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. 

FanX 2017 Recap

I'm a week late, that's life. But hey, in that last week, the dictation software = Dragon, I have talked about for years now - is actually working for me. So I'll do a post about that very soon.

Back to the Con. It went pretty well, I signed a lot of books and even sold out of my copies of Redneck Eldritch, The Mad Song and Weird Tales of Horror.

The Saturday panel I did with the Space Balrogs was a lot of fun. I was the Undead and while I had some super dedicated fans and really enjoyed my last minute art round of demonstrating how death works to people = its eerily similar to duck, duck, goose. - James Wymore was dragons and had a singalong with some friends that was awesomely bad yet Dave Butler won with a phenomenal round doing an audience induction to becoming an elemental sorcerer via the Hokey Pokey - maybe you just had to be there.

Oh and that's me, a confused dinosaur and my the friend up and coming movie star, Wren Barnes.

Looking forward to the next one this September. And of course, here are some pics of the con.

This was the Space Balrogs on the panel.

Twilight Zone classics.

Me and the fantastic fitness model Dana Tracy. I first met her as Red Sonja at FanX two years ago.

Awesome Willow cosplay.

I don't know who she was but she looked fantastic.

the Lone Ranger turned up!

Jedi

I told them I was Dave but they were confused.

Me and rising cosplay superstar Joanie Brosas.

My son Mathias and one of his favorite Dr. Who episode folks.

Swedish Chef!

Ragnar and Lagertha.

Amazing Spawn and Angela.

Agent Carter

Odin and Son.

Chewie Dude and Walter Solo.

Poison Ivy just as I first reached my signing table.

View from the Green Room

Got my Flash Gordon poster signed by the man himself! Sam J. Jones!

Sam J. Jones - such a cool dude. I got to talk with him for a bit. Awesome guy!

FanX 2017!!!

I'm a guest at my pseudo-hometown Comic con = Salt Lake's Comic Con .2 Fan X.

It's always a little smaller, a little more intimate - and thats only in comparison to the September comic con which is huge. FanX is still bigger than most I'd imagine at 50K+ attendee's.

I'll be signing books with some of my writer friends at table Gold 2 -its pretty close to the entrance - which can be both a blessing and a curse. You're the first and last person they see.

I'm going to be doing another improv audience participation game/panel with the other Space Balrog's. I get to be The Undead vs Dragons vs Elementals. I think I'm going to do a suave vampire thing or I might go for broke with an evil Ash persona. Its always a lot of fun.

I watched What We Do in the Shadows again to think about character but now maybe I'll rewatch Army of Darkness again too.

On the home/writing front. I have not quite been able to keep up the pulp speed I would have hoped for, but progress is being made nonetheless. I can talk about these plans within plans more sooner than later. I'm excited for the possibilities.

Oh, I'm stoked! I'm going to see Flash Gordon in theaters tonight with Sam Jones - who is a guest of FanX. It's been one of my favorite pulpy sci-fi movies since I was in the second grade.

I wanted to be Flash when I was a kid, but genetics deemed me Ming.

I'll have more to report soon!

LTUE Late Night Follow Up

I was so busy chatting with friends - new and old, that I didn't take very many pics, nor record too much of what went on for those three days last month.

It was a blast, I love talking and hanging with other writers.

I was on a bunch of panels on Thursday and on some I felt a little out of my element. Like the one about the Hottest Women Writers of Sci-Fi. Luckily Jana Brown more than made up for my ineptitude. I had tried to catch up on more women writers before hand - I did a lot of cramming thanks to Audible, but still felt I was the weak link on that panel.

I'm kinda irritated I didn't get to be on the Pulp panel, and I didn't see it - just heard about it afterward, sounds like I should have been there to tell some people that they don't know what they're talking about but cest la vie.

The Art of the Hook with Larry Correia and Andrea Pearson was great - always got to love Larry dropping his wisdom. In a nutshell - Larry says who cares about defining genre or anything so cerebral = write what people want! Make them come back for more and you'll get paid.

I'm working on that.

In the meantime I have been very pleased at Scavengers and Six-Gun Serenades sales numbers on Amazon. I'm not breaking the bank but it is nice to actually be making hundreds of dollars a month. I need to do better but its a hell of a good start.


My friends the Space Balrogs had a great Choose Your Own Apocalypse panel, and the mass book signing was very cool too.

