Jason Franks's Blog, page 2

This is Bloody Waters

The new Outland Entertainment edition Bloody Waters is live!

For those who missed it, I spoke at length about the origins of the book and the journey to this current edition here, in this post: This is Bloody Waters. And if you need more occult rock’n’roll in your life, you should check out The Devil’s Playlist: 13 tracks to listen to while you read Bloody Waters.

And that brings us to today! The book is live and you can order copies direct from Outland, or from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Cheers!

— Jason

Award Eligibility

Hey folks,

It’s awards season again, or something, so it behooves me to mention stuff I have that is eligible for such things. This usually means works published in the previous calendar year–in this case 2022. Most relevant to me, as an Australian writer, is the Ditmar awards, which you can nominate for here if you are a part of the Australasian spec fic community. Ditmar noms close on August the 14th 2023.

Here are my eligible works:

Novel
X-Dimensional Assassin Zai Through the Unfolded Earth (IFWG)

Short Story
“Children of the Dragon” in Dracula Unfanged (IFWG), and
“The Language of Birds” in Clamour and Mischief (Clan Destine Press).

If you’re out there nominating, and you liked any of my works, I’d be chuffed if you wouyld give me a nod.

Cheers!

Fresh Blood

Hello friends! My occult rock’n’roll novel, Bloody Waters, will finally be out in North America this July, thanks to Outland Entertainment! This is big news for me. I’ve been on a huge journey with Bloody Waters, from the pits of defeat to an award nomination and finally publication overseas.

Here’s the brilliant new cover, by artist Chris Yarbrough:

For those who have been with me along the way, I thank you. I wouldn’t have the career I do without this book and without your support. For those who are new to Bloody Waters, I hope you will check it out, because I am immensely proud of this book.

The new North American edition will be available on Jull 11th this year. You can preorder it now, direct from Outland, or from the usual suspects.

If you have previously read and enjoyed the book it would be incredible if you’d leave me a review on Amazon or Goodreads, or on your blog, or if you just tell your friends about it. I am working to put the final touches on the sequel, Blackened Skies, now and every bit of attention on this first book bodes well for the followup.

Here’s the blurb again:

Is the Devil more trustworthy than a record executive? Young guitar virtuoso Clarice Marnier is on the verge of success when she crosses the wrong A&R man.

Instead of being signed to a major label, she’s blacklisted. So Clarice makes a deal with the Devil: the soul of her enemy for a record deal and a second chance.

As Clarice and her band, Bloody Waters, begin their ascent to rock stardom, they are beset by a strange array of enemies. Has-been guitar heroes, popstar succubi, spell-slinging DJs, angry divas and killer angels— every occult freak and music industry player in LA wants something from them, whether it’ s a slice of their fame or a bite of their souls.

There’ s a lot more at stake than just a record deal— but what does the Devil really want, and how far will Clarice go to protect what’ s hers?

I hope you’ll check it out.

Cheers,

Jason

Substackin’ Across the Internet

Hey,

So due to continuing instability and general shitfuckery in the social media space I have gone and retooled my mailing list. The days of blogging appear to be long in the past and I am hoping that good old email is still the internet”s killer app.

For that reason I’ve shifted my newsletter over to Substack and I’m going to try to update it a bit more frequently than 3 times a year, so it will hopefully serve as a both a blog platform and a way to keep folks informed about what I’m doing. I’m a bit over 1 week in and already I feel like it was a good decision.

If you’d like to check it out, you can sign up here. It’s totally free, and there’s some freebie PDF comics in it for you if you do.

Substack also has some social-esque functionality called Substack Notes. I’m still finding my feet there, but come say hi if you feel like it.

Cheers,

— Jason

For Immediate Release: FRANKENSTEIN MONSTRANCE

What if Victor Frankenstein was still secretly alive? A billionaire that nobody knows about with a 200 year head start in robotics, AI and biotechnology?

IPI Comics is thrilled to release the news that agreements have been signed for The Frankenstein Monstrance, an innovative action-horror series featuring a modern version of Victor Frankenstein, written and drawn by a stellar creative team of genre writer Jason Franks and movie and concept artist Tam Nation. The series editor will be IPI Comics Editor-In-Chief, Christopher Sequeira.

Jason Franks, author of numerous comic-books, short stories and novels, explains the origin of the book: “I’ve loved Mary Shelley’s creation (see what I did there?) since I was in primary school, and, while I know there has not been a shortage of adaptations and re-imaginings over the years, I really felt like I could do something interesting and different with the source material by bringing it into the current world. What do Victor and his monsters look like in an age where we have all the information in the world at our fingertips–and our use of that information is tracked, recorded and commodified? Where soldiers can fight wars with drones operated like videogames. Where scientists have cracked the human genome? Where organ transplants are common enough that there is a black market for them plied by international crime syndicates? Where the richest people alive are technologists? How is that world reflected in Mary Shelley’s vision?

