Location: United States
Member Since:
March 06, 2011
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Francis Bass
Biography
Francis Bass is a writer of science fiction and fantasy. His work has appeared in RECKONING, ELECTRIC LITERATURE, and others. He lives in Philadelphia.
Where to find Francis Bass online
Website: https://francisbass.com
Books
Stories About Kids Stealing Things
by Francis Bass
Price:
$7.00 USD.
Words: 40,260.
Language:
English.
Published: September 29, 2023
.
Categories:
Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - single author, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
Seven stories about people with very little ability to control their own lives, and no ability to control the world at large. They are going to try anyway.
Masters of the Wine Printers Guild
by Francis Bass
You set the price!
Words: 8,350.
Language:
English.
Published: January 1, 2023
.
Categories:
Fiction » Fantasy » General, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
The guilds in the city of Viz can print any food or drink, but their magic is only possible using designs kept secret by the masters. In earlier times, every apprentice would one day become a master, but now that promise of advancement is a lie. So three apprentices of the Wine Printers Guild plot to steal the masters’ designs, print their own wine, and maybe upend the entire guild system.
Cartographer
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 15,860.
Language:
American English.
Published: August 31, 2022
.
Categories:
Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories, Fiction » Fantasy » Dark
A grotesque fantasy about a person lost in the colossal corpse of their god, and the mapmaker they always end up returning to.
Classic Cage
by Francis Bass
You set the price!
Words: 7,310.
Language:
English.
Published: January 1, 2022
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » General, Plays » American / African American
A one act play about public vs. private personas, optimism vs. pessimism, and predictive video chat AI.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: An Anthology
by Trevor White, Wyatt Eller de Miranda, Ike Riva, Felix Twingrin, & Francis Bass (foreword by)
Price:
Free!
Words: 16,680.
Language:
English.
Published: October 29, 2021
by
TerraGenesis Collective.
Categories:
Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - multi-author
An anthology of short stories from four different authors, each putting their own spin on the infamous first line.
The War of Paraguay
by Francis Bass
You set the price!
Words: 119,090.
Language:
English.
Published: January 1, 2021
.
Categories:
Nonfiction » History » South American, Nonfiction » History » Modern / 19th Century
A diplomatic history of South America’s deadliest inter-state war, drawing on private correspondences, parliamentary speeches, and impassioned pamphlets of senators, councilmen, and diplomats—the architects of a never before seen alliance, and the sparring opponents in a contentious peace process. Translated into English for the first time, with an added introduction, map, and clarifying endnotes.
The Same Story Told
by Francis Bass
Price:
$8.00 USD.
Words: 97,420.
Language:
English.
Published: August 22, 2020
.
Categories:
Fiction » Fantasy » General, Fiction » Literature » Literary
A post-apocalyptic pastoral fantasy told six times in a row. To conserve resources, five members of a team work in year-long shifts and year-long magically-induced sleeps, living in unique fragments of the same struggle to restore a farming village, deviating, echoing, altering format and style.
Yellowknife
by Francis Bass
Price:
$3.00 USD.
Words: 11,960.
Language:
English.
Published: May 29, 2020
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Short Stories
Inspector Naval is a safety inspector—not a detective, not a private eye, not a genius of deductive reasoning. But Mars has scarcely any law enforcement, so when a woman turns up dead at a research base studying extraterrestrial bacteria, Inspector Naval is the best the International Martian Program can send.
Red, Her Hand
by Francis Bass
Price:
$3.00 USD.
Words: 8,380.
Language:
English.
Published: April 29, 2020
.
Categories:
Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Fantasy
In the Predestined Empire, prophecies written centuries ago by cloistered prophets dictate all law and governance. Gailee, a lowborn girl, court transcriber, and straw dealer to noble kids, enlists the aid of one of her buyers to fulfill her destiny and become a prophet herself.
manifesto for a speculative theatre
by Francis Bass
Price:
Free!
Words: 2,070.
Language:
English.
Published: April 8, 2020
.
