SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE MISSING YEARS

Airship 27 Productions is proud to present the 10th Volume in its best-selling mystery anthology series, Sherlock Holmes – Consulting Detective.

According to the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, while battling his arch foe, Prof. Moriarty, was lost in the Falls at Reichenback and presumed dead, though his body was never recovered. Upon his return to London four years later, Holmes informs Dr. Watson that he had been traveling Europe and the Far East under the disguise of a Norwegian named Sigerson. Now, in a novella-length adventure, I.A. Watson delves deeper into those missing years, revealing who it was that accompanied the Great Detective during those missing years.

This is one of four brand new stories that fill this 10th volume of Airship 27 Productions’ best selling series. Writers Aaron Smith and Greg Hatcher offer up their own unique tales; among these a clever burglar who robs from the rich while they attend a theater performance and in another, Holmes and Watson come to the aid of former Baker Street Irregular accused of murder.

“I’d like to believe the reason this series is so popular with our readers is because we are devoted to only doing Conan Doyle style mysteries,” says Airship 27 Productions’ Managing Editor, Ron Fortier. “Over the years there have been lots of wild and crazy Sherlock Holmes stories pitting him against all manner of fanciful monsters, aliens and who knows what else. Whereas loyal Holmes fans, for the most part, cherish the old style adventures as Doyle wrote them; a mystery with all the clues narrated by Dr. Watson and in the finale solved by the Great Detective. This is what our readers want and this is what we are dedicated to bringing them. Old fashion tales.”

Once again three of the finest New Pulp writers breathe life into Conan Doyle’s classic characters and spin exciting, suspenseful tales of mystery and intrigue. As ever award-winning Art Director Rob Davis provides the beautiful interior illustrations and Graham Hill delivers a truly marvelous cover painting of Holmes at rest in his 221 B sanctum. So, dear readers, sit back, pour yourselves a brandy and prepare to enjoy a truly wonderful collection of stories starring the one and only Sherlock Holmes – Consulting Detective.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

Available now from Amazon in both paperback and soon on Kindle.

AIRSHIP 27 -- FIVE NEW HOLMES MYSTERIES

Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to announce the release of “Sherlock Holmes – Consulting Detective Vol 9.”

Once again, hidden on the fog shrouded streets of London are heinous criminals set upon their nefarious schemes. All that stands in their way are two men, stalwart and unafraid to take on villainy in all its insidious disguises; Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

“Every single time we put out a new volume, our Sherlock Holmes fans are delighted,” says Airship 27 Production’s Managing Editor, Ron Fortier.  “Honestly, they devour each one and then within weeks of a new release, I’m getting mail asking when the next one is coming out. The popularity of these characters appears to be as strong as ever to readers around the world.”

In this, the ninth entry in this bestselling series, the crime solving companions tackle five brand new mysteries that are totally unique from any of their previous adventures. Among these; an entire crew of a shoreline light house vanishes during a raging storm, one of Watson’s old army colleagues is accused of murder and a former Baker Street Irregular seeks out their aid on behalf of his crippled father. These three cases and two others are brilliantly delivered by writers I.A. Watson, Fred Adams Jr., Erik Franklin and Aaron Smith. Proving once again there is only one Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective.

Airship 27 Productions’ Art Director, Rob Davis provides the black and white interior illustrations as he has done with all previous volumes and Adam Shaw delivers a truly striking cover.  Sure to be another winner from the leading publisher in New Pulp fiction.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

Available now from Amazon in paperback and soon on Kindle.

Finding Your Tribe -- Writers on Writers Groups

What are you views on writers groups? Productive or unhelpful? "Love me and my work" clubs? Vital to beginning writers? What say thee, my writer friends?

Percival Constantine: Writers groups are only as good as the participants. There are some that really care more about the social aspect and talking about being a writer than actually doing the work. But I'm part of a few groups that have been very helpful. We encourage each other, critique each other, exchange tips, and participate in writing sprints together where we'll all write for a set amount of time and then report our total word count.

You have to consider what you want to get out of a writing group and what the others want out of the group. If your group gets together and just chats about writing at the local coffee shop, that's a waste of time. But if they're actually encouraging you to be more productive and to improve your work, then that's the kind of group you want to find.

Aaron Smith: Personally, I have no use for writers' groups, but that's just me. If it works for others, that's fine too. For me, writing is a private, solitary activity, and I don't feel right showing a story to anyone else until I feel it's ready to go to an editor or publisher. On the rare occasion that I do feel the need to talk with someone about my writing while the work is in progress, I would much rather contact one friend or editor than make it the focus of a group discussion.

Ralph L Angelo Jr.: I think writers groups are good to bounce things off of one another for story ideas and cover suggestions. They are also good to just to talk to others who do what you do. I don't have an issue with bouncing ideas off of one another in that format. I actually like talking to others to get their opinion on what I'm doing or proposing. I mostly self publish at this point so I'm an army of one. On the flip side of the coin I'm very selective who I speak to about what I'm doing and only confide in a few people, most of whom I've known for years. That being said, there's only one real writers group that I fully participate in. The rest I basically skim through or occasionally join a discussion within. Writers group have their uses, but like Aaron said, for the most part writing is a solitary business.

Paul Bishop: I mentor a monthly group and we have a blast. Our biggest regular event is having somebody else read your work aloud (five pages tops). The glitches become very clear very quick. Three of the members have had their first novels published while in the group...Fun, progress, published...What's not to like...

Robert Krog: I do find that bouncing ideas off of other writers is sometimes helpful, and I certainly enjoy discussions with writers about writing most of the time.

Amanda Niehaus-Hard: “Finding your tribe,” seems to be the main focus of the live writing groups I’ve encountered. While this is a great idea in theory, I’ve haven’t seen it actually play out successfully in practice.

