Monthly Archives: June 2007

Harry Potter and the power of love

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June 30, 2007
Harry Potter and the power of love

Whether you like it or not, whether you think the whole thing is uber-hype or really as good as the hype would have you believe, you can’t ignore the Harry Potter phenomenon. J K Rowling’s success as an author and merchandiser are beyond doubt. Whether you think she’s any good or not, selling three...
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It’s nepotism, Jim

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3
June 28, 2007
It’s nepotism, Jim

This is completely unrelated to words, but a bit of nepotism never goes astray. My wife, Halinka, the excellent artist whose webpage you can find in the links section on the left, had an exhibition open last night at MOP Projects. It was a great turn-out and her show looked awesome. Of course, I...
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Patting myself on the back

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June 27, 2007

Well, I made a promise to myself and I made it a public promise here on this blog too. I said I wanted to have a finished first draft of the sequel novel to RealmShift by the end of June. Just call me Mr Deadline. I wrapped up the first draft today, two days...
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Horror or dark fiction, the debate continues

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June 25, 2007

Some time ago I tried to wrap up just what dark fantasy actually was. Seeing as that is how my writing is most often classified, I wanted to try to answer the question that forever arose: What’s the difference between dark fantasy and horror? You can use the Search box on the right to...
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The Word movie tip of the week

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1
June 24, 2007
The Word movie tip of the week

If any of you fantasy fans enjoy a good fairy tale, do I have a tip for you. By “a good fairy tale” I’m not talking about some Disney bulldust with singing teapots and happy rodents. I mean real, dark, menacing fairy tales, just like proper fairy tales should be. Pan’s Labyrinth has just...
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Muslims demand murder of Knighted author

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June 19, 2007
Muslims demand murder of Knighted author

“If someone commits suicide bombing to protect the honour of the prophet Muhammad, his act is justified.” Yes, that’s right. Adherents to the so-called religion of Peace are at it again. The quote above was from the Pakistani Religious Affairs Minister, Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq in response to the Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday honours list...
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When comedy meets fantasy

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1
June 19, 2007
When comedy meets fantasy

There are a few people that have merged comedy and speculative fiction with outstanding results. The Polish writer Stanislaw Lem was one of the earliest sci-fi writers to get funny with it and some of his work is really worth a look. For anyone that has never heard of him before, I advise you...
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Pot calls kettle black

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2
June 17, 2007

Remember that Catholic nutter George Pell threatening MPs with “consequences” if they backed a stem cell bill recently? Here’s the post from June 6th. Well, Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has requested a privileges committee investigation into Pell’s comments in order to determine if his they amount to contempt of Parliament. A very fair request...
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Still busy

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June 13, 2007

I’m still plugging away at writing the sequel to RealmShift and the first draft is nearly finished. I know I said that before, but it was nearly finished then and it’s still nearly finished now. A hundred thousand words and a hundred and ten thousand words are both nearly finished for a one hundred...
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A bunch of new words

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June 12, 2007

The Washington Post Style Invitational once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting or changing one letter, and supply the definition of the new word. There have been some excellent entries in the past. Here are this year’s winners. See how many of them you can...
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Rabid George Pell appears twice in a week

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June 6, 2007
Rabid George Pell appears twice in a week

He’s set himself a new record, appearing in the national media and, more importantly, here on The Word twice in the same week. Archbishop George “Don’t Cross Me” Pell It wasn’t enough for him to suggest that all Catholic educators should take the “oath of fidelity and profession of faith” in order to ensure...
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Not really a word, but…

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4
June 6, 2007
Not really a word, but…

This is something rather ridiculous, and it’s not really word related, but check out the new logo for the London 2012 Olympics. Yep, that’s the official logo. More than that, it’s a trademarked brand. The response has been quite extensive and almost exclusively negative. Some of those negative responses have been deliciously eloquent. Stephen...
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Is a book without words literature?

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June 5, 2007
Is a book without words literature?

lit·er·a·ture –noun 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2. the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, etc.: the literature of England. 3. the writings dealing with...
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To submit to the book is to exist in their hell

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June 3, 2007

The Sydney Writers’ Festival wound up last night and the closing address was delivered by the author Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Do a web search to learn more about this amazing woman. I was very pleased to see in the Sydney Morning Herald today an edited version of that closing address. I’m taking the unusual...
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Second placed flash short

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June 3, 2007

In a bit of frivolous fun, Scribe’s website runs a flash fiction competition once a month. For those that don’t know, flash fiction is based around the idea of a very limited word count and a given theme. For May 2007, the word count was a maximum of 200 words and the theme was...
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The Word

Welcome to the website of author Alan Baxter.

I write dark fantasy, sci fi and horror, ride a motorcycle and love my dog. I also teach Kung Fu, hence the Warrior Scribe tag above. A friend once referred to me that way and I liked it, so it stuck. Learn all about me and my work by clicking About Alan just below the header.

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Our world is built on language and storytelling. Without stories, we are nothing.

The Word is a place to learn more about me, my stories and the words of others. Click the links along the top for all kinds of stuff, search the sidebars for loads of other stuff, click on book covers for reviews and previews, enjoy the blog and don't be shy to share your words, in comments or send me an email:

alan [at]alanbaxteronline[dot]com

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