Alan Baxter's Blog, page 53

The Ongoing Angst of Successful Writers 1 – Kaaron Warren

I’ve got a very exciting series of guests posts coming up over the next week or so. It’s award season at the moment and lots of very deserving people are having their wonderful work recognised with nominations and wins of some of Australia’s (and the world’s) most prestigious prizes. But something I’ve noticed a lot is that no matter how successful a writer may be (in terms of publications, awards or anything else), they always worry that they’re not good enough, or that there are career heights they’ve yet to scale. It’s been said many times that the day you stop worrying about whether or not you’re good enough is the day you’ve lost your passion. So I thought to myself, there are some amazingly talented, successful and well-rewarded writers in Australia who probably feel this way too. And if you’re a writer of any level, be it newly emerging or well-established, it’s always good to hear that stuff. It’s good to be reminded that you’re not alone in your insecurities. I certainly like to know that it’s not just me who lies awake at night, terrified that tomorrow everyone will realise I’m a hack!

So I’ve asked five of Australia’s most successful writers (and people I’m lucky enough to call my friends) to answer three simple questions. I’ll be posting up their responses over the next week or so. The incredibly generous respondents are Kaaron Warren, Jo Anderton, Lisa L Hannett, Angela Slatter and Margo Lanagan. Seriously, between them these writers have nominations or wins in just about every genre writing award you can think of, not to mention heaps of amazing publications, all of which you should check out if you haven’t already.

First up, it’s Kaaron Warren. Kaaron started sending stories out when she was about 23, and sold her first one, “White Bed””, in 1993. Since then she’s sold about 70 short stories, three short story collections and three novels.

On top of that amazing publication record, Kaaron has won numerous awards and is currently sitting on ten nominations across the Aurealis, Ditmar and Australian Shadows Awards for this year, a personal record number of nominations in a single year.

1. What do you still fear as a writer, when it comes to putting your work out there? What fills you with doubt and angst?

I’m still sure that one day someone will say, “You do realise it’s all been an elaborate joke we’ve played on you? You’re a crap writer and no one has ever liked anything you’ve ever written.” Imposter syndrome, writ large. Every new story or novel brings the same fear; that people will hate it, misunderstand it, use it to judge me on all I’ve written in the past.

Even so, I keep going, because I love to write. That’s often the only thing that keeps me going. My response to negative feelings is to write the crap out of the story, produce words I want to read back.

Even if everybody else hates them.

2. What career markers do you still strive for? What heights are you determined to scale?

There are plenty. I’d love to sell a story to the New Yorker. I’d love to be read by a broader audience. I’d love to be part of the Writers Festival world, because I enjoy the festivals and being amongst it. Best seller list would be nice, and selling a heap of my short stories to Hollywood would be nice as well.

3. Whose career do you envy? Why?

I admire Margo [Lanagan] greatly, because to me she has managed her career so very well. She garners huge respect and adoration, yet remains so approachable and fun to be around.

I envy those who write the work they want to write and find a market and a large audience for it.

I admire Margaret Atwood and Elizabeth Jolley, for remaining passionate about their work and writing insightful, harsh, good work, rather than sinking into decline.

I envy those who seem to effortlessly hit the best seller lists and are interviewed in the Guardian and sound intelligent, creative and amusing.

I envy those who are really good on Twitter.

You can find Kaaron on Twitter – @KaaronWarren – and learn more at her website – http://kaaronwarren.wordpress.com/

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Game of Thrones house sigil fun

There’s this little bit of fun knocking around the intertubes at the moment where you can go to jointherealm.com and design your own Game of Thrones style house sigil, with your own motto and everything. So I thought I’d do one, because, you know, I should be writing, but procrastination is perfectly okay, anyway, who are you my mum, shut up!

Ahem. Basically, I took the two primary aspects of my life – kung fu and writing – and made the House Baxter sigil. I had to photoshop it a bit, because the website is a bit bloody puritanical and wouldn’t allow swearing. Not even “arse”. It wouldn’t even allow “sh!t” if you can believe that. So I ‘shopped it. Suck on that, fuckers!

It was also pointed out to me by a very knowledgeable medievalist friend (yes, I have a friend who’s a medievalist and that is very cool, actually) that I’ve broken heraldry rules by having a sun shape below a building. But I went back and tried switching the “Shaolin gate” and the book to the other way around and it looked a bit rubbish. So screw heraldry – House Baxter laughs at your rules and regulations! If you have a problem with that, come here and I’ll kick your arse. Then write a story about it.

So yeah, I really should be writing.

