I get SMACKED by Bibliorati!

by Tommy Hancock

Before we walk into the interrogation room that is The Smack, single light bulb hanging from the ceiling swinging back and forth and all, an administrative note.  These interviews will alternate at times in style.  Some will be, as was the debut last week, done in a more newspaper story, article style.  Others, just because of the spirit of the question and the one providing the answers, simply demand to be presented in their raw interrogation like form.  The style for every interview is chosen on what will serve the information and the interviewee best.  With that in mind, step inside the dungy green/gray room with this week’s suspect and enjoy as writer Sean Taylor Gets SMACKED!

First, tell readers about yourself personally.

I’m a father of three awesome kids ranging from 18-21, one girl and two boys, Charis, Evan, and Jack. Charis is the first to follow in my footsteps as a writer, with both a comic book story and a pulp short story to her credit as of now. My wife, Lisa, is a beautiful and multilingual woman who teaches both Spanish and French for one of the local high schools. I grew up reading illustrated classics (the abridged kind with a drawing on every other page) before reading the originals, and also gorging myself on comics ranging from Legion of Super Heroes to Ghosts and The House of Mystery. I hate long walks on the beach, but I love playing my guitar around a bonfire. I’ve also been in bands for years and even played onstage once with Kansas’ Kerry Livgren and several times with the Newsboys. My most embarrassing memory is of having to cancel a date because I fell down an elevator shaft while in college. And no, the girl didn’t believe me until I showed her my swollen leg and ankle a day or two later.

Read the full interview: http://www.bibliorati.com/single-post/2017/02/20/The-Smack-Sean-Taylor

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now #318 -- Upcoming Books for 2015

What new books do you have coming out this 

year readers should be looking forward to?

Oh yeah. There are lots of collections and novellas coming out this year, in addition some major comic book work that I hope to be able to reveal soon. Among all the upcoming published projects are:

Reel Dark: Twisted Fantasies Projected on the Flickering Page, "As So She Asked Again," Blackwyrm Publishing, 2015

"Spy Candy: The Dead Man Wore Stockings," Pro Se Productions Single Shot/Signature Series, 2015

Capes and Clockwork II, "No So These City Beasts," Dark Oak Press, 2015

The Ruby Files Volume 2, "A Tree Falls in a Forest," Airship 27 Productions, 2015

The New Deal: Masks and Mutants, "Gatsby," Pro Se Productions, 2015

Asian Pulp, "The Face of the Yuan Gui," Pro Se Productions, 2015

Black Pulp II, "The Hubris of Gods," Pro Se Productions, 2015

Hookerpunk, "The Truth Shall Set You Free," Dark Oak Press, 2015

The Danger People, "Daughter of Isis," New Babel Books, 2015

Armless O'Neill: Cognac Is My Mistress, Pulp Obscura (Pro Se Productions), 2015

Senorita Scorpion: When Weeps the Wailing Woman, Pulp Obscura (Pro Se Productions), 2015

Swingin' Superheroes, "The Robot Roundtable," Mechanoid Press, 2015

The Many Worlds of Ulysses King Vol. 2, "Trial and Tribulations," Pro Se Productions 2015

And a few more I can't announce yet...

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now #291 -- Famous Last Words (Personalized)

What are you favorite closing lines and endings from you're own work?

"She scrolled down and began to compare the two."
-- "Posthumous," Zombiesque

"Rick let go of the crutch and fell back onto her bed.
"'Oh boy. I should've tried harder to get killed.'
"'Like I'd let you get off that easy.'"
-- "Die Giftig Lilie," The Ruby Files Volume 1

"He locked his eyes on the doorway and walked toward it, then through it, then disappeared into the Ethiopian dust."
-- "There's Always a Woman Involved," Blood-Price of the Missionary's Gold, The New Adventures of Armless O'Neil

"The air above her rippled and spoke in the hateful voice of her half-sister, 'Mirror, mirror on the wall...'"
-- "The Fairest of Them All: A Symphony of Revenge," Classics Mutilated

"As she closed her eyes, the room faded to a blur, and within moments her world consisted of the sweat-soaked, dirty cotton of Kayla's dress, then even that faded away and there was nothing but the sound of Kayla's labored breathing, then moments later, even that disappeared."
-- "Come and Get Your Love," Tales of the Rook Volume Two

"Maybe this was his last foolish joke.
"My husband was a fool. And God help me, now I am."
-- "Foolish Notions," Show Me a Hero

"There wasn't a single damn dove around for miles."
-- "Farewell," Show Me a Hero

"'He wasn't fast enough,' I repeated. Then I let myself fall asleep."
-- "Limits," Show Me a Hero

"And he could make the fire dance."
-- "Angels of Our Better Nature," Show Me a Hero

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now #281 -- Recent New Favorites

Who's your favorite golden age pulp character that you discovered relatively recently? -- Jim Beard

For me, these new "faves" came from accepting gigs to write them for anthologies. I knew nothing of them prior to the research required to begin the writing, but felt instantly drawn to the characters as if they were old friends I'd been writing and reading for years.

For prose, they were Armless O'Neil and a certain beauty I can't discuss at the moment. But I really, really (can I add another really and get away with it?) loved writing and reading Armless O'Neil. He was a character I was immediately hooked on and felt like I "got" right off the bat.

To boil him down to his key character is simply this: Take Humphrey Bogart's Charlie Allnut out of The African Queen and give him a hook for a hand, then saddle him with adventures more typical of Allan Quatermain, then shake and pour, voila!

For comics, it would have to be The Blue Lady (whom I wrote in All Star Pulp Comics #1). She grabbed me the same way Armless did. She's a typical old-school pulp supporting lady rather than a heroine at first, but when she receives a ring that gives her the power to beat back guys to a pulp, she does what any other lady of the era would in a comic book and puts on a mask and costume to fight crime.

Even though she was only in three back-up features in Amazing Man Comics in the early 1940s (October '41 - January '42, to be precise) , I felt she needs and deserves more stories --which is something Jim Ritchey and I are currently working on. We'll keep you posted.

PULP ARK NOMINEES ANNOUNCED - And that Sean Taylor guy is listed in there too!

The 2013 Pulp Ark Award nominations were announced today and I'm proud to announce that I was nominated for a few of the coveted awards. The awards will be presented at the 2013 Pulp Ark convention in Springdale, Arkansas April 26-28, 2013.

The ballot for this year's awards was composed based on nominations called for beginning December 15, 2012 and ending January 15, 2013.   Only those who nominated in at least one category in that time period are allowed to vote. The original intent was to have voting begin January 15 and end February 15, 2013.  Due to an unforeseen number of ballots and a tremendous variety of nominations, the ballot was not completed until February 5th, 2013.  Therefore, all eligible voters have until March 1, 2013 to complete a ballot and email that to proseproductions@earthlink.net.

Winners will be announced on or after March 1, 2013 once all votes are compiled and winners are determined.  Awards will be given on April 27, 2013, at Pulp Ark 2013.