“When Chris introduced Tam Nation as a possible artist for the book I was immediately taken by his storytelling chops. Tam is an incredible illustrator but comics is much more than just being able to draw beautifully. Right away, Tam understood what I wanted to do with the story but he brought a slew of ideas, questions, and inspiration with him. He’s had a hand in everything from the look of the characters to the technological basis of Victor’s coolest technology to opening monologue. The work Tam’s doing for this book is as unique as it is outstanding and I can’t wait for readers to get it into their eyeballs. 

Victor really likes eyeballs.”

draft excerpt from The Frankenstein Monstrance (© 2022-2025 Jason Franks & Tam Nation)draft excerpt from The Frankenstein Monstrance (© 2022-2025 Jason Franks & Tam Nation)

Tam Nation is equally enthusiastic: “Jason is such a great writer and when I read his very compelling outline for Frankenstein Monstrance I jumped at the chance to visualise it. The idea of co-creating a very contemporary sci-fi with many of the themes which ignite my imagination like cyborg relationships, body hacking and machine-augmented intelligence was a no brainer. But more profound to me was the chance to be part of the narrative legacy that began with Mary Shelley’s world changing, iconic novel. Frankenstein is more than a story, it’s an idea that continues to fascinate humans across the globe. I’m honoured to even be a small part of it.”

Christopher Sequeira added “As the brand-new comics arm of an established prose publisher, we have been fairly choosy about the initial comics we’ve lined up. In addition, I desperately wanted to unleash Jason Franks on something because he’s just one of the best dark fiction writers out there. The final piece of the puzzle materialised when my brother, filmmaker Jonathan, introduced me to Tam, who wanted to do comics. One look at his portfolio and neon lights went off saying ‘put this guy in contact with Jason Franks’. These two guys talked, and worked together, and BAM! That was it: I had an un-refusable pitch in my In-Box. I took it to my boss, publisher Gerry Huntman, who had already published Jason’s novels, and he agreed. This will be a brilliant, right-up-to-the-minute contemporary take on Shelley-an themes, and, if the initial series is received well, I’d love us to do a series a year. My suspicion is some streaming service will sign these guys up to produce before we even get to that, though! Their creative overlay on this classic is unique, highly imaginative and utterly engaging.”

The Frankenstein Monstrance will debut as a comic-book series – distributed internationally through comic-book stores – in 2025, and will ultimately be collected as a trade paperback.

Jason Franks

Jason Franks is the writer responsible for Bloody Waters, Faerie Apocalypse, X-Dimensional Assassin Zai, the Sixsmiths graphic novels, and many other books, comics and short stories. He works at the intersection of science fiction, fantasy, horror and comedy, but he’ll stalk a story into any genre–especially if the destination looks like a dark alley. Franks’ work has variously been short-listed for Aurealis, Ditmar and Ledger awards. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his wife, son, and a brace of sorely neglected guitars. http://www.jasonfranks.com

Tam Nation

Tam Nation: It was in the dramatic environs of mountainous Aotearoa that Tam Nation dreamed of other worlds. His cack hand was scratching ink into paper as soon as it could hold a pen. Drawing soon opened a portal that allowed others to see into his flights of fantasy. Later, In the cinematic universe, he helped some of Australia’s most successful directors visualise their films through sequential art before the cameras rolled. But an eagerness to have his own voice compelled Nation to make his own films and ultimately to return to telling stories through drawing.

Jodorowsky will tell you there are “greater artistic possibilities in creating a comic than making a movie.” For Tam Nation, comics are the infinite playground for the inner child, who after laying in waiting in playful hope is now free to dream again.   

Award Eligibility 2022

Hello my beautiful monsters.

The end of the year is rolling on and awards season is nigh upon us.

I have three publications that you might consider nominating for one of the many various awards, if you feel they are deserving:

Novel

X-Dimensional Assassin Zai Through the Unfolded Earth, published by IFWG Australia (September 2022). The adventures of a hitman who takes missions in places that do not exist. Secret space stations, undersea kingdoms, aerostatic cities, post apocalyptic faerie lands. Wherever you run, wherever you hide, Mr Zai will find you–after he’s taken some happy snaps and tried the local cuisine. SF/fantasy/crime/travel.

