Samuel Peterson’s Reviews > Daemon Voices: On Stories and Storytelling > Status Update
Samuel Peterson
is on page 8 of 480
"Next in my list of responsibilities comes honesty—emotional honesty. We should never try to draw on emotional credit to which our story is not entitled...I read a novel that gratuitously introduced a Holocaust theme. The theme had nothing to do with the story—it was there for one purpose only, which is to force a particular response and then graft it onto the book. Stories should earn their tears and not pilfer them
— May 06, 2026 07:35AM
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Samuel’s Previous Updates
Samuel Peterson
is on page 78 of 480
"The business of the storyteller, or the novelist, it seems to me, is with the path and not the wood." Exactly. The amount of the woods that we as readers should see should only be what is along the path of the story. We as readers should not have a path that disappears or is vague and undefined that it takes us a while to get back on. It should be focused and clear.
— 12 hours, 36 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 69 of 480
"Different kinds of stories expect different kinds of audience and certain kinds of attitudes from that audience." All too true. And this does not just apply to creation stories from around the world, but also lectures, both academic and religious, and the ones we write down.
— 13 hours, 36 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 62 of 480
Describing "heaven's armies" digging mines for metal, creating guns, and using them on devils makes this depiction of Lucifer's fall quite hilarious in its contemporary-ness. You don't hear of this in the Catholic Catechisms or other liturgical teachings lol.
— 13 hours, 52 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 49 of 480
Imagine if school children today read Milton's "Paradise Lost" in class? Lol. Seems to have been a loss for everyone.
— 17 hours, 36 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 46 of 480
Sellotape? Is that the British equivalent of scotch tape? And is that where J.K. Rowling got the inspiration for "Spellotape" in Harry Potter? After over 10 years of reading HP, I finally made that connection!
— 17 hours, 45 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 45 of 480
Learning about the theme of His Dark Materials makes me want to read it now. But it is also inspiring me to reflect on the them of my own series and put it into focus.
— 17 hours, 49 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 42 of 480
"And the first result of [Adam and Eve] eating the fruit was embarrassment. They knew they were naked; it hadn't occurred to them before. Knowledge comes with a cost...But once they had eaten the fruit, consciousness was open to them, and with consciousness came self-consciousness, awkwardness, embarrassment, sorrow, grief, and pain." Either we must be innocent of the world, or become wise to it.
— 18 hours, 12 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 37 of 480
"Readers—especially an audience that includes young readers—aren't in the least interested in you, and your self-conscious post-modernist anguish about all the things there are to be anguished about when it comes to text. They want to know what happened next."
Thank you! I would like to know if Pullman does writers' conferences now and if he still says these things. If he does, it's likely he's not invited anymore.
— 18 hours, 50 min ago
Thank you! I would like to know if Pullman does writers' conferences now and if he still says these things. If he does, it's likely he's not invited anymore.
Samuel Peterson
is on page 36 of 480
Unlike these kids that Pullman taught, dialogue is harder for me to write compared to descriptive language.
— 18 hours, 55 min ago
Samuel Peterson
is on page 34 of 480
"So my heresy is to suggest that eternal life is not a reward, but the most cruel punishment, imposed on us by God for the sin of seeking to grow up and become wise." Oof, I can see why some Christians would have a problem with this author.
— 19 hours, 54 min ago