The upside to the writing group is having someone to commiserate with when the going gets tough. If you’re participating in something like NaNoWriMo, I fully understand the desire to be around other like-minded crazy folks who have the goal of pushing out 50,000 words in one month. That support can keep you going. After a series of rejections, the encouragement of your “tribe” can be enough to push you to revise and resubmit.

Some groups offer critiques, which can be helpful if you aren’t using an online critique group. Some give you the opportunity to listen to and participate in live readings. Some are tied into university writing programs, or offer educational opportunities. The benefits to resources like these — if you use them — can be incredible.

But just as often, writing groups are more socially-oriented. And this is where they usually lose me. While I love sipping coffee and celebrating the success of my friends as much as anybody, simply “talking” about writing is somewhat counterproductive for me.

I’ve been in groups where the participants would outline in detail their latest, unwritten, novel. (Maybe I’m superstitious, but if I tried this, it would take some of the “magic” away from the writing process. If I talk about the book, I no longer want to write it.) Talking about craft is one thing. Explaining away a book, especially a book I haven’t finished or haven’t even started — that’s something different, and not something I think is particularly useful.

The dirty little secret of some people who join writing groups is that they’re really subconsciously looking for an excuse to NOT write. Because let’s face it: writing is hard! It’s hard work, it’s time-consuming, it’s infinitely frustrating, and it’s a solitary pursuit. Nobody can “help you” write your novel. Sure, other people can give you advice and suggestions and they can help you work out a complicated plot line, but ultimately, it’s just you and your keyboard, banging out letter after letter, sentence after sentence.

Talking about writing isn’t writing. But it kind of feels like it, you know? Some people find that talking about their work-in-progress makes them feel as though they’re making some kind of progress on it. It’s an illusion, really. Yes, I know we’ve all had the coffee or tequila conversation wherein we’ve managed to work out everything that was bothering us about that story. Or we’ve been chatting with a friend and suddenly resolved the perfect ending to that trilogy. But how often does that really happen? And when does it happen? Does it happen in a writing group, or does it happen during a period of relaxation and distance from the manuscript?

Writing, as we’ve all discovered, is hard work. When I haven’t worked for a few days or a week or so, it can be kind of shadenfreud-nice to hear that other people aren’t working either. If a couple of other people in my writing group are self-described “slackers” then it takes the pressure off me to work, right? I mean, if they’re not doing it either, it’s normal, right? This kind of thinking is common in writing groups, but it’s poisonous. Writing isn’t about what other people are doing. It’s about YOU and what YOU need to say on the page.

Since writing is really a singular activity, whether or not a writing group is “useful” really depends on the individual and what he or she hopes to get out of it. A local group near me exists for the sole purpose of self-publishing anthologies of member stories and poems. I’ve long ago gotten over the ecstatic thrill of seeing my name in print, so this isn’t a big draw for me. Another local group is strictly interested in critiques, and another is simply a social group. I tried a few and they just weren’t for me.

I found my “tribe” on the internet, teaming up with other spec-fic and lit-fic writers who challenge and push me, both in terms of craft and subject matter. You all are here when I need you, but you’re also polite enough to “go away” when I’m working.

Marian Allen: A good critique group is invaluable. I'm in one (The Southern Indiana Writers Group) that's been together, meeting every week, for over twenty years. Our main rule is: The critique is about the work, not the person. And the second is like unto the first: The critique is about making THAT work as strong as IT can be, not about making it sound just like something YOU would write.

Bobby Nash: Writers groups may not make you write more, but I found that reading aloud to a group helped me in other ways. The Bobby who first started writing wouldn't be able to do panels the way I do them now. Too shy. Reading to that group helped alleviate that fear. It also taught me good dialogue structure from reading it aloud.

Lisa M. Collins: I have been involved with four writers groups, president of two, and as a Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo.

When I first started writing fiction (2008), what I was looking for was a support group. I needed to meet other writers and have a place where I could show my work to others in a safe environment. I choose my first group, Lost Genre Guild, because they were online and wrote the same things I loved to write and read. It was behind the wall of Internet anonymity where I learned how writers’ groups worked and how to deal with criticism without getting upset (aka: furious as a wet hen in winter). The online group helped me have the courage to look for a local group. I still maintain ties to this group, today.

Also during this time frame (Fall 2008), I completed my first NaNoWriMo. I wrote a fantasy novel that came in around 53K word mark. Every year since, I have attempted to do NaNo again. Sometime I make the 50K cut off sometimes I don’t, but each year I learn more about myself as a writer. NaNo is where I learned how to hear my voice and where I test drive various styles. I was a Municipal Liaison (ML) for the White County NaNo group for several years 2010-2013. We had several write-in’s at the Library in Searcy, AR. And I must say if you haven’t been in a group where you all write together in the same physical space—do this! The energy and excitement of hearing other writers around you create stories is amazing. 

My second writers group was the White County Creative Writers (Fall 2009). This group was the place where I started feeling my way toward writing professionally. The WCCW was made up of an original core of people who founded the organization, locals who needed a night out of the house, and a handful of professional writers who dropped in from time-to-time. The reason I choose this group because they had been around for over a decade when I joined (will be celebrating 20 currently) and had a yearly writer’s conference at a local college. The con was the real draw for me. It said to me these guys are organized and will give me the chance to rub elbows with a larger group of local writers. To keep a long story short, I ended up president of this group after less than a year of membership. I think the other members who were willing to serve were just glad that there was new meat. I learned a lot from this group and also how to lead an organization, how to put on a convention, but mostly how to stand on my own two feet as writer and test the boundaries of what I was capable of doing with my work.

Before I quit going to WCCW I was invited to another group. This one was a professional organization called, American Christian Fiction Writers, or ACFW. This group was so different from the others I had belonged to in the past. This group was nationally organized and held many conferences, workshops, talks, and retreats. I maintained my membership in this organization for two years learning as much as I could. The national conventions are expensive to attend, but every talk and worksheet is saved and recorded. So you can get the full con for much less. One thing about the convention that made me take notice. With ACFW they bring the publishing houses and agents to you. Included in the con fee were several appointments you could make to do your book pitches directly to the publishers and agents you choose.

