Saturday, May 31, 2014

COMING IN JUNE FROM PRO SE PRODUCTIONS- GHOSTS OF DERIDIAN!

Pro Se Productions, an innovative Publisher of Genre Fiction, announces the first volume of a new Science Fiction series to debut in June. GHOSTS OF DERIDIAN by authors Morgan McKay and Tommy Hancock is the first adventure of perhaps the most unique pair of characters in Science Fiction today.

The cityplanet of Deridian boasts the largest and most varied populace of any orb in ten galaxies. It is also home to the Deridi, six strange figures of energy, the only actual native beings of the strange world. And now the six live as gods at the top of Deridi Tower at the heart of the cityplanet.

And in the shadow of Deridi Tower’s glimmering brilliance lies the decadence and depravity known as The Valley. A kaleidoscope of alien cultures and markets during the day, the network of streets and derelict slavehouses transforms into a maniacal nightmare of danger and crime as the moons rise.
In the Valley, anything can happen to anyone.

A boy, a human outcast, once a slave and now known as ‘The Terror of the Valley’ at age fifteen. A girl, a member of a proud, yet warlike insectoid race hated by nearly every soul in the known universe, cut off from her own people. Both of them alone in the most horror ridden section of the cityplanet. Until one is accused of murder and the other threatened with death because of her race. Now two solitary souls are fugitives together, trying to find a way out.

And all the while, images of The Deridi shine from the top of the tower above them. Looking down on them like ghosts, watching as two strangers unravel the secret that may destroy an entire cityplanet.

GHOSTS OF DERIDIAN by Morgan McKay and Tommy Hancock features the debut of Sajay and Niles, a duo like few others in Genre Fiction. Equal parts science fiction thriller and coming of age story, this first volume in a new science fiction series from Pro Se Productions exposes readers to a world where being different is the only chance for survival.

Featuring a fantastic cover by Jeff Hayes and logo design and cover formatting by Percival Constantine, GHOSTS OF DERIDIAN will be available in June 2014 from Pro Se Productions.

For more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Friday, May 30, 2014

David Wright -- Maybe His Brother's Keeper After All

Tell us a bit about your latest work. 

My first novel has just been published by White Rocket Books. It is called My Brother’s Keeper and it is the first in a planned three-part series called Galahad’s Doom. It is Swords & Sorcery fantasy adventure with a spiritual theme. It is primarily a story about two brothers, Galen and Lucas Griffon, and the different paths their lives take, but I also weave a bunch of other story threads, as well.

I remember as kid growing up in the 80s, all the controversy surrounding Dungeons & Dragons and how it was an occult practice. Yet in the early 2000s, a lot of the same type of conservative groups that had condemned D&D were now praising the Lord of the Rings movies for their Christian message.  Both instances confused me. I didn’t see the Devil in D&D and I didn’t see Jesus in Lord of the Rings, and I found it very interesting that there seemed to be a contradiction there.

It occurred to me that, in a day of Harry Potter stories that seemed to grow increasingly darker and draw increasing concern from watchdog groups, perhaps there was room within the fantasy genre to demonstrate a lighter sensibility. So I ended up with a spiritual theme to my book.

Galen is a young soldier who finds himself torn between duties to church and state; he must choose if he will serve his king or his god. Where Galen’s crisis is spiritual in nature, Lucas struggles with the physical and the emotional. He routinely makes bad choices and finds himself fighting for survival and acceptance. Meanwhile, there are wizards and demons secretly vying to control the fate of the world and war is brewing.

The backstory is that a religion called The Way was originally brought to this world by Saint Galahad from the World of Adam. Before he died, the Saint received a vision of a cataclysmic future. Not so much End-of-the-World Armageddon, but more like The Great Flood, where the whole world was wiped out for the purposes of basically starting over. But will this coming disaster end with all evil removed from the world, or all good? That is what is at stake in the Saint’s prophecy, which is known as Galahad’s Doom.

And, of course, Galen may just find himself at the heart of the prophecy as events begin to unfold.

I’m very excited about the book, very pleased with how it came out. I hope folks will check it out.

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

I don’t have a large body of work. I work during the day as a mild-mannered video producer. I began writing fiction in 2007. Since then, I have had a total of four short stories published and now this novel.

I had two stories appear in The Sentinels: Alternate Visions (White Rocket Books), a story and a poem in Gideon Cain: Demon Hunter (Airship 27) and then earlier this year Seventh Star Pressed published a story of mine in Hero’s Best Friend.

So I don’t know if I have a large enough body of work to recognize any threads. Although both Galen and Gideon Cain are spiritual, I suppose. And racial tensions are present in two of my short stories as well as My Brother’s Keeper.

My Hero’s Best Friend story, “Wind of Change”, is set in the same world as my novel and features two of my favorite supporting characters. It’s basically an origin story, telling how these two characters—one of which is a hawk—first meet each other.

Galen’s story is a planned trilogy and I have all kinds of ideas for short stories set in the same world, so I imagine all of those will end up sharing common themes.

What would be your dream project? 

Well, my dream would be that somehow this novel catches on with the general public and is successful enough to allow me to write future installments on a full-time basis. I have been developing this setting and these characters for years and I’m full of story ideas. I live with a constant anxiety that I will never get these stories told before I die.

Or maybe I should say I’d love to one day serve as producer and creative consultant of the feature film adaptation of my book series.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do? 

My only regret is that I waited until 2007 to start writing. I wonder what I would have accomplished by now as a writer if I had just decided to pursue this wonderful hobby much earlier in life.

My father actually passed away in the middle of the writing of My Brother’s Keeper. And I ended up drawing on that experience towards the end of the book when Galen found himself with questions about this father.

My dad gave me my joy of reading and he and I enjoyed the same types of stories. He would have loved this book. So if I had a do-over, I’d only wish I had started in time to allow him to read the finished product.

What inspires you to write? 

I’m not so much inspired as driven. As I said, I’m filled with anxiety that I might not ever tell all the stories I want to tell. There’s a constant, gnawing urgency that I often must ignore because of more pressing concerns.

It’s not so much that I want to write, as it is I must write.  Does that make sense?

What writers have influenced your style and technique? 

The obvious influences on this book are JRR Tolkien, Sir Thomas Malory and Howard Pyle. And probably Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I’m also influenced by my peers such as yourself, Van Plexico, Ian Watson and a bunch of others.

I’m also influenced by my own sense of visual storytelling. I’m a 20-year veteran in the world of video production and through that I’ve developed my own sense of how to build a scene and convey the action in an interesting way.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug? 

Right now, I’m just trying to promote My Brother’s Keeper. It will be debuting at the Alabama Phoenix Festival in Birmingham, May 30-June 1st.   I am more than halfway through writing the sequel, which will be called “Marching As To War”.

