Motivational Monday: Thinking "Digit"-ally

[Link] Small Changes

by Emily Miller

There is obviously a political context to this post. A context that difficult things have happened and more difficult things are likely to happen in the future. For people like me, and maybe you, there is a sense of powerlessness, a sense of what we think and what we do doesn’t really matter. 

I also feel like I don’t recognize my country, or maybe that I just hate what my country has clearly become. It’s dispiriting, paralyzing even.

In the face of such challenges, this is not intended to be a pep talk. It is not intended to be a rallying cry (even I’m not quite so narcissistic as to think anyone would rally to a cry I made, I’m nobody). But, contrary to my parenthetic words, this brief article is about the things that a nobody like me – maybe like you – can do. And it’s not hypothetical, it’s based on small things I have actually done, small things I have actually achieved.

So, I write erotic literature if I am feeling pompous, and I scribble porn if I am in a more realistic mood. Some people expect me to be ashamed of this. I’m not. I think any form of consensual and legal sex is a blessing to be cherished and celebrated, not something dirty to be hidden. And it’s fun to write, I deal with real human emotions, as well as procreative bodily functions. 

What difference can smut make in the world? Well maybe not a lot, certainly with my limited audience, but not zero difference either. Here are four examples of small changes I have made in people’s lives through what I write.

Read the full article: https://emilymillerlit.wordpress.com/2024/11/07/small-changes/

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Taylorverse Books releases BAD GIRLS, GOOD GUYS AND TWO-FISTED ACTION!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

​Atlanta, GA -- Taylorverse Books releases all Sean Taylor's pulp stories in a single volume omnibus -- BAD GIRLS, GOOD GUYS AND TWO-FISTED ACTION!

​The book collects all of Taylor's pulp and new pulp action stories from Rick Ruby and Lance Star to The Peregrine and Armless O'Neil, and more. BAD GIRLS, GOOD GUYS, AND TWO-FISTED ACTION also includes a never before published story originally intended for the HOOKERPUNK collection. 

​If that title sounds familiar, it's because it's also the name of his writing blog, which focuses on genre writing. 

​"Folks have told me repeatedly for years now that the name would be perfect for a book, but I never had a reason to use it for one until now," says Taylor. "It really sums up the stories in this new book perfectly. Femmes fatale. Gut-punching heroes. Gun-shots. Out-of-this-world adventures. It's all there."

​​It is in that spirit of pulpy goodness that Taylor offers these stories in a single volume (finally) so fans can one-stop shop for his adventure tales of fisticuffs and derring-do. Stories feature such fan favorites as:

• ​Rick Ruby
• Lance Star
• Agara, Goddess of the Dark Lands
• Ulysses King
• The Peregrine
• Armless O'Neil
• The world of The New Deal
• Aym Geronimo and the Post-Modern Pioneers
• Blackthorn

​​​Charles Ardai, publisher for Hard Case Crime (and Sean's favorite publisher) and author of DEATH COMES TO LATE, says of the collection: “Sean Taylor is a serious student of the pulp arts and keeps the grand tradition alive in his stories. This is escapist fiction the way it used to be done.”

​Gary Phillips, author of ASH DARK AS NIGHT and ONE-SHOT HARRY, adds: "Sean Taylor delivers the thrills and chills in this collection of elevated pulp goodness." ​

​Partnering with Kindle Direct, this new edition be available for the long run both in print and eBook. He will have them for sale on his convention tables and via Amazon in paperback and for Kindle.

​"I'm so happy to finally see all these fun yarns together at last in one book," says Taylor. "These stories are not only near and dear to my heart's yearning for adventure, but they also scratch the itch I have to see how my literary background can influence all my stories, even pulp tales."

​​Sean Taylor writes short stories, novellas, novels, graphic novels, and comic books (yes, Virginia, there is a difference between comic books and graphic novels, just like there's a difference between a short story and a novel). In his writing life, he has directed the “lives” of zombies, superheroes, goddesses, dominatrices, Bad Girls, pulp heroes, and yes, even frogs, for such diverse bosses as IDW Publishing, Gene Simmons, and The Oxygen Network. Visit him online at www.thetaylorverse.com and www.badgirlsgoodguys.com.

