Well colour me excited – look what’s on the inside back cover of the Supanova booklet! That’s pretty flipping cool! If you find yourself at the Melbourne Supanova, be sure to pop by and say hello 🙂
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A Very Nice Feeling
So, I’ve been doing this writing thing for most of my life, but I got serious about it almost 10 years ago now. I’ve been selling my fiction since about 2006, and have seen my scribbling appear in various anthologies, magazines and websites. I’ve been to group book signings, seen my work appear in collections on bookstore shelves, but it never felt *legitimate*. To my mind, these weren’t my books, they were books I had some work published in.
Many’s the time I’ve walked into a bookstore and looked at the spot where, one day, my books were going to appear. The (many) moments I had doubt about what I was doing, I’d stand there, and make a promise to myself to never give up.
Today, a novel appeared in that spot, with my name on the cover. Let’s call that a good beginning 🙂
Couple more things
Over at On Fiction Writing, I’ve been interviewed for the infamous Rack! Check it out via this link:
http://onfictionwriting.com/rack/Jason-Fischer/62/
And I’ve just sold a collaboration with author Martin Livings to good old Antipodean SF! “Art, Ink” will be appearing in issue #180, and it feels great to return to the place that bought my first ever story. Ion’s a legend, and all those undead camels, brutal Jesusmen, killer kangaroos and such? It’s basically all his fault for encouraging me 🙂
Thus Spake Drusilla the Ditmar Diprotodon
Some of you might remember last year when I introduced you to Drusilla, the Ditmar Diprotodon. This time-travelling spokesmammal of Australian SF has apparently remained in our time-stream, mostly for the fiction. Rumours of the secret megafauna invasion are still largely exaggerated and (for now) she is an ambassador of literature and peace. Today, she joins me on the Fisch-blog to talk about all things Ditmar.
JF: Hi Drusilla the Ditmar Diprotodon, thanks for stopping by.
DDD: My pleasure, Jason. Thanks for the huge bushel of vegetation.
JF: I’d do the same for any of my guests. Now, my sources tell me that you’re a passionate advocate of the Ditmar Awards.
DDD: Indeed. I think it’s wonderful to reward creative minds. We had a similar popular-vote award back in the Pleistocene Epoch, “The Mammal’s Choice Award”. Though our categories were more along the lines of Best Survivor, Species Viability, Most Effective Predator and the like. We still had a Fan Art category though.
JF: Megafauna are nothing if not organised. So, Drusilla, do you know who you are nominating in this year’s Ditmar Awards?
DDD: Oh yes! I’ve perused the 2013 Ditmar Eligibility List and cobbled together a list of my favourite books, novellas, short stories and even some reviews and podcasts that I got into last year. The beauty of the Ditmar is that I can nominate as many things in as many categories as I like. You don’t dilute or divide your nomination by doing so.
JF: So, if you were a creative type nominating your own work (which is okay to do) it doesn’t hurt you at all to list other works in the same category?
DDD: Indeed. You’re a mug if you don’t. I think that this mechanism effectively neutralises any self-touting – by the time the self-nominations are tallied up, the real results would come from the additional “I also liked this stuff” nominations.
JF: So, you’re saying the system works?
DDD: I know the Ditmars are not without their own controversies. Nary a year goes by without some sort of battle royale about the results, accusations of bloc voting, all of that drama. It reminds me in many ways of the “Mammal’s Choice Award” of 50,000 BCE. Brutor the Marsupial Lion was accused by many of rigging the vote for Most Effective Predator, but it turned out he really was the Most Effective Predator, as numerous corpses attested to.
JF: So do you think there was bloc voting, both now and then?
DDD: Probably. But that’s the law of the savana. No doubt many of Brutor’s relatives put their paws to the ballot, but it was probably a statistical blip when compared to the other terrified votes. At least the result was accurate! The Ditmar nomination process resembles a circus of touting and enormous lists of eligible works, but I think it’s a necessary process. After the initial flurry of activity, the overall numbers would float to the surface, and then the most representative value appears on that final ballot paper.
JF: I heard mention that you were frustrated by one of the rules?