I was president of the local chapter for two years. Why did I leave, what sounds like an awesome org? My genre is Science Fiction/Fantasy. Although ACFW has a small group of sff writers and publishers the slots are open to the narrow threshold Christian publishers are willing to produce. I am a Christian who is a writer, but what they are looking for is Writers who write Christian specific stories. They are a great organization for new and established writers. Most of what I know about the book writing/ publishing industry I learned from ACFW. 

My fourth writers group is really a critique partnership. My good friend Bonnie J. Sterling and I have unofficially been critique partners for several years. Together we make each other’s writing better. We each see different sides of the same coin. I think that is the key to getting a great partnership—you can’t be exact copies of each other or your writing won’t evolve.

Writing groups can be wonderful experiences or they can be hell. I guess that is true of any group of people who congregate together. Look for people who are open and honest about their own writing and aren’t too proud to admit when they need help. You want a writing group experience to make you feel excited to get back to your work. Remember as your writing evolves, you change as a person. Joining a writers group doesn’t mean you are making a lifelong commitment. If you don’t feel uplifted when you leave meetings, please take it from me, it is time to  move along home. 

Nikki Nelson-Hicks: Whoo, boy. I’ve been on both sides of the table.

I’m a founding member of the Nashville Writers’ Group. When we started in 2004, it was five people sitting on a rainy porch at Café Coco. Now, the meetup group boasts a membership of over two thousand people. Not that we have thousands of people at a group meeting…God, that would be Hell. No, we have a healthy, active membership of about 100 or so people who actually come to the meetings. We have published three anthologies (I was the editor the horror anthology, Comfort Foods) and have a booth at the Southern Festival of Books where we sell our members books.

The Pros of our writing group:

I have met so many people who are now my dearest friends that I would NEVER have met if it wasn’t for the NWG. I look back and realize that I never would be where I am today if it weren’t for these people. It is an excellent networking system.

We have so many people who join the NWG because they need a place to say, “Hey, I’m a writer and I want to grow.” It’s sad but people need a place where they can simply be creative. It is a place where you can come, share your stories and get feedback from people who want to help you become the best writer you can. It is the biggest high for me watch a writer blossom as they get more and more confident in the craft. I’m not going to lie; I’ve had people bring stories that I thought , “Ugh…yeah…this isn’t going anywhere.” And they proved me wrong. Nothing makes me happier.

In my group, I hold a strict policy of constructive criticism. We’re not a “Pet The Pretty Pony” group but I won’t stand there and watch someone being eviscerated. The reason for this group is for people of all levels of writing skills to meet and help each other. If you want to be a Supreme Ego Driven DICK that has come only to show off your fucking MFA, there is the door. Thanks for playing. Buh-Bye.

The Dark Side:

Hooo-boy. Because the NWG is a public group, we get a few whackos. I’ve had people bring hand written manuscripts they said were “transmissions from Nostradamus that were delivered through the living room curtains” (TRUE STORY). Once, I had a guy that when I knew he was coming, I made sure Mickey or Vincent, two of my biggest guy writer buds, would be there because he scared me so much. He was a schizophrenic that didn’t take  his meds (his wife warned me in a five page email).

I had a woman once slam her fists at on the table and scream at me, “You’re not helping me! I want to know how to write a story! What is the formula! WHAT IS THE FORMULA!” When I told her there was no formula, that every story was different, and if she could explain to me what her story was about then maybe we could help her, she then got in my face and said, “You just want to steal my ideas. Get in my head and take my words!”

When people bring their NANOWRIMO novels. Oh, GAWD….

People think we are a publishing house. Once during an Assistant Organizer’s group where we met to discuss the plans for the next year, some dude burst in and yelled at us because all we did was critique. We weren’t meeting his needs. What he really wanted from the NWG was to get him published. What?!?! When we asked him what groups he went to, he said he couldn’t remember as he had only gone to two and then only two times. REALLY, MOTHERFUCKER??? They guy really pissed me off. What the hell did he expect from us? I don’t get paid to do this. Yes, we have a few anthologies under our belt but that does make us a publishing house.

And, of course, the egos. It happens.

The thing we advise all of our members is that the NWG is just a starting place. It is here you meet others that you connect with (your tribe, as it were) and form your own writing groups outside the NWG. I find groups of 3-5 most effective. It works and I’m proud of the people that we’ve helped.

I was also a member of another group, The Quill and Dagger, for a few years. It was a very diverse group of 7 people who wrote murder mysteries. We had the entire spectrum. From Cozies to Procedurals to Paranormal. We met every two weeks and it was a wonderful experience but as we all began to publish in our different genres, we simply ran out of time to get together and the group died. It’s a shame.

So, to recap, would I advise writers, especially people new to the craft, to join a group? Hell, yes! But be careful. Remember that it is their opinions and, in the end, it is YOUR story. It’s something I stress to many of the people who come to my SpecFic group.
For me, I have a story that I use as my litmus test. It is called Coon Hunt. (Self Promotional Plug: Coon Hunt won the Jack Mawhinney Fiction First Prize in 2015)  If the people in that group don’t get the story, they won’t get me. It has never failed. It has saved my ass SO many times.

Listen to Your Characters... But How?

We hear it all the time. Listen to you characters. Let them tell your story for you. But what does that really mean?

Nancy Hansen: When I get deep enough into a writing project that I can hear the character voices, feel what that individual's reactions would be, and my mind can walk around in their world, that's when the character is telling at least part of the story. I'm still in the driver's seat, because I'm making the decisions, but I'm not afraid to take directions from that unconscious part of my mind that knows better where this thing has to go. I think the idea of letting the character tell her/his own story is just kind of an awkward way of saying, let yourself dig deep and pretend to be someone else for a while. Writers are about the only people in this world who can follow the promptings of the voices in their heads without getting locked up.