The most comprehensive Pulp award today, the Pulp Ark 2013 Ballot features over 40 publishers represented by nominated creators and works.

For more information on Pulp Ark 2013, go to www.pulpark.blogspot.com.

The nominees for Pulp Ark 2013 are as follows (my projects in bold, my actual writing or creation work in bold-underline):

BEST NOVEL
The National Maul- A Misty Johnson Mystery by RP Steeves, Seven Realms
The Sting of the Silver Manticore by PJ Lozito, Pro Se Productions
Riddle of the Glowing Men: A Captain Action Novel by Jim Beard, Airship 27
Productions
Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira by Derrick Ferguson, Pulpwork Press
Blood of the Centipede by Chuck Miller, Pro Se Productions
Die Glocke by Barry Reese, Pro Se Productions
Drowning in Red Ink by James Mullaney, James Mullaney
Devil May Care by James Mullaney, James Mullaney
Project Alpha by Lee Houston Jr., Pro Se Productions
Death’s Dark Domain by Will Murray (Kenneth Robeson), Altus Press
The Destiny of Fu Manchu by William Patrick Maynard, Black Coat Press
Once Upon a Time in Afrika by Balogun Ojetade, MVmedia
Murder Most Faire by Teel James Glenn, Post Mortem Press
Hawk: Hand of the Machine by Van Allen Plexico, White Rocket Books
Legends of Darkness by Georgia L. Jones, Blackwyrm Publishing
Prohibition by Terrence McCauley, Airship 27 Productions
Know No Fear by Dan Abnett, Games Workshop
The Song of Kwasin by Philip Jose Farmer and Christopher Paul Carey, Subterranean Press.
Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr, Putnam
Earthstrike Agenda by Bobby Nash, BEN Books
Green To Go by John Cunnigham, Green St.
Dinosaur Jazz by Michael Panush, Curiosity Quills Press

BEST NOVELLA
The Lone Ranger: Vendetta by Howard Hopkins, Moonstone
Moses: the Chronicles of Harriet Tubman (Bookx 1 and 2) by Balogun Ojetade, Balogun Ojetade
The Looking Glass Gambit from The Further Adventures of Maxi and Moxie by Teel James Glenn, Booksforabuck.com
Unearthed  by William Preston, Isaac Asimiov’s Science Fiction Magazine, 9/12
Play the Way Home by Jessica McHugh (as EJ McCain), P. Mortem’s Tall Tales
Exiles of Kho by Christopher Paul Carey, Meteor House Press
Savage Song by Warren Murphy, Destroyer Books
Outlaw Blues by Percival Constantine, Pulpwork Press
Dragon Kings of the Orient by Percival Constantine, Pulpwork Press
The Sons of Thor by Erwin K. Roberts, Pro Se Productions
The Knockout by Robert J. Randisi, Fight Card Productions
Sinbad and the Voyage to the Land of the Frozen Sun by Derrick Ferguson , The Adventures of Sinbad, Airship 27 Productions

BEST COLLECTION/ANTHOLOGY
Blood-Price of the Missionary’s Gold: The New Adventures of Armless O’Neil by Various, Pro Se Productions
Nightbeat: Night Stories by Various, Radio Archives
Mystery Men (and Women) III by Various, Airship 27 Productions
The Huntress of Greenwood by Nancy Hansen, Pro Se Productions
Tales of the Rook by Various, Pro Se Productions
Sgt. Janus Spirit Breaker by Jim Beard, Airship 27 Productions
The New Adventures of the Eagle Volume 1 by Various, Pro Se Productions
The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Vol 2: Die Glocke, by Barry Reese Pro Se Productions
Sinbad: The New Voyages By Various, Airship 27 Productions
The Green Hornet: Still at Large by Various, Moonstone Books
The Ruby Files By Various, Airship 27 Productions
Headline Ghouls: The Further Adventures of Maxi and Moxie by Teel James Glenn, Booksforabuck.com
Monster Aces by Various, Pro Se Productions
The Adventures of the Pulptress by Various, Pro Se Productions

BEST SHORT STORY
Armless O’Neil and the Chase for the Kuba Mask by RP Steeves from Blood: The Price of the Missionary’s Gold: The New Adentures of Armless O’Neil, Pro Se Productions
The Chicago Punch by Paul Bishop from Nightbeat: Night Stories, Radio Archives
Doc Panic by Dave White from Pro Se Presents 16, Pro Se Productions
The Killing Games by Barry Reese from The Tales of the Rook Volume 1, Pro Se Productions
Lucky by Tommy Hancock from Nightbeat: Night Stories, Radio Archives
Doctor Fear by Jarrod Courtenmanche, Secret Agent “X,” Volume 4. Airship 27 Productions
The Coming Storm by Teel James Glenn from New Adventures of the Eagle, Pro Se Productions
Lady Madeline’s Dive by Terrence McCauley from Thuglit #1, Thuglit
The Feast of Stephen by R P Steeves from An Undead Christmas, Undead Press
The Abominable Myra Linsky Rises Again by Chuck Miller from Pro Se Presents #13, Pro Se Productions
Making of a Hero by Barry Reese From The Adventures of Lazarus Gray: Die Glocke, Pro Se Productions
The Keener Eye: The Web of Life by Nancy A. Hansen from Pro Se Presents 12, Pro Se Productions
Death of a Dream by Christofer Nigro from Tales of the Shadowmen, Volume 9, Black Coat Press
Tulsa Blackie’s Last Dive by William Patrick Maynard from The Ruby Files, Airship 27 Productions
The Portrait by Terry Alexander from The Adventures of the Pulptress, Pro Se Productions
The Hellmouth by Barry Reese from The New Adventures of Thunder Jim Wade, Pro Se Productions
Extraction by Jessica McHugh from Fear the Abyss, Post Mortem Press
The Wild Hunstman by Win Scott Eckert from The Worlds of Philip Jose Farmer 3: Portratis of a Trickster, Meteor House Books
Hand of the Monster by Jim Beard from Monster Aces, Pro Se Productions
Red Lily and the Oriental Flower by D. Alan Lewis from Nashville Noir
The Curse of Baron Samedi by Percival Constantine from Tales of the Rook, Pro Se Productions
The Ghoul by Ron Fortier from Monster Aces, Pro Se Productions
Paranoia by Kevin Rodgers from Pro Se Presents March 2012, Pro Se Productions
Die Giftig Lillie, Sean Taylor from The Ruby Files, Airship 27 Productions
The Butcher’s Festival by Ron Fortier from The Adventures of the Pulptress, Pro Se Productions
Crown of the Cobra King by Frank Shildiner from Secret Agent X Vol. 4, Airship 27 Productions


