The Word » Martial Arts Archives – The Word – According To Me

Who’s a busy boy, then?

alan — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 01:31:22 +0000

I realise I’ve been blogging a lot about myself lately and less about interesting things story- and publishing-related. I apologise for that, and can only ask you to bear with me. I guess I’ve just been a bit busy lately. Also, as is often the case in this game, a bunch of things have happened all at once. It’s funny how a writer can spend all their time writing and collecting rejections, then a bunch of acceptances and publications all come at once. Like buses. Or perhaps that’s just me. Anyway, I’ll blog about interesting non-me-related things later this week, but for now here’s a bit of a link salad of stuff that is largely, though not exclusively, about yours truly. Hopefully there’s something for everyone in this post.

So, here goes:

Firstly, I’m sure you all know about my writer’s resource ebook, Write The Fight Right. It’s all about writing effective, realistic fight scenes. Recently Joanna Penn, of The Creative Penn, interviewed me on the subject and our chat is now up on YouTube. Here it is:

The page all about the book is here.

I was also interviewed about my writing by Wily Writers editor, Angel Leigh McCoy. You can read that interview here.

My latest bit of non-fiction, an opinion piece about personal responsibility and dog ownership is published now at The Punch.

And lastly for now, the last couple of episodes of ThrillerCast, the thriller and genre-writing podcast I co-host with David Wood, are up now. Episode 25 includes an interview with thriller writer Sean Ellis, who also happens to be the editor of The Game anthology, in which both David and I have a story. Episode 26 is an extra-long ep which includes an interview with thriller and fantasy author A J Hartley, where he talks about his latest project, the novelisation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. They’re a great couple of episodes, even if I do say so myself. Find those here.

So that’s it for now – told you it was going to be a bit of a link salad. Enjoy, and please share with anyone you think might be interested.

The current state of my things – writing, edits, fights and articles

alan — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:19:23 +0000

I’ve got a lot of stuff going on. But I’m getting there. My primary focus for the majority of this year has been working on my latest novel, getting it up to the best polish I can. I’ve been working on it during every spare minute and I’ve just sent the manuscript somewhere, so wish me luck! I’m very proud of this book. You know you’re onto a winner when you’ve read something you’ve written many times in a few months and the story and characters still excite you. Of course, I’m biased, but I’ve also had some great feedback from my little team of beta readers that helped make this book even better. Thanks to all of you – you know who you are. You people rock. I’m not going to jinx myself by mentioning any more, but a lot of you may know already or can guess what I’m talking about. And no, I won’t be answering guesses.

While this has been my main focus, I’ve been busy with other projects too. I’ve had some good success with short fiction recently and have several stories forthcoming in various journals and anthologies. I’ll let you know as and when each of those is published. I think the next one will be my story Mirrorwalk, in Murky Depths. I blogged about that last week. Working with editors on those things is always interesting. A good editor makes a good story into a great story. I’ve just had another one of those land in my inbox, actually, so I’d better get on with that pretty sharpish.

Another project is my Write The Fight Right ebook. Using my experience as a career martial artist I’ve been running the Write The Fight Right workshop at conventions for a while now, helping people understand how to write a convincing, realistic fight scene. I’ll be doing it again in April at Swancon, for anyone interested. Every time I do the workshop people ask me for further information and I don’t really have anything to give them, other than telling them to try martial arts classes. After I ran the workshop at Worldcon last year, with a big room full of people from all over the world (which was both a little overwhelming and very gratifying) several people suggested I should write up the content of the workshop into a short ebook and make that available for people to buy. What a good idea. So I’ve finally got around to that and now the novel is submitted, and once these couple of short story edits are dealt with, I’ll be finalising that and making it available.

The Write The Fight Right “book” is about 11,000 words, basically a set of detailed notes about all the things I cover in the workshop with a few extra bits added in. I’ll make it available in all formats on Smashwords and as a Kindle edition at Amazon sometime soon. I’m hoping to have that available before the end of April, so when I do the workshop at Swancon and people say, “Is there anything else I can read about this stuff?” I can reply, “Why, yes, there most certainly is.” (And many thanks to Laura Goodin for helping me with a proof-read and editorial suggestions on that project.)

Also, before the end of May, I need to put together an article for Writing Queensland magazine that I was asked to write. I’m honoured to have been asked to do something for them, so will make sure I do a good job of that as soon as possible.

So that’s me right now. Kinda busy, but all good stuff that I’m very excited about. I should really stop cocking around blogging about it and get on with some of it.

Interview about writing fight scenes

alan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:48:50 +0000

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.

Conflux 6 only 3 weeks away

alan — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 07:15:30 +0000

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.

2009 Australian conventions I’ll be attending

alan — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:34:36 +0000

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.

Anglican minister calls for an army of god to go to war against the Shaolin Monks

alan — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 12:27:00 +0000

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.

Art and Kung Fu – a collaboration

alan — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 00:48:00 +0000

Halinka, my wife and extremely talented artist, has had this idea for some time of trying to get the movements of the footwork of Kung Fu down on paper as an artwork. It’s something she’s toyed with for ages but never really followed up on. Last week she was asked to be part of a large group drawing exhibition. This turned out to be the opportunity to put her idea into practice, and she roped me in to help.

After some thought, she got some large sheets of paper (which was pretty much determined by the requirements of the group show – A1, or a little bigger if necessary). We then decided that Chinese calligraphy ink would be the most useful and in keeping with the idea. Subsequently, after my class had gone home one night, we stayed back and taped some sheets of paper to the floor. Halinka then painted ink onto the soles of my Dunlop Volleys (shoe of choice for Sydney Choy Lee Fut practitioners – we should get sponsorship!)

Once I was all inked up I stepped up onto the paper and performed Kung Fu techniques, from basics through to a couple of more advanced set forms (parts thereof), letting my feet act like calligraphy brushes to try to capture the movement.

The results are pretty cool. I’ll attach a couple of pics below. At least one of the pieces will end up in the drawing exhibition to be held at G & A Gallery in the near future.

Welcome to my word.

alan — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 09:32:00 +0000

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.