Fusion Fragment Monthly - January 2023
The Latest from Fusion Fragment HQ
January Reading Period: It's almost here! The FF Reading Team and I will be accepting submissions from January 9th through to the 22nd. I expect turnaround time should be quick once again and aim to get first-round responses returned in 3 days or less. If you haven't sent a story to FF before, check out the guidelines here: https://www.fusionfragment.com/submissions/
2022 Award Eligible Stories: Late last month I recapped all of the original award-eligible fiction that FF published last year, with a little blurb on what I loved about each one. If you're looking for some FF stories to browse before you send something in, have a look at the list in this Twitter thread.
Liar, Dreamer, Thief is Everywhere!: The debut novel by 4-time FFer Maria Dong, which arrives on January 13th (I've already pre-ordered mine, have you?), is showing up on all sorts of most-anticipated releases lists. Good Housekeeping calls it "a surreal mystery...perfect for fans of Severance". Popsugar calls it "an unpredictable rollercoaster ride". Novel Suspects calls it "an intimate portrayal of life's complexities and a sensitive exploration of mental health". Goodreads has it on a list of the Buzziest Debut Novels of the New Year. And, it's an Editor's Pick over on Amazon. Whew!
December Published Works by FFers
December saw the release of Eris Young's latest book: Ace Voices: What It Means to be Asexual, Aromantic, Demi or Grey-Ace, which you can check out right here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/eris-young/ace-voices/9781787756984/
And despite the fact that December's usually a light month for magazine publications, there was a ton of new short stories and poems released by FFers! Check out the list below!
"A Recipe for Crocodile Tears" by Jennifer Hudak in The Dread Machine
"An Offer from the Fivefold God" by Rachel Meresman in Beneath Ceaseless Skies
"Estral's Light" by Marisca Pichette in Myriad: Moonrise
"Eye Contact" by Zachary Rosenberg in A Coup Of Owls
"Gargoyle" by Marisca Pichette in Diet Milk Magazine
"Human Trash" by Angela Liu in Maudlin House
"Into the Dark" by Jennifer R. Donohue in Fantasy Magazine
"Kelpie Dreams" by Marisca Pichette in The Dread Machine
"Millions" by Christi Nogle in Cosmic Horror Monthly
"Paradiso: A Found Cyborg Poem" by Tiffany Morris in Haven Speculative
"Seven Deadliest Inventions of the New Era; An Itemization" by Uchechukwu Nwaka in Future SF Digest
"Sturgeon Moon Jam" by Jennifer Hudak in Fantasy Magazine
"Table Service" by Shih-Li Kow in The Temz Review
"Thawing" by JL George in The Best of Wyldblood: Volume 1
"The Science and Artistry of Snake Oil Salesmanship" (Part 1) by Timothy Mudie in PodCastle
"Three Symptoms of a Disaster" by Angela Liu in Nightmare Magazine
"Wallers" by Mari Ness in Nightmare Magazine
I should also mention Volume 3 of If There's Anyone Left, which was released in November, but I missed it in my previous installment. It's published and coedited by FFer Jason P. Burnham and includes the following works by FFers:
"Dreams of Blood and Fire" by Bennett North
"My Jam Jar Ghost" by Shih-Li Kow
Giveaway Time
The first person to email me at editor@fusionfragment.com and tell me the name of the aliens in Timothy Mudie's FF#14 story, "A Boundless Mosaic of Light and Time", will win their choice of any of the 16 books recommended in that issue!
Recommendations from FF HQ
I recapped my favourite books read in 2022 in this Twitter thread, complete with a few notes on why I loved each one. But I also attempted to justify my ongoing Canva subscription by making a couple of slick graphics, so here you go:
Obligatory Photo of Associate Editor Henry
Santa's Little Helper
Signoff Video
