walterhisownself’s posterous

New Story: "The City Quiet as Death" by Steven Utley and Michael Bishop This week Tor.com is proud to present "The City Quiet as Death," a short story by American science fiction authors Steven Utley and Michael Bishop. In the 1970s, Steven Utley was part of the Turkey City Writers' Workshop, a group of writers in and near Austin, Texas that also included Howard Waldrop, Bruce Sterling, and Lisa Tuttle. Among Utley's best-known works from this period was a collaboration with Waldrop, "Custer's Last Jump." His "Silurian Tales" sequence of time-travel stories began to appear in 1993. Michael Bishop has published sixteen novels and several story collections, producing one of the most distinguished bodies of work in modern SF. His work has won the Nebula Award twice, for "The Quickening" in 1981 and for the novel No Enemy But Time in 1982; he has also received the Locus Award four times and has been a frequent finalist for the Hugo. His fantasy novel Unicorn Mountain (1988) won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Among his most acclaimed works are the novels Transfigurations (1979), Ancient of Days (1985), Philip K. Dick Is Dead, Alas (1987, originally published as The Secret Ascension), and 1994's Brittle Innings. "The City Quiet as Death" is stunningly illustrated by Jon Foster. Jon began his career working for TSR, Wizards of the Coast, DC Comics and Dark Horse. His work can be seen in multiple magazines, including the National Geographic Magazine, on covers for every major book publisher, and in the Society of Illustrators and Spectrum annuals.  Jon's skills as a painter and his broad range of conceptual ideas have garnered multiple Spectrum awards and the Greenwich Workshop award. New Comic: "The Dreaded Question" A simple question, innocent enough: "Where do you get your ideas?" Kurt Huggins and Zelda Devon create a haunting, twisted answer in "The Dreaded Question." Don't forget to take notes... Free Wallpapers from Hugo-nominated Artists! Tor.com is delighted to be able to present free downloadable wallpapers in a whole host of formats for your viewing pleasure. Each day features one of the artists up for this year's best artist Hugo Award: Monday's wallpaper, from Donato; Tuesday's, from Dan Dos Santos; Wednesday's, from John Picacio; and today's from Shaun Tan. The final wallpaper will appear tomorrow featuring Bob Eggleton. As always, these freebies are only available to our registered users, and you'll have to be logged in to be able to download them. The Zen of Professor Nimbus: The Ubiquity of Chinese Takeout Our weekly Professor Nimbus offerings continue, this time with a meditation on our most beloved takeout cuisine. Don't forget to check out any previous installments you've missed at the Professor Nimbus collection page! Interviews galore: China Miéville, Kevin J. Anderson, and Paul S. Kemp China Miéville, author of Perdido Street Station, Un Lun Dun, and The Scar, discusses politics, gaming, and his most recent work, The City & The City; Kevin J. Anderson, author of Nebula-award nominated Assemblers of Infinity, discusses his work on the Dune sequels as well as his new epic fantasy series Terra Incognita; and Paul S. Kemp, the creator of the Erevis Cale and Twilight War trilogies, discusses his third trio of books featuring the Erevis Cale character and his upcoming Star Wars novel. Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time Re-reads continue! Kate Nepveu's Lord of the Rings re-read just concluded The Fellowship of the Ring. She re-watched the film in light of the re-read and offers her thoughts on the changes made. Leigh Butler's Wheel of Time re-read just got through chapters 14-15 of The Fires of Heaven. Catch up on any installments you missed at the Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time index pages. Sponsor Links: Voyager Books It's your last chance to win hundreds of science fiction, fantasy, and horror titles from one of our sponsors, Voyager Books. Visit the site, take the quiz to test your knowledge of classic sci-fi and fantasy, and you're automatically entered to win a copy of every book on the site.  The site is based in the U.K., but anyone from any country can enter.  And while you're on the site, check out the limited edition of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother.  Only 500 copies are available and it comes with original illustrations and endpapers by Richard Wilkinson.