There are Amazon links on my page at www.whiterocketbooks.com and I’d love for everyone to follow my blog at galengriffon.blogspot.com. More than anything, I crave conversation and discussion with readers of my book. I encourage everyone to talk to me after they’ve read the book.

Thank you, Sean. I appreciate you giving me the chance to talk about my book.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

PRO SE OPENS SECOND VOLUME OF ‘HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY’ TO WRITERS-‘HISTORY’S HEROES’

Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of New Pulp, announces today an open submissions call for a second volume of one of the company’s anthologies. Narrowing the focus for the second collection, Pro Se Productions invites writers to submit proposals to High Adventure History: History’s Heroes.

“The response,” says Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “to the first High Adventure History volume has been good and interesting as well. We’ve had a lot of compliments on the book as it is, but also probably just as many requests for a follow up volume that features fictional high adventure tales starring actual historical figures. And that, quite simply, is what High Adventure History-History’s Heroes is meant to be.”

High Adventure History-History’s Heroes can be set in any time period up until 1900 and must feature as the lead character an actual historical figure. No magic, paranormal, or extraordinary devices may be worked into the story and the stories must have a ‘high adventure’ quality, that meaning that these are not mysteries or political intrigues, but tales that place the hero in perilous situations on a quest of some sort or battling odds that he or she has little chance of surviving.

Stories for High Adventure History-History’s Heroes must be 10,000 words in length. A proposal of 100-500 words must be submitted to submissions@prose-press.com. Authors not previously published by Pro Se Productions must submit a writing sample of at least two pages with their proposals. Authors whose proposals are accepted must submit the first four pages of their accepted stories as quickly as possible for review by Pro Se staff. Final deadline for completed stories is 90 days following acceptance of proposals.

High Adventure History-History’s Heroes is scheduled for publication in late 2015 by Pro Se Productions.

For more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Monday, May 26, 2014

PRO SE OPENS SECOND VOLUME OF ‘BLACK FEDORA’ TO WRITERS-‘GANGSTERS ONLY’

Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of New Pulp, announces today an open submissions call for a second volume of one of the company’s anthologies. Narrowing the focus for the second collection, Pro Se Productions invites writers to submit proposals to BLACK FEDORA: GANGSTERS ONLY.

“America loves gangsters,” says Tommy Hancock, Pro Se Editor in Chief and Partner in the company. “At least they love them as characters in stories. And we’re talking about the traditional gangster, the guy in the fedora with the Tommy gun in his hands, the moll on one arm, and every badge in the world out to get him. From the 1920s through the 1940s, the image of the American criminal in the public’s minds often dressed well, carried themselves with a certain panache, and had a sort of swagger. But, in reality they were cold blooded killers, ruthless men who mixed business and murder like bartenders mixed martinis. We want both in these stories, the style and the substance of the classic gangster. It’s a fitting focus for a follow up volume of BLACK FEDORA.”

BLACK FEDORA: GANGSTERS ONLY stories must be set between 1925 and 1949 and must deal with gangsters as perceived in that time frame. Stories must take place in the United States primarily, although scenes in other countries may be included as well. No extranormal influences or situations are to be included in these stories, such as magic, super powers, the paranormal, etc. These stories must focus on a central character as well and that character must be a gangster of some sort as previously described.

Stories for BLACK FEDORA: GANGSTERS ONLY must be 10,000 words in length. A proposal of 100-500 words must be submitted to submissions@prose-press.com. Authors not previously published by Pro Se Productions must submit a writing sample of at least two pages with their proposals. Authors whose proposals are accepted must submit the first four pages of their accepted stories as quickly as possible for review by Pro Se staff. Final deadline for completed stories is 90 days following acceptance of proposals.

BLACK FEDORA: GANGSTERS ONLY is scheduled for publication in late 2015 by Pro Se Productions.

For more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

AUTHOR PERCIVAL CONSTANTINE BRINGS ‘LUTHER CROSS’ TO PRO SE SINGLE SHOT SIGNATURE LINE


Pro Se Productions, a cutting edge of Publisher of Genre Fiction, welcomes popular New Pulp Author, Percival Constantine, creator of The Myth Hunter novel series, as one of the charter authors for the new Pro Se Single Shot Signature line to debut this month. Constantine will pen a series for the digital single imprint entitled ‘Luther Cross’

“When I first heard of the Pro Se Single Shots, “ says Constantine, “I thought it was a brilliant way to take advantage of the ebook format in a way that allows for different types of storytelling. Serialized short stories are a staple of the pulps, and it's wonderful that technology now allows authors to experiment with a different format, as well as giving readers an affordable opportunity to enjoy a large quantity of quality tales.

The title character, Luther Cross, is a paranormal investigator who wages a war against the things that go bump in the night. He's a character inspired by the likes of the Winchester Brothers, John Constantine, and Daimon Hellstrom. The offspring of a demon, Cross is armed with a lifetime of studies dedicated to the occult, a degree of magic competence, and demonic abilities.

Percival Constantine is proud to be part of the New Pulp movement as an author, editor, and book formatter. Born and raised in the Chicago area, Percival has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Mass Media from Northeastern Illinois University and currently lives in Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture, where he also works as a literature and writing instructor. His first book, Fallen, was published in 2007 and he has since written a number of other works for PulpWork Press, Pro Se Productions, Airship 27, and others. He’s perhaps most well-known for two of his pulp series, Infernum and The Myth Hunter. View all of Percival’s books here.

Percival is also a contributor for WhatCulture and GaijinPot, as well as the Regional Partner for Kagoshima at JapanTravel. You can connect with Percival on Twitter at @PerConstantine, subscribe to his Facebook page, or follow him on Goodreads. His website is PercivalConstantine.com.

Percival Constantine’s ‘Luther Cross’ will debut in June 2014.

Percival also hosts The Exploding Typewriter: Pulp Writers on Writing Pulp, a podcast featuring various New Pulp creators discussing their craft. He also co-hosts The Geek Screen podcast with John Bracich, where the two comment on movie and TV adaptations of comic books.

For interviews with Percival Constantine or more information on his imprint or the Pro Se Single Shots Signature Line, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Friday, May 23, 2014

NEW PULP PUBLISHER OPENS SUBMISSIONS FOR ANTHOLOGY INVITING WRITERS TO BE ‘RUNYONESQUE’.


Pro Se Productions, a Publisher of New Pulp and Genre Fiction, announces a call for submissions today for an anthology honoring one of America’s most loved authors. Damon Runyon crafted a New York and Broadway all his own, replete with colorful characters and a criminal Underworld like no other throughout his writing career, so much so that a word was created to identify when a story was told in the style of Runyon. And Pro Se Productions now asks writers to submit proposals to its anthology of such tales- RUNYONESQUE.

