Books By Alan

Click on book covers for reviews and previews.

RealmShift

"an inventive and action-packed story"

"a gripping, thought-provoking tale"

"a novel I am loath to put down. A most surprising read. Quite a ride"

"fast-paced and engrossing"

"RealmShift is phenomenal. If it’s not already on your bookshelf it should be."

MageSign

"a fast-paced ride through a visceral reality"

"a fast paced supernatural adventure that will leave readers rethinking how they view the Cosmos"

"a gritty tale of blood rituals, mystery, and mysticism… grabs hold of the reader and doesn’t let go"

"fantastic qualities … horrific at times... I highly recommend it"

"Alan Baxter takes the reader right to the edge and then pushes us over. And I thank him for it."

Ghost Of The Black

"Excellent pacing"

"I’ve found myself not wanting to stop reading"

"Everything about it is bang on"

"very, very readable."

Wise Words

"Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot." - Morpheus, The Sandman - Dream Country (Neil Gaiman)

"A powerful agent is the right word. Whenever we come upon one of those intensly right words in a book or a newspaper the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual, and electrically prompt." - Mark Twain

"At the beginning there was the Word - at the end just the Cliche." - Stanislaw J Lec

Editor Unleashed/Smashwords “Why I Write” essay contest

November 9, 2009

By alan

You may remember a while ago that Editor Unleashed and Smashwords ran a flash fiction contest. The top 40 entries were collected in an ebook anthology and each earned their author $25, with the winning entry getting $500. My story, Parklife, was one of the top 40.

Well, they’re at it again. Editor Unleashed and Smashwords are now running an essay contest. They want essays from writers on why they write, in 750 words or less. The winner receives $500 and all the top entries will be collected in an ebook released by Smashwords. Each entry gets posted in the Editor Unleashed forums and forum members can vote for their favourites throughout January next year. All the contest rules can be found here.

I’ve already entered. Maria at Editor Unleashed announced this contest a few weeks ago and I’d already been working on an entry. You can see mine here: In Conversation With The Stories. I’ve taken a slightly creative approach to the notion of an essay.

So if you’re a writer and you can explain why in an interesting way, have a go and you might win $500.

4 Responses to Editor Unleashed/Smashwords “Why I Write” essay contest

J. M. Strother on November 10, 2009 at 7:08 pm

It’s a great opportunity. I also highly encourage writers to give it a shot. Just don’t take my $500.
~jon
alan on November 10, 2009 at 7:09 pm

You mean my $500, right?
mlcraiger on December 22, 2009 at 11:55 pm

Sorry, guys – the money is mine. ~mlcraiger
alan on December 23, 2009 at 12:11 am

Nothing like a bit of confidence, eh.