Pulp Stories Galore!

October has been pretty good to me so far, not too hot, not too cold and books and books and more books are coming!

So, quite a few short stories of mine came out this month and it was a surprise.

All right, I knew this one was coming, I just wasn't sure when it would drop but Story Hack #1 is here! It's full of great pulpy stories and the man behind it Bryce Beatty, is going all out on the art!

I could n't be more pleased with both the cover and the interior art. I love this rendition of Porter Rockwell he has for it! My tale is UNDER THE GUN a creepy weird western about a possessed gun. Check it out!

The next one was a big surprise as I thought the anthology had just vanished into thin air, but Rogues Blade Entertainment which put together some top notch Sword and Sorcery collections a few odd years ago kinda went into hibernation.

I'm very pleased to see that Jason Waltz has awoken and is putting out material again. This one is the Challenge: Discovery collection. This one was begun in 2010? and features quite a list of S&S and has my tale THE SERPENTS ROOT about a thief who will do anything to save her sister, even facing down the dreaded cockatrice!
This pic of the cover is sans text, and I really wanted to share it because all of our stories were supposed to be inspired by V. Shanes art work. So I added in panthers to a story that hadn't had them before.


And another surprise is the Pulp Rev Sampler this was a collection asking for short pieces in the pulp revolution vein.
All of them are supposed t be under 2,500 words so it is literally a sampler. I turned in one titled Wings in the Night, it does say from the forthcoming Walking Through Walls and that's my bad it should read Gods & Robbers, I screwed up but such is life. It is a never before released story, so that' cool.

Its a glimpse into the escape of a prisoner and ties into some things I had previously written in The Mad Song collection and its all part of a bigger work I have planned, set in the same world as BRUTAL albeit quite far away from that setting.

In any case, hope you'll check them out while you're waiting for more novels.

All the best
David

Walking Through Walls

A writing experiment I did across 2014-2016 was  Walking Through Walls, an ongoing fantasy noir serial that ran in Utah Geek Magazine. My tale ran for the first 13 issues and came out to just about 30K words. Not too long, not too short.

I was sitting on it for awhile but with the relative success of BRUTAL and my pen name of James Alderdice, I decided I might as well release Walking Through Walls too just to build up a backlist for the fantasy based pen name.

It is set in the same secondary world as BRUTAL but is centrally based in Tolburn, the biggest dirtiest city in that world, whereas BRUTAL is taking place in a dirty backwater far removed from the rest of the goings on. There are no character crossovers or mentions yet, maybe just some very simple geographic references - And I don't even have an official map made up yet.

In my mind it is a prequel of sorts to something I have been working on for ages and brainstorming that I'm calling GODS & ROBBERS.

I looked at the project as a writing exercise since I had to come up with a quick tale of around 2,000 to 2,500 words an issue and hook the reader each time, have a wrap-up but also a cliffhanger for the next chapter. It was fun but perhaps lacks the flow of a novel. Most of it is first person featuring a character named Kenaz, who is no secret prince, no chosen one waiting to be called forth, no great fighter, no man of means or anything special, but he can travel outside his body and gather information. So that's his semi-criminal profession, but then he gets wrapped up in a job for multiple employers that all conflict with one another and that's where he gets smacked with a fistful of trouble.

Toward the end though I really wanted some scenes with a side character so the narrative drifts from first person to third and back again. Probably not the best format and definitely something I won't do for the continuation of the Gods & Robbers saga.

I've been having it available at 2.99 but think I'll do a promotion to .99  for Walking Through Walls by the weekend just to give it a little more traction. So if any of you feel like checking it out, that'd be great. And as always reviews are forever appreciated.

Into the Belly of Kathulos: UGEEK #6

Chapter 6 of Walking Through Walls: Into the Belly of Kathulos in issue #6 of UGEEK Magazine came out over the Fourth of July weekend, and I wasn't home to get a copy or really post about it until now.

It's got a great steampunk cover (and article inside) and a great cosplay centerfold of a steampunk Snow White by Mala Foxx.

I also noticed a author spotlight on my good friend Jason King, whose latest fantasy novel The Soulless Grave was just released today and an interview with a new facebook friend actress Wren Barnes.

This S&S fantasy noir is going places I didn't expect and I'm quite happy with it.

Thanks to my editors James Wymore, Holli Anderson and Bruce Durham for helping polish it up and I am looking forward to the next chapter that will be out in time for Salt Lake ComicCon. I am hoping that this mag helps spread my gospel and people start buying my other books. I expect that this particular tale will take at least another 6-7 chapters to wrap up and when its done I expect to release it myself for fun.