Categories:
Essay » Literature, Nonfiction » Literary criticism » Science Fiction & Fantasy
Audience: This manifesto addresses itself to two groups of people—playwrights, and writers of science fiction and fantasy. People who can call themselves both are its intended result. Claim: Theatre enriches science fiction and fantasy. Science fiction and fantasy enrich theatre. Very little speculative theatre exists; very much should.
20; A Collection of Short Stories
by Francis Bass
Price:
$4.99 USD.
Words: 29,040.
Language:
English.
Published: November 14, 2018
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - single author
A collection of four sci-fi stories exploring various futures, ranging from an isolated asteroid colony governed by questionable politicians, to an alien invasion so overwhelming that the sky over Atlanta is blacked out by spaceships, each with a brief afterword providing commentary on the origins of the story.
20; Two plays and a monologue
by Francis Bass
Price:
$7.25 USD.
Words: 69,930.
Language:
English.
Published: November 14, 2018
.
Categories:
Plays » Ancient & Classical, Fiction » Anthologies » Drama/Theatrical
A collection of plays set in speculative worlds. "Suggest the Empire" unfolds in an invented, medieval past rife with conflict, as an emperor and his son struggle to maintain their imperial holdings, while "Tallahassee Ca. 2045" takes place in a possible future heavily affected by climate change, as a group of youth activists organize a protest that grows out of control.
ChannelCon '30
by Francis Bass
You set the price!
Words: 13,940.
Language:
English.
Published: July 30, 2018
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » General
Lindsey Xong and Amber Smith, two curators of public domain films, form the highly popular channel Amber Linz. Just like any popular curators, they go to ChannelCon, but quickly find the fans there divided into two sides engaged in an intense feud. As the Con falls into chaos, the two factions drive a wedge between Amber and Lindsey, and finding out who is behind the sabotage becomes crucial.
Tallahassee Ca. 2045
by Francis Bass
You set the price!
Words: 28,850.
Language:
English.
Published: May 30, 2018
.
Categories:
Plays » American / African American, Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American
In the year 2045 a group of politically conscious high school seniors decides to organize a youth rally—a protest to lower the minimum voting age. Just before the protest is scheduled to happen, a massive ice sheet breaks off of Antarctica, causing global flooding. The youth rally becomes a demand for radical change of climate policy, and the student activists are suddenly put under new pressures.
Beneath Them
by Francis Bass
Price:
$0.99 USD.
Words: 2,090.
Language:
American English.
Published: March 14, 2018
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » General
Without warning, thousands of alien spaceships have appeared above major urban areas around the globe, and some have descended to devastating effect. Meanwhile, life goes on in Atlanta as a woman and her younger cousin deal with roaches in their apartment.
The Wisdom-Goddess Star
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 9,990.
Language:
English.
Published: February 14, 2018
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Short Stories
2 Pallas is the most isolated colony in the International Martian Program, with no long-range communication relay connecting it back to Mars. When Martian journalist Alexander Irving arrives, he shortly discovers that Pallas’s isolation may be the intentional work of the local governor, and he endeavors to discover what exactly the governor wants to keep hidden from the rest of the IMP.
Chimaera Cries on Stream!!!!!
by Francis Bass
You set the price!
Words: 2,660.
Language:
American English.
Published: January 7, 2018
.
Categories:
Plays » American / African American, Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American
Joseph Yanyuk, known by his screen name, “Chimaera,” is a speedrunner—someone who attempts to beat a video game as fast as possible. In this short play, Chimaera is livestreaming a speedrun, when there’s a terrorist attack in Red Square. Despite his personal connections with Moscow, Chimaera struggles to stay focused on the game, and complete a speedrun in world record time.
Suggest the Empire
by Francis Bass
Price:
$6.99 USD.
Words: 37,460.
Language:
English.
Published: December 13, 2017
.
Categories:
Plays » American / African American, Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American
To Prince Oht, the imperial heir, all the trappings of nationhood seem as skeletal and artificial as those of theatre. War chants to suggest fraternity, flags to suggest ownership—they seem just like flimsy poles to suggest spears, three men to suggest an army. While his cynicism is a trivial matter while his father still reigns, the time will soon come when the empire is Oht's responsibility.
