Another Dead Sheriff Custom-Made Figure

Last Christmas, my talented friend Brian Spears presented me with a custom-made Dead Sheriff action figure. Now, on the heels of the announcement of a new publisher for the character, Brian gave me another figure, this one of Sam, the Dead Sheriff's "partner". Truly amazing work that left me speechless.

The Dead Sheriff Has A New Home

Several years ago I wrote the first novel in what was going to be a series called The Dead Sheriff.

It was the legend of the Lone Ranger turned inside out and pureed in a blender.

The myth of The Dead Sheriff says that a lawman died trying to protect his family, only to return from his grave to avenge their deaths and avenge all who suffer injustice.

The truth was very different.

What if...

...the faithful Indian sidekick was really the guy in charge?

...the undead lawman was a reanimated corpse controlled like a puppet by an arcane magic stolen by a young man who barely understood the power he controls?

...a writer from the east traveled west to report the story of The Dead Sheriff, only to be caught up in a world of magic, murder and monsters?

The Dead Sheriff: Zombie Damnation, the first volume, was published a few years back. It got several good reviews (including one from my favorite horror magazine Rue Morgue) and I started writing the sequel. For several reasons, some personal, the book was never published.

A few months ago, the original publisher of the book decided to take the company in a different direction, leaving me free to pursue a new home for The Dead Sheriff.

I’m happy to announce that Airship 27, award-winning publisher of New Pulp and the leaders in pulp fiction publishing, will bring The Dead Sheriff back into print.

The new version of The Dead Sheriff: Zombie Damnation will include the full text of the original novel, plus a new novella set in the world of The Dead Sheriff that will ready the stage for the second book The Dead Sheriff: Cannibal Carnage.
 
Airship 27 produces beautiful books with action-packed covers. I can’t wait to see what they come up with for my reanimated lawman.

Publication dates will be announced as the books are scheduled. I have quite a bit of writing to do before the manuscripts are ready, then we have to fit into Airship 27's very packed schedule.

Thanks to Ron Fortier at Airship 27 for believing in the project. I can’t tell you how excited I am that my dead lawman still lives.

I’ll update you here as the project progresses.

Pulp For Charity

This is the back cover for a new anthology of pulp fiction ( or "new pulp", as some like to call it) for Airship 27 Press. Benefiting Pro Se publisher Tommy Hancock, this book is going to be huge. I've read the work of some of the writers in this project, and I am very interested in thumbing through it.

My entry is "The Shadow Men of Az Zibar", featuring my modern pulp adventurer Donovan Pike. 

I don't know the release date yet, but Ron Fortier at Airship 27 seems to move like lightning. I wouldn't be surprised to see this out in the next few weeks. I'll let you know.

Thursday Update

Over at I Was A Bronze Age Boy, I review the new LADY ACTION book by Ron Fortier. 

If you scroll down, you can find a brief writing update.

Also, this week in the Ashland Beacon, I present a primer for cities in naming festivals. It's on page 2.

While you're browsing the Beacon site you can find video of me acting rather undignified for a man of my advanced years.

Sunday Pulp

Summer always puts me in a pulp mood. While reprints are great, sometimes there's nothing like the feel and smell of crumbling pulpwoody magazines to scratch that itch. Now I just have to decide what to read. To carefully read.

Now Reading

My Phantom Detective reading has been spotty, and prior to this I hadn't read any of Laurence Donovan's Phantoms. Donovan, a Doc Savage ghost, as well as the man behind the Skipper and Whisperer (first series) novels, has a pretty energetic style here, giving these Phantom yarns the feel of Doc adventures, hence the title.

Just Downloaded to my Kindle

Part of me is amazed that I can read classic pulps on my phone. We're living in the future.

Now Reading

I'll admit it--one of my guilty pleasures is The Suicide Squad by Emile Tepperman.

The Cult of the Walking Download

The Secret Agent X story I wrote a few years ago is now available as a download to your cell phone or tablet. iPulp Fiction has a wide variety of classic and new pulp stories on their site, and you can download my “The Cult of the Walking Dead” for one dollar. That’s over fifteen thousand words of blazing gunfights, ninja assassins, and great pulpish fun for a mere four quarters.

You can download the story here, after you register for free.

Pulp Fever

It’s a recurring disease that hits me every summer. Suddenly, the thought of reading “legitimate” fiction is repulsive. I need grotesque and heinous villains, larger than life heroes, mayhem and hot lead.

I have no choice. I have to read pulp fiction.

