Category Archives: Pimping

Ditmar Awards Pimpage – With Megafauna

Pimping

Once again, the Aussie SF awards season bears down on us, much like a time-travelling hyper-intelligent diprotodon. It could be establishing a beach-head for a megafauna invasion, but it’s much more comforting to imagine this hippo-sized wombat is merely visiting. Perhaps to sample the local genre writing, nominate its favourite reads from 2011, and perhaps convince the Parliament of Ancient Marsupials that our culture is worth preserving.

“Don’t worry, I’m totally legit” – Drusilla, the Ditmar Diprotodon

 Nominations have just opened for the 2012 Ditmar Awards, Australia’s version of the Hugos. Until May 13th, “natural persons active in fandom, or from full or supporting members of the national convention of the year of the award” can submit nominations in the various categories. Sorry Drusilla. It’s probably for the best that the megafauna are exempt from this process (unless they sign up for the Natcon, which seems a handy loophole) .

Nomination forms are here: http://ditmars.sf.org.au/2012/nominations.html

Ditmar rules are here: http://wiki.sf.org.au/Ditmar_rules

And a staggeringly huge list of potential nominees can be found here, with the caveat that some of the listings might not be valid or in the correct categories: http://wiki.sf.org.au/2012_Ditmar_eligibility_list

In keeping with the ancient traditions of fandom (according to microfiche brought to the present day by Drusilla the Ditmar Diprotodon), here is a list of my eligible work. For information only, you should of course only nominate the people and works from 2011 that most rocked your socks.

Best Novella/Novelette:

After the World: Corpus Christi (After the World #4, Black House Comics)

Best Short Story:

A Clockwork Arthur (After the World #3, Black House Comics)

Eating Gnashdal (Anywhere But Earth, Couer De Lion)

Hunting Rufus (Midnight Echo #5, AHWA)

Goggy (Midnight Echo #5, AHWA)

‘Twas a quiet year at Fisch Industries, but in my defence I was writing lots of novel and novella length things 🙂 If you want to read any of these works, send me a message/email/carrier pigeon and I’ll do my best to hook you up.

Rock the vote!

The Chronic Rift: “Viral” Roundtable Interview

Pimping,

A couple of weeks ago, the authors involved in Steven Savile’s “Viral” series got together over Skype to discuss the books. The result can now be heard over at the Chronic Rift podcast. It was great fun to discuss how the concept came about, and how we all grabbed a different viewpoint to explore the same idea. “Viral” is geared mainly towards fans of political and military thrillers, so if you’re into fast-paced,  foot-to-the-floor fiction, these are the books for you.

Of some interest is the fact that book one (“Viral: -30-“) is now comfortably within the top #100 best sellers on the Nook, #23 in the stonkingly massive Thriller category, and is now #2 in the Military category. Colour me GOBSMACKED. The Viral series is still exclusive via Barnes and Noble; in about a month it will open up to other markets so I’ll keep the Kindle readers amongst you posted 🙂

Interview page is here: http://www.chronicrift.com/node/1856

And the actual sound-file of the interview can be saved via this link: http://m.podshow.com/media/23007/episodes/312095/chronicrift-312095-03-10-2012.mp3

Coming soon – AFTER THE WORLD: ARMY CORPSE

Pimping, Publication, ,

The world is lost to the walking dead, and humanity limps on behind high walls. Two nations squabble over what is left of the United States. The survivors of Gravesend just got drafted into a civil war, and Tamsyn finds herself saddled with the responsibility of command. Can she survive the war for this brutal new America…and does she dare to unleash the ultimate weapon? Is victory worth the horrible price?

Cover art for After the World #5 has just been released on the Black House Comics website, including some other exciting titles about to hit the stands. Keep an eye out for “Terra Magazine”, Australia’s answer to 2000AD. Amongst other awesomeness, this includes my fantasy serial Tusk:

http://blackhousecomics.com/articles/books-we-sent-to-print-today.html

New review for After the World #4

Pimping, Reviews

Scaryminds has just released a review for After the World issue #4 (Black House Comics). The stories get quite a bit of positive ink, and of my novella Corpus Christi the reviewer says:

“Hold onto your knickers kids, Jason Fischer delivers his long awaited sequel to After the World: Gravesend…Fischer once again knocks one out of the ball park and for sure I’m now sweating on another chapter in this series.”

