ALAN BAXTER
- Guest Author -
G'day folks,
Welcome to an interview with another emerging Australian author. Alan Baxter is a British-Australian author who writes dark fantasy,
horror and sci-fi.
Welcome, Alan ...
1.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT
YOURSELF AND YOUR WRITING JOURNEY.
I’m a British-Australian
author, I write mostly dark fantasy, horror and sci-fi (but I dabble in other
genres too), I ride a motorcycle and love my dog. I also teach Kung Fu and run
the Illawarra Kung Fu Academy. I live among dairy paddocks on the beautiful
south coast of NSW, Australia, with my wife, son, dog and cat. My writing
journey began with telling lies as a child, then writing them down as I got
older. It continues to this day.
2.
WHEN AND HOW DID YOU
BECOME A WRITER?
I think everyone
who is a writer is born one – it’s just whether or not we indulge that calling
or not. I decided to actively pursue writing as a profession in my mid-20s
after dabbling as a hobbyist all my life until then.
3.
WHAT TYPE OF PREPARATION DO YOU DO FOR A
MANUSCRIPT? DO YOU PLAN EVERYTHING FIRST OR JUST SHOOT FROM THE HIP?
I plan loosely,
make lots of notes, set up a rough timeline, then just start running with it.
If the story starts going somewhere different to my notes and original ideas, I
stick with the story, not the notes.
4.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST
ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
Creation. I get to invent these characters and
creatures and worlds and make stuff up about them, and the best bit is that
then other people seem to really enjoy that. Nothing tops that feeling when
someone tells you they love what you’re doing.
5.
WHAT IS THE HARDEST
THING ABOUT BEING A WRITER?
Making a living!
6.
WHAT WERE YOU IN A
PAST LIFE, BEFORE YOU BECAME A WRITER?
I’ve been many things – van driver, accounts clerk,
fishmonger, aquarium salesman, bartender. And more.
7.
WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST
WRITING ACHIEVEMENT?
In long fiction,
selling a trilogy – The Alex Caine Series – to HarperVoyager was an absolute
high point. In short fiction, selling a short story – The Chart of the Vagrant
Mariner – to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, which was my short fiction
goal ever since I seriously started looking for publication.
8.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING
ON AT THE MOMENT?
I’m currently working on a new collaborative
action/adventure/monster novel with David Wood and I’m laying the groundwork
for my next standalone novel, which will be a kind of
supernatural/horror/crime/police procedural thing.
9.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Everything.
10. WHAT GENRE DO YOU WRITE?
All of them.
11. DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR NEW
WRITERS?
Read, read, read, write, write, write. Repeat.
12. DO YOU SUFFER FROM WRITER’S BLOCK?
Not really. I get stuck sometimes, but I go out for
a ride on the motorbike, or mow the lawn, or walk the dog – something where my
hindbrain can be active – and I usually think my way around it.
13. DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED WRITING
SCHEDULE?
No. I write whenever I can.
14. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE WRITING
PLACE?
I like to be in my study at home. My wife calls it
my cave. I call it the BaxCave. But I can work anywhere if I have to. But I
like the peace and quiet and isolation of the BaxCave with the door shut.
15. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST JOY IN
WRITING?
Telling stories that people enjoy!
16. WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE AUTHOR AND
WHY?
Clive Barker. He’s an unrivalled fantasist, an
incredible wordsmith, and has probably had a larger influence on me than any
other writer.
17. WHAT’S THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT YOU
EVER RECEIVED FROM A READER?
“I couldn’t put it down!”
18. WHAT WAS THE WORST COMMENT FROM A
READER?
Honestly, I can’t really think of any. There have
been some, of course, and some less than glowing reviews and stuff like that,
but I don’t dwell on it. Nothing particular comes to mind as the worst.
19. WRITERS ARE SOMETIMES INFLUENCED BY
THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THEIR OWN LIVES. ARE YOU?
