Author Archives: Damien Walter

Leicester vs. Nottingham

It’s just over mid way through NaNoWriMo and my home city of Leicester are down 1,101,763 words to 1,471,111 against nearby Nottingham. Come on Leicester…just write fish over and over again! I made the sane choice of not doing NaNoWriMo this year, I have another writing target that takes precedent which I will reveal atContinue reading “Leicester vs. Nottingham”

Best SF of the Noughties

Sarah Crown over at The Guardian book blog today asks readers for their top books of the noughties. Unsurprisingly my picks are quite speculative in nature, and there are so many that I eventually gave up trying to list them all. It was also complicated by the fact that many of my favourite books readContinue reading “Best SF of the Noughties”

The Entrepreneurial Writer

I will be giving a talk next Monday on the theme of The Entrepreneurial Writer as part of the New Ways With Writing series of talks organised by Writing School Leicester. Come along. The talk is about succesful writers are part of and contribute to many communities. I think it costs a few quid toContinue reading “The Entrepreneurial Writer”

Listening to – The Bible: A Biography

Recently I’ve discovered the non-fiction author Karen Armstrong, via her short book A Brief History of Myth. I found the book fascinating and brilliantly well written. Armstrong is currently in the news for her book The Case for God, which has been vying for position in the bestseller lists with Richard Dawkins The God DelusionContinue reading “Listening to – The Bible: A Biography”

Writing by Hand

I’ve been typing up from the first draft of my ninja story this evening. Moving from first o second draft is my favourite part of the writing process. First draft is exciting, so hence also scary. Its like a new relationship. You have all these great expectations and lots of passion, and sometimes things turnContinue reading “Writing by Hand”

Bookshops are not Churches. But.

Earlier this week the Guardian book website unleashed a tumult of anger and frustration against the UK’s largest bookseller, Waterstones. The thrust of Stuart Jeffries article was that with its increasing commercialisation (3-4-2 sales, celebrity biogs etc etc) Waterstones had gone from saviour to destroyer of bookselling in just over a decade.

Franchise Heaven

Over at Ecstatic Days, Mark Charan Newton talks to Black Library superstar Dan Abnet about the strengths of fiction franchises, a conversation which should be had more. Franchise novels are a much derided form of fiction. In some cases, the derision is spot on. Many franchise novels are poorly written, utterly generic and bottom lineContinue reading “Franchise Heaven”

Shadows and Fairies

I had a little book shopping spree this evening. Jeffrey Ford’s World Fantasy award winning The Shadow Year and Catherynne M. Valente’s The Orphans Tale – Volume 1. I have read Jeffrey Ford’s short fiction and I’m excited to read him at novel length. Cat Valente has impressed me with her online serial novel, althoughContinue reading “Shadows and Fairies”

Serious Fantasy

I’ve been a bit quiet since World Fantasy. Blame it on recovery from jet-lag and reacquanting myself with my day job, which decided to go and get all creative whilst I was away. But I’ve told it what’s what, and I think it’s learnt its lesson. World Fantasy was head and shoulders the best conventionContinue reading “Serious Fantasy”