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Cover reveal and blurb for Dark Rite

I’m very excited about this. David Wood and myself have collaborated on a new novella (almost a novel, in fact) called Dark Rite. It’s coming out in a few weeks from Gryphonwood Press and look at that sweet cover. When my wife saw it, she said, “Ooooh… eesh…” which is *exactly* the reaction I like to hear! When I say it’s almost a novel, it’s actually about 42,000 words, so it’s right at the upper end of novella territory. A lot of the old pulp novels were around the 50-60k word mark. I’m very happy with what David and I have come up with, so I hope readers enjoy it too. Here’s the back cover blurb:

A small mountain town hides a dark secret…

When the death of his father brings Grant Shipman to the tiny Appalachian town of Wallen’s Gap, he believes his biggest problem will be dealing with the slow pace and odd townsfolk. But something sinister is at work. A dark power rises, an echo of the town’s bloody past. A book of blood magic offers an unspeakable horror a gateway into the world of the living, and only Grant stands in the way of their Dark Rite.

And we’ve got a couple of great reactions so far:

“Wood and Baxter have delivered a stunning tale that reminds of an early Stephen King’s talent for the macabre with a pinch of Graham Masterton’s flair for witchcraft and terror. A sinister tale of black magic and horror – not for the faint hearted.” Greig Beck, bestselling author of Beneath the Dark Ice and Black Mountain

“With mysterious rituals, macabre rites and superb supernatural action scenes, Wood and Baxter deliver a fast-paced horror thriller.” J.F. Penn, author of the bestselling ARKANE thriller series

I’ll post again when the book is available to buy. It’ll be available in print and ebook wherever books are sold, and hopefully an audiobook to follow eventually.

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Simple writing advice on hands

I love this idea. The Passive Voice blog shared this great idea from Shared Worlds. Shared Worlds asked some of speculative fiction’s finest artists, editors and writers to write advice on their own hands and send in a picture. Very simple and effective! One of them is this great picture from Neil Gaiman and I just had to have it for my blog:

I also have to share this one from Patrick Rothfuss:

And this one from Lev Grossman:

Seriously, on three hands right there is pretty much all you need to remember. And you’ll notice there’s some overlap. After that, it’s all about polishing, getting it critiqued, taking that advice, rewriting and pushing on. But none of that happens unless you do what it says above.

Now go and read the advice on the hands of all the other awesome people they included. Because, honestly, it’s all brilliant stuff, and all very valuable after you’ve done those things above.

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Video trailers for RealmShift and MageSign

I’m very pleased with these. My publisher, Gryphonwood Press, has put together these two simple video trailers for my dark urban fantasy novels, RealmShift and MageSign. I’m very much of the opinion that a simple trailer for a book is the best option. If you have loads of money to spend on a really professional, slick video, then great. But if you do it on the cheap, it looks tacky and… well, cheap. And that does no favours for your book. But Gryphonwood Press commissioned top notch voice actor Jeffrey Kafer to voice these trailers and just used the book covers for the visuals. The result is simple and effective. At least, I think it is! What do you think?

Here’s RealmShift:

And here’s MageSign:

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Midnight Echo 9 cover revealed, featuring me

Check out the awesome cover for issue 9 of Midnight Echo magazine. That’s some great, creepy work by Mahdesigns. This issue, edited by Geoff Brown, is horror stories themed around myths and legends. It features my story, The Fathomed Wreck To See. I’m really pleased to have a story in this issue, as I’m a huge fan of the magazine. Not only that, but if you look closely you’ll see I’ve even got my name on the cover along with some seriously talented people in the horror field. And honestly, seeing your name on a book or magazine cover never gets old. Such a treat and such an honour to be included among so many talented people who have work in this issue. Check it out:

Midnight Echo 9 Table of Contents:

Literature

Changeling by Jonathan Maberry
Black Train Blues by James A Moore
Black Peter by Martin Livings
The Road by Amanda J Spedding
Coffee Rings by Kristin Dearborn
The Wee Folk by JG Faherty
From the Forebears by Steven Gepp
Little Boy, Little Girl, Lost in the Woods by Mark Patrick Lynch
The Fathomed Wreck to See by Alan Baxter

Poetry

ganesh by Talie Helene

Comic

Allure of the Ancients; The Key to His Kingdom – story by Mark Farrugia, illustrations by Greg Chapman

Special Features

The Mythology of Mid-World by Robin Furth (non-fiction)
Russian Field of Mysteries by Tony Vilgotsky (non-fiction)
An Interview with Jonathan Maberry
An Interview with Mel Gannon

Regular Features

A Word from the AHWA President – Geoff Brown
Tartarus – Danny Lovecraft (poetry column)
Pix and Panels – Mark Farrugia (comic column)
Black Roads, Dark Highways #4 – Andrew McKiernan (column)
Sinister Reads (all the latest releases from AHWA members)

Pre-orders for the limited print edition are now being taken, and it will be available in all electronic formats too. For more information on this amazing issue, head to www.midnightechomagazine.com

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Aurealis and Shadows Awards finalists for 2012 announced

It’s award season again and the first couple of shortlists are out. The Aurealis Awards for fantasy, sci-fi and horror, and the Australian Shadows Awards for horror. All the finalist lists for both of these are really strong – it’s great to see so much Australian talent being celebrated, not to mention how many friends I can count among the finalists.

I’ve posted the full lists for both over at Thirteen O’Clock, so you can see all the Aurealis Award finalists here and all the Australian Shadows Awards finalists here.

