My year in review
I guess this post is more for my own benefit than the interest of readers, but what the fuck? They say blogging is dead anyway. Actually, it’s not, by a long way, it’s just changed. But still. I’d like to think this post might also serve as some kind of inspiration. After all, it’s been a hell of a good year for me, writing-wise, and I’ve been working my arse off for a long time to get to this point. Maybe others can draw strength from that. I started to take being a professional writer seriously in 1997, after all. That’s 16 years ago now. Shit, eh? Where does the time go? We’re all getting older, life’s a bitch and all that. But 2013 was a fucking good year for me, so maybe it can inspire others who are trudging this long road to keep going. One more step. Then another. Art hard and don’t give up, motherhumpers.
After all, a successful person is a simply a failure who refused to godsdamn quit.
And you know, the longer I work at this gig, the more true that becomes. I’ve talked before about how success is basically hard work, luck and determination. It’s really the determination that’s the key. If you’re determined to keep going and keep working hard, you’ll get better. If you get better and stay determined, you’ll get more luck. More opportunities will come along if you’re busy working hard. You just have to notice and take them.
So, professionally, what’s happened this year for me? In short fiction, I’ve had the following publications:
“Not the Worst of Sins” – Beneath Ceaseless Skies #133 (October 31st, 2013)
“Roll the Bones” – Crowded Magazine issue #2 (August 2013)
“The Beat Of A Pale Wing” – A Killer Among Demons anthology (Dark Prints Press, June 2013)
“The Fathomed Wreck To See” – Midnight Echo Magazine, issue 9 (May 2013)
“On A Crooked Leg Lightly” – Dreaming Of Djinn anthology (Ticonderoga Publications, May 2013)
“Quantum Echoes” – Next anthology (CFSG Publishing, April 2013)
“A Time For Redemption” – Urban Occult anthology (Anachron Press, March 2013)
“Tiny Lives” – originally published in Daily Science Fiction (25th December 2012) this was reprinted in the Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror 2012 (Ticonderoga Publications, August 2013)
That’s seven original stories and a reprint published already, including two pro sales (5c/word or more). I’ve still got three more publications due out this year, all in December:
“All the Wealth in the World” – Lakeside Circus 1, due any day now.
“It’s Always the Children Who Suffer” – Midnight Echo Magazine, issue 10, Winner of the 2013 AHWA Short Story Competition (due end of December, 2013)
“Exposure Compensation” – Midnight Echo Magazine, issue 10 (due end of December, 2013)
So that’s 10 original stories published and one Year’s Best reprint. Which is pretty awesome. And you’ll notice one of those originals is the winner of the 2013 AHWA Short Story Competition, another great high point for the year. I’ve also sold a couple of stories already that will be out next year, so it’s good to get a start on that.
Also published this year was Dark Rite, the short horror novel I co-wrote with David Wood. That’s some good, pulpy, Hammer-esque horror fun if you’re into that sort of thing, and barely more than a novella, so a quick, easy read.
All the anthologies, magazines, novels and so on I’ve talked about here, and all the others I’m involved with, can be tracked down via this page: https://alanbaxter.com.au/books/
I’d be very happy with all that as a year’s work on its own, but of course, I’m saving the best for last. A couple of months ago I signed a three book deal with HarperVoyager Australia, and they’re publishing my trilogy The Alex Caine Series between July and December next year. That’s not only the high point of the year, it’s the high point of my career to date. I couldn’t be more excited about it.
And on top of all that, my son was born at the end of October.
Oh yes, 2013 is going down as one HELL of a year. It’s hard work all the way, but it’s paying off. I’m getting better all the time, I’m staying determined, I’m working hard and I’m starting to see real results.
You can too. Go for it!
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365 Shorts Success!