DDD: Yes. As a fan, I was stymied by rule 4.1 “Nominations will be accepted only from natural persons active in fandom”. Stupid homo sapiens, of course you try to keep the fun all to yourselves. But ultimately I got around it by signing up to each Natcon, and I quote “or from full or supporting members of the national convention of the year of the award.”
JF: That’s clever.
DDD: [munching sounds]
JF: We need another wheelbarrow of lettuce in here.
AWMonline Writing Race
Hey folks!
Just a quick missive to tell you about something cool – on the 27th of February at 8pm (Qld time), I’m going to be the special guest at the weekly Writing Race as run by the lovely folks at the Australian Writers Marketplace Online.
So, if you’re keen, sign up at the website, buckle in and get ready to write your fingers off! I’ve also been told I need to wear a crazy captain’s hat, so I shall do my best to dress up my bald scone. I’ve done this once before and it was great fun, very encouraging environment for us writer-types.
Here are some details. The relevant website is www.AWMonline.com.au
What is a Writing Race?
A Writing Race is a self-directed, one-hour writing session done in the company of online peers as part of a Forum convened by a Race Captain and moderated by AWM staff. Captains are sometimes Special Guests – successful writers who share their experience and encouragement.
Who can join in?
Anyone can join in the Writing Races. Writing Races are attended by beginner, emerging and established authors. This gives beginner and emerging writers the opportunity to write in the company of leading industry professionals, and provides published authors with support and encouragement to meet their contractual deadlines.
How do I participate?
If you subscribe to AWMonline, log in to your AWMonline account, and go to “Forums” under the “Writing Resources” tab. Click on the current Writing Race (they are labelled by date). If you are a guest, simply click on the home page Forum button and click on the current Writing Race. Tell us what you hope to achieve in your hour of writing. Then when the starting pistol sounds, get writing! After an hour, finish up and let us know how you went.
Do I have to show my writing to everyone?
No, you do your writing in your own private document, just as you always do. The Race Captain will only ask about your word count (or other goals) you achieved during the race. Some Racers like to share their favourite snippet at the end of the race. Racers are all very supportive of each others’ work.
Do I have to be really fast?
No, you can write at your own pace. You might even do some research, scene planning, or editing. We are there to have fun and honour our craft by finding the time to write. Most Racers are pleasantly surprised at how productive they are during a Race.
Who organises the Writing Races?
The Writing Races are organised by Queensland Writers Centre, a not-for-profit organisation that publishes The Australian Writer’s Marketplace and AWMonline as part of our commitment to providing resources and opportunities for writers.
For more information about AWMonline Writing Races, see our blog http://blog.AWMonline.com.au, follow us on Twitter @AWMonline, or like our Facebook page The Australian Writer’s Marketplace Online. Inquiries please contact admin@AWMonline.com.au
Fisch Industries: The Current State of Play
So we find ourselves in 2013. The world did not end, which was fortunate – it turns out I can continue to write about the world ending with complete impunity. Huzzah!
I’ve had a small break from writing and scratched my video game itch. The only problem being that Fallow February is completely out of synch with everything else, and will most likely reappear as Fallow August. Because this February, and for the next few months, it’s nose to the grindstone.
So what’s going on?
a) My first novel Quiver is now on sale. I’m hoping to officially launch this at Conflux, and am currently pimping it hither and yon. If you liked novels like the Hunger Games and the Passage, and dig yourself some sweet zombie action, why not give it a try? 😉
b) I met recently with Russ and Liz of Ticonderoga Publications, the publishers of my forthcoming publication “Everything is a Graveyard”. Writing of new stories for this collection has now begun in earnest, and the titular story is going to be Tonnes of Fun. Toranas, dropbears, steam tractors and more. I’m also planning to write a new Jesusman short story for consideration in the anthology, and revise a new story that I wrote at Writers of the Future. That’s just for starters.
c) Was invited to send in a pitch to a Secret Embargoed Thing, which I have beavered away on over the last month or so. A very cool shared universe, and if it all goes ahead I’ll be as pleased as the proverbial pig in poop.
d) If I get a spare moment, I’m hoping to start work on a new YA novel that I’ve been outlining. Working title is Ripley Quarterquick, and the tagline is “Oliver Twist Meets Real Steel”
So that’s the state of play here at Fisch Industries. No rest for the wicked! 🙂
A Synopsis Shouldn’t Have to Hurt Your Synapses
Ah, the synopsis. That most painful of things, where an author has to compress a novel’s worth of organic sproutings into one or two concise pages. And oh, how we wail and gnash our teeth when called upon to do so.
