Showing posts with label Barry Reese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barry Reese. Show all posts
Friday, January 23, 2026
Friday, January 16, 2026
TWO-GUN PHOENIX PUBLISHING DEBUTS WITH FOUR TITLES-Crime Noir, Alternative History Adventure, Forgotten Books, and A Beloved Sailor
PRESS RELEASE
Two-Gun Phoenix Publishing, a company formed by a group of publishers, editors, writers, and fans, announces its existence with four books available now for purchase via Amazon and soon via other venues.
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Macavity. A name whispered around the world - feared by police and criminals alike. When the underworld mobs of New York go to war over a mysterious object, the elusive rogue possesses guaranteed to help the victor claim ultimate power, an unlikely duo unites to bring Macavity to justice: a British inspector and a gorgeous moll. With betrayals, lies, and deaths accumulating, Macavity threads the needle between success and defeat... with a shocking secret that no one can predict!
Known for his mind-blowing and prolific New Pulp work with characters like The Peregrine and Lazarus Gray, award-winning author Barry Reese takes on a genre unlike any he’s tackled before. Equal parts noir, crime, and adventure, MACAVITY has everything a good mob war story…and heist tale…and hard-boiled actioner needs!
Cover by Dana Black
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In 1936, Robert Ervin Howard, the creator of Conan the Cimmerian and countless other legendary characters, took his own life after the death of his beloved mother.
But…what if he didn’t?
Teel James Glenn’s A COWBOY IN CARPATHIA: A BOB HOWARD ADVENTURE won the 2021 Pulp Factory Best Novel Award and kicked off a series of alternate history adventures for one of the most beloved Pulp authors of all time. In this new Author’s Expanded Edition, Glenn takes Howard beyond his own history. First, Bob finds himself under the Big Top in New York City taking on corruption and betrayal the only way he knows how; two-fisted. Then, crossing the ocean, he finds depravity of a whole other sort in England, which carries him to far-off Carpathia. To save a woman dear to him, Bob sets out to take on a legendary, immortal evil boot to boot- the undead beast incarnate known as Dracula.
Cover by Dana Black
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Stories of wonder and adventure once filled bookshelves instead of phones and e-readers. Books you held in your hand that, in the right place, acted as portals to worlds and lives you could live over and over. All you needed was a little money to buy a passport to wherever or a library card to borrow passage for a while.
But some of those journeys, many of those far-off places and the people who created them have been forgotten to time. While we still watch movies based on some of them or read tales most definitely inspired by them, works from authors that maybe were even well household names have been lost in the past.
But not for Aubrey G. Stephens.
OFF THE DUSTY BOOKCASE is a collection of reviews and reminiscences written by Stephens, a teacher, writer, and fan of reading since his early trips to a Mississippi library. Beginning in that very building, OFF THE DUSTY BOOKCASE from Two-Gun Phoenix Publishing introduces readers of all ages to forgotten works of genre fiction while also touching on cinema, history, and more. This collection of essays is more than just a reminder of authors and their works. It's the love and passion of one man for the written word and all that it means to everyone.
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Ahoy! The world’s most popular sailor springs to new action-inspired life in TALES OF THE SAILOR MAN!
Created by E. C. Segar as a part of his ‘Thimble Theatre’ comic strip, Popeye sailed into newspapers in 1929, and his voyages have continued across every known medium! With arms like tree trunks, a squint that makes pirates quake and quiver, and a unique take on what passes for the English language, Segar’s one-time supporting character quickly planted his flag as the lead for not only the comic strip, but also a whole host of cartoons, comics, and more.
Join Jim Beard, Aubrey Stephens, and Brian K. Morris as they take the two-fisted mariner both back to his roots and into a new style, even for him. Three tales that draw from Popeye’s earliest days in ‘Thimble Theatre’ with their eyes squarely set in the direction of high-octane adventure!
So, enjoy a generous helping of Oyl, not Olive, and rub the Whiffle Hen for luck as you set sail with the roughest, toughest swab ever to walk a deck!
