Author portrait

Michael Walters

Notes from the peninsula

Originally I posted bits and pieces here about my life, but recently it’s been more somewhere I write about films, especially the film challenges I enjoy taking on (see the side panel). My 2019 debut novel is still available with Salt Publishing: The Complex. I’m writing a second novel, but midlife has thrown me some curveballs, so it’s taking longer than I’d like.

I also have a PATREON where you can follow me and read more about my writing progress, see notes on the novels I’m reading, there’s an old podcast I keep threatening to revive, and other low-key shenanigans.

March 03 2018, 20:09

High Rise

I read several Ballard books in the late nineties — my mid-twenties — starting with short stories, before being entranced by the original shiny silver paperback cover of Super-Cannes, and then going back to his earlier work. [more...]

January 01 2018, 11:11

I like being at home

Woke up late. My son is in Sydney for three weeks and when I walk past his bedroom the quiet inside makes me sad. I'm trying to be more mindful as I go about my low-key morning. [more...]

December 31 2017, 16:25

Red cabbage

It was mid-afternoon. I ate some of the cabbage wrapped in a slice of bread. It felt like a treat. Red cabbage. Simple pleasures. [more...]

December 30 2017, 21:15

Written on the Body, Let the Right One In

Week 1. I'm going to try to read a novel and watch a film each week in 2018. In time, I'll work out what I'm doing with it. We'll see if it sticks. I love the idea. [more...]

December 29 2017, 18:50

Habits

My mind is circling the same wishes for the New Year that it circles every year, to do with health and writing. Each year I make some progress, never enough to make the desire for change to go away. [more...]

December 28 2017, 21:45

Blogging v2018.0

I remember when blogging was something people did to express themselves without worrying too much about quality. It was a daily thing, a quick thing, something informal and loose. [more...]

December 08 2017, 21:14

It Follows (2014)

I avoided watching It Follows because the idea was so unsettling. Like most unpleasant things avoided, the reality was nothing like as bad as I imagined. It’s actually genius — a really great film. [more...]

December 07 2017, 14:23

Winter

Winter is when I want to retreat to my burrow. The garden becomes inhospitable, but often beautiful to look at from indoors. Simple things please me when it is cold outside. [more...]

December 07 2017, 14:01

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a way of exercising your ability to pay attention: when you can focus on something, the critical thoughts quieten down. – Ruby Wax, Frazzled [more...]

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