“Damon Runyon,” says Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se, “did more than simply influence and inspire ‘Guys and Dolls.’ His extremely clever use of dialogue- mingling formal speak with slang of the period- made each of his stories sing with their own melody. His ability to create characters that were somehow simultaneously over the top yet still down to earth endeared him to readers of all stripes, including the very New York types that he included in the stories. But I think the greatest thing about Runyon’s work is his seamless marriage of two different literary worlds- that of crime and gangsters, the shadier side of New York and Broadway wedded perfectly with the human interest story, replete with pathos and humor, gats and dames notwithstanding.”

RUNYONESQUE will feature stories written in the style of Damon Runyon’s original works as well as within the period depicted in Runyon’s tales, roughly 1920-1940. The stories accepted for this volume will not feature characters or cite situations created by Runyon, but rather original characters created by the authors involved in stories very much in the style Runyon created. An online reference for Runyon’s work can be found at http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks11/1100651h.html

Stories for RUNYONESQUE must be 10,000 words in length. A proposal of 100-500 words must be submitted to submissions@prose-press.com. Authors not previously published by Pro Se Productions must submit a writing sample of at least two pages with their proposals. Authors whose proposals are accepted must submit the first four pages of their accepted stories as quickly as possible for review by Pro Se staff. Final deadline for completed stories is 90 days following acceptance of proposals.

RUNYONESQUE is scheduled for publication in 2015 by Pro Se Productions.

For more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

CLASSIC PULP AUTHOR’S NEW PULP SERIES DEBUTS FROM PRO SE PRODUCTIONS

A publisher known for New Pulp and Genre Fiction, Pro Se Productions is proud to announce the release of the latest novel from a classic Pulp Author. SNATCHED! A KATE AND CRAIG SUSPENSE STORY by Charles Boeckman is now in print from Pro Se Productions.

“Although we’re closely identified with New Pulp,” says Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “Pro Se Productions has made no secret about the origins of this style we love so much. And Charles Boeckman is not only one of the few living authors from the era of Classic Pulps, but he was also a most prolific author who felt comfortable in every genre from mystery to western to romance. To have the chance to not only publish a new work by Mr. Boeckman, but also for it to be the first book in what promises to be a great series that reads like a classic two fisted tale from Pulp Fiction’s golden age is just fantastic for Pro Se and Pulp fans everywhere.”

The daughter of a Texas mayor is kidnapped. Enter Private Investigators Kate McHaney and Craig Dawson. Their job-Find the kidnappers and get the girl home safely. But murder happens. Twice. And bullets fly, both at and from the tumultuous partnership of McHaney and Dawson. A partnership that has led them through marriage, divorce, in and out of each other’s arms, and may just end up getting them killed!

In 1945, Charles Boeckman sold his first pulp story. Boeckman, age 93, still regularly produces highly rated mystery stories. SNATCHED! A KATE AND CRAIG SUSPENSE STORY By Charles Boeckman from Pro Se Productions is the first adventure of a pair of private eyes with much more in common than mystery and murder.

In a Boeckman tale, action comes fast, one darn thing after another. SNATCHED! Is a perfect example of Boeckman’s style. The mayor’s teenage daughter is kidnapped as she gets out of high school one afternoon. That presents problem number one for two Private Eyes, Kate McHaney and Craig Dawson. Find the kidnappers. But the problems keep on coming. A murder? And then a second murder. Sprinkle in a few shootouts when Craig blazes away with a pistol in each hand. Add in the love/hate relationship between Kate and Craig that keeps them entangled with one another. All that and more mixes together to make SNATCHED! A KATE AND CRAIG SUSPENSE STORY, the first volume in a new series by Charles Boeckman is a sure fire New Pulp Classic right off the shelf.

Featuring a wonderful cover by Terry Pavlet with logo and print design by Percival Constantine, SNATCHED! A KATE AND CRAIG SUSPENSE STORY is now available via Amazon and Pro Se’s own store at http://tinyurl.com/qfzxmxh for $9.00. The new digest novel will be available as an ebook as well within days.

SNATCHED! A KATE AND CRAIG SUSPENSE STORY by Charles Boeckman. Now available from Pro Se Productions.

For interviews with the author or more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

PRO SE PRODUCTIONS HOLDS OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS TO ANTHOLOGY THAT TAKES READERS ‘BACK TO OZ’!

An independent publisher of Genre Fiction, Pro Se Productions announces today an open call for submissions for a new anthology set in a land that has thrilled generations of children and adults for over a century. Pro Se Productions invites creators to take a trip BACK TO OZ!

“It amazes me,” says Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se, “how many requests we get a month for Pro Se to do an Oz book. It’s actually a thought I’ve had for awhile, being a fan of the wildly inventive and exciting world that L. Frank Baum took his own children, then the rest of us since, to with words full of his own personal childhood wonder. And although many readers will definitely recall the film version of Oz or maybe even some of the more recent, rather interesting takes on Baum’s work, BACK TO OZ will follow the yellow brick road right behind the original fourteen books.”

BACK TO OZ will feature stories utilizing only the material from L. Frank Baum’s original 14 Oz books. Authors may introduce new characters into the mythos, but any characters created in later versions of non Baum Oz books cannot be used. Also, although authors are not encouraged to mimic or mock Baum’s style, the stories must be written in the same flavor as the original tales. Only elements that were present or indicated in the original fourteen books will be allowed.

“So many books,” continues Hancock, “in the last several years about Oz have taken alternative views. ‘What if Oz was ravaged by war?’ or ‘What if Oz was really this dystopian hell?’ and so forth. Although there is a place for those sort of tales, maybe even at Pro Se, that place isn’t this anthology. In BACK TO OZ, we want readers to rediscover why they fell in love with Baum’s books originally and we want to see writers tackle one of the greats and do it justice. And don’t think that that means these have to be stories that only children will enjoy. Oz is one of those lands of lore that thrill all ages.”

Stories for BACK TO OZ must be 10,000 words in length. A proposal of 100-500 words must be submitted to submissions@prose-press.com. Authors not previously published by Pro Se Productions must submit a writing sample of at least two pages with their proposals. Authors whose proposals are accepted must submit the first four pages of their accepted stories as quickly as possible for review by Pro Se staff. Final deadline for completed stories is 90 days following acceptance of proposals.

BACK TO OZ is scheduled for publication in 2015 by Pro Se Productions.

For more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Friday, May 16, 2014

MULTIFACETED AWARD WINNING AUTHOR PLEXICO TAKES ON PRO SE SINGLE SHOT SIGNATURE SERIES


Pro Se Productions, a cutting edge of Publisher of Genre Fiction, welcomes noted author of New Pulp, Superhero fiction, and Nonfiction Van Allen Plexico to the charter lineup for the PRO SE SINGLE SHOT SIGNATURE line of digital singles.