Buy from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Good-Guys-Two-Fisted-Action/dp/B0F1384YXL

​​# # #

Motivational Monday: Delicious First Words

[Link] Evocation and allusion: Hemingway’s book titles

by Jeffrey Meyers

The best titles of Hemingway’s novels and stories have biblical and literary sources, poetic evocations of the themes, and allusions to tragedy, trauma and death.  His fiction often returns to his teenage wound and narrow escape from death during World War I in Italy.  By suggesting the physical locales and using bitter irony to foreshadow fatal events, he enhances the meaning of his work, reminds readers of literary associations and draws them into the tales.

The title of The Garden of Eden (published posthumously in 1986) comes from Genesis 3:24, “So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword” to keep Adam and Eve out.  The title warns that the characters’ idyllic life in France and Spain will not last.

A Moveable Feast (1964), with its idiosyncratic spelling, comes from a heading in The Book of Common Prayer (1549): “Movable feasts, Tables and Rules.”  These holidays are not fixed dates like Christmas, but like Easter occur on a different day each year.  Hemingway uses the phrase literally to suggest the endless youthful pleasures of food, drink, sport, friendship, sex and love in Paris during the 1920s.  In Across the River and Into the Trees (1950) Colonel Cantwell says “Happiness, as you know, is a movable feast.”  In the posthumously published True at First Light (1999) Hemingway (himself often a movable beast) calls love a “moveable feast.”  But the melancholy mood beneath the festivities warns that these pleasures cannot last.

In In Our Time (1925) the sketches of life and death, which capture essential moments between 1914 and 1923, ironically echo the hope expressed and invocation denied in The Book of  Common Prayer, “Give peace in our time, O Lord.”  After World War I the soldier Nick Adams experiences bitter trauma rather than tranquil peace.

The Sun Also Rises (1926) comes from Ecclesiastes 1:4-5, quoted in the epigraph:  “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever.  The sun also ariseth,  and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.”  The preacher declares the world is nothing more than “vanity of vanities.”  Men soon die, but the earth lasts forever.  The pristine fishing scenes in the Pyrenees mountains of Spain contrast with the characters’ decadent life in Paris.

In To Have and Have Not (1937), the 1930s Depression theme suggests the struggle for existence; the unequal conflict between the rich and the poor; between those who own and don’t work and those who work but don’t own.  Hemingway quotes Matthew 25:29 to express the economic conditions of the poor: “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

Read the full article: https://www.thearticle.com/evocation-and-allusion-hemingways-book-titles

Crazy 8 Press' Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025 is now on sale!

Are you ready for adventure? Crazy 8 Press' Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025 is now on sale in hardcover, paperback, & ebook! Get yours today! 

To honor and celebrate the bygone era of pulp magazines, Crazy 8 Press has assembled a stellar lineup of writers to produce new thrills and chills, spanning mystery, sword and sorcery, horror, science fiction, romance, and adventures. We will take you to other worlds, other realms, and other times where heroes and heroines battled for justice or survival or just getting through the day.

Thrill to brand new stories from Dan Abnett, Charles Ardai, Liz Braswell, Russ Colchamiro, Win Scott Eckert, Mary Fan, Michael Jan Friedman, Paul Kupperberg, Elliot S Maggin, Jeffrey J. Mariotte, Author Bobby Nash, Christopher Priest, Aaron Rosenberg, Hildy Silverman, William F Wu. Edited by Robert Greenberger. Cover b Jeffrey Hayes.

Each yarn is bigger and better than the one before it!

The Great White Savior (Or Why It's Way Past Time To Retire Tarzan, Sheena, and The Last Samurai)

Oh, boy. I'm about to open a can of worms, I'm afraid. When it comes to pulp fiction, this trope has its grubby fingerprints all over the place. Without Ki-Gor and Tarzan and Allan Quatermain and John Carter, how else would we geographically limited little white boys yearning for adventure learn to picture ourselves in exotic locales? 

