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.

IN MY TIME OF DYING

Its been a long time coming, I started work on this one about three years ago, got a good ways in and set it aside because life gets in the way sometimes, but it was always back there asking to be let loose.

So I pushed myself this early summer and finished up and LO, it was a bigger tale than I thought at first, so in addition to writing a novella that was set after the events of the book, I went back and rethought the storyline to #SAVANT and tweaked it a little. I like thinking of it as TRUE GRIT meets THE PRESTIGE.

So IN MY TIME OF DYING was released just a day ago and is already a bestselling New Release, so I'm grateful to everyone who has grabbed a copy and helps spread the word, I had a lot of folks just jump in and share it, so thank you all!

From the back cover, -

A young woman seeking arcane knowledge. A saint of killers riding shotgun. And an immortal who wants to die… all aboard a runaway train.…

Elizabeth Dee never expected a knock at the door would have her taking sides in a power struggle between two feuding wizards, but she discovers that she is the magical key to a cursed mystery centuries old. As she evades the murderous knights and demonic minions of the sinister Count of St. Germain, she learns more of her own true power and legacy…Her father never prepared her for anything like this…

But it’s dangerous to go it alone and she is going to need some protection, enter the infamous and touched, Porter Rockwell. If the legendary long-haired gunfighter can’t keep her safe, no one can…

Oh, and my son Mathias is becoming quite the artist and I am having him do a few illustrations for the print edition (I may add them to the kindle soon too)

I'd appreciate any of you all grabbing a copy and leaving an honest review, more than ever that is a boon to the writer, Thanks all.

MEMENTO MORI and A MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN CARCOSA should be coming along very soon.

PULP SPEED

I've got enough writer friends out there that this post is kind of a perfect storm of encouragement and moving forward with doing what we love = writing.

I first saw this article by Dean Wesley Smith about Pulp Speed thanks to Jay Barnson and it was one of those posts that kind of makes you go, "Yeah! I need to be doing that!"

I had already meant to make 2017 my year! Producing more and gaining commercial success as well. So far that has been a BIG GO with releasing the novelette Six-Gun Serenade and novel Scavengers which gained a couple different #1 categories and made it to the Top 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 in a dozen categories too! It has done very well its first week out. So pleased with that.

Anyway I was also listening to either the  The Sell More Books Show or the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Marketing Podcast, and one of them last week mentioned someone who said they have a daily word goal of only 50 words a day.

What does that have to do with Pulp Speed and my own work ethic? The whole point was only that at 50 words a day - anybody could find the time to do that and accomplish something - no stress. If you can do more great. But don't get overwhelmed, stressed and therefore accomplish nothing - Do Something!

So I decided that I wouldn't slack off any more and gave myself the modest goal of 500 words a day no matter what - if I could do more than that = great = but no stress. I have beat myself up when I haven't accomplished what I felt I should = usually an unreasonable amount of words but that didn't stop me from still getting depressed about it.

Since then I have accomplished it, doing at least 500 words a day if not more, yesterday was 3,700.
I did do 40K from about December 20th to January 20th and I fully intend to beat that by a good stretch in the next month. I'll let you know.

So in short, I've got a basic relatively easy goal to meet every day (and hopefully beat) to get myself into at least the bottom rung of what Dean Wesley Smith calls Pulp Speed. Pretty sure I can do it, I've got lots of plans for the new year, novels and novelettes are coming in a literal barrage of pulp fiction goodness.

Until next time!

"Scavengers" Chapter One on Audio!

Hey guys and gals!
Not only has Scavengers hit #1 bestseller, my good friends Jason King and  Zach Bjorge even went and surprised me with an audio reading of chapter one! Check it put!

and if your so inclined Scavengers is still on sale for .99 cents for the next 48 hours.

Six-Gun Serenade Rides Out!

And Six Gun Serenade is out of the gate HERE!  

This is an expanded tale that was originally 4 and half K in Hangmen and Bullets, I've more than doubled it, and also have a veritable deleted scene The Money Light - which was cut from Whispers Out of the Dust and then the first chapter of Scavengers which comes out in two weeks.

