Posting over at On An Underwood 5

In case you missed it, I did a guest post over at the On An Underwood 5 blog

Talking about my affinity and kinship to Robert E. Howard.
 Thanks to Todd Vick for inviting me over.

Pulp it Up!

I've been on Spring Break vacation with the family all week - we saw some real cool sites all over the Arches, Canyonlands and Capital Reef National parks - I got some great pic's, found a few cool souvenirs and books for inspiration purposes, but did not get much of any writing done nor was I online much at all to check on things or post any updates.

I think I regret missing out on writing the most - I did a little but certainly not at my Pulp Speed this last month - I think I did at least 100K!

But in relation to this post in the first place - I'll be teaching a class on Writing Pulp Fiction with the indomitable Jay Barnson tomorrow at the League of Utah Writers Writing Conference.

Jay and I have been friends for a couple years now and found we had a lot of shared interests and such and when he asked if I would like to be a part of this pitch he was putting together I said sure!

Borrowing from Jay's post: We’ll be sharing:

What was pulp fiction?
What is “modern” pulp fiction?
How do you write it?
How do you sell it?
Tomorrow’s event is a half-day (plus!) of classes like this one covering all kinds of writing topics, from craft to business to lifestyle and health. If you are a local writer in Utah, come join us if you can! Here’s the big not-a-secret: The discount to League members on the ticket is *exactly* the same cost as a league membership for the year. So if you want to attend, it makes sense to pay for a membership and then buy a ticket.

Life The Universe and Everything for the Weekend

Its that time of year again, Life The Universe and Everything the annual science fiction/ fantasy writers convention.

This is one of the best, mostly because there are so many writers and other creatives to rub shoulders with. You'd be hard pressed to come up with any con where you could hang with more. I have been to some other big writer conventions, but this one is full of my people - everything Spec-Fic!

And of course I'm a guest once again, so I'll be on panels, lounging in the green room and trying to even get a little more writing done to fulfill my "pulp speed" expectations.

Here is my schedule - its a little Thursday heavy.

Thursday, February 16
9am
Novel vs. Short Story
Arches (Provo Marriott), 9am - 9:50am
Tags: Writing
David Boop, Christopher Husberg (M), Terra Luft, Eric James Stone, Scott R. Parkin, David J. West
The novel vs. the short story. How can they benefit from each other? How are the skill-sets different? How do you know which to choose?

11am
I Can't Believe You Haven't Read This . . .
Juniper (Provo Marriott), 11am - 11:50am
Tags: Books
Kenna Blaylock, C.H Lindsay (M), David J. West, Jessica Day George,
Not-to-be-missed middle grade and young adult books from writers of the genre and those who know it best.

12pm
So You Want to Write Horror...
Arches (Provo Marriott), 12pm - 12:50pm
Tags: Writing
Courtney Alameda, Larry Correia, Steve Diamond, Terra Luft, David J. West (M)
Get tips for writing horror. How do you know if horror is for you? Tips for beginners.

4pm
Making a Living on the Macabre
Bryce (Provo Marriott), 4pm - 4:50pm
Tags: Books
Courtney Alameda, Cheree Alsop (M), David J. West
Fantasy horror writers and how they create their works. Let's look at the works that hit a homerun and the writers that created them.

5pm
The Art of the Hook
Arches (Provo Marriott), 5pm - 5:50pm
Tags: Writing
Larry Correia, James Ganiere, Scott R. Parkin, J. Scott Savage, Andrea Pearson (M), David J. West
First lines and first chapters matter. How do you get readers interested in your story? In your characters?

Friday, February 17
10am
Hottest Women in Science Fiction
Bryce (Provo Marriott), 10am - 10:50am
Tags: Books
Jana S. Brown, Adam McLain (M), David J. West
It's not your sexy cover babe. We're talking women writers and their works, but you knew that already, right?

6pm - 8pm
Book Signing
Zion, Bryce and Arches

I'll have print copies of Scavengers, Six-Gun Serenade and others - but this is the first time I'll have those to sign.

So for all my long-distance friends - this would be the one to someday make it too.

Getting Out the Word!

I just had my novelette Six-Gun Serenade released a week plus ago - I'm very pleased with the reviews so far (I even had an Amazon Top 500 reviewer give it some glowing praise!) and it was all part of my plan to help drum up buzz for the sake of the bigger novel Scavengers: A Porter Rockwell Adventure which is out Tuesday! And its only .99 cents from Tuesday the 24th thru Sunday the 29th then it goes up to 2.99. (which come on ~ for an ebook is still a deal)

So in that light I've done a few podcasts and such to spread my gospel of pulpy action adventure and just to save these for posterity here are the links!





