Over the next couple of months I’ll read a few escapades of Doc Savage, several Spider thrillers, a couple of Phantom Detectives, A G-8 WWI adventure, maybe an Avenger or a Secret Agent X or Captain Future, supplemented with a couple of Candid Camera Kid tales and a Suicide Squad adventure.

When summer rolls around pulp becomes my crack.

I also have to write pulp fiction.

Yes, I love reading and writing horror, but the 12-year-old that still lives inside me occasionally must have his way. And he wants more pulp from my keyboard.

I hope to write a big chunk of Donovan Pike and The City of the Gods in the next few weeks.

I also have two other big pulp projects in the work, one set in the anything-can-happen blood and thunder 1930s and the other in World War 2.

I’m not sure yet where they’ll show up. Perhaps over at Pulp Nocturne, or maybe I’ll self-publish. Take it from me, nobody is getting rich from pulp fiction. At least not the writers. You write it because you have to.

By the way, new pulp fiction is becoming quite the cottage industry. There’s some good stuff being published by the next generation of pulp writers. At the same time, some of the stuff is simply awful. But that’s the way of most things.

(Quick aside: the fandom that has sprung up over the new pulp fiction is a little schizophrenic. On one hand it’s great to see a lot of enthusiasm over something I’ve loved since I was 9 years old. At the same time, the territorial fiefdom of fandom can be a little confusing. A few years ago I was invited to join a blog for pulp writers. This was about the time that a publisher (not associated with the members of the blog) was beginning a series of pulp facsimile reprints of Doc Savage and Shadow novels. I made a post about the topic on said blog, only to see the post deleted because I had violated the unstated rule of talking about a pulp project that wasn’t originated by a blog member. Later, I was asked to leave the blog because I wasn’t posting enough.

The other day I dropped in on the blog and discovered a post heralding the new series of original Doc Savage novels.

The unstated rules have apparently been rewritten.)

Anyway, the pulp fever rages and Tylenol can’t touch it. Time to dig through the boxes of moldering paper. There’s a dirigible and a tommy gun waiting for me.

Donovan Pike and The City of the Gods

Two new chapters of my pulp adventure novel have gone up this week. You can check them out at Pulp Nocturne.

Writing Talk

I'll be doing a panel at the Dogwood Writing Conference, Saturday April 30, titled "Writing Outside the Genre Box". It starts at 9:00 A.M. and the conference is at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park.

It's a gorgeous location, and here's one thing I know for sure at my panel: it's at 9:00 A.M.

I'll provide more details as they are given to me.

UPDATE:

The talk has a new title: "Thrills, Chills, Collaborations and Podcasts" and it's set to run for 45 minutes. I hope there's coffee.

Oh, and I will have books to sell.

Digital Pulp

Black Bat Mystery, the pulp anthology I was a part of, has gone digital. Now you can get all the action and adventure on your e-reader. Click here, then scroll to the end.

Brief Update

For those keeping score at home, I submitted the long (and long overdue) story yesterday. That's one more 2010 obligation out of the way. I'll be sure to let you know when it will be in print. Of course, the editor could always reject it, but I think it's pretty good, and regardless of what happens with it now, I'm happy I finished it.

Today, I also crossed another late assignment off my list, this one a book review.

And I put up a new chapter of Donovan Pike and the City of the Gods over at Pulp Nocturne.

That clears the schedule for a couple of days. Dave Wilbanks sent the Dead Earth 3 manuscript to me last night, so I'll be focusing on it for the next two days. Then I'll do the edits on the first Dead Sheriff prose book, which should be published in the spring. Evileye Books gave me a great editor for the series, and he provided the best notes I've ever received on a project. I'm looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and digging into it.

So far Operation Catch-Up is going well. Don't confuse it with Operation Ketchup, something I plan to combine with Operation Tater Tot later this weekend.

So how was your week?

Write On

For those who are interested, work continues on the third – and currently title-less – Dead Earth novel. I finished my first pass at my most recent section earlier today. I’ll give it a polish tomorrow and send it back to Mister Wilbanks.

It’s still very early in the proceedings, but I have a good feeling about where this one is headed. Several possible cool twists occurred to me during today’s writing, so I’ll pass those on to Dave, so he can mock them. Hopefully, at least one of the ideas will make the final cut.

After a long delay, I also posted a new chapter of Donovan Pike and the City of the Gods, my pulp adventure novel. You can check it out at Pulp Nocturne.