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To follow Two-Gun Phoenix Publishing, go to www.facebook.com/TwoGunPhoenixPublishing. Much more to come!
Friday, July 11, 2025
Reese Unlimited Anounces Grimalkin!
She was one of America’s greatest heroes in its darkest days… She is now the world’s most powerful and alluring sorceress…. And She is working her magic in prose in the debut of her first novel -- GRIMALKIN!
A mystery spanning decades rears its head in the modern day, plunging Grimalkin onto a globetrotting adventure that poses a threat not only to her immortal soul but to all life on planet Earth! Will her magic be enough to save the world again? Find out in GRIMALKIN by award-winning author Barry Reese!
Cover artwork is by Gilbert Monsanto with interior art pieces by Lee Gaston!
The e-book version of the book retails for $2.99 and can be purchased at this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF63FKZN
The novel is also available in print for $12.99 and can be found at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFB9L9XV
Part of the Reese Unlimited Universe!
Friday, May 16, 2025
Reese Unlimited is proud to announce the publication of THE STRAW-MAN BOOK FOUR!
From the shadowy backwoods of Grove’s Folly, the mysterious Straw-Man has become the protector of the innocent… and the scourge of evil. When a powerful wizard comes to the city, hoping to steal the power of the Hellmouth under the city, the Straw-Man tries and fails to prevent a reality-altering event. Now he and several of his Dark Society teammates — Catalyst, the American Crusader, and Singularity — must come together and restore the world to its rightful setting.
Featuring a breathtaking cover from Thomas Peterson, the fourth volume in the exciting Straw-Man series continues to bring the thrills and chills that readers have come to expect!
The paperback version retails for $13.99.
The eBook edition is $2.99. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, the book may be read for FREE!
Friday, April 18, 2025
Reese Unlimited is proud to announce the return of New Pulp’s most popular hero!
THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FIFTEEN: BRIMSTONE! Reese is joined by collaborator Dale A. Russell to craft this deadly new addition to the ongoing saga!
Throughout the world, legends of the Black-Eyed Children haunt those that live in the shadows. When a group of them arrive in Sovereign City, it falls to Lazarus Gray and the members of Assistance Unlimited to uncover their deadly secret and try to prevent the downfall of mankind! Be prepared for a wide-ranging adventure that spans the Philadelphia Experiment, the dark dimension of Dusk, a powerful sorcerer named Brimstone, and a looming gang war in Sovereign.
THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FIFTEEN: BRIMSTONE by Barry Reese and Dale A. Russell.
Friday, October 11, 2024
HORROR AND HEROES CLASH ONCE AGAIN! BARRY REESE’S ‘THE STRAW-MAN BOOK TWO’ DEBUTS!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Acclaimed Author Barry Reese’s epic superhero meets horror series continues with THE STRAW-MAN: BOOK TWO, from the author’s own imprint, Reese Unlimited!
He haunts the autumn streets of Grove's Folly... and he battles the forces of both Heaven and Hell! The Straw-Man returns, confronting the threats of the man called Jupiter, the dangerous Grave Master, the lovely Rhiannon, and the malignant evil of Ladybird. From the mind of award-winning author Barry Reese comes the second volume in an unsettling new series.
Known for his legendary New Pulp characters the Peregrine and Lazarus Gray, Reese takes Genre Fiction to a whole new level with THE STRAW-MAN: BOOK TWO. From Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions.
With a thrilling cover designed by Antonino lo Iacono and featuring art of Jupiter by Luis Filipe and The Straw-Man by Gilbert Monsanto and print formatting by lo Iacono, THE STRAW-MAN BOOK TWO is available from Amazon for only $12.99 at https://tinyurl.com/2d24sh76.
Formatted by Iacono and Marzia Marina, the second novel in this innovative series is also available as an ebook for only 2.99 from Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/ms895tf7. Kindle Unlimited members can read for free!
THE STRAW-MAN BOOK ONE and multiple other Reese Unlimited books are available on Amazon.