The rest of the review can be read here: http://www.scaryminds.com/reviews/2012/magazine19.php

As for the next instalment in Tamsyn’s tale, there’s some exciting news in that regard…will spill the beans when things are all official-like 🙂

If you’d like a copy of the zombie-tastic After the World, issue #4 should be in a newsagent near you. Issues #1-#4 can be ordered online here: http://www.blackboox.net/categories/Pulp-Fiction/After-the-World/

AHWA Short Story and Flash Fiction Competition 2012

Announcement, Awards, Pimping

Just a quick signal boost: Each year the Australian Horror Writers’ Association holds a short story and flash fiction contest, and this year I’m one of the judges. It’s a great little contest. Winners receive a cool engraved plaque, paid publication in the association’s magazine Midnight Echo, and bragging rights for a whole year 🙂

Entries are open till May 31st. More details here:

http://australianhorror.com/index.php?view=57

After the World – it’s back and it’s BAD-ASS.

Pimping, Publication, Writing

Following the release of novellas “Killable Hours” and my own “Gravesend”, Black House Comics have upped the ante. Not only is the After the World saga continuing, it’s been expanded from a standalone novella into a full-fledged fiction anthology, available in newsagents around Australia (and online). You’ll still find a zombie apocalypse novella in each bimonthly issue of After the World, but now each instalment is accompanied by some fantastic fiction, with a bit of something for everyone.

Issue 3 is headed up by Jason Franks’ “Pack Rules”, an absolute hum-dinger of a story set in the same shared universe as the first two books. I’ve had the privilege of already reading this piece, and it knocked my socks off. Bikers scavenging for supplies in a zombie ravaged Melbourne; the residents of an upper-class apartment, holed up and terrified; a pack of feral dogs abandoned, desperate to survive in a world where dead monsters walk.

A whole swag of other fiction can be found in this magazine, including tales of science fiction, horror, and just plain weirdness. My contribution to this issue is the slipstream “A Clockwork Arthur”, where the argot of Nadsat meets the downfall of Camelot. To top it all off, look at that cover. Just look at it! Jason Paulos at his finest.

(image nicked from http://blackhousecomics.com/articles/after-the-world–anthology—issue-3-out-now.html)

Future issues will include my sequels to “Gravesend”, the upcoming “Corpus Christi”, and the third instalment “Army Corpse”. These two are intended to make Gravesend look like a trip to Disneyland, and hopefully folks get a kick out of seeing the surviving characters from the first book (and the bad things I do to them – oh so bad).

After the World can be found in your local newsagent, or can be ordered online via this link: http://www.blackboox.net/after-the-world-pack-rules-issue-3/

Aspiring writers, here are the submission guidelines for this very cool publication, check it out: http://blackhousecomics.com/submissions-for-after-the-world.html

Seth In Space

Pimping, Uncategorized,

Seth J Rowanwood, my rather awesome illustrator from Writers of the Future (who took out the Golden Award in the sister contest, for his illustration of “The House of Nameless”) was lucky enough to have one of his book covers packed onto the last ever space shuttle launch and sent up to the International Space Station (just the cover, book itself was over the strict payload limit). That’s right – the squeezings of his brain got flown into space. I don’t care where you’re from, that’s damn cool 🙂

Few people get to cross that one off the ole bucket list. Well done Seth!

More info here:

http://www.sethjrowanwood.com/archives/767

Debut Collection: EVERYTHING IS A GRAVEYARD, Ticonderoga Publications

Announcement, Pimping, Publication

In today’s exciting news, Ticonderoga Publications have just announced the forthcoming publication of my first short story collection. You cannot wipe the smile from my face! Here’s the official press release:

—

Ticonderoga Publications is proud to announce the forthcoming publication of a collection of stories by the writer of the future Jason Fischer.

