Promos and PSAs
Just a couple of quick announcements while I finish scribbling argumentative notes in the margins of Eric Hoel’s book on consciousness.
First, there’s this guy called Guy d’Andigné, runs sfss: a classy, minimalist little site that reprints science fiction shorts from the public domain and the creative commons, ranging from Voltaire to Doctorow. He also does interviews (he even interviewed me once, many years ago). He never bothered to monetise it; it was strictly a labour of love. Now, though, hard times have hit (as they’ve done to a lot of folks, post-Covid) so Guy has curated an anthology of old classics (and I mean old—the latest dates from the sixties, the earliest from the seventeen-hundreds) and released it as a pay-what-you-feel-like ebook over at Ko-Fi. There are some Big Names in that ebook—Wells, Vonnegut, Lovecraft and Dick to name a few—and while the names are familiar, I bet at least some of the titles aren’t (I know I’d never heard of Afred Bester’s “The Unseen Blushers” before now, at any rate). So if you’ve got a few bucks to spare, and you’re interested in getting back to our roots, check it out. Do a good deed, discover some classics.
But enough about someone other than me.
.
I’ve been dropping hints about a couple of upcoming forays overseas; a few of you in the comments have taken the bait. So now, for those who haven’t noticed the new entries over on the sidebar, I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be a guest at Bulgacon later this month, over in (you guessed it) Bulgaria. I haven’t been to that country in person since my Ratio appearances back in 2017 and 2020, and those were both in Sofia. This time the location is—don’t know if I’m pronouncing this right—Plovdiv. A new place to explore, although I probably won’t have much time; they tell me I’m slotted for eight events.
Moving on to November, I’ll be in Madrid (assuming Madrid isn’t on fire then; these days, you never know). This isn’t a con but a conference: a five-day riff on the subject of “Synthetic Minds” hosted by Matadero Medialab. They’re still taking proposals for things they’re referring to as “Lab Projects”; anyone out there interested in presenting has until September 17 to submit a proposal. One thing that appears to be nailed down is that I’m going to be delivering a keynote address. I’m glad we’ve got that settled.
Now I’ve just got to figure out what the fuck I’m gonna talk about. And then write the damn thing. I make no promises.
But at the very least, these Medialab people have got a kick-ass graphic designer.
The Spanish link in the sidebar is the Bulgarian one 🙂
No one expects the Spanish Link.
Trying very hard not to be the old fart, going on about more money = more ass hauling, finding second jobs, etc. etc.
So on topic, if you’re planning any other EU trips in luxurious penthouses with champagne and reefers, Muddy or no Muddy in the background, it’s all good, kindly let us know more in advance?
(takes time to organise; one step, arthritis; two steps, forgot why i’m doing this. Three steps out and she yells at me to get back in the house ’cause now it’s late. So.. it takes time, lol)
Goddammit. Fixed. Thanks.
A somewhat similar theme to “The Unseen Blushers” was done, much better, in 1955 by William Tenn (The Discovery of Morniel Mathaway). [and I am a HUGE Bester fan for many years]. It remains a question whether Klass knew or read the Bester story.
Hi Peter,
Are those argumentative notes on Hoel’s book born of excitement for its ideas, or anger at the lack of them? I’m trying to decide if it’s worth the $20 for the Kobo etext…
It’s a mixed bag. The first two chapters are basically filler, then he plays around with various theories of consciousness (he was a member of the IIT crowd for a while) and concludes that none of them really solve the Hard Problem (duh). He makes an interesting argument that a rigorous true theory of consciousness might be impossible for Gödelian-incompleteness reasons, and finishes it off with a Scientific Argument for Free Will. He admits it’s speculative, and I’m not sure I buy his arguments (hence the scribbled margin notes), but it’s interesting to see how he gets there.
Also I feel an understandable lack of confidence in my own counterarguments, when going up against an actual neuroscientist on his home turf.
Thanks for that! I think I’ll buy it. I suspect that filler for you may be new insights for me. That he sees his arguments as speculative is also a plus.
I am disappointed it doesn’t contain an irrefutable answer to the hard problem of consciousness (cough), but one can’t have everything.
Maybe you’ll write a column based on those notes at some point?
All the best for your upcoming travels. I think Madrid (if not burning, or under fascist rule) is a beautiful city. (I’ve never been to Bulgaria.)
I would like to second the interest in a post based on your notes.
Yeah, I think I could probably squeeze one in. But then you’ll have to wait longer to find out my universal solution for The Alignment Problem.
Did you see this one?
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adh2458
Hello, Peter! First time commenting here 🙂 I’m actually a stone throw away from Bulgaria and would love to come listen to you. We’ll see how fast they can issue a visa nowadays.
Looks like they are still working on the exact schedule. I’ll keep an eye on their website, but are you planning to post about your events when you get the programme?
I’ve only seen the preliminary program, but it’s a multi-threaded beast (bigger than I was expecting, in fact). The panels I’m (tentatively) assigned to include “Biology of the Future Bodies”; “Synthetic Minds: Instincts and Fitness Functions” (guess who suggested that topic); maybe something about First Contact; and I’m doing a reading. There may be others when the dust settles. There was the suggestion of some kind of coffee/beer-klatch with an author and maybe a dozen fans, but I’m dubious there’d be sufficient interest in my case. I don’t think I’m especially big in Bulgaria.
Well damn, I’m not going to make it to Bulgaria this time. Hope to see you at some other event in the future (and drown you in even more russian fanart which you’d be too kind do turn down, I’m sure)!
In November? Madrid could be the headquarters of a near fascist Spanish government by then. On the bright side, I wouldn’t worry about literal fires, floods are taking care of that already.
