Author Alan Baxter launches new Alex Caine series

A JAMBEROO author is now in illustrious company, after being among the recipients at Australia’s premier horror awards.

The Australian Shadows Awards, run by the Australian Horror Writers Association, are the country’s only annual awards dedicated solely to horror and dark fiction. 

They are open to Australian and New Zealand writers and editors.

Winners for the 2014 awards – for works first published in 2014 – were recently announced, with Wolf Creek 2 screenwriter Aaron Sterns and Alex Caine trilogy author Alan Baxter among the recipients.

Best-selling dark fantasy author Baxter, who resides in Jamberoo, was named the winner in the Short Fiction category for his story, Shadows of the Lonely Dead.

Baxter, 45, who was also nominated in other categories at the awards, said it was always a welcome prospect to be acknowledged by his peers, and afforded a welcome boost to the CV. 

‘‘Book sales and reviews are the best validation, but winning awards is always really nice and rewarding,’’ he said.

‘‘It motivates you further as well.’’

Baxter, also author of the Alex Caine series, last year landed a publishing deal with Harper Voyager, the science-fiction and fantasy imprint of HarperCollins.

Baxter balances his burgeoning writing career with teaching kung fu in Kiama, and said he always had other writing projects in the pipeline.

This included plans to shop around a new standalone novel, and try and secure a strong international deal for it. 

Baxter also recently appeared at the Melbourne and Gold Coast legs of the Supanova Pop Culture Expo.

For more information about Baxter’s works, visit the http://warriorscribe.com website. 

Australia Horror Writers Association president Mark Smith-Briggs said the 2014 award winners represented the very best in horror fiction.

“In a strong field these are the stories that stood out for their amazing characters, fantastic stories and ability to scare the pants off the reader,” he said.