One of the things about being a writer is that people often want to interview you, to ask about your life and work. This is a great thing, and I’m always happy to get involved wherever I can. But interviews come in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes, people have a small following and they want the author to boost their listenership. Sometimes, they already have a big and engaged audience and the interview is excellent value for us, the authors, as it gets our name and work further out there. In most cases, the whole thing is symbiotic – we bring readers to their site/podcast/what-have-you, and they bring listeners to our books. One thing that I often think though, is how much do people out there really give a shit?
I can only base it on my opinion, and I often enjoy listening to or reading interviews, particularly with authors who’s work I admire. And especially if it’s with an interviewer who has done their homework, and asks interesting and thought-provoking things. Something I’ve noticed after a few years of doing this is that often someone will ask me for an interview and then when they get me on the mic or send me the questions, it’s clear they’ve done no research at all. There’s not a single question that couldn’t be answered from my Wikipedia page or by simply Googling “Alan Baxter” “interview” – seriously, do that and you’ll see how many of these things I’ve done.
Now there’s obviously going to be a lot of overlap. I’m only so interesting and I’ve only written so many books, and that’s okay, because each place will have a different audience. It’s all about reaching readersbut there’s a really noticeable difference between an interviewer who is keen and has done some homework compared to one literally just phoning it in. Anyway, I’ll rarely say no to interviews, because I’m small fry and I’m always keen to increase my readership. But when people get deep into things, I genuinely enjoy it. For me, the most fun interviews are usually podcasts. No typing and just talking shit for however long you want me. I’m good at that. I’ve made a whole list of links here with some of the most fun I’ve had with interviews over recent years (podcast, text and video). I’ll add to this as any more come along, and as I track down some others I couldn’t find right away. Enjoy! (And hey, if you’re new to the interviewing game and you’re thinking of asking me to do an interview with you, maybe look over one or two of these first!)
Podcasts:
This Is Horror – Always an absolute blast, and I’m always happy to go back.
TIH 174: Alan Baxter on Confronting Mortality, Starting Out Writing, and Early Life Lessons – https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/tih-174-alan-baxter-on-confronting-mortality-starting-out-writing-and-early-life-lessons/
TIH 175: Alan Baxter on Writing for Video Games, The Book Club, and Crow Shine – https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/tih-175-alan-baxter-on-writing-for-video-games-the-book-club-and-crow-shine/
TIH 176: Alan Baxter on Relocating to Australia, Writing Fight Scenes, and Martial Arts – https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/tih-176-alan-baxter-on-relocating-to-australia-writing-fight-scenes-and-martial-arts/
TIH 246: Alan Baxter on Devouring Dark, the Worst Flight Ever, and Releasing Four Books in One Year – https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/tih-246-alan-baxter-on-devouring-dark-the-worst-flight-ever-and-releasing-four-books-in-one-year/
TIH 247: Alan Baxter on Horror as a Dirty Word, The Master of Dark Fantasy, and the Supernatural – https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/tih-247-alan-baxter-on-horror-as-a-dirty-word-the-master-of-dark-fantasy-and-the-supernatural/
Write Through the Roof – On @ApplePodcasts – https://buff.ly/2mitUos or On @Stitcher – https://buff.ly/2mNZGdj
Conversations with Writers – this one got really deep and personal, almost as if he’d done too much research! 🙂 – https://www.alanbaxter.com.au/personal-deep-interview-writing-fighting/
Text Interviews:
This Is Horror – Why I Wrote Devouring Dark – https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/why-i-wrote-devouring-dark-by-alan-baxter/
Sci-Fi & Scary – https://www.scifiandscary.com/alan-baxter-interview/?fbclid=IwAR3Z30570avD5N6iBOb3N388UV9GBTSFRyQ9aD39TISmvzneie8Fp6kev6Q
Fantasy Focus (podcast) – http://fantasy-focus.com/2019/08/writing-short-fiction-and-dark-fantasy-novels-with-alan-baxter/?fbclid=IwAR0OQUZRdy-r53FmaTTIEP6QWCwHkZX9o4Ch0SHNjbbHqADSbr0oJaq0SKU
Kendall Reviews (interviewed by the whole review team!) – http://kendallreviews.com/feature-interview-kendall-reviews-vs-alan-baxter/
GeyserCon – http://www.geysercon.nz/updates/interviewwithalanbaxter
Authors Interviews – https://authorsinterviews.wordpress.com/2019/07/03/here-is-my-interview-with-alan-baxter/
CSFG – https://csfg.org.au/news/interview-with-alan-baxter/
More 2 Read – https://more2read.com/review/interview-with-alan-baxter/
Fantasy Faction (2014) – http://fantasy-faction.com/2014/alan-baxter-interview
Video:
Lovecraft eZine (although I’m voice only due to connection issues) – https://youtu.be/4FIC3zO31tI
Geekish at Supanova – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPvIWWWevIw
E G Stone – https://youtu.be/ftlTjiyAaV8
Creative Penn – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXeqOlKJpWs
Creative Penn – How to write short stories that sell – https://youtu.be/KcVLs4cHkUE
Creative Penn – How to write fight scenes – https://youtu.be/iEvXaNbMH4Q
Fantasy Fiends (video but again, I’m voice-only) – https://youtu.be/cuFRMGbIPQ0