Here's the description:

The song of the wild west, is played with hot lead notes and some folks gotta learn the hard way.
Schoolteacher Amasa Davison, is invited to join a prospecting outfit and assay gold for them. Turns out it's really a bunch of desperadoes led by a conniving spiritualist who follows the whims of a ghostly Indian princess (so he says) but when the rest of the bandit's start to turn on each other deep in hostile Ute territory, who can a harmless schoolteacher trust? The greenhorn cook, the untested youthful quick draw or the quiet long-haired gunslinger with a killers cold eyes?

Live the excitement and mystery of the old west as you read this novelette plus another great little yarn and an excerpt from the forthcoming Scavengers novel. Treat yourself and delve into a wild treasure hunting adventure!

Download now to enjoy the ride.


(BUT Hey You regular blog readers - It is going to be free right before I do the Scavengers Launch - so even though it is a paltry .99 cents - it will be free on 1/22 -1/23 - 1/24)

I'm trying to get some marketing movement behind Scavengers which comes out on the 24th. So I'll see how this works out.


On top of that I am part of a Marketing promo this week with a slew of other authors. 

Check out this link to see the full list with a massive amount of .99 cent books out today by speculative authors.


http://andreapearsonbooks.blogspot.com/

Weekender Kindle Sale

Today and tomorrow I've got a .99 cent sale running on my  Whispers Out of the Dust 

This was one of the most fun writing and research books I've ever done. It was inspired by a real ghost town that was buried by Lake Mead. It was a fantastic backdrop for what I wanted to do which was essentially do for the American west what M.R.James did for the English countryside and ghosts.
It was also about the fastest I've ever written a book about a month.  Granted it's short at just 53k but still an absolute labor of love.
If you haven't had a chance to check it out please do this weekend since it just a buck!
Just for a taster here is Keith West's review on Goodreads of  Whispers- I was pretty pleased with this one and it's too bad that Amazon wouldn't let him post it because it thought we were related which we're not but such is life. So here it is:

Keith West (Lubbock, TX)’s review of Whispers Out Of The Dust: A Haunted Journey Through The Lost American West

Take the Mormon settlement of the West, mix in some M. R. James and H. Russell Wakefield, throw in a healthy serving of H. P. Lovecraft and a dash of Robert E. Howard, stir in Native American lore, bake in the desert heat and wash down with a lake formed by a damn, and what you’re likely to come up with something that resembles Whispers Out of the Dust.

David J. West has begun to build a body of work in the sub-genre known as the weird western, and his most recent book is a solid addition to the field. It’s also one of his most ambitious projects to date. (And I absolutely love that cover.)

St. Thomas, Nevada was settled by Mormon pioneers, but the area had been home to the Anasazi and other tribes long before. The Mormons, many of them anyway, moved away when they discovered they were in Nevada rather than Utah and Nevada wanted to collect several years of back taxes. Still, the town survived until the Hoover Dam was built, and the waters of Lake Mead covered it up.

That much is historical fact. What David does is add a dose of fantasy which he blends so smoothly that you find yourself believing things you know can’t really be so. (At least you don’t think so.) The footnotes (end-notes, really) certainly add to the feeling of verisimilitude. David includes a number of photos he’s taken, which give you an idea of what the area looks like.

Whispers Out of the Dust traces the story of the area from the first Europeans to wander into the area until the waters cover the town. Along the way there are a number of ghosts, some cosmic horrors, and an appearance of West’s bounty hunter Porter Rockwell (“Right Hand Man”).

The voices and styles here are quite varied. Sometimes a single author collection gets pretty repetitive, and before you’re done all the stories read the same because the author only has one voice. That isn’t the case here.

You have tales told by educated men, by illiterates, by women, by cowboy poets, by Conquistadors. Some are short, and some are not so short, and “Right Hand Man” is downright long. Some ghosts are friendlier than others. Some aren’t friendly at all. There are characters who show up in more than one story, and we see them age and die.

