Author Archives: Damien Walter

The Price of Victory…

…is eternal sleeplessness. It’s approaching 5am GMT and having watched Obama take one state after another and cross 270 in the electoral college, until now he is on 338 and very much the President Elect. The rumour is that Obama will be making his voctory speech soon, so sleep is not yet an option. ThereContinue reading “The Price of Victory…”

Word War Clarion

The gauntlet has officialy been thrown, and four hardy veterans of Clarion 2008 have taken up the challenge! Thats right it’s…Word War Clarion!! Over the next 30 days Daniel ‘Smoking Buddha’ Pinney, Gra Linnaea, Keffy Kerhli and myself, Damien G. Walter will be competeing to be the first to reach 50,000 words as part ofContinue reading “Word War Clarion”

NaNoWriMo 2008

After much prevaricating I’ve arived on the eve of NaNoWriMo 2008 undecided about whether to take part or not. I made it to 24,000 words in 2006, then skipped 2007. But should I throw myself off the cliff and try again in 2008? There are many arguments for and against but after much consideration I’veContinue reading “NaNoWriMo 2008”

20,000th Anniversary

Congratulations reader number 20,000! Tonight you, whoever you are, have pushed this little blog past the 20,000 hit mark. Not much in the grand scheme of things, and probably less than a nanoseconds worth of Google traffic, but a giant leap (made in very small hops) for this little blog. Thank you all who haveContinue reading “20,000th Anniversary”

Murky Contents

The citents of Murky Depth #6 have been confirmed. Look out for this in December, featuring my story Horizon. Issue #6 cover art: Jason Beam Contents:- The Last Marriane Alan Frackleton [Art: James Fletcher] All I Want For Christmas Christian Carter-Stephenson [Mark Chilcott] Are You Lonesome Tonight Alan James Roll [Nancy Farmer] Between Hanson andContinue reading “Murky Contents”

Community is King

OK, so the stand out line from the Cory Doctorow interview I am currently transcribing is that ‘If content isn’t king, then community is’. Doctorow is a writer at the heart of a community of technologists, sci-fi fans, passionate readers and probably many other vectors. Its a community cross-section he shares with a writer likeContinue reading “Community is King”

A Little Space Between Things

I’ve take a little break from writing over the last few weeks. Not a break in writing itself, as I have still done a bit, but a break from making myself write. To paraphrase David Mamet, a writers life is 10% achievement and 90% guilt, but for the last few weeks I’ve taken my footContinue reading “A Little Space Between Things”

The Politics of Gloom

The debate on positivity in science fiction continues. Co-editor of Years Best SF Kathryn Cramer makes a robust response to my Guardian article on the subject. Lou Anders, editorial director of Pyr, finds the middle ground and Jetse de Vries, who started the debate back in January, rebutts Cramer’s response. There have been too manyContinue reading “The Politics of Gloom”

Science fiction doesn’t have to be gloomy, does it?

The future can be worrying to consider at the best of times. But with a global economic crisis looming, a war on terrorism and the continuing threat of climate change to ponder, the future looks bleak indeed. It’s at times like these that people seek escape in the pages of popular fiction. But anyone lookingContinue reading “Science fiction doesn’t have to be gloomy, does it?”

Free World Fantasy E-Books

Tor.com are offering two free e-books nominated for this years World Fantasy awards. I have not read either War of the Oaks by Emma Bull or Dogland by Will Shetterly, but look forward to getting into both quite soon. You can download the e-books for free for the next month, but will need to beContinue reading “Free World Fantasy E-Books”