The full article is here but I thought I’d pick out the key points and comment on them as it makes for interesting reading. And you know how I like to comment on stuff. CAL conducted a survey of members to learn more about their views of, and experiences with digital publishing in Australia....
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Books By Alan
Click on book covers for reviews, previews and purchase options.
RealmShift
A race against time and the Devil
"RealmShift is phenomenal. If it’s not already on your bookshelf it should be."
MageSign
Believe in the blood 
"a gritty tale of blood rituals, mystery, and mysticism… grabs hold of the reader and doesn’t let go"
The Darkest Shade Of Grey
You can tell the story.
"...stunning supernatural noir..."
Ghost Of The Black
"Everything about it is bang on"
Write The Fight Right
“The best way for a writer to learn what’s really involved in brawling, short of going down the pub and starting something.”
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Copyright Agency Limited releases results from digital publishing trends survey
A short a day – my plan
Benjamin Solah mentioned this on Twitter and the original idea came to him from Jodi Cleghorn. The idea is that a person makes time to read (at least) one short story every day. This appeals to me for many reasons. I love short fiction, as I’ve mentioned here several times before. I love reading...
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Christians upset about Muslim billboard
I know, those crazy Christians are always upset about something. For that matter, so are the Muslims. Let’s be honest, the religious of any persuasion have always got something to moan about. But it’s been a while since I lampooned a bit of religious idoicy here on The Word and when I saw this...
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ThrillerCast Episode 20 – Books You Want to Be Buried With
In this episode, we talk about which books are so important that you can’t even die without them, let alone live without them. Many people gave us their answer and we have a chat about several of the selections, so have a listen and see who says what. Some pretty interesting answers crop up....
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Game changer – J K Rowling, Pottermore and ebooks without a publisher
The internet has been abuzz lately since mega-billionaire-super-author, J K Rowling (of Harry Potter fame, in case you’ve been a monk in a cave for more than ten years) announced Pottermore. In a nutshell, it goes like this: After seven books and eight films and more merchandising than you can fit in George Lucas’s...
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So you don’t understand Twitter?
I really love Twitter and find it one of the most useful social networks I use. But I regularly get people saying to me things like, “What’s the point of Twitter? I think it’s stupid. I don’t get it.” And therein lie two different things. Asking what it is and saying you don’t understand...
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ThrillerCast episode 19 – Reading & Writing
The latest episode of ThrillerCast is now available. In this episode we talk about our Parsec Award nominations, fiction podcasts, I review The Intruders by Michael Marshall, David reviews C J West’s The End Of Marking Time, then we go on to discuss the importance of reading for a writer and what kind of...
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X-Men: First Class – review
I’ve been getting a bit tired of the X-Men movie franchise. You may remember how disappointed I was with the Wolverine movie. So I went into this one with some trepidation, but also a secret hope that it would be good. After all, it’s directed by Matthew Vaughn, who previously directed Layer Cake, Stardust...
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Real world inspiration for fantasy and horror
They say a picture says a thousand words. Which is annoying, but largely true. After all, it really depends on the picture, as some would struggle to say a sentence and others could illustrate a novel. But I digress. No great analogy stands up to close criticism. I saw some pictures today that simply...
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Other authors are not your enemy
I was talking recently about how important it is these days for readers to review and talk about the books they like in order to help the authors of those books have a career. I also mugged myself with an idea about making a list of all the Aussie authors who tweet. That turned...
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Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner – review
Two reviews in two days? You can tell it’s a long weekend. Yesterday was the new Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, On Stranger Tides. This time it’s a novel, Nekropolis, by Tim Waggoner. I’d heard rumblings here and there about this book and it kept cropping up in People Who Bought This Book Also...
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Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Review
I went into this movie with very low expectations and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised. The basic premise for all these movies is fairly bulletproof. You’ve got your standard mythological pirate, the original lovable rogue, sailing the high seas, carousing and pillaging, but always with a heart of gold and...
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2011 Chronos Awards winners
The Chronos Awards for 2011 (the regional SF awards from the state of Victoria, Australia) were announced at Continuum 7 in Melbourne last night: Best Long Fiction: Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott (Pan MacMillan Australia) Best Short Fiction: “Her Gallant Needs”, Paul Haines (Sprawl,Twelfth Planet Press) Best Artwork: Australis Imaginarium cover, Shaun Tan (FableCroft Publishing)...
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What’s in a name? The Pink Floyd Effect.
The Pink Floyd Effect – The process of a name becoming perfect for its subject through familiarity with that subject and/or its actions. Names. Very powerful things. Anyone with even a passing acquaintance with demonology or the occult will tell you what a powerful thing a name can be. If you know something’s true...
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Aussie authors on Twitter
I love Twitter and spend a lot of time chatting with people there. I find out out great information. I get most of my news from Twitter these days, from following the BBC, ABC, Reuters and so on as well as links from other people. There’s a world of interaction and information out there...
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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.
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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