Fancy spending 5 (or possibly even 10 weeks) learning to write speculative fiction with me as a tutor? If you have survived the terror of that prospect or even think it might have some merit and are within shouting distance of Leicester, then the course advertised below may be for you.
Author Archives: Damien Walter
Husbandry by EJ Fischer @ Strange Horizons
If you only read one work of speculative fiction today, make sure it is Husbandry by E J Fischer (if you read two, read Husbandry twice). Its a wicked zombie story with more than a little to say about the state of modern realationships. Strange Horizons have once again displayed the presence of mind toContinue reading “Husbandry by EJ Fischer @ Strange Horizons”
Food, San Diego, Clarion
There are seventeen other people in the world who know the slightly sick feeling I experienced when I read these words in the search terms used to find my blog just a few minutes ago: Clarion San Diego Food As I type eighteen new Clarionites are preparing to embark on the potentialy life changing experienceContinue reading “Food, San Diego, Clarion”
Hollywood must read the Turkey City Lexicon
***WARNING – SPOILER ALERT*** I’m about to give away the ending of Knowing, the new Nicholas Cage vehicle from director Alex Proyas (who over a decade ago brought us the much superior Dark City). So, if you don’t want to know the entirely predictable end of a film that could have been so much more,Continue reading “Hollywood must read the Turkey City Lexicon”
What makes a Hugo nominee tick?
I’ve been lucky enough to interview both Charlie Stross and Cory Doctorow in the last year. To celebrate their nominations for both the Hugo and Prometheus awards, here are the two interviews again for anyone who missed them. I learned a lot from doing both interviews. Charlie has an insight into what science fiction isContinue reading “What makes a Hugo nominee tick?”
To self publish or to not
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about self publishing recently. I’ve been considering two projects that might be described as self publishing. And I’ve been looking at how self publishing fits into my professional life as a literature development worker. And I’ve just been following a thread incited by a Facebook status update fromContinue reading “To self publish or to not”
Hugo Nomination for Weird Tales!
The Hugo nominations are out and my two of my favourite magazines, Interzone and Weird Tales, have been nominated! Both receive a nod in the semi-pro zine category. Good luck to Andy Cox and Ann Vandermeer both. Electric Velocipede also scoops a nomination for best fanzine, so good luck to John Klima. The John WContinue reading “Hugo Nomination for Weird Tales!”
Neil vs. Colbert
The leader of my tribe on the Colbert Report. I’m so happy.
Brokeback Tales
It being late Sunday evening, I want to throw a question out into the void and see what comes back. Geoff Ryman often rolled out the term ‘broken backed’ when he was teaching at Clarion. Geoff meant it not as a general term for a bad story, but as a specific term for a goodContinue reading “Brokeback Tales”
Art and Things
The super beautiful Art and Things magazine have told me they want to publish my short story Momentum. It really is very beautiful publication. I feel all cool and trendy now!
Mirrorshades
John Klima sticks his neck out and nominates his top 10 most influential SF / F anthologies over at Tor.com. It’s a list that makes me want to read more, as do the the comments. But I was surprised to see my most influential anthology went entirely unmentioned… Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology was the bookContinue reading “Mirrorshades”
Far Eastern tales of whimsy and malice
I’ve been avidly reading (and listening) to Eugie Foster’s perfectly formed fairy tales in short story form since I started reviewing for The Fix (which Eugie edits). They have appeared in some of my favourite venues including the Drabblecast and Realms of Fantasy (sadly no longer with us). Now they have been collected together inContinue reading “Far Eastern tales of whimsy and malice”
Damien Walter 