
- Follow the link to
read a blurb for Geodesica: Ascent.
Mid- 2004
In a busy time: Heirs of Earth was a Locus paperback bestseller, coming in at
#7 in the April issue. Geodesica:
Ascent was accepted for publication by Ginjer Buchanan at Ace for a
February 2005 publication (moved forward from April). The Second Book of the
Cataclysm, Chimaera, was accepted by Stephanie Smith at HarperCollins
The rest of 2004 will be dominated by work on Geodesica: Descent, re-writing Chimaera, and beginning work Cenotaph, the Third Book of the Cataclysm.
Orphans of Earth has been nominated for a Ditmar Award under
the Best Novel category. Members of Conflux (this year's national SF convention, to be held in
- Heirs of Earth, the final volume in the Orphans series, has
been published in the
- Geodesica: Ascent, the first volume of a new space opera
diptych, set stylistically and thematically between Orphans and Evergence, has
been delivered to Ace and HarperCollins.
- The
Crooked Letter is in the
middle of the editing process with Stephanie Smith at HarperCollins
- "The Soap Bubble: A Space Opera", SLW's first work for the stage, is complete. The adaptation of his short story "The Soap Bubble" evolved under highly pleasant circumstances with members of Bluetongue Theatre and dramaturge Sean Riley. A long road remains before this work will make the stage, but steps are being taken in that direction, with design and music work next on the list. A former Young Composer Award-winner, SLW has written a theme for the show-within-the-show, "The Wanderers," but time will tell if it ends up in the final work.
- On the short story front, 2004 has commenced with a burst of
activity. "Or Die Trying," a
short story set at the same time as Force Heretic: Reunion, has been
accepted for publication by Star Wars: Insider magazine. SLW's 100-word story "The Trilerbe Dulciftify" was
published on line by Visions in
January. January also saw the reprint of
"The Jackie Onassis
Swamp-Buggy Concerto" at Ticonderoga On-Line. Lastly, "The
End of the World Begins At Home", a new novella, will be published by Borderlands
later this year. This will be his
sixtieth published short story.
- The personal front has
seen a dramatic back-flip over SLW's intended relocation to
20/07/03
In the most recent news,
SLW and Shane Dix's novel Orphans of Earth has been nominated for an Aurealis Award.
December 2003
- An extensive schedule
of travel and work has kept seanwilliams.com behind schedule. SLW participated in Brisbane Writers'
Festival, the SA Writers' Festival in
- Writing-wise, The Crooked Letter was accepted by HarperCollins
- The first draft of the
first book of the Geodesica duology is complete. Titles for the two books currently stand at Ascent
and Descent, although anything could happen!
- His novella "The
Girl Thing" was recommended in the 2003 Datlow
& Windling Years' Best Fantasy & Horror
anthology.
- In January, SLW
commences work in collaboration with SA theatre company Bluetongue on an
adaptation of his novella "The Soap Bubble." The project is supported by Arts SA and also
involves the talented Catherine Adamek, Philip Spruce and Sean Riley.
- On the personal front,
SLW has announced his intention to move to
July 2003
In short story news,
which has been a bit thin on the ground of late:
- SLW's story
"Hunting Ground" has been published in Southern Blood, an
anthology of horror stories edited by Bill Congreve and published by Sandglass Enterprises.
- SLW has sold a short
piece to the on-line magazine Antipodean SF. "The Goggle" will appear in issue
#65 in mid-October.
- Polish magazine Nowa Fantastyka has bought reprint rights to "The
Girl-Thing" and "The Masque of Agamemnon" (co-written with Simon
Brown).
10/07/03
-
The third book in SLW and Shane Dix's Force Heretic trilogy,
- Arts SA has offered
SLW funding for the second of his Books of the Cataclysm, Chimaera. The money will help him research the
Antipodean landscapes that are so important to this series. Writing is due to commence in October.
- Arts SA is also
funding a collaborative venture between SLW, bluetongue theatre artistic
director Cathy Adamek, direction Phillip Spruce, and playwright Sean
Riley. It is their intention to turn
SLW's short story "The Soap Bubble" into a stage play.
- SLW has been invited
to attend the 19th annual Writers of the Future award ceremony in LA
this August. He has an essay in the
latest volume of the anthology discussing his experiences since winner a prize
in the WOTF Contest in 1992 and offering advice to new writers.
