Author Archives: Damien Walter

Very few stories are only one story. The common writing exercise of encapsulating a story in a single sentence often shows this. Yes, Jack and the Beanstalk is the story of a boy who fights a giant. But it’s also the story of a giant pestered by tiny humans. And of a beanstalk forced  toContinue reading “The big story and the small story”

If, like me, you haven’t had the chance to catch up with John Gwynne’s ongoing four-book series The Faithful and the Fallen, then you might have greeted the news he’s landed a “six-figure deal” for another three novels with a shrug. But the arrival of yet another writer “in the tradition of George RR MartinContinue reading “Are fantasy meganovels swamping the genre?”

But it took a lot of thought to arrive at that answer. A little while ago I opened a discussion about the ethicality of book reviewers accepting payment directly from writers. I got a LOT of responses, all of them well considered and constructive. They ranged from “yes, the more reviews the better” to “no, thatContinue reading “Will I be doing paid reviews? Yes.”

I’ve been reviewing books in a kind-of-professional context for a decade now. I say kind-of-professional because while book reviewing doesn’t pay a lot, it does usually pay a fair amount. But that payment always comes from the publication, not the publisher or writer. I’ve developed a fairly high profile as a reviewer, with a regularContinue reading “Should I charge money to review your book?”

Wait up. I’m not telling you to never talk. You’re a human being and have as much right to yell your opinions into the world as anyone else. But. This is an interesting post by Deliah S Dawson, a writer I know by name and nothing more. The jist of her argument, as the titleContinue reading “Do you actually have something to say? Then why are you talking?”

There’s an age old conflict in the writing world. High art vs. low art. Popular culture vs. Cultural elites. Bestseller status vs. Critical acclaim. What’s the difference? Why does it matter, if it does matter? At the heart of one side of that argument is the simple idea of story. When I teach, I askContinue reading “Storytelling vs The Human Condition”

Nothing. I’ve already noted here that the motives of those people block voting on the Hugo awards have very little to do with those awards, and everything to do with pimping up the organiser’s profile in the eyes of their reactionary, right wing audience. The Hugo block vote is an act of immense selfishness. ButContinue reading “The only thing you need to do to fix the Hugos”