I was on Dungeon Crawlers Radio on January 11th


I was on The New Utah Podcast on Janurary 17th

Oh and one more thing, I'm especially proud of, my friend Dave Butler - who I am sure is going to go big soon with his March release of Witchy Eye, had this to say about Scavengers:

"From its hallucinatory opening to its savage climactic exorcism, SCAVENGERS brews up a heady mix of Peckinpah-like western surrealism, genuine folklore, and non-stop action. More fun than losing your pineal gland to an Apache medicine man!"

-- D.J. Butler, author of WITCHY EYE

Salt Lake Comic Con 2016 Recap

I had a good time hanging with friends and even got interviewed three separate times! I'll share those when I know they are up. Would have liked to have sold more books but on the bright side I did get a few new fans!

The Space Balrogs Choose your Own
Apocalypse game went over real well - we packed the house!

I did get several books from friends which will be making it into the review Que. Overall it was a good time. I even got a photo with the Utah state Governor who stopped by our book booth.


And here are a few more pics I thought were cool.

And of course connections were made more books are in the works!

Interview on Story Hack!

I was interviewed on Monday at my palatial estate - well my house in my office/library by new friend  Bryce Beatty. I'm the first author of a new writer podcast he is doing called Story Hack.
Check it out here

LIVE with the Freestyle Gargoyles

The video is live and remastered and here I am performing "Read Em' and Weep" my improv spoken word contribution to the Freestyle Gargoyles/ Space Balrog album.

I have to say I think my fellow Balrogs that did perform (4 out of 6 of us- Craig was playing bass, saw etc  and Dave Butler was unavailable) did a great job with their short story's - I was a bit off the cuff and therefore wasn't as cool, but tried to make up for it rocking.

I did give a shoutout to my friends books and realized after the fact I neglected to mention any of my own in my own crazed ramblings about books. Just goes to show what happens when you wing it - I have to think if we really worked hard at a studio album it would be amazing and I think I will talk to Craig about that someday - I have a multiple tapes from my garage band days that I would love to have good recordings of someday.

And you only see snatches of it here, but Craig's Media Rif studio is amazing.

Thanks again to everyone involved - these guys were fantastic and we all had a great time.

Freestyle Gargoyles 2

I recently did an improv spoken word album with friends from the Space Balrogs and fellow member Craig Nybo's band the Freestyle Gargoyles.

This was Craig's idea and we all appreciate his drive to make it happen, I know we all enjoyed performing etc.

Granted I think my song "Read Em and Weep" is the least worthy spoken word portion (though the most rocking). The album itself will be dropping soon - Craig is putting the finishing touches on it. Sorry if this post is a little bit of a tease... it will be here soon and until then here is a behind the scenes video that Crowd Surfing did of us as we prepped.

Walking Through Walls part the Fourth!

The fourth (and best so far) chapter of my "Walking Through Walls" is up in the latest issue of UGEEK Magazine. Locals can find it around at the comic and game shops and here is the link for internet land.

I'm especially happy with how this fantasy action serial has been going, being as surprised myself with what happens.

This is also a move toward a larger issue = double the size and among things inside is an interview with my good friend D.J. Butler. Check it out!

The Next Big Thing Blog Chain...

I was chained to this by Shelley Brown (author of The Fall of Cliff Castle (Book One in The Glass Slipper Chronicles)) and so I'm sharing a little bit about my WIP with you today.

So without further ado (because ado is seldom useful) my WIP:

What is the working title of your book? 

 Bless the Child

Where did the idea come from for the book? 

I was fascinated with the concept of mercenaries in the ancient world. The idea especially of Greeks, when they weren't fighting each other, would sell themselves out to the Egyptians, Babylonians, and other minor kings; and that brothers could potentially find themselves facing each other on opposite sides of a conflict very far from home.

I also wanted to utilize some Biblical old world references that I found interesting such as Elephantine Island on the Nile, the fall of Jerusalem thanks to Nebuchadnezzar, and a number of rumored aspects of that siege and destruction.

* the artwork for the cover has graciously been donated by Kris Cooper

What genre does your book fall under?

Historical Action/Adventure with a Sword & Sorcery flavor

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? 