What Whispers Out of the Dust is is supernatural slice of life in a forgotten corner of the United States. Small town and rural communities move at a pace all their own, and while that pace has increased in recent decades due to improved transportation and communication, that slow cadence that arises in an area where everyone knows everyone and people look out for their neighbors is still there. Whispers Out of the Dust catches that pace perfectly and adds a counter-tempo that can only come from a ghost or two hanging about. Or maybe it’s the drums in the hills…

If you like ghost stories, weird westerns, or both, you should definitely check out Whispers Out of the Dust. David J. West is a writer who is not afraid to stretch himself and grow and take literary risks. As I said earlier, this is one of the most ambitious projects by him that I’ve read. His risk-taking is our gain.

Milestones

This has been a long time coming and I gotta tell you it feels pretty damn good!

I was first published in April of 2010. Since then I have had twenty five more Amazon related products released and numerous non-commercially available material and finally today I hit the #1 bestseller list in something! Western Horror to be precise. It is a niche market but as of the last check (because I am compulsively looking) I was at 6,298 overall on Amazon books and even made it into the top 100 Westerns category at slot 78, and slot 175 in Horror.
That little orange badge thrills me to no end.
I believe this is the highest I have ever had a book rank that is mine alone. I did do quite well with the first Space Eldritch collection but even that only ever got to #2 in Space Opera because we couldn't unseat OSC's Ender's Game.


So this is a big deal for me and I am riding high. Cold Slither was already doing relatively good by my standards so I'm keeping on with what I was already planning and having some Porter novel's coming down the pike soon.
Think spaghetti westerns, Peckinpah and a lot of Tarantino grit and wit, along with my own voice and stylings based on this real person I love to make stories up about.

Thanks to everyone who has grabbed a copy for getting me there!

Who is Porter Rockwell

Just who is Orrin Porter Rockwell?

I enjoy thinking of him as a decidedly unique alternative compared to what most people think Mormons are like.

A hard-drinking, gun-fighter, scout, frontiersman, and sometime lawman - Porter Rockwell is to me the quintessential weird western hero.

Sometimes its hard to separate fact from fiction and I may have only muddied the waters with these newly found yarns in my collection of weird western tales starring the infamous Porter Rockwell in  Cold Slither! But you gotta do what you gotta do.

Born in Belchertown, Massachusetts on June 28th 1813, Rockwell was a friend to Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon Church. He was the youngest person baptized into the church upon its founding.  (Thanks Paul for the pic!)

Following the Church as they moved west to Nauvoo, Illinois, he was always a tireless supporter and helped whenever possible during the tumultuous years.

It was after eight months in prison on charges that he was the attempted assassin of Illinois Governor Lilburn Boggs, that Porter was exonerated and found himself back in Nauvoo. Haggard and unkempt, he made his way into Smith's home during a Christmas party.

At first thought to be an unruly attacker, it was then realized he was the prodigal friend returned.
It was here that Joseph Smith prophesied and blessed Porter that if he never cut his hair, no bullet nor blade could harm him. So was born the legend of the Destroying Angel.

Many a dime novel or embittered tell-all novelization featured a bloodthirsty Porter wreaking bloodthirsty ruin upon folk traversing through the Utah territory whilst shouting his terrible curse of "Wheat!"

[Awesome pic by Ryan Wood]

Porter has more murders laid at his feet as a member of the Danites - the church's rumored bloodthirsty enforcers - than any other gunman I can think of. The Salt Lake Tribune tabulated his kills at well over 100! Nobody else is even close. The author of In Mormon Circles, James Coates, says the number has to be closer to 50 to 100.

Of course the Salt Lake Tribune's numbers cannot possibly be true, but even a smaller percentage is still higher than the other infamous gunslingers.

Wild Bill Hickock = 6 or 7?
Billy the Kid = 8

Wyatt Earp = 10?

Doc Holiday = 16 (and the report said that was likely exaggerated)

John Wesley Hardin = 27

Fact and fiction take hard turns in the wild west and as I said its difficult to separate them, the actual accounts from men like Sir Richard Burton have Porter as a congenial fellow, warning the esteemed traveler to beware of white Indians (bandits disguised as Indians) in the mountains. They hit if off so well that Burton upon his return to England later sent a bottle of Brandy to Porter.

