Alan Baxter's Blog, page 2

Newsletter 21st October 2024

Hello fiends

It’s October! The spooky month! Ehhhh, I never really get that vibe. A couple of reasons, really. One is that I’m a horror writer, so it’s always the spooky month for me. Also, I’m Australian, so we’re just going into spring here. October being spooky is, in large part, all about the weather getting cold, the trees losing their leaves, the days getting shorter and the nights longer… all of which is the complete opposite here. Everything is springing into life, the clocks just went forward so it stays light later, it’s getting warmer by the day. It starts to feel spooky here around April.

It’s the same with Christmas, which is a massive pain in the arse most of the time, everyone trying to see everyone and shit closing down for a week. But it never feels Christmassy to me any more. I’ve been Australian for about half my life, but I grew up in the UK. There, October is a cold, dark, wet , spooky month like it’s supposed to be and Xmas is wintery and, well, Christmassy. Here, Xmas happens in the height of summer when it’s hot as fuck and altogether not very merry. Did you know shops and houses spray fake snow in their windows here for Xmas? In the middle of summer? It’s mental.

If you ask me, we should do away with Xmas and go back to an old midwinter festival in our midwinter. That’s the 21st of June. The summer solstice here is December 21st so you can imagine how “Christmassy” that feels. And we should have a spooky Halloween kinda thing in our autumn, sometime after the end of March.

Anyway, despite the spring in the air and the obvious ranty pants nature of my opinions, I’ll do my best to celebrate the one time of year when the rest of the population embraces the way we live all the time.

Happy Halloween!

With that in mind, check this out. OzTober is running again. Kicking off this weekend, there’s a huge sale of Australian and New Zealand horror, fantasy and sci-fi ebooks all at only 99c. That includes my book, The Gulp. You can find all you need and see all the books in the sale here:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/OZtober204/qzclk5vu1c

And talking of The Gulp, if you happen to still frequent Facebook, there’s a huge group there called Books of Horror and they frequently run brawls where books go head to head in a kind of indie tournament. It’s all in good fun, but if a book happens to get into one of the brawls, that means a lot of extra sales and readers. The next brawl in November is called the Short Smack and it’s for short stories, novellas and collections. I’ve entered The Gulp. If you fancy joining up in that group, you’ll find all kinds of good horror book chat, and you’ll also be able to help me get The Gulp up into the final brawl when the voting happens. Pretty please and thank you! But you need to join the group soon, because they close to new members when any brawl voting starts. You’ll find it here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/526308964218819

Last time I mentioned that The Leaves Forget was up for a Ditmar Award. That book has been really well-recognised, having garnered a finalist spot for the Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novella AND Best Fantasy Novella, and the Ditmar Award for Best Novella or Novelette. It didn’t win any of them, sadly, but the nomination really is reward enough. And not winning the Ditmar means I maintain my position as top Never-Winner. Anyone who’s been nominated for an award but hasn’t won it is a never-winner. I’ve been a finalist in the Ditmar Awards 15 times, but have yet to win one. The closest other never-winner there is Ben Peek with 11. So I can’t lose! It would be nice to add that trophy to my shelf one day. Never say never. In the meantime, I’m collecting enough finalist pins to eventually make a suit of armour.

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However, what I did win was another Australian Shadows Award, which is just fantastic. I won the short fiction category for my story, “All the Eyes That See”, which was published in issue 42 of Cosmic Horror Monthly. It’s such a thrill, I really didn’t think I’d win. That makes five Shadows Awards trophies on my shelf now, which is just nuts. It makes up for not winning the novella category in the other awards this year.

Talking of novellas (the segues in this newsletter are flowing smoothly) I’m still serialising the first draft of my new one over on Patreon if you’d like an early sneak peek at that. https://www.patreon.com/alanbaxter

Given the changing nature of things online, I’ve been trying to centralise stuff more at my website. I’ve always maintained that a writer needs a good website more than anything else. Relying on social media as a form of communication is fine, but you need something that’s yours and not subject to the whims of billionaire manbabies for people to find you professionally. I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of help with my website (thank you, Michael!) but even the simplest page online makes a huge difference. And while having your own domain is good, you don’t even have to have that. Just a free site with a bio, a list of your books with links and, most importantly, contact details is all you really need. I’ve recently updated the contact page on my site as I’d been using linktree before and it occurred to me that I can recreate the same thing on my site and not need an external page. Have a look here and see what you think. Please let me know if any links are broken. https://alanbaxter.com.au/contact/