I have given no real thought to this. Most of the characters (even while many are real historical personages-Solon, Psenophis, Jaush of Lachish, Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah, and Balthazar/Daniel are inspired by people I personally know)

While I do think this could be turned into a screenplay much easier than my other works. The protagonist, known as The Spartan would need to be an able bodied man in his mid twenties in the beginning of the book and it follows his story up to around forty or so.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

Never thought about this before but here goes...

To keep from getting wet, the bloody, drowning road to redemption for a Spartan mercenary is perhaps best traveled by boat.

another...

Saving oneself is most nobly done by saving another.

and (having too much fun with this)...

No country for sword-less men.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 

This will be my first self-published novel. The greater motivation for such will be explained toward the end of this post.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? 

I think I finished the rough draft in about 5 months. 

This was also when I was offered my first publishing contract and decided to start this blog and hence the name Nephite Blood, Spartan Heart - a merger of sorts of my Heroes of the Fallen saga and this Spartan book, the only two things I was working on at the time.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? 

I really liked, Jezebel by Frank G. Slaughter, Lord of Samarcand by Robert E. Howard, Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield, Lion of Cairo by Scott Oden, and 300 by Frank Miller.

Who or What inspired you to write this book? 

I began the book when my daughter was in the hospital with a terrible case of RSV. She almost died. The frustration and heartache in the beginning of Bless the Child is from that pain of not knowing if she would make it or not. I wrote it at her crib-side in the Primary Children's Hospital in SLC.

I was also greatly inspired by a lot of my historical research reading related to my first novel(series) Heroes of the Fallen ipso facto - Hugh Nibley.

And lastly, when I was still doing construction to pay the bills, I was remodeling a basement at the home of an old woman and her daughter - a single mother whose toddler son kept calling me 'Daddy'. It broke my heart.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? 

I am going to donate 100% of the proceeds to The GAN Warriors a trio of young local boys with a terribly debilitating disease. I wanted to do something to help them and polishing and dusting off a trunk novel seemed the most viable thing I could do. It lets me get my work out to a greater audience and help someone(s) else at the same time.

There you go, that's all she wrote!

 

Now I have to chain people to this thing...so...

I'll stick to my regular blogger friends who I know are always working on something

Charles Gramilch

Paul McNamee

Angie Lofthouse

and

Adventures Fantastic Keith, I'd love to hear more about what you're working on, not that we don't all groove on your reviews.

The Story So Far...

Having taken Steven Pressfield's 'Turning Pro' to extreme heart, I have been doing my best to turn pro and do the work.

This post is a reminder as much as anything else for myself, because 'Resistance' as Pressfield calls it, is always right there ready to smack you down. You have got to keep the momentum going and produce what matters, keep the passion hot and flowing...

So coming down the pike...

The next thing I "think" will be available, is my novel about an exiled Spartan, BLESS THE CHILD. I am still going through the edits and such, as well as everything else that comes with releasing a self-pubbed book.

What is a little different about the process with this particular Sword & Sandal's novel, isn't the book itself but what I am going to do with it. I am going to have 100% of the profits go to the Gan Warriors. They're local and I felt touched, hearing their story and wanted to do something to help them meet their current goal and hopefully do something for their sake, research and what not. They don't seem to have a terrible lot of time.

I've honestly been sitting on this novel for far too long and I have to wonder if perhaps it isn't serendipitous that I have something that might be able to help. While it is a historical action-packed story ala Gladiator, Troy and the like, I can't help but think the theme and hence the title will in spirit be carried on as helping the Spencer family.

Immediately afterward, I have the former Roar of the Crowd novella, Whispers of the Goddess, to be released as well. It's going through final edits etc. All of my self-published stuff will go through what will be Lost Realms Press- including eventually The Hand of Fate. How do you like the rough draft logo my talented wife came up with (with my suggestions). I wanted the Old and New World merged.

If you have looked at the blog in the last week plus, you would have seen my inspiration pics for my Space Eldritch story. This fine collection will be Lovecraftian space opera pulp. I'll be sharing the TOC with a small facebook group of pro's called the 'DIMWIT's' which include, Nathan Shumate, Dave Butler, Howard Tayler, Robert Defendi, Michael Collings, a cover and possible story by the talented Carter Reid, and I'm not sure if Brad Torgerson is in or not. It should be out in November I believe. As the deadline junkie I am, I still don't have a title that really moves me yet, but I am working on it. I worry mine isn't space opera enough, but at the same time, I am very stoked about this story. I talked about some aspects of it when I was interviewed by Douglas Dietrich. I want to bring a Sword & Sorcery tale to space, yet I would not call it Sword and Planet either, in fact no swords at all, but the same spirit. I hope I bring that.