Donovan Pike and The City of the Gods--Chapter 11

The latest chapter of my pulp adventure novel is up now at Pulp Nocturne. You can read it or listen to the podcast.

Donovan Pike and The City of the Gods--Chapter 10

I've finally produced a new installment of Donovan Pike and The City of the Gods, my pulp adventure novel. Chapter 10 just went live at Pulp Nocturne. You can read it or listen to it or both, if you're so inclined.

I know I've made earlier pledges that Donovan was back on a weekly basis, and I've failed to keep to the schedule. So I'm not going to do that this time.

But...

Since my recent health issues have cleared up, I seem to have a more energy than the past several months. I plan to keep working on Donovan Pike and The City of the Gods until it's finished, then collect it between covers.

As always, thanks for your support.

Look Out--You May Get Some Pulp On You

Chapter 9 of my pulp adventure serial Donovan Pike and the City of the Gods is now up at Pulp Nocturne.

For those who prefer to listen to the podcast version of the serial, there will be a delay, hopefully brief, while a technical glitch is being corrected. The podcast is recorded and edited and waiting for you to hear it. I'll let you know when it's up.

UPDATE:
The podcast is now loaded and ready to go.

The Return of Donovan Pike

My pulp adventure serial Donovan Pike and the City of the Gods has returned. Chapter 8 is up now at Pulp Nocturne. You can read it, or listen to the podcast. Or both.

I think I have my life ordered enough to resume weekly posting. There's a lot of story left, and I hope Pike used his time off to catch up on his rest. He's going to need it.

Black Bat Mystery

I love me some pulps.

I also love second tier characters (Marvel’s Defenders, anybody?). So I’ve always been crazy about the other pulp characters that popped up in the wake of the success of The Shadow and Doc Savage, tough guys like The Black Hood, The Masked Detective, The Green Ghost, The Secret Six, Captain Satan, et al. One of my favorites was The Black Bat. He had the perfect origin: crusading DA blinded by bad guys, gets his sight back via experimental surgery, pretends to still be blind, can see in the dark with the new super peepers so he dresses up like a bat and fights crime.

What’s not to love?

A few years ago Ron Fortier ask me to write a Black Bat story for one of his neo-pulp anthologies. For various reasons, that book was shelved. Flash forward to 2010 and Ron is now carrying on his pulp magic with Cornerstone Books. He asked if my story was still available. It was, and now it’s part of Black Bat Mystery, which is available today. If you’re looking to escape from oils spills and the latest Miley Cyrus scandal, than grab some thrill-packed adventure fiction.

Here’s the cover and the official press release.

HE OWNS THE NIGHT!

Airship 27 Productions & Cornerstone Book Publishers are excited to announce the release of their latest pulp anthology, BLACK BAT MYSTERY!

One of the most original heroes in all of pulpdom returns in four brand new gun-blazing adventures crammed packed with action and adventure. The mysterious Black Bat once again patrols the urban jungle, his targets, those who would prey on the weak the helpless. Crusading District Attorney, Anthony Quinn, was scarred and blinded by gangland hoods. When an experimental transplant operation restores his sight, it also grants him the ability to see in the dark! Allowing the public to continue believing he is a harmless, blind attorney, Quinn invents a new identity, that of the crime fighting avenger known as the Black Bat! With a trio of loyal aids, Carol Baldwin, Silk Kerby and Butch O’Leary, he launches his campaign against the forces of evil.

The Black Bat first appeared in the pages of his own magazine, Black Book Detective. The author was G.Wayman Jones ( a house name for -- mostly -- Norman Daniels). It would run for 62 issues from July 1939 to Winter 1953 and become one of the most popular pulp heroes ever created.

From a giant Nazis bred monster to a gun-slinging Commie assassin, here are four original tales by today’s finest pulp writers; Andrew Salmon, Aaron Smith, Mark Justice and Frank Schildiner starring the Master of the Night. Once again the Black Bat is thrilling pulp fans with his daring exploits. Long considered the template from which dozen of comic book heroes were inspired, to include Marvel’s Daredevil and DC’s Batman, the Black Bat is truly one of the most unique characters ever born of the pulps. Featuring a cover by Mark Maddox, with designs and interior illustrations by Rob Davis, BLACK BAT MYSTERY is a must for all action-loving pulp fans.

Airship 27 Productions; Pulp fiction for a new generation!

ISBN: 1-934935-71-9

ISBN 13: 978- 1-934935-71-2

Produced by Airship 27

Published by Cornerstone Book Publishers

Release date: 06/11/2010

Retail Price: $24.95