In the end, Porter died in bed without a scratch on him at the age of 64. The prophecy had come true despite all the scrapes, Indian wars and gunfights he had been in. The Salt Lake Tribune declared that "the gallows were cheated" but I see it as proof of something divine that defies materialist expectation.

Here's a final quote that I liked so much I had to put it in the book,
 “In his build he was a gladiator; in his humor a Yankee lumberman; in his memory a Bourbon; in his vengeance an Indian. A strange mixture, only to be found on the American continent.”
 — Fitz Hugh Ludlow on Orrin Porter Rockwell

Grab a copy of Cold Slither in print or kindle and I'll be signing copies at Salt Lake Comic Con next week too! 

The Coming of LONE CROW

The Coming of Lone Crow, by Joel Jenkins

I am so glad that my friend Paul McNamee, gave me a heads up on this one. I was intrigued by the cover sporting a few well-known (and not so well known) western historical persons - among them my own weird western incarnation of Porter Rockwell.
I gave the kindle sample and look-see and was hooked. I bought it and have thoroughly enjoyed the 14 odd stories enough that I will have to buy a print copy for my collection - I'm going to reread it and I know I'll want it in paper.

So about the stories - Lone Crow himself is the last surviving member of his tribe who had been taken in and raised by Mormon foster parents giving him a Christianized white mans world view which is also mixed with his mystic Native American side. He is a taciturn type who is well aware of the racist backlash of the times he lives in and yet he has become infamous enough for his supernatural exploits that he gets hired on by the prestigious Miskatonic University for a number of projects.

One of the items that helps him survive these mind bending encounters is his blessed-by-a-prophet eagle butted peacemaker. Being imbued with a sacred blessing allows the gun to actually harm strange creatures that otherwise might be immune to earthly weapons - creatures like the Hounds of Tindalos or the recurring Ulutoth a Lovecraftian old one akin to Cthulhu.

I loved the action and esoteric historic cameo's and all I could think while reading this is WOW! Joel Jenkins is my kind of writer! Several of the stories loosely relate to each other and we are teased with quite a number of references to interesting sounding tales that we never do get a glimpse of - it make for a world we know is much bigger while still retaining a pulp infused rip roaring good time!

I've since chatted with Joel and was told another collection of Lone Crow's stories are coming and I anxiously await that!

I recommend getting a copy here!

Some Reads of Late

I'm awful behind in posting reviews (so I'll limit this to 5 or so) and such, but I have been reading quite a lot this summer - mostly on my kindle and at the day job. . . shhhhhh

Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle is the Way, by Ryan Holiday

I was bookshopping for my birthday at B&N and saw Ego is the Enemy and glancing it over, noticed the Steven Pressfield blurb and then once inside - the author (Holiday) is namedropping Marcus Arelius left and right - always a good sign so I was intrigued enough to read further on and see just what he was trying to say.

I ended up with the audible version and then noticed that my wife, Melissa already had Holiday's previous book The Obstacle is the Way. Each represents positive attitudes in overcoming our daily problems with self mastery and humble yet determined drive.

I don't normally go in for books like these but have to say I really enjoyed them because of how much Holiday uses historical examples as the benchmark of being an outstanding person - so while Holiday is an impressive person in his own right, these really aren't about him so much as other great examples we could all strive to be similar to. And I love reading a mix of historical examples that I know and don't know further reaching into the noble of human character. We need more that this wretched political season.

That Way Lies Madness, by James R. Tuck

I really enjoyed the title story of this two tale collection. The mixture of space and Lovecraft is one I am especially fond of. While it started just a little slow for me, I was soon captured, racing through the pages to see what happened next. That Way Lies Madness is an edge of your seat, nail biting thrill ride for anyone who loves Alien, Outland, The Thing, Space Eldritch or other Lovecraftian type monstrosities in the isolation of space. Bravo Mr. Tuck!


