Today’s best search term to reach my blog was “most outrageous and imaginative scifi writer in the world”. Which of course leads me to ask the question, who IS most outrageous and imaginative scifi writer in the world? Outrageous and Imaginative. That’s a killer duo of adjectives to combine. I’m going to put my thinking capContinue reading “Who is the most outrageous and imaginative scifi writer in the world?”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
My nominations for Speculative Fiction 2014
Criticism and non-fiction writing seem to play an ever bigger part in science fiction and fantasy. Consider the issue of diversity in these genres, which has reached some kind of apogee in 2014. And a great deal of the energy driving that change has been generated online by non-fiction writing. Most of this writing isContinue reading “My nominations for Speculative Fiction 2014”
Writer’s Digest cuts links with Author Solutions
David Gaughran reports that Writers Digest has cuts its partnership with Authors Solutions. This is highly significant as a bellwether of publishing industry attitudes to the controversial vanity publishing operations run by Author Solutions. Author Solutions aggressively pursues strategic partnerships to lend credibility to its scammy practices. More importantly, these partners help keep the pipelineContinue reading “Writer’s Digest cuts links with Author Solutions”
The one key secret of creating compelling characters
I had never heard of Emily Gould until I learned that she was being reinvented in the pages of the New York Times. Gould, I have learned, was a particularly aggressive blogger of personal confession and celebrity gossip, who has now graduated to becoming a semi-auobiographical novelist. Not an uncommon progression, in a time whenContinue reading “The one key secret of creating compelling characters”
WaPo on the politics of Dave Eggers
I glimpsed Dave Eggers once, very briefly, as he flew out the door of the 826 Valencia project in San Francisco. I was there learning about what it takes to build a world class literacy focused NGO from the ground up. He was just dropping in to the project he had helped found. He was impressivelyContinue reading “WaPo on the politics of Dave Eggers”
Use Fiction Techniques to Write a Great Journal Article
It’s really hard to overstate how much I agree with this post on using fiction techniques in journalism. Short form and blogging may not leave much scope for storytelling, but once you get up in to long form and feature writing, narrative techniques become essential. Facts nad information won’t hold a reader for thousands ofContinue reading “Use Fiction Techniques to Write a Great Journal Article”
Genre needs a lot more cruel and nasty reviews
I’ve reviewed my fair share of sci-fi genre novels. I started right here on this blog…eek!..about 8 years ago. Not long after that I began doing reviews for The Fix. I began blogging and reviewing for The Guardian waaaaay back in the historic mists of 2008. And I’ve contributed book reviews here and there toContinue reading “Genre needs a lot more cruel and nasty reviews”
A digital renaissance for the science fiction short story
A man wakes up from a car crash to find that he is an “electric ant”: an android programmed to believe it is human. At home he uses micro-tools to open up his own chest and discovers a tiny spool of tape inside. Punching new holes in the tape makes new objects appear in hisContinue reading “A digital renaissance for the science fiction short story”
Strange Bodies by Marcel Theroux
STRANGE BODIES by Marcel Theroux – Literary body horror goes existential. “Am I just a body?” Asks the four year old daughter of Nicholas Slopen, unfortunate protagonist of Marcel Theroux’s metaphysical thriller Strange Bodies. The answer Slopen gives us the reader, “not even that”, is less than comforting. The quest to discover what it isContinue reading “Strange Bodies by Marcel Theroux”
Can sci-fi ever not be political?
When is a giant lizard not a giant lizard? When it’s a metaphor for the might of the military-industrial complex. Audiences turning up for the latest cinematic incarnation of Godzilla have expressed some disappointment that much of the battling kaiju action was kept off screen. In its place director Gareth Edwards makes the smart decisionContinue reading “Can sci-fi ever not be political?”
A modest proposal to combat Amazon (oh and piracy)
My last post on Amazon for a little while, I promise. As previously noted Amazon have cornered the digital marketplace for ebooks, which has the potential to mean the end of booksellers and publishers as we know them. Once Amazon have destroyed the industry infrastructure, there is little doubt they will bring down the 70%Continue reading “A modest proposal to combat Amazon (oh and piracy)”
Why Author Earnings makes sense
Hugh Howey and his team have published the latest Author Earnings update. And the story, as with all previous updates, is that self-published authors (working primarily through the Amazon Kindle marketplace) are doing very nicely thank you. In fact, much better than debut authors published by the Big 5. The data and methodology used toContinue reading “Why Author Earnings makes sense”
Damien Walter 