Ok, so perhaps I have slept a few hours here and there, but with all that’s been going on, let’s just say my relationship with coffee has moved to the next level. While the past few months have been fast and furious, I’m pleased to say they’ve also been fruitful and fun. Amid the work-life-family balance there’s been a few literary landmarks to keep my creative compass pointed in the right direction.
Firstly, one of my short stories The AVM Initiative was chosen for the 2021 Microflix Film Awards, where filmmakers are invited to select from a number of texts to adapt into a short film. I would love to see The AVM Initiative (a story written years ago, but now unsettlingly topical), so if you’re a filmmaker up for a cool competition, you can read my entry, along with the other selected texts here.
I was pleased to have my poem Sonnet for a Scarecrow included in the inaugural issue of Curiouser Magazine, a new bi-annual literary journal specialising in speculative prose and poetry.
If you love the fantastical, the horrific, the experimental, and the incantatory, I dare say you’d enjoy Curiouser Magazine. It’s a gorgeous production, and a welcome new addition to the literary landscape.
With the recent release and launch of my short story collection Coralesque and Other Tales to Disturb and Distract, I’ve been having some fun with the promotional side of writing life.
It was awesome to chat with Colorado-based Jason Henderson for an episode of his Castle of Horror Podcast. You can listen here.
I’ve also been enjoying a blitz of blog touring and was fortunate to be hosted by the lovely Nikky Lee. You can read her “10 Questions With Rebecca Fraser” post here.
Thanks also go to the lovely Maureen Flynn who welcomed me to her blog with an interview that covers everything from story inspiration, writing styles, to what’s next on the writing horizon. you can read it here.
I also featured on Don Anelli’s totally awesome series showcasing Women in Horror for Don’s World of Exploitation and Horror. You’ll find that interview here.
Thanks to all for your time and great questions!
It was a pleasure to attend the Launch of ‘Stories at the End of the Line’, a project driven by Frankston Arts Centre during Melbourne’s ‘pandemic lockdown year’. This community anthology is a little piece of history! Contributions range from raw accounts of ‘life in lockdown’, to wry observations, fictional fantasies, lyrical laments, and narratives filled with heart, humanity, hope, and humour. I was pleased my poem The Butterfly Effect made the cut. I thought it might have been a little too dark…but hey, they were dark times! 🙂
‘Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies’ is now officially launched!
This anthology published by IFWG Publishing Australia, and edited by the multi-award-winning Deb Sheldon, contains some of the darkest Australian fiction from a superb line-up of authors.
I’m very proud to have my gothic psychological horror story Beneath the Cliffs of Darknoon Bay included in the table of contents. If you like your reads visceral, frightening, and unforgettable….this anthology is for you!
As part of the promotions, I contributed to a series of author interviews exploring the inspiration behind each story for Ginger Nuts of Horror. You can read all about the story behind my story here.
The next Little Stories, Big Ideas competition is now in full swing!
Secondary school students across Australia are invited to interpret this term’s theme ‘Acceptance’ in any literary style they like….in under 100-words! Entry is free, and there are some terrific prizes to be won!
Little Stories, Big Ideas is a collaborative project between me and founder and fellow friend and author, Joe Novella. It is our shared vision the competition will become a popular platform for today’s youth to express their literary voices, using contemporary issues and themes as a springboard to allow their imagination to leap in any direction it chooses. We believe kids have a lot to say about the world they live in, and we aim to celebrate, share and support the voice of Generation Next through micro fiction.
If you have a budding young writer in high school, why not encourage them to enter? You’ll find all the details here.
And last, but not least, my debut short story collection Coralesque and Other Tales to Disturb and Distract (IWG Publishing Australia) is now officially lurking in your favourite physical and online bookstores!
I’ve been genuinely overwhelmed by the positive reviews that have been coming in from respected genre publications and peers. I couldn’t be happier my stories are disturbing and distracting people in the best possible way. Here’s a little snapshot:
Darkness invades the everyday in a stunning set of short stories. Clare Rhoden, Aurealis Magazine.
What Fraser’s writing does brilliantly is pull you right into memories and experiences that are not your own, with scenes so richly detailed that you can almost feel the sand between your toes, the pull of the tide at your heels. Ben Walker, Kendall Reviews.
This collection has so many good stories in its pages. I want to write this review about all of them. Lizzy Walker, The Monster Librarian.
A good author can write twenty five completely different stories and yet keep their style impact. Rebecca Fraser has done just that in Coralesque. This is my first time reading her work and I am honestly in love. Chelsea Pittman, Horrorbound.
All in all, a fine collection by a talented writer. Mario Guslandi, SF Book Reviews.
I’ve also recently completed a middle grade novel, Sea Glass. Amazingly, for me, there’s not a speculative element in sight. Sea Glass is a contemporary, emotionally-rewarding Australian story that explores the relationship between cricket-mad Cailin and her estranged grandfather and how, despite difference and disaster, they reconnect over a shared enthusiasm for sea glass. I’m hopeful it will find a good home in the near future.
That’s all from me for now. Pass the coffee!
Happy writing, happy reading, and happy days…
Rebecca 🙂
Rebecca Fraser: Writing & Moonlighting 