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at Pro Se Productions.
Friday, February 16, 2024
SOVEREIGN CITY’S GREATEST HERO TAKES ON FICTION’S MOST HEINOUS VILLAIN!
THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN DEBUTS! PRO SE’S ‘THE YEAR OF REESE UNLIMITED’ BEGINS! Click below to get Your copy today! Remember, Kindle Unlimited Members read for free!
He is a legend mentioned in fearful whispers. He is a faceless, heartless, savage destructive force of nature. If the Devil were vomited from the darkest pit of Hell into this man's path, he would grudgingly concede that he encountered a creature whose soul was black with deeds so cruel that they made him turn away in disgust.
SOVEREIGN CITY’S GREATEST HERO TAKES ON FICTION’S MOST HEINOUS VILLAIN!
THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN DEBUTS!
PRO SE’S ‘THE YEAR OF REESE UNLIMITED’ BEGINS!
From the author imprint of scribe Barry Reese comes perhaps his greatest and best-known creation in yet another collection of action and pulp intrigue. THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN!
In the City of Light, he is a darkness unending, but he has turned his gaze toward a goal that lies an ocean away in Sovereign City, and he will not be denied. He is an unrelenting evil known to many by a single name.
FANTOMAS.
And he is unlike any foe that Lazarus Gray and Assistance Unlimited has ever faced.
THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN by Barry Reese, from Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions, is the first volume in Pro Se’s ‘THE YEAR OF REESE UNLIMITED’. Twelve works written by or based on concepts created by Barry Reese as a part of his author imprint will be released, once a month, throughout 2024.
With an atmospheric, gritty cover by Gilbert Monsanto and print formatting by Sean Ali, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME FOURTEEN is available for 12.99 via Amazon.
Reese’s latest entry in his longest-running series to date is also available on Kindle formatted by Antonino lo Iacono and Marzia Marina for $2.99. Kindle Unlimited Members can read this exciting tale for free!
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at Pro Se Productions.
Friday, September 15, 2023
HORROR AND HEROICS TAKE OVER REESE UNLIMITED! BARRY REESE’S ‘THE STRAW-MAN BOOK ONE’ DEBUTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Grove's Folly is a sleepy little town on the outskirts of Sovereign City. Known mostly for its history with the Revolutionary War, most people visit the town for its annual Pumpkin Festival... but something dark and frightening lies beneath the soil of Grove's Folly.
Now that something has awakened, plunging the town into a hellish new reality. Who or what is the Straw-Man and why does this strange cryptid haunt the streets at night? From the mind of award-winning author Barry Reese comes the newest series set in his shared pulp adventure universe.
THE STRAW-MAN BOOK ONE by Barry Reese. From Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions.
With a haunting cover by Luis Filipe and print formatting and logo design by Antonino lo Iacono, THE STRAW-MAN BOOK ONE is available for 9.99 via Amazon.
The first volume in a new series from Barry Reese, THE STRAW-MAN BOOK ONE is also available on Kindle formatted by lo Iacono and Marzia Marina for $2.99. Kindle Unlimited Members can read this exciting tale for free!
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at Pro Se Productions.
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
The Soul Sneaking into the Creation
This week, we're talking about how much of your soul (see yesterday's Motivational Monday) goes into your work. Are you intentional, do you avoid it, or does it sneak in regardless? How much of your "soul" do you put into your work?
How much does your writing reflect your personality?
Ef Deal: I don't think any one character reflects my personality; each of my main characters does carry a piece of me. One is always focused on work to the exclusion of all else. Another is mistrustful of the world, but fiercely loyal once her trust is gained. Another is Earth Mother to younger people, and Mama Bear if you hurt one of them (or in her case, Mama Wolf). Music is a huge part of my stories.
Bobby Nash: There's a lot of me in my work. There's a small piece of me in every character, some more than others.
Barry Reese: I don't usually sit down and deliberately try to put my personality and beliefs into my work but I'm sure it creeps in, especially over time.
