Alan Baxter's Blog, page 116
February 15, 2010
The Puzzle Ring by Kate Forsyth – Review
The Puzzle Ring is the new young adult fantasy novel from Australian author Kate Forsyth. Kate has a well established set of credentials, already very successful with things like the Witches Of Eileanan series and the Chain Of Charms series for young adults.
The Puzzle Ring tells the story of Hannah, a twelve year old girl whose father disappeared when she was a baby in Scotland and whose mother took her away to grow up in Australia. A mysterious letter arrives one day that takes Hannah and...
February 12, 2010
Daybreakers – review
As usual, I'll keep this Daybreakers review spoiler free at the start. I'll warn you before I spoil anything.
So last night I went with Cat and Rob to see the sci-fi vampire flick, Daybreakers. It's one of those films that I was aware of but actually knew very little about. I'd seen the trailer, I knew it was an Australian production and that's about it. From the trailer it certainly looked good.
There's a bit of a heavy handed info dump over the credits at the very start of the movie, but...
February 8, 2010
Creative Penn book marketing and promotion
Joanna Penn runs a website called The Creative Penn, which is all about writing, publishing options, promotions and so on. I've mentioned her on this site before and you can find a blue print for her Author 2.0 Platform on the Links page.
She's just released a new podcast talking all about marketing and promoting your book. Whether you're a self-published newbie starting out or an established author, you will need to promote your book. The authors that can rely on their name for sales are few ...
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...