And it's not just in books. It's all over our movies. A group of samurai need saving? Call in Tom Cruise and hand that boy a katana. A group of indigenous Americans instead? Oh well, let's russle up Kevin Costner and his six-shooters. 

Examples abound!

• 
  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: While Atticus is portrayed as a moral hero, the narrative centers on his perspective and heroism rather than Tom's experience and agency.
  
  
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett: The story revolves around a young white journalist, Skeeter Phelan, who writes a book about the experiences of black maids in the 1960s South. The narrative often shifts focus from the maids' struggles to Skeeter's journey and growth.
  
  
• The Blind Side (2009): The narrative emphasizes the wealthy white family's role in Michael's success, overshadowing Michael's own resilience and efforts.
  
  
• Dangerous Minds (1995): A white teacher, LouAnne Johnson, takes a job at an inner-city school and is depicted as the savior of her predominantly non-white students, who are portrayed as needing her guidance to succeed.
  
  
• Avatar (2009): A white protagonist, Jake Sully, becomes the savior of the Na'vi, an indigenous alien race, by leading them in a fight against human colonizers. This narrative centers on his transformation and heroism rather than the Na'vi's own resistance.
  
  
• The Last Samurai (2003): A white protagonist, Captain Nathan Algren, joins the Samurai to resist the Emperor and imperialism as part of the Satsuma Rebellion. The story focuses on Algren's journey to be a hero rather than the efforts of the Samurai (wich a few exceptions that need to be shown in how they related to Algren's growth). 
  
  
• The Phantom (comic strip, movie, comic books): While the mask may hide the identity of "The Ghost Who Walks," it never hides the fact that this hero of the jungle is the white man Kit Walker. 
  
  

Sure, those stories fit a niche, and they maybe even convinced some of us to become anything from archeologists and ministerial MDs to Peace Corps members or (for the rest of us) writers. So, that's certainly a good thing, right? These few examples illustrate how the white savior trope often shifts focus from the experiences and agency of non-white characters to the heroism and moral growth of white characters. By recognizing and moving away from this trope, writers can create more authentic and empowering narratives.

A cavaet: A lot of this will be aimed at white writers because historically we've been the most guilty of this trope. But the skills and techniques used to avoid the trope apply to all writers. 

Monday Motivation: Tough Words for Tough Times

[Link] This Is How Reading Rewires Your Brain

According to Neuroscience, reading doesn’t just cram information into your brain. It changes how your brain works. 

by Jessica Stillman

We all know reading can teach you facts, and knowing the right thing at the right time helps you be more successful. But is that the entire reason just about every smart, accomplished person you can think of, from Bill Gates to Barack Obama, credits much of their success to their obsessive reading? 

Not according to neuroscience. Reading, science shows, doesn’t just fill your brain with information; it actually changes the way your brain works for the better as well. 

The short- and long-term effects of reading on the brain.

This can be short term. Different experts disagree on some of the finer details, but a growing body of scientific literature shows that reading is basically an empathy workout. By nudging us to take the perspective of characters very different from ourselves, it boosts our EQ. This effect can literally be seen in your brain waves when you read. If a character in your book is playing tennis, areas of your brain that would light up if you were physically out there on the court yourself are activated. 

Another line of research shows that deep reading, the kind that happens when you curl up with a great book for an extended period of time, also builds up our ability to focus and grasp complex ideas. Studies show that the less you really read (skim reading from your phone doesn’t count), the more these essential abilities wither. 

Read the full article: https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/reading-books-brain-chemistry.html

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION PRESENTS THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE VOL. 3

Curtis Van Loan, wealthy Manhattan playboy by day, masked avenger by night as the Phantom. Now he returns in four new cases by today’s brightest pulp scribes.  From hunting a monstrous gangland killer to rescuing a newspaper journalist, the Phantom’s work is never done. Then a protection racket gets his attention before he flies off to Cleveland to connect with Elliot Ness.