HC Playa: As a beginner writer: oh I don't put THAT much of me into my work.
Me re-reading after awhile and lots of personal growth... 👀 Well then that character hits a lot closer to home than I thought.
As I have written more I feel like all my characters are an amalgam of traits, some from me and some from people I have known. I'm smart and sarcastic and it took me like 5 novels to realize all my characters are either highly educated (traditionally or by some alternative means) and very smart.... probably smarter than the average bear. I put in a few comical morons, but realized that my worlds are potentially unrealistically populated with smart people 🙄. Why? That's what I know. While not particularly educated, my mother is quite smart and fostered in myself and my siblings a love of learning and questioning. Growing up with equally gifted siblings, gifted friends, attending university and majoring in chemistry, working research and getting a PhD and in turn having equally gifted children... My world definitely skews scary smart with the occasional average individual. It's one of those things I didn't intend on putting in, but it's a reflection of my lived experience.
Marian Allen: Quite a lot. My writing almost always involves exploring the question, "What does it mean to be my brother's keeper?" I also almost always explore it on a tangent, bouncing off into humor and oddity.
John L. Taylor: My writing reflects my artistic and visual aesthetic more than my personality. I tend to put some of my anxiety or childhood phobias into my horror writings but rarely does a character really reflect me as a person. The only story I ever really my own personality into was called "Flying Cars," and was about raising a child with Autism. It's also the only story I ever won a cash prize for, so maybe I should more often.
Sean Taylor: I'm not the kind of writer who can keep my "soul" out of my work. If something is a part of me, it's going to work its way into the nooks and crannies of my writing. Feelings, things I'm studying or researching, themes, POVs -- I just can't keep them out. They don't always come out in my actual characters though, more often through my metaphors and themes and consistently appearing subject matter. And the more I change and grow, the more my writing will reflect those changes.
An example, the more I get fed up with the battle my LGBTQIA+ friends and folks have to fight to change the system (and just be acknowledged as important to the world), the more I will see them and that battle reflected in my writing. But not in a preachy or "let's make a point" way. It will be reflected more in the types of stories I tell and how their stories become important within those tales.
Another example, I grew up in the South and I bleed red Georgia clay if you cut me. So that's the world I know best. That's the world that seeps out, either in the setting or in the backgrounds of many of characters.
How much does your writing reflect your personal beliefs?
John L. Taylor: My political and religious beliefs usually only manifest in my poetry. Though in my horror writing, I lean on what people would consider traditional "Satanic" imagery (Satanic in the "what rural Christians think devil worship looks like," not Satanic in the "Anton LaVey/modern Satanism" sense). That is both a product of my upbringing and an attempt to resonate with a rural American audience, but doesn't represent my opinions or beliefs.
HC Playa: As for beliefs, I use stories to hopefully make readers think or at least weave a bit of tolerance into their mind. Most of my protagonist share my beliefs in some way or go through a personal growth arc that opens their eyes. I wasn't particularly good initially at writing bad guys that didn't come off as comically over the top. The more I write the better I have gotten, but it still is a challenge to write characters that are extremely different morally.
Barry Reese: I mean, I'm a liberal pacifist that has made a career of writing gun-toting vigilantes. In terms of my personal and political beliefs, I'm not really like most of my recurring characters... BUT they all share some of my spirit, regardless.
Sean Taylor: Like I said earlier, every part of who I am ends up getting into my stories. Even in little ways. As a Christian believer (in spite of how my conservative friends and family think I'm become a sort of liberal heretic --ha!) I have a strong weakness for redemptive stories (I even wrote a tutorial about it here on the blog -- check out he keywords on the side of the page for links). My characters tend to understand religion and reflect a worldview that at least started with some kind of religious instruction, even if they no longer believe or follow it.
I also tend to revisit the idea that people only learn through pain and loss, and we are too stupid to really learn and embrace change during times of great joy, and so that's also a common theme in my work, which tends to reach the point of bittersweet-ness at best, seldom true joy.
