And thinking a little more about anti-Amazon bias in reporting. Here Melville House comments on the new French “anti-Amazon” law. * The new law forbids the combination of free shipping and a 5% discount on online book sales, meaning that sites like Amazon cannot offer consumers free delivery as a way to undercut independent bookshops,Continue reading “France bails out its publishing monopoly”
Category Archives: Writing Journal
Women Are Destroying Science Fiction! (That’s OK; They Created It)
What what makes, one may also destroy. Women writers, having created science fiction in works like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, are now destroying it. NPR books picks up this idea today. Of course, science fiction isn’t being destroyed. It’s changing, and the new space being claimed by diverse voices in the genre is the energy changingContinue reading “Women Are Destroying Science Fiction! (That’s OK; They Created It)”
‘Weird things customers say in bookshops’ by Jen Campbell
Originally posted on Reading The Universe:
Hello Everyone! It’s certainly been a while, and frankly there are no excuses. I do get the emails reminding me to post each week (which I set up myself!), but whenever I think ‘Oh thats what I need to do tonight’, it slips my mind again. Bad bad bad.…
“I thought that my mothers fans would be angry with me”
It’s really impossible for any of us who haven’t experienced it to really comprehend abuse from a parent. But that experience becomes even more complicated when the abuser is famous. The Guardian today reports the abuse allegations against Marion Zimmer Bradley by her daughter Moira Greyland. In doing so it spoke directly to Greyland. ThisContinue reading ““I thought that my mothers fans would be angry with me””
Why writing workshops fail, and why you need one
Imagine a group of mechanics, faces grimed with sweat and dirt, hands grazed by friction burns, overalls grubby with grease. Imagine them standing around the carcass of a motor car, stripped down to its component parts, sucking their teeth about why it won’t run. “It needs more oomph.” Says one. “Oomph?” Says another. “Yeah, oomph.Continue reading “Why writing workshops fail, and why you need one”
Before Their Books Were Famous, These Authors Worked the Following Odd Jobs
Originally posted on Coffee and Bookaholics:
It may seem as though all the famous writers have full-time writing jobs to which boost their chances of their novels selling and hitting the bookshelves. However, by looking through the authors etched in literary history, this is far from the case. Many of our iconic authors worked odd-end…
Who is the most outrageous and imaginative scifi writer in the world?
Today’s best search term to reach my blog was “most outrageous and imaginative scifi writer in the world”. Which of course leads me to ask the question, who IS most outrageous and imaginative scifi writer in the world? Outrageous and Imaginative. That’s a killer duo of adjectives to combine. I’m going to put my thinking capContinue reading “Who is the most outrageous and imaginative scifi writer in the world?”
My nominations for Speculative Fiction 2014
Criticism and non-fiction writing seem to play an ever bigger part in science fiction and fantasy. Consider the issue of diversity in these genres, which has reached some kind of apogee in 2014. And a great deal of the energy driving that change has been generated online by non-fiction writing. Most of this writing isContinue reading “My nominations for Speculative Fiction 2014”
Writer’s Digest cuts links with Author Solutions
David Gaughran reports that Writers Digest has cuts its partnership with Authors Solutions. This is highly significant as a bellwether of publishing industry attitudes to the controversial vanity publishing operations run by Author Solutions. Author Solutions aggressively pursues strategic partnerships to lend credibility to its scammy practices. More importantly, these partners help keep the pipelineContinue reading “Writer’s Digest cuts links with Author Solutions”
WaPo on the politics of Dave Eggers
I glimpsed Dave Eggers once, very briefly, as he flew out the door of the 826 Valencia project in San Francisco. I was there learning about what it takes to build a world class literacy focused NGO from the ground up. He was just dropping in to the project he had helped found. He was impressivelyContinue reading “WaPo on the politics of Dave Eggers”
Genre needs a lot more cruel and nasty reviews
I’ve reviewed my fair share of sci-fi genre novels. I started right here on this blog…eek!..about 8 years ago. Not long after that I began doing reviews for The Fix. I began blogging and reviewing for The Guardian waaaaay back in the historic mists of 2008. And I’ve contributed book reviews here and there toContinue reading “Genre needs a lot more cruel and nasty reviews”
Can sci-fi ever not be political?
When is a giant lizard not a giant lizard? When it’s a metaphor for the might of the military-industrial complex. Audiences turning up for the latest cinematic incarnation of Godzilla have expressed some disappointment that much of the battling kaiju action was kept off screen. In its place director Gareth Edwards makes the smart decisionContinue reading “Can sci-fi ever not be political?”
Damien Walter 