Alan Baxter's Blog, page 103

My digital kingdom

This is as much for my own benefit as anything else, but I thought you lot might be interested. I've started fine-tuning my online presence to get a bit more control over it all. I'm the first to admit that I'm an absolute net-whore. I wander around the digital domain waving my business at anyone that happens to look in my direction. Such is the nature of the modern world.

I have all kinds of online communities that I like to be a part of, as well as keeping an online presence to promote my...

Write a haiku, win a zombie novella

I'm prepared to bet that the above title has never been seen by humans before. And it takes a dude like Jason Fischer to make that happen. Jason is a good friend of mine, a top notch writer, a Writers Of The Future winner, no less, and a master of puns. His novella, Gravesend, published by Black House Comics, is available now. It's an installment in After the World – a new ongoing series, each issue a new story set in a world where the dead don't take no for an answer.

Gravesend is in...

Grudge Monkey to enforce motivation

This is the Grudge Monkey:

That's right. Get the fuck out of his way.

I've come to an arrangement with the Grudge Monkey – he's going to take it personally whenever I procrastinate or procrastilax. Therefore, if I'm cocking about when I should be writing, Grudge Monkey is going to come and fuck me up. It's a fairly serious situation I've put myself in, but I'm a terrible procrastinator. All writers are in my experience. So drastic action was required.

From now on, whenever I'm not writing when I...

RealmShift special on Kindle

If you're a Kindle owner and haven't read RealmShift yet, my publisher (Gryphonwood Press) is running a special offer at the moment where the book is available for just US0.99c from the Amazon Kindle Store. Its usual Kindle price is US$2.99 so it's a pretty good offer. I think the special is only going to run for a month, so get in while you can.

If you're outside the US, there's a surcharge from Amazon. For example, in Australia it's a $2 charge, so the price is down to $2.99 from $4.99. If y...

The writing life update

Things are interesting in my writing at the moment. I'm deep into the first draft of my third novel. I'm at that stage where I'm both loving and hating it. I love the fact that I'm writing a novel again, as I do adore getting my teeth into a great big story with no real word count restrictions. I'm hating it because I want it to be really good and have regular waves of writerly anxiety. Is this story really any good? Are my characters cliches? Am I just a hack that should give it all up and b...

Movie Review – Kick-Ass (Real Life Super Heroes)

Regulars here at The Word will probably remember this post from back in December 2008. The post was a quick one, just for a laugh. The real value is found in the comments. But brace yourself for a big read if you haven't been there before. There's 156 comments and we get our very own RLSH or Real Life Super Heroes commenting and having a pissing contest. It's hilarious reading, so I urge you to check it out. But what does that have to do with a movie review of Kick-Ass? I'm glad you asked...

Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus have a sword fight

I'm a big fan of the site 27b/6. The guy is very funny and sets up all kinds of awesome correspondence where his irreverance holds sway. I'm sure he's actually a really annoying guy, as one of the commenters (fiona) on his site says:

"i have a feeling that i would want to stab you in real life but on the internet i want to marry you."

He earns a place on my site here because everything he does is an example of great writing. His turn of phrase is often exquisite. He's excelled himself with...

Friday Flash – Misery Most Delicious

Here's another of my irregular and infrequent Friday Flash efforts. This is something a bit different to my usual fare and, to be completely honest with you, it's a bit daft. But I enjoyed writing it so hopefully some of that enjoyment will rub off when you're reading it. If not, I apologise. May I present:

Misery Most Delicious

by Alan Baxter

For millennia the misery of humans has sustained me, though I have never known such sumptuous feasts as these. Time and again the human race surprises m...

Top Ten Reasons Not To Be A Writer

Top 10 lists are pretty popular these days. Do we have Letterman to thank for that? Anyway, in the interests of being in with the popular crowd, here's a Top 10 list that seems blatantly obvious to me, but might serve as a warning to others. And before anyone accuses me of being all jaded and defeatist, I prefer to look at it as arming myself with the truth in order to beat that fucker down and prove every point on this list wrong. Wish me luck.

Top 10 Reasons Not To Be A Writer

10. For the...

2010 Ditmar Award nominations announced

The nominations for this year's Ditmar Awards are out. Some great names in here and some really deserving nominees. You'll be able to vote online soon at http://ditmars.sf.org.au/2010.

Best Novel

* Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Penguin)

* Liar, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury)

* World Shaker, Richard Harland (Allen & Unwin)

* Slights, Kaaron Warren (Angry Robot Books)

* Life Through Cellophane, Gillian Polack (Eneit Press)

Best Novella or Novelette

* "Siren Beat", Tansy Rayner Roberts (Twelfth...