“I'm thrilled,” says Plexico, “to once again work with Pro Se Productions and Tommy Hancock on a project that gets me very excited. The ideas for the Alpha/Omega universe have bounced around my head for years but something about just chatting with Tommy always gets the wheels turning, and now everything has fallen into place. Readers can expect a rollicking near-future space opera in the style of Firefly, Space: 1999 and James S A Corey’s Expanse series, with lots of adventure, big ideas, cliffhangers, and cosmic shoot-em-up action!”

ALPHA/OMEGA is new serialized near-future space opera adventure from Van Allen Plexico, author of the Shattering and the Sentinels series. A peaceful, international scientific research base orbiting Alpha Centauri-A. A military coup aboard a starship headed to resupply that base. A terrible, dark secret concealed on the moon of Amphion.

General Thomas Jefferson Davis and his UN commando squad have just jumped headfirst into a hornets’ nest of cosmic proportions. But—are they the good guys in this story… or the bad?
ALPHA/OMEGA by Van Allen Plexico will be bi monthly and debut In July 2014.

Van Allen Plexico is an award-winning and Amazon.com best-selling author, editor and publisher. His work for Pro Se has included the adventures of Kerry Keen - The Griffon (in THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE GRIFFON), Hawk (in PRO SE PRESENTS), and other Military SF Pulp. He is best known for his Sentinels superhero novels and the "Assembled!" nonfiction books about Marvel's Avengers, as well as various other novels, novellas and short stories for a variety of publishers. He is host of the White Rocket Podcast and the Wishbone Podcast and a columnist for the War Eagle Reader, and in his spare time serves as Assistant Professor at Southwestern Illinois College, near St Louis.

For interviews with Van Allen Plexico or more information on his imprint or the Pro Se Single Shots Signature Line, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Revisting Comic Book Arc Length -- Shane Berryhill

What determines the completeness of a comic book story arc of any length?

In the case of SHERWOOD, TEXAS, we knew from the beginning that we have a finite amount of issues to work with in regard to the first story arc. And that was perfectly fine. It meant the tale we were telling would be lean and mean and have no room for BS. But, traditionally, most stories occur in three acts. Ergo, there’s a beginning, middle, and end. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a one act story or a twelve act story. A story’s complete when the tale is told. End of story (pun intended ;).

How do you work in the beginning, middle and end of individual issues against that of the central story's begging, middle and end?

In SHERWOOD, TEXAS, what I did was take a “fractal” approach to plotting the script. That is, I had a very general premise (ie, the central story: Robin Hood reimagined as a modern day biker epic in a Texas Border town) that comprises the full arc. Then, I broke that down into more concrete terms between issues. For example, I took that main premise and broke it down into five minor premises (the five issues comprising the first story arc). Then I repeated that for each page of each issue, then each panel of each page until the parts equaled the sum and vise-versa.

Let's look at writing for various length stories. From a plotting perspective, how is working on an anthology story (6-10 pages) different from working on a stand-alone issue story or a multi-part story filling several issues?

My first true published comics work was a three-page short that appeared in Grayhaven’s ‘Hey, Kids!’ comics anthology issue. Working with such a limited amount of pages forced me to be creative. So what I did was throw out what they’d actually brought me on board to write (haha) as I knew it wouldn’t work within the confines of the allotted page count. I realized that what I had to do was work in broad strokes that, not only told a complete story, but also offered readers an instant emotional connection to the character(s). So I wrote a Jack Kirby tribute that borrowed ‘devices’ from Thurber’s ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.’ In essence, the space I had to work in defined the content and tone of the story I told. I think I did a decent job as, once Grayhaven saw the finished pages, they never even brought up the fact that the story wasn’t what they’d asked me to script, haha.

But longer doesn't necessarily mean better. Writing is about cutting out whatever's unnecessary. Even when writing a multi-issue story arc, every panel of every page should be driving the reader forward to the story's completion. Anything that doesn't do that arguably needs to be left on the editing room floor. You're only doing your job as a writer if the reader keeps turning pages to see what happens next.

Monday, May 12, 2014

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now #288 -- Character and World in Pulp Fiction

How much should character and world interrelate in pulps? 
What's more important, building the world or creating the character?

I love this question. I really do. I'm a huge fan of making the world (or you can call it the setting if you feel like it) a genuine character in the story. It's why I absolutely adore the Starman series by James Robinson, and it's also why my favorite Batman stories are not the ones actually about Batman himself, but instead the ones about Gotham City and its inhabitants and how Gotham shapes who its people (good and evil and otherwise) are.

So, to apply all that to pulps (which both of those series have a lot in common with, to be fair), I think the world should help shape the character of the, well, character. I feel that if a character (main or secondary or even foil) could be moved from setting to setting without that fundamentally changing who that character is, then that's a failure of the writer to make the setting crucial to the story and to make the character unique to the setting. In that sense, neither is important.

A case in point... When you take a character like Rick Ruby out of New York, it should affect him some way. A story with Rick Ruby in Chicago or L.A. would change the way he works, would throw him off his game, would cause him to think differently, cause him to be a different (in effect) Rick Ruby than he usually is. And it is the writer's job to make that visible to the reader.

I think this is a point where a lot of the more poorly written pulps of the classic era and today's New Pulp era break down and become what some refer to as "mere" pulp. I think there's a wealth of writers both classic and new who are able to take the world-building aspect of writer literature (but not with a snotty capital 'L') and apply it to pulp fiction in a way that raises the standard from "mere" pulp to the best pulp.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

CALL OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR PRO SE’S FORAY INTO ‘SHUDDER PULP’!

Known as a leading publisher of New Pulp, Pro Se Productions announces a call for submissions today for an anthology that harkens back to a genre popular in the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction. Bizarre villains, horrific crimes, and brutal torture typified what many refer to as ‘weird menace’ stories. Now, Pro Se invites writers to try their hand at this classic Pulp trope in its latest anthology- SHUDDER PULP.

“Horror,” says Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief of and Partner in Pro Se Productions, “is a genre that has thrilled and chilled fans since the first stories about monsters and men were told around campfires way back when. It reached a high point, many fans believe, in the era of the Shudder Pulps. Tales that aimed to terrify as well as enthrall readers with action and over the top storylines reached brand new highs- or lows, depending on your point of view- in the 1930s with the development and popularity of the Weird Menace sort of tales. And even though the horror genre has gone a variety of other directions since, there is still something about the formula of those classic Pulp tales that makes doing SHUDDER PULP exciting.”

