If you could journey to any fantasy world, which would it be? I, like many millions of others, would have to choose JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth – although, given the option, I’d divide my time between Gondor and Rivendell, and skip the guided tours of Moria and Mordor. Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians andContinue reading “The Magicians is Harry Potter for grown-ups”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
Yep. That needs another draft.
It’s a great feeling to finish a piece of writing. Triumphant. So looking at work you thought was finished and realising it isn’t finished at all is painnnnnnful. The mind goes in to self-defence mode. Or self destruct mode. Obviously you suck. What ever made you think you could write at all. Give it up.Continue reading “Yep. That needs another draft.”
The spy who came in from the multiverse
Will Ellwood is a member of The Speculators writing group, which is now accelerating towards its two year anniversary. This week Will has had his first professional publication in issue 12 of Flurb, edited by Rudy Rucker. It’s a hell of a way to start a writing career, being published alongside cyberpunk legends Bruce Sterling,Continue reading “The spy who came in from the multiverse”
Science Fiction is the most valuable art ever. Discuss.
So. Today at the Out of this World event at the British Library (which was really rather wonderful), Neil Gaiman shared a fascinating factoid with the audience. While appearing as a Guest of Honour at China’s largest state approved Science Fiction convention, Neil decided to enquire why SF, once frowned upon by the Chinese government,Continue reading “Science Fiction is the most valuable art ever. Discuss.”
Why a book is not a film
There’s a nice idea in the Ricky Gervais movie The Invention of Lying, where in a world without lies, films are now factual scripts read by their authors directly to a camera. Without lies you can’t have fiction. Or actors. In fact you can’t have films as we know them. Films are treated like books.Continue reading “Why a book is not a film”
Good curation is much more valuable than cash
A good friend has just sold a debut story to an excellent but non-paying market. There are a lot of markets for short fiction. Many of them are bad. Some of them pay. Some of the ones that pay the most are the worst. In the world of short fiction money is a very badContinue reading “Good curation is much more valuable than cash”
Critics aren’t your best friends, they’re your only friends
John Scalzi made a strange defence of the Hugo awards recently on his blog, that made me a little sad: I do think there’s a core of commenters whose problem internalizing that other people have other tastes is overlaid with a more-than-mild contempt for fandom, i.e., “Oh, fandom. You’ve shown again why you can’t beContinue reading “Critics aren’t your best friends, they’re your only friends”
New Liberal Arts
It’s hard to know what the future will bring: the only thing you can be sure of is that it won’t be the past. This is a truth that seems to have eluded the current government as they busily reshape our nation’s education system in preparation for the 19th century. The Tories have indicated aContinue reading “New Liberal Arts”
Micro Sci-Fi 1: When we hear the Siren sing
Cognitive computers employ evolutionary principles to design and 3D print perfectly beautiful bodies and lure man (or woman) kind to our doom. Rules of Micro SF: Tell a story in one sentence. It can be any length but must work grammatically and be reasonably well parsed by a reader. Include at least two or more hyperlinksContinue reading “Micro Sci-Fi 1: When we hear the Siren sing”
Micro SF 1: When we hear the Siren sing
Cognitive computers employ evolutionary principles to design and 3D print perfectly beautiful bodies and lure man (or woman) kind to our doom.
Poetry is more powerful than ever
I love poetry. I hate poets. That is an overstatement. I understand that most (by which I mean 99.99%) poets are in the process of becoming. It can take a looooooong time to master poetry. A bad poem can be written in moments. A great poem is the accrued experience of a lifetime. It’s bestContinue reading “Poetry is more powerful than ever”
Damien Walter 