The Life Eaters, by David Brin and Scott Hampton

I've got mixed feelings about this one. It is the first Brin I have ever read and I have heard great things from a few of my online friends. I LOVE the concept of alternate history with Norse Gods being involved with the Nazi's and finding out the real reasoning behind the mass genocide to satiate the gods need for blood and sacrifice and with Loki in the mix thwarting plans of course. All of that is genius and it is a concept that I have thought about many times myself- so I am absolutely on board, being a number one target audience member. But as the story wound on, I found myself disinterested in its execution.  The framing device protagonist didn't grab my interest and a nuke as an answer for dealing with bad guys is kinda blase. Most of the side characters and gods didn't really have any punch to me either.  I found myself very underwhelmed overall. Hampton's art however is great and atmospheric. I think the most damning thing is now that its been a little while since I read it, I'm having a hard time remembering it.

The Curse of Lono, by Hunter S. Thomson

I'm a big fan of Thompson, having read his Hells Angel's before I had any idea he was cult favorite. That reading predated the Depp/Gilliam film too! I've since enjoyed quite a lot of his work and this was the latest I have indulged in.
I imagine that like so much of his other work this is a slightly fictionalized memoir of himself and it bounces all over the place dealing with his trip to Hawaii, fishing and making an ass of himself.
But IF you enjoy Thompson you'll enjoy the dark absurd humor herein - if you don't like Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) I don't imagine you'll like this one either. It is rather open ended as life goes on etc, but still it a fun trip.


The Wendigo, by Algernon Blackwood

I've been meaning to get to this one for some time and while it is slow and brooding, it is enjoyable in that old school atmospheric (there I 'm using that word again) mood. In a lot of ways it seemed to me this could have been shorter - even though its really not that long - maybe its our modern day attention span - but even with setting the mood etc it seemed rather drawn out - but when it gets downn to it - the mystery, the horror, the terror was wnderful. As someone who has camped far out n the wilderness many times, it was easy to feel myself lost n that situation, to feel the claustrobic lonliness and confusion of someone going missing and the lack of answers. Recomended.

Birthday Book Bomb! Weird Tales of Horror

June 22nd was my birthday, on behalf of that, I am releasing my collection of short strange tales collectively entitled Weird Tales of Horror for .99 cents just for today!

I would sincerely appreciate your getting a copy and eventually leaving me a scathing review.

Among those who have had some kind words are the talented Wilum Pugmire and Bruce Durham

"With these tales of many lands and many peoples, David J. West combines an excellent prose style with a brilliant imagination to give us a solid collection of wonderful stories. This is a refreshingly original gathering of weird fiction." --W. H. Pugmire 

"David J. West, author of 'Heroes of the Fallen', is a strong voice in the field of Sword & Sorcery. His work is evocative, featuring deftly drawn characters, exotic locales and energetic tale spinning." -- Bruce Durham

Read Somewhat Lately

King of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence

The second in a marvelous grim dark fantasy trilogy, this really had me turning pages and I only took so long finishing because of how topsy turvy life has been the last few months.

Set in a almost familiar realm, we follow Jorg (now a king by his own hand) as he is beset by two seemingly insurmountable foes in two timelines. We know that he makes it out of one to be telling us about the current predicament but nonetheless we are transfixed with all the brilliant setbacks ferocious young Jorg is dealing with.

I read Prince of Thorns last summer and was very pleased at his setting (which I can't reveal-but needless to say it is gratifying and intriguing).

Things come to a spine-tingling head and I wondered how it would end, alas its all set up for the third book Emperor of Thorns - but at least that is already available. Very recommended for dark fantasy fans.


Space Punisher, by Frank Tieri and Mark Texeira

This came out a couple years ago and I meant to read it back when I was writing Gods in Darkness for Space Eldritch 1 - I was envisioning in my head some of the same brawling action in space.
Space Punisher is a little over the top (its an alternate universe rather than a space mission for Frank Castle) but its got a lot of great one liners and cameo's of Marvel favorites. I especially liked that the Punisher is handling the big bad space mafia better than the Avengers.

I enjoyed the twists and found it interesting but not quite the book I hoped for. Mark Texeira's art is always great and I am excited for Frank Tieri's return to writing Wolverine very soon - he was my favorite writer for that series next to Larry Hama's run in the 90's.

Inside is also Galactus: The Real Story = the greatest hoax ever pulled on mankind, a parody of all the conspiracy shows revealing the real story about perceived threats - I enjoyed it more the second read through.