Supanova

I’m excited to say I’ll be hitting the Supanova circuit again in November. If you’re anywhere Adelaide on November 2nd and 3rd or Brisbane on November 9th and 10th come and say hi! Loads of other great guests will be there and Brisbane is the 100th Supanova, so that’s going to be a wild party. All the details here: https://www.supanova.com.au/

What I’ve Been Enjoying

I’ve finally been catching up with The Orville. For the most part it’s surprisingly good, with some great storylines and superb production values. But while I know it’s Seth MacFarlane’s thing, I simply cannot buy that baby-faced weirdo as a starship captain. Everything else is great though. (But don’t get me started on MacFarlane’s beached-fish-gasping-for-air kissing style.) Regardless, it goes places I didn’t expect and has more pathos that I thought it would while still carrying some great humour. I also enjoyed the end of The Umbrella Academy. It got a bit ridiculous and they obviously pulled a lot of the story out of thin air, but it was a no holds barred finale that worked well.

I read a couple of short books recently – The Pram by Joe Hill and The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw – that I really enjoyed. It’s hard to say anything without giving away too much, but I recommend them both. And I’m currently halfway through The Reformatory by Tananarive Due and it’s fantastic. I’m really loving it. No wonder it landed the Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award this year. I can’t wait to get back to it.

Okay, that’s all from me for now. Thanks for hanging out. Drop me a line or hit me up on socials for a chat. If you want something a bit more personal, every month or so everyone on Patreon is invited to a group zoom. Meanwhile, be kind, especially to yourself.

Al

https://alanbaxter.com.au/

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Published on October 20, 2024 19:29

Newsletter 16th September 2024

You’ll get this in your inbox if you’re subscribed to my email, but I always crosspost it here too. If you want to subscribe, head to https://alanbaxter.com.au/contact/ and fill in the form.

Hello fiends

I hope this finds you well. I’m in pretty good shape, all things considered. I’m in a strangely liminal place in terms of writing and publishing right now, but I’m doing my best not to freak out about it. This job is so weird and only the truly masochistic and bloody-minded stick at it. I’m certainly stubborn, so I’m in it for the long haul. You know how we say, “Stubborn as a mule”? Mules say, “Stubborn as an Australian horror writer”.

I have a variety of things going on and, at the same time, absolutely fuck all going on. Which is a frequent state of being for a writer. I have a number of projects either on the go, on submission, or about to go on submission. I’m waiting to hear back about several things. The waiting, by all the gods old and new, the fucking waiting in this gig. But, I try to cope with it by staying busy.

If you’re a Patreon subscriber, you’ll know I’m serialising the first draft of a new novella over there. That’s been on hold because a sudden deadline came up, but I plan to get back to that this week. And talking of novellas, last year’s book, The Leaves Forget, has been nominated for a Ditmar Award in the Best Novella or Novelette category, which is very exciting. This marks my 15th time as a Ditmar Award finalist, but I’ve yet to win that award. If you happen to be a member of this year’s Conflux or any recent NatCon, you can vote and I would greatly appreciate your vote if you think the book deserves it. You can use an online voting form right here: https://ditmars.sf.org.au/2024

In other general writing news, the ebook of my novella collection, The Gulp, is on sale at the moment. You can get it at any vendor for 99c or the equivalent in your currency – that’s about 77p in the UK, about $1.49 here in Australia, and so on. If you buy the ebook direct from me through my website, it’s only 99c Australian, which is a bloody steal. You can get The Gulp and The Fall together for about US$6.00, which has to be a good deal, right? All the links and stuff here: https://alanbaxter.com.au/my-books/the-gulp/

If you prefer your books tattooed on dead trees, of course you can get those anywhere too and through my website if you’d like a signed copy, or if you’re anywhere near Sydney this weekend, come and see me at Oz Comic-Con! It’s my first in-person event of the year and I’ll have The Gulp, The Fall, Sallow Bend, Blood Covenant, and a few hardcovers of The Leaves Forget, as well as a bunch of other cool merch available. Or just come and say hello. All the details here: https://ozcomiccon.com/sydney/

