When I gave the “Write The Fight Right” workshop at Conflux 6 back at the start of October, one of the people attending was Phillip Berrie. He asked me if I’d answer a few questions on the subject for the A Writer Goes On A Journey website. I was more than happy to do so and you can see the interview now. If you’re interested in a little bit about writing covincing fight scenes, check out the interview here.

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The convention year keeps ticking along. Continuum was a lot of fun last month and now we’re only three weeks out from Conflux 6. There’s a draft program for the con here, but that’s actually a little bit out of date now. I think a new program will be updated there any time now, so keep an eye on that page.

I’m having a busy old time at this convention and I’ve had a final confirmation of my activities. Of course, as with any con, this final confirmation is subject to change in case of any last minute hiccoughs, but it’s about as set as it can get. So for those interested, here’s what I’ll be doing at Conflux 6 (including the blurb from the official program):

Thursday 1st October – Driving from my house to Canberra to be there a day early. Much easier to be up and ready start the next day. It’s a three hour drive for me, so I’d rather not get up at 5 or 6am to get there in time on Friday morning.

Friday 2nd October

10am – Workshop WRITE THE FIGHT RIGHT

The secrets of writing realistic fight scenes. A workshop on writing convincing and realisitic fight scenes in your fiction. What really happens in a fight, how does it actually feel and what is just Hollywood theatrics? Look at some principles of writing realistic fight scenes, along with some hands on self-defence and fighting techniques in this dynamic two hour workshop with Alan Baxter.

Alan is a speculative fiction writer and martial arts teacher, head instructor of the Illawarra Kung Fu Academy. His novels RealmShift and MageSign are available now through Blade Red Press. Learn all about Alan and his writing and martial arts experience at http://www.alanbaxteronline.com and http://www.illawarrakungfu.com.au Come in comfortable clothes for Kung Fu training and demonstrations.

This is a highlight for me, even though it’s my first committment. Two of the things that I love most in life are writing and Kung Fu. When I get to present a workshop that combines them both, all kinds of angels suddenly sprout wings. (I should also point out that I also love my wife, my motorcycle and my dog. I love all these things equally and unconditionally, with no favourites among them. Except my wife.)

Saturday 3rd October

9am – Kaffeeklatch

This is where 10-15 people book in to have special time with the author. We’ve suggested breakfast time because it’s always a hassle fitting it into the program proper (people complain about clashes, etc.) and we figured, hey they’ve got to have breakfast! So the restaurant will offer al la carte breakfast or people can BYO and we’ll supply the tea or coffee.

So come and hang out with me for Saturday morning breakfast. But I should warn you, I get feral when there’s bacon.

12.30pm – “Setting the seen” Panel

This is a panel discussion about writing good visual descriptions.

We authors will sit at the desk, throw our thoughts out there and encourage people present to ask questions and share their thoughts on the subject. I love panels like this. It’s always an honour to share a table with other authors and I always learn a lot from authors and audience alike. A good panel is more like a mass discussion than anything else.

Sunday 4th October

10am – Publishing Options Panel

There is a variety of publishing options today. Come and hear about traditional publishing, POD, e-books, and self-publishing.

There are a vaiety of publishing options today? Anyway… This is a good panel for me to be on, for obvious reasons. Hopefully, as with other panels, I can learn some stuff as well as share what I’ve learned over the years.

12.00 Noon – Launch of MageSign

My second novel, MageSign, has yet to have an official launch, so it’s happening at Conflux 6. I’m a bit nervous and excited about this one. I’m also very honoured to have the support of Gillian Polack, who will be officiating at the launch for me. Gillian is a great lady, medieval history academic and author of loads of interesting stuff. Check out Gillian’s web page here.

5.30pm – Author in residence

This is like the Kaffeeklatch, but without the breakfast. It’s a chance to come and visit, ask me questions, get books signed, abuse me and ask what kind of hack I think I am and stuff like that.

Monday 5th October

12.30pm – Twitterati Panel

Blogs, live journals, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter! What’s happening and what’s the next big thing?

You lot don’t need me to tell you what an internet whore I am. This panel is all about what works in social media, how to make it work for you, what’s next and so on.

And that’s the end of my committments for Conflux 6. It’s going to be a busy weekend for me, especially Sunday, but I’m really looking forward to it. I love hanging out at these things, meeting the readers, meeting other writers, just generally soaking up the vibe of a place full of people that like the kind of stuff that I like.

It’s only three weeks away, so get onto the site, learn more about it and I’ll hopefully see a bunch of you in Canberra.

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No, I won’t be at over two thousand conventions. I wanted to let you all know about a few convention appearances that are coming up in the remaining months of this year. It’s wonderful when people treat me like a real writer and invite me to be a part of these things.

The first one is coming up in a couple of weeks. It’s the fifth Continuum, in Melbourne, from the 14th to the 16th of August, 2009. I’ll be there on the 15th and 16th (Saturday and Sunday) and I’ll be taking part in a panel at 2pm on the Saturday called Untapped Fears – What is left to scare us in the age of terror? I’ll be joining the eminent Rocky Wood, Robert Hood, Talie Helene and Garry Fay on this panel – all very fine members of the Australian Horror Writers’ Association (as am I). The panel should be quite interesting with the five of us discussing what really does scare people these days. If you’re in Melbourne, come along and check out the con at ether, located at lower level, 285 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. Stop by the panel to throw tricky questions at us and feel free to flag me down at any time through the weekend for a chat.