Some Freaks, by David Mamet

A selection of essays and thoughts by brilliant playwright David Mamet. I always enjoy his insights into drama and human nature, he displays a rare quality of looking at whole subjects and having the wit to put into words some dynamic metaphor to bring it all together in a way I never thought of before.

I enjoyed one section so much that I had to bring in a new chapter into my shortly forthcoming Bless The Child in part based on his little essay The Laurel Crown, simply because I was so moved and had to share a little bit of that same essence.


Red Sonja: Beserker, by Nancy A. Collins and Fritz Casas

I have not bought a Red Sonja book in a very long time, but have been hearing good things about the current run by Gail Simone so I've meant to check it out and I also heard about this one shot Beserker, so having finished this one first (one shots are just easier that way) I'm kinda on the fence about it.
Sonja befriends a polar bear cub (that grows up way too fast in one winter) and then says goodbye.
Years later Sonja is accosted by some dinks that think she is a whore-that chainmail bikini-and what I have hated as an over used premise in too many Conan tales, she is far too easily bested by the local authorities and put in jail. Then thanks to a crooked judge she ends up in an arena for savage amusement. She is to be fed not to the lions but the bear - but its her old bear so they turn and fight their way out. The bear dies to save her and later she returns to enact vengeance.
The art by Casas is great and the look of Sonja wearing the bearskin in the end is cool -very Herculian/Nemeian Lion, but its just a so-so story. Not bad, but not great.


City of the Saints: Part One Liahona, by D.J. Butler

Steampunk old west with a very healthy mix of political intrigue and great twists on historic personages. This is only part one of four and I love it. Again if life wasn't so crazy busy right now I would be all the way through this series-absolutely my favorite read so far this year!

Set in 1859 on the verge of Civil War, multiple characters are converging for the sake of getting in on that Mormon madman Orson Pratt's wonderful inventions. Mark Twain, Richard Burton, and the long thought dead Edgar Allen Poe each vying for either the Union, England and the soon to be Confederacy as well as mysterious forces at work from within the Utah Mormon camp as well - Porter Rockwell and Eliza R. Snow.
All the side characters have me enthralled as well, Butler's writing is the perfect mix of action and drama and has that great way of making you root for all these people that are opposing each other.

The only downside for me was the cliffhanger ending, luckily all 4 of the City of Saints are available ad I'll be continuing on that very soon. If you like historical action and steampunk, I can't recommend this enough.

The Good Kind of Curse

I am on the edge of releasing my charity Sword & Sandals novel BLESS THE CHILD. 100% of the profits will be going toward the Hannah's Hope Fund in so doing I am hoping for both a good amount of press and funds to get to the charity for the sake of research etc, and of course I should like some good karma coming my way for the effort.
I've wondered at the what if? of my lead character and story actually becoming popular enough that a sequel is asked for. Do I want that?

Of course I do.

There is not a sequel planned as yet, it is a standalone novel, I've learned a lesson by having my first novel HEROES OF THE FALLEN end on a cliffhanger and its not something I wish to do again.

But again with the question. What If something is popular and you have to write to it? Robert E. Howard certainly had that problem with Conan the Cimmerian. Had Mr. Howard not suffered an untimely death there would have been a clamor for him to write more Conan stories and yet some scholars have suggested he wanted to leave the Barbarian behind and concentrate on his westerns. I for one enjoy the westerns but hunger for more tales of the Hyborian age over those of Breckenridge Elkins.

Farnsworth Wright, the editor of Weird Tales magazine turned down the notion of any one else writing Conan pastiches for his magazine after the famed authors death even though this would have been a continuing golden egg - it certainly was L. Sprague deCamp.

Other writers have had this conundrum too, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, another Conan! His Sherlock Holmes stories grew wildly popular once he went from novella to short story form until he reached a point of not being able to keep up with with the deadlines of what he deemed low brow entertainment.

I feel for his notion that it was not his best work, but it is what the people wanted. Several years after supposedly killing off Holmes, he had to bring him back. All in all it probably helped the Holmes stories to stay top notch, giving a break and letting people hunger for them rather than becoming routine and formulaic. It effectively increased Holmes immortality.
The Sherlock Holmes enduring popularity is the classic example of a good kind of curse for the writer - one that torments you BUT keeps you in demand, working and making a living.