Mike Schneider: Avoid excessive narration and exposition. If a piece of information isn't introduced by the characters, then it probably isn't that relevant or necessary to following the story.

Paul Bishop: Saying the characters tell the story is simply a writer's creative flare in expressing the more mundane statement that your subconscious wanting to take the story in another direction...When I'm struggling with a story, it's usually my subconscious (labeled 'my characteristics') letting me know I'm not being true to the characters I've created and I need to back up and find the right direction for the story...

Rebekah McAuliffe: You may feel like the story is heading in one direction, but suddenly, the "wild girls will take you," as my high school English teacher once put it. It's just this feeling in your gut that leads you to where the story is supposed to go.

Bill Craig: I put my characters into a situation, and then they kind of take over, reacting and acting on the situation. I have a rough idea of where I want to go, but the journey to get there is largely through the characters and how they deal with not only the initial situation but with the ripples that their actions create and then they have to deal with those and whatever other rocks I drop into the creative pond. I do my best to make my characters as real as possible and have them react in a real and human fashion. Sometimes they stumble and fall, other times they rise and overcome. Not all my endings are happy ones, just like real life. A good example is in Marlow: Mango Run, sure Marlow solves the case, but another character that he is emotionally attached too takes her own life, leaving him devastated when he learns of it. When I had started that particular book, I had no idea that event was going to happen, but her mental and emotional decline began about the middle of the book and just picked up momentum and it turned into a major event that had repercussions not only for Marlow but for several other characters as well. It was totally a character driven moment, but it became a crucial event in that book and for the next two that followed it.

Charles Hearn: I always felt that it means you need to get into each character's head and try to see how they would perceive and handle the situations you've presented them with.
However, if your characters are actually talking to you, then you need to up your meds.

Aaron Smith: A writer's mind never stops working. I write all the time even if my fingers aren't tapping on the keyboard at that moment. We're considering our ideas 24/7, often when we're not even consciously thinking about it. Of course our characters don't write themselves. We, as writers, do all the work, but we're not always intentionally producing the details of a story. Important plot points or bits of dialogue come to us in dreams or seemingly out of nowhere, not just when we're intentionally considering what's going to happen next. They don't write themselves, but it sometimes seems they do.

Rose Streif: I look at it like this: even though my characters are created by me, filtered through me, and on a level even *are* me, I think of them as actual separate people living in a world, persons who are completely different. And so they become their own people, and behave less like toys that are being knocked together, or puppets mouthing my personal beliefs. They take on a life of their own, even though it's illusory. And I let that illusion carry me forward to the end of the tale.

Robert Krog: Because I'm not crazy, like some fiction writers I know, I don't believe that my characters take over and write the book, or have conversations with me, argue with me, or what have you. That being said, I do write them as consistent individuals basing their actions upon their characteristics. I don't find any conflict between a story being plot driven or character driven. If I start out with a specific plot in mind, I write characters who make that plot come true. If I should come to a point at which I find that I have made a character inconsistent, it is no problem to rework the character or throw him out and replace him with one better suited to make the plot work. There have been occasions in which I have found that I liked what the character did to the plot more than I liked the original plot, and that is fine too. I don't marry plots, either. If I start out with a specific character in mind for whom I have to find a story, I throw that character into an interesting situation and extrapolate. Listening to a character, I think, is writing the character with a consistent personality and not having that character, for the sake of the plot, perform actions inconsistent with that personality. Of course, sometimes, the character has to listen to the author and get rewritten to stay consistent. None of these options is a biggie. I write to tell a good story, sometimes one option is better than the other(s). That is all. It is very important to note that one is unlikely to find a story to be good unless it contains good characters, people we might like to meet in real life, or admire, fear, love, love to hate, what have you. Good characters are true to life, exhibiting consistent and believable personalities, making decisions that people we know of the same types might make, growing in ways that are believable as well. They don't suddenly, for the sake of filling a plot hole, develop powers, personality traits, knowledge, that the reader would find improbable. In that regard, I "listen to my characters" and write them in such a way that they stay as real as possible, sometimes that involves writing them out, sometimes it involves changing the plot, and sometimes it involves finding a plot in which to place them.

Going Pro

Welcome to the newest writers roundtable. This week, we're going to talk about what it means to go pro as a writer. So I looked up three of most "pro" pros I could think of, Bill Craig, Derrick Ferguson, and Aaron Smith. 
 

 

What does it mean to you to "go pro" as a writer? What are the criteria to consider oneself a professional writer?

Aaron Smith: I started to consider myself a pro when I began to have opportunities to make money with my work, even before the money started to arrive. There was a certain moment when my attitude shifted and writing went from being a hobby to being something I took much more seriously. I think the difference is mainly one of attitude.

Derrick Ferguson: I considered myself to be a real professional when I had people seeking me out and offering me money to write for them. I felt like I had turned a corner and had reached a level where people knew my name, had read my work and trusted me enough that they were willing to say; "hey, here's a chunk of change... come write something for me."

Bill Craig: To me it was when I started making money from the things I was writing. That meant I was reaching people and telling the stories that they wanted to read. The fact that people look for my newest book and are willing to pay for them mean I have arrived as a professional writer. As far as number.

How does a writer make the step from amateur to pro?

Bill Craig: You make the step from amateur to professional when you acquire a fan base that searches your work out.

Aaron Smith: When writing becomes an important part of one's life and that writer works hard at it and treats it like a real job, whether he's able to do it full time or it's just a supplement to his day job income, when one acts professionally, takes the job (and all it's other factors, like promotion and editing and submitting) seriously, and, yes, chases opportunities to profit from it, he's made the jump from amateur to pro.

SHERLOCK HOLMES CONSULTING DETECTIVE Vol 7 available now from Airship 27!