BEST COVER ART
Witches, by Larry Elmore, Blackwyrm Publishing
Gil Murillo, The National Maul-A Misty Johnson Mystery, Seven Realms
Tales of the Rook, Volume 1 by Bob Hall, Tales of the Rook Vol. 1, Pro Se Productions
Mystery Men (And Women) III, by Marco Turini, Airship 27 Productions
Monster Aces byTerry Pavlet, Pro Se Productions
Sentinels: Metalgod by Chris Kohler, White Rocket Books
Lazarus Gray: Die Glocke by George Sellas, Pro Se Productions
The New Adventures of the Eagle Volume 1 by David L. Russell, Pro Se Productions
The Ruby Files by Mark Wheatley, Airship 27 Productions
Pro Se Presents #13 by Sean Ali, Pro Se Productions
Drowning in Red Ink by Micah Birchfield, James Mullaney
The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage: The Infernal Buddha by Joe DeVito, Altus Press
The Destiny of Fu Manchu by Christine Clavel, Black Coat Press
Once Upon a Time in Afrika by Stan Weaver, Jr., MVmedia
Doc Claus by Teel James Glenn, Pulp Empire
Blackthorn: Dynasty of Mars by Adam Diller, White Rocket Books
Pro Se Presents 14 by Sean Ali, Pro Se Productions
Sting of the Silver Manticore, David L. Russell, Pro Se Productions
Prohibition by Rob Moran and Shannon Hall, Airship 27 Productions
The Green Hornet Still at Large by Doug Klauba, Moonstone
Three Against the Stars by Laura Givens, Airship 27 Productions
Nightbeat: Night Stories by Doug Klauba, Radio Archives
The Family Grace by George Sellas, Pro Se Productions
Dragon Kings of the Orient by Percival Cosntantine, Pulpwork Press
Exiles of Kho: A Tale of Lost Khokarsa by Mike Hoffman, Meteor House
The Horn by Mike Fyles, Uchronic Tales
Huntress of Greenwood by David Russell, Pro Se Productions
Project Alpha by Marc Guerrero, Pro Se Productions
Captain Action: The Riddle of the Glowing Men by Nick Runge, Airship 27 Productions

BEST INTERIOR ART
The Ruby Files Volume 1 by Rob Moran, Airship 27 Productions
Mystery Men (And Women) III by Rob Davis, Airship 27 Productions
The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Volume 2: Die Glocke by George Sellas, Pro Se Productions
Robin Hood: Arrow of Justice by Rob Davis, Airship 27 Productions
The Moon Man Volume 1 by Ralf van der Hoeven, Airship 27 Productions
Sentinels: Metalgod by Chris Kohler, White Rocket Books
Sgt. Janus, Spirit Breaker, Airship 27 Productions
Tales of the Rook Volume 1 by George Sellas, Pro Se Productions
Exiles of Kho: A Tale of Lost Khokarsa by Mike Hoffman, Meteor House
The Baron’s Revenge by Rob Davis, Airship 27 Productions

BEST PULP REVIVAL
Armless O’Neil by Various, Pro Se Productions
Doc Savage by Will Murray, Altus Press
Thunder Jim Wade by Various, Pro Se Productions
Richard Knight by Various, Pro Se Productions
The Moon Man by Various, Airship 27 Productions
Secret Agent X by Various, Airship 27 Productions
Ki-Gor in Jungle Tales by Various, Airship 27 Productions
Doctor Death by Tommy Hancock, Pro Se Productions

BEST NEW CHARACTER
Camille Boucher in The National Maul by R. P. Steeves, Seven Realms
The Silver Manticore in The Sting of the Silver Manticore by PJ Lozito, Pro Se Productions
Rick Ruby in The Ruby Files, Vol 1 by Sean Taylor and Bobby Nash, Airship 27 Productions
Kiri in Mystery Men (And Women) III by Curtis Ferlund, Airship 27 Productions
Doc Panic in Pro Se Presents 15 by Dave White, Pro Se Productions
Hawk in Hawk: Hand of the Machine by Van Allen Plexico, White Rocket Books
Sgt. Janus, Spirit Breaker  in Sgt. Janus, Spirit Breaker by Jim Beard, Airship 27 Productions
Dr. Dana Unknown Jr in Pro Se Presents 13 by Chuck Miller, Pro Se Productions
Jimmy Dolan in Tales of the Hanging Monkey by Billy Craig, Airship 27 Productions
Bob Howard, The Crusader from Cross Plains in Adventures in Otherwhen: Tales of Pulpfantastique by Teel James Glenn, Booksforabuck.com
Samoda in the Remnants of Life Series by Georgia L. Jones, Blackwyrm
The Pulptress by Tommy Hancock in The Adventures of the Pulptress, Pro Se Productions
Terry Quinn in Prohibition by Terrence McCauley, Airship 27 Productions
Carl Flint in Outlaw Blues by Percival Constantine, Pulpwork Press
Sun Wukong in Dragon Kings of the Orient by Percival Constantine, Pulpwork Press
E-31 in Modern Pulp Heroes by Terry Alexander, Pulp Empire

BEST AUTHOR
Van Allen Plexico
William Preston
RP Steeves
PJ Lozito
Barry Reese
Chuck Miller
Dan Abnett
James Mullaney
Howard Hopkins
Will Murray
William Patrick Maynard
Teel James Glenn
Ron Fortier
Bobby Nash
Derrick Ferguson
Warren Murphy
Jessica McHugh
Win Scott Eckert
Percival Constantine
Nancy Holder
Andrew Salmon
Christopher Paul Carey
Gary Lovisi
Michael Panush
Joshua Reynolds

BEST PULP COMIC
Masks, Dynamite Comics
The Black Beetle, Dark Horse Comics Presents
Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom, IDW
Price of the Asking, Twilight Star Productions
The Shadow, Dynamite Comics
The Once and Future Tarzan, Dark Horse Comics
Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X, Red 5 Comics
Fatale, Image Comics
Robyn of Sherwood, Redbud Studio Comics

BEST PULP MAGAZINE
Pro Se Presents
Weird Tales

BEST NEW WRITER
Curtis Fernlund
David White
Jim Beard
Balogun Ojetade
Greg Daniel
Georgia L. Jones
D. Alan Lewis
Ashley Mangin
Andrea Judy

Meet Armless O'Neil! (Special teaser post)

Here's a teaser for my Armless O'Neil story, "There's Always a Woman Involved," featuring in Blood-Price of the Missionary's Gold: The New Adventures of Armless O'Neil.

Get your copy today!

Available at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/172960

Available in print at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Price-Missionarys-Gold-Adventures-Armless/dp/1477651306/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339971091&sr=8-1&keywords=blood-the+price+of+missionary%27s+gold

Available for Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Price-Missionarys-Gold-Adventures-ebook/dp/B008C8NMYI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1339971091&sr=8-2&keywords=blood-the+price+of+missionary%27s+gold

=======================

“To hell with you, Tommy!” Armless O’Neil shouted across the table, slamming down his fist in matching rhythm with that of the hook that made up the visible portion of his left arm. “If God in his infinite wisdom had seen fit to have you born the lame runt of a Bedouin’s mangiest goat, you’d have been at least twice as smart and four times as useful as you are now.”