Would that all of us writers could have that kind of commercial curse.

REH 108 Years: A Perfectly CROMulent Birthday

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite writers - Robert E. Howard

He would be 108.
I had forgotten it was his birthday til a moment ago but was actually listening to my audiobook of "People of the Black Circle" whilst taking the kids to school.

Weird Tales Magazine, the original publication of many of his best stories, posted a great tribute with loads of sword swinging art and several of REH's poems this morning  here. 

and a final thought...

I cannot express enough how much moving to LA just barely makes me feel this way ~

“Barbarianism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is the whim of circumstance. And barbarianism must ultimately triumph”

-REH

Wandering Weeds Bloghop

I meant to post this earlier today, but here goes...

The Wandering Weeds anthology is having a bloghop today with these contributing authors

BLOG TOUR STOPS:

http://francespauli.blogspot.com

http://katiemjohn.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/wandering-weeds-anthology.html

http://katiemjohn.blogspot.co.uk

http://mpaxauthor.com/blog/

http://lmaskill.wordpress.com/my-blog-writing-editing-and-other-stuff/

http://www.adrianeceallaigh.com/

http://vossfoster.blogspot.com/

http://ericjguignard.blogspot.com

http://jaletaclegg.blogspot.com/2012/12/free-short-story.html

http://wanderingweeds.blogspot.com/

rebeccalbrownupdates.wordpress.com

Here is the introductory snippet of my tale GARDEN OF LEGION

The McHenry wagon train, bound for California, persevered through prairie fires, buffalo stampedes, Indian attacks, and even a bout of embarrassing dysentery, but their greatest struggle was when that flower of the prairie, nineteen year old Fannie Burton, became possessed.

Some recollected the pretty little blonde dabbled with an ensorcelled Ouija board stolen from a New Orleans juju man. Her mother claimed the girl was bewitched by a Navajo skinwalker, and still others said she had taunted Satan himself late one night around the buffalo-chip campfire after refusing to say grace. Regardless of the sinister origin, something hideous held the girl in demonic thrall.

The once shy and reserved Fannie swiftly took a rough frontier situation from dreadful to dire and finally to disastrous. She ripped apart the Conestoga’s, devoured the pitiful food supplies, guzzled or smashed their water caskets and, astonishingly, ate a pair of oxen…alive! The company attempted to subdue the normally weak girl many times, but even a dozen of their most able-bodied men were overpowered by the maiden with a newly developed voice that was deep as the pit of Gehenna.

She, or It, or Them, seemed determined to force the desperate McHenry party to die in the wastes, reveling in their cries of desperation and misery. Each day they grew weaker and she, It, or Them grew stronger. All hope seemed lost in the blossoming desert of the American southwest. Tormented by a devil in a black dress, it seemed the party’s bones would soon bleach under a merciless sun.

Being good Christian folk, they prayed for deliverance and a man they later called the desert prophet materialized. He appeared to be of late middle-age, medium height and build, walking barefoot upon the scorching earth and, most important, he could exorcise little Fannie Burton of her demons.

Spying the holy man’s approach, the girl cried aloud and wallowed in the powdered dirt, frothing, vainly trying to hide in a baptism of cinnamon-like soil.

The entire wagon train listened in hushed amazement as the desert prophet communed with the throng of evil spirits inside Fannie. “You don’t belong here. You must leave. I command you in His name.”

“Suffer us to enter into another set of the living,” came the bottomless well of a voice from the convulsing waif. “Even, He,” it gnashed, “was so accommodating.”

“You may enter into whatever lives on the other side of that nearest mountain,” allowed the mysterious holy man.

A vile grin split the girl’s face as her body shook one last time. An almost imperceptible mist spouted from her frame and flew like a swarm of ravenous locusts to the far side of the mountain.

Her own true voice restored, Fannie spoke hoarsely, “Thank you stranger, but who’re you?”

“One of three who tarry,” he answered, drawing her up from the baptism of fine powdered earth. “The demons shall not trouble you again. Go your way in righteousness.”