Airship 27 Productions, a leading publisher of New Pulp fiction is thrilled to announced the release of the seventh volume in its bestselling mystery series, “Sherlock Holmes – Consulting.”

A thick fog envelopes the streets of London and nefarious agents set about their evil plots and schemes.  Murder most foul rears its ugly head and baffling mysterious confound the good men of Scotland Yard until they’ve no recourse by to call upon the greatest Consulting Detective of them all, Sherlock Holmes of 221 B Baker Street.

“One of the reasons this series has done so well for us,” explains Airship 27 Productions’ co-founder and Managing Editor, Ron Fortier, “is that we offer readers no-frills, straight up mysteries done in the Conan Doyle style.  There are no fantasy elements in these adventures.  No Martian invaders, no vampires or other such nonsensical elements.  Simply old fashion puzzles that the Great Detective must solve with his brilliant intellect and powers of observations.  All, of course, narrated by his loyal friend, Dr. Watson.”

In this seventh volume of the series, Holmes and Watson, set out to solve four brand new cases, each a unique challenge unlike any they’ve encountered before.  From confronting the legendary Spring-Heel Jack to battling a fictional foe become real, Holmes and Watson will have to employ all their considerable talents to unravel these complex and insidious crimes.

Writers I.A. Watson, Aaron Smith, Alan J. Porter and Greg Hatcher have offered up a quartet of intriguing mysteries that will challenge even the most ardent readers as they attempt to match wits with Arthur Conan Doyle’s ageless hero, Sherlock Holmes!

The book features a wonderful painted cover by Michael Youngblood that pays tribute to the late British actor, Jeremy Brett, and twelve stunning black and white interior illustrations by award winning artist, Rob Davis.  It is a truly fitting addition to this critically successful series.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

Available now at Amazon.com in hardcopy and soon on Kindle.

Hot Lead and Dead Steel? What about Westerns?

We're talking Westerns today, folks. So mosey on up to the table and let's find out why they're out of vogue and what keeps creators working on them anyway. 

What is it about the Western genre that drew you to it as a creative person?

Erwin K. Roberts: When you are, like me, an early U.S. baby boomer, you grew up immersed in westerns. They came at you on the radio, followed by TV as soon as your family bought that first set. "B" westerns were on the way out in Hollywood, but "A" westerns would sill be common for quite some time. Western comics came from just about every surviving comics publisher. Most of the last surviving pulps were westerns. (Ranch Romances ended in 1971.) Mixed in were Easterns featuring folks like DC Comics' Tomahawk. Plus, for over fifty years, Northerns like Challenge of the Yukon (SGT Preston) and Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted were very popular.

Nowadays, westerns are more popular in places like Australia, than the United States. And, to an extent, I miss them. That's just one of the reasons I jumped on to Airship 27's Masked Rider wagon train. I had a (pun intended) blast writing "Thunder at Devil's Tower." The research about that area fascinated me. I got to play with any number of western stereotypes. I turned one or two on their ears.

These days the western often gets mashed up with other genre. Cowboys & Aliens did not even come close to inventing that concept. About 1953 Shadow author Walter B. Gibson created and wrote six issues of Space Western for Charlton Comics a year or two before Dell launched Turok, Son of Stone. The hybrid possibilities are endless.

Ray Dean: Everything... wide open spaces... raw conflict, survival, high emotion, and the paradox that so many went to the 'West' for a new start.. and then they get there and the same old prejudices are in place or if your 'past' comes back to haunt you... you're done. There so much to love/hate/revel in about the "Old West.'

Bill Craig: It was a simpler time, heroes and villains were very black and white in the distinctions.

Derrick Ferguson: My love and appreciation of the Western came from my parents, especially my father. He would watch any and all Westerns that came on TV no matter who was in. And back then we only had one TV so if I didn't watch what my parents did, I just didn't watch TV. He didn't have a favorite Western star. He just loved all Westerns. He and I would watch Have Gun Will Travel, The Wild Wild West and Wanted: Dead Or Alive together and my very first grown up movie was The Wild Bunch, which I saw at the tender age of 10 and changed the course of my life forever.

What draws me to the Western as a creative person? My gut says it's because you can make a Western as simple or as complicated as you want and nobody will give you any shit about it. The Western is American mythology which is why it'll never go away. Myths just don't go away. They get changed, sure. In the 60's/70's/80's many of the tropes of the Western were adopted by police/crime thrillers and science fiction movies. But we always come back to the Western because there's a purity there, a stripping away of the bullshit that infects our society today and brings us back to basic, core beliefs, traditions and codes of behavior that we've lost but still long for.

Lee Houston Jr.: Westerns represent a more simpler time in both literature and history. Where you could tell the heroes from the villains, and not just by what colored hats they wore. It was a period where hard work and honesty were their own rewards for most folks.

Aaron Smith: I’ve never really considered myself a fan of the Western genre. Yes, I watched Bonanza and Gunsmoke reruns as a kid, but I never sought out Westerns on purpose. If I made a list of my 20 or so favorite movies, the only western on it would be The Searchers. The only reason I’ve written a western story and had it published was because I was once asked to write one for an anthology. I like some Westerns, but have never consciously wanted to write them. I like good stories and if I happen to have an idea for a story that works best as a Western, I’ll write it, but that particular genre is not something I’m specifically drawn to.

What are the key elements of an effective Western story?

Erwin K. Roberts: They are pretty much the same as any good adventure story. Look at it this way: The Seven Samurai became a very successful western as The Magnificent Seven. Then, in the aftermath of Star Wars, the plot got recycled yet again in outer space with George Peppard, John Boy, and Robert Vaughn reprising his The Magnificent 7 role. (Battle Beyond the Stars).