If you happen to still frequent Facebook, there’s a huge group there called Books of Horror and they frequently run these brawls where books go head to head in a kind of indie tournament. It’s all good fun, but if a book happens to get into one of the brawls, that means a lot of extra sales and readers. The next brawl in November is called the Short Smack and it’s for short stories, novellas and collections. I’m entering The Gulp. If you fancy joining up in that group, you’ll find all kinds of good horror book chat, but you’ll also be able to help me get The Gulp up when the voting happens. Pretty please and thank you! But you need to join the group soon, because they close to new members when any brawl voting starts. You’ll find it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/526308964218819

And that’s about it for me for the time being. I feel like this is a bit of a boring newsletter, but it’s been quite a while since the last one, so I thought I’d let you all know I was still here.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

In terms of TV, I recently rewatched all of Black Sails. I bloody love a good pirate story and that show is just so damn brilliant. I will no doubt watch it again, too. One of these days I’ll write the pirate horror/fantasy I’ve had in mind for many years. And now I’m catching up on The Umbrella Academy. I’m nearing the end of season 3. It’s a great show, albeit completely ridiculous. I have huge respect for how they managed Elliot Page’s transition (he played Vanya and now Viktor in the show). It’s brilliant the way they wrote it in and then the show just rolled on. Bravo, those folks.

In terms of books, I’ve just finished book 17 in the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly. Long-time readers will know I’ve been slowly working through those. This one is A Book of Bones and I think it’s my new favourite so far, I really loved it. And I also really loved The Underhistory by Kaaron Warren and Lone Women by Victor LaValle. Brilliant books both, highly recommended.

So that’s about it from me for now. Please keep all your various appendages crossed in the hope something comes from at least one or two of the various irons I have in various fires right now. Meanwhile, be kind, be well, be awesome. Until next time.

Al

https://www.alanbaxter.com.au/

https://linktr.ee/alanbaxter

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Published on September 15, 2024 23:12

Australian SF (“Ditmar”) Award for 2024 Finalists announced

The Ditmar subcommittee have announced the finalist shortlists for the Australian SF (“Ditmar”) Award for 2024. I’m super excited to see The Leaves Forget is a finalist in Best Novella or Novelette. And voting is now open, and will remain open until one minute before midnight Melbourne time on Monday 30th September, 2024 (i.e. 11.59pm, GMT+10).

Here’s the 2024 ballot:

Best Novel
—————————————————————–
Dream Weaver, Steven Paulsen.
Polyphemus, Zachary Ashford, DarkLit Press.
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath, Garth Nix, Allen & Unwin.
The Tangled Lands, Glenda Larke, Wizard’s Tower Press.
Traitor’s Run (The Lenticular 1), Keith Stevenson, coeur de lion publishing.
When Dark Roots Hunt, Zena Shapter, MidnightSun.

Best Novella or Novelette
—————————————————————–
“Bitters”, Kaaron Warren, in Bitters, Cemetery Dance Publications.
“The Deathplace Set”, Kaaron Warren, in Vandal: Stories of Damage (Dark Tide 6), Crystal Lake Publishing.
“Eight or Die”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Clarkesworld 206 and 207.
“The Leaves Forget”, Alan Baxter, in The Leaves Forget, PS Publishing.
“A Marked Man”, T. R. Napper, in Grimdark Magazine, 36.
“The Measure of Sorrow”, J. Ashley-Smith, in The Measure of Sorrow: stories.
“Quicksilver”, J.S. Breukelaar, in Vandal: Stories of Damage, Crystal Lake Publishing.

Best Short Story
—————————————————————–
“Antarctica Starts Here”, Lucy Sussex, in Overland, Issue 250 Autumn 2023.
“Highway Requiem”, T. R. Napper, in Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fictioni, May/June 2023.
“Jimmy Flip Brings His Little One to Work, and It Comes My Turn to Hold It”, C.H. Pearce, in Body of Work, Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild.
“There are Things on Me”, Matt Tighe, in Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite, IFWG Publishing International.
“Trial by Fire”, Matt Tighe, Etherea Magazine #18, Sunburnt Fox Press.