From the pens of Carson Demmans, Fred Adams Jr., Michael F. Housel and Michael Black, here are a quartet of fast-paced, action adventures worthy of the one and only Phantom Detective. Adam Shaw provides the cover art and Kevin Broden the black and white interior illustrations.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

Available now from Amazon in paperback and soon on Kindle.

Introducing "Book Talk with Sean Taylor"

 

Book Talk with Sean Taylor

Your one-on-one fiction coaching, 60 seconds at a time.

Poetry Corner: A Song About America

 

A Song About America

by Sean Taylor

(history's a lie that they teach you in school)

all people are created equal and

endowed with certain unalienable rights

(except, of course, those who aren't)

racism and slavery are state rights

aren't I a woman

whatever happens to a dream deferred

southern trees bear strange fruit

(you never ask questions when gods on your side)

god hates fags

make america great again

protect our female athletes

no men in girls bathrooms

haitians are eating the dogs

no more dei hires

migrants are criminals and animals (or let loose from asylums)

the sin of empathy is the enemy within

very good people on both sides (but our side is gooder)

woke bullshit

(i have a dream)

black lives matter

trans rights are human rights

allyship is action

trans women are women trans men are men

remember the insurrection of January 6

coexist

i ask you to have mercy

i love you land of the pilgrims and so forth

(i hear america singing)

young man, young man, your arms too short to box with god

(c) 2025

Motivational Monday: Disturbing the Peace

[Link] One More Vital Reason Why Community Gives Me Hope

by Charlie Jane

Hi! I wrote a book a few years ago called Never Say You Can't Survive, about using creative writing to get through hard times. I believe that the act of making up stories, creating imaginary friends, getting lost in the fictional worlds you create, can help you make it through some really scary shit.

In fact, I'm here in one piece right now because I've been writing a ton of utterly bizonktastic fiction and comics. I wrote a whole young adult trilogy about queer teenagers fighting space fascists! And I co-created a trans superhero named Escapade for Marvel Comics, and basically I've been goofing around.

A copy of one of my books. I scribbled "Keep daydreaming. Daydreaming is important, serious WORK!!!" And I drew a silly cat picture. Over that is written DAYDREAMING IS THE OPPOSITE OF DOOMSCROLLING

Lately when I sign books for people, I often write the same phrase: "Keep daydreaming. Daydreaming is important, serious WORK." And I usually add a terrible cat picture.    

My motto these days is that daydreaming is the opposite of doomscrolling. So I absolutely believe creativity can save us — and help us save each other. And yet, nothing could have prepared me for the time we're living through right now.

My books are banned in a handful of places, and trans healthcare is becoming illegal in even more places. You honestly can't know what this feels like, until it happens to you. My words and my body are both outlawed.

And I'm bombarded with rhetoric about how my very existence is dangerous. Seeing this image of a dumpster full of queer books outside New College in Florida felt like a slow kick in the solar plexus.

Read the full article: https://buttondown.com/charliejane

Now on sale! Enchanted Tales & Twisted Lore: Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Fables Reimagined - Volume 1

Now on sale! Enchanted Tales & Twisted Lore: Fairy Tales, Folklore, and Fables Reimagined - Volume 1 of The Crossing Genres Anthology Collection featuring my story, "Real Boy." Vol. 2 also on sale. Get yours today! 

Step into a world where the familiar becomes strange, and legends take on new life. Enchanted Tales & Twisted Lore invites you to explore fairy tales, folklore, and fables as you've never seen them before. From the deadly woods of Baba Yaga to space-bound horror on a derelict ship. From a faerie knight hiding behind the innocent face of a toddler to a princess who fights for survival on Mars, these reimagined classics blur the lines between light and dark, hope and danger. With contributions from beloved authors and emerging voices, this anthology offers a spellbinding journey through the fantastical and the fearsome.

Foreword by "monster expert" Dr. Emily Zarka, creator, writer, and host of the popular YouTube series Monstrum.

As a bonus, enjoy the behind-the-scenes peek at the creative process through personal author articles.

