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KRIS ASHTON
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![Nearly time to hit the highway](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_29d947c0dd5c4ad2b287af8c793b44f2~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_439,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_29d947c0dd5c4ad2b287af8c793b44f2~mv2.webp)
Kris Ashton
Aug 9, 20182 min read
Nearly time to hit the highway
Several years ago I went on a road trip and began to reflect on the crosses that dotted the highway, marking the precise spot where...
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![NEWS: Third prize in ghost story competition!](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_b6d038dea0e547bdb5c17930f3dbcfd1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_b6d038dea0e547bdb5c17930f3dbcfd1~mv2.webp)
Kris Ashton
Apr 3, 20181 min read
NEWS: Third prize in ghost story competition!
This morning I woke to the news my short story ‘Highway Memorials’ had taken out third place in The Fiction Desk’s annual Ghost Story...
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![Publishing’s regrettable identity politics](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_267cc59cf292496fa7ff3180c0c95185~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_267cc59cf292496fa7ff3180c0c95185~mv2.webp)
Kris Ashton
Jan 16, 20182 min read
Publishing’s regrettable identity politics
In October 2017, I had a story published in Tripping the Tale Fantastic: Weird Fiction by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Writers. As the title...
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![BIG NEWS: Story to appear in Aurealis magazine](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_d3527d85b87e47b3991dae96f0a7e7d7~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_d3527d85b87e47b3991dae96f0a7e7d7~mv2.webp)
Kris Ashton
Sep 18, 20172 min read
BIG NEWS: Story to appear in Aurealis magazine
Floating around in cyberspace is a 2006 blog post that refers to Aurealis as ‘The Grand Old Harlot’ and ‘The Lumbering Old Dinosaur’, two...
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![News: Tripping the Tale Fantastic available to pre-order](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_3a3cef575c0b41a6b63a7ccaef456f3d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_264,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_3a3cef575c0b41a6b63a7ccaef456f3d~mv2.webp)
Kris Ashton
Jul 16, 20171 min read
News: Tripping the Tale Fantastic available to pre-order
The anthology Tripping the Tale Fantastic: Weird Fiction by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Writers is now available to pre-order. From the...
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![‘The Stag Night’ to appear in Blood in the Rain II](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_31fe011fff9345a7a1e30e370037243e~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_227,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_31fe011fff9345a7a1e30e370037243e~mv2.webp)
Kris Ashton
Jul 7, 20161 min read
‘The Stag Night’ to appear in Blood in the Rain II
It’s been very much a case of ‘life, interrupted’ these past few months. Day job turmoil and the arrival of my second child (among other...
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Kris Ashton
Jan 13, 20163 min read
My muse is a conscientious objector
Right now I’m working on a story about a teacher whose life is upended by World War Two. It was going well until I came to the part where...
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Kris Ashton
Dec 14, 20153 min read
The fundamentalist editor: a disapproval
Trawl through my blog posts and you’ll see I’m very much in favour of editors and the criticism they offer. Because my life is almost...
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Kris Ashton
Sep 13, 20153 min read
Review: This Perfect Day by Ira Levin
It is rare indeed that a novel, particularly one of dystopian fiction, becomes more relevant with time. But I would argue that with This...
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![New fiction: 'Unreal Estate' in DMD #20](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_92d6f9f81c554882bbe6b434847da1ec.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_92d6f9f81c554882bbe6b434847da1ec.webp)
Kris Ashton
Aug 12, 20151 min read
New fiction: 'Unreal Estate' in DMD #20
Although a change in publisher led to a painful and delayed birth, Dark Moon Digest #20, containing my story 'Unreal Estate', is now...
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Kris Ashton
Aug 12, 20153 min read
Overcoming ‘rewrite phobia’
Yesterday I finished rewriting a short story I first ‘completed’ more than seven years ago. The initial idea, which I won’t relate here,...
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Kris Ashton
Jul 16, 20156 min read
Building the set of unreality
How conscious are you of a novel’s setting? Have you ever thought about what goes into creating it and how it is used? Good use of...
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Kris Ashton
Jul 16, 20154 min read
Take the creative personality test!
An interesting link popped up on my Facebook feed the other day. It was titled ‘10 Things to Keep In Mind When Loving a Highly Creative...
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![NEWS: 'Unreal Estate' to appear in Dark Moon Digest](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_f8f7ca0c8f8f4b5bba6381238ff424ed.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_f8f7ca0c8f8f4b5bba6381238ff424ed.webp)
Kris Ashton
Apr 19, 20151 min read
NEWS: 'Unreal Estate' to appear in Dark Moon Digest
This morning I received confirmation that my horror story 'Unreal Estate' will appear in Dark Moon Digest #20, scheduled for July 1,...
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![Steve Oedekirk stole my story](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_40190fcf8bb94d2897450b60acf484cb.jpg/v1/fill/w_287,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_40190fcf8bb94d2897450b60acf484cb.webp)
Kris Ashton
Apr 16, 20152 min read
Steve Oedekirk stole my story
You know that saying, “There’s nothing new under the sun”? It’s true. Painfully, heartbreakingly true. I completed my first full-length...
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![The fastest ways to get rejected](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_fb82040138e140edb056a583e5aca03b.jpg/v1/fill/w_400,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_fb82040138e140edb056a583e5aca03b.webp)
Kris Ashton
Dec 2, 20144 min read
The fastest ways to get rejected
Getting fiction published is hard enough. Don’t disqualify yourself before the editor even starts reading your story. Novice authors...
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![A critique of slush reader rejections](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_6e815cf5f3e3452fb7922150fb306464.jpg/v1/fill/w_342,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_6e815cf5f3e3452fb7922150fb306464.webp)
Kris Ashton
Nov 16, 20145 min read
A critique of slush reader rejections
The most painful rejection found on the rejection spectrum is the shortlist rejection. This is where a story is ‘recommended for a second...
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![A sad thing happened to Australian fiction](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_c0616d16152b445ba77feb014be81b51.jpg/v1/fill/w_454,h_341,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_c0616d16152b445ba77feb014be81b51.webp)
Kris Ashton
Jun 29, 20147 min read
A sad thing happened to Australian fiction
While nosing around for short fiction markets recently, I came across an Australian literary journal called The Canary Press. I liked the...
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Kris Ashton
Jan 11, 20142 min read
Ballad of the flexible writer
As of January 10, it had been nearly two months since I wrote any fiction. Part of the problem was that a change in my job and my new...
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![The allure of the peculiar little town](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e16ed6_9ca2018e48ce4940867189fbb883be7f.jpeg/v1/fill/w_162,h_250,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e16ed6_9ca2018e48ce4940867189fbb883be7f.webp)
Kris Ashton
Nov 7, 20132 min read
The allure of the peculiar little town
As more than one writer of horror fiction has noted, there are a finite number of tropes in the genre which authors have been milling...
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