Susan H. Roddey: My personal beliefs are always expressed in my books, whether intentional or not. I've always considered my stuff to be purely escapist, but the more I look in on it, the more I realize that more conservative readers might be put off by some of what I write.
Bobby Nash: Some. I can't have every character thinking the same way I do, believing the same things I do, etc. That leads to boring drama if there's no tension. I try to let the characters be as well-rounded as possible. I get better interactions that way, I think.
Ef Deal: My religious beliefs are all over my works. In my fantasy series, my MC was betrayed by her lover, a temple priest, so she rejects all religion although she is a dedicated believer in the Sacred Spirits. In my steampunk, my MC has a thorough knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, and studied Scripture (such as it was known in 1843) on her own to arrive at her beliefs, which are thrown into turmoil as she encounters lycanthropy, magic, ghosts, vampires, and the aether. She has a lot to say about it, too.
Do you find it easy or difficult to write characters whose beliefs and personalities are vastly different than your own, and do you tend to relegate them to side characters or use them as main characters? Got any examples?
Ef Deal: I've learned a lot about religions of the world, and I've seen religion used as a weapon as much as a healing balm. I've experienced divine visions, and I've suffered immense prejudice for my questions and doubts and rejected tenets of dogma. I feel pretty confident writing the good and the bad of any religion.
Other aspects of "personal beliefs," such as ethics, politics, relationships, gender perceptions, etc., I admit I'm not so adept at. I'm a big believer in mercy and redemption as much as I embrace justice. I like to believe the best of people, but I feel comfortable writing the worst too.
Marian Allen: Difficult. For instance, Darryl, in Sideshow in the Center Ring, is a rat bastard, the shadow character of the narrator, Connie. They come from the same background, and superficially have the same goal and seem to have the same attitude, but the fundamental difference between them is profound. I had the hardest time writing him! The most grinding, forced work I did (although it doesn't seem so when it's read) was writing Darryl, possibly because he was so close and yet so far from my main character.
Barry Reese: The notion that justice and the law are not always the same is something that I agree with... as is the feeling that you stand up for the underdog... and the idea that guys and gals in thigh-high boots are sexy is something that I and my characters all agree upon! I have occasionally written characters that were diametrically opposed to me... but, honestly, they usually end up as the antagonists in my stories.
HC Playa: For example in my first novel, the villain is an alien bent on domination based on past glory. While there have been plenty of historical figures that fit that trope, it's a simple villain.
In a novel I have written that's in the publishing process I have an immortal being that at first glance seems just as over the top and evil for evil sake as the Goloth ruler in Daughter of Destiny, but then we start to see glimpses of his motivations and the picture starts to shift. Who is good and who is bad becomes a bit murkier.
Personally, I feel this is more like daily real life. People are not all bad or all good. Good people can do bad things and bad people may truly think they are doing the right thing or be guilty of atrocities and still do good things. Real people are murky and so well written characters reflect that.
John L. Taylor: I don't find it difficult to write perspectives other than mine in general. Truthfully, writing gives me an outlet to understand other people and voices than my own. I have faced the criticism children in my stories seem incredibly dumb/gullible. This stems from the fact that growing up as an autistic kid, I was reminded constantly that I wasn't normal. Hence I initially wrote children to be like what adults in the 1990's seemed to expect kids to be. Apparently, I overkilled on that.
Bobby Nash: It's not difficult. I've been doing this long enough that I can divorce the characters beliefs from me. I have written characters doing and saying horrible things I would never even comprehend. I remember that they are unique characters. They are not me. I'm here to tell an entertaining story (I hope) and not to preach or push an agenda.
Sean Taylor: I write all kinds, and they all suffer under the weight of my ink. (Ha!) I really love the idea I learned from C.S. Lewis that the greatest good can become the greatest evil if we begin to make it the thing we truly "worship" with our thoughts and deeds and emotions. It's a lesson from his awesome book The Great Divorce. That kind of spiritual hubris tends to affect both my heroes and villains alike, so it makes it easy for me to write them all, regardless of their individual beliefs, POVs, genders, sexual identities, etc.
