Jason Franks's Blog, page 5

Argonautica Press Books in Stores!

Jason Fischer and I are proud to announce that all phase 1 Argonautica titles are now live for distribution in Australia and New Zealand, courtesy of Novella Distribution.

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This includes my books Bloody Waters and Shadowmancy.

All three books can all be found in the August-September catalogue, available at the following link:

Argonautica Press titles are distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Novella Distribution.

If you’re a bookseller, please order with extreme prejudice. If you’re a reader, please ask your bookseller to order one for you.

Cheers!

Some Shadowmancy Reviews

Hey killers,

It’s been a while since I wrote anything here. The bushfires, the Covid pandemic, and my last semester of University have all conspired to keep me from my creative work work. But I turned in my thesis a week or so ago and now I have some time again–just in time for lockdown take 2.

It’s been a while since I published any new work. I have some things coming out soon, and I am planning to write here a bit more now, but in the meantime I thought I would share with you some reviews of my newest novel, Shadowmancy. The book will be in stores in Australia/ New Zealand next month and I thought I’d share some reviews to whet your appetite.

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Firstly, there’s on in Aurealis magazine by Eugen Bacon, published back in March, which you can get here if you buy the mag (it’s great value): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1007987. Eugen says:

“Nicholas Hunter's superior illustrations strongly carry the story, even in monochrome… The author’s voice remains deftly stark, deboned sentences carrying the plot to a shadowmancy ending that leaves the reader contemplating it."

Another review I’ve probably linked before is from Narrelle Harris: https://narrellemharris.com/reviews/review-shadowmancy-by-jason-franks/.Narrelle said:

"Shadowmancy is a crunchy little book, thoroughly enjoying, in its dark and brooding way, the dismantling of mystic-mountain-school pop culture."

Here’s a less favourable one from the Critiquing Chemist. (Thanks for reading, Sarah!): https://critiquingchemist.com/2020/06/24/shadowmancy-by-jason-franks/. (NB this one contains spoilers if you scroll too far, but they are marked so you won’t stumble on them if you’re careful.) While the book didn’t work for Sarah I was very happy to see this quote:

"...a dark and gritty study of a boy who thinks he will out-learn them all. Quay is a misanthrope and sociopath, and still Franks makes him work as the central antihero."

And finally, here’s another kind one from Mark Webb:, who says:

Franks grounds his writing with a sense of place, a visual sensibility enhanced by the illustrations. The pacing is great, the characters vivid, the choices bold.

Alrighty, that’s probably enough for now. I’ll be back again soon when the book is available int he distributor’s catalogue.

Cheers,

— JF

“

2019: Done and Dusted

Another year done and dusted. I have a week left of work and then I’m on holiday until after the New Year.

This one has been exhausting. I founded a new team at work and we published the first version of my new machine learning product in August, in an around a five week trip to Japan. I went back to University–again–and found myself an on-campus student for the first time in a couple of decades.

This year I’ve been absolutely hammered by colds and flu. I have been sick every month since July and during that time have lost four kilograms that, as gentleman who is shaped like a weed of unimposing height, I didn’t want to lose.

But I have achieved some stuff as well. My buddy Jason Fischer and I formalized our business partnership as Argonautica Press and we published three books between us–reprints of my first novel, Bloody Waters, and Jason’s first novel, Quiver, and then for closers my new novel, Shadowmancy. I’ve had nothing but encouragement for the whole cockamamie venture and it’s been a genuine pleasure working with Other Jason.

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My novel Faerie Apocalypse made the Ditmar Awards finals. This is the first time I’ve made an appearance in the Ditmars and I was chuffed to be recognized. I wrote and sold one short story this year: a satirical SF story called “A Fair Go to Mars” in the War of the Worlds: Battleground Australia anthology, which I’m very proud of.

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Comics-wise, a satirical superhero piece by me and my old mucker Jan Scherpenhuizen appeared in the SuperAustralians shared world comics project, and that was incredibly gratifying. The reception that book received at Oz Comic Con was like nothing I have ever witnessed and there’s a real sense of community around the project that I have missed. I guess I’ve grown away from the local comics scene as parenthood and my increasing focus on rose writing has occupied my time and it was just great to be in amongst it again. Also this year my late friend Ed Siemienkowicz’s memoir F*cking Forty was finally released and I am honoured to have contributed a page. Big thanks to Greg Vondruska for helping me look competent in such a sea of talent.

I also taught my Mechanics of Visual Storytelling webinar for Comics Mastermind twice, for the third year running. It is a genuine pleasure to interact with students who are passionate about learning the craft and as always, it’s terrific to work with the excellent Julie Ditrich at in the Mastermind Lair.

I also achieved a brown belt in jujutsu. It’s taken me 11 years to reach this level and it was the hardest physical ting I have ever had to do. Harder than fighting your way out of the loser’s pool on the repêchage into the finals in an individual fencing tournament. Harder than playing six quarters of Australian Rules football in a 24 hour period. Harder than an Olympic distance triathlon. I have a new facial scar to commemorate the activity, so I won’t forget that in a hurry.