I’m as surprised as you are, but it seems I succeeded in the task I thought I was certain to fail. Towards the end of last year, I set myself a task to see if I could read 365 short stories in 365 days. I thought I’d never get close, but I wanted to record my short fiction reading and see how I went. Here’s the original post about it. I decided to set the year to start on December 1st 2012 so the end didn’t get lost in the Xmas/New Year shenanigans. That means the 365 days ran up until today, November 30th 2013. Instead of failing, I passed my target. I read 388 stories this year.
Now this has to be tempered with a few points of order. First and foremost, this includes podcasts. I listen to loads of short fiction podcasts – I’ve got a page all about them here. So I included listening as reading. I also included books and magazines that I’m in, but didn’t include my own story in the total count. Even so, I easily read past my limit. And it’s worth bearing in mind that my son was born at the end of October, so for just over the last month of this challenge, I’ve hardly read much at all. I think it’s fair to say I would have passed 400 if it wasn’t for that slight interruption to normal programming.
The thing this makes me realise more than anything else is that I probably read around this many stories every year. I made no special effort to make sure I hit my target. I listened to podcasts and read anthologies and magazines the same way I always do, and it turns out my personal challenge wasn’t much of a challenge after all. My eyeholes absorb that much short fiction on a regular basis regardless. Go me!
If you’re interested to see all the stories I read in the past 365 days, I’ve made a page here with all of them listed. Some were total shit, some were meh and some were absolutely outstanding. I haven’t bothered including any commentary on the list – it was a pain in the arse enough just to remember to write them all down as I went.
So it’s easy to read loads of short stories every year and you totally should. The form is fantastic, it takes hardly any time and the reward always far outweighs the effort. Unless the story was shit, of course, but that’s the risk you take. I read a story this year that won a massive award and I thought it was absolute bollocks. But that’s the beauty of art – there’s something to appeal to everyone and something to make everyone say, “That was bollocks.” You can usually find the magazines and editors whose taste gels with yours without too much effort and then you’re likely to get a hit rate of tasty yarns far higher than random sampling. But I’d recommend random sampling as well, because there are gems in every shitpile from time to time. Below, I’ll make a list of my favourite short fiction places, to get you started. This is certainly not an exhaustive list, just a shove in the right direction. Enjoy!
Great short fiction:
First and foremost, let’s get the shameless self-promotion out of the way. You can find a selection of my short fiction, free to read online, by checking out this page.
For great anthologies, check out the publications by these awesome Aussie small presses:
(There are loads more out there.)
For excellent magazines, check out:
Abyss & Apex
Albedo One
Analog Science Fiction & Fact
Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine
Apex Book Company
Asimov’s Science Fiction
Aurealis Magazine
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Black Static
Chizine
Clarkesworld
Crowded Magazine
Daily Science Fiction
Escape Pod – sci-fi podcasting
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Ideomancer
Innsmouth Free Press
Interzone
Kasma SF
Lightspeed Magazine
Midnight Echo – magazine of the AHWA
Nightmare Magazine
PodCastle – fantasy fiction podcasts
Pseudopod – horror fiction podcasts
The Red Penny Papers
Shimmerzine
Strange Horizons
Ticon4
Wily Writers
Go forth, read short fiction and become a better person!*
(* May not actually make you a better person.)
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AHWA winner judges report
I just received the judges report for my AHWA Short Story Competition winner. Here’s what one of the judges said:
‘Showing his great proficiency of the written word, Alan Baxter gives an all too believable tale with “It’s Always The Children Who Suffer”. Classic, creeping horror to linger in your mind and prey upon dark little fears, both real and unexplained.’