All the time. Everything we write is coloured by our
experience and we all draw on our own lives and the lives of those around us.
More often than not it’s subconscious, I think, but I do it consciously
sometimes too.
20. OTHER THAN WRITING, WHAT ELSE DO YOU
LOVE?
My family, Kung Fu, reading, dogs, motorcycling, comics
books, movies, being out in nature… There’s so much in life to love.
21. DID YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK / BOOKS
PROFESSIONALLY EDITED BEFORE PUBLICATION?
Absolutely,
that’s a big part of the publisher’s job!
22. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
Keep writing.
23. WHAT FIVE BOOKS WOULD YOU TAKE TO
HEAVEN?
Surely, if there
was such a thing as heaven, every book would already be there. It hardly deserves
to bear the name of heaven if they weren’t.
24. DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY OF YOUR
CHARACTERS?
Lots of characters
have autobiographical elements. Perhaps the most for me would be in Alex Caine,
with my latest trilogy from Voyager. He’s a career martial artist like I am and
has a very similar set of guiding philosophies. But beyond that he’s a very
different person to me.
25. DOES THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
FRUSTRATE YOU?
Yep.
26. DID YOU EVER THINK OF QUITTING?
Never.
27. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE MANUSCRIPT
TO WRITE? WHY?
I love all my
babies!
28. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE ‘SUCCESS’ AS A
WRITER.
Finishing a
story. Everything else is gravy. After that, there are levels of success –
publication, good payment, awards, bestseller status. Writers are always
striving for the next thing, no matter how successful they are.
29. WHAT SHOULD READERS
WALK AWAY FROM YOUR BOOKS KNOWING? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL?
I hope
they’ll feel like they had a rollicking good time and were thoroughly
entertained. If they’ve been given pause to think about some stuff too, even
better.
30. HOW MUCH THOUGHT GOES
INTO DESIGNING A BOOK COVER?
Hopefully, a great deal. The covers I’ve had
involvement on have been very carefully considered. People absolutely judge a
book by it’s cover, so it’s important.
31. WHAT’S YOUR ULTIMATE
DREAM?
A continued career with an ever-growing readership
and earnings to live comfortably.
32. WRITING IS ONE THING. WHAT ABOUT MARKETING YOU,
YOUR BOOKS AND YOUR BRAND? ANY THOUGHTS?
It’s essential.
You have to be out there to some degree, at least have a website where people
can learn about you and your books. Otherwise, the level of involvement is up
to the individual. But the harder you work, the more successful you’ll be.
33. ARE YOUR BOOKS SELF-PUBLISHED?
In general, no.
I have self-published a sci-fi novella called “Ghost of the Black” and a
writer’s guide to help people create better fight scenes called “Write the
Fight Right”. My debut novel, RealmShift, started out self-published, but got
picked up by Gryphonwood Press. All the details of my other books, including
sample chapters, are on my website at www.warriorscribe.com
34. DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN
FIVE WORDS.
Just a guy
telling stories.
35. WHAT PISSES YOU OFF
MOST?
Willful ignorance
and bigotry.
36. WHAT IS THE TITLE OF
THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? GOOD ONE?
I recently
reread Clive Barker’s collections, The Books of Blood. Absolutely brilliant.
37. WHAT WOULD BE THE VERY LAST SENTENCE
YOU’D WRITE?
The End.
38. WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPIER THAN YOU ARE NOW? CARE
TO SHARE?
More sales, more
readers. More health and happiness. Less ignorance in the world.
39. ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
Check out my
website at www.warriorscribe.com and
find me on Twitter @AlanBaxter
If you read my
books, thank you, and I hope you enjoy them. If you’re looking for a good place
to start, try Bound: Alex Caine #1.
Clancy's comment: Well done, Alan. Agree with you about the creative process. It's great to get carried away with characters you've invented.
Keep going, and good luck.
I'm ...
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