“That’s unfair, and you know it, O’Neil.” Tommy stood tall and as handsome a specimen as O’Neil was ugly and squat—well, not exactly ugly, but at the very least undesirable in any modern romantic fashion. “And it’s certainly no way to speak of the man who is offering a quick way to make two thousand German Reichsmarks for little more than babysitting wooden boxes.”

“What’s her name?” O’Neil locked his eyes on those of the younger man and took a swig of cognac from a bottle with an Italian label. He tried his best to ignore that fact and pretend the lackluster liquor was the good stuff. “Well?”

“What makes you think there’s a girl involved?”

“Because if I was as young and as stupid as you, there’d be a girl involved.” O’Neil set the bottle down on the table with a loud clank. “And every time I bump into you, there’s a girl involved. If I were to venture a guess, I’d say you’ve left a girl aboard every ship I’ve paid for you to return home on.”

“Now that’s just not fair.”

“Lucia?”

Tommy huffed and coughed. “That’s different.”

“Kathy Van Heest?”

Tommy’s pale, youthful whiteness turned pink. “Her family had—”

“Cleopatra?”

Tommy stood up, slamming his open palm on the table top so hard that O’Neil had to steady the bottle of cognac. “I never messed around with anyone named Cleopatra.”

“And only because she’s a few thousand years too old for you, but God help Caesar and Mark Antony if you had taken a shine to her.”

Tommy started to say something, but O’Neil shushed him, and he sat down again.

“You’re a louse of a friend. You know that?”

“And you’re a bad investment, m’boy.” O’Neil offered the bottle to Tommy, but the younger man refused. “Don’t look so hurt. And don’t try to deny the times I’ve more than covered your return trip to the United States.”

Tommy looked at the floor.

O’Neil drained the bottle of the last third of liquor. When he finished, he put the bottle on the floor beside him and called out for another.

“You’re drunk,” Tommy said. “That’s why I’m not mad at you about all this mean-spirited nonsense you’re saying.”

O’Neil grinned. “I’m not drunk. You are a louse. And you do fall in love too easily.”

A dark-skinned man in a white coat and trousers brought a fresh bottle to the table.

“But enough of your shortcomings, my friend. “Tell me about the twenty-five hundred Reichsmarks.”

PULPTRESS, ARMLESS O’NEIL, AND PROJECT ALPHA AVAILABLE AS E-BOOKS!

Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher in New Pulp, proudly announces the release of three of its latest titles in Ebook format! ONLY $2.99!

BLOOD-THE PRICE OF MISSIONARY’S GOLD- THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ARMLESS O’NEIL- In the Heart of the Dark Continent, the Man Known as Armless O'Neil Hunts for Legendary Treasures, but Discovers a World of Shadowy Secrets, Wild Danger, and Sensational Adventure! Thrill to Five Fantastic Stories of Savage Mystery, Amazing Action, and Incredible Excitement from Sean Taylor, Nick Ahlhelm, R. P. Steeves, I. A. Watson, and Chuck Miller! Follow Armless O'Neil as he makes his way in bold new stories from the finest in New Pulp today! Featuring a stunning cover by Mike Fyles and wonderful cover design by Sean Ali as well as excellent interior design by Matt Moring (Print) and Russ Anderson (Ebook), Pulp Obscura Proudly Presents Blood-Price of the Missionary's Gold: The New Adventures of Armless O'Neil! From Pro Se Productions in conjunction with Altus Press!

PROJECT ALPHA- PROJECT ALPHA from Lee Houston, Jr. is a prose love letter to the wonder, magic, awe, and power of Silver Age Comics! The once peaceful planet of Shambala is on the verge of extinction. A menace of their own creation now considers himself the high and mighty ruler of all, determined to have the realm of his dreams regardless of the cost to others. Now the scientist responsible for the danger seeks to perform the experiment again on another world. But this planet is home to a far more primitive culture than his own. Even if he is successful, can ALPHA save Shambala before it's too late? Lee Houston, Jr. presents an incredible new hero embarking on an amazing adventure that will push him to the limits of his newfound abilities and beyond! ONLY $2.99!

THE PULPTRESS- She appears, an enigma, a guardian angel in a mask and fedora, her past shrouded in mystery. Where did she come from? What secrets in her past drove her to become a crusader for justice? Who is The Pulptress? This masked woman of mystery, makes her debut on the New Pulp scene in a collection of stories sure to thrill and amaze you. Leading off with an introduction by The Pulptress' creator, Tommy Hancock, this collection features stories by Terry Alexander, Ron Fortier, Erwin K. Roberts, Andrea Judy, and Tommy Hancock! With a fantastic cover by Mitch Foust and beautiful design work by Sean Ali, this collection is a must have! It's time You met The First Lady of New Pulp! The Pulptress! From Pro Se Productions! ONLY $1.99!

Each E-book, wonderfully designed by Pro Se’s own Russ Anderson, is available for the Kindle at www.Amazon.com, for the Nook at www.barnesandnoble.com, and in multiple formats at www.smashwords.com!

Pro Se Productions- Puttin’ the Monthly Back Into Pulp!

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ARMLESS O'NEIL- New from PULP OBSCURA!

My newest book is finally available!

A stranger with a glittering hook for a left hand. He came to the untamed wilderness of Africa to escape from a dark, troubled past to make his fortune. Yet his new life comes at an unexpected price. Wherever he goes adventure, danger, and death seems to follow... From Pulp Obscura comes five brand new adventures of one of the most unique heroes of Classic Pulp!

Armless O'Neil, explorer, adventurer, and soldier of fortune with his own unique view on life and a thirst for action like no other lives once more in the pages of Pulp Obscura, an imprint from Pro Se Productions in conjunction with Altus Press!

In the Heart of the Dark Continent, the Man Known as Armless O'Neil Hunts for Legendary Treasures, but Discovers a World of Shadowy Secrets, Wild Danger, and Sensational Adventure! Thrill to Five Fantastic Stories of Savage Mystery, Amazing Action, and Incredible Excitement from Sean Taylor, Nick Ahlhelm, R. P. Steeves, I. A. Watson, and Chuck Miller! Follow Armless O'Neil as he makes his way in bold new stories from the finest in New Pulp today! Featuring a stunning cover by Mike Fyles and wonderful cover design by Sean Ali as well as excellent interior design by Matt Moring (Print) and Russ Anderson(Ebook), Pulp Obscura Proudly Presents Blood-Price of the Missionary's Gold: The New Adventures of Armless O'Neil! From Pro Se Productions in conjunction with Altus Press! Pro Se Productions- Puttin' The Monthly Back into Pulp!

Get BLOOD-THE PRICE OF THE MISSIONARY’S GOLD: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ARMLESS O’NEIL in print today for $12.00 from Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/7yfpt8p as well as www.prosepulp.com and www.pulpobscura.net!  

Also available in Ebook format for the Kindle at http://tinyurl.com/c6up47q and in multiple formats at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/172960 for only $2.99!