– Ashlee Scheuerman
That’s very nice to read! You can find the story in Midnight Echo issue 10, out at the end of the year. You can pre-order print or electronic versions now at the Midnight Echo Magazine site. I have another story in that issue (two yarns in one mag!) along with loads of other great stories and features by tremendous authors. You know you want it.
http://midnightechomagazine.com
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Top Ten Horror Stories from Jones and Campbell
Over at This is Horror recently, Stephen Jones, one of Britain’s most acclaimed and prolific anthologists of horror and dark fantasy, posted a list of ten of his favourite horror stories. Here are the stories he listed (click the link back there to see the full list with his commentary – I’m just reposting the author and story title here):
1. A Warning to the Curious by M.R. James
2. The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
3. Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper by Robert Bloch
4. Sticks by Karl Edward Wagner
5. The Chimney by Ramsey Campbell
6. One for the Road by Stephen King
7. The Dark Country by Dennis Etchison
8. Dance of the Dead by Richard Matheson
9. The Man Who Drew Cats by Michael Marshall Smith
10. Homecoming / The October People / Uncle Einar by Ray Bradbury (Jones says “take your pick: they are all as wonderful as each other.”)
That’s a pretty solid list. In response to Jones’ list, Ramsey Campbell (at the #5 position above) posted his own personal top ten on Facebook. He referred to these as “Ten that I think are crucial”:
The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
Carmilla by J Sheridan Le Fanu
The White People by Arthur Machen
The Monkey’s Paw by W W Jacobs
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
The Colour Out of Space by H P Lovecraft (this one is my personal favourite HPL story too.)
A Warning to the Curious by M R James
Smoke Ghost by Fritz Leiber
Running Down by M John Harrison
The Hospice by Robert Aickman
You’ll notice the only story which appears on both lists is the M R James one. Now that’s a seriously solid reading list of short horror fiction. And I need to fill in a few blanks myself based on those recs, so I’ll be searching out the ones I haven’t yet read. But you know what else I noticed? Cockforest. Wang-a-rama. Sausagefest. Yeah, basically, they’re all blokes. Horror is a notoriously male-dominated genre. But it shouldn’t be, because there are loads of fantastic female horror writers out there. And several men on the lists above are contemporary and still working today, so it’s not even fair to say it’s just an historical aberration. And even then, historical aberration would be a bollocks excuse. What about Mary Shelley? Shirley Jackson? Ursula Le Guin? Gertrude Barrows Bennett (writing as Francis Stevens) who wrote in the early 20th century and has been called “the woman who invented dark fantasy.”? There are so many more.
In a more contemporary list, there are loads of great women horror writers at work today. Kaaron Warren, Margo Lanagan, Sarah Langan, Sarah Pinborough, Angela Slatter, Lisa Hannett, Joanne Anderton. This is just off the top of my head. By all the tentacled gods of the nether darkness, there are loads of them out there making fantastic work.
So while you’re tracking down those stories above recommended by Jones and Campbell (which you really should), seek out some of the tremendous women of horror too. You owe it to yourself to experience their work and, as readers, we owe it to these wonderful writers to ensure their audience grows regardless of their lack of cock.
Feel free to leave your recommendations in the comments below, both for your favourite stories and your favourite women horror writers. And don’t worry if you don’t know any women horror writers right now. That’s okay. But fix it, as soon as you can.
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Great and powerful opening lines
My pal and horror writer extraordinaire, Robert Hood, wrote a blog post recently about great opening lines. He links to an interview with Danel Olson on the subject, since Olson’s anthology, Exotic Gothic 4 (P S Publishing), recently won the World Fantasy Award (and contains an excellent story by Rob.)
Rob listed a couple of his favourite opening lines and asked if anyone else had any. I’ve got loads! It’s a bit of a pet subject for me. So I shared some of mine on Rob’s Facebook post and then thought I might post them here on my own blog, as I think they’re well worth sharing. This is just a few that immediately sprang to mind as powerful enough to stick with me. The strength of an opening line can never be underestimated.