Susan H. Roddey: Writing characters with different personalities isn't "difficult" per se -- not in that they're hard to write. They're hard for me to UNDERSTAND. But people are different and they have different motivations. Conflict always starts with a difference of opinion, so they're necessary. As a rule, I try to avoid blatantly obvious political/religious/social clashes (I'm writing books to get out of the real world. I don't want to bring it into my fiction) because I don't want to alienate people. The one example I could give is the one thing I've written that may never see the light of day simply because I'm not the type of writer to let that kind of personal catharsis out into the world.
Friday, February 25, 2022
A VIKING WARRIOR BECOMES THE RIGHT HAND OF DEATH! BARRY REESE’S ‘SWORD OF HEL’ DEBUTS IN PRINT AND DIGITAL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Award Winning Author Barry Reese, known for such iconic New Pulp Heroes as Lazarus Gray, The Peregrine, and Gravedigger takes readers back to supernatural, ancient history of his Reese Unlimited universe with the adventures of Grimarr in SWORD OF HEL!
A Viking warrior dies a dishonorable death… but he has one chance to redeem his soul and enter Valhalla: to return to Earth in service to the goddess of death! As the living Sword of Hel, Grimarr encounters demons, evil warlords, and beautiful sword-maidens! Sword and sorcery in the tradition of Robert E. Howard!
SWORD OF HEL by Barry Reese. From Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions.
Featuring an atmospheric cover by Larry Nadolsky, interior art by Chris Batista, and logo design and print formatting by Sean E. Ali, SWORD OF HEL is available in print for $7.99.
The latest volume from Reese Unlimited is also available on Kindle formatted by Antonino lo Iacono and Marzia Marina for $0.99 for a limited time. Kindle Unlimited Members can read this sword and sorcery adventure for free!
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.
Friday, February 4, 2022
SOVEREIGN CITY’S HERO GOES TO WAR IN ALL KINDS OF WAYS!
SOVEREIGN CITY’S HERO GOES TO WAR IN ALL KINDS OF WAYS! ‘THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME TEN’ DEBUTS!
"The only clue to his identity was a small medallion with the words 'Lazarus Gray' stamped upon it."
Since his debut, Barry Reese’s Lazarus Gray has been one of the most popular New Pulp characters created. Pro Se Productions and Reese Unlimited, the company’s initial author imprint, proudly announce the debut of THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME TEN, now available in print and digital formats.
War comes to Lazarus Gray and Assistance Unlimited, as the protectors of Sovereign City face conflicts from within and without, and a new band of adventurers come together to face a foe who is the embodiment of evil incarnate...
THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY continue as Lazarus Gray and his colleagues step into uncertain times as they navigate a world at war. Lazarus Gray faces a new threat rising from an unspeakable tragedy, while an evil undying returns to entangle an unsuspecting world in a sinister gambit...
...and Heroes will rise to the challenge!
The Devil walks once more in THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME TEN by Barry Reese. From Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions!
Featuring an impressive cover by Jeffrey Hayes and logo design and print formatting by Sean E. Ali, the latest volume in this series is available for 11.99 via Amazon at https://tinyurl.com/yfzj9p7r.
Volume Ten is also available on Kindle formatted by Antonino lo Iacono and Marzia Marina for $0.99 for a limited time at https://tinyurl.com/yckj8nzu. Kindle Unlimited Members can read this thrilling adventure for free!
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Literary Pulp—Why It Makes Sense and How To Write It
by Sean Taylor, with a little help from my friends
Classic pulp is as much known for its black and white, all or nothing characterizations and crammed-to-the-top-with-action plotlines as it is for the cheap paper from which it gets its name—maybe even more so nowadays. So, with that in mind, how does someone like me, who got his start in literary fiction and the three most important words in fiction writing (character, character, and character, of course), grow into the kind of writer who embraces the pulp style of storytelling?
