Alan Baxter is an award-winning author of dark fantasy, horror and sci-fi and an international master of kung fu. He runs the Illawarra Kung Fu Academy and writes novels, novellas and short stories full of magic, monsters and, quite often, martial arts. He rides a motorcycle and loves his dog. You can find him on Twitter @AlanBaxter, Facebook and Instagram: @warrior_scribe.
His debut short story collection is Crow Shine (links for pre-order can be found here), and he is the author of the kick-ass (or kick-arse for those of you in The Commonwealth) Alex Caine trilogy, Bound, Obsidian, and Abduction.
1. How did the Crow Shine collection come about?
After 70-something short story publications my agent and I started nosing around publishers for interest. I’ve always wanted a collection and Ticonderoga were pretty much my first pick as they always make such fantastic books. Thankfully they liked my work and jumped on board. They’ve published a number of my stories before in various anthologies, so we had a working relationship already.
2. What sorts of tales will readers encounter?
While I write across horror, fantasy and sci-fi, this is a collection of the cream of my dark fantasy and horror stories. Stuff I usually refer to as the dark weird fantastic. There’s magic and monsters, there’s revenge and consequences, there’s wonder and darkness. And hopefully a few thrills along the way.
3. Which is your absolute favourite story in the whole collection?
What!? I can’t pick a favourite child! Honestly, I love different stories for different reasons and genuinely couldn’t pick a favourite. I’m immensely proud of every single story in this book.
4. Who are your favourite short story writers?
So many people! Clive Barker, Thomas Ligotti, Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, Roald Dahl… You know what? I recently wrote a blog post that was exactly this – a long list of short story writers I love. So maybe just check that out here: http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/short-story-writers-recommend/ All the people included there are absolute masters of the craft.
5. What’s next for Team Alan Baxter? 
I’m in open water productively at the moment. I’m about to start work on a couple of new big projects, but in the meantime I’m waiting for the release of Bound: Alex Caine Book 1 in the US in December and then Primordial, a monster novel I co-wrote with David Wood, is coming out from Cohesion Press in February. Sometime next year a mystery/cosmic horror/modern noir novella called The Book Club is coming out from PS Publishing. Exciting times!