“The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.” – Stephen King, The Gunslinger
“The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-wracked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards.” – Ursula Le Guin, Wizard of Earthsea
“The abyss should shut you up.” – Peter Watts, Starfish
“This is the story of a man who went far away for a long time, just to play a game.” – Iain M Banks, The Player of Games
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” – William Gibson, Neuromancer
“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own…” – H G Wells, The War of the Worlds
“Of all the rash and midnight promises made in the name of love none, Boone now knew, was more certain to be broken than: ‘I’ll never leave you.'” – Clive Barker, Cabal
I could go on and on, but I’ll leave with one more, my all-time favourite. Not quite the opening line, but the end of the opening paragraph:
“Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.” – Robert E Howard, The Phoenix on the Sword
Awesome.
Have you got any?
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“The Darkness in Clara” to be published in SQ Mag 14
I’m very happy to announce this one. SQ Mag approached me recently and asked if I’d be interested in submitting a story for their Australiana-themed issue 14, due out in May next year. I was honoured to have been asked and offered them my novelette, The Darkness in Clara. I’m very proud of the story and very proud that SQ accepted it for publication.
It’s most definitely an Australian story. It deals with country Australia, the small town mindset and the so-often-accompanying bigotry. I won’ t say too much more about it than that, other than it’s a dark fantasy story of close to 10,000 words. By SWFA standards, a short story is up 7,500 words, so that’s why this one is classed as a novelette.
The Australiana issue of SQ has also commissioned stories from the amazing Kaaron Warren and Sean Williams. I’m extra happy to be sharing some pages with those two Aussie writing legends. And there’s an open submission call still available for the rest of the magazine, so if it floats your writerly boat, get submitting.
And the last bit of great news to accompany this announcement is that the cover of the Australiana issue of SQ will be based on my story. I can’t wait to see what an artist comes up with there. I’ll be sure to let you all know when it’s out. In the meantime, you could check out the SQ website and Facebook page.
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National Short Story Week
Help me! I’m lost in a world of newborn baby and trippy sleep-deprivation. Honestly, it really is no joke that this is the hardest job most people will ever do. Especially the poor breast-feeding mother. However, in an attempt to keep some focus on real life, I’m trying to stay abreast of affairs in the real world. And I noticed that this week is National Short Story Week. Do a Google search and you’ll find some interesting articles and things. I’m still doing my short story challenge (to see if I can read 365 short stories in 365 days) and I’m happy to say I’ve hit my target. The year I chose officially ends at the end of this month (November) so I’ll update the page with all the stories and numbers then.
Meanwhile, here’s the page where I link to all my short stories that available to read online. Go and check them out and, while you’re there, read some of the other amazing stories those great online magazines publish. Or if you prefer to listen to your short fiction, here’s a page of my work that’s been podcast. And if you scroll down that page, you’ll find a list of several fantastic short fiction podcast magazines that are well worth your listening time.
Because short stories are brilliant and take so little time to enjoy – during your commute, your lunch break, a quick moment to yourself before bed and so on. Go on, get into some short fiction. Meanwhile, I’ll be over here, rocking this bassinet with a slightly wide-eyed and manic grin om my face.
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Blog Tour Stop: Trick or Treat
I’m a bad blogger. But in my defence, I have a nine day old son at home and that has quite an effect on everything, especially deadlines. But mea culpa, this was supposed to go up two days ago. I was tagged in this one by the wonderful Angel Leigh McCoy, and it goes like this. Basically it’s a tag to tag set of posts where authors answer four questions and pass the baton along so readers can see what’s happening in all these different worlds and maybe find a few new authors to read along the way. Angel described it like Trick or Treat – You go from “home” page to “home” page and get a little treat at each one. I like that idea, so I’m rolling with it. Also, sleep-deprivation, so new ideas not so good right now. Here are the questions and my answers:
2013 British Fantasy Award and World Fantasy Award winners announced
The British Fantasy Society announced the winners of the 2013 British Fantasy Awards at a ceremony during the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, England on November 3, 2013. The full list of nominees is shown below, with the winner being the first entry in each category:
Best Novel (the August Derleth Fantasy Award)
- Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz)
- Red Country, Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)
- The Brides of Rollrock Island, Margo Lanagan (David Fickling)
- Railsea, China Miéville (Macmillan)
- Blood and Feathers, Lou Morgan (Solaris)
Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award)
- Last Days, Adam Nevill (Macmillan)
- The Kind Folk, Ramsey Campbell (PS)
- Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz)
- The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
- Silent Voices, Gary McMahon (Solaris)
Best Novella
- The Nine Deaths of Dr Valentine, John Llewellyn Probert (Spectral)
- The Respectable Face of Tyranny, Gary Fry (Spectral)
- “Curaré”, Michael Moorcock (Zenith Lives!)