The formula for stories that would fit into SHUDDER PULP may include an extremely malevolent villain, be it a scientist, supernatural being, etc., with a plot to bring horrible evil upon the world. Also, stories usually include a hero/heroine who has to not only uncover the plot of his/her nemesis, but also must save someone from horrific, unimaginable torture at the hands of the villain. Cults, high tech threats that seem to be supernatural and archaic, torture, murder, and sadistic acts calculated to scare readers, with a decent dose of heroic action and mystery thrown in, can all also be a part of stories for this anthology.

One requirement for SHUDDER PULP is that all elements of the stories must be original and created by the author. Public domain characters or concepts, such as the Lovecraftian mythos, are not to be a part of the submitted stories. The stories must be completely original.

Stories for SHUDDER PULP must be 10,000 words in length. A proposal of 100-500 words must be submitted to submissions@prose-press.com. Authors not previously published by Pro Se Productions must submit a writing sample of at least two pages with their proposals. Authors whose proposals are accepted must submit the first four pages of their accepted stories as quickly as possible for review by Pro Se staff. Final deadline for completed stories is 90 days following acceptance of proposals.

SHUDDER PULP is scheduled for publication in 2015 by Pro Se Productions.

For more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

HOORAY FOR ‘HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY’-LATEST ANTHOLOGY OPEN FOR SUBMISSION FROM PRO SE PRODUCTIONS

Pro Se Productions, a leading independent Publisher specializing in Genre Fiction and New Pulp, announces an open call for submissions to a new anthology set in the Golden Age of Tinseltown-HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY!

Hollywood. A city of Magic and Mayhem! A mystical land founded in celluloid and scandal and peopled with stars, mavens, ingénues, and the movers and shakers that made them! Even though we all know the truth behind the glitter, we all look to that nearly fabled town with a sort of awe. And we all think back on its classic era, from its beginnings through the 1950s, when being a star meant something to everyone. And when crime walked hand in hand with Hollywood’s finest down the proverbial red carpet.

HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY will feature three to six stories set in Hollywood’s early years and Golden Age (1912-1959). From its humble origins all the way through the days of Bogart, Wayne, Cooper, Davis, Hayworth, Hepburn, and more, Hollywood is the setting. And the genre is very much mystery. Not crime or noir, but whodunits, murder cases, putting the pieces of the puzzle together to catch the bad guy. And in the leading role as the hero or heroine. Your favorite Hollywood personality from that period.

Cast Mickey Rooney as a pint sized armchair shamus. Have Errol Flynn swashbuckle his way through a murder. Take your favorite classic movie star or even someone obscure and rare and plop them into the middle of a situation that they must solve to survive.

Stories for HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY must be 10,000 words in length. A proposal of 100-500 words must be submitted to submissions@prose-press.com. Authors not previously published by Pro Se Productions must submit a writing sample of at least two pages with their proposals. Authors whose proposals are accepted must submit the first four pages of their accepted stories as quickly as possible for review by Pro Se staff. Final deadline for completed stories is 90 days following acceptance of proposals. Any style of mystery (hard boiled, cozy, procedural, etc) is acceptable.

HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY is scheduled for publication in early 2014 by Pro Se Productions.

For more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Friday, May 9, 2014

BLACK CENTIPEDE CREATOR SIGNS ON FOR SERIES IN PRO SE PRODUCTIONS SIGNATURE LINE


 

Pro Se Productions announces that the creator of one of the most popular New Pulp franchises in the last 3 years is bringing a different view of his fictional world to a series as a part of the PRO SE SINGLE SHOT SIGNATURE line. Chuck Miller, the man behind The Black Centipede and his wild cast of supporting characters, will show even more of why his work is often referred to as ‘Psychedlic Pulp’ in his digital single series-THE FABULOUS WORLD OF ZENITH.

“In THE FABULOUS WORLD OF ZENITH,” says Miller, “we will examine the world of the Black Centipede, Vionna Valis, Mary Kelly and Doctor Unknown Junior from a variety of strange and oblique angles.

“Zenith, of course, is the city in which the Black Centipede and the other characters in his circle of friends and foes make their home. The series will feature both standalone short stories and multi-part epics. In the first of these, we will be taking a look into THE JOURNAL OF BLOODY MARY JANE. For the first time, in her own words, we will have a glimpse into the life of the Black Centipede's closest friend and most implacable opponent, the mysterious and deadly Mary Jane Gallows.

"What happened to her after she killed Lizzie Borden's father and stepmother in 1892, and before she returned to Fall River, Massachusetts in 1927? You will thrill to her surreal encounters with Ponce De Leon, Cotton Mather, Professor James Moriarty, Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, Doctor Herbert West, Mary Pickford, H. P. Lovecraft, and many others-- including her father, the diabolical genius known as Jack the Ripper. Follow her as she struggles to understand just who and what she really is, and carves out her own unique place in the world.”

Future installments of the series will focus on Vionna Valis, Mary Jane Kelly, Dana Unknown, Jack Christian, Doctor Unknown Senior, Percival Doiley, Stan Bartowski, and other heroes, criminals, lunatics and more-or-less ordinary citizens who inhabit THE FABULOUS WORLD OF ZENITH!

THE FABULOUS WORLD OF ZENITH by Chuck Miller will debut In April.

Chuck Miller was born in Ohio, lived in Alabama for many years, and now resides in Norman, Oklahoma, for reasons best left to the imagination. He is a Libra whose interests include monster movies, comic books, music and writing. He holds a BA in creative writing from the University of South Alabama.

He is the creator/writer of TALES OF THE BLACK CENTIPEDE, THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF VIONNA VALIS AND MARY JANE KELLY, THE BAY PHANTOM CHRONICLES, and THE MYSTIC FILES OF DOCTOR UNKNOWN JUNIOR. He has also written stories featuring such classic characters as Jill Trent: Science Sleuth, Armless O'Neil, The Griffon, and others.

Miller received the BEST NEW WRITER OF 2011 Award from Pulp Ark. His first novel, the critically acclaimed "Creeping Dawn: The Rise of the Black Centipede" was published in 2011 by Pro Se Press. The second installment in the Black Centipede series, "Blood of the Centipede" was published in 2012. "Vionna and the Vampires," the first installment of The Incredible Adventures of Vionna Valis and Mary Jane Kelly, debuted in March 2014 and "Black Centipede Confidential" is slated for release later this year.

For interviews with Chuck Miller or more information on his imprint or the Pro Se Single Shots Signature Line, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Nuggets #7 -- Two-Headed Voice

When I was a beginning writer, I needed to learn 
to write anyone's voice, red or yellow, black or 
white, man or woman, boy or girl or two-headed 
Beeezlesnord from Planet X (they are 
precious in his sight). Anyone.


Tuesday, May 6, 2014

This Man Likes Michael Bay -- The Josh Mason Story

Joshua Mason founded Mason Studios in an attempt to bring explosions to the world of movies. And now he runs an independent film studio based just outside of Memphis, Tn. He produce everything from independent films, comedy shorts, TV commercials, music videos, to much more!