For the classic adventures of Armless O’Neil, check out Altus Press’ latest release – SWAMP FETISH: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF ARMLESS O’NEIL VOLUME 2 by Dan Cushman featuring an all new introduction by James Reasoner!  Get yours today at Amazon or at http://tinyurl.com/cx2bms3 !

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#163) -- Feet of Clay

How important is it that your hero have "feet of clay"? 

For me it's not just important, it's crucial if I want my heroes to be believable. Some of the best advice I ever got about writing comes from Chuck Dixon, and it has served me well throughout my career: Give your villain a likeable trait, and give your hero a dislikeable trait. Those aren't his exact words, but that's the gist of it.

Give your hero feet of clay. Make them struggle with something, and for my money, why not a moral issue?

Case in point, Rick Ruby from THE RUBY FILES is a womanizer and a bit of a drunk, but he gets the job done and has a moral code that defines his world. Armless O'Neil (from my upcoming book from Pulp Obscura) is a cynical and jaded bastard who tries to overcome his lack of faith in people to ultimately do the right thing. And in my SHOW ME A HERO collection, the Grandstander is a flamboyant and arrogant jackass who's only super power is that he knows the exact moment of his death and has a sort of carte blanche with his actions until that day happens, and he abuses his "power" to impress people. But not without ultimately doing the right thing.

Traditional pulp, I'll admit, is probably one of the most difficult genres for me to write, simply because it's well-known for its clear cut delineations of good guys and bad guys, whereas I prefer to write my characters along a continuum rather than a clear line in the sand. My bad guys can be a little good, and my good guys have to be a little bad, or they're just not that interesting to me as a reader or as a writer.

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#76) -- Public Domain

Why all the interest in the public domain stuff lately?

Wow. I hadn't thought about it, but it does seem like everything I'm posting about lately is a revival of a public domain property, doesn't it? The truth is it's just a timing issues. I've had the H.G. Wells and Frankenstein projects in the works for years, and they're just now getting traction and making progress art-wise, which excites me to no end.

In addition to those, I'm also doing an online comic revival of the golden-age powerhouse Rip Regan, Powerman. And I recently did the Blue Lady story with Jim Ritchey III for All-Star Pulp Comics, now long ago.

On the prose side, a lot of pulp stuff is hitting recently, however. I'm doing a new adventures of Armless O'Neil for Pulp Obscura, and several others that I can't mention yet until I get approval from the publishers. (Yeah, I'm a tease. I know it. Sorry.)

Why do I pursue so many of these public domain characters? Several reasons.

1. They're fun to write.

2. It's a way of continuing the mythos after the original writers have died.

3. The characters ultimately belong to the fans, and it's a way of rewarding fans for their love of these otherwise forgotten heroes.

4. I'm getting paid for it. (Got to keep the groceries on the table, you know.)

5. I think these heroes deserve to come back. Sure, it's easy to keep Superman and Batman and Spider-Man in front of the masses, but that doesn't mean they are any more deserving of that spotlight than folks like Richard Knight, Armless O'Neil, The Black Bat, or The Domino Lady.

6. Alan Moore shouldn't be the only writer who can make a name for himself (and a living) by giving public domain characters a new spin. (Okay, I'm probably reaching for that one unless I redefine what "a living" is, but the spirit of the statement is still true.)

The Writer Will Take Your Questions Now (#36) -- What's New for 2012?

What new work should we be looking for from you this coming year?

Prose:

The Ruby Files Volume 1, Airship 27, 2012
Tall Tales Featuring Aym Geronimo and the Post-Modern Pioneers, Geronimo Press, 2012
The Danger People, New Babel Books, 2012 
Abyss Walker Anthology, New Babel Books, 2012
Price of the Missionary's Gold: The New Adventures of Armless O'Neil Volume One, Pulp Obscura (Pro Se Productions), 2012
Lance Star: Sky Ranger Volume 4, Airship 27, 2012
The Wraith, Airship 27, 2012
The Ruby Files Volume 2, Airship 27, 2012

Comics: 

Turra: Gun Angel comic book series, Maw Productions, 2012
Mayhem, Monsters & Maniacs: Tales for a Creepy Halloween graphic novel, Bandito Entertainment, 2012

Getting to know the man behind the man in (no) tights -- Ian Watson

(In which the blogger/writer/webmaster/exhausted one takes some time off from actual writing to chat with Ian Watson about his work, particularly his newest Robin Hood volume.)

Tell us a little about yourself and where readers can find out more about you and your work?

The three strangest things I’ve done this week are try to buy a college, conduct an archaeological survey on a 1790s Methodist chapel, and do an interview for an online pulp site.

The college bit comes from my day job, wherein I’m a freelance consultant project developer. I’m acquiring a great old estate for a client who wants to set up a multimedia centre of excellence and make movies! The site survey was with my daughter, who’s studying archaeology and classics; I was required to hold the other end of the ranging rods. My son stayed well clear. And the interview… well, here we are.

When I was nine I read my first issue of The Avengers comic, #4, “The Coming of Captain America”. It blew my mind, got me into comic collecting, and eventually led to my regular participation in an online Avengers message board. Some lengthy essays there got me invited onto a private Avengers mailing list. When a bunch of these “Jarvis-Heads” decided to publish a book of articles on the Avengers I contributed quite a bit to it. Assembled!, and its sequel Assembled 2!, and its eventual other sequel called… well guess, have raised quite a bit of money for charity and got me into print.

About that time I was at a garden party, talking about some material I was researching for an article on King Arthur. As the conversation progressed it became clear that what I really wanted wasn’t to do a thesis but to tell stories. The person I was talking to pointed it out quite strongly. So I came home and started writing fiction, and I’m still writing. This isn’t a very interesting answer - except the helpful garden party was at Buckingham Palace.

When Van Plexico of White Rocket Books decided to do a “guest writer” volume of his successful Sentinels superhero series I was invited to contribute a short story to Alternate Visions; so I did. That got me recommended to Ron Fortier of Airship 27 as an author for Cornerstone’s Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective series, primarily because I could write fast for an approaching print deadline I suspect. That series proved pretty popular, spawning two more volumes so far and a fourth next year. One of my stories in volume 2 got nominated for the Pulp Ark “Best Short Story 2010” award and actually won the Pulp Factory “Best Short Story” award.

That Avengers mailing list I mentioned also spawned an idea for a Solomon Cain-type story. It got kibitzed with some pretty high-powered creative types to make it into something original with its own voice – that’s why Kurt Busiek wrote the introduction to the book we eventually produced, Gideon Cain: Demon Hunter. My story in that got nominated for a couple of awards too.


Most recently I’ve also been a part of the Blackthorn: Thunder on Mars SF anthology, having fun with the idea of a 21st century soldier who wakes up on far-future Mars and leads the resistance to the tyrants who control it. The book’s style was pitched as Edgar Rice Burroughs meets Jack Kirby. Who could resist that?