After Melbourne I’ll be going to Canberra in October. This is a big one – Conflux 6. I’m very honoured to have been asked to do a whole bunch of stuff at this one. It runs from Friday October 2nd to Monday October 5th, 2009 at The Marque, Canberra. On the Friday I’ll be presenting a 2 hour workshop on writing and the martial arts. It’s all about how to write a convincing and realistic fight scene. There’ll be some hands on self-defence and fighting training as part of the workshop, so it should be a lot of fun. Seriously, when I get to combine kung fu and writing in the same event thousands of angels suddenly sprout extra wings. Also during the Conflux weekend I’ll be sitting on a few panels on a variety of subjects, I’ll be doing an author in residence spot and I’ll be having the official launch of MageSign, which is both extremely exciting and rather nerve-wracking. There’s a draft program up at the Conflux site now, so have a look and plan your weekend. If you’re in Canberra or feel inclined to travel there, you won’t be sorry. This should be a great weekend. I believe it’s Australia’s biggest spec fic convention. As ever, if you see me flag me down for a chat. I’m usually a pretty friendly soul.

Lastly, there’s Freecon from November 27th to 29th at Bankstown Library, Sydney. As the name suggests, this one is free to enter. It’s a small but very cool con – I was there last year and had a ball. It’s still in the planning stages at the moment, but I should be there for the Saturday and Sunday (28th and 29th). I’ll let you know more about that as more information becomes available.

So get out there and visit some conventions. Whether you’re a writer or a reader it’s a great way to meet like-mindeed people, listen to interesting stuff, hear about new things you might not have heard about otherwise and generally have a good time. Feel free to run any questions by me, in comments or email.

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The New South Wales planning minister, Frank Sartor, has given the go ahead for a proposal to build a Shaolin Temple complex on a former dairy farm near Nowra on the NSW South Coast.

Under the plan a 1,248 hectare property will be developed into a massive Shaolin complex containing three pagoda temples, places for 500 Kung Fu students, 1,500 seat indoor auditorium, 1,000 seat outdoor amphitheatre, 20 hectare herbal garden, acupuncture and herbal medicine centre, a 500 room four star hotel, 27 hole golf course and a village of up to 500 homes. It’s Kung Fu Disneyland, right here in New South Wales.

Shoalhaven Mayor Greg Watson said the development would create thousands of jobs and generate $171 million a year for the area. Mr Watson also said, after talking to the incumbent Abbot of Shaolin in China, Shi Yongxin, that the Abbot was keen to build here “because he liked the Mayor”. Big yourself up, Mr Watson.

Shaolin Abbot Shi Yongxin

Anyone that knows anything about Shaolin these days knows that the venerable and rich tradition of the ancient Buddhist system has become big business in China, sadly to the detriment of the essence of all the things that Shaolin should stand for. It’s really no wonder that the Shaolin Corporate Brand is doing all it can to spread.

In some ways it’s not entirely bad. As a Kung Fu instructor myself, I’m always pleased to see the development of any Kung Fu art through the world. But I can’t help being sceptical of the whole Nowra plan. A system like Shaolin that teaches Ch’an Buddhism and personal development through martial arts and Qi Gong being developed with a four star hotel and 27 hole golf course? Hardly the environment for aesthetes. You can’t help but marvel at the business acumen of monks that negotiated a deal to buy 1,248 hectares of some of the most beautiful land in Australia for $5 million.

But the best twist of all, and the source of my blatantly sensationalist headline, comes with the words of Anglican minister Trevor Aspin. The Sun Herald reports that Aspin claimed the Shaolin monks would “bring evil into the Shoalhaven”. He apparently sent a memo to local ministers saying that God had directed him to call the “Army of God and go to war” to stop the Shaolin Temple development. Them’s fightin’ words! His claim caused outrage and was not supported by other church leaders. They’re probably too scared to go to war against the world’s most famous fighting Monks. They would get their Anglican butts kicked, but wouldn’t that have been the ratings winner of the year if Shaolin Abbot Shi Yongxin had negotiated for the fight to be televised.

Hello, and welcome to my blog. As you can see from the sidebar to the right, I’m passionate about words, images and Kung Fu. A strange combination? Not really. Everything seems strange to somebody and I know there are far stranger people out there than me. This is where I’ll put my words and images, which you may or may not enjoy.

The primary purpose of this blog is to promote my writing, particularly my debut novel RealmShift which is available now. You can follow the link on the right to an online store where you can learn all about the book and find out how to buy it. The first chapter will be available there soon as a download – try before you buy, I’m sure you’ll love it.

I’ll post regular updates to this blog with tales of my journey through the world of Print On Demand publishing, which will hopefully lead on to big deals with ‘traditional’ publishers and fame and fortune as a world renowned novellist. Dreams are wonderful things.

I’ll also post various other bits and pieces that take my fancy and I’ll soon be linking to some galleries of my photography. I’m no professional when it comes to photographs, but I love the captured image. I get a good shot every once in a while.

You can also link to the website for my ‘day job’ (for wont of a better description). I’m a Personal Trainer and I study and teach Shaolin Choy Lee Fut Kung Fu. Follow the link to learn more about that.

And let’s not forget my beautiful and talented wife. She’s a brilliant painter, really starting to make waves in Sydney, Melbourne and beyond. There’s a link to her site too.

So bookmark this page and pop in every now and then to see what I have to say.