Oh and it was a great feeling to be recognized by other literati - for the sake of an anthology that isn't even out yet - made me feel good just to know there are at least a few people paying attention to that kind of thing.

I did get a load of new books abut I still love grabbing old favorites from an ancient dealer that shows up to this every year.

All in all it was great seeing everybody, and now I gotta wait til FanX to do it all over again. - Granted That will be a little more hectic and won't deliver as much quality time - but then that's what makes LTUE so great.

Get Hexed with Witchy Eye

My good friend Dave Butler's big epic flintlock fantasy Witchy Eye is out today!

Here is the description:
Sarah Calhoun is the fifteen-year-old daughter of the Elector Andrew Calhoun, one of Appalachee’s military heroes and one of the electors who gets to decide who will next ascend as the Emperor of the New World. None of that matters to Sarah. She has a natural talent for hexing and one bad eye, and all she wants is to be left alone—especially by outsiders.

But Sarah’s world gets turned on its head at the Nashville Tobacco Fair when a Yankee wizard-priest tries to kidnap her. Sarah fights back with the aid of a mysterious monk named Thalanes, who is one of the not-quite-human Firstborn, the Moundbuilders of the Ohio. It is Thalanes who reveals to Sarah a secret heritage she never dreamed could be hers.

Now on a desperate quest with Thalanes to claim this heritage, she is hunted by the Emperor’s bodyguard of elite dragoons, as well as by darker things—shapeshifting Mockers and undead Lazars, and behind them a power more sinister still. If Sarah cannot claim her heritage, it may mean the end to her, her family—and to the world where she is just beginning to find her place.

***
Her Mother was a Queen
Her Father was a Hero
Her Uncle wants her Dead

I got to read an early version of Witchy Eye and as always whatever Butler touches turns to gold. He is a writing Midas with an imagination, wry sense of humor and depth to rival anyone.

Witchy Eye is a bold re-imagined American crossroads of empire with various magical characters all in a place that might have been. Maybe should have been.

Something I think is great is that we get to go somewhere outside of the usual psuedo-European fantasy and encounter a mythos that is decidedly American, including the fae, mound-builders and beast-men while also acknowledging the magic and legends of the newcomers from the old world - which are a major source of conflict. I had to chuckle to myself over Oliver Cromwell, (who gets a bad rap about everywhere) because once he becomes a necromancer it gets serious. Full of action and surprises this is not to be missed.

This is also one of those books where I know I'll want to read it again because there are dozens of references and in jokes, that I may have missed. Butler just has so much knowledge and wit to share that it's impossible to get it all in one go round. Its the book that keeps on giving. Good thing my hard copy is coming today.

He also has a prologue of sorts available at the Baen website that tells a key moment in the Witchy Eye backstory, in which John Churchill takes England pagan, for arcane defensive reasons. So check out,
DEI BRITANNICI
A Prologue to Witchy Eye

Salt City Steamfest!!!

It's that time of year again - the gears are rolling and I'm going to be a guest at Salt City Steamfest.

I'll be talking on the Steampunk vs Weird Western panel and after that we'll be doing another of our infamous Choose Your Own Apocalypse games in a steampunk setting - last time I was Air Pirates and I won!

I'm not actually sure what else will be happening yet but it promises to be a good time with a lot of really cool people.

I'm looking forward to all the trippy costumes and retro steampunk items that will be there.

More details here!

World Horror Con This Weekend!

World Horror Con in Provo Utah.  April 28th - May 1st

Yes, I'm a little surprised its in Provo, Utah, but it sure is convenient for me. This is the same close location that LTUE was at and in years past the Storymakers writers convention when I would go to that.

Guests of honor include Brian Keene, Kevin J. Anderson, Jack Ketchum, Keith Thompson (he did the artwork on my latest Utah Geek issue) and fellow Space Eldritch alumni Michael R. Collings gets an academic award of achievement.

It will be great to hobnob with everyone as writers are my favorite people to mingle with.

Here is a quick schedule of my panels etc:

Thursday:
2pm Horrific Fantasy: A Touch of the Macabre. Dark fantasy as a subgenre that often dances across the line between fantasy and horror.  Is there a line, and how can you effectively cross it?
Darren Shan
Steve Diamond
Robert J Defendi
Jason King (M)
Christopher Husberg
David J. West

8:15 - Historical Horror.  An historical setting can add depth to your story.  Why is historical horror – and historical fiction -- popular and who is writing it?
Eric Sweden
John L. Campbell
David J. West
Sanford Allen (M)
This will be a fun one.

