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Click here for a full(ish) BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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All writers need a short, third person bio that’s usually used in publications and various promo. Below is my mine.
BIO: Alan Baxter is a British-Australian author living on the south coast of NSW, Australia. He writes dark fantasy, sci fi and horror, rides a motorcycle and loves his dog. He also teaches Kung Fu. His contemporary dark fantasy novels, RealmShift and MageSign, are out through Gryphonwood Press, and his short fiction has appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies in Australia, the US and the UK, including the Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror. Alan is also a freelance writer, penning reviews, feature articles and opinion. Read extracts from his novels, a novella and short stories at his website – www.alanbaxteronline.com – and feel free to tell him what you think. About anything.
Here’s the more detailed version:
I’m an optimistic cynic and dark speculative fiction author, living on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. I write in the fantasy, sci-fi and horror genres and my stuff is primarily based in the magical and the arcane. I often like to play with various religious mythologies in my fiction. And it always seems to be dark. Even stories that I think are going to be lighter fare end up a bit disturbing. Above all, I try to tell a good yarn with my fiction, but I would also like to make people think.
I have two novels published, RealmShift and its sequel, MageSign, through Gryphonwood Press. Both are dark fantasy thrillers. Learn all about them by clicking the Books button above or click on any book covers you see. I’ve also written a bunch of short stories, published in various places in print and online.
As well as my fiction writing, you can find a variety of my work at a variety of places. Most of my non-fiction writing is based around the speculative fiction genre and writing and publishing in general, health & fitness, martial arts, music reviews and movie reviews. I still write or have written for:
Crikey – Now with extra source
The Punch – Australia’s best conversation
Metal As Fuck – Heavy metal zine
Player Magazine – New Zealand based sports glossy mag
arts NAKED – Australian based online review magazine
OpEd Magazine – World Writings based on a word
Publetariat.com – Indie publishing
Publishing Renaissance – Indie publishing
Cyberkwoon.com – Martial arts community website
and others.
I’m a member of the Australian Horror Writers Association, International Thriller Writers and the Clan Destine Portal.
This website serves two purposes. One is shameless self-promotion where I can write about my writing and let people know where to find newly published stuff. You can find some of my short stories here. There’s a serialised novella called Ghost Of The Black: A ‘Verse Full of Scum here. You can also get an ebook version of that story – check the Books page for details. I plan to write more in that series as time allows. You can also download the first three chapters of RealmShift and MageSign in PDF format for a sneak preview. Along with ongoing short story and non-fiction writing, I’m currently working on my fourth novel while trying to sell my completed third novel.
The second purpose of this website is the blog. As well as my own news, I ramble on about anything writing, publishing or story-related. I also take the opportunity to lampoon idiocy, especially the word abuse so prevalent in our society. Our world has been built on a foundation of story-telling, from the earliest creation myths to the modern parables found in books and movies, on television shows and the internet. These days story-telling is all around us, in numerous mediums, and I love them all.
My first novel, RealmShift, was originally self-published in early 2006 to considerable critical acclaim. I started the traditional way, scored a very good agent and the book was nearly bought by a big house publisher, but it all fell over at the eleventh hour. Rather than start that process again, I decided to self-publish it to see what kind of reviews and reaction it would get while I got on with writing the sequel. The response was very positive and I’d rather enjoyed the indie publishing process. So, with generous help from others, I set up an independent publishing company Blade Red Press in 2008 and re-issued RealmShift as a new edition along with MageSign. They both did pretty well. Now both books have been acquired by Gryphonwood Press. It’s a funny old world. I still run Blade Red Press, which operates as a kind of collective indie press, and we’ve released our first short story anthology, Dark Pages, and a collection by Aussie author Bill Congreve called Souls Along The Meridian. They’re both great books – check the Blade Red site for details.
RealmShift and MageSign are both available in print and ebook, from Amazon and all good book stores. Check the Books page or click on book covers for previews, reviews and all that jazz.
I also co-host the ThrillerCast podcast with fellow author, David Wood. We talk about all things related to reading and writing in thriller and genre fiction. Learn all about that here.
As for other things that fulfill my life, I’m a Kung Fu Instructor and Personal Trainer. Helping people get themselves in shape and live longer, healthier lives is an extremely satisfying way to earn a living (because, believe me, writing alone doesn’t pay the bills just yet). I’ve been a martial artist for as long as I can remember and can’t imagine a life without Kung Fu. I run the Illawarra Kung Fu Academy.
I also enjoy photography at an amateur level. I’m a huge music fan (by which I mean I really like music, not that I’m huge and a fan of music) and I play guitar (fairly badly). I was in a band for some years, but not any more. There’s simply not enough hours in a day or days in a week to do all the things that I’d like to do.
I’m a keen motorcyclist. There is no better way to travel as far as I’m concerned and no better way to see a place. I’ve done thousands of kilometres all over Australia and Europe. My next big plan is to ride across the Nullabor. It’s just one of those things that needs to be done.
I also have a deep affinity for dogs. My own dog, Penry, is a complete legend.
And finally I should mention my long-suffering, ever-supportive wife, Halinka. Other than publicly thanking Halinka for putting up with me, I also want to give her a free plug. She’s an outstanding artist and you can see her work on her website, halinka.com.au.
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