A Clash at Grozny Airfield
by Francis Bass
Price:
$0.99 USD.
Words: 2,500.
Language:
American English.
Published: October 13, 2017
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Military, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
In Grozny the first ever all-robot military unit fights an integrated army of humans and robots. The clash is viewed by five American travelers in an airport café—a veteran, a journalist, two young sisters, and a barista—as the events unfold on TV. Each traveler has a different connection to the distant battle, and they all watch with more and more rapt attention as the integrated forces close in.
19; A Collection of Plays
by Francis Bass
Price:
$5.99 USD.
Words: 33,200.
Language:
English.
Published: August 16, 2017
.
Categories:
Plays » American / African American, Fiction » Anthologies » Drama/Theatrical
A collection of three plays set in worlds not quite like our own—one a fictional medieval embassy from a country devastated by plague and civil war, another an academic institution so insular and study-focused it's nicknamed a "monastery"—each with a brief afterword providing commentary on the origins of the play.
19; A Collection of Short Stories
by Francis Bass
Price:
$5.99 USD.
Words: 54,310.
Language:
American English.
Published: August 16, 2017
.
Categories:
Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - single author, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
A collection of six sci-fi stories, exploring worlds ranging from a near-future Floridian beach sinking into the ocean, to a far flung little farming town on a living planet, each with a brief afterword providing commentary on the origins of the story.
Play Time
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 13,370.
Language:
English.
Published: June 23, 2017
.
Categories:
Nonfiction » Literary criticism » Drama, Essay » Literature
Nine essays analyzing specific plays, pulling apart the ways the playwrights are using the medium of theatre to manipulate or comment on or distort or theorize about time. The idea isn’t so much to definitively state What X Play is About, but more to point out what I find interesting in each play, and figure out how the artist—or how theatre as a medium—achieved it.
Calamcity
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 17,460.
Language:
English.
Published: June 14, 2017
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » General
In the near future, beach erosion has accelerated dramatically due to rising sea levels and hurricane activity. Joseph Lopez wants to bring back the large, stable, sunny beaches of his youth, and provide a nice vacation house for his aging parents, by preserving Cape Dodd. But as he and his brother find, Cape Dodd is in for a rough summer of constant hurricanes and mysterious plant life die-offs.
The War on Hormones
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 17,310.
Language:
American English.
Published: May 16, 2017
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Young adult or teen » Science Fiction
Silver Path, a performing arts high school, is a pioneer in requiring that its students use neutralizers—bioengineered organisms that destroy sex hormones. This environment is perfect for Edward, who is intensely dedicated to acting and wary of romantic distractions—though he'll soon learn that there are many other hormones, and avoiding drama may not be as easy as a monthly neutralizer check-up.
The Only Series that Matters
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.99 USD.
Words: 26,540.
Language:
English.
Published: May 4, 2017
.
Categories:
Nonfiction » Literary criticism » Children’s Literature, Essay » Literature
In this series of essays, I examine each book of A Series of Unfortunate Events, upon rereading them a decade after I first fell in love with them as a kid. The essays highlight literary techniques, thematic explorations, and the ideas communicated in these books that have resonated with me from when I first read the series to today.
Boom Town
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.50 USD.
Words: 4,900.
Language:
American English.
Published: April 14, 2017
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
On the living planet of Eltru, a vast reserve of fuel is discovered beneath a small town. Katherine, a young girl whose family lives on a spice farm over the fuel reserve, relies on her close relationship with her brother Julian to help her understand the secret conflicts and tensions between their parents, and ends up keeping some dangerous secrets of Julian’s herself.
Grumbles
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.50 USD.
Words: 5,670.
Language:
American English.
Published: March 14, 2017
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » General, Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories
When Claudio returns to the house of his uncle Terrance to decide what memorabilia to take on his move to the asteroid belt, he stumbles upon “Grumbles,” an acerbic, sardonic robot companion from his adolescence. Space is limited on the shuttle out to the belt, so Claudio and Grumbles argue heatedly about which objects are worth taking, and which items present a distorted recording of the past.
Just Dig
by Francis Bass
Price:
$1.50 USD.
