Alan Baxter's Blog, page 116
February 4, 2010
Of bald parrots and dogs
Very often, life is like the bald parrot. I'm often like the dog.
Australians can buy my books direct
By that, I mean direct from me. I'll even sign them if you ask nicely.
Ain't technology a wonderful thing?
I've finally got around to sorting out PayPal buttons for this site. That means that you can now go to the Books page or click on any book cover and you'll see a Buy Now button for Australians. Then you can use your PayPal account or Credit Card and buy RealmShift and MageSign direct. They're $19.95 each and postage is free. Easy.
Australia only, I'm afraid. Internationally it's still...
My prolixity recognised at last
You know, it's true that if you just crap on about rubbish for long enough, people will eventually start recognising you for it. You'll become a trusted source of crap. Well, that's me. The very kind Tony Noland over at Landless has awarded me a Prolific Blogger Award, after getting one himself. See, that's the other thing that works – surround yourself with like-minded people and whatever it is you're doing doesn't seem at all weird. Just look at train spotters or swingers.
The rules of the t...
February 3, 2010
Apparently I'm Philip Jose Farmer
I am:
Philip José Farmer
This prolific author brings surprising depths to he-man adventure tales, and broke science fiction's prudery barrier.
Which science fiction writer are you?
.
The Amazon-MacMillan controversy
There's been a bit of a shit fight (to say the least) lately between Amazon and MacMillan. It basically centres around an argument about ebook pricing and who controls what. Rather than me just repeat all that's been said already, go and read:
NY Times article on why Amazon pulled MacMillan titles.
Cory Doctorow's thoughts via Boing Boing.
This post by L E Modesitt Jr which looks at the situation from an author's point of view, and has some interesting discussion in the comments.
February 2, 2010
Locus Online 2009 Recommended reading list
The latest list of recommended reading from Locus Online has been announced. You know I've been rattling on for months about Paul Haine's awesome novella, "Wives". Well, that's on there, as is Margo Lanagan's novella, "Sea Hearts", from the same anthology. And, in fact, the "X6″ Novellanthology itself is listed. So yeah, you really need to read that book if you haven't.
Other Aussies listed are Peter M Ball for his novella, "Horn", and Deb Biancotti for her collection, "A Book Of Endings"...
February 1, 2010
Editor Unleashed "Why I Write" contest
Yep, here I go asking you guys for votes again. You may remember that Editor Unleashed and Smashwords ran a flash fiction contest a little while ago. The initial round of voting was by popular vote through the Editor Unleashed forum and then an editorial decision was made. My story "Parklife" won a place in that anthology thanks to you guys helping with the voting.
Well, the same team is at it again and they've set up a "Why I Write" contest. They've asked people to write a little essay...
January 28, 2010
The new Apple iPad
Meh.
I'm tempted to leave this post at that, just a single word. But if I'm honest there is more to this iPad thing than that. Fundamentally, Apple have gone to great lengths and enormous fanfare to release what is essentially a big iPhone without the phone or the camera. Sure, it's a swish looking thing – Apple products always are. And the interface would be awesome, just like the iPhone, because Apple know how to meld man (or woman) and machine.
But is this iPad really anything spectacular...
"Trial Not Required" in M-Brane SF #13
My short story "Trial Not Required" has just been published in M-Brane SF magazine. It's in issue 13 and starts on page 13, which is kinda cool. The PDF edition of the mag is out now and the print edition should be available in the next couple of days.
The publisher, Chris Fletcher, asked for a little afterword about the story to include in the issue. This is what wrote:
"Trial Not Required" is a story born of a single absurd concept that occurred to me one night – wouldn't it be strange if...
January 27, 2010
Blade Runner spawns a web series
The greatest movie of all time is Blade Runner. I've said it before and nothing yet has changed my mind. No, not even Avatar, which today toppled Titanic as the biggest grossing movie ever. I'm so pleased that a sci-fi movie has replaced Titanic in that spot.
Anyway, back to Blade Runner. The film's director, Ridley Scott, has announced that there's a new division of his commercials company (RSA Films) working on a web series called "Purefold". The series will be a bunch of linked 5 to 10...