- Eyepennies, Mike O’Driscoll (TTA)
Best Short Story
- “Shark! Shark!”, Ray Cluley (Black Static #29)
- “Sunshine”, Nina Allan (Black Static #29)
- “Our Island”, Ralph Robert Moore (Where Are We Going?)
- “Wish for a Gun”, Sam Sykes (A Town Called Pandemonium)
Best Collection
- Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
- The Woman Who Married a Cloud, Jonathan Carroll (Subterannean)
- Where Furnaces Burn, Joel Lane (PS)
- From Hell to Eternity, Thana Niveau (Gray Friar)
Best Anthology:
- Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, Jonathan Oliver, ed. (Solaris)
- Terror Tales of the Cotswolds, Paul Finch, ed. (Gray Friar)
- The Mammoth Book of Ghost Stories by Women, Marie O’Regan, ed. (Robinson)
- A Town Called Pandemonium, Anne C. Perry & Jared Shurin, eds. (Jurassic London)
Best Small Press (the PS Publishing Independent Press Award)
- ChiZine Publications (Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi)
- Gray Friar Press (Gary Fry)
- Spectral Press (Simon Marshall-Jones)
- TTA Press (Andy Cox)
Best Non-Fiction
- Pornokitsch, Anne C. Perry & Jared Shurin, eds.
- Ansible, David Langford
- The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn, eds. (Cambridge University Press)
- Coffinmaker’s Blues (column), Stephen Volk (Black Static)
- Fantasy Faction, Marc Aplin, ed.
- Reflections: On the Magic of Writing, Diana Wynne Jones (David Fickling)
Best Magazine/Periodical
- Interzone, Andy Cox, ed. (TTA)
- Black Static, Andy Cox, ed. (TTA)
- SFX, David Bradley, ed. (Future)
- Shadows and Tall Trees, Michael Kelly, ed. (Undertow)
Best Artist
- Sean Phillips
- Ben Baldwin
- Vincent Chong
- Les Edwards
- David Rix
Best Comic/Graphic Novel
- Saga, Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (Image)
- The Unwritten, Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Gary Erskine, Gabriel Hernández Walta, M.K. Perker, Vince Locke, and Rufus Dayglo (Vertigo)
- The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard (Skybound/Image)
- Dial H, China Miéville, Mateus Santolouco, David Lapham, and Riccardo Burchielli (DC)
Best Screenplay
- The Cabin in the Woods, Joss Whedon &Drew Goddard
- Sightseers, Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, & Amy Jump
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, & Guillermo del Toro
- Avengers Assemble, Joss Whedon
Best Newcomer (the Sydney J. Bounds Award)
- Helen Marshall, for Hair Side, Flesh Side (ChiZine)
- Saladin Ahmed, for Throne of the Crescent Moon (Gollancz)
- Stephen Bacon, for Peel Back the Sky (Gray Friar)
- Stephen Blackmoore, for City of the Lost (DAW)
- Kim Curran, for Shift (Strange Chemistry)
- Anne Lyle, for The Alchemist of Souls (Angry Robot)
- Alison Moore, for The Lighthouse (Salt Publishing)
- Lou Morgan, for Blood and Feathers (Solaris)
- E.C. Myers, for Fair Coin (Pyr)
- Molly Tanzer, for A Pretty Mouth (Lazy Fascist)
Also at the World Fantasy Convention, the World Fantasy Awards winners for works published in 2012 were announced on the same day.