Edited by Marx Pyle and J.C. Mastro. Published by Cabbit Crossing Publishing.

The Courageous Soul

For the next roundtable for authors, let's talk about that "Courageous Soul" Kate Chopin said an artist must possess. 

In what ways have you found you had to be courageous as you became a writer? Is it something practical like just having the guts to try to make a living at it or something more cultural by using your work to make a statement?

L. Andrew Cooper: Writing anything for publication involves the possibility of ridicule and rejection and so always requires courage, but beyond that, the amount of courage you need relates to how much of yourself you're willing to expose and what other chances you're willing to take. I believe the best writing involves risk, so it requires a lot of courage.

Ef Deal: The only "courage" I needed to summon was to keep writing although I never sold or made a cent out of it for over 25 years. My husband resented it immensely, but he was someone who'd been paid to play since he was 9 years old. He was impressed that I had a rejection from Lester DelRey, and that I chatted or hobnobbed with writers he knew, but I don't think he ever thought anything would come of my writing until it actually did a few years ago. I never considered it courage, though. I just couldn't not write.

Bobby Nash: I think you have to be pretty courageous to put anything creative out in the wild. People can be cruel.

Brian K Morris: A little of all of them. I realized early on that if I wanted to carve a portion of the market for my work, it had to sound like me. I could sound like it was from a store of knowledge I'd amassed, or a point of view. I believe ANY opportunity to expose your inner workings, especially your heart, leaves you vulnerable and should be approached with derring-do.

Sheela Chattopadhyay: While I might not care much for Kate Chopin's works, I can understand her "Courageous Soul" concept. Taking the risks of being exposed to criticism, authenticity, and integrity are all part of the creative processes for any type of artist. Any artist being defined as working in any type of medium, whether that be writing to music to paint to architecture, etc. I specify that because even your architect has some artistry in the field since science and art do go hand in hand. That being said, building up courage often relies on trusting yourself and your own belief in your creative works.

I found that courage is necessary in general to be able to be oneself. Some of it was practical in wanting to become a better communicator and being able to connect with people better. While I sometimes make a statement with some of my work, I do sometimes have other works that are to help others grow as individuals. I try to leave people better than I found them.

Sean Taylor: I think it's both, at least for me. There will always be the courage of putting myself out there as a writer and finding readers to pick up what I'm laying down (so to speak). But I also believe that, as a friend reminded me today, all art is political, and well, we live in a time when art is under attack, particularly art that doesn't fit a strict and confining definition. Anything that goes beyond a conservative, backward ideal or takes a more critical look at United State politics and culture now seems to be suspect and suspicious and likely to be censored in the days to come, so the pushback is there to only create "safe" art. But I'm not that writer. 

Do you find that courage becomes more "old hat" and just part of your personality as a writer after a while, or do you still feel the butterflies when you put it out there for public consumption and critique?

Jeffrey Vernon Matucha interview

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area and a refugee of the Punk/Metal/New Wave/My-God-what-did-we-do-last-night? daze of the 1980's and early 90's. Born in Palo Alto, raised in Berkeley, and lost in San Francisco on more occasions than I can remember, the stories of the Concrete Jungle can be just as ridiculous and bizarre as they can be intense and tragic, and that's what I try to bring to the fore with my writing.

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

Late last year I published two books at more or less the same time: my short story compilation Short Songs: Tales From the Punk Side, and book five of my Skye Wright series called Requiem Descent. I really did work on both books at the same time, which is a new one for me. Publishing them around the same time was planned!

Short Songs features supporting characters from my Skye Wright series. They were becoming so complex and characters in their own right that they needed stories of their own.

Requiem Descent is the continuation of Skye Wright adventures, in which the weight of the rock and roll world threatens to crush her spirit to the point of her near self-destruction. It’s the fifth book in the Skye Wright series, and could be read on its own, but it’s best to start with book one, The Rise and fall of Skye Wright.

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

Motivational Monday: Can't Use It Up

Sunday Funnies: The Times, They Are A' Changin'