8FOLD/RACCIES: Eightfold Eligibles for 2009

[Tom Russell]

Been another slow year for Eightfold, and it would've been even less
productive if it weren't for the High Concept contests.  While I'm
fully willing to take credit for getting them started, it's thanks to
the great contest winners and their dynamite concepts for getting my
creativity flowing.  So, let's see what we've got here.

KINKY ROMANCE # 4, "Horny": The story of a woman who can't stop
thinking about sex and despises herself because of it... until she
meets a woman who hates her self more.  Andrew Perron said it was
"completely fucked up, but in a very sweet way", and I agree; it's
probably the closest thing to a real love story I've written in either
of my romance series, which I admit is probably a little frightening.
This story, along with all the other KINKY and DOOMED ROMANCE stories,
is collected in my book SEVEN ROMANCES, which retails at Amazon.com
for ten bucks.

JOURNEY INTO... # 6, "High Concept Drifter": a super-powered western
story answering the double-barrel high concept hi-jinks of Saxon
Brenton (super-powered dad worried about super-powered offspring) and
Andrew Burton (elevated animals).  I like this one a lot-- it's
uncharacteristically taut for me, so people who are turned off by my
adoration for semicolons, parentheticals, and digressions might find a
lot to love here.  And, hey, it's got a horse with an Indian headdress
that fires lasers.  The Seventy-Fifth story published under the
Eightfold Banner (if you count Jamie Rosen's two stabs at TEMPLATE # 2
as separate stories, which I do).

JOURNEY INTO... # 7, "Glub Glub Glub": a dude talks to fish.  This won
Martin Phipps's high concept, "talking to animals", and I'm very happy
about that even if the story-- really more of a vingette-- is
something that could likely be improved.

JOLT CITY # 18, "War of the Balloonists!": the only issue of our
longest-running series to come out this year.  I certainly hope it was
worth the wait.  Derek Mason first-apps as Blue Boxer, frequently
embarrasses himself, and grapples with some moral issues.  This more
robust, digressive, expansive approach to superhero fiction is
something I'm currently enamored with, so future installments, when
they come, will likely be of a similar length and nature.

FUCHSIA GRABBAG SURPRISE # 5: Yeah, plot synopses are pretty useless
for this series.

JOURNEY INTO... # 8, "Brave New World, With Such Awesome In It!":
posted earlier today, my answer to Dvandom's "anachronoid" high
concept.  A depression-era automaton is resurrected in the near future
and embraces the world.  Featuring the lovely and amazing Dr. Fay, of
JOLT CITY fame, and a talking penis.

SPEAKING OF TALKING PENISES, I also wrote one LNH story this year,
MISTER BLISTER AND SISTER STATE-THE-OBVIOUS # 2, "Dangling Chads", in
which I introduce the Looniverse to its President-by-way-of-spell-
check-error, Barracks Boatman, a former gym teacher.  Mister Blister
might return next year.

So, this year's Eightfold Crop numbers six stories, bringing the grand
total to 79.