So if it wasn’t for the Avengers I wouldn’t be here answering these questions. If it wasn’t for a personage eating cucumber sandwiches I wouldn’t be writing stories for publication. If Van Plexico, Ron Fortier, and a bunch of other people who are far too creative for their own good weren’t so damned persuasive I’d have a little free time.

How did you become involved with the Robin Hood, Arrow of Justice book?

Along the way I was encouraged to produce a novel. Airship 27 kindly provided me with a list of properties they’d be happy to publish books about. King Arthur was actually on it, and I’d got plenty of Arthurian material by then, but I decided it would be better to write something specially designed for the page-count and marketplace. And right there under Arthur Pendragon’s name on that list was Robin Hood. So Robin Hood: King of Sherwood picked up two Best Novel nominations in 2010. The second volume in the trilogy, Robin Hood: Arrow of Justice has just hit the shops this month. The third volume, Robin Hood: Freedom’s Champion, is already “in the can” due for next year’s publication schedule.

Robin Hood has had many widely varied characterizations in novels, comics, and films. How do you see him? Who is the real Robin Hood to you?

He’s the archetypal good-guy outlaw. When the law no longer serves justice, justice must come from an outside the law. Everybody from Zorro and the Saint to Knight Rider and the A-Team owe him a debt of thanks.

What’s more, Robin Hood’s so pervasive in our Western culture, especially British and American culture, that people already “know” what he’s really about. The marketers would say he’s got brand recognition. He’s a laughing swashbuckler, the people’s champion, the sneaky trickster, the defiant rebel, the forest legend. He’s Errol Flynn and Natty Bumpo and Bugs Bunny and Che Guevara and Robin Goodfellow all wrapped up in Lincoln green and leading a fellowship of like-minded felons.

What helps is that people have been telling Robin Hood stories for a very long time. He gets a mention in Piers Plowman, the very first written fiction in the English language. There’s a wealth of old ballads and folk tales that give us all the elements of who he is and of what his cast are like. Pretty much all the things everyone knows about Robin, including his enmity with the Sheriff of Nottingham, his friendship with Little John, his romance with Marion, his most audacious stunts, all come from those centuries-old sources.

I wanted to ground Robin in the world as it was around 1191, the time King Richard the Lionheart went on his crusade and left a divided, bankrupt England to the schemings of his brother John. It was a grim time, only 125 years since the forcible conquest of England by the Normans. Serfs were little more than slaves. The church was powerful but not always charitable. The barons squabbled and did what they liked.

So Robin had to be the antidote to that. He had to be fun! The worst thing you can do to a tyrant is make people laugh at him, so I wanted Robin to be audacious and daring versus the Sheriff’s meticulous scheming. He had to be the shining fizzing sparkling wise-cracking big-headed big-hearted full-on adventure hero who gave those starving peasants hope – and something to chuckle about when he put one over on the Sheriff again. After all, the very first thing we know about Robin’s followers is that they were Merry Men.

Robin Hood’s story is very much about “us versus them who keep us down” and the ordinary fellow putting one over on the rich and the powerful. It speaks as much to us today in a world of powerful corporations, corrupt bankers, slick politicians and economic downturns as it did to those common folk centuries ago gathering after dark to grumble about the bosses. Robin Hood’s a blue-collar hero.

What do you think makes Robin Hood a pulp character?

Well, he’s an action hero. His stories and ballads were circulated in mass-produced cheap-print editions for the common masses. His tales are generally fast-paced, adventure-oriented, with strong goodies and baddies to cheer and boo. Robin’s not just a hero; he’s got at least a claim to being the first pulp hero!

And if he doesn’t get the ward, he’ll probably steal it anyway.

Of course there are other ways to write him too. He’s been the subject of plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries (the Bard mentions him too), of a poem by Keats and a stage production by Tennyson. He appears in Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe and T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. He gets around and there are plenty of ways to write him. I deliberately set out to tell a Robin Hood story as it might have appeared in the Strand Magazine or Weird Tales. The techniques, characters, and situations blended remarkably easily with pulp styles.

With that in mind I tried to do the story in episodes. There are chapters that might each appear weekly in some periodical. Each book tells a complete narrative – readers could pick up the new Arrow of Justice without needing to invest in King of Sherwood first and they’ll still get a “proper” story – that is intended to keep the pages turning, keep the emotions coming, keep the audience pulling for the underdog. The intention was that by the time we get to the climax we’re more interested in seeing Robin and Marion win than we are in walking the dog, in getting supper for the kids, in going to bed in time to get up tomorrow. That’s what good pulp fiction’s supposed to do to you.

Why does Robin Hood appeal to you as a writer and a reader?

I wasn’t really that interested in Robin Hood until I had to work out how to tell a story about him. It was when I spent some time reading the original source material to get a feel for what he was about that I realised he was a very contemporary character. Which of us hasn’t wanted to rebel against stifling corrupt authority and change the world? Who doesn’t wish that something could be done for the powerless victims of oppressors who own the system? Robin was loved because he was a wish-fulfilment hero who fought the law when the law was wrong - and won.

I wanted to do something that brought the sensibilities and worldview of that original material to a modern audience using modern techniques, and I had to work out how to do that without plagiarising or copying other modern versions.

It occurred to me that most contemporary iterations of Robin Hood tend to skirt over his origins. We might get a returns-from-crusades-and-is-shocked-by-injustice scene, or a revenge drama because the Sheriff had dispossessed him or something, but mostly as soon as Robin spots injustice he leaps into a tree in Sherwood Forest and starts robbing the rich to give to the poor. But why would he be like that? What would motivate a woodland bandit to become a champion of freedom?

I decided that my Robin was going to be a young rogue and we’d see him “become” the Hood of legend bit by bit. Robin Hood would be a work-in-progress. So I needed a catalyst, and really there’s one catalyst that works better on young rogues than any other, then and now: Robin meets a girl.

I needed Maid Marion to be a very strong character. She has to be Robin’s match, the only one who can keep up with him, the only one who can sometimes surprise the trickster. Outlaw Robin meets noble Marion and they each shake the other’s worlds and both force their opposite to re-examine their convictions and their lives.

I enjoyed typing the Robin and Marion scenes. Those were the bits where the characters really wrote themselves.

Adventure heroes need competent villains. I wanted a range of different kinds of threats for Robin to face from adversaries that each behaved differently and used different kinds of villainy. In the stories I wrote, the Sheriff of Nottingham is the cold calculating games-player, the absolute opposite of intuitive tricky Robin. Sir Guy of Gisbourne, Prince John’s envoy, is a sadistic berserker, cruel for cruelty’s sake, delighting in his power over the helpless, willing to commit any atrocity to bring Robin down. Prince John himself is late to appear in the series, but he’s a vindictive political opportunist who’ll do anything for advancement and who never forgets a sleight. Each of these and the various other adversaries Robin must survive is designed to challenge him in different ways and require different responses from the outlaw.

That kept writing the tale interesting. Hopefully that will come across in reading it too.

Tell us a little bit about your work in the Arrow of Justice book. What kind of dangers will Robin face?

