Maybe I've Been Slacking

 Maybe, I've been slacking, but I've got an excuse, any of you heard about Covid? Well, I got it a few months back and while I only had things taste off and I only really felt couch-ridden a few days, the brain fog has lingered. So writing has been a slog and I lost out on being part of a Sword & Planet anthology that my friend Christopher Ruocchio is putting together. 

That was a blow because I was really excited about being able to have a story in there with my friends like Chris and Dave Butler for example - who I'm already in about a dozen antho's with. 

Anyhow, my wife sent me to the witch doctor she likes to get me on a regimen of minerals, vitamins and other supplements to get me back on track. At the same time, I'm pushing to get the responsible author system moving, so getting my newsletters up and running for me and the pen name = James Alderdice. 

Speaking of which, there is a giveaway going on now with Butler for multiple copies of several books - sign up now and you've got a great chance for some signed print books! Click HERE

And I'm gonna make a supreme effort to be better at the responsible author thing and post here sooner than a whole year!

A Mighty Fortress

I've got a short weird western tale in the newly released A Mighty Fortress anthology.

It is a Porter Rockwell short titled, The Tears of Nephi.

Its a little light on steampunk, but I put in a little - the collection as a whole has the unexpected grouping of being Mormon Steampunk tales, and was initially inspired by the incredibly awesome Dave Butler. He wrote City of the Saints which I highly recommend, and then later down the road put forth the idea for a collection of more tales set in a semi-similar vein and there were so many submissions that was to be one antho became two and then as of today 4!!!

I have the honor of having the closing tale of this collection.

Thanks as always to my editor and friend Holli Anderson.

Check it out if you have a mind too.

The Dragons Hour, Remembering Robert E. Howard

It's no secret that Robert E. Howard is my favorite author. This is his birthday so I'm dusting the blog off for the new year and giving him a toast as it were.

I'm writing this just after midnight, so I'm not sure yet what tale of his I will read later, but I surely will, of course not too much times goes by since the last time I read one. Recently, I revisited one of my favorite Conan yarns - People of the Black Circle and shortly before that Iron Shadows in the Moon.

Around Halloween as a family we listened to some of the audiobook of The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard and I was very pleasantly surprised that my son brought up In the Forest of Villefere just a few days ago. The boys have always loved Pigeons From Hell, my kids like creepy.

That's probably why I share it with them, because I am so amazed and taken with the stories. The tales light the fire of wonder in me and I want to share that with the kids.

I went to Howard Days in 2018 and meant to blog about it then and never did, that's when I kinda fell of the wagon blogging here, then I wasn't able to make it in 2019, but it is my plan to go this year again. Its an interesting feeling walking through his house and thinking about being where he was when he wrote - not just his desk but all over the house from what I have heard. It was like visiting a sacred shrine and I can't wait to go back. I have also been able to visit Hemingway's graveside but spending so much time in the Howard house had a lot more personal feel than just seeing Papa's stone and museum.
Meeting a bunch of online friends in person finally was a big plus too!

Not sure where I am going with this other than just expressing heartfelt appreciation to the man for countless hours of reading enjoyment, contemplative thought and the sheer love of the written word.

Wish you had been around a bit longer to write more, but I surely love what you did accomplish.

SKOAL!

This is a print I got at Howard Days, that is in my study.

My son, Mathias (14) made this Conan bust for me for Christmas.

Farewell Bani

I'm dumbfounded and dismayed that my longtime online friend Bani Kinnison passed away unexpectedly this last Wednesday morning. I had been friends with Bani for about the last eight + years. I met her on tumblr first where she was really active, sharing her artwork, selfies, memes and vintage pics. She had a great sense of humor.

She created so many pulp inspired pieces and she loved doing vintage and comic inspired art. I have bought a few of her pieces down through the years, and with the exception of a Frazetta Atlantis phone cover, as long as I have had smart-phones, it was her artwork that I used through one of the sites she sold materials on like Redbubble or Society 6. If you see something you like this would be a good time to snag it to help out her loved ones.

I had intended on commissioning her to do a pulpy type book cover for me one day, but we never got beyond just talking about ideas.

Something that strikes me like thunder now, is that I had liked some of her Memento Mori work - she had taken some old cemetery stones and done designs with them that I liked. That theme was one that has been striking a chord with me lately, as I have a book coming soon with that title, but even more so it has had a synchronicity for me lately( with old friends younger than me passing away) and I've just gotta say to everyone, cherish and

value the time you do have.

The theme of the phone she designed - I'm guessing it had to be among her last commissions, made me feel uncomfortable sharing it with more of her fanbase at large, but I figure my blog is quiet enough and just has my usual friends that I was ok posting it here.


So it was only a week ago I was chatting with Bani and told her I would like a Memento Mori phone case, she offered to get to work on some new designs and let me pick my favorite. She got to it and soon was showing off her work. I picked my favorite and she said it was her favorite of the designs too.

That I had only spoken to her a week before just stunned me, there was no warning that she was sick. I read that she thought she had a fever, but then passed out and was unable to be revived by the time she was taken to the emergency room. She was just about a month shy of her 45th birthday.

I miss her sense of humor and vitality and it is a stark reminder to appreciate life and loved one.

Farewell Bani, you were something else entire and the world was a brighter place with you in it.

Farewell Jc Johnson

My friend and brilliant crypto researcher Jc Johnson passed away this last week from complications with pneumonia. I'm saddened and feel for his family and friends. He had so many amazing experiences that he freely shared with others and he was a giving, spiritual human being even though he liked to bill himself as a foul mouthed, hard drinking, lecherous, adventure man.