Cover art by Daniele Serra

Short Fiction

“Children of the Dragon”, published in Dracula Unfanged, edited by Christoper Sequeira (IFWG Publishing, August 2022), is a contemporary horror story which reimagines Dracula as the leader of a Silicon Valley hacker cult. Horror.

Cover art by Dave Elsey

“The Language of Birds”, published in Clamour and Mischief, edited by Narrelle Harris (Clan Destine Press, November 2022) is set in apartheid South Africa in 1985. When a Hebrew school misfit is granted the power of Solomon, he must look beyond his own troubles to prove he is worthy of the gift. Horror/Fantasy

Cover art by Altocello

I hope you dig the stories and, if you like them, please feel free to nominate them for any awards for which they are eligible. If you’d care to leave a review any please than would be even better.

Peace out,

— Jason Franks

X-Dimensional Assassin Zai is everywhere!

My new book, X-Dimensional Assassun Zai Through the Unfolded Earth, is now out everywhere. All popular digital formats, with bookstore distro in the North America and Europe joining Australasia.

A murderous grand tour stopping in most of the speculative fiction genres. Please enjoy the ride, take lots of photos, and try not to get dead.

::BUY HERE::

Amazon ‣
Amazon Kindle ‣
Rakuten Kobo ‣
Barnes and Noble Nook ‣
Apple iBookstore ‣
Fishpond ‣
Book Depository ‣
Booktopia ‣

X-Dimensional Writer Jason Through the Unfolding Narratives

With my fourth novel, X-Dimensional Assassin Zai Through the Unfolded Earth, just released, I have been reflecting a bit on what I write, and how I write it.

When people ask me what I write, I usually says ‘comics and books’ and then reel off a list of speculative fiction genres, and then add ‘comedy’. In my head I just say ‘horror’. I then shrug and say ‘everything project is different’.

All of this is true. Especially in my prose work, even the voice and style the POV and tense, change from book to book. But as I grow old and see death approaching mature as a writer I am become more aware of some features they have in common.

The most obvious is the protagonists I choose. I’ve always loved the bad guys better, and many of my protagonists are villains, monsters, sociopaths or criminals, with the occasional antihero thrown in for texture. I like characters who have a plan or an agenda that will drive the narrative, rather than some external force that they have to oppose.

Zai cover by Daniele Serra

A lot of my stories are about subverting tropes or stereotypes that I dislike. Shadowmancy is an attack on the Chosen One trope, where some character is gifted with undeserved power that they use to Overthrow Evil, or just, I don’t know, walk around posing like a bad ass. Quay gives it a red hot go, but if you’ve read the book I think you’ll agree the result is, ah, probably not what anybody hoped.

I don’t like Good vs Evil, Save the World From Darkness stories. The opposite has happened several times in my work: a character brings an apocalypse or world-ending event on some place he visits (it’s always a man) because it’s an expedient way of achieving some end. Sometimes the stakes are high, sometimes they’re petty.

I like to have a lot of characters and expansive worlds and lots of story beats and I like it when not everything contributes to a single fat conclusion. I’ve read a lot of recent genre fiction novels that are epic in scope, but only consider the actions of four or five players (including the villains), and nothing outside of those characters exerts much influence on the story. I can appreciate streamlining, but I can’t enjoy them.

But I’m not a big Worldbuilding writer. I don’t care to look at the map of the Apost’rophe Empire or the City of Random Syllables. I want the world to feel cohesive but also like it’s big and strange and there’s too much of it to document thoroughly. I want readers to learn about the world/s as the characters do, but none of them have a complete picture of it. Just as I do not have a complete understanding of human history and science. The truth is that I learn about the worlds by writing them in much the same way–rather than by indulging in intricate planning and design activities beforehand.

Shadowmancy cover by Nic Hunter

Which brings me to Zai: a book with only a handful of recurring characters that is in a lot of ways about exploring a set of tightly coupled worlds. As with Shadowmancy and Faerie Apocalypse, my project here is to examine various tropes and ideas critically, while also hopefully delivering a fun story driven by an interesting, if morally unacceptable protagonist. Zai does, in fact, continue some story lines dangling from Faerie Apocalypse, and some of the ideas about magic from Shadowmancy are present here as well.

One of the main concerns of the book is travel and tourism. The wonders of discovering a foreign land, the miseries of long haul travel, and the growing unease that tourism is eroding everything that’s worth seeing in this new place. It’s not a road novel. Zai isn’t a nomad or a a lost soul. He makes short, solo journeys, knowing that he has a home to which he’ll return. This is why the number of characters are few: he travels alone, and most of the people he meets are involved in setting up a murder (or, uh, actually being murdered). That doesn’t leave much room to build relationships.

