As some of you will know, I took a week week long sabbatical from social media last week. I’ve done this four times this year, each time for one to three weeks. For reasons I’ll come to, I find it essential. I love social media. Twitter is my favourite platform, it connects me with hundredsContinue reading “Open Thread : How can writers protect themselves from social media?”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
Won’t somebody please think of the billionaires!
As levels of inequality continue to sky rocket, the plight of the rich is getting worse by the day. We’re not saying it’s as bad as what orphans, women, people of colour, plague victims, the undead or supermodels who marry short rockstars have to go through…oh wait maybe we are. by Richelle Richenstein The poorContinue reading “Won’t somebody please think of the billionaires!”
A sci-fi history of Mars
Mars has always been, as cosmologist Carl Sagan wrote, a “mythic arena onto which we have projected our Earthly hopes and fears”. For the ancient Greeks, the red dot in the night sky was an aspect of Ares, god of war, who unleashed conflict when the balance was lost between Apollo – god of reasonContinue reading “A sci-fi history of Mars”
The Player of Games : why learning to win at games can make you a loser
The Player of Games by Iain M Banks makes a powerful argument for peace as the ultimate strategy.
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REVIEW – The End of All Our Labours
Will the world end in fire? In ice? Or grey goop? A review of The End of All Our Labours by Potassium Cockburn. I am, on the issue of humankind’s near future, an optimist. As humans we have a historic tendency to predict the worst, and yet our history has been one of steady progress.Continue reading “REVIEW – The End of All Our Labours”
Dear Damo : Why isn’t my space opera novel selling?
Welcome to the first in a new series of blog posts where I answer your questions about life, love, and self publishing. All names are changed to protect the innocent. Send your questions to me on Twitter @damiengwalter using hashtag #DearDamo * Dear Damo! I’ve always wanted to be a BESTSELLING writer! So, a few weeksContinue reading “Dear Damo : Why isn’t my space opera novel selling?”
Urban Fantasy : more than just sex with were-leopards
The numinous. The weird. The fantastic, or even the spiritual. Whatever name it goes by, humans have a profound need to glimpse some greater reality beyond our mundane existence. And there’s nowhere more mundane than a modern city, where everything down to the light fittings is human-made, and even the darkest alley is under CCTVContinue reading “Urban Fantasy : more than just sex with were-leopards”
Three hard earned lessons on building a Patreon
This was originally published as part of my regular newsletter, which you can sign up for here. Over the last 4 months I’ve built up my Patreon account from $18 to $176 and with luck it’ll carry on growing ;) Here are three lessons I’ve learned. 1. Getting new backers is hard! But worth it.Continue reading “Three hard earned lessons on building a Patreon”
Science Fiction is a global language describing our shared future
First published as part of the Impakt Festival 2012. In 1873 Jules Verne described the remarkable possibility of a journey made around the world in only eighty days in his pioneering science fiction novel. Less than a century later the same journey could be made in less than eighty hours. The facility of science fictionContinue reading “Science Fiction is a global language describing our shared future”
This is why Amazon’s ebook lists are full of crap
Recently I was talking to a friend who reads intensely, but has no interest in or knowledge of publishing. He’s a coder, who reads a half dozen non-fiction books a week. This is the kind of reader the industry needs. He’s also the kind of reader who until last year bought ebooks and print exclusivelyContinue reading “This is why Amazon’s ebook lists are full of crap”
Sorry Jonesy, but I can write for The Guardian AND love Terry Pratchett
Written with the support of my most excellent patrons. I never had the good fortune to meet Terry Pratchett, but I’ve been reading his books since I was eleven. My favourite Discworld tomes – Mort, Small Gods and Going Postal – have been read a half dozen times each at least. I also hold aContinue reading “Sorry Jonesy, but I can write for The Guardian AND love Terry Pratchett”
Why quiet is essential to your creative practice
For the last 15 days I’ve been writing a series of posts on creative fear, to take myself – and anyone else who wants to follow – past the barriers that keep us from creating. The series began with a personal essay on the need for quiet if we’re to be creative at all. OriginallyContinue reading “Why quiet is essential to your creative practice”
Damien Walter 