Best Collected Work
—————————————————————–
Body of Work, ed. C.Z. Tacks, CSFG Publishing.
The Measure of Sorrow: stories, J. Ashley-Smith, Meerkat Press.
This Fresh Hell, ed. Katya de Becerra and Narrelle M. Harris, Clan Destine Press.
Vandal: Stories of Damage, Kaaron Warren, Aaron Dries, JS Breukelaar, Crystal Lake Publishing.

Best Artwork
—————————————————————–
Cover art, Meg Wright (Red Wallflower), for Midnight Echo 18.
Cover art, Greg Chapman, for Polyphemus, DarkLit Press.
Illustrations, Steve Simpson, Texture of Silence, Independent Legions Publishing.
Illustrations and cover, Marc McBride, Glow, Allen & Unwin.

Best Fan Writer
—————————————————————–
Leigh Edmonds
Bruce Gillespie
Jan MacNally
Perry Middlemiss

Best Fan Artist
—————————————————————–
Stella Marie, for body of work in Ethel the Aardvark #223 inc back page, and back page in Ethel the Aardvark #219.
C.H. Pearce, for fanart including Log Lady (Twin Peaks) and Ellie and Riley (The Last of Us) on Instagram @c.h.pearce.
David L. Russell, for body of work in Ethel the Aardvark #219 to #223.
Lyss Wickramasinghe, for fanart including Baldur’s Gate 3 on Facebook.

Best Fan Publication in Any Medium
—————————————————————–
Ethel the Aardvark, LynC, Melbourne Science Fiction Club.
Let the Cat In Podcast, Aaron Dries, Kaaron Warren, J Ashley Smith.
SF Commentary, Bruce Gillespie.
Terry Talks Movies, Terry Frost, Youtube.
The Writer and the Critic, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond.

Best New Talent
—————————————————————–
C H Pearce
Leanbh Pearson
C Z Tacks

William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review
—————————————————————–
Claire Fitzpatrick, “The Continuing Longevity of Speculative Fiction Spin-offs”, in Aurealis 159.
Claire Fitzpatrick (editor), A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft, IFWG Publishing.
Ian Mond for reviews in Locus.
Gillian Polack, “An Introduction to Dr Nikola, Guy Boothby’s Infamous Invention” in Aurealis 164.

—

Votes can be sent via email to:

ditmars@sf.org.au

Online voting is available at:

https://ditmars.sf.org.au/2024

Voting for the Ditmar Award is conducted in accordance with the rules specified at http://wiki.sf.org.au/index.php/Ditmar_rules, and is open to members of Continumm 16 (including supporting members) and to members of Conflux and other Natcons who were eligible to vote in the 2023 Award. Voting in all award categories is by the optional preferential system, and each eligible individual may vote only once. All ballots (including emailed ballots) should include the name and address of the voter. If you have questions regarding the ballot or voting procedure, please email ditmars@sf.org.au.

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Published on September 03, 2024 15:59

Oz Comic-Con Sydney, September 21 & 22

It’s been a weird year for me so far. I’ve kept busy at my desk, but I haven’t done much else, mainly because we made the big move from NSW to Tasmania. So I haven’t been out much. But that changes in September. My first big event this year is coming up on September 21st and 22nd when I’ll be a guest at the awesome Oz Comic-Con in Sydney. There’s a couple of other things coming up later in the year that I’ll talk about when I can, but for now, if you’re in or near Sydney that weekend, come along to Oz Comic-Con. It’s the first time I’ll have Blood Covenant with me if you’re keen to grab a signed copy and I’ll have Sallow Bend, The Gulp and The Fall and some other bits too. The con is always such a blast, with loads of cool guests, cosplayers, trade stands and all that good stuff. Check the website for details.

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Published on August 27, 2024 18:48

The Gulpepper Mythos

I’m a huge fan of when an author builds a fictional geography and frequently sets stories there (like Stephen King with Castle Rock). I’ve been working on that for a while with the Gulpepper Mythos. I’m also a huge nerd for easter eggs in fiction and I’ve been dropping Gulp easter eggs in various places. So I thought I’d share all those connections with you guys. Of course, if you’d rather try to spot them for yourself, stop reading now. Otherwise, Gulpepper Mythos spoilers ahead! Try to catch them all.

