About Alan
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 seem to 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 out, 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. I’m still working on my craft and one day you’ll see my short fiction in the big pro zines and other places like that. One day.
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 and martial arts, music reviews and movie reviews. I still write or have written for:
OpEd Magazine – World Writings based on a word
Publetariat.com – Indie publishing
Publishing Renaissance – Indie publishing
Metal As Fuck – Heavy metal zine
Cyberkwoon.com – Martial arts community website
Player Magazine – New Zealand based sports glossy mag
arts NAKED – Australian based online review magazine
I’m a member of the Australian Horror Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, the Clan Destine Portal and The NSW Writers’ Centre.
This website serves two purposes. One is shameless self-promotion where I can write about my writing and give some of it away. You can find short stories here, after they’ve been bought and published by someone else if I’m lucky. There’s a serialised novella called Ghost Of The Black: A ‘Verse Full of Scum here. You can also get an ebook or hard copy 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 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.
You want more details? Are you stalking me? Oh well, fair enough…
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 and have a few other things in the pipeline. 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’m always shopping short stories out to various magazines (online and print) in the hope that they’ll buy something and publish me. The things on the Dark Shorts page are stories that have been published in some form or other somewhere.
Also remember to check out the Serial Fiction page – I released a novella here in weekly chapters throughout 2008 and that’s now available in a variety of formats as well as remaining here. And have a look at the Friday Flash category from the blog for a few other little bits and pieces.
As for other things that fulfill my life, I’m a Personal Trainer and Kung Fu Instructor. 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 – click the Kung Fu button above to learn more about that stuff.
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. (Why is this suddenly sounding like an acceptance speech at a Narcissists’ Convention?) 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.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Below is a list of my published fiction, non-fiction and things I’ve published through Blade Red Press.
Novels
* RealmShift (Gryphonwood Press, 2010)
* MageSign (Gryphonwood Press, 2010)
Short Stories
* A Night At The Pub – Martial Arts Planet, 2005
* The Bout – Cyberkwoon.com, 2006
* Stand Off (abridged) – Infinitas Newsletter, 2006
* The Night Bus – The Harrow, Vol. 10, No. 12, December 2007
* Runaway – Harbinger Journal, March 2008
* Being Late – Op-Ed Magazine, March 2008
* Terminal Illness – Antipodean SF, # 130, March 2009
* Crossfire – The Oddville Press, Vol 1, # 4, June 2009
* Parklife – Editor Unleashed/Smashword Flash Fiction 40 anthology, June 2009
* Stand Off (full version) – text & podcast by Wily Writers, July 2009 (Infinitas reprint)
* Cemetery – Horror Bound Magazine, Issue 7, August 2009
* The Book – Antipodean SF, # 136, October 2009
* Crossfire – Podcast through Outlandish Voices, Nov. 2009 (“reprint” from Oddville Press)
* Deep Sea Fishing – Seizure Issue 4, December 2009
* Trapped – House Of Horror, Issue 7, December 2009
* A Little Killing – Pow Fast Flash Fiction, December 2009
* Trial Not Required – M-Brane SF Issue #13, February 2010
* Strange Death – Flashes In The Dark, March 2010
* Pushed Too Far – House Of Horror, May 2010
* Decennial General Meeting – Best Of Friday Flash Vol. 1 anthology, August 2010
* Jeff Newman’s Headaches – 52 Stitches, August 23, 2010
* The King’s Accord – Flesh & Bone: Rise of The Necromancers anthology from Pill Hill Press, August 2010
Forthcoming
* Terminal Illness & The Book – Pill Hill Press 365 Flash antho, forthcoming (Anti SF reprints)
* Stand Off – Best Of Wily Writers anthology, December 2010
* Mirrorwalk – Murky Depths #16
* Unexpected Launch – Anywhere But Earth anthology (Coeur De Lion Publishing, 2011)
Non-fiction
* Player Magazine – Music review column, December 2001 – December 2002 (New Zealand)
* Player Magazine – Film review column, June – December 2002 (New Zealand)
* Business News Makers magazine – Tackling The Elite – article on indie publishing, Winter 2009 edition (Canada)
* Miscellaneous Voices #1 – Ebooks Are The Future, March 2010 –blogging anthology, Miscellaneous Press (Australia)
* Regular contributor – Metal As Fuck e-zine (http://metalasfuck.net/zine/), reviews and features
Syndicated articles from this website can be found on:
* Publetariat (http://www.publetariat.com/index.php)
* Publishing Renaissance (http://publishren.wordpress.com/)
* arts NAKED (http://www.artsnaked.com/reviews/author/alanbaxter/)
Published by me:
Works published through Blade Red Press:
* Maggots Of Heresy by Michael Fridman, 2009
* Ghost Of The Black: A ‘Verse Full Of Scum by Alan Baxter, 2010
* Dark Pages 1, anthology of dark short fiction, 2010
Achievements/Accolades:
* Honourable Mention, Writers of the Future Competition, Second Quarter 2010
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This list is current as at July, 2010. I’ll try to remember to keep it as updated as possible.
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