- SLW and Shane Dix have
a proposed title for the new space opera diptych. Henceforth, "Geodesica" will refer
to the overall series. Individual titles
are still in the melting pot. Writing
on the first book will commence next week.
[more]
27/06/03
The first draft of The Crooked Letter is complete. Coming in at over
160,000 words, this is SLW's largest novel to date. It is also his darkest. A prequel to the Books of the Change and the
first Book of the Cataclysm, The Crooked Letter is due for publication by HarperCollins
In late news, a rare SLW work has finally
seen light of day. The Butler Codex,
a long-time collaboration with Simon Brown, has been printed in a leather
bound, strictly limited edition by Gerbil Books. Just four copies exist. Impossible to describe, this book is destined
to remain one for the collectors to wonder about...
The second book of SLW and Shane Dix's
trilogy in the Star Wars universe (New Jedi Order: Force Heretic II: Refugee)
has debuted at #8 on the New York Times paperback bestseller list (two
higher than Remnant) and #12 on the USA Today top 50
best sellers list. It is listed
at #10 on the Booksense mass market paperback list.
Also, "The Girl-Thing" has been
recommended as one of the standout stories of 2002 by the latest Datlow & Windlow Year's
Best Fantasy & Horror anthology.
"A Map of the Mines of
Barnath", which appeared in a Japanese collection of reprint SF
(The Best Science Fiction of the Nineties, from Hayakawa), has been
nominated for the Translated Short Stories category of this year's "Seiun Award", the
National SF Fan Award (similar to the Hugo Award), to be presented at the 42nd
Japan Science Fiction Convention on July 19-21 at the Hotel New Shiobara in Tochigi prefecture.
At last night's Ditmar Award presentation
ceremony in
"The Butterfly Merchant" (a self-contained excerpt from The Stone Mage & the Sea) has been published in Agog! Terrific Tales, edited by Cat Sparks. This is SLW's 57th short story in print, and his first for 2003.
The Stone Mage & the Sea has been selected as the third
book for the new South Australian initiative, The BIG Book Club. To quote the press release: "The BIG
Book Club not only aims to promote reading but to establish a forum for active
literary debate and provide support for South Australian and Australian
writers. The Big Book Club will provide an opportunity for those who, due to
work, family, geographical or cultural reasons have not had the time or the
confidence to form their own book club. The outcome of the BIG Book Club will
not only be to increase reading and literature awareness but also promote
collaboration between publishers, retailers, media and arts organizations. The selections were made from expressions of
interest submitted by publishing houses from around the country to the
project’s steering committee.... Each
month’s selection will be featured in bookstores and public libraries across
the state making the club accessible to all South Australians. The
accompanying website will host author notes and biographies, details on the
major events where readers can meet the authors and an online forum
facility." For more information,
click here.
At last night's Aurealis Awards presentation ceremony in
Ginjer Buchanan of Ace
Books in the
15/03/03
HarperCollins
The Crooked Letter -
June 2004
Chimaera - February
2005
Cenotaph - November
2005
Changeling - July
2006
Work on The Crooked
Letter has already begun.
- The Ditmar Award
nominations have been announced (click here for a full
list). SLW has three nominations under
the Best Australian Novel category--for Echoes of Earth, The Sky
Warden & the Sun and The Storm Weaver & the Sand--making him
the only person in the history of the award to have achieved this. The results will be announced in Swancon over Easter.
- In addition to that,
SLW finds himself nominated, for the second year running, for the new McNamara Award, this time with Shane
Dix. As mentioned above, the outcome
will be announced at Swancon.
- Also worth noting is Orphans
of Earth's current 5-start rating on Amazon.com.
In brief:
- The launch of the
first book of SLW's long awaited trilogy in the Star Wars universe (Star
Wars: New Jedi Order: Force Heretic I: Remnant, co-written with
Shane Dix) has been warmly received by fans around the world, and debuted at #4
on the Dymocks SF&F bestseller lists in Oz (it
was last seen up at #2). It also
appeared at #10 on the New York Times paperback bestseller list, #11 on the USA Today top 50 best sellers list and #5 at Publisher's
Weekly. The second book in the
trilogy, Refugee, is due on May 5.