Mala's pic by the great Vladmir Chopine, who I hope to have do a portrait of me sometime - he has done magnificent work on at least half of my best local writer friends.

Flexing Those Writing Muscles

I have got to say I love the cover for Issue #5 of UGEEK magazine  which contains the fifth chapter of my ongoing noir-fantasy serial Walking Through Walls. 

While the cover itself is the poster for Filmquest, a local fantasy related film festival, I find it serendipitous in regards to what's happening in my tale - specific to this installment Silence Falls on Tolburn's Walls (the title of which is a nod to Robert E. Howard's - Silence Falls on Mecca's Walls)

So, just saying for the sake of my friends here who are avid pulp fans - you of course recognize that elder being who dreams...

I am so pleased with where its going - oft times I don't even know where its taking me until I write it.

Keeping the readers attention with a serial is equivalent to a hardcore workout and I'm feeling it - but I'm also feeling those writing muscles growing too.

Overall this is one of those lessons where you have to push yourself to grow and improve and I am a firm believer in eternal progression.

From the intro:

The story so far:

Kenaz, an information broker, can step outside his own body to gather secrets. He has been blackmailed by multiple sinister parties. If he doesn’t give them what they want—a powerful artifact known as The Reliliqy—many lives besides his own will pay the price. He has less than a day to get it all together… He has overcome being poisoned and the demonic worm of Vavath, now he just needs to steal The Reliliqy from the city’s most powerful Sorcerer…

Chapter 5. Silence Falls on Tolburn’s Walls

Enjoy...

The Mad Song is LIVE!

My latest collection of Sword & Sorcery is live! and today only I'm pushing the kindle version like a street hustler for .99
tomorrow I'm getting it bumped up to 2.99. Get it here!

Yes, its all about those rankings.

A few of these are previously published stories that some of you may have read, but a lot of them are new that I hope you enjoy - including the first 3 chapters of my Walking Through Walls which is currently running in UGEEK magazine.

Check it out!

Fangs for the Kind Words

I'm loathe to keep battering anyone promotion-wise but Hear Ye Hear Ye, I've some things to tout...

The third installment of my fantasy serial, Walking Through Walls is available for a read via pdf
its a continuation of a fantasy action-adventure piece that is a precursor to my bigger novel(s) yet to come in the Gods & Robbers series.

And I got some very kind words from online friend Paul McNamee at his blog about my weird western Fangs of the Dragon ~ Thanks Paul!

Sometimes I get down a bit about how writing is going and these surprise comments/reviews/posts can really turn things around.

Much obliged once again Paul.

Coming UP!

I've got a few things coming up shortly that I'll mention again when they drop. But for now...

I'm a special guest at the 2015 Salt Lake Fan Xperience. Thursday nigh the 29th at 7:30 pm, in the Grand Ballroom no less! me and fellow cohorts the Space Balrogs will be putting on a Supervillain presidential debate. I am Ming The Merciless. I know my usual blog readers are out of state and we will be taping it for the improv comedy sake.


Also at this con (an off season part of Salt Lake Comic Con) I will also have two brand new for this year selections of my writings. The third edition of UGEK magazine with the third installment of Walking Through Walls an action fantasy following my character Kenaz ~

The story so far:

Kenaz, an information broker, can step outside his own body to gather secrets. He has been blackmailed by multiple sinister parties. If he doesn’t give them what they want—a powerful artifact known as the Reliliqy—many lives besides his own will pay the price. He has less than a day to get it all together… 

And finally as I get off my hands, (been taking waaaaaay too long on this) I will have copies of my sword and sorcery collection The Mad Song available for sale. I will post about that again as I plan on having my launch on thursday the 29th just because I can have copies at Comic Con to sign in person. I suspect that will be a collection of my tales that my regular readers will like best, some you may have already read ~ The Mad Song itself from Artifacts and Relics and Weird Tales of Horror but others will be brand new, and a few were only published in obscure collections and the rights have reverted back to me. 

I'm hoping to kick off one hell of a year and m grateful for you all!

Sword & Sorcery Noir

I dig the concept of the hard-boiled hero surrounded by dark malevolent forces and trying to solve the mystery of some demonic artifact and not knowing whether the dame helping him is up to no good or not. I grew up watching movies like The Maltese Falcon and I love Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.

There are a lot of great S&S Noir stories out there by fantastic authors like Alex Bledsoe, Joe Bonadonna, Larry Correia, Scott Lynch and I've just started Mark Smylie - more reviews coming soon.

