Cognitive computers employ evolutionary principles to design and 3D print perfectly beautiful bodies and lure man (or woman) kind to our doom.
Author Archives: Damien Walter
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”
Holstee Manifesto
A Vast Bit of Hod
This story is also a riddle. I will congratulate anyone who tells me the answer. A Vast Bit of Hod by Damien G. Walter The bloody bell rang again. The bloody bell hadn’t stopped ringing all bloody day. Harold was bloody sick of it. How was he supposed to keep the shop spick-and-span with customersContinue reading “A Vast Bit of Hod”
Emotions when writing
Don’t underestimate or ignore the emotional and psychological challenge of writing. More writers are defeated in this arena than by lack of skill or imagination. Writing can be joyous and fun. But it can also be strenuous, isolating and, sometimes, downright scary. Every piece of writing is a journey. Some longer or shorter than others.Continue reading “Emotions when writing”
What is Rule 34?
Rule 34 is a science fiction novel about cybercrime, maker culture and porn. But most of all, it’s a novel about you. It’s 9:30am on a painfully dull Thursday morning in the office. The boss has retreated behind her wall of pot plants after hovering over your shoulder like a huge and bothersome horsefly, peeringContinue reading “What is Rule 34?”
Does social media reveal a ‘silent liberal majority’?
The media often projects the consensus that the majority of the population hold conservative viewpoints. For instance, it’s generally agreed that a majority of the UK population support capital punishment. When that does not prove to be true in practice the terms ‘silent majority’ or ‘moral majority’ are used to imply that for various reasonsContinue reading “Does social media reveal a ‘silent liberal majority’?”
Picking up the threads
As a writer, you have to trust that your work will get better each time you come back to it. Very few writing projects are started and finished in one sitting. Even a short story requires planning, writing, re-writing, editing. Novels can take months and years to go from flash of inspiration to final manuscript.Continue reading “Picking up the threads”
You must face your fear
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there willContinue reading “You must face your fear”
Why @ChuckWendig is wrong.
Chuck Wendig’s notoriety extends it’s reach through the viral network of the interwebs with this little post about Turning Writers Into Motherfucking Rockstars. Apparently this would make writers better respected, or at the very least, better paid. I disagree. Vehemently. To show you why, let’s examine some of the unexamined assumptions Wendig builds his caseContinue reading “Why @ChuckWendig is wrong.”
Not the Booker Prize
The Guardian opens up nominations for the 3rd annual Not the Booker Prize today. Clearly I am biased, but this now ranks among my favourite literary prizes for it’s sheer anarchic energy. The first year of the prize unleashed a frenzy of block voting in the longlist stage, and gave us Sam Jordison’s review of JamesContinue reading “Not the Booker Prize”
A Game of Egos
A wealthy dynasty brought to its knees by popular revolt, the highest in the land caught in a web of corruption, and at the heart of it all a powerful woman with remarkable hair. If you see the Murdoch clan, Chipping Norton set and Rebekah Brooks in these archetypes then you have clearly been spendingContinue reading “A Game of Egos”
Damien Walter 