What’s on for next year?

I have a satirical short comic with Bruce Mutard coming out in the charity anthology Shots Fired. Gourmand Go is inching towards completion and should be done quite soon, although I still don’t know how I’m going to publish it. I am working on two new novels and a commissioned short story and… well, I guess I need to finish this masters degree as well.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me through the year–my very patient wife, our very naughty son, my sainted parents, my business partner Jason Fischer, the artists who work hard to make me look good, and everyone who read something I wrote. Have an amazing new year and I’ll see you back in 2020.

— JF

Fcking Forty, Finally

My friend Ed’s dying wish was that his friends finish his graphic memoir about the year he turned forty–the worst year of his life.

150 of us pulled together to complete the book from his script. Artists like Jill Thompson, KT Hollywood, Darick Maasen, Hillary Barta, Gene Ha, Hugo Giraud, Joel Carroll, Jonathan Hickman, Mike Norton, Skye Ogden, Tim Seeley, and a legion of others teamed all chipped in a page each.
Ed drew many pages for me before he fell ill and I was determined to reciprocate here. My page was inked by the indomitable Greg Vondruska, who found time to help me out on top of his own contribution.

Huge thanks to Darick and Vanessa and the whole crew for managing to bring in a project of this size, purely for the love.
The book is now available to download for free and I hope you will check it out:

https://www.fckingforty.com/download

Maybe donate a few bucks to pancreatic cancer research, while you’re at it? There are some links to Ed’s favourite charities on the download page, or if you’re looking for an Australian option, you might consider Pancare.

Peace out.

Shadowmancy is live!

ey there!

Well, here it is. As an author, this is the most
exciting part of the job. More exciting than signing a new contract or
opening a royalty statement, or even receiving an award nomination. Here
it is. The best thing in my life since… the release of my previous
book, nearly two years ago:

My new book is out!

Shadowmancy
is a book about a boy named Quay who goes to a secret, magical academy
where his now-disgraced father was a leading professor. Quay’s father
was a bad seed, and the legacy he has left his son–both in the way Quay
has been reared and the politics he has left behind him at the
Academy–quickly bears its poisonous fruit. Quay is a talented but
troubled student and, he’s going to need every skill he can muster to
survive his education. But for all his youth, he may yet prove a bigger
threat to the Academy and its ways than his father ever was.

I hope you will find this book quite different to what you might expect. I am strongly influenced by Ursula Le Guin, so if you like the Earthsea books (they’re my favourites) I think you will appreciate these books. I’m not quite the right generation for J.K. Rowling, but I don’t believe you will find many similarities there… but  I have also heard comparisons to Lev Grossman’s Magicians series. I am a fan of those books, but I think this book is different again, being less concerned with secondary worlds and more concerned with abusive families and the process of making Art. Or art with a lowercase ‘a’… But that is an essay for another time.

TL;DR: Think of Wizard of Earthsea and We Need to Talk About Kevin, not Harry Potter.

Shadowmancy is fast-moving, cerebral, and very dark, and I hope you will enjoy it for what it is. At the very least, it’s full of gorgeous illustrations by my long time collaborator Nicholas Hunter.

If you’d like to grab a copy it’s available right now, direct from Argonautica Press, or  from the usual online vendors (Amazon Kindle ‣Rakuten Kobo ‣Barnes and Noble Nook ‣Apple iBookstore ‣Google Play ‣)

And remember, if you are local to Melbourne and want to hang out, we are hosting a book launch on:
Thursday, 7 November 2019 from 18:00-21:00, at:
Readings Bookshop
701 Glenferrie Rd
Hawthorn 3122

Jason Fischer
and I are going to launch the whole Argonautica line, but Shadowmancy,
our new title, will be front and center of the festivities. Narrelle Harris
is going to MC the event, so you know it’s going to be a fine old time.
And so will my Mum, so I will be on my best behaviour. We’d love to see
you come along.

Shadowmancy available for pre-order!

Hey there!

It’s with great pride that I can tell you that my long delayed third novel, Shadowmancy, is about to drop!

(Yes, long time readers may recall that this was going to be my second novel…)

Anyway. Here’s the blurb:

On a mountain that does not exist, there is a school where they teach the impossible.

From his first day at the Academy, things are difficult for Quay. Though he has surrendered his name, like every other acolyte at the magical school, Quay is the son of a disgraced professor, and he finds that his father’s old enemies are already lined up against him–while the professor’s own faction is just as suspicious. Quay refuses to take a side, but as his powers grow it becomes apparent that the damaged young boy may prove a greater threat than his father ever was.

Deep in the Library of Shadows, Quay finds a way to survive his father’s treacherous legacy, but the price is high indeed.