Go and make yourself a big old reading list of everything there and you certainly can’t go wrong. Congratulations to all the finalists!

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Urban Occult has landed

I got this today, my contributor’s copy of Urban Occult from Anachron Press. It includes my story, A Time For Redemption, about a young university student who discovers an amulet that allows him to stop time. He sees a way to get back with the girl he lost. Of course, it’s not that easy.

I’m looking forward to reading the other stories in this one too. Get your copy wherever books are sold.

One week left to get your Ditmar nominations in

Nominations for the Ditmar Awards officially close at midnight next Wednesday (Canberra time). If you haven’t nominated work you enjoyed last year, please find a few minutes to do so. The more people involved, the better and more accurate our awards are as an indicator of the good stuff out there.

Everything you need to know about nominating is here: http://conflux.org.au/2013/02/19/ditmar-award-nominations-open/

If you’ve enjoyed anything I had published last year, I would love your nomination. Or if you’d like to check out my stuff and consider a nomination, quite a bit is free to read online. Here are my eligible works this year:

Best Novella or Novelette
(Novella or Novelette: A Novella or Novelette is any work of sf/f/h of 7,500 to 40,000 words.)

“The Darkest Shade of Grey“, by Alan Baxter, published by The Red Penny Papers.

You can read this entire novelette online for free at The Red Penny Papers. It’s about 18,000 words, so more like a very long short story than a novella. I’m really proud of this piece and it has particular personal resonance for me for other reasons, so I would really like to see it get a bit of attention on the ballot.

Then there are my eligible short fiction works. Some of these are available to read online too, so if the title is a link, click it to read it.

Best Short Story
(Short Story: A Short Story is any work of sf/f/h less than 7,500 words.)

“Burning, Always Burning”, Alan Baxter and Felicity Dowker, in Damnation and Dames, Ticonderoga Publications.

“Cephalopoda Obsessia”, Alan Baxter, in Bloodstones, Ticonderoga Publications.

“Crossroads and Carousels“, Alan Baxter, in The Red Penny Papers, Fall 2012.

“Fear is the Sin”, Alan Baxter, in From Stage Door Shadows, eMergent Publishing.

“In the Name of the Father”, Alan Baxter, in The One That Got Away, Dark Prints Press.

“Salvage in the Void“, Alan Baxter, in Kasma SF Magazine.

“The Everywhere And The Always”, Alan Baxter, in Mythic Resonance, The Specusphere and Esstee Media.

“The Goodbye Message“, Alan Baxter, in ticon4, April 2, 2012.

“Tiny Lives“, Alan Baxter, in Daily Science Fiction, December 25th, 2012.

And whether you nominate my stuff or not, if you’re eligible to nominate, please do. Even if you only nominate one or two books or stories that you enjoyed in 2012, it’s worth it.

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Happenings in the world of the Warrior Scribe

Halfway through March already? Seriously, what the shit, time? It’s been a strange and hectic year so far, for many reasons, but through it all I’m steadfastly, some would say stubbornly, persisting with being a writer. Some might even suggest I was bull-headedly persisting and yes, bull-headedly is most definitely a word.

I’ve been working on several short fiction projects, and I’m cautiously proud of the stories I’ve been turning out. There’s horror, straight fantasy, science fiction and cross-bred mutants of all three happening at the moment. Today I’ll be working on a horror story about a priest facing a small child’s demons. Cliche, you’re thinking? Well, fuck you. Wait till you read it, then you can call it a cliche. Personally, I think I’m playing very cleverly with old tropes. Of course, we always think we’re clever, or we would have given up this fool’s game a long time ago.

Sometimes, though, we get some positive feedback. Take the novella that I’m collaborating on with David Wood. It’s called Dark Rite, it’s a kind of horror/thriller mashup and we’re really quite proud of it. It’s around 40,000 words, which is right at the top end of the novella range, almost into short novel territory, so it’s a meaty read. We’re pretty close to a final draft and are currently waiting on some feedback from some very generous early readers. And we’re lucky, because those early readers are some luminary figures in the world of thrillers and horror. I’ll reveal more when we get all the feedback and make the final tweaks before putting the book up for publication. But so far, the feedback has been very encouraging. It’s been called “fantastic” and “very Stephen King” by one person whose opinion I really respect. You can imagine the little happy dance I did when I read that. As a horror writer, is there much higher praise than being compared to Stephen King?

So while we continually pound our aching head against the wall of literary recognition, trying to get better, trying to get published, it’s nice to get that kind of feedback from time to time. It helps to ease the self-inflicted wounds. Balm for the weeping gashes of self-doubt that stripe our soul. And all that bollocks.

I’m also still working on the next two novels. One is out in the world looking for a home, the next is finished in early drafts. Once this last short story is polished up, redrafting that book will be my primary focus. Never any rest here at the Warrior Scribe Word Mills. And that’s the only way to succeed – keep doing it, keep getting better.

No Retreat, No Surrender!

(1986 Van Damme martial arts movie reference FTW!)