I currently have 12 stories that are subbed that I am waiting to hear Yea or Nay on.
The Dogs of War, Stumps, Burnt Offerings, Obsidian Moon, The Mad Song (at least I know its been shortlisted), Baptism By Fire, Soma for the Destroying Angels Soul, IF, Make a Monkey Outta Me, Red Wolf Moon. Bring the Fire's proposal has been accepted but certain publication is still in the air. And Sailing to Valhalla has been sent to a to a S&S reprint market with Wildside Press.

I honestly don't know for certain when the accepted tales, Garden of Legion, A Good Home for the Spoon, The Cry of Carrion Birds, The Serpent's Root, and Rolling in the Deep will be published. But in theory soon enough.

And finally, not counting the many other shorts in progress, the many other novels in midstream Gods & Robbers, The Bastard Prince, The Dispossessed, Dance the Ghost With Me, Midnight Sons; the sequel to Heroes of the Fallen, ~ Blood of Our Fathers is still on my mind, but a computer crash severely set me back from the progress I had been making in its finalization.
It was the one thing that when I lost it/halfway retrieved it, that made me so heartsick that I haven't touched it in a long long time-everything else was short enough that I was able to retrieve it, dust it off and rework it. But at some 100,000 words BLOOD seems very daunting to tackle. I have played with the idea of completely rewriting it, simply because I know there actually exist people who want it AND because in theory if I went at it from scratch, it would be a much better book than when I first wrote it.

Amid all the obligations and wants and needs, I will get the work done eventually.

Interview at Dagan Books

An interview with me has been updated and posted at Dagan Books for myself and the other contributors of the IN SITU anthology.

Those contributors being ~
7/17 - Ken Liu
7/18 - KV Taylor
7/19 - David West
7/20 - Kelly Stiles
7/21 - Rebecca Lloyd
7/22 - Robert Hunter
7/23 - Sarah Hendrix
7/24 - Alex Shvartsman
7/25 - Paul Dixon
7/26 - Jason Andrew
7/27 - Bear Weiter
7/28 - Dawn Vogel
7/29 - Greg Burch
7/30 - Mae Empson
7/31 - Graham Storrs

I have IN SITU on the Kindle and as backed up as I have been lately (dealing with my computer crashing and some files coming through hideously deranged and murderous), I have only yet read editor Carrie Quinn's afterword. I'll never be able to read and write as fast as I would like.

My First Desk

I can't be sure how old I was when I got my first desk. It was the early 80's and I was probably somewhere in the neighborhood of ten years old. I remember being with my father in a stuffy attic in some big warehouse; sunbeams became pillars of swirling dust. He picked through a large pile of metal and wood desks, choosing different models and sizes for my siblings and I.

Being the oldest I received the biggest desk. It had a tan painted steel body with a swinging hard wood top and seat. Take my word for it they don't make em' like they used to.
I used it for painting models, surgery on G.I.Joe fatalities and my first work at actual fiction written for my own satisfaction.

I generally wrote terrible fan-fiction (as all fan-fiction generally is) either G.I. Joe and or Transformers, or even my own brand of Indiana Jones rip-offs,
BUT...

I did work at things that were embers of my own original voice too. I had thoughts on my own Tolkien inspired epic fantasy that would have a nation of werewolves within it~that were the good guys! Haughty kings and naive if not noble princes, world striding conquerors who wrestled with fate and defied the gods, tragic death and glorious triumph.

These things came to me when I was a child and I wrote them at my first desk.

My eldest son (7) is now writing his own books. I went and took the desk out of storage at my parents house and brought it home. My brother used it for a time too, so it has more paint than when I left it behind. It was the last of all those desks my parents bought for us from some nameless warehouse in Billings, Montana.
I dusted it off and put it in my sons room. I told him how I used it and what it helped me start doing. I think his fan fiction is better than mine.

And I may as well share the desk where I have written all of my pro sales.

Guest Post by Ty Johnston: 10 reasons to read Ghosts of the Asylum

Fantasy author Ty Johnston is doing a massive blog tour all through November and is going to give us...
***
10 reasons to read Ghosts of the Asylum

1.) Ghosts of the Asylum is a sequel novel to my epic fantasy Kobalos Trilogy, which includes the novels City of Rogues, Road to Wrath, and Dark King of the North. Everybody has read my Kobalos Trilogy, right? Good. Thought so.