Friday:
10pm to Midnight: I'll be jamming with the Freestyle Gargoyles
You may remember that last year about this time I did an improv jam with the band - we're doing it again with more authors and recording it live! - It was a blast last time, so I gotta come up with something fresh and eerie for this one!

Saturday:
12:45
I'll be doing a reading of my REDNECK ELDRITCH tale 'At the Highways of Madness'- well a good portion of it anyway.
I'd be tickled pink if you would pre-order a copy!

10pm - A Space Balrogs panel
I think we'll be doing a classic monsters Choose Your Own Apocalypse but not sure yet.

Sunday:
11:30 - Western Horror.  Horror-themed westerns can be a lot of fun to read and write.  Come learn more about this epic sub-genre.
Dan Wells
Cody Langille (M)
Steve Diamond
David J. West

12:45 - Why We Love Lovecraft.  It’s been more than 100 years, and yet people are still reading and talking about Lovecraft.
Eric Swedin
David J. West (M)
Nathan Shumate
Carter Reid
Sanford Allen
Sarah E. Seeley


Oh Yeah, and my novella "At the Highways of Madness" will release in time for this con in the Redneck Eldritch collection - even if you can't make the con - check out the anthology of weird backwoodsy Lovecraftian horror!


This will be a creepy good time. And I need to get a copy of the King of Bastards book that either (or both) Keith or Paul told me about so I can get Keene to sign it.

Emerald City Comic Con Recap

I could'a should'a would'a posted this if not Sunday, Monday, but even then I was too tired yesterday. So Wednesday it is for what happened last Friday etc.

I flew out of SLC last Thursday night, landed in Seattle late. We (Jason King and Holli Anderson and I) enjoyed our chatty shuttle driver. We got to the hotel, right near the Space Needle and find out that Jason and I (who were sharing a room and we find out it had only one bed) The night manager brought a rollaway that barely fit in the room - it literally blocked the hall to the bathroom.

Jason got the rollaway.

We had breakfast then went downtown to the convention center. Loads of people were already there first thing in the morning but we got in without any real delay. We got our guest passes and started looking around for friends.
I'm used to a very large virtually one level con here in Utah, But Seattles' was multiple levels and floors and when we looked for the room our panel would be in I got us lost, because I took us to room 302, instead of T302.

I'm glad to say T302 was big room and once we did our Space Balrog game it was almost full of people.

Earlier, we met with pal Dave Butler, and a few others I've met at cons before. We saw some great cosplay and the Weta Workshop booth. Ireland Reid as Daphne (above). This was  a fantastic Ant-Man cosplay.

This is Cara Nicole = AZ Power Girl (who I met at FanX) she is currently running for the AZ House of Representatives. Wish I could vote for her.

These Masters of the Universe guys were great.


I bought a DVD from the Zombie Orpheus Guys and I highly recommend you check out their "Dorkness Rising" or "Journey Quest" parody fantasy movies = funny stuff.

Vera Bambi - very nice gal.

After lunch we walked down to Pikes Place Market, I bought some books and took a pic of a wonderful Cthulhu statue - really wish the guy had been willing to sell it but then I wouldn't have sold it either. It was great talking to him - he knows his pulp stiff we talked about how we wished there would be a Kane movie - he didn't have any Karl Edward Wagner books - it impressed me that he knew exactly who I was asking about.

We met up with Jason and Holli's marketing publicist Nikki of Curiosity Quills, she was very nice and took the group pic of us - not her fault it was dark. This Choose Your Own Apocalypse game was between Holli's Aliens (Interplanetarians being the politically correct term - this was Seattle after all) - Dave Butler's enraged ancient deity, Emmerod  of the insatiable itch and I was an Illuminati Service Representative.


I did very well in our initial debates, getting a lot of laughs, and briefly did some table dancing but ultimately Butler won out. I still can't believe people chose hemorrhoids for their apocalypse but alas we made some new friends and gave away some T-shorts Jason had made that unfortunately had a typo on our website logo.

We then went out to dinner, had some laughs and flew back to SLC the next day.

It was a good time and I'm looking forward to World Horror Con the end of this month.