He shared a lot of interesting strange things about the southwest specifically the 4 corners area and he was the founder of Crypto 4 Corners. There are a load of interesting YouTube videos he has posted if you are into that kind of thing. He also shared some interesting things here and there which have found their way into some of my works, such as the very real "L" shaped fortress in Crazy Horses.

Its hard, I always wanted to be able to go camping with him and share stories around the fire and it just wont happen, but I'm truly grateful for his friendship and legacy. I was also working on a book of which the main character was going to be based on him. When I talked to him about the name, he said I could just use his so I'm like all right I will.

That work is probably a ways off, but I hope to give him a little pulp immortality in my own way. Thanks for everything JC, you were definitely One in a Million.

Fantasy Noir or The Maltese Falcon with Monster Girls

I've always been a fan of noir, and the older I get the more I think I appreciate the grim attitude and sense of corruption bleeding around the edges of smoke filled back alleys and luxurious parties. It just makes good fiction. Among my favorite works are classics by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, and of course my introduction to them was through film and the amazing Humphrey Bogart first, I didn't read the books until quite a bit later.

So when my friend Jason King asked a few of his author pals if we would be interested in writing stories set in his world of Valcoria, I thought sure - IF - I can still do it my way.

As luck would have it, Jason was actually kind of hoping that we would take his premise and run with it and help him flesh it out a bit, as it turned out he was very happy with how we did things and especially with my novella - because my story kept growing - he changed up a bit for the next book he has coming. So this isn't just a bunch of screenshots of stories set in his world, these are integral points in the ongoing series, so I'm excited for that. Especially since I went all fantasy detective noir with my story - Jia  For Luck.

In the world of Valcoria, Jia is another name for magical power, people have a Jia of Strength, Intelligence, Power, Magic's etc etc
My world weary protagonist, Tam Zphinx, isn't so blessed with anything except perhaps an amazing amount of luck considering all the trouble he gets into, throw in some gorgeous dames and monstrous killers and you've got a winning combination.

Here is the Table of contents
Prologue
Ice Witch, James Wymore
Vaekra Take Me, D.J. Butler
A Dream of Clouds, Mathew Cox
Interlude 1
Tremors Within The Storm, Daniel Swenson
Thought Power, Sarah E. Seeley
By Blade & Blood, C.J. Workman
Interlude 11
Just Breathe, Holli Anderson
Jia For Luck, David J. West
Epilogue

Oh and just like I used Jia from Jason's stories my good friend Dave Butler used Vaekra Take Me as his title, that being one of the swears, Jason incorporated into the books, funny thing is, I actually thought about using that as my title, until realizing Butler already did!

Anyhow, check it out if you're so inclined, this 22K novella is my last release for 2017!
Available here

and if I had to do a one sentence description of my story, I think I'd go with
The Maltese Falcon with Monster Girls. 

Progress Report

Wow! November came and went!
While I did not officially join the NANO club, I did hammer out more than 50K words in November, but sometimes its a little hard to tell.

I'm still tinkering with a project - it is not yet titled, but it is a novelization within a series of a popular game. It is supposed to be out next May - but I don't know more than that really. 


When it comes to my own stuff, I had an 80k (very) rough draft for what was going to be the sequel to BRUTAL titled FIERCE and I decided I didn't like where it was going, it was a fine story but it was not the next step in the progression of the overall saga, so that has been shelved and restarted fresh. 44K so far and i'm hoping to finish by the end of December so I can have a January release. I'm really planning on going big guns for 2018.

2017 has been so successful for me and I want to keep all that moving on the uptick.

I am also behind on at least two Porter projects - Book 3 in the Dark Trails saga - You Only Hang Once and a shorter Lovecraftian standalone Let Sleeping Gods Lie.

Both covers are done - along with a mess of others I'm still writing, but those are priorities along with the Brutal trilogy.

But of course I can never just stick to one thing and finish it, can I? I also did 5k on a piece I'm calling Wine Dark Sea = imagine Hunter S. Thompson going to the vanishing Aral Sea hunting for evidence of vampires in the wake of the collapsed Soviet Union - its just weird wild fun. Unknown when I'll finish it, but so far its been a blast.

Grimtoberfest Has Arrived

Grimtoberfest is here and I have joined the dark horde of grimdark fantasy writers in doing an siege on our own pocketbooks with this joint slashing of prices on our respective books.

I've got my own novel BRUTAL cut down to .99 cents for the next few days. Check out the rest of the catalog from these rogues HERE


p.s.

I should also mention I've re-released a collection under the pen name that some of you may already be familiar with - what was Whispers of the Goddess has been rebooted under the James Alderdice banner as The Slayer

I just wanted that to be clear, so nobody grabbed the book twice. I meant to add another Tyr story to the collection but just didn't quite get around to it - this has been a hard month for writing and I'm still way behind.

Til next time

David

All the Cons

I didn't get much writing done this last month, as I had two cons I was at as a guest, Salt Lake Comic Con and the first annual Snake River Comic Con.
Salt Lake is great as it is so big and has some phenomenal guests and I always enjoy being there and hanging with friends and meeting new people, but at Snake River I had one of the best times with friends in forever.

Me and the Space Balrogs (D.J. Butler, Jason King, James Wymore, Holli Anderson and Daniel Swenson - not pictured Bob Defendi and Craig Nybo) spent a whole lot of time together laughing and selling books and speaking on panels and then we even got a makeshift game of Dungeons and Dragons together for Holli's benefit - she had never played before and I gotta tell you I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time. It was a great con and we met some great people and I can't wait to go back next year.

So I'll throw in a swath of pics from both. Here ya go.