That’s a good question.
But, perhaps the better question is how can someone else do the same?
Because, trust me, there’s a lot of gold to be mined in the odd, little marriage between literary fiction and pulp fiction.
Author Derrick Ferguson sums up the discussion between art and non-art quite well.
“Before I step up on my soapbox and start the pontificating, let me start of by saying that I don’t consider ‘throwaway writing’ to be a bad thing. Robert Heinlein is famous for saying that 90 percent of everything is crap. I think that 90 percent of entertainment is throwaway and disposable. Most people are really just looking for something to entertain and/or distract them from whatever is giving them the grumbles in their life. Of course, the creators of that entertainment hope and pray that it will live on after them. But I find it difficult to believe that the creators of Gomer Pyle, USMC expected or hoped that people would still be watching the show 50 years later.
“And the ability to entertain is not to be taken lightly. I don’t get emails of thanks often, but every so often I will get one from somebody who will thank me because they read something I wrote that transported them away from their problems for a couple of hours, and for me, that’s one of the highest compliments that I can be given.”
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| Barry Reece |
Before we go any further, we should probably lay down the two ground rules that govern this whole shebang in my understanding of it.
#1—Literature doesn’t trump genre.
There are those out there in the market who think that literary means better written and that genre means written for the average idiot. As far as I’m concerned, neither of those thoughts hold any validity. Rather, I believe that the two are simply two different ways of approaching writing that both can learn from each other and help each other out from time to time.
“Great literature isn't great because of its genre or its pace," says author Percival Constantine. "Shakespeare wrote plays for mass consumption, for crying out loud. I defy you to read anything by Vonnegut and call it slow or meandering. There is nothing in any definition of pulp I've ever seen that says the characters must be flat, the prose must be clunky, and the plots must be simple.”
#2—There’s no such reader as the average dum-dum.
Are there smart readers? Yes. Dumb readers? Of course. Average readers? Absolutely.
However, the straw man that some critics and reviewers have created to build a chasm of difference between a Joe Everybody reader and an Artiste McHighbrow reader is pure garbage. I come from a background in Literature, and I’ve been all over the United States as a writer hitting various conventions, and let me tell you what I’ve learned: Readers are readers. They don’t divide themselves into camps based on a perceived difference in brainpower. A lot of the same folks who read Oprah’s Book Club recommendations also read both James Patterson and Zora Neale Hurston. Many of the same folks who read Mickey Spillane on their Kindles also read Ambrose Bierce and Flannery O’Connor on them as well.
They Go Together Better Than Macs and PCs
(or even Marvels and DCs)
If you’re my age, you remember those commercials where one guy was a Mac and another was a PC and they argued about who was better (which were later parodied for Marvel and DC). Well, I’ve had that same experience, but with pulp and literature. Literally. I’ve had some editors and writers tell me there’s no room for literary techniques in pulp, that pulp should merely be fast and free of any style or technique.
I daresay, those folks seem to have forgotten H.P. Lovecraft, Raymond Chandler, and Ray Bradbury. They crossed and re-crossed the great literary divide, and their stories live on not in spite of their craft and technique but because of them.
“I think you have to look at other genres that have often been seen as the opposite of art—science fiction, fantasy, superheroes, etc. All of these at one time or another have been considered trash fiction. But then you've had people who have elevated those genres to new heights—people like Ursula K. LeGuin, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, J.R.R. Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, etc.” says Constantine.
The "New Pulp" Openness
In the interest of keeping us all on the same page (as the saying goes), let’s first clarify what New Pulp is. According to Pro Se Press, one of the leading publishers of the genre (or style, depending on who you ask), new pulp is “fiction written with the same sensibilities, beats of storytelling, patterns of conflict, and creative use of words and phrases of original pulp, but crafted by modern writers, artists, and publishers. New stories with either completely original characters or new tales of established characters from Pulp past. It’s really that simple. New pulp is pulp written today.”There are several schools of thought within the New Pulp movement. One looks to do little more than telling new stories of classic characters. Another looks to create new characters that are primarily reminders or pastiches of those classic characters. Still others seek to take the tropes and style of classic pulp and bring those types of stories kicking and screaming into contemporary fiction (regardless of the time period and settings of the tales themselves). I’m not going to say any of those is better than the others, but I will admit to being firmly entrenched in that third group.