The first book covered the first frantic week where Robin and Marion meet and their legend begins. By the end of that volume pretty much everything people “know” about Robin’s set-up is in place. Robin has joined up with Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet and the rest. He and his band are in Sherwood redistributing taxes without the Sheriff’s consent. Prince John is lusting after Maid Marion and plotting her father’s downfall. People are starting to hear about the outlaw “king of the forest”.

Arrow of Justice covers the three months that come next. The Sheriff of Nottingham lays his plans – for Marion’s family’s downfall, for his own wedding to a rich and unwilling young heiress, for the capture and destruction of Robin Hood. The good guys have made their move. Now the bad guys get to respond in the way that all totalitarian states do to civil unrest. Meanwhile, Marion tried to return to the old life she had before meeting the merry men and finds it doesn’t really fit her any more – the outlaw inside her keeps bubbling to the surface.

Book one was about Robin and Marion coming together, changing each other, then changing the world. Book two deliberately keeps them apart until near the end, but those changes they’ve wrought in each other still run true. But there’s still plenty for the romantics as well as the adventure-seekers. This is the volume that covers a couple of Robin’s most famous capers including the Sheriff’s archery contest where a disguised Robin seeks a golden arrow and the hand of the Lady Marion.

If folks would like a preview they’re welcome to take a look at http://www.chillwater.org.uk/writing/robinhome.htm.  As well as sample chapters from both Robin Hood books there are links to purchase print or e-book editions, some additional material including maps and character profiles, and some information about the other publications I mentioned back at question 1.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

In the next few months there’ll be some more anthologies with my work in them:

The New Adventures of Richard Knight volume 1 includes “The Hostage Academy,, wherein the aviator detective uncovers a devious plot to control the decision-makers of America through their kidnapped loved ones. There will be details at www.prosepulp.com shortly but nothing yet.

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective volume 4 will feature “The Case of the Clockwork Courtesan”, wherein a life-sized mechanical doll may have committed a murder.

Price of the Missionary’s Gold – the New Adventures of Armless O’Neil includes the title story wherein a missing boatload of bullion lost during civil war in the Congo prompts a ruthless band of mercenaries to attempt mass murder unless the one-handed adventurer can stop them.

There’ll be a new Robin Hood short story, “The Slavers of Whitby” in the online magazine Pulp Spirit #14, available free from 1st February 2012 at http://www.planetarystories.com/

And there’ll also be a Robin Hood comic story, “Lionheart’s Gold” in All Star Pulp Comics #2 from Airship 27.

Beyond that I’ve turned in work for two other anthologies that’s its too early to talk about and I’m committed to write for three more. Then Robin Hood: Freedom’s Champion will finish the Robin Hood trilogy.

The Sherlock Holmes volumes are available from http://www.gopulp.info/.

Gideon Cain, Blackthorn, Alternate Visions and the Assembled! volumes are available from White Rocket Books at Whiterocketbooks.com.

And of course these things are available from the usual retailers.

Anyhow, enough plugs. Everybody should go and fight injustice now.

Thanks for your time, Ian!

Sean Taylor to pen new Armless O'Neil tale for Pulp Obscura!

It's official and the word is out! I can now let the world know one of the new Pulp Oscura books I'll be involved in.

PRICE OF THE MISSIONARY’S GOLD:
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ARMLESS O'NEIL VOLUME ONE  

Classic Pulp Adventure in Exotic Lands seeking Treasure and Action! And with a Tough as Nails Hook Handed Hero! 

Writers include: Sean Taylor, Rich Steeves, Ian Watson, Chuck Miller, Andrew Hind, and Nick Alhelm

Armless O'Neil is a adventurer, roaming the world and getting caught up in exciting exploits in all kinds of exotic locales. And he has a hook for a hand! What's not to love?

If you want to catch up on the previously published classic pulp adventures of Armless O'Neil, pick up Seekers of the Glittering Fetish, The Complete Adventures of Armless O'Neil, Volume 1. 

I can tell that with the love for these characters that both Altus Press and Pro Se Productions have, and knowing Ian and Chuck's work from their New Pulp books, this should be one amazing book of adventures well worth the time of any fan of adventure and action stories.

PULP OBSCURA ANNOUNCES WRITERS AND FIRST QUARTER PUBLISHING SCHEDULE!

Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher in the New Pulp Movement, and Altus Press, the foremost publisher of quality pulp reprints and new works such as THE WILD ADVENTURES OF DOC SAVAGE, announced a partnership in November, and revealed today specifics to what has become known as the PULP OBSCURA Imprint. 

The concept behind Pulp Obscura is that Altus Press and Pro Se Press will work in conjunction to produce related products.   When Altus Press publishes specially selected titles featuring rare and largely forgotten Pulp characters’ original stories, Pro Se will bring together the best writers of New Pulp today and simultaneously release a collection of newly written tales starring the same character. This stunning partnership will showcase both the classic adventures of some of pulp's lost treasures while simultaneously allowing New Pulp's finest to bring those characters back to life.

“This,” Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor-in-Chief of Pro Se Productions, “is no easy task.  First to provide New Pulp stories, brand new exciting adventures of rare classic Pulp Characters and to coordinate that with Altus Press.  But then finding the right creators, the authors who can breathe new life into these concepts and on top of that, deciding and planning which books will come out in the coming year.  It’s a heck of a task and one that has been rewarding on so many levels.”

Thirteen books in the Pulp Obscura line from Pro Se have been planned.   At least eight of these will be timed to release simultaneously with the reprinted adventures of the same characters as produced by Altus Press.  Five more will be published by Pro Se that will feature characters Altus Press has already published the available adventures of in the past. 

“We are extremely proud,” Hancock stated, “to be able to announce a fantastic line up of writers for Pulp Obscura.  Some of the creators involved are well known figures in the pulp community, others are prestigious in other genres and literary fields, and there’s even a blossoming new author or two thrown in the mix.  It shows a project has great promise when you as a publisher simply put a call out for authors who might be interested in participating and you get not only a flood of interest, but also writers who stay on through the selection process of what will be written and who will write it.   Pulp Obscura could not have a better line up of creators for both their skill and their commitment.”

 "It's going to be great to see this new material. Interest in the series has been huge and the enthusiasm by the writers will certainly result in plenty of enjoyable reads," added Matt Moring, publisher of Altus Press. "I cannot recall such a publishing plan ever in the history of the pulp community."

