Damien Walter

Porthmeor

It’s my last night in St Ives. I’ve somewhat fallen in love with the place, and with much of Corwall (all the bits not Newquay). There is a storm coming in, and I’m sat on the headland overlooking Porthmeor beach, where there are thunderous white waves smashing onto the rocks and sand. This week hasContinue reading “Porthmeor”

Hepworth Sculpture Garden

There is a conflict being played out in the Hepworth Museum. The entrance space is occupied with a display on Barbara Hepworth’s life, each major step in the process of her growth as an artist expalined and illustrated. It was a process of discovery and loss, the apparent permanence of her sculpture contrasting the transientContinue reading “Hepworth Sculpture Garden”

St Ives

In St Ives and wonderfully lost. All the winding cobbled streets are idosyncraticaly identical, and any attempt to navigate to any specific place is doomed to failure. The best solution I have discovered is just to wander randomly and enjoy what you stumble upon. And you always end up back at the harbour eventualy. I’veContinue reading “St Ives”

Shoe Fail

So. My Merrell walking shoes are not waterproof. In fact, my one year old Merrell walking shoes (I’m going to keep mentioning the brand in the hope of shaming them) today did a good impression of a pair of sponges, relaying every ounce of nearby water directly to my socks. I woke this morning toContinue reading “Shoe Fail”

Castles Made of Sand

Today I built a sand castle. Having a beach full of sand to play with proved to be quite a distraction from writing and from the book I was reading. (Lanark, which I am really enjoying again after getting distracted from it by general work related business.) I was idly digging one hand in theContinue reading “Castles Made of Sand”

A Long Walk – Newquay to Perranporth

I am on holiday. I might might not have mentioned this yet. So there…now you know. I set off from Newquay on my journey southward around the Cornish coastline. Newquay is not my kind of town. Picture the clubbing district of a grim industrial city, complete with classily named clubs like Silk, Envy and Charisma.Continue reading “A Long Walk – Newquay to Perranporth”

The Hundredth Master of Ninja Assassin

I finished The Hundredth Master of Ninja Assassin tonight! Woo-hoo! This story has been on my desktop (I keep all my work in progress on the desktop of my computer so I can’t escape it) for about a year now. I started it after reading The Cambist and Lord Iron by Daniel Abraham, a storyContinue reading “The Hundredth Master of Ninja Assassin”

Thought and Dream

Spent the day at a Writing and Meditation retreat on Queens Road in Leicester. The area seems to be a hot bed of Buddhist activity, with at least half a dozen different meditation groups around and about. The day has left me thinking about how writing and meditation combine. I’ve always made relaxation and visualisationContinue reading “Thought and Dream”

The Princess has been eaten

The story in progress is currently under the working title of Princess, Eaten by Beetles – Regurgitated. (PEBBR) I’m happy to report that the Princess in question has been eaten, and over the weekend will likely be regurgitated. I might post an extract here if and when I find the end of the story. JustContinue reading “The Princess has been eaten”

Entities underrepresented in weird fiction

So weird fiction has developed a fondness for certain..things, bordering on the fetishistic. Fungus and squid feature prominently. Insects, arachnids and beetles are also reasonably common place. For which we have Vandermeer and Mieville to blame. Thank. Blame. Thank. But there are so many other weird forms of life that deserve representation! For example, whichContinue reading “Entities underrepresented in weird fiction”

Retreat

I seem to have a growing desire to hide in a dark room, or more likely a quiet library, for a year or so and write something mammoth. To take a journey into the far reaches of imagination and see what is out there. Right now the world is keeping me more than a littleContinue reading “Retreat”

Why is literature so miserable?

Between reviewing, critiquing, research and work commitments, it seems like I rarely get to read a book just because I want to. But every now and again I get the desire to read something purely for pleasure. And quite often when that happens, I want to read a book that I might loosely describe asContinue reading “Why is literature so miserable?”