Where do we stand now? Percival Constantine again hits the nail on its proverbial head. “I'm not going to stand here and say that all pulp is filled with complex characters, intricate plots, and well-crafted prose because that would be a lie. In fact, probably a majority of the classic pulps are pretty bad. The plots are simplistic, and the characters are flat or stereotypical (especially where women and minorities are concerned). But you know what?” he continues. “That's true of pretty much any genre. Have a look at the literary fiction section the next time you're on Amazon or in a bookstore and flip through some of the books. There's a lot of stuff that tries to use pretension to cover up for ham-fisted dialog, extremely purple prose, and a lot of navel-gazing.”
Within that new generation of pulp writers there are numerous characters and settings being created that may or may not stand the test of time like Phillip Marlowe or The Shadow, but folks like Derrick Ferguson, Barry Reese, and Percival Constantine are still doing their damndest to make that happen and fill the world of pulp fiction with something different—but not too different, unless, of course, you're talking about the caliber of writing.
So, I asked them a bit about how they create New Pulp held to a higher standard. Here’s what I was able to glean from them.
The Facts, Ma’am, Just the Facts
No more ideological stuff. You want the how-to. Well, thanks to some of the modern masters… here it is.
1. Don’t try so hard.
“The best advice I can give for looking to create some kind of lasting art?” says Ferguson. “Don’t even try.”
Barry Reese echoes the sentiment: “I don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about such things. I write what I want to read, and a lot of times, that’s escapist entertainment.”
True art hides itself. That’s what I’ve been taught my whole life as a storyteller. You may have heard that same idea translated this way: The author should seek to hide himself or herself so he or she doesn’t distract the reader. In the best art, that intentional invisibility will refuse to be hidden. One needs no more than to look at Monet’s paintings or Michelangelo's David to see that. Or perhaps to read The Great Gatsby or the poetry of Langston Hughes. The difference is that the art comes after, not before. The work comes first.
But be careful, cautions Ferguson. “That doesn’t mean I’m saying don’t try to produce the best art that you are capable of producing. You should always strive to tell the best story you can in the best way you can. What I am saying is that there’s madness in sitting down at your keyboard and pronouncing to the world ‘I am going to create art!’”
2. Be true to your characters.
 |
| Derrick Ferguson |
The difference comes in how literature and genre decide illustrate and create characterizations.
Constantine says, “Pulp is, in its simplest distillation, fast-paced, action-oriented fiction. That doesn't mean you can't have characterization in there as well.”
Characterization comes from what your characters do and say in pulp fiction, not in what they think and pontificate about, according to Ferguson: “As so often happens in fiction and especially pulp, you gotta figure out what works for you and how you can best convey characterization while your heroes are running around trying to stop the big bad from blowing up the world.”
3. Say something about the world around you.
Here’s something folks don’t always think about in their writing. It gets down to that amorphous notion called “theme.” Like in the first point (Don’t try so hard.), theme is one of those things that most often is distilled through the writer’s views and ideals without really thinking about it. That said, however, it never hurts to look at (or back at) your work to see what you are saying beyond just Character A punched Character B.
In my own work, it is not just important to me, but vital to the understanding of Rick Ruby that the multi-colored, but still race-embroiled, world in The Ruby Files be communicated in the stories. I’m not using a Phillip Marlow pastiche to try to make a point about racism, but I’m determined to show the world as it was and let readers figure things out for themselves.
Likewise, Ferguson’s Dillon can at first be seen as a black version of Doc Savage, but the comparison stops at the surface. What the author says through the adventures of Dillon is what’s important