Brene Browne is a scientist of human stories. As an academic and researcher she has interviewed thousands of people about their life experiences, and from this data she draws insights about human behaviour and emotions. In 2012 she became famous for her research on shame – the powerful emotion that leads us to “close down”,Continue reading “Brene Brown’s 10 guideposts for wholehearted living”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
The five spiritual principles that lead to true power
Power is an inescapable aspect of modern life. Our work places, social lives and even families are often made harder by the struggle for power, status, money and control. Everyone hates “office politics” but we all get sucked in to the dynamics of human power far more often than we would like. But sometimes theContinue reading “The five spiritual principles that lead to true power”
On the internet, hate pays
In the desperate contest for online attention, hate is a tempting weapon. But it comes at a cost. * Do we use the word hate too lightly today? I hate this book, we say of the discarded paperback. Being a less than compelling story seems a minor crime to punish with hatred. Hate comes tattooedContinue reading “On the internet, hate pays”
Ethical publishing – now wouldn’t that be something?
UPDATE : Ghostwoods Books hit their target with 9 hours to spare. Woo-hoo! Contrary to rumour I don’t hate publishers. I understand that publishers are businesses, and as such they operate in their own best interests. The flip side of that is I feel it’s not just fair, but essential, to point out when theContinue reading “Ethical publishing – now wouldn’t that be something?”
The last days of #GamerGate …actually it’s dead now
UPDATE: #GamerGate was in its last days when I wrote this. Today it died. Or was put out of its misery by Anita Sarkeesian on The Colbert Report. That’s right…#GamerGate set out to silence a feminist games critic. Two months later she is on one of the world’s most watched television programmes. Well done! Here itContinue reading “The last days of #GamerGate …actually it’s dead now”
Art feasts upon its maker – is writing bad for you?
“A writer flirts with schizophrenia, nurtures synesthesia, and embraces obsessive-compulsive disorder. Your art feeds on you, your soul, and, yes, to a degree, your sanity. Writing novels worth reading will bugger up your mind, jeopardize your relationships, and distend your life. You have been warned.” David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks “Life isn’t a support systemContinue reading “Art feasts upon its maker – is writing bad for you?”
Science fiction’s utopias are built out of wilful ignorance
Project Hieroglyph challenges SF writers to move away from dystopian stories, but while the optimism is refreshing, real-world questions go unanswered Science fiction, for most of the 20th century, celebrated the idea that a competent man could build better machines to help make a better world. In recent years that prediction seems to have comeContinue reading “Science fiction’s utopias are built out of wilful ignorance”
Alan Watts explains the myth of the Fully Automatic universe
Zen Buddhist philosopher Alan Watts explains the two myths that have governed how humans see the universe for over 2000 years – the Ceramic and the Fully Automatic models of reality. What is the third model that helps us see reality more clearly? Alan Watts – The Ceramic and the Fully Automatic – YouTube.
Digital Publishing – a thought experiment
Rewind your imagination less than a decade to late 2007. Amazon are making final preparations to launch the Kindle e-reader and the ebook store that would, in just a few short years, come to dominate digital publishing. Now imagine, in true sci-fi alternate history style, that the major publishers had actually taken up the baton ofContinue reading “Digital Publishing – a thought experiment”
Why is publishing so biased against Amazon? No one likes their own killer
Hugh Howey writes up a sharp piece on the massive bias against Amazon in the reporting of news around the publishing industry. Howey frames his argument in the bigger picture of technology disrupting industry. Tesla is disrupting the legacy car industry. Netflix is disrupting the legacy movie and tv industry. And the list goes on,Continue reading “Why is publishing so biased against Amazon? No one likes their own killer”
The lesson of Authonomy? Good writing has great value
Does anyone remember Authonomy? The site launched by HarperCollins back in 2008 was supposed to revolutionise and democratise how new writers were discovered. I try and keep track of new talent entering the writing field, and it occurred to me recently that I couldn’t think of a single writer to come out of Authonomy andContinue reading “The lesson of Authonomy? Good writing has great value”
The one technical skill no writer can do without
Technology and the internet have changed writing and publishing forever. Way back in the mists of time copying a book meant paying dozens of monks to sit and transcribe each word by hand. It was expensive! Around 1450 the Gutenberg printing press made it much easier to print a few hundred copies of a book,Continue reading “The one technical skill no writer can do without”
Damien Walter 