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”
Author Archives: Damien Walter
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?”
Kraken by China Mieville
China Miéville has a passion for London. The multi-award winning author has reflected the city’s surreal side in Un Lun Dun, set it to a drum’n’bass beat in King Rat, and inundated it with vampire imagoes in The Tain. Now, in his new novel, Miéville threatens to destroy the nation’s capital entirely in the tentacledContinue reading “Kraken by China Mieville”
The Accidental Expert
I gave a talk this afternoon to the DemonCrew, a very nice group of creative writing students at De Montfort University. Preparing for the talk made me realise just how much I know about the topic of Weird and Speculative fiction(s), (quite a lot, without sounding like a trumpet blower). It’s odd to find yourselfContinue reading “The Accidental Expert”
Is there any decent Bizarro fiction out there?
So the term Bizarro fiction has crossed my path three times in as many days. That trips my curiosity circuits, which in turn activate my data collection probes, which tell me that I need to read some of this stuff. Bizarro fiction styles itself as ‘literature’s equivalent to the cult section at the video store’.Continue reading “Is there any decent Bizarro fiction out there?”
The Internal Editor
One of the things about reviewing (and blogging, and developing literature) is that it determines your reading. At any given time I can have a dozen or more books being read in one professional context or another. And while many of the books are wonderful, its always a joy when you get the opportunity toContinue reading “The Internal Editor”
Damien Walter 