Derrick Ferguson: Being set in the West helps. I think the untamed frontier is just as much a character in a Western as any of the humans. Sergio Leone understood this and used it to great advantage as his American West is as much of a fantastic realm as Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age. Cowboys. Indians. Schoolma'arms. Gunslingers. Gamblers. Hookers with a heart of gold. Greedy land-grabbing cattle barons. Rustlers. Showdowns at high noon in the middle of Main Street. Sheriffs. Owlhoots. Barroom brawls. Cattle stampedes. And I think that there’s a certain heroic element that has to be in play. The good ol’ fashioned “A Man’s Gotta Do What A Man’s Gotta Do”

The last I really think is important because the Western is a genre where we can still read about heroes being heroes simply because you have rugged men and nurturing women doing The Right Thing simply because it is the The Right Thing and bringing. Law and Order to a ferociously savage and chaotic land.

Aaron Smith: The key elements of an effective western are the time period, setting, and archetypes specific to the genre, which are obvious, but a good story that’s a western needs the same key elements as any good story whether it’s science fiction, or a Victorian period piece or a Game of Thrones type fantasy epic: good characters, believable motivations, suspense, drama, etc.

Ray Dean: CONFLICT, CONFLICT, CONFLICT. One person rubbin' up against another and causin' friction... ranchers against farmers, cattlemen against sheep farmers, soiled doves against proper womenfolk. There's a wealth of conflict in a world where people are trying to make a living and get what they want. Sounds like any other genre? I don't know really.. Maybe it's just how I see it in my head... the dust, the boarded walkways and false fronts... lone men on horseback riding into a town full of people that might want him dead... It all works for me.

Bill Craig: Keys elements are cowboys, horses and guns, and a pretty gal in distress.

Lee Houston Jr.: There are no 'shades of grey' in a western and justice was always triumphant in the end.

Is there really any hope at making the Western story popular again, or has the world moved on?

Derrick Ferguson: I think that in print The Western is still as popular as it ever was. There’s a British publisher of Westerns, BLACK HORSE WESTERNS that started in the 1960’s and is still going strong to this day Here’s a link if anybody reading this is interested in submitting to them or just reading their books: http://website.lineone.net/~adam_and_lynne/index.html.

As for movies and TV: I think we’ve just got to accept that The Western has had it’s heyday on TV and that’s that. We may get the occasional mini-series like Lonesome Dove or Broken Trail but that’s it. As for theatrical films, it’s all about superheroes now so I’m not holding my breath there.

Aaron Smith: I don’t think the Western will ever be as popular as it was from the 30s to the 60s when TV, film, books, and comics were full of westerns, but I think the western will always have a place, however small, in fiction because the old west is just as valid a setting for a good story as space or the jungle or Holmes’ London or modern San Francisco or whatever.

Erwin K. Roberts: The western has become sort of a cottage industry. Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott and more recently Kevin Sorbo make westerns from time to time. Westerns seem to be a bit more regularly published in the UK and Down Under than in the U.S. of A. Perhaps something, somewhere, will catch fire again, like the 1960's Spaghetti Westerns. But if all the general public sees for westerns are things like the Lone Ranger film, there is not much hope.

Lee Houston Jr.: The basic tenets of a good western, as listed in my two previous answers, are evident in a lot of stories today. As for a revival, there is still an active, but small, western genre with authors like William Johnstone and Robert Knott, who is carrying on Robert B. Parker's Cole and Hitch westerns. However, the typical western deals with a specific time period, so the best bet for a revival will probably be with licensed material from the days of The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke; Have Gun, Will Travel; The Wild, Wild, West; Bonanza; etc. Hopefully the next attempt will be handled better and be more successful than past efforts.

Ray Dean: I don't think it has... Open Range, Crossfire Trail, the Love Comes Softly Series, Purgatory, Appaloosa... a number of well-received Western miniseries and movies have been made... Tombstone was another great one... I think the long sweeping visuals of open land, cacti, tumbleweeds.. those images are part of our american heritage... and I think some part of our culture will be attached to the 'Western.'

Look at Firefly, with its space cowboys... the show Defiance with some Western elements... shows like Supernatural have western settings, backstories, and episodes. Perhaps it just comes down to what 'new stories' can be set and written and produced in that genre to help keep it alive for generations to come. Don't forget to introduce the 'next generations' to the genre! My son (17) loves watching the 'old' Western films with me (El Dorado, Rio Bravo...)

Bill Craig: Westerns are gaining in popularity again because people are so fed up with the inhumanity they see around them on a daily basis. I enjoy reading them, and I enjoy writing them.

Aaron Smith -- Man of Midnight, Death, and Galaxies

Apparently Aaron Smith knows what he wants and goes after it. Even his bio on his blog would lead one to believe he's merely a practical man who would rather be writing than wasting time on stuff like bios and writing about writing. But, when asked about his own work, well, he opens up a bit. (Which is all the better for us.)

Want the low-down on what makes him tick? Then read on, my friend. Read on.

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

My latest novel, Nobody Dies For Free, was just released by Pro Se Productions. It’s my first spy thriller and features my new character Richard Monroe. Monroe is a CIA agent, recently retired, and looking forward to a peaceful life with the woman he loves. His happiness is destroyed, though, and he gets pulled back into the world of espionage, working in a way that’s even more secretive than his previous experience. He eventually discovers a connection between the mission he’s assigned to and the people responsible for the death of his wife, and sets out to avenge her. Nobody Dies For Free is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.  

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

I’m sure there are some themes in my work that I don’t even recognize, but that readers might, since a big part of inspiration comes from the subconscious. But there are some I’m aware of. Many of my characters experience abrupt changes in their lives, with their routines suddenly going from mundane to every exciting. I also seem often to use a variation of the old theme of “boy meets girl,” which becomes, in my case, ordinary boy meets extraordinary girl. In my first novel, Gods and Galaxies, she’s from another galaxy. In one of my more recent works, 100,000 Midnights, she’s a vampire. I guess mystery is a big subject in my work too. When I’m writing detective stories about Sherlock Holmes or my own character Lt. Marcel Picard, or in the spy novel, or even in the upcoming sequel to the vampire book, there’s often a mystery to be solved.

