On this page you’ll find a selection of short fiction that I’ve written over the years that has been published in various places. There’s an awful lot more that hasn’t been published, but regular rejection slips are an everyday part of a writer’s life. Those stories are still doing the rounds, waiting for an editor somewhere to see their worth and publish them. In the meantime, you can enjoy the few bits and pieces that are here. I’ll add stuff periodically as and when I can. (Don’t forget to check out the A ‘Verse Full Of Scum page too, where you can read my serialised novella.)
Enjoy!
(Please note, as with all content on this site, all these items are (c) Copyright Alan Baxter. No reproduction is allowed without written permission from the author.)
BEING LATE - NEW! Added 16/9/08.
Written for Op-Ed Magazine, world writings based on a word. Published March 2008 - Op-Ed Magazine
Each month, contributing writers to Op-Ed Magazine are given a word and they write something based on that word, be it essay, fiction, poetry or anything else. This particular piece is the only fiction piece I’ve written for Op-Ed thus far. Other articles I’ve written for them can be easily found on the site. This piece was based on the word dally.
A young boy, tired of the abuse from his father since his mother left the home, contemplates running away with his best friend.
This piece is a deliberate departure for me. Just for the hell of it I decided to write a completely non-genre story, which is something I hardly ever do. It actually turned out to be a pretty good story and, with a little bit of tweaking, was accepted for publication in Issue 3 of the Harbinger Journal. (Originally published in Harbinger Journal Issue 3 - http://harbinger.justfree.com/index.html)
A young man is haunted by guilt over the suicide of a strange boy that he used to bully. Then he gets on the last bus home… (Originally published by The Harrow: Original Works of Fantasy and Horror - www.theharrow.com).
In a frightening future a young man prepares for what will be, quite literally, the fight of his life. (Originally published by cyberkwoon.com in their martial arts related short fiction section.)
A strange meeting between two very powerful people hints at their dark and twisted history. (Originally published by martialartsplanet.com in their martial arts related short fiction section.)
A short story featuring Isiah, the powerful immortal in my novel RealmShift, doing the dirty work of the Balance once again. (Originally published in an abridged form by Infinitas Books in their monthly newsletter and now on their website. This is the full version of the story.)
A flash fiction entry that won joint second place in the Scribe’s Writing Desk Flash Fiction Competition, June 2007. The given theme was ‘The Garden Gnome’ and the the word count was 200 words max.
A flash fiction entry that won 1st place in the Scribe’s Writing Desk Flash Fiction Competition, July 2007. The first sentence was supplied and the the word count was 300 words max.
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