Anyhow, Utah Geek Media has released their second issue featuring a continuing fantasy noir serial by yours truly and I just realized that they have PDF's of the issues up for all those of you out of state. I am rather proud of the serial and I'm sure I'll be using this character and setting more in the future.

Enjoy my Sword & Sorcery Noir in Walking Through Walls, presented by U Geek Magazine.

Issue 1 Chapter 1 : Kiss of the Dread Whip

Issue 2 Chapter 2 : You Can't Please Everyone

"99 Deaths" Gets a Second Life

My short S&S tale "Ninety Nine Deaths of the Monkey God" is up in the current issue #7 of Swords and Sorcery Magazine

What happens when the hunters become the hunted and assassins drop like flies? (I just made up that tagline)  This is the story of a mercenary on a mission to disrupt an evil cult pressing for war. My story “Hel Awaits” also appeared in the March issue of Swords & Sorcery.

Set far outside geographically of a work in progress Gods & Robbers yet still within that worlds realm 99DotMG follows Kold ~ a thug, reaver, assassin, etc who will eventually be a contender (that is likely the best choice of words at the moment) in that forthcoming novel.

A large part of my inspiration for the piece beyond Rogue Blades Entertainments call for an Assassin's anthology (it didn't make the cut) was to get into the shoes of one of my characters for the sake of knowing him better later on.

I don't know yet if that worked, but it was an experiment. Its all for the ultimate good and experience, I actually wrote this tale around two year ago.

And to my writer friends who enjoy that kind of thing, they are looking for more S&S tales.

* Though it has nothing really to do with anything, I had to add the fantastic artwork by Daren Bader

Preparing to Blitz

Beginning of the year and time to map and or lament on my goals. I always end up biting off more than I can chew. Still, the blitz is coming.

There are a half dozen short story anthologies I 'd love to be included in with deadlines looming shortly. Would love to do these but I probably ought to pick my battles with the ones I want the most and forget the rest rather than having the dozen beginnings and no endings I have sitting in the files right now. I always wondered why Robert E. Howard had so many great tales that weren't finished and now I understand that a little better.

I have my sequel to Heroes of the Fallen needing to be polished up- people even call my Mom wanting to know if they can get a rough draft-(not gonna happen) Really need to do that-I never, ever, meant to take so long finishing an already finished book.

I also need to polish and decide what I want to do with my exiled Spartan novel Bless the Child, I should have sent it to a copy editor friend months ago but I wanted to clean it up even more before I passed it on-still haven't done it. Really need to do that.

Recently submitted my second chapter of Midnight Sons to UGEEK Magazine-the story went an interesting direction that I never foresaw-but I am happy with it-I think the stuff I had planned on will be coming up in the next chapter-any E-friends who are interested drop me a line I'll send the pdf for the first issue-since it was a local Utah-centric mag. I moved away from Utah right as it went to print so I don't even have any copies of my pulpness-that and I saw that I missed the local CON where the premier issue debuted-with a few interesting guests like comic veteran Wendy Pini (of Elf Quest fame) In my mind she still looks like Red Sonja from Savage Sword of Conan in '76. 

My hopes and prayers for Jason Waltz at Rogue Blades Entertainment-that things will get sorted out and the magnificent books Roar of the Crowd and Challenge: Discovery  that are waiting in the wings will be released in 2012.

More of my weird western short stories with Porter Rockwell are coming, though I'm not sure on any release dates with those anthologies. Same with the Dagan Books antho of weird sci-fi IN-SITU my tale The Dig is coming some time soon this year.

I meant to get most of my S&S gangster fantasy Gods & Robbers done last year and I didn't-we'll go for this year on that account.

And finally a bit of non-fiction (that reads like very exciting/frightening fiction) is absolutely coming but I can't say more on that just yet. But you could check out my friend Douglas Dietrich's site. Just saying.

British Gangsters Saved My Life

Posting this because (I haven't posted anything all year) and I do like Vinnie Jones, reminds me how much I still want to finish "Gods & Robbers" this year, my British gangster inspired fantasy- think maybe a Sword & Sorcery SNATCH type thing.

J. Edgar

J. Edgar directed by Clint Eastwood

I've seen three movies in the last two weeks (for work ironically) and this is the only one I feel like admitting to. I don't normally care for Leonardo DiCaprio but I do like historicals and Clint Eastwoods films. A bit slow and ponderous, the film still carried itself with interesting insight into an enigmatic almost mythic character of American 20th-century history. Though a historical film I found it to be rather timely, it's hard not to look at the Occupy Wall Street protesters and the other bad news bears and not see the similarities between the early days of Hoover's dealing with communist insurgents and our own uncertainty today. It's like I always say people don't change that much.