Time is also something that comes up quite often in my work, specifically the different feelings brought on by thinking of different periods of time. I’ve always been fascinated by the way certain places seem to have retained the aura of a past decade, like a diner you come across on a rural road and you can see it hasn’t been remodeled of drastically altered since the fifties, or the way you can walk from room to room in a grandparent’s home and feel like you’re literally traveling forward or backward in time because of the accumulation of stuff that includes relics from every year since the thirties or even before. It’s a feeling that’s hard to put into words intellectually, so I guess that’s why it makes its way into my stories so often.

What would be your dream project?

Many of my dream projects are no longer available to even dream about, as I’ve seen some of my favorite fictional worlds become something I’d no longer want to work within. I used to dream of someday writing for Marvel or DC comics, but they just don’t portray their characters in a way that I feel is right anymore. I’m afraid the Star Trek I used to love has bitten the dust too. But one of my big dream projects has already been accomplished. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to write Sherlock Holmes stories, sticking as close as I can to the style of the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Four of them have been published so far, in various volumes of Airship 27 Productions’ series Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, and there was also my Dr. Watson novel, Season of Madness, which is obviously Holmes-related.

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

I don’t think I’d change the actual stories much in any of my works. I’ve gotten better at certain areas of my writing style as I’ve written more and more, but I don’t think any of my stuff was ever so bad that I’d want to go back in time and drastically alter it. One thing that does bother me a bit, though, is that I had a tendency to rush my work in my first year or so of seriously writing and this led to some stupid grammatical mistakes making it into the final product a few times. I’d like to make those go away if I could.

What inspires you to write?

A few different things inspire me. Things I see or hear around me in daily life; admiration for the stories told by other writers or filmmakers or artists and the desire to do that too; and, maybe most importantly, the fact that writing is a way to expose myself, my mind, my ideas to the world…and it’s a way that’s easier for me in some ways than just being social, since I’ve always been more of a introverted person. What makes me laugh a bit when I think about it is that this very solitary profession of writing has actually made me more friends than anything I’ve done before in my life! I came into it partly because it was something I could do alone, but it’s introduced me to so many fellow writers, editors, publishers, readers, etc. who I’d miss terribly if they suddenly disappeared from my life. I guess what really inspires me is the fact that something new and surprising is always right around the corner for a writer. You throw yourself into that job and things happen, and you can never predict exactly what you’ll want to do or be asked to do or (hopefully!) be paid to do tomorrow.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

Probably more than I’m aware of, as I think everything a writer reads has some form of influence on them. Of the ones that I know for certain had a strong impact on me, I can think of, off the top of my head, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Roger Zelazny, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Stan Lee, Bram Stoker, and Edgar Allen Poe. I’m sure I’ll think of a dozen more after I’ve finished here and regret leaving them out.

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

It’s an art that becomes a science, but a different science for each individual writer, and a very flexible science. Art because it grows from dreams, scraps of ideas, questions that we feel the need to answer. But it’s a science too because there has to be a method that develops within the writer in order to tell his stories in the most effective way he can. Art is closely related to madness, in some ways; maybe it’s the bright side of insanity! But pure imagination, uncontrolled flights of fancy, can’t form ideas into a product that others can appreciate. So the method, or science, must mold those ideas into something orderly, using words to convey dreams and share them with others. Writing is art first, presented through a necessary science.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug? 

My most recent release, other than Nobody Dies For Free, was Quatermain: The New Adventures, from Airship 27 Productions, which I share with Alan J. Porter, as we each wrote a novella featuring the famous 19th century adventure character Allan Quatermain.

I also have two more novels coming out later this year. In August will be the sequel to 100,000 Midnights, called Across the Midnight Sea. I had a lot of fun revisiting the characters from my first vampire novel.

Then, in October, will be Chicago Fell First, a zombie novel and more of a pure horror story than any I’ve done before. I think it’s a little different, quite a bit darker than anything I’ve had published up to this point.

NOBODY DIES FOR FREE!- AARON SMITH'S SPY THRILLER DEBUTS FROM PRO SE PRODUCTIONS!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Intrigue, Espionage, and Danger are primary parts of one of the most enduring genres in modern fiction to date- the Spy Novel. And now Pro Se Productions, a leading independent publisher of Genre Fiction and New Pulp enters into this dynamic field with the latest work from noted author Aaron Smith- NOBODY DIES FOR FREE!

Known for his thirty published stories in multiple genres as well as his work with a wide range of characters, including Sherlock Holmes and Allan Quatermain, Smith adds one of his many own original characters to his writing resume- Richard Monroe.

“I first became aware of the spy genre,” Smith states, “as I suspect many people did, through the James Bond movies. I must have been six or seven when I saw my first one. I became a big fan of those movies and eventually of Ian Fleming's Bond novels too. As the years went on, I came to enjoy other spy fiction as well, some as fun and occasionally over-the-top as Bond or Mission: Impossible, some much more serious, like the novels of John Le Carre, and some in-between the two extremes, stuff like the Jason Bourne movies. Having long had an interest in that type of story, I suppose it was inevitable that I'd eventually write my own.”

In NOBODY DIES FOR FREE, Richard Monroe wants nothing more than early retirement and a peaceful life in Paris with the only woman he’s ever truly loved after years of loyally serving his country in the CIA. But when an assassin’s bullet takes his happiness away, Monroe embarks on a quest to find the man responsible for the tragedy. Monroe is soon recruited back into the clandestine services, but with a difference.

Now a lone agent reporting to a supervisor so mysterious that the official agencies don’t even know he exists, Monroe will deal with situations too delicate and too dangerous for the CIA or FBI to handle. On his first assignment, he discovers a connection between the mission and the criminal mastermind behind his wife’s killing. Business becomes personal again and Richard Monroe sets out to teach his enemies a brutal lesson: Nobody Dies For Free.