Which brings us nicely back to character again, and the other central concern of the book: the way that Asian men are portrayed by western writers. You know what I mean. They are either martial arts heroes with rigid codes of honour and zero sense of humour, or they’re a hacker/scientist/geek who might serve double duty as the comic relief. Even if they are the hero, they never get the girl.

Faerie Apocalypse cover by Christian Chatman

Now, obviously, I am not an Asian man–but my son is, or will grow up to be one. And I really want to him to see representations of people like him as he grows up.

I took a bait-and-switch approach here. Zai is an assassin–but he’s not a ninja. He won’t carry weapons and he’ll run away every time, rather than fight. An assassin who keeps getting in brawls is doing it wrong, if you ask me. Zai’s cover is that he’s a tourist with a camera, which is an even older stereotype–but he leans into it, because it’s as close to a real identity as he has and it works for him. At home he’s a fashionable guy with disposable income, time on his hands, and a punk rock girlfriend.

I admit it–a lot of these things are in my upcoming work, including Blackened Skies, the sequel to Bloody Waters (stay tuned, space ranger). I’m trying out some nicer protagonists in what I think will be my following projects, because maybe some commercial success wouldn’t hurt me, but I’m not sure you’ll ever see them saving the world from darkness. At least not conclusively.

I’m now feeling a bit indulgent for going on in so much detail about what I write, so I think I’ll shut my face now and let you get on with reading something good.

Cheerio,

— JF

X-Dimensional Assassin Zai Unleashed!

Hello reading friends!

It is with great pleasure that I can announce that my new book, X-Dimensional Assassin Zai, is now available!

“Infinitely imaginative, XDA Zai is a twisting tale of travel, adventure and unconventional murder that will have you ripping through the pages.” — Devin Madson, author of We Ride the Storm

“Multiversal murder? Extradimensional travel through the strange liminal spaces of airports? Mayhem from the mind of Jason Franks? Sign me up.” — Justin Jordan, author of Luther Strode and Spread

Well, it’s somewhat available. On Kindle, in all territories except North America, and I believe it should start rolling into bricks and mortar bookstores as well. It should be out in the US and Canada early in November, and will also then be available in other digital formats.

For those coming in late, this book is about travel and murder. It’s a grand tour through the speculative fiction genres–various kinds of fantasy, SF, a bit of horror, and all ports of call in between. I think you’ve probably never read anything quite like it and I’d love it if you’d give it a try.

While it is not by any means a sequel to Faerie Apocalypse, it does operate in a shared universe and picks up a couple of story threads from that book. So if you want a glimpse of what happened to the Realms, this is your chance.

I’ll be writing a bit more about it here in the coming weeks, so please feel free to check in again frequently!

Cheers,

— Jason

X-Dimensional Assassin Zai solicited for September 2022 release

Hey look at this!

My new novel, X-Dimensional Assassin Zai Through the Unfolded Earth, has been solicited for September release (Australia/NZ).

Catalogue link for bookstores:

https://bookstores.novelladistribution.com.au/page/online-catalogues?utm_source=Novella+Distribution+September+2022+-+New+Releases

Retail link:

https://bookstores.novelladistribution.com.au/shop/product/9781922556912-x-dimensional-assassin-zai-through-the-unfolded-earth-129648

Here’s the blurb:

Zai is an international assassin. He’s not a super-spy or a ninja; he’s just a resourceful guy with a smidgeon of tradecraft, a complete lack of conscience, and a love of travel. Really, it’s all about the travel. So, when his new agency starts to send him on assignment to places that do not exist, it’s a dream come true. A hidden continent colonized by refugees from sunken Atlantis; a secret space station where aliens come to trade with humanity; an aerostatic city-state that travels the Earth’s stratosphere; a post-apocalyptic Faerie Land; a medieval village operated as both a theme park and a thaumaturgical research center… It’s like he’s unfolded a familiar map of the world and found an extra page.

But the life of an x-dimensional hitman is not all hijinx and happy snaps. When Zai learns that one of his jobs was not properly sanctioned, he himself becomes a target. With one of his handlers gone rogue, can Zai trust his allies any better than his enemies?

“Multiversal murder? Extradimensional travel through the strange liminal spaces of airports? Mayhem from the mind of Jason Franks? Sign me up.” — Justin Jordan, author of Luther Strode and Spread.

“Infinitely imaginative, XDA Zai is a twisting tale of travel, adventure and unconventional murder that will have you ripping through the pages. I’ve never liked a soulless assassin so much!” — Devin Madson, author of We Ride the Storm