Words: 2,420.
Language:
American English.
Published: January 16, 2017
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » General
Two brothers, asteroid prospectors, are awoken when an asteroid lands somewhere along the boundary between their little plot, and the enormous plot owned by their neighbors. They drive out to see on whose plot the rock has fallen. As they do, they argue over whether they can depend on luck to end a long dry spell, or if they'll have to make their own luck to turn a profit
De.mocra.cy
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.50 USD.
Words: 6,190.
Language:
English.
Published: December 9, 2016
.
Categories:
Fiction » Science fiction » Short stories, Fiction » Science fiction » General
In a near-future internet filled with highly regulated, highly restrictive MMOs, the De.mocra.cy server is entirely self-regulated, affording unprecedented freedom of speech and freedom of violence to its users—until now. A new law has outlawed violence between consenting parties, and Volt, the leader of the Anarchists, must mobilize a fractious group of gang leaders to campaign against it.
Monastery
by Francis Bass
Price:
$3.50 USD.
Words: 12,170.
Language:
English.
Published: September 25, 2016
.
Categories:
Plays » American / African American, Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American
In the near future, Academic Campuses offer an affordable, but longer and more intensive, alternative to universities. In this play, the editors of a campus lit journal meet just before the start of summer to finish up the latest issue and celebrate their success. A hypothetical conversation about graduating early and starting up a magazine outside the "monastery" turns into a spirited argument.
We'll Tell Happy Stories
by Francis Bass
Price:
$3.99 USD.
Words: 16,340.
Language:
English.
Published: August 12, 2016
.
Categories:
Plays » American / African American, Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American
Boa and Ardom are two refugees posing as ambassadors, who have survived for years pretending that their home country, Choroa, is still perfectly stable. When a royal edict orders that all Choroans must leave the country or face enslavement, Boa and Ardom must reveal harsh truths and spin fanciful stories in order to convince their hosts to allow themselves and their daughter to stay.
Beach Realty of Sandcastle Isle
by Francis Bass
Price:
$2.50 USD.
Words: 4,370.
Language:
English.
Published: August 8, 2016
.
Categories:
Plays » American / African American, Fiction » Plays & Screenplays » American
Ray is the CEO of Mare Realty, an old, moneyed company which has a near total monopoly on Sandcastle Isle. Sandra Holt works for the newer, less successful BRSI. Sandra, pretending she's only a tourist, befriends and manipulates Ray, and the power dynamic between the two companies begins to shift. With each passing scene, the stage is constricted as the water rises, and the beach steadily erodes.
Francis Bass' tag cloud
15 minute
a series of unfortunate events
academia
activism
adolescence
adoption
ai
alien invasion
aliens
analysis
anthology
argentina
asexual
asteroid
beaches
brazil
bugs
chechnya
childhood
children
clifi
climate change
collection
college
colony
comedy
complete works
computer
convention
creative commons
criticism
daniel handler
dark fantasy
deception
destiny
detective
diplomacy
drama
duet
dystopia
epic
essay
experimental
expose
family
fandom
fans
fantasy
farming
fate
film
film festival
flash fiction
florida
full length
fulllength
future
gangs
global warming
gothic
government
guilds
hardboiled
high school
historical
history
horror
internet
journalism
large cast
lemony snicket
live streamer
low fantasy
magic
manifesto
maps
mars
medieval
memory
middle grade
military
minimalist
monologue
murder mystery
mystery
nationalism
near future
news
noir
nonlinear
novelette
novella
ocean
one act
online
paraguay
pastoral
plague
planet
play
plays
playwriting
politics
post apocalyptic
presentational
printing
prophecy
protests
public domain
review
robot
robots
russia
school
science
science fantasy
science fiction
scientists
scifi
second person
secondary world
shakespearean
short novel
short play
short plays
short short
short stories
short story
siblings
silent film
slipstream
small cast
solarpunk
space
speculative
speculative fiction
speed run
students
supernatural
technology
terrorism
theatre
time
translation
tv
two person
ufos
uruguay
video chat
video game
virtual reality
war
weird
western
woodblock
writing
ya
young adult
youth