Adelaide-based Fischer is a Clarion South graduate and recent winner of the Writers of the Future competition.

The collection is titled Everything is a Graveyard, and is scheduled for publication in late 2013.

The exact contents are still to be finalised.

The collection will revolve around Fischer’s critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic and zombie-themed work.

Everything is a Graveyard will also include new stories original to the collection.

“Jason Fischer taps into the darker sides of human nature like few other writers,” Ticonderoga Editor Russell B Farr said.

“His work blends raw emotion with an honest sense of mortality,” Farr added.

The collection is scheduled for publication in October 2013. The collection will be available in limited edition hardcover, ebook and trade editions.

(from http://ticonderogapublications.com/tp/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=156:announcement-debut-collection-by-jason-fischer&catid=94:everything-is-a-graveyard&Itemid=131)

Midnight Echo #6 – Press Release

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The Australian Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce the line-up of the sixth issue of their official fiction magazine, Midnight Echo. This edition is a themed issue, with all stories being science fiction horror.

The nine stories are set in the far future and taking place in the distant reaches of space. Inside you’ll discover a strange world with a planetary ring forged from organic matter, bizarre aliens cataloguing and collecting humans to populate their idea of paradise, Lovecraftian horrors come to life in the heart of a comet, cybernetic monsters hunting humans in the hull of an abandoned star ship, and paranoid space explorers pushed to their limits at the frontier of an uncharted universe.

Stories have been penned by various renowned speculative fiction authors from Australia and the United States, including:

  • Cody Goodfellow – editor of Perilous Press and author of Radiant Dawn and Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars
  • Cat Sparks – fiction editor for Cosmos Magazine and multiple Aurealis Award winning author
  • Stephen Dedman – Australian science fiction veteran and author of Shadows Bite and Foreign Bodies
  • Shane Jiraiya Cummings – Managing Editor of Horrorscope.com.au and author of Phoenix and the Darkness of Wolves
  • Joanne Anderton – author of upcoming speculative fiction novel Debris

Emerging talented authors include Helen Stubbs, Alan Baxter, Andrew J. McKiernan, Mark Farrugia, and poet Jenny Blackford.

The issue will feature an in depth interview with Charles Stross, one of the most imaginative and insightful science fiction authors writing today. Stross has been honoured with two Hugo awards and Locus Reader awards, and has published more than a dozen novels, including Saturn’s Children and The Fuller Memorandum. He talks to David Conyers for Midnight Echo about his Lovecrafitan science fiction horror series, The Laundry, and his latest novel, Rule 34.

A second interview is with Chris Moore, world renowned British science fiction artist best known for his striking covers for Orion Publishing’s SF Masterworks series and for his official wallpaper art for film The Empire Strikes Back. Insights are gained into Moore’s process for achieving his striking and imaginative art, and the many changes he has been facing in the publishing industry since he began illustrating in the 1970s.

The cover for Midnight Echo 6, ‘Strange Behaviour’, is a creation of talented UK artist, Paul Drummond, who will be well-known to readers of Interzone for his striking depictions of star ships, futuristic humans and robots.

Featured interior illustrators include:

  • Steve Gilberts – Apex Digest, Space and Time, and Book of Dark Wisdom
  • David Lee Ingersoll – The Black Seal and Worlds of Cthulhu
  • Olivia Kernot – Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine
  • Nathan Wyckoff – Jumpgates Comics

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Special, has been edited by South Australian trio, David Kernot (editor of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine), Jason Fischer (Writers of the Future winner and Aurealis nominee), and David Conyers (author of The Eye of Infinity, The Spiraling Worm and co-editor of Cthulhu Unbound 3), and is due for release in November 2011.

Further details on Midnight Echo can be found at http://www.australianhorror.com/

Previous issues of Midnight Echo can be purchased at http://www.shop.australianhorror.com/