Still this wasn't something I think I need to ever sit down and watch again and there wasn't as much sheer entertainment as there is in some other bio pics such as JFK, Hoffa, or even Nixon, but it is worth viewing at least once. It did grant some humanity to an otherwise atypically vilified (perhaps not unjustly) character and I couldn't help but chuckle at some of the hinted secret files. I also had to wonder if Eastwood made a few of his own digs in the movie.

I usually avoid traffic cops like the plague but I have to respect how much Hoover actually brought to the FBI, the innovations in forensic science, national fingerprinting, the man was a visionary in his field. Also Stephen Root was especially enjoyable as one of the first forensic scientists that Hoover utilized. The rumored aspects of Hoover's secret life were also dealt with in a believable and reasonable manner. The costumes were great but the makeup was atrocious, I thought DiCaprio as an old man looked more like Gordon B. Hinckley than J. Edgar Hoover.



You tell me.



Kill the Irishman

"Since I'm Irish Catholic, I've got the best guardian angel there is. Besides, it's the man upstairs who pulls the strings." - Danny Greene

Loosely based on the true story of 1970's Cleveland mobster Danny Greene, Kill the Irishman like IRONCLAD is a misplaced gem. I had not even heard of the film even though I would consider myself a fan of most of the cast-a lot of gangster and character actors here, Christopher Walken, Paul Sorvino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Robert Davi, Vinnie Jones and Val Kilmer. But the big one, why I bought it, is Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo~ROME) as Danny Greene.

Stevenson portrays Greene with a brutal cunning working his way up, only to get knocked down and pull himself up again. The guy was a thug and a criminal but truly one with heart and spirit that you would have wanted to be friends with.

The lynch pin of things truly going downhill is when Danny sets out to borrow 70K from the mob and the courier gets nailed by the cops-they say Danny still owes them, but he maintains he can't owe what he never received. A contract gets put out on the Irishman and he fights back...hard.

Now I love me a great gangster movie-with the caveat that it isn't the atypical "Crime doesn't pay" formula, which may be why I have generally liked British gangster movies more than American gangster movies. But this presentation, taking Danny's life and putting it into 2 hours still feels reasonably full without trying to tell us what to think.
Greene wanted to emulate his Celtic warrior ancestors and thus had his own code of honor. Caught between a rock and a hard place, he stuck to his guns and ended up crippling the mob with some incredible long time repercussions.

The film pulls no punches-just like Danny.

Highly recommended. I strongly suspect that my Robert E. Howard friends will get a kick out of Danny Greene - he seems like a real life Sword & Sorcery hero to me.

What's It About?

I recently read the wonderful Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. It is billed as the last book on screenwriting that you'll ever need.
That better be true.
Good thing I'm not working on screenplays anyway though.
The point is, it is a fantastic book when it comes to story structure and keeping to the beats in your story.
There are a number of things Snyder advises that I was very happy to find I did naturally = such as his "Save the Cat" theme - denoting having the main character do something at the beginning of your story to make the viewer/reader LIKE and ROOT for them.

The other big point I've been pondering is the root of everyone asking What is the story about. Snyder says he doesn't start writing anything without a logline - a simple sentence that says what the story is about in an enticing and (he recommends ironic) tone.
That hit me like a ton of bricks.
Because
I could not (at least off the top of my head) come up with a single sentence about Heroes of the Fallen & Blood of Our Fathers...yet.
At the Storymakers conference I ended up having Sarah Eden read that, "Heroes of the Fallen is a Book of Mormon historical with Pulp Fiction sensibilities," as I drew the winning name for a giveaway.
(I think a gal that also writes B of M fiction won my book, so that was a kick in the teeth-haha don't think she asked to get her picture taken with me.)
Anyhow, I can't say that that is a particularly good logline but it is better than telling someone a whole paragraph and losing them along the way.

For my other works in progress I have come up with these at least for now.

GODS & ROBBERS: A colorful ensemble of rogues risk unleashing the apocalypse when they steal a "god" from a sorcerous Godfather.

MIDNIGHT SONS: A pair of superstitious soldiers and a haunted psychic are charged with hunting down sorcerous war criminals.

Granted I may change these a bit in the future, but they give a clear vista of what the story is about and where its going.

Snyder recommends having a good adjective for the hero and one for the villain-and yes I used the same one for each work on the villain but hey - they're fantasy stories.

Save the Cat has a lot more than these couple of things I mentioned going for it-these are just what struck me to blog about at 3 am.