Featuring a stunning cover by Ariane Soares with Fitztown and formatting and design by Sean Ali as well as Ebook formatting by Russ Anderson, NOBODY DIES FOR FREE presents a brand new spy to fiction that, while bearing similarities to other literary brethren, clearly stands on his own merits.

According to Smith, “He has certain similarities to James Bond and many other fictional spies: he's handsome, brave, sneaky, ruthless, and enjoys the company of beautiful women. But he's his own person too. He rarely uses clever gadgets and is more likely to rely on just his wits, his gun, his car, and a cell phone. He's American, though his personality has also been shaped by the time he's spent in many parts of the world. He doesn't work for a large organization like the CIA or FBI, although he used to. Now he's much more a solo agent, taking on missions too secret or sensitive for the more official agencies.”

NOBODY DIES FOR FREE is available via Pro Se’s own store at for $15.00!

Smith’s Spy Novel is also available as an ebook for only $2.99 for Kindle at  !

NOBODY DIES FOR FREE by Aaron Smith from Pro Se Productions! Available now!

Find more about Smith and his other work at www.godsandgalaxies.blogspot.com

Pro Se Productions- www.prose-press.com

Contact Morgan Minor, Director of Corporate Operations at MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com for review copies, interviews, and further information!

HOLMES RETURNS!

Airship 27 Productions proudly announces the release of the fourth volume in its most successful anthology series to date; SHERLOCK HOLMES – CONSULTING DETECTIVE.  “These are the books our fans keeping demanding more of,” reported Ron Fortier, Managing Editor of Airship 27.  “Readers around the world just can’t seem to get enough of the Great Detective.  Considering the popularity of shows such as SHERLOCK on BBC and ELEMENTARY on NBC, it’s clearly obvious that the crime solving team of Holmes and Dr. Watson are still as popular as ever.”

The time and place, Victorian England on the cusp of a new century where the marvels of science will spur the Industrial Revolution to new heights of cultural wonder. And yet amidst this societal upheaval, the dark elements of human kind continue to worm their way through the streets of London and its surrounding countryside.  Murder and mayhem remain and thus the work of Sherlock Holmes continues; his powers of deductive reasoning the crucial bulwark to stem this tide of villainy.

Here are five new adventures of Holmes and Dr.Watson written in the traditional style of his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Writers I.A. Watson, Aaron Smith, Bradley H. Sinor, Bill Thinnes and Andrew Salmon deliver a quintet of truly memorable cases to challenge the famous crime fighting duo.  From the murder of a man who collects clockwork automatons to the theft of a valued Japanese sword, our heroes are once again called into action confronting a diverse set of mysteries guaranteed to entice the world’s greatest Consulting Detective.

Fortier relishes the debut of this new volume considering the overwhelming acclaim of the first three in the series.  “Amongst those books were four Pulp Factory Award winners,” he recalls happily.  “Two for Best Pulp Short Story of the Year, one for Best Pulp Cover and another for Best Interior Artwork.  The literary and artistic bars for this series have been set extremely high and we would have it no other way.”

The Pulp Factory Awards denoting the best pulp story and art from the previous year are voted on by the members of the Pulp Factory Yahoo Group and presented to the winners each year at the Windy City Paper & Pulp Show.

Sporting a cover by Chad Hardin with interior illustrations and design by Rob Davis, the

fourth volume in this bestselling series also features a fascinating essay, “The Mystery of

Mr. Holmes,” by I.A. Watson.  Here is grand adventure as Sherlock Homes fans around

the world have come to expect from Airship 27 Productions. 

 

PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION! 

 

Now Available at Create Space – (https://www.createspace.com/4137813)

At the Airship 27 Website – (http://robmdavis.com/Airship27Hangar/index.airshipHangar.html)

At Amazon & Kindle within a week.

Then at Indy Planet (http://indyplanet.com/store/)

AIRSHIP 27 DEBUTS JUNGLE TALES- VOLUME ONE!

CLASSIC JUNGLE ADVENTURES

Airship 27 Productions, a leader in the New Pulp Fiction movement, is thrilled to announce the released of their latest title, JUNGLE TALES Vol.One.

One of the most popular sub-genres of the classic pulp magazines were those with jungle settings. With the success and popularity of Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan stories, editors began clamoring for similar tales featuring jungle heroes. Soon dozens of cheap loin-cloth wearing imitators were popping up everywhere, including a few jungle queens to add spice to the mix.  By far the most successful of these Tarzan clones was the blond-haired Ki-Gor, the Jungle Lord whose adventures appeared regularly in the pages of Jungle Stories magazine.

Now Airship 27 Productions offers up this new collection with three brand new adventures of Ki-Gor and his lovely, red-headed mate, Helene, as they travel into the mysterious, uncharted jungles of Africa.  Penned by Aaron Smith, Duane Spurlock and Peter Miller, here are a trio of fast paced tales that have the Jungle Lord discovering a hidden village of Vikings, crossing paths with dinosaurs in a lost valley and battling cannibals to save the life of a benevolent jungle princess.  This is the pulse-pounding action and thrill-a-minute adventure fans have come to expect from the classic jungle pulps. 

“It’s hoped,” said Managing Editor, Ron Fortier, “that each new volume of this title will shine the spotlight on a different classic pulp jungle hero.  Maybe even a jungle queen or two.”  This premier features a stunning cover by painter Bryan Fowler with magnificent interior illustrations by Kelly Everaert.  JUNGLE TALES Vol.One kicks off another new series pulp fans are sure to appreciate and enjoy. 

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulp Fiction For A New Generation!

$3 PDF digital copy available at –

(airship27hangar.com)

From Amazon at –

(https://www.createspace.com/3914102 )

And coming soon from –

(http://indyplanet.com/store/)