“It’s just so HARD,” we say. “I don’t WANT TO.”
But here’s the truth; you have to. This is the way a publisher can a) determine your ability to get to the point b) determine that you actually have written a book with a defined beginning/middle/end c) be sold on the sizzle of your steak.
It’s a marketing document, and I don’t think they’re actually that difficult to do. Some folks I know and respect spend inordinate amounts of time on these –Â with all due respect, I think they’re all crazy. We’re talking weeks, even months of time. On a 1-2 page marketing document.
Here’s what I believe: if you can’t get a synopsis right in an afternoon, you need to hand in your writer card. Here’s the Fisch One-Page/One-Afternoon Synopsis Method.
1) Present tense throughout. Limited or no adjectives.
2) Three or four biggish paragraphs. The first one briefly introduces your protagonist, one or two tag-line style descriptors of your setting, and brushes over the opening act of your novel.
3) Second paragraph introduces the antagonist/conflict, and brushes over the second act of your book. Again, broad strokes, and don’t worry too much about your subplots and the nitty gritty. We’re talking how you would convince someone at a bar to sleep with your book (if that makes sense). If you bore the poor person with a detailed description of your stamp collection, you’re going home alone.
4) Third paragraph goes over your final act, and resolves everything. Don’t do rhetorical questions here: “does she survive the assassination attempt? BUY MY BOOK AND FIND OUT.” the point of the thing is, you have to tell the reader, in present tense, exactly how the conflict is addressed, and how the story resolves.
5) Connect these three biggish paragraphs with one sentence movie-style taglines, just to keep it interesting. This also proves your ability to write succinctly, and provides a bit of life to what might otherwise be a boring marketting document.
6) Close off with a pitching paragraph, something along the lines of this: ‘”Papa Lucy and the Boneman” is a complex fantasy, designed to appeal to readers of Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe. If Gilgamesh found himself on the set of Mad Max, this is the story that might result.’
And that’s IT. That’s all you have to do. Go back over it of course, tighten everything up, take out every unnecessary word, and make it as interesting as you can. If an adjective pops up, kill it dead. I maintain that you can knock one of these out in an afternoon, anything else is just an exercise in masochism.
Mentor: The Fisch-Maker!
I just can’t help myself 🙂
It’s all official like, I am a mentor in the Australian Horror Writers Association 2012 mentor program. And I have two mentees that I’d like to introduce to y’all.
Given into my tender care are the following writers: Stacey Larner and David McDonald. From what I’ve seen of their writing, these folks both have a lot of promise. They’re hard-working, keen as beans, and hopefully some big things await my writer-kids. Now it’s up to me to pass on what knowledge I’ve gleaned over the years, help them get some work polished to within an inch of its life, and generally hang around, dropping wisdom like Obi-Wan Kinobi (I think).
Say hi folks, and make my Padawans feel welcome 🙂
Coming Soon!!!
The Once and Future (Karaoke) King
In my non-writing life, I’ve sometimes been known to assemble a posse of the like-minded and take over the nearest karaoke bar. It started off as dutch courage and ten people crowded around a microphone, to going it alone and improvising strange poetry in the middle of “Stairway to Heaven”, even committing crimes against harmonica accompaniment. Finally I went along to regular karaoke seasons at my old local, the Rex Hotel. My 25th birthday (approx 10 years ago!) I rented out the entire sports bar and we belted out the karaoke until the small hours.
One of my favourite memories of Clarion South was when most of the class took over a Brisbane karaoke bar and we blew off six weeks of stress in one night of crazy tune-crankage. Good times 🙂
Some years back I made the finals of a local karaoke contest, but bombed out in the last round. Fast-forward to now, and I’m leafing through the Messenger, when I find out about this thing called the Karaoke World Championship. The Australian winner gets to represent our country in Finland, and apparently it’s a massive deal.
Local heats were being held around SA, including the Rex Hotel. Rounded up the posse, cranked it out, and now I’m in the venue finals 🙂 if I can manage to get through the next round, then it’s onto the state finals for Team Fisch.
Onward! 🙂