And he likes Michael Bay. That alone makes him worth getting to know. 

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

My two most recent projects are both fan films. One is Star Wars: The Coming Darkness, a fan film set during the time period of Lucas' original trilogy but featuring all new characters. The other project is my third and final installment in my Super Mario Bros. trilogy. We did a very dark and gritty take on Mario. I tried to think about what those videogame characters would be like if Christopher Nolan directed a Mario film. However, I don't want people to think that's all we do. We also do original films, it just so happens that are most recent were both fan films.

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

I think the two themes that are probably the most present and consistent throughout all my projects are the concept of a hero and what defines a proper code of ethics and morals. For me, being a person who stands up for what is right is very important but often those who stand against evil can be considered the bad guys depending on which side of the fence your standing on. This grey area between right and wrong has always fascinated me. There have been many times in my own life where I feel I have stood against people who committed injustices but those same people would make me out to be the villian for standing up for what I thought was right. I think it's a position that everyone has been in at some point and a theme most everyone can relate to so that's why I love having that be a focus of my films. My film "No More Sorrow 2: Rebirth" really brought that issue to the forefront.

What would be your dream project?

My dream project would be basically anything where I got to work with Michael Bay. The man is my hero despite the fact he has a lot of critics. I'm in love with his film making style.

If you have any former project to do over to make it better, which one would it be, and what would you do?

If I had one project I would redo it would be No More Sorrow 1 that I directed in 2010. It was the first film I directed after giving my studio an upgrade that costs in the thousands of dollars and it was really the first big film that I did so it was a big learning experience for me. But because I wasn't used to all the new tech at the time, the effects were really bad and then I had wrote the lead character to be really self doubting which looking back was a huge mistake. It's hard for audiences to root for a guy that can't make up his mind.

What inspires you to create?

Basically anything that I see that I feel could be done better. Like what I did with my Mario Bros. film series. I was inspired to create a mature Mario because these characters I had loved as a kid failed to grow up with me so I felt the need to correct that and make the Mario bros. the way I thought they should be, like the expendables. But it really just inspires me to keep making films every time a fan tells me they love one of my projects. As long as people keep watching movies, I'll keep making them.

What screenwriters/filmmakers have influenced your style and technique?

Well I already discussed that Michael Bay is my biggest influence but Christopher Nolan is probably a solid second. Ridley Scott is also a genius. I'd love to get to sit in a room with those three and get to pick their brains for a few hours.

Where would you rank screenwriting on the "Is it an art or it is a science continuum?" Why?

I would say it's somewhere in the middle but probably more toward the art side. Screenplays are written after all for the sole purpose of being turned into a film which in my opinion is probably the highest art form. And I know every artists tends to think their art form is the highest but film making is definitly the most complex in that it requires an army of people to pull off the final product. But since screenwriting is a branch of film making, it definitly is a part of that artistic process and therefore probably more of an art then a science.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

Would just like to say I'm really excited for everyone to see our new Star Wars fan film and some of the other stuff we've got cooking. Can't say anything about some of the projects just yet but I will say we've got some really cool stuff planned for the end of this year and 2015 will be a huge year for us because it's the 10th anniversary of Mason Studios. If anyone wants to check out our work, they can visit www.themasonstudios.com

Monday, May 5, 2014

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now #287 -- Writing Violence

When and why is violence necessary in a good piece of fiction?

Violence is necessary when it is needed to carry the story and the characters from point A to point B. That's the easy answer that doesn't really say anything.

The tougher answer is this: You need to write violence into your stories when you character would be violent or when your plot needs something violent to happen. Just how much and how graphic that violence becomes depends on the internal rules you've established for your story. A cozy mystery can be filled with murders but also with little to no blood. A street-wise thriller can -- on the other hand -- show you every bullet hole and each tendon as it is ripped by knives.

Or, if you need to move to shock and awe tactics as an author, you can introduce more graphic violence into a traditional cozy.

There's no science to this. It's completely an art, and you learn by doing it. Over and over again.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

The Art of Rob Moran -- now available!

From Ruby Files artist, Rob Moran:



I am pleased to announce the publication of my first art book - NOIR: THE ART OF ROB MORAN - published by Airship 27 Productions.

The first twenty people who buy the book and leave a customer review on Amazon will receive a signed book card and be entered in to a prize draw to win THIS piece of original art from the book.

You can buy the book from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

You can view a short video preview of the book here.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

AWARD WINNING AUTHOR BOBBY NASH PART OF PRO SE SINGLE SHOT SIGNATURE LINE


 

One of the most prolific Genre Fiction and New Pulp creators today now has his own imprint in Pro Se Productions’ recently announced PRO SE SINGLE SHOT SIGNATURE digital single line. Award winning author Bobby Nash will be continuing to his talent as an author writing in any genre with his on PRO SE SINGLE SHOT SIGNATURE Imprint- FROM THE PEN OF BOBBY NASH.

"I am excited,” says Nash, “to be part of Pro Se's Singles Signature Line. The format opens up the possibility of writing genres I don't normally get a chance to work in, which I find very exciting. Leave it to Pro Se Productions to figure out how to get an author's signature on an ebook."


FROM THE PEN OF BOBBY NASH will debut in August 2014.

From his secret lair in the wilds of Bethlehem, Georgia, 2013 Pulp Ark Award Winning Best Author, Bobby Nash writes a little bit of everything including novels, comic books, short prose, graphic novels, screenplays, media tie-ins, and more.

Between writing deadlines, Bobby is an actor and extra in movies and television, including appearances in Deviant Pictures’ Fat Chance, FOX’s The Following, USA’s Discretion, AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, and more. He is also the co-host of the Earth Station One podcast (www.esopodcast.com) and a member of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers and International Thriller Writers.

Bobby was named Best Author in the 2013 Pulp Ark Awards, his first professional writing award. Rick Ruby, a character co-created by Bobby and author Sean Taylor also snagged a Pulp Ark Award for Best New Pulp Character of 2013. Bobby has also been nominated for the 2014 New Pulp Awards and Pulp Factory Awards for his work.

For more information on Bobby Nash please visit him at www.bobbynash.com, www.facebook.com/AuthorBobbyNash, www.twitter.com/bobbynash, www.google.com/+BobbyNashAuthor, and www.pinterest.com/bobbynash, among other places across the web.

