Author Archives: Damien Walter

Agency

As a writer, you get used to doing thing for yourself. But one piece of common place wisdom is that in order to get published writers need a literary agent. Mark Liam Piggott at the Guardian blog is not so sure about that, having been represented by agents but eventualy selling his first novel himselfContinue reading “Agency”

How many Clarionites does it take to record a podcast?

Eighteen apparently. Every week at Clarion, Shaun Farrell of the podcast Adventures in Sci-fi Publishing would pop by and interview the instructors, then in the final week he interviewed us, the Clarionites. You can listen to the result here. Be aware, I have not yet listened to this myself. The thing they don’t you whenContinue reading “How many Clarionites does it take to record a podcast?”

The Kindle is to E-Books as the IPod is to…

Or rather not. Today over at the Guardian, Jack Schofield asks if the Kindle ebook reader is becoming Amazon’s IPod. Schofield argues that it may be newspapers, not books, that lauch the e-reader revolution and draw the Kindle up to IPod status. But as Schofield himself points out, its more likely that e-books will proceedContinue reading “The Kindle is to E-Books as the IPod is to…”

Clarion: Graduating Class of 2008

So today I graduated Clarion. WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!! It has been a long, hard six weeks. So long. So hard. They don’t tell you how much hard work Claron is going to be when they let you in. I heard the words ‘Bootcamp for writers’ and thought..pfaff…all day every day to just read and write stories. EeezyContinue reading “Clarion: Graduating Class of 2008”

Racoon Totems

So those of you following the saga of our Clarion instructors totem animals are probably thinking, what about Geoff and Nalo? Kelly left us with Rabbits, Jim is flapping around with the Crows, Mary-Anne gave us hummingbirds and Neil arrived with a pair of hooting Owls (and a cricket match). Well tonight totem animal numberContinue reading “Racoon Totems”

Wainscot Tarot and approaching goodbyes

Amidst my hectic Clarion schedule I’ve been working on a flash fiction piece for Behind the Wainscot, who are publishing a linked series of stories inspired by tarot cards a little later this month. I was pretty excited to be invited to take part, especialy when I saw the list of other contributors which includesContinue reading “Wainscot Tarot and approaching goodbyes”

What do you want?

And who are you? Yesterday the Clarion group sat in a semi-circle around Neil Gaiman and listened to him talk about story. The light was shining so brightly everone was glowing. I have photos, I may share them. Neil talked about want, specificaly what characters want and using knowledge of that to make a storyContinue reading “What do you want?”

I am a God of Subjective Reality…

…and I like David Brin! The Clarion group just received a splendid theatrical performance from the Hugo award winning author. Two key pieces of advice: 1. Control your ego! 2. Enjoy your success. 3. Writing is magic. (Because of the subjective reality thing) Both delivered in circuitous but fascinating fashion alongside a general theme ofContinue reading “I am a God of Subjective Reality…”

Momentum in Serendipity magazine

My short story ‘Momentum’ is in this months issue of Serendipity, the magazine of magical realism. This is a re-print from Electric Velocipede #13, so if you don’t have a subscription to that fabulous ‘zine (and you really should) then here is a second chance at the story. There are also tales from Rhys Hughes,Continue reading “Momentum in Serendipity magazine”

Kelly’s Crows

Today I finished two weeks at Clarion. It feels like much longer. There is a consensus that one week of Clarion world time is about three weeks of real world time (or should that be the other way around?). One of my fellow clarionites has observed that we are living in strange environment. The weatherContinue reading “Kelly’s Crows”