Welp, when you see my climate change denialist, anti-vaccine, far right voting neighbors, send them my heartfelt hate.
Good luck!
I did not realize. There are so many fascist governments springing up these days, I guess I lost track.
Maybe, if that happens, protestors will be setting fires in the streets. Same result.
Hello there Peter! Your novels were superb, best in class. Starfish, Blindsight, Echopraxia, even The Freeze Frame Revolution. And your short stories are also great – my god, The Things. Have you decided to never write another novel again?
Peter, goddamn it, when is that new book coming?
It’s been 5 years since I read Blindsight and 4 since Ecopraxy
I haven’t been able to find anything that might even come close. You ruined the genre for me.
But for real, when can we expect a new book from you?
This is exactly how I feel. After Blindsight and Echopraxia, I search and search but just cannot find anything that lives up to Peter Watts’ work. And, from what I can see, he is held in v high regard within the genre. With all this good will and admiration and respect – in a world where new aspiring writers cannot get their book read – why, why, why on earth is Peter Watts writing blogs, commentaries and everything else (for years now) except new novel?
The first thing you gotta know is, I really like writing novels, I’ve got at least a few more in me, and I fully intend to squeeze ’em out.
The second thing you gotta know is, I haven’t put out a novel since 2018 (even that was only a novella), and my income has significantly increased since I stopped concentrating on those puppies. My main US publisher is/was Tor; I’ve had, let us say, a rocky relationship with those guys (I could list the ways, but that would be a couple of blog posts in itself). Tor is contractually entitled to right of first refusal on my next novel; and while I’d certainly work with them again, it’s not a prospect that floods me with enthusiasm.
At the same time, I’ve reached the point where people actually reach out and solicit my input on other sorts of projects. About 40% of my income this year has been movie-related. I also do the occasional videogame gig, and I take commissions to write both fiction and nonfiction in a variety of outlets most of you will probably not have heard of. (I’ve just finished a story that ties in with a German art exhibition, and another that’s going to appear in a French volume on the works of Arthur Jafa). Those are relatively obscure, but they pay way more than I’d get for a short story on the usual SF platforms (although you may have noticed that I have been getting short stories out on a pretty regular basis).
Finally, I’m self-employed—and a Canadian old-age pension doesn’t come close to life-support levels even assuming it still exists by the time I need it. So while I’m making a decent living now—way better than I ever had any right to expect—I’m not just earning for this year. I’m stashing up for old age (which should be starting about…oh, last January).
Given a choice between lucrative projects for people who value my work, vs. returning to a publisher known for low-balling its midlisters (and who’ve generally treated me as a Difficult Author anyway), it’s an easy call.
Still. That said.
Let me emphasize: I will write more fucking novels. I am wired for that, and I would not change that wiring even if I could. I have in fact been working on Omniscience and new Sunflowers work around the edges. But once I’ve written one, I will have to go on bended knee and ask a publisher if they deem it worthy. They may tell me to fuck off, or offer an advance so low it doesn’t justify my time and effort (probably that second thing—as I understand it, that’s just where the industry is these days). So the gamble is going to take a back seat to the sure thing.
Although hell, I probably could have finished half a chapter of Omniscience in the time it took me to write this comment…
Dr. Watts, you don’t have to write anything if you don’t feel like writing – we love you anyway! 🙂
But I personally would appreciate a short side story from the Blindopraxia universe. We never got to know if Valerie and Sarasti knew about each other, or how did the Theseus crew trainings look like, or any details about that vampire named Gandhi…
Can’t answer that just yet but there is a story set in the Blindopraxia universe that’s been ready to go for a couple of years now. It’s just that the anthology it’s supposed to appear in seems to be on hold for some reason. I do not know the details.
In the meantime, the story is out in French and Polish. And some major N’Am types have liked it a lot, including an astronaut and the cofounder of Neuralink (who thought it was absolutely awesome and wanted to hang out until I told her that the story was actually about all the things that would go catastrophically wrong with Neuralink if it worked as advertised. I never heard frlm her again.)
So it’s in the pipe. Just don’t know when it’s coming out.
Oh… are there any other short stories set in the Blindopraxia universe besides “ZeroS”, “The Colonel” and “Insect Gods”? I was sure I’ve already read everything published in all languages…
> Tor is contractually entitled to right of first refusal on my next novel
Could you write a really half-assed novel about a guy who needs to get out of his deal with an abusive publisher, offer it to them, and thus be done with it?
If that was the only problem, that is.
I kind of did, once. Back when David Hartwell was still alive. Submitted a proposal for a faux-academic “Proceedings of the Biennial Conference on the Evolution and Biology of Vampires”. (I didn’t think it was half-assed, but everyone else thought the idea sucked). Hartwell rejected it, but went on to say that he didn’t consider it my “next novel” so I’d still have to show him the one after that.
Another problem is that the next real novel will probably be Omniscience, and no matter how much it rocks, there aren’t many publishers who are likely to publish the third book of a trilogy whose first two volumes are owned by a competitor. There’s at least one—Head of Zeus over in the UK has also published Blindsight and Echopraxia—but it’s a small pool.
I’m the guy who didn’t know you were for Ratio in Sofia when we were doing the Pride parade. I’m going to Bulgacon this year, so I guess we’ll meet.
Exporing Plovdiv — I should get you to my favourite place in Kapana.
Maybe not. My wife has Covid. I think I’m getting it too.
Looking over the schedule, I think you’re slotted for four events.
I’ll have to do them online. I’ve just had to cancel the in-person trip. Fucking Covid.