For interviews with Bobby Nash or more information on his imprint or the Pro Se Single Shots Signature Line, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Friday, May 2, 2014

PRO SE PRODUCTIONS DEBUTS FIRST VOLUME IN PULPSTUDIES IMPRINT- JUST THE FACTS: TRUE TALES OF COPS AND CRIMINALS

Pro Se Productions, a cutting edge Publisher of Genre Fiction known for innovation in its field, announced the debut of a new imprint late last year focused on nonfiction works. PULPSTUDIES is a line that will feature books focused either on academic and/or historical studies of New Pulp Fiction and on subjects that would be of interest to New Pulp and Genre Fiction fans and creators. Today, Pro Se Productions proudly debuted the first PULPSTUDIES volume. JUST THE FACTS: TRUE TALES OF COPS AND CRIMINALS by career officer and author Jim Doherty.

“This book,” says Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “is amazing. Jim Doherty brings stories of the good and bad guys of crime to life with a style that lets you know not only is he a law enforcement professional, but he’s also a fan of the history itself. Real life figures, both those everyone probably recognizes and so many that most of us have never heard of, don’t just leap off the page. They shoot, drive, roll, tumble, and fight their way from Jim’s wonderfully handled prose into a sort of new reality all their own for the reader.”

Fiction is filled with fantastic crime fighters, people who put on the badge and solve every mystery and put every criminal where they belong. But those same sort of people have always existed beyond the page. Real life lawmen who went above and beyond in the pursuit of justice and the law. Jim Doherty, “Just The Facts” Columnist for Mystery Readers Journal and a third generation policeman, tells the stories of law enforcement legends and the people who stood on the other side in JUST THE FACTS: TRUE TALES OF COPS AND CRIMINALS.

Bill Tilghman, legendary Oklahoma lawman and town-tamer from the Territorial era to the Roaring Twenties. Richard Crafts, an airline pilot who killed his stewardess wife and fed her frozen body into a rented woodchipper. Hawaiian Policeman Chang Apana, the real Chinese-American detective who inspired Earl Derr Biggers to create Charlie Chan. Their stories and many more are brought to life in this new edition of JUST THE FACTS: TRUE TALES OF COPS AND CRIMINALS, featuring articles new to the collection as well as three exclusive to this edition.

“Jim Doherty combines the cool eye of a law enforcement professional (which he is) with the fiery enthusiasm of a fan (which he also is) in a superb collection of essays detailing the true-crime back-stories of some of mystery fiction’s greatest yarns. These crisp, no-nonsense accounts are hypnotically readable, and the Eliot Ness chapter alone is worth the price of admission.” 
—Max Allan Collins, author of Road To Perdition
“This is a well researched, addictive collection of true case studies, some sensational, others little known, all intensely interesting. And one, ‘The Mad Doctor and The Untouchable,’ will no doubt become a terrific movie.” —Joseph Wambaugh

Currently a sergeant in the police force of a national railroad, third-generation cop Jim Doherty has served American law enforcement at the local, state, and federal levels, policing a wide variety of jurisdictions, from university campuses to military bases, from inner city streets to suburban parks, and has, at one time or another, worked in a dozen different states for seven different police agencies. He has walked foot beats, made undercover drug buys, been assigned to a special task force tracking down a serial sex criminal, and guarded presidents and royalty. Due to his wide background in police work (being a lifelong fan of the comic strip) , Jim is the current police technical advisor for DICK TRACY.

JUST THE FACTS: TRUE TALES OF COPS AND CRIMINALS features a wonderfully rendered cover by artist Jeff Hayes, also a career policeman, and print formatting and cover design by Percival Constantine. This first PULPSTUDIES volume is available on Amazon and at Pro Se’s own store at http://tinyurl.com/kbe2srs for $18.00. It will be available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Smashwords in digital format soon.

The next volume in the PULPSTUDIES line will be WHERE STORIES DWELL, a collection of essays by Author I. A. Watson. The PULPSTUDIES logo was created by Sean E. Ali.

For interviews with the author or more information on this title, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

For more information on Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

[Flashback] Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow—In What Time Period Does Pulp Fit Best?

Here's a blast from the past for today's roundtable... 

If you want to get fans, both readers and writers, of pulp talking, ask them about which decade is the one that truly defines pulp stories.

The slam-bang action stories of the 1930s?

The noir boilers of the 1950s?

The uzi-packing thrillers of the 1960s and 1970s?

The new pulp explosion that tries to recapture the 1930s (and in some cases update those characters to the present)?

After asking the question, just sit back, sip a cold one, and watch the sparks fly. Opponents of change will bring up The Phantom and Doc Savage, and the current attempts to put them in the present (or in some cases, even the future). Supporters will point to the BBC’s hit show Sherlock. For every successful attempt to move beyond the originated time period, there seem to be a fistful of failures to prove the exception to the rule.

In other words, very little is more sacred to pulp fans than the era in which their definition of pulp is cemented.

So once again, I went to the writers who are leading the pack in the contemporary pulp movement, both classic and new, to see what they had to say.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of writing pulps and noir in their original time periods?

Andrew Salmon: For today's writer it's glorious hindsight. Not only can we work towards authentically recreating a past time, but we know what comes after, historically speaking, which can give an adventure that extra little bit of coolness. Plus there's the opportunity to drop in Easter eggs for those historically inclined to find.

Bill Craig: Writing period pieces are fun, and it gives the reader a sense of history, as well as the adventure of the stories.

Ron Fortier: Did you know there is a gold-leaf plated grasshopper as a weather vane on atop the bell tower of Fanueil Hall in Boston?  I didn't either until I set it as the locale for the Rook story I'm writing for Barry Reese's new anthology.  Set on New Year's Eve 1929, doing this kind of background research is one of the real joys of writing period pulp adventures.

James Palmer: What Ron said. Truth is stranger than fiction, and it’s fun to take real and obscure facts from history and use them to populate your pulp tales. Plus, in a period pulp tale, it's still possible to have lost cities, islands inhabited by dinosaurs, and mad scientists intent on ruling the world. The hardest thing for me is researching what a place you've never been was like in 1938. While researching my first Lao Fang story for Pro Se I found a great old, black and white travel film about Hong Kong that had been converted to video and uploaded to YouTube. It gave me some great details I was able to use in my story that I never would have known about otherwise.

Erwin K. Roberts: I once searched for "July 1938." Out of that search came a skeleton found near Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the crossing paths (but probably not meeting) of Howard Hughes and Douglas "Wrong-Way" Corrigan at a New York City area flying field. I added in my personal experience riding the Santa Fe railroad between Kansas City and Albuquerque, and living in downtown San Francisco, plus an established villain. Presto! I had the beginning, middle and end of a Jim Anthony adventure of worldwide importance.

Bobby Nash: One advantage is that writing in character's original time periods is familiar. Fans of the originals will already have a feel for that time frame. Plus, it's amazing how much cool stuff you can learn by doing a little research. Using the original time period also gives you a familiar frame of reference from the original stories to your story.