Again, the full list of nominees is shown below, the World Fantasy Award winners being the first listed in each category:
Life Achievement:
- Susan Cooper
- Tanith Lee
Novel:
- Alif the Unseen, G. Willow Wilson (Grove; Corvus)
- The Killing Moon, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
- Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz; Doubleday)
- The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Roc)
- Crandolin, Anna Tambour (Chômu)
Novella:
- “Let Maps to Others”, K.J. Parker (Subterranean Summer ’12)
- “Hand of Glory”, Laird Barron (The Book of Cthulhu II)
- The Emperor’s Soul, Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon)
- “The Skull”, Lucius Shepard (The Dragon Griaule)
- “Sky”, Kaaron Warren (Through Splintered Walls)
Short Story:
- “The Telling”, Gregory Norman Bossert (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 11/29/12)
- “A Natural History of Autumn”, Jeffrey Ford (F&SF 7-8/12)
- “The Castle That Jack Built”, Emily Gilman (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/26/12)
- “Breaking the Frame”, Kat Howard (Lightspeed 8/12)
- “Swift, Brutal Retaliation”, Meghan McCarron (Tor.com 1/4/12)
Anthology:
- Postscripts #28/#29: Exotic Gothic 4, Danel Olson, ed. (PS Publishing)
- Epic: Legends of Fantasy, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Tachyon)
- Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic, Eduardo Jiménez Mayo & Chris N. Brown, eds. (Small Beer)
- Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, Jonathan Oliver, ed. (Solaris)
- Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Random House)
Collection:
- Where Furnaces Burn, Joel Lane (PS Publishing)
- At the Mouth of the River of Bees, Kij Johnson (Small Beer)
- The Unreal and the Real: Selected Stories Volume One: Where on Earth and Volume Two: Outer Space, Inner Lands, Ursula K. Le Guin (Small Beer)
- Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman (ChiZine)
- Jagannath, Karin Tidbeck (Cheeky Frawg)
Artist:
- Vincent Chong
- Didier Graffet & Dave Senior
- Kathleen Jennings
- J.K. Potter
- Chris Robert
Special Award Professional:
- Lucia Graves for the translation of The Prisoner of Heaven (Weidenfeld & Nicholson; Harper) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
- Peter Crowther & Nicky Crowther for PS Publishing
- Adam Mills, Ann VanderMeer, & Jeff VanderMeer for Weird Fiction Review
- Brett Alexander Savory & Sandra Kasturi for ChiZine Publications
- William K. Schafer for Subterranean Press
Special Award Non-Professional:
- S.T. Joshi for Unutterable Horror: A History of Supernatural Fiction, Volumes 1 & 2 (PS Publishing)
- Scott H. Andrews for Beneath Ceaseless Skies
- L. Timmel Duchamp for Aqueduct Press
- Charles A. Tan for Bibliophile Stalker blog
- Jerad Walters for Centipede Press
- Joseph Wrzos for Hannes Bok: A Life in Illustration (Centipede Press)
Congratulations to all the winners and nominees in both Awards.
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Not the Worst of Sins published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #133
I’m very happy to announce that my western ghost story, Not the Worst of Sins, has been published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies #133, their Halloween issue. I’m very proud of this story, so I’m pleased it found such a good home. I’ve long wanted to write a horror western, and finally got around to it when the idea for this one came to me. It was a tough story to write, and went through many revisions. I should thank Angela Slatter and Lisa Hannett for their knives and critique, as they helped me make this story as good as it is.
I hope you enjoy it. You can find it here: Beneath Ceaseless Skies magazine #133: http://
And in other news, my first son was born on Sunday, October 27th, so things will likely be a bit quiet on this front for a while.
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