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Friday, December 30, 2016

Mares in the Night Available Now


            I've long wanted to put out a collection of my own short fiction, so I'm proud to announce my first collection, Mares in the Night, is now available as an e-book on Kindle. Ostensibly, most of the stories fall under the genre umbrella of "horror," although it's more of a mishmash, with science fiction, fantasy and even a western thrown in for good measure. The settings are also varied, spanning from the Cretaceous period to tribal, Burroughs-ian planets to the present day, populated with pulp radio show heroes, Lovecraftian secret agents and more monsters than you can shake a stick at. And, to further whet your appetite, here's a list of all thirteen stories you'll find in this collection:

            1. "Zombie: A Love Story"
            2. "The Deep South"
            3. "Scarecrows"
            4. "The Sweetest Meat"
            5. "The Liar, the Thief and the Bastard"
            6. "A Haunting of Hill Creek"
            7. "So Long, the Dark"
            8. "A Meat Most Foul"
            9. "The Man from A.B.Y.S.S."
            10. "Sniper at the Gates of Hell"
            11. "Old Time Radio"
            12. "Dark Side of the Heart"
            13. "Massive Blood Loss"

            I couldn't be more proud of the results, and would be tickled pink if you clicked on over and ordered yourself a copy today!

            P.S. I also plan to put out a print version, although that'll take a bit more work. Look for it in the coming weeks...

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Doc Savage: The Man of Plastic


            When I was younger, I discovered the craft of "custom action figures;" basically, taking extant action figures and retooling, repainting and reconfiguring them into new ones. Being a crafty little tyke, I took to it like a fish to water, and spent endless hours taking apart and rebuilding my old toys. These days, I don't much have the time or the inclination for such pursuits, but when noodling over Christmas ideas for what to get my Dad--a fifty-nine-years-young, massive Doc Savage fan--I was reminded of that long-ago hobby of mine, and set out to craft a one-of-a-kind Doc Savage figure for my old man...


            Not wishing to endeavor upon anything too elaborate, I decided a Bruce Timm-styled, "animated" look would be the way to go, as the additional sculpting and detailing would be easier to achieve given the simplified style--not to mention having a whole host of options to choose from, given the long-running Justice League Unlimited action figure line. After careful deliberation, I settled on using a Captain Atom figure for the base body, and after sculpting on Doc's trademark, torn shirt and painting the whole thing, I had a one-of-a-kind Doc Savage on my hands.


            My Dad couldn't have been happier to receive it as a gift this year, and I wound up being so pleased with the results, I kind of want to make one for myself now. Not to mention the itch I have to make other, similar pulp-hero figures, like perhaps a Tarzan. Or the Shadow. Or the Spider. Or...

            Oh, god... nothing good can come of this...

            Hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and a wonderful holiday season.







Thursday, December 1, 2016

Tales of the Shadowmen 13: Sang Froid Available NOW!


            For over ten years, Black Coat Press has supplied lovers of genre and classic pulp fiction with its annual Tales of the Shadowmen anthology series, the only ongoing series devoted to showcasing international heroes and villains of pulp literature. The end of every year brings a new volume, and I'm proud to have yet another story included in the latest volume, Tales of the Shadowmen 13: Sang Froid. My story this time out might just be my favorite yet, a tale of swinging spies, master thieves and miniskirts entitled "From Paris with Hate." The story sees that immortal avatar of evil Fantomas (based on his gargoyle-like appearance from the wonderful Jean Marais films of the sixties) kidnapping a French official and holding the entire country at ransom. Jean Bruce's indelible creation OSS 117 (Hubert Bonissuer de la Bath, for those in the know) is tasked with the rescue operation, and decides to "recruit" a team of specialists to help in his endeavor, the type of masked men and super-criminals who were directly inspired by Fantomas in the first place: Kriminal, Eva Kant and her heavily-eyebrowed lover Diabolik. As you've likely guessed by visiting this very blog, Diabolik and Eva Kant are amongst my favorite fictional characters, so getting the opportunity to play with them (in the era of the mod sixties spy films from which they were birthed, no less) was an incredible honor.

            All of that, plus eighteen other tales of pulpy, genre goodness, spanning from medieval times to the wild, wild west and beyond and featuring all of the Shadowmen standbys, such as Sar Dubnotal, Dr. Omega, Rouletabille and a dozen others.

            Make sure to order a copy here or here for you or a loved one this Christmas season!           


Thursday, July 14, 2016

Announcing Alamud Ahab & The Great White Werewolf, an All-New Serialized Novel!

            For a long time now, I've wanted to do a sort of continuing, serialized novel, and so finally I decided to take the plunge and will be starting up one in my (mostly) weekly newsletter: Alamud Ahab & The Great White Werewolf.

            What's this new serialized novel all about, you ask? Well, the title's fairly self-explanatory, but it concerns an aging werewolf hunter by the name of Alamud Ahab, and his search for the legendary Great White Werewolf, the Alpha of Alphas. To say any more would be spoiling things, but rest assured there will be no shortage of creatures of the night, international conspiracies and plenty of prime werewolf action throughout. It is a piece of unapologetic pulp, thrilling and exciting and shameless and also--with a bit of luck--something emotionally resonant in the grand scheme of things. Although I have a plan for where the story's ultimately going, the end isn't in sight just yet. I'm in this one for the long run, and eager to explore all the narrative possibilities serialized storytelling affords (Cliffhangers! Character growth! C-plots becoming B-plots becoming A-plots!).

            In addition to all that, the newsletter will continue to feature updates, my thoughts on what I'm reading/watching and the occasional essay on whatever's going through my head at any given time. For the grand price of absolutely nothing, it's a right bargain.

            So if you haven't already, today is the perfect day to SIGN UP. The first chapter drops tomorrow!

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Trendmasters' Tarzan


            As proof of my terrible business sense, the first in a series of posts examining ERB's legendary hero...

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

The Writer's Arena: The First Ten Battles Available Now!






          A couple of years ago I was invited to take part in The Writer's Arena, the weekly challenge in which two writers are given a prompt and must craft a short story for the readers to vote on and proclaim a winner. My entry, "The Gluten-Free Man," is still one of my absolute favorites, so I'm thrilled to have it collected in the first, all-new anthology of TWA stories collecting the first ten weeks of the competition. At around ten-thirteen bucks and featuring twenty stories of quality genre goodness, the collection is a steal, and one that any short story lover would enjoy. So, do me a solid and order your copy today!

           Also, I'll go ahead and remind you all that if you have yet to subscribe to my newsletter "Notices from the Abyss," now would be an excellent time. Only there will you get my thoughts on what I'm watching, reading or whatever else happens to come into my mind... as well as the odd piece of short fiction. Thanks a bunch!

Monday, May 30, 2016

The Life and Times of Stickman, Episode 1: Lost in Translation

      So, I've decided to start a web-comic, The Life and Times of Stickman. Can I draw? Not really. Has that stopped me before? Absolutely not! New episodes will be posted every Monday.

      Also! I have now started a weekly newsletter, the first installment of which will include the next episode of The Life and Times of Stickman. You can subscribe by clicking here.




Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Friday, April 1, 2016

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