Gulpepper is set in a fictional geography somewhere on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. It’s further south than, say, Bateman’s Bay, but not as far as the Victorian border. I’ve always been slightly ambiguous about where it is exactly, but if you want to check on a map, imagine an extra bit of Australia somewhere around the Bermagui/Tathra-ish sort of area.

As described in The Gulp, Gulpepper is about halfway between two other fictional towns – Enden and Monkton. These places have cropped up in several stories and several other stories are peripherally part of the Gulpepper Universe, some even reverse engineered, because I’m such a nerd. So here’s how it breaks down so far:

Firstly, of course, the area is explored in The Gulp and The Fall. These two books are the only official Tales From The Gulp so far.

Some of my more recent work is set in the area. Blood Covenant starts in Enden, then the action at the hotel is set in the mountains to the west of there.

A new novel called Abattoir Road, currently with my agent, is set in Monkton and references events in The Fall quite extensively.

The best band in the world, Blind Eye Moon from Gulpepper, are mentioned in last year’s novella, The Leaves Forget. One of the characters wears a BEM ball cap. So while that story is set in Tasmania, it’s also part of the Gulpepper Mythos.

Another new novel I’m working on right now is set in Wollongong, New South Wales, but there’s a brief mention of Gulpepper and Blind Eye Moon in that story. So that book, while also going nowhere near Gulpepper, is still in the Gulpepper Mythos. There’s a bigger connection too, which I’ll get to next.

It starts with some reverse engineering of a kind. I wrote a story in 2016 for Jack Dann’s anthology, Darkness Down Under, called “Served Cold” (and it’s also reprinted in my second collection and gave that books its title). That story is set in an outback town that I’m pretty sure I never actually named in the story. I’ve always imagined it was somewhere in western New South Wales. In that story is a biker gang called the Desert Ghosts.

Just for fun, when I was writing the Eli Carver novellas, I needed a biker gang again. Always better to use a fictional one, of course, and I remembered the Desert Ghosts from “Served Cold”. So I used them, thus establishing that there are Desert Ghost chapters in Australia and America, as Manifest Recall (the first Eli Carver book) was set in and around New Orleans, then lots of other places around America as the trilogy progresses.

At the time, that was just a little Desert Ghosts easter egg. But when I wrote The Gulp, I dropped one tiny mention of the Desert Ghosts in the story “Mother In Bloom”. Suddenly, the Desert Ghosts are part of the Gulpepper Mythos, which means “Served Cold” and the Eli Carver books are also in the Gulpepper Mythos, all connected by the existence of the Desert Ghosts in all those stories.

The Desert Ghosts are also an integral part of that new novel I mentioned above, set in Wollongong, NSW, that directly references Gulpepper and BEM. It’s all connected now, baby.

Lastly, back in 2021 I wrote a story for John F.D. Taff’s anthology, The Bad Book, called “Nurturing His Nature”. That story was set in Monkton and it was a kind of unofficial sequel to an original story from my second collection, Served Cold, called “Exquisite”. Which means both of those stories are now part of the Gulpepper Mythos, because “Exquisite” would also have been in Monkton even though that wasn’t stated at the time. I wrote that story long before the Gulpepper Universe was born, just like “Served Cold” and Eli Carver.

And I think that’s it. I can’t be certain as I might have dropped a little easter egg in other stories and forgotten about it. If you know of any others or you spot any, let me know! Meanwhile, I’ll continue to drop these things, because it’s fun. Blind Eye Moon and the Desert Ghosts seem to be the most common Gulpepper Mythos easter egg at this point. I’m sure others will crop up as time goes on.

Here’s the list of Gulpepper Mythos books and stories so far:

Novels/Collections

The Gulp

The Fall

Blood Covenant

Abattoir Road (currently out on submission)

New novel with my agent

Standalone Novellas

The Leaves Forget

New novella currently being written – working title, The Cassidy Ghost

Short Stories

“Served Cold” from Darkness Down Under/Served Cold

“Exquisite” from Served Cold

“Nurturing His Nature” from The Bad Book

EDIT:

In an update to this post, the novella I’m currently working on, which you can read here as I write it if you’re at the Devourer level or above, is also in the Gulpepper Mythos, as I draw a Gulpepper reference there with the main character. So once that’s finished and has a final title (current working title is The Cassidy Ghost), that will be added to the list as well. Because the Mythos will be continuing to grow, I’ll be updating this post whenever a new book or story becomes a part of the Gulpepper Mythos.