The disadvantage is that if (for example) every Domino Lady story was set in 1936 then there is the possibility of the stories becoming predictable and covering the same ground, which can turn readers off. It's a catch 22 to be sure. Many readers do not like it when you do something new with a character they love, but they also complain when it feels like the same type of stories are being told over and over. Also, if you're on a tight deadline and don't have a lot of time to do research, then that's a potential disadvantage.

Lee Houston Jr.: Writing within a specific time period or era is a daunting challenge. There is always the risk of there being someone who would challenge you on the historic details. If you happen to be working in a period you are personally familiar with, like the 1990s, then no problem. But the further back you go, there is always the risk of getting some minute detail wrong that might affect the story and the reader's enjoyment of it no matter how much research you do.

But a lot of what we consider period pieces today like the Shadow and Doc Savage were actually contemporary stories at the time of creation because that was the easiest venue for the writers to work in.

Ian Watson: With existing properties from earlier eras, for example with new Shadow stories or Sherlock Holmes stories, the advantage of keeping the tales in period is that the setting works for you, and generally well suits the character too. Displace the character in time and the story generally becomes about what's different now, like how Margo Lane can call the Shadow up on her mobile when she gets into trouble. That's not to say that there can't be great stories told where the characters wither travel from their original time or are assumed to have always been contemporary, but mostly its another uphill challenge to sell a "genuine" version of the character; even the very successful BBC Sherlock has fun riffing on what's similar and what's different to the original.

That said, there are some characters with long publication histories that have been the same age all their careers. Simon Templar's only concession to time was to upgrade the car he drove from a Hirondel to something more modern. Clark Kent was no longer a battlefield reporter during World War II. James Bond has had to trade in his Walther PPK for something that's not an antique in 2011.

A disadvantage of using original time periods is that our knowledge of them is much more imperfect than the writers who lived in those times, so we have to work a lot harder to fact-check. And readers know a lot less too, so we have to explain references that the original audience would have got right away.

The other change is that we have a developed sensibility about some ethical things that weren't understood in, say, the 1930s period. We can't reflect attitudes to race, gender, and sexuality that were common and acceptable then. Comedic "Negro sidekicks" are a particular problem. Our heroes have a harder time slapping a dame if she gets hysterical, and our readers have a harder time swallowing it. A hero who smothers a heroine in kisses and tosses her on the bed while she cries "no, no..." was a real man in the 30s and would soon change her resistance to passion; nowadays we're more likely to call it rape. And so on. We just have to remember that what the original writer wrote as contemporary fiction we're writing as historical fiction, and make adjustments accordingly.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of contemporizing pulp characters and stories by bringing them into present day or placing them in future time periods?

Bill Craig: In my own case, Hardluck Hannigan was originally written as a much older person in the present, and then I enjoyed him so much I wanted to see what he was like as a young man, so I took him to period pulp-era stories.  Updating them to the present can be done as long as you remain true to the character's origins.

Lee Houston Jr.: If you ever wanted to take and do that, then it would probably be best to make your character a descendant/heir of the original. For example, I have an idea as to how a modern day Zorro might be possible. But even if the Johnston McCulley estate was interested, would the general public have the same enthusiasm?

Some characters are just too entrenched within certain eras to work/be accepted elsewhere. So the answer to this part of your question would be to review each character on a case by case basis. The Lone Ranger certainly would not work outside the early West. The Green Hornet would need to be handled properly to do so, but is a lot more feasible.

Yet there are plenty of pulp creations out there that prove it's possible to have a story occur somewhen other than between The Great Depression and World War 2.

Andrew Salmon: The practice of moving characters from one time to another is one I generally abhor. The only true exception, for me, is Sherlock, which is brilliant. The key for this reader is not to take an established character and bring him or her forward, but, rather, to bring the story forward. Writing contemporary pulp tales with action galore? I've got no problem with that. Create a new cast of characters based on the classic pulp archetypes? More power to you. Move Doc Savage into the 21st Century? I'm out of here!

Ian Watson: Some suit a modern age better than others. Tarzan might well battle logging companies or oil drillers or ivory poachers. On the other hand, it may be less acceptable for African tribesman to recognise that he should be their natural leader because of his “superior white traits.” Others are impossible to transplant; the Three Musketeers, the Scarlet Pimpernel, or Horatio Hornblower, for example, whose whole situation revolves around a particular situation in history.

If there is an advantage it's that one has to distil the core of the character and what his or her stories are about rather more thoroughly. A contemporary Philip Marlowe can't hide behind the gin-joint trappings and stock cast of the pre-war era, so he'd better damn well be the Marlowest Marlowe there ever was! He can still be tough, cynical, two-fisted, street-smart, down to earth, and tormented by lethal women—but without the "wallpaper" of his original period more effort needs to go into getting our hero exactly note-perfect.

The main disadvantage not yet mentioned is that the reason for using an established character is presumably either (a) because there are fans out there who know and like him and his world, or (b) because the author thinks the character and his concept as interesting and exciting. So taking the character out of that world the fans like and expect would alienate the most loyal readers right from the start—think of all the flak the Green Hornet movie took for not being canon. And if the point of doing the character is because the author likes the property, why then change it to something else?

Bobby Nash: The advantage is that there is a whole demographic out there that does not and will not read period pieces. Writing a contemporary story opens up this new group of potential readers who might, just might, go back and see what the original, or new stories in that time period, are like. You also have the potential to take the characters in a new direction that might not have been possible in the 1930's. The world has changed a bit over the years.

The disadvantage is that there is a whole demographic out there that does not and will not read any pulp character that is not set in its original time period. Sadly, these readers are less likely to be swayed and you run the risk of alienating readers who might not forgive you for writing a modern day Doc Savage (for example).

Ian Watson: What periods work best for pulps? I suggest that any era which is turbulent, atmospheric, and has a distinct mood does. We've talked before about how pulp tends to use stereotype to shorthand things so as to emphasize other elements of the story. Periods that are well known and have distinctive settings are another way of doing that. Most people can picture 1938 Berlin, or Victorian England, or the age of the Barbary Pirates, or even a Buck Rogers future. There's no reason you can't set a story in 1806 Bavaria during the reign of King Maximilian I Joseph, but you're going to have to work that much harder to get the scenery right.

Erwin K. Roberts: The potential for exciting stories didn’t end with the pulp era. I was stationed on the Precidio of San Francisco in 1973 and 1974. That was part of the time the Zodiac Killer was active. The anti-war movement had calmed down a bit by then, but it was still around. And I was there for the entire Symbonese Liberation Army/Patty Hurst saga. The SLA began its assault on America by murdering (I will not say "executing" or "assassinating.") the Superintendent of the Oakland city schools with cyanide filled bullets. Is all that not a pulp environment? As a matter of fact, in 1972 Don Pendleton sent Mack Bolan on a rampage through the city. How is that different from Jim Anthony having a major battle at Coit Tower?