2.) The price is right. At only $2.99, Ghosts of the Asylum costs less than a Big Mac. And I’m talking just the Big Mac, not including the fries and drink that make up a whole meal. And Ghosts of the Asylum will last longer than a Big Mac, too.

3.) I’m guessing if you’re reading this blog, you likely have an interest in fantasy, possibly epic fantasy. My new novel is epic fantasy. How epic? Well, not only is this novel a sequel to a trilogy, but it’s part of a much larger story that should take up between 40 and 50 novels when finally completed. Is that epic enough for you?

4.) Kron Darkbow. Kron is my main character. Think of him as sort of a Batman in a fantasy world. He fights, he climbs, he picks locks, throws grenados and ... wait, did I say “throws grenados?” Yes, I did. Grenados are Kron’s favorite weapon.

5.) If you purchase and read Ghosts of the Asylum, maybe, just maybe, my wife will get off my back about getting a real job. So, you’d be doing me a big favor.

6.) I believe my stories have something to say. It might not be easy to discern, but there is always a gist of thought in the background of my plots and my characters’ actions.

7.) At the same time, I want to entertain. My novels have their fair share of action and adventure, as well as some intrigue. First I want to entertain myself, of course, but hopefully my interests will intersect enough with readers to also entertain them. At least that’s my goal.

8.) Though Ghosts of the Asylum is part of a much longer saga, it can be read as a stand-alone novel. Aren’t you tired of having to read 10 or more books to get an entire story? Maybe it’s just me.

9.) Speaking of sagas, Ghosts of the Asylum comes in at more than 110,000 words, which means it’s a tad longer than most modern novels, yet it’s a far cry from the huge, one-thousand-pages-plus tomes that seem to dominate epic fantasy today. In other words, you don’t have to set aside a whole month or more to read Ghosts of the Asylum, but it should still keep you reading for more than a few days.

10.) Okay, I’ve run out of ideas. Let me think. Let me think. I mentioned grenados, right? Yeah, I did. What about Kron Darkbow? Oh, you know about him. Hmm. Ah! I’ve got it! Okay, the empirical truth of the matter is this: Ghosts of the Asylum is the best novel you will ever read in your lifetime. Er, was that too much? Too over the top? Well, since this is sort of an advertisement for my novel, I could tell you what all the other advertisements tell you: Buy and read Ghosts of the Asylum, and you will become rich and happy and have lots of sex with beautiful people. Sorry, I don’t have a talking dog or a clown with red hair to sell my novel. Maybe next time.

Fantasy author Ty Johnston’s blog tour 2011 is running from November 1 through November 30. His novels include City of Rogues, Bayne’s Climb and More than Kin, all of which are available for the Kindle, Nook  and online at Smashwords . His latest novel, Ghosts of the Asylum, will be available for e-books on November 21. To find out more, follow him at his blog.

***

I have a copy of City of Rogues and will review it-but the move (and life in general) have gotten in the way for the moment and I am way, way behind in my reading. Ty thanks for having patience with me and all the best on the rest of your tour.

I'm a Manly Man?

I've been interviewed at Matt Shields Finding the Forgotten World blog. He calls me the manliest man west of the Mississippi.

Heh, thanks Matt, I'm humbled while also dubious of the distinction.

But I do appreciate the interview, where I get to talk about inspiration, weapons, story structure and why I can't stand moralizing in fiction.

To repeat, I HAVE NO interest in writing a moralizing tale-I DO have interest in writing about heroics, sacrifice and doing the right thing despite insurmountable odds.

Interviewed at Mormon Mommy Writers

This is how huge I am. I forgot that I was interviewed at Mormon Mommy Writers and that they posted it on Saturday - HERE

Honestly, it doesn't make me feel big, I feel stupid for forgetting-I appreciate the exposure and am grateful to Lisa Turner for thinking of me.

Interview at Dagan Books

Yours truly gets interviewed at the brilliantly Lovecraftian Dagan Books website in relation to my eerie short story "The Dig" coming soon in the IN SITU anthology.


It was inspired in part by female archaeologists struggling for recognition earlier last century, a couple of mummies that were supposedly found in nearby San Pete county, the pseudo-Egyptian architecture of the Nubian kingdoms along the upper Nile, and while I'm at it-why not throw in some fascist's during World War II as well?

It made for an eclectic story and I'm grateful Dagan Books liked it too. I believe the IN SITU anthology will be available July 15th.