Jason Fischer's Blog, page 22

Pooch Hooch

Aurealis Awards – Finalist!

The shortlists for this year's Aurealis Awards have just been released into the wild, and can be read here:

http://aurealisawards.com/finalists2010.pdf

So bust out the Crayolas and colour me tickled pink, I'm a Finalist! How exciting, and somewhat humbling that my book has snuck in next to these other two amazing writers and their works:

HORROR Novel

After the World: Gravesend, Jason Fischer, Black House Comics

Death Most Definite, Trent Jamieson, Orbit (Hachette)

Madigan Mine, Kirstyn McDermott, Pan Macmillan

Oh Gravesend, you're the little engine that could a huge congrats to everyone else who made this year's shortlists. I don't envy the work of the judges in any category, that's one solid list.

Midnight Echo #5 review

The fifth issue of Midnight Echo has just been reviewed at Scaryminds, and of my two stories the reviewer says:

"Included are of course Jason Fischer's award winning flash piece Goggy, I can't praise this piece enough, it's quintessential flash while get a real chill happening."

"Jason Fischer has been kicking some goals on the short story front just recently, and Hunting Rufus continues a recent sub-genre trend of the killer kangaroo yarn. Absolutely loved this story with it's almost apocalyptic nod at the conclusion."

The rest of the review can be read here: http://www.scaryminds.com/reviews/2011/magazine11.php

Don't say I didn't warn you about the camels.

doo-dah, doo-dah…

Because that's how they rolled?

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I can say with some authority that 80s permed ladies wearing leopard print leotards almost never appeared during any Dungeons and Dragons game. At least, not the ones I went to. This is probably for the best, we were 15 and unlikely to cope.

Aurealis #44 Review

Over at the SF Site, prolific short-fiction reviewer Rich Horton has looked at the fiction offerings from Aurealis #44. Of my story "gunning for a tinkerman", he says:

"Jason Fischer offers another piece in the same milieu as his story from #42, "for want of a jesusman." "gunning for a tinkerman" features a former "jesusman," Lanyard Everett, looking for another despised character, a "tinkerman," who keeps mechanical things going but is blamed for the state of their strange world. His journey on a cranky "skiff" (a sort of landboat) brings him against a monstrous snake, sinister witches, and a town of "crooked men." It's a dark and cynical tale of multiple betrayals."

The rest of the review can be read here: http://www.sfsite.com/03b/au340.htm

This story is in the same setting as the emergent Project Lucy, the full name being "Papa Lucy and the Boneman". Yep, a jesusman novel is in the works :-)

Datlow Honorable Mention list & last minute Ditmar touting

Ellen Datlow has just released the extended Honorable Mention list from her reading for Best Horror of the Year Vol 3. I was very pleased to see my story "gunning for a tinkerman" (Aurealis #44) rated a mention, and was also happy to see several of my esteemed colleagues and buddies land on the same list with their own pieces. I won't run out a laundry list, there's just too many of them you know who you are!

The complete list is here http://ellen-datlow.livejournal.com/334109.html & here http://ellen-datlow.livejournal.com/334359.html . As always I'm astounded at just how much short fiction Ellen Datlow reads every year, she's the very definition of a voracious reader.

So hey, the emergence of this list is some pretty good timing, seeing as the nomination period for the Ditmar Awards is about to close. If you enjoyed "gunning for a tinkerman" or any of my other stories, please feel free to fire up this handy nomination form and list it (along with any other Aussie works you found worthy – there's quite a few on Ellen's list amongst other places). Form here: http://ditmars.sf.org.au/2011/nominations.html

Here is my complete list of eligible works, for your information: http://jasonfischer.com.au/?p=478

And a final reminder, my Writers of the Future winning story "The House of Nameless" can still be downloaded for free via this link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/43525. It's had a massive spike in downloads over the last few days, which can only be a good thing. Really happy with how well this is doing (and yes, this is also eligible for Best Short Story in the Ditmars, should you be so inclined).

Natural Selection

Making sense of a spicy post-Mexican dream :-)

Over at Diabolical Plots, reviewer Frank Dutkiewicz has picked up Writers of the Fuure Vol XXVI, and undertook the mammoth task of reviewing each individual story and grading it. I get the impression that he does this every year? That's a top job.

http://www.diabolicalplots.com/?p=2026

Of my story "The House of Nameless", Frank says:

"Raoul the Minotaur lives a full life within a new reality and away from One-Way-World. Then a mysterious and blurry man bypasses all of Raoul's safeguards and invades his home to inform him his world will be undone. The other gods have no idea who this powerful foe may be. Only Nameless has the answers in his head, answers that may undo everything.

Jason Fischer managed what I considered impossible; crack the contest with a work of humor. Much of "The House of Nameless" is a tongue-in-cheek work of fantasy. The myth heavy tale follows the formidable Raoul as he seeks answers on how anyone, or anything, could penetrate his fortress home. He first tries Nameless' house then sets foot on the deck of a ship of debauchery, where he rescues a loved one he abandoned. Events lead to a show down, and answers of the blurry ones identity.

"The House of Nameless" is sharply written. I found the tale quick and the protagonist likeable but the plot was much like the antagonist, blurry. Following along on Raoul's adventure was like making sense of a dream after eating a spicy meal of Mexican food. Too many weird things were going on. The comedy went way over on the ridiculous for it to be funny for me. Nice effort though.

Grade B"

That's awesome – another t-shirt worthy quote

If you too would like to check out this tale, "The House of Nameless" is still available for free, both on Smashwords and Goodreads. Here are the relevant links:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/43525

Midnight Echo #5, about to be released into the wild

Check out this bad boy:

That's right, issue #5 of Midnight Echo is about to go live. This issue contains two of my stories, "Hunting Rufus" and "Goggy", winner of this year's AHWA Flash Fiction competition. The added bonus – both pieces are actually written in the same setting (the appearance of them both in the same mag was completely unintended, and they were written something like 4 years apart?)

Anyhow, it looks like a great issue, and contains a brilliant TOC, including a piece by one of my writing idols, Terry Dowling. Other folks include my homies Chris Green and Felicity Dowker, and more horror stories than you poke a blood-soaked scary stick at. AHWA members should be able to download this from the website soon, and the print version should be out in the next couple of weeks.

 Get onto it, it's a cracker of an issue and from a quick scan of the PDF, I promise you that it's well worth reading.