“A strange, mysterious and compelling read told in spookily disconnected first person narrative, delivered by a likeably unlikeable main character. A subtle and dreamlike tale.

–Sam Bowring, author of the Broken Well trilogy

Shadowmancy comes replete with a dozen lush illustrations by frequent collaborator Nicholas Hunter, who is also the cover artist. The book is in the final stages of print production and will be available October 15th, just in time for Halloween!

In the meantime the ebook is already available for preorder from all the various outlets. Reserve one now and you’ll save a buck on the cover price.

AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER FROM ::

Amazon Kindle ‣
Rakuten Kobo ‣
Barnes and Noble Nook ‣
Apple iBookstore ‣
Google Play ‣

Mars Attacks (Australia)!

I have a new short story in War of the Worlds: Battleground Australia, a brand new anthology from Clandestine Press that looks at what might have happened, or might still happen, if HG Wells martians had landed in Australia.

The book is filled with stories by some of Australia’s biggest name SF authors, including Kerry Greenwood, Jack Dann, Carmel Bird, Jenny Valentish, Janeen Webb, Sean Williams, Kaaron Warren and Angela Meyer. And there’s an introduction by Alex Proyas!

My piece, A Fair Go to Mars, follows two Environmental Protection Agency workers as they investigate an outbreak of the red weed, and find themselves embroiled in the machinations of a corrupt rural politician.

Check it out right here.

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Big thanks to Clan Destine Press and the Horror Australis triumvirate of evil for putting this together. 

Rise of the Skellingtons

Here for your delectation and delight, courtesy of Argonautica Press and Free Comic Book Day, is a free 34 page comic, SKELLINGTON #1.

[image error] A skellington picture by me and Mrs Franks!

The book is composed of four stories:

“The Key in the Wall” is a dark look at a school for the mystical arts, written by me and illustrated by Nicholas Hunter. This story is in fact the first chapter of Shadomancy, which is the first original-printing novel coming up on the Argonautica slate. This story was originally supposed to be a serialized comic, and many of Nic’s amazing illustrations will grace the novel’s pages. Nic also did that amazing cover.

Next we have “Harvest”, written by Jason Fischer and illustrated by Jason Paulos.

Then back to me and Nic for “Skin”. If you ever wondered what would happen if a skinwalker fought a bunch of vicious Canadian werewolves, this is the story for you. If not, I urge you to at least look at the pictures, because Nic is amazing.

Closing out the book, Jason Fischer returns with double-threat artist-writer Shauna O’Meara for an adaptation of Banjo Paterson’s classic poem The Geebung Polo Club. It’s even beautiful and deranged than you could possibly have hoped.

Into the Adlight free on Curious Fictions

https://curiousfictions.com/stories/1989-jason-franks-into-the-adlight

Published in 2012, this is a cyberpunk satire about guerilla documentary-making, advertising, and data security. I posted it on Curious Fictions because I saw this article, which makes it look as though the central conceit of the story might soon be a reality:

https://futurism.com/startrocket-giant-ads-night-sky-cubesa…

Sigh.

Obvious influence here from Blue Ant era William Gibson and also Bill Hicks (don’t @me, I’m a Gen Xer), who once said that advertising is the “ruiner of all things good.”

In hindsight, the callout to Robert Heinlein’s “The Man who Sold the Moon” is way too obvious, but I guess that’s what advertising does. It ruins stuff.

The protagonist is supposed to be a blend of Henry Rollins and Michael Moore.

Curious Fictions were kind enough to make it a featured story. You can read it for free right here:

https://curiousfictions.com/stories/1989-jason-franks-into-the-adlight

Dit dit dit… Ditmars?

So, uh, quite unexpectedly, my novel Faerie Apocalypse has made it onto the preliminary ballot for the Ditmar Awards. The Ditmars are not a juried award, they are voted-on by fandom and Australia’s speculative fiction community, so… I owe this nomination to you, my filthy readers. Thank you very much!

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To celebrate, my publisher IFWG Australia has discounted the price of the Kindle book on Amazon (excluding North America, sorry!) and Gerry Huntman will have discount coupons for the book for attendees at Continuum convention in June if you would like to get a copy. Unfortunately I won’t be at the con this year–I will be overseas–but if you liked the book or you want a discount copy please don’t hesitate to tell Gerry.

There are many other fabulous books on the shortlist. In the Best novel category with me there is an incredible set of books and I am very proud to be in their company:

Devouring Dark, by Alan Baxter

The Subjugate, by Amanda Bridgeman

City of Lies (Poison Wars 1), by Sam Hawke

The Beast’s Heart, by Leife Shallcross, and

Tide of Stone, by Kaaron Warren.

Please do check these books out–they are well worth your time.

Also a special shout out to Gillian Pollack, whose collection Mountains of the Mind is also on the ballot. I wrote a cover quote for this book so I really believe it’s amazing and you should definitely check it out it as well, if you are in a book buying frenzy.

Cheers!