Jason Fischer's Blog, page 17
April 28, 2012
E-Book Giveaway
To celebrate the release of the “VIRAL” series onto the Kindle, the books are currently listed at half-price. Four collaborative novellas, five authors, plenty of political thriller action that anyone can sink their teeth into. Links to the books on Amazon can be found in this post. http://jasonfischer.com.au/?p=817
Also, I’m running a limited promotion here – free .EPUB versions of the four novellas to the first ten folks who put their hands up. All I ask is that the winners consider leaving a rating or review via Amazon, Goodreads or similar. This condition is enforced only by karma and my good wishes, no biggy if you don’t :-)
More info on the series can be found here – http://viralnovels.com/
April 19, 2012
“Viral: Anomaly” – it’s contagious.
“Ifo was the size of a small city, and what it lacked in traffic lights, it made up for in other ways. Corpse-trucks were everywhere, soldiers blocking off the roads as drivers sped the infected remains out of camp. A trio of Red Cross trucks had just arrived, and anyone who could walk was out on the roads, trying to be first in line.
A large group of refugees, brawling over a butchered goat. The fracas had spilled out to block Felix’s way. Soldiers rushed forward, firing M16s into the air. Cursing, Felix put the pick-up into reverse, took another path.
It was just under two miles, but it took Felix almost forty minutes to drive across Ifo. He felt every second, bristled at every pointless delay. His people were dead or dying, and here he was, in a stolen vehicle and playing at spies.
Felix pulled up in front of the weatherboard clinic, left the engine running. The moment he stepped out, he knew that something was wrong.
Apart from the quiet ticking of the pick-up, there was no noise, no movement. The adjacent tent-suburb was eerily quiet, with no coughing, no sign of life. Either the disease had wiped out everyone, or the refugees had the good sense to go to ground.
No soldiers lounging against the front wall of his clinic. The mosquito netting across the doorway was torn down, hanging by one nail now.
Then he saw it, lying just before the door-step. A brass bullet-casing, alone in the dirt.”
—–
Dadaab, Kenya. The UN aid programs have been hijacked from within. People are dying from a preventable disease. A doctor stumbles across a statistical anomaly, one that puts his life in peril.
“Viral: Anomaly” is available via the following links:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anomaly-steven-savile/1109156699?ean=2940013991217
April 7, 2012
"Viral" – It's Spreading…
A journalist stumbles across a deadly secret. Aid doctors find themselves on the new warfront, where the truth is fluid, and life is cheap. A company man has to make a brutal decision that could affect millions.
Welcome to Viral, a series of political thrillers set all over the globe. The CIA is up to no good, subverting humanitarian aid programs to further its own ends. Five writers explore this theme from different angles, and it's foot-to-the-floor action.
This series has just ended its period of exclusivity at Barnes and Noble, and these titles are now available on the Kindle. Last month, the lead title got to #2 in the Military category, and reached #23 in the massive Thrillers section. If this sounds like your thing, the stories can be found at the below links:
“Viral” – It’s Spreading…
A journalist stumbles across a deadly secret. Aid doctors find themselves on the new warfront, where the truth is fluid, and life is cheap. A company man has to make a brutal decision that could affect millions.
Welcome to Viral, a series of political thrillers set all over the globe. The CIA is up to no good, subverting humanitarian aid programs to further its own ends. Five writers explore this theme from different angles, and it’s foot-to-the-floor action.
This series has just ended its period of exclusivity at Barnes and Noble, and these titles are now available on the Kindle. Last month, the lead title got to #2 in the Military category, and reached #23 in the massive Thrillers section. If this sounds like your thing, the stories can be found at the below links:
April 4, 2012
Aurealis Magazine #49 Now Available
The good folks at Aurealis have just released issue #49 into the e-wilds, which contains Sean McMullen's story "The First Boat", as well as my own dystopian piece "Rolling for Fetch". The issue is chock-full of reviews and other goodies, and Adam Duncan's illustration of my story is just stunning. I couldn't be happier 
The magazine can be found at the following link for now, but it will soon appear on Amazon and other e-markets:
March 27, 2012
Feral Camels, Eat Their Flesh…
"About 200 camels have been removed from South Australia's remote Aboriginal lands as part of a feral camel management project.
Aboriginal people have been trained to muster the camels, creating an industry and turning an environmental problem into a source of income for the APY Lands.
The camels are transported to Queensland abattoirs for processing."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-27/feral-camels-apy-lands/3914786
Wise. Best to eat them before they eat you…
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
(for the uninitiated – http://jasonfischer.com.au/?page_id=16)
March 23, 2012
Several Deloreans
You gotta love search-terms. Using the you-beaut Jetpack stat thingy, I found that two people have arrived at this website by searching for the terms "several deloreans" and "camel death".
Hope this helps my anonymous visitors. Don't say I never give you anything
March 21, 2012
My acceptance speech from Writers of the Future
The good folks over at the Writers of the Future contest have rereleased the video of the 2010 awards ceremony. They've chopped the 2 hr + video into accessible 5 minute chunks, organised into order of the award recipients! Most excellent. Here you see me and my illustrator Seth J Rowanwood collect our award statues, and thank the folks who got us there. Added bonus – a crooked bow-tie that apparently drove my poor mother crazy
If you're a budding SF writer or illustrator, you could do worse than to enter this contest. Info can be found here:
March 20, 2012
Goddamnit, that was MY idea
Me, circa 2004: "Hey, wouldn't it be awesome to write a sweeping epic, with sentient elephants who have established a complex society and family groups? I think I'll call it Tusk."
Me (in a bookstore, circa 2005): "Goddamnit, that was MY idea!"
Me, circa 2009: "I've got a great idea to pitch to that zombie series: postapocalyptic world, sassy teenage girl, skilled with a bow and arrow. I'm gonna write that sucker."
Me, circa 2012 (everytime I see this poster): "Goddamnit, that was MY idea!"
Me, circa 2006: "OMG, best idea ever. So, when Ned Kelly was holed up at Glenrowan? And there was that train bringing all of the policemen to arrest him? What if it NEVER arrived? It would change everything! That's a great idea for an alternate history novel! I'm gonna research it RIGHT NOW."
Me, about 15 minutes of internet research later: "GODDAMNIT THAT WAS MY IDEA."
[image error]
March 18, 2012
In further good news…
I just sold my story "Rolling for Fetch" to Aurealis Magazine. This will be appearing in issue #49.
"The drive train went underneath the muscle itself, something like the innards of an old clock, a mesh of gears and cogs. Then the winder cranks, one in each leg, protruding between the peroneus longus and the tibialis anterior, reminding the world that anyone mad enough to actually go through with this was not a human now. More a wind-up toy with a death-wish.
Finally, a pair of wheels were connected to the bottom of the rig, hooked up to the drive-train dangling from each bleeding leg. The most popular option was a pneumatic tyre with knobbly grip, one foot in diameter, filled with smart-gel to ward off punctures, magic goop to heal over little nicks and tears.
Good suspension was a must.
When Whip survived this procedure, shook off the inevitable infection, unlearnt the life-long art of walking and earnt his gangdanna, he had the right to call himself a skeg."
More info about Aurealis Magazine here: http://www.aurealis.com.au/