- The Third Book of the
Change, The Storm Weaver & the Sand, appeared on the Locus YA Recommended Reading
list for 2002, putting it among such luminaries as Clive Barker, Michael
Chabon, Neil Gaiman and Isabel Allende. Attempts to find it a
- Heirs of Earth,
the third Orphans book, has been completed, delivered and accepted. It is due to be published January 2004.
- Work has begun on
The Crooked Letter, the prequel to the Books of the Change. A much darker novel than the previous three,
it will reveal how Sal, Shilly and Skender's world came to be the way it
was. Their adventures will continue in
the Books of the Cataclysm (tentatively titled Chimaera, Cenotaph
and Changeling), to be written over the next two years.
- The above four novels
are doing the rounds of various publishers as this news goes on-line, along
with three other novels. Widow of
Opportunity still has to find a home.
A diptych of space opera novels, Bedlam Watch and Palmer's
Wake, to be written with Shane Dix, are also on offer. Expect an announcement here soon...
- At the time of
writing, SLW is attending the Perth International Writers' Festival. He will also be a guest of the equivalent
event in
- Lastly, SLW has a
small part in "The Angriest Video Store Clerk in the World Is Not a
Number", a play by Grant Watson opening next week as part of the Perth
Festival Fringe. He has two V.O. lines as a writer in a pit. This is his first dramatic performance in
over ten years, since appearing in critically hailed amateur productions of
"Oliver", "The Real Inspector Hound" and "Charlie
& Algernon" in the late 1980s.
1812/02
The short-list for the
2002 Aurealis Awards has been announced.
SLW has garnered two nominations, bringing his total so far to thirteen. The Storm Weaver & the Sand has been nominated for Best Fantasy Novel and Echoes
of Earth for Best SF Novel. The
results will be announced at the 8th Aurealis Awards Ceremony in
16/12/02
The Adelaide Advertiser
describes The Storm Weaver & the Sand as "simply
spectacular." For more, click here.
3/12/02
SLW has a new horror
story available free online. "The
Girl-Thing" has just been posted on Eidolon.net. To view it, click here.
26/11/02
- The Storm Weaver
& the Sand, due on shelves any day now, has received a rave review from
Stephen Dedman in the West Australian. To read the review (and any others as they roll on in), click here.
- The first draft of Heirs
of Earth has been completed and lobbed firmly into Shane Dix's court. SLW is currently working on proposals for The
Crooked Letter, a dark fantasy prequel to the Books of the Change, and a
new fantasy trilogy, The Books of the Cataclysm. All are intended for adult readers. Stay tuned.
26/10/02
Noted this morning on
the Sydney Morning Herald's web site was the news that, back in April,
the A-format of The Stone Mage & the Sea was officially a
bestseller. According to the Newcastle
Herald, it ranked #5 below Robert G. Barrett, John Grisham, Ann-Marie
MacDonald, and Jeffery Deaver. Here's hoping that The Sky Warden &
the Sun A-format can do the same in December. Go
24/10/02
- The Storm Weaver
& the Sun has been delivered to the printers and will make its
scheduled release date of December this year (perhaps even earlier -- see
below).
- Work continues apace
on Heirs of Earth, the final Orphans novel, amid Star Wars rewrites.
- SLW will be attending
conventions in Sydney and Melbourne in November: Multiverse
in
04/08/02
How to cram four months
of news into as short a space as possible?
Here goes:
- Refugee &
- SW will be appearing
at Melbourne Writers' Festival in August, interviewing China Miéville and chairing a panel.
- SW's story "A Map of the Mines of
Barnath" appeared in a Japanese collection of reprint SF (The
Best Science Fiction of the Nineties, from Hayakawa) alongside stories by
Neal Stephenson, Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds,
Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Mike Resnick, Jonathan
Lethem, Ian R. Macleod, David Brin, Allen Steele and
Bruce Stirling.
- SW is due to begin
work on the third book of the Orphans trilogy, Heirs of Earth, in
approximately two weeks.
- SW attended ConVergence in
- SW acquired the
seanwilliams.com domain name as well as seanwilliams.com.au.
- On a personal and very
sad note, SW separated from his partner of four years, Kirsty Brooks.
No doubt there will be
more to come over the coming months.
Updates will appear as quickly as humanly possible...
For more information
(and the Russian cover of Evergence: The Dark
Imbalance, not previously posted here), please visit the News Archive.