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Published on August 16, 2024 17:27

Keeping the creative arts alive

With the ongoing enshittification of social media, the increased algorithmic nature of everything, and the rise of plagiarism software (so-called “AI” and LLMs) it’s becoming ever harder to make an impact as a creative person. So if you are a fan of the arts—and bear in mind that everything you read, watch, listen to, etc. was made by an artist— and you feel inclined to help, here’s a bunch of ways you can. I’m framing it with books, but feel free to replace books with any art of choice.

Buy the book if you can afford it, or order it at your library if you can’t. It’s a sale to the library and authors in Australia, UK and other places also get paid for borrows. Plus, it exposes the books to all those library-goers who might never look elsewhere. Order books at your library even if you do buy your own copies!

Buy the author’s books as a gift for someone. It’s another sale for the author, a potential new fan and one less gift for you to think about. Also, giving someone art that you’ve loved is a wonderful way to connect more deeply with that person. Everyone wins.

Talk about the book—online, in person, literally anywhere. It all helps. An author can talk about their work all they like, but other people talking about it is magnitudes more powerful. Social proof (the idea that if others like something, I’ll probably like it too) is incredibly powerful. This is why popular things get more popular and other things find it hard to get noticed.

Review the book, on social media, dedicated sites (Amazon, Goodreads, etc.), your blog, absolutely anywhere helps. More social proof, but also more triggers to the various algorithms to help get that book shown to more people.

Buy direct from the author. Lots of us sell from our websites, often signed copies. We make a far better margin that way as we don’t have to pay bookstore discounts and you get something more personal for your collection.

Follow the author’s Patreon, Ko-fi, etc. If you can afford to subscribe, that’s fantastic (my Patreon covers about one week of groceries a month, which is a *massive* help.) But follow at the free level even if you don’t subscribe, as more followers is more social proof and it will encourage others to follow as well. And once following, some may upgrade to paid subscriptions if they like the stuff they find there.

Occasionally drop the author a tip (via PayPal, Ko-fi, Venmo, etc.) if you can’t afford a regular subscription to something. Income in the arts is sporadic and unpredictable and every single dollar really makes a difference. My Ko-fi has helped to cover a bunch of surprise expenses over the years.

Buy the author’s merch if they have some. I have a Teepublic store and the profit margin is thin, but remember, every dollar helps. Plus, if you wear their merch you’re helping to spread the word about them to the general public. Excellent conversation starter!

Ask organisers for the author to appear at things—signings, conventions, events of any kind. If organisers know you want them there, they might get invited. That means more exposure for their work, possible sales at the event and (hopefully!) appearance or speaking fees.

I’m sure there are other ways. Comment below if I’ve missed anything. Genuinely, readers championing our work in any way possible is absolutely fantastic and will have a far greater impact on us than anything we can do alone. If you do anything to promote the arts in any way, you are a beautiful person and should be worshipped. Thank you.

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Published on August 16, 2024 00:21

Should things be shorter? Newsletter 26th July 2024.

Hello layghouls and gentlefiends

How the fuck are ya? I hope this finds you well. I think it’s been a minute between newsletters, my apologies for that. But I do have a bunch of interesting stuff to share, so also apologies if this is longer than usual.

On a slight tangent, I’ve been wondering a lot lately if things should be shorter. There’s a place for great and epic works (and I have one in mind myself that I plan to write before too long) but should a lot of things be shorter than they are? I know there’s a perception out there that people have shorter attention spans now. We live in the age of microblogging and YouTube shorts. My 10 yo won’t watch a movie because it requires concentration for too long, but watching an hour and half of YouTube shorts is no challenge at all apparently. That’s definitely a generational thing.

But I often see the opposite at work with people making things longer than they need to be. There was a golden age of pulp and literary fiction where so many classics were really novellas. The Old Man and the Sea, Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451 and so many more were all novellas or very short novels and they’re amazing for it. Then there was a shift to bigger works, often, I think, purely for thicker spines on bookstore shelves and therefore more noticeability. But I think we’re swinging back the other way now, slowly.

