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.”
Stephen King thinks Stephenie Meyer, author of the ridiculously successful (at the moment) Twilight series of vampire novels, “can’t write worth a darn.” The whole quote was in reference to the massive success of both Meyer and J K Rowling (Harry Potter and the Bottomless Bank Account). He said, “”The real difference is that...
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According to this article in The New York Times: Louise Burke, publisher of Pocket Books, said publishers now trawl for new material by looking at reader comments about self-published books sold online. Self-publishing, she said, is “no longer a dirty word.” The movement of indie publishing, following music and film, is starting to shed...
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Fantasy author and all-round top bloke David B Coe has a new release out now. The Horsemen’s Gambit is the second book in his Blood of the Southlands trilogy and was published on January 20, 2009. David spent a year in Australia a while ago and I had the pleasure to meet and hang...
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Well, sadly they didn’t squash the actual complainants, but in a win for free speech and common sense they did squash the complaint. If you remember I was talking about this ad campaign in the UK that has banners on buses declaring: “THERE’S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE” Of...
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I saw this in our local Kiama Independent newspaper (from last Wednesday, I think) and it did make me laugh. “Gimme Five” is this little feature they do where they print five opinions about something from locals. This first response is just brilliant. If a shark attacks a human that she knows, then it...
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Research into serious issues like teenage pregnancy needs funding, I suppose. In truth, teenagers are going to have sex and some are going to get pregnant. An abstinence program is as misguided as it is useless. Education about birth control would be the best attack. Then you wonder how much these researchers earned for...
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I can’t help jumping on the bandwagon with this one. My blog is all about words and stories, after all, and no one can mangle words and abuse the English language quite like George W Bush. I won’t be sorry to see him go when he leaves office, but I will miss him just...
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Furthering my recent posts on the independent publishing and ebook movement that is strongly gaining momentum, I thought I’d write about April Hamilton. April is an author that is spearheading a large part of the independent author movement. April defines indie authors as: An indie author is an author who has decided the mainstream...
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Not really a a surprise there then. This is one of those delicious ironies that crop up from time to time where some idiot is completely unaware of just how ridiculous they sound. To give a bit of background, comedian Ariane Sherine in Britain dreamed up a campaign of bus ads proclaiming, “THERE’S PROBABLY...
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Every once in a while the world seems to shrug, like a restless beast trying to dislodge parasites. Of course, the parasites of the world are you and I, dear Reader, the ever more destructive human being. And the world shrugs in different ways, usually with some measure of natural disaster like a tsunami...
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Truth is so often stranger than fiction. In America the number of people dressing up in spandex and rubber and going out into the streets as real life superheroes is fast growing. In an article in the Times Online we learn that “There are, according to the recently launched World Superhero Registry, more than...
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It’s that time of year again. Because Christians hijacked a pagan festival all that time ago and turned it into a propoganda event for their belief system, they think they have some right to it. The fact is that most people have long since taken “Christmas” to mean “buy presents, get presents, eat too...
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The modern corporate environment is ripe sowing ground for word abuse. Primarily, the use of weasel words is becoming more and more prevalent. Weasel words are “… typically used to create an illusion of clear, direct communication.” Some people become experts at using many words but imparting very little information. For some people, it’s...
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This comes under the banner of the truly ironic. I read in the Sydney Morning Herald today that more than 140 people have been trampled to death in a stampede in Jodhpur in western India. The people were Hindus on a pilgrimage to the 15th-century Chamunda Devi temple. There was a long, narrow passage...
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Thanks to Michael over at a Nadder for putting me on to this little beauty. According to The Carpetbagger Report (commentary and analysis on politics in America), there are a number of far-right sites that subscribe to the Associated Press news feed but use an auto-correct feature to change certain words that they deem...
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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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