The writers involved in the Pulp Obscura line in 2012 are:

Howard Hopkins 
Allan Gilbreath                        
Barry Reese

Derrick Ferguson                        
Joshua Reynolds                      
Andrew Salmon

Nick Alhelm                               
Jon Edward Klement               
Bobby Nash

Ian Watson                                 
Teel James Glenn                     
Nancy Hansen

Lee Houston, Jr.                        
Chuck Miller                             
R. P. Steeves

Don Thomas                              
Adam L. Garcia                        
Van Allen Plexico

Frank Schildiner                        
Mike Bullock                           
Sean Taylor

Andrea Judy                              
C. William Russette                 
 Phil Bledsoe

Ashley Mangin                          
Russ Anderson                         
Brad Mengel

Terry Alexander                        
BC Bell                                     
James Palmer

Andrew Hind                            
Stefan Dogaru                           
Kevin Noel Olson

Just as exciting and important as the lineup of writers involved in PULP OBSCURA is the list of characters and volumes that the Imprint will have in 2011.  There are 13 planned volumes from Pro Se for the first year of PULP OBSCURA and the books, along with the writers contributing to them for the first quarter of the year include-

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF RICHARD KNIGHT VOLUME ONE-Adventures of a daring pilot/detective who encounters lost worlds and oddities galore!

Writers- Josh Reynolds

  Barry Reese

  Adam Garcia

  Ian Watson

  Frank Schildiner

  Terry Alexander

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE EAGLE VOLUME ONE-Classic Two Fisted Spy Stories! Pulpy Espionage and Intrigue!

Writers- Rich Steeves

  Bobby Nash

  Teel James Glenn

  Lee Houston, Jr.

  Ashley Mangin

  Nick Alhelm

PRICE OF THE MISSIONARY’S GOLD: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ARMLESS ONEIL VOLUME ONE- Classic Pulp Adventure in Exotic Lands seeking Treasure and Action! And with a Tough as Nails Hook Handed Hero!

Writers- Sean Taylor

  Rich Steeves

  Ian Watson

  Chuck Miller

  Andrew Hind

  Nick Alhelm

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE GRIFFON VOLUME ONE-Thrill to the adventures of Kerry Keen, the masked hero known as The Griffon! High Flying Escapades in the Pursuit of Justice!

Writers-Don Thomas

 Rich Steeves

 Chuck Miller

 Van Plexico

 Phil Bledsoe

 Stefan Dogaru

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THUNDER JIM WADE VOLUME ONE-Globe Spanning Adventures into the Darkest, Strangest Corners of the World with A Hero Like No Other!

Writers- Barry Reese

  Andrew Salmon

  Ashley Mangin

  Nick Alhelm

  Andrew Hind

  Frank Schildiner

THE CASES OF MAJOR LACY VOLUME ONE –Follow The Major and his intrepid team of men as they take on crimes and criminals No One Else Can Stop!

Writers-C. William Russette

             Andrew Salmon

             Bobby Nash

             Andrew Hind

             Don Thomas

             Rich Steeves

“At least seven more titles will follow later in 2012 in the Pulp Obscura line,” Hancock stated.  “We are immensely excited not only to be a part of something so great, but also because of the fantastic response this concept has received. We hope everyone joins Altus and Pro Se for the wild roller coaster ride into Pulp Obscura!”

For more information on Altus Press, go to www.altuspress.com

To learn more about Pro Se Productions, check out www.prosepulp.com

Press packets and further information can be provided upon request at

proseproductions@earthlink.net

It's official. I'm signed on to contribute to two Pulp Obscura books!

I can't reveal which ones yet, but suffice it to say, they are the two I was really hoping to be a part of. So I'm thrilled. 

I'll reveal more details as I'm cleared to do so by the publisher.

Here's the original press release about the line: 

Two Pulp Publishers join forces to bring Fans more and more of the stories they love! Altus Press, the foremost publisher in quality Pulp reprints as well as the Publisher of THE WILD ADVENTURES OF DOC SAVAGE and Pro Se Productions, one of the leading companies in the New Pulp Movement announce today a cooperative effort and imprint to provide even more Pulp Fiction, both classic and New, to diehard fans of Pulp or simply exciting adventure fiction!

Beginning in February, Altus Press and Pro Se Productions will work in conjunction to produce related products. When Altus Press publishes specially selected titles featuring rare and largely forgotten Pulp characters’ original stories, Pro Se will bring together the best writers of New Pulp today and simultaneously release a collection of newly written tales starring the same character. This stunning partnership will showcase both the classic adventures of some of pulp's lost treasures while simultaneously allowing New Pulp's finest to bring those characters back to life.

“For a long time, I thought there was a good opportunity to simultaneously release classic pulp reprints and a companion volume of new stories featuring that same character. These are solid, well-rounded characters who have tons of untapped potential. I'm glad to see there are plans afoot to take advantage of this and utilize two companies' joint promotions towards a common complimentary product,” notes Altus Press' Publisher Matt Moring.

This is,” said Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “an honor and privilege for both me personally and Pro Se. Working with Matt and Altus Press to provide complimentary material to the great work he is already doing is simply a good move forward for Pro Se. And I am such a fan of the obscure, lesser known, even totally forgotten characters of Pulp that this project is already one of my favorites and it’s just a few days old.”

Beginning with the first cooperative publication in February, Pro Se will initiate a new imprint. PULP OBSCURA will be the title of the line and will feature a logo and other graphics highlighting the relationship between Pro Se and Altus Press. Both companies will provide various forms of cross promotion as well for the complimentary releases.

“Pro Se,” Hancock commented, “has largely stayed out of the Public Domain market as far as New Pulp goes because many publishers are doing the better known characters and doing them well. We’ve been looking for something different, something that makes Pro Se distinctive in this field. PULP OBSCURA, shining the talent of writers and creators on the little or completely unknown heroes and villains of Classic Pulp, makes that distinction.”

Pro Se Press will publish a New Pulp collection each time Altus Press produces a new reprint collection that both companies consider appropriate for the PULP OBSCURA treatment. Pro Se, with the encouragement of Altus Press, will also be exploring Altus Press’ catalog and be publishing New Pulp collections of previously published reprints that will have no future volumes.

The first PULP OBSCURA related project will be THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES OF RICHARD KNIGHT VOLUME ONE written by Donald E. Keyhoe to be released from Altus Press in February. Best known for writing the adventures of Philip Strange, UFO legend Donald E. Keyhoe also wrote another long-running aerial hero for the pages of FLYING ACES: Richard Knight. This collection will include the first four stories from this series, tales that mix in elements of lost races, dinosaurs and more!

Also in February, Pro Se will simultaneously release THE NEW ADVENTURES OF RICHARD KNIGHT VOLUME ONE as the debut title in its Pulp Obscura line. Based on the stories included in Altus Press’ volume, six writers will write Knight as he wings into all new dangers, startling mysteries, and discoveries that may very well change the world!

The writers featured in this first collection are Terry Alexander, Barry Reese, Adam L. Garcia, Ian Watson, Frank Schildiner, and Joshua Reynolds.

Other PULP OBSCURA collections are currently in the works and any writers or artists interested in being a part of these projects can email Hancock at proseproductions@earthlink.net for submission details. Both Moring and Hancock cite a massive list of works coming in the near future starring Classic Pulp Characters in both Reprints and New Pulp Collections. “I'm excited to see just how new Authors take to these characters and what they come up with. There are so many forgotten characters that the possibilities are endless,” Moring comments.

For more information on Altus Press, go to http://www.altuspress.com/.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to http://www.prosepulp.com/.