Regular readers will know I spent ages catching up on the American Horror Story series recently and by far my favourite was Red Tide, which was amazing at 6 episodes. All the others went on far too long trying to fill out 10 episodes. They would have all benefitted from being 6 or 8 eps instead despite how good many of them were. They would have been better if they were shorter, I think.

So yeah, I’m currently on Team Shorter – shorter series, shorter movies, shorter books. I’ve always been a huge fan of the novella and I’ve written a bunch. I’m writing a new one right now (Devourer patrons and above get to follow along with the first draft).

Anyway, at the risk of great irony with this newsletter going on too long, let’s get into the actual news.

I’m blown away by the ratings on Sallow Bend. New records all around for me. I have a dedicated readership, which is wonderful, but a relatively small one (please tell all your friends if you enjoy my stuff!) but Sallow Bend seems to have hit a chord and is racking up some amazing numbers. It’s currently got 4.2 stars on Amazon from over 730 ratings and 4 stars on Goodreads from over 1,000 ratings. Those are unprecedented numbers for me, so huge thanks to everyone who’s got behind that book. Blood Covenant, my latest novel, isn’t tracking as strongly but is still getting a great response, so that’s awesome too.

Talking of Blood Covenant, there’s an audiobook version on the way. You heard it here first, produced through Crossroad Press and narrated by Australian reader Amy Soakes, it should be out soon. It was really important to me that it was read by an actual Australian, not an American doing an Australian accent. I can’t wait for you all to hear it.

And on the book front, there are two brand new novels with my agent soon to go out on submission, so please cross your everythings for me there.

I’ve got a few public appearances coming up in the second half of this year that haven’t been announced yet, but I think will be soon. Watch my social media for news there. On that front, in case you didn’t know, I got banned from Twitter last hear for being mean to the uber-wealthy, so I’m in different places now. I particularly enjoy Bluesky, but you can find all my online accounts at this handy link: https://linktr.ee/alanbaxter

If you’re keen for some cool merch, be it actual Alan Baxter stuff or more generalised horror stuff, I’ve been expanding my Teepublic store lately. Take a look and see if anything catches your eye. You can get t-shirts, hoodies, caps, phone cases, magnets, and all that good stuff. I would recommend spending more for the Premium t-shirt if you do want one – the regular T is really lightweight.

So that’s about it for news stuff at the moment. There are several irons in several fires and I’ll be sure to share more soon, but I felt like it had been a while since I checked in.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

I’ve been watching some amazing television lately. We really are spoiled for incredible shows at the moment and most of them aren’t too long! I am absolutely blown away by the adaptation of The Boys. I love love love the graphic novels by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and the TV show is a bit different but just so damn good. It is intense and goes so very hard. There’s also a spin-off called Gen V about superhero college and holy shit, that show holds nothing in reserve either. Season 4 of The Boys has just finished and Season 5 will be the last one, but apparently we won’t see it until 2026. Nooo! But there should be more Gen V in the meantime.

I also caught up with the adaptation of Fallout, which is another incredible bit of television. I spent way too many hours playing Fallout 4 and the TV show really does that source material justice. I can’t wait for season 2 of that.

And I’m currently enjoying a Japanese show called Alice in Borderland. Imagine Squid Game but city-wide and kinda more intense. Highly recommended. There are two seasons so far and I’m halfway through S2.

Reading-wise, I’ve been a bit slack of late. I guess busy more than anything. But I did really enjoy Ellen Datlow’s anthology in tribute to Shirley Jackson, When Things Get Dark. Some amazing stories in there. And I’m currently reading her latest Best Horror of the Year. I also highly recommend a brilliant non-fiction book I read recently called All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell. It’s a study on death from the perspective of people who work with death – funeral directors, crime scene cleaners, coroners and so on. It’s confronting as hell in places but absolutely fascinating. And for a horror writer, there’s some epic food for story thought.

Right, I think this has gone on long enough. I’ll try to make it less than two months until the next newsletter, but know that I love you all even if I don’t write as often as I should. Stay well, be kind, read good horror and I’ll talk to you again soon.

Al

https://www.alanbaxter.com.au/

https://linktr.ee/alanbaxter

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Published on July 25, 2024 19:22

Newsletter 26th July 2024