Fannie ran to her waiting mother and father. As the rest of the McHenry caravan came out cheering from behind their wagons, a dust devil sprang up out of the dunes and the desert prophet vanished.

The McHenry party never caught his name, his tracks vanished into the shifting sands. Their problems were over, but two mountains away, the hell on earth was about to begin...

This weird western (One of my Porter Rockwell's) was a lot of fun and I'm glad it's finally out.

LINKS:

Print in Createspace store: https://www.createspace.com/4081868

Amazon print version: http://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Weeds-Tales-Rabid-Vegetation/dp/1481158767/

Amazon Kindle ebook version: http://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Weeds-Tales-Vegetation-ebook/dp/B00AHGKUUM/

Black Friday ~ RED COUNTRY

"A choice between killing and dying ain't no choice at all."

Red Country, by Joe Abercrombie
is likely my favorite fantasy fiction read to come out of the Big publishers this year (Orbit) I still mean to read a few more from TOR and PYR, but this will be pretty tough to beat.
Anyone else I really liked (published this year) is almost certainly indie.

I don't like giving away spoilers, but there are a few caveats to Abercombies books. The three standalone novels, Best Served Cold, The Heroes and Red Country could be read without having read the First Law Trilogy, but would be much better appreciated IF you have read them. A lot of back-story could be understood, but the true appreciation and context just won't be there.

They are rough, called Grim Dark by some, but I never felt like it was as nihilistic as others have claimed. Brutal perhaps, but in my mind no more so than Unforgiven and not even as terrible and gut wrenching as another favorite of mine =Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.

In any case, Red Country is absolutely a western set within Abercrombies fantasy world. It works as any western should, minus the gunpowder. Every scene and confrontation on the plains or saloon easily felt like it belonged in that American tradition.
Living in the Inter-mountain west, I caught quite a few nuances showing Abercrombies research and attention to detail that I think could have easily been passed over by other storytellers, but for me - it fit. It showed how close and true he worked to make this a great western with realistic touches ~ you have to be realistic.

Without spoiling too much, anyone that has read the books knows that the character laying the biggest mark in Abercrombies universe is Logen, 'The Bloody Nine' Ninefingers, and we've been missing him and wondering what happened to him for the last couple books.

He is back-anyone with any sense will know it is him in the first couple pages, so that's no spoiler. But he has tried to put his past behind him and everyone knows him now as "Lamb" the coward.
But when his step son and daughter are kidnapped, there is gonna be hell to pay and the sleeping giant is awakened.

It was just a little slow going in the beginning (not unlike The Heroes) but once things started to happen-Did they ever.
So many scenes and chapters erupting in my head that I'd love to mention but just can't yet, so many that made me want to cheer and laugh. Abercrombie has a wonderful knack for setting things up that make you so sure on how they will turn out and then turning them on its ear and twisting it upside down. Highly, highly recommended.

I so wish I could get my hands on the UK cover (above) these US covers are seriously lame, I wish a marketing rep could see that, all three of the US stand-alones have terrible covers, why is it so hard to just keep the brilliant UK ones? This US cover tells you nothing, shows nothing, and a basket-hilt rapier swung two-handed? Give me a break.

Abercrombie is a little slower on getting books out, The Heroes was released in February of last year, but I am so anticipating the next one already even if it will likely be 2014.

Unlike some of Abercrombies other books, this had a map-that only made me anticipate a wider travelogue than we  received, not a big deal except for the tantalization of what might occur where - I kept expecting something to go on in the rock formation (canyon lands) The Three Emperors, but nothing did, just my being map happy I guess.

Now I've got a hankering to watch some of my favorite westerns while finishing up my Thanksgiving pie and turkey.

Interview is up on Youtube

We talk about a little bit of everything ~ Lovecraft Mythos, Robert E. Howard, writing, the Elder Sign, Inspiration, Mormonism, Romney,bath salts, and I plug a number of anthos I'm in (or will be in) especially the upcoming Space Eldritch but also IN SITU, Monsters & Mormons, Monk Punk, Unnatural Tales of the Jackalope, etc etc

I enter at about 24 minutes in.