Fusion Fragment Monthly - March 2024
The Latest from Fusion Fragment HQ
FF#20 Released! We here at FF celebrated Leap Day by releasing FF#20 on February the 29th. If you haven't gotten your copy yet, grab it for free here: https://fusionfragment.com/issue-20
Submission Response Times FF's been open to submissions for almost two consecutive months now (nearly 1100 subs in that time, btw!) and we've been able to wrestle first-round response times back down to 3-5 days, which is close to where they stood back when we were doing limited reading periods. If you've been thinking of sending in a story, you can check out the details here: https://www.fusionfragment.com/submissions/
FFers Named Nebula Finalists! The SFWA announced this year's Nebula ballot and it includes three FFers! Ai Jiang (FF#20) is up for Best Novella with Linghun. Ai's also up for Best Novelette with I Am AI. Also in that category is Angela Liu (FF#15) for “Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon” in Clarkesworld. Thomas Ha (FF#3, FF#14) is nominated for Best Short Story for “Window Boy” in Clarkesworld.
Aurora Award Voting This one's for my fellow Canadians: Nominations for the Aurora Award close in two weeks, on April 6th. To vote, you must be a member of the CSFFA, and I maintain that the yearly membership of $10 is one of the best deals going--not only does it get you voting rights, but it also gets you electronic copies of pretty much everything that ends up on the final ballot! If you're a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you can sign up here: https://www.csffa.ca/become-a-member/
February Published Works by FFers
February was another great month for publications by FFers! Fiction! Poetry! Non-Fiction! It's all here!
"An Elegy for the Former Things" by KT Bryski in Lightspeed
"At the Spire of Tamre" by Louis Evans in Translunar Travelers Lounge
"Deep Skin Anatomy" by Lora Gray in Uncharted
"Eeriecology: What Nature Remembers and What It Tells Us" by Ben Lockwood in Clarkesworld
"For the Pollinators" by A.D. Sui in Seize the Press
"Further Examination and Capture of Candle Skulls Associated with the Baba Yaga" by Mari Ness in Lightspeed
"If You Wake" by Avra Margariti in Hexagon
"Matter of Taste" by A.D. Sui in Hexagon
"Of Flowing Stone, of Liquid Gold, of Justice, Ash, and Battle" by Malda Marlys in Strange Horizons
"Root, Stem, Branch, Bud" by Lindz McLeod in Necessary Fiction
"Seeds Travel" by Beth Goder in Small Wonders
"The Care and Training of Hellhounds" by Cynthia Zhang in Translunar Travelers Lounge
"The Glass Sarcophagus" by Tiffany Morris in The Deadlands
"The Mourning of Sam Lillow, the Gardener" by Adriana C. Grigore in Nightmare
"The Nature of Alex Garland's Ex Machina and Its Immoral Philosophy of AI" by Ben Lockwood in Seize the Press
"This Blue World" by Samantha Murray in PodCastle
"Threnody in Dark Wood" by Avra Margariti in The Deadlands
"Vanishing Act" by Avra Margariti in F&SF
"Wall of Keyholes" by Angela Liu in Worlds of Possibility
"While My Brother is Devoured by Eagles" by Avra Margariti in Gamut
Recommendations from FF HQ
My favourite read in February was Heather O'Neill's When We Lost Our Heads, a novel following the friendship between two young girls in 19th century Montreal. O'Neill has long been one of my fave writers and this seems to me the perfect combination of all the themes she's been tackling for years: it's a hilarious black comedy (one of the consistently funniest books I've read in a while) that increasingly becomes a powerful piece of social commentary on both gender and class. Can't say enough good things about this one--come the end of 2024, I'm sure I'll be calling it my fave read of the year.
My favourite movie from February was Todd Haynes's May December, which was loosely inspired by the Mary Kay Letourneau scandal. Portman and Moore are both incredible in roles that showcase their talents, with the movie constantly questioning its characters' motivations throughout. Loved it.
Obligatory Photo of Associate Editor Henry
POV: Associate Editor Henry gives you a look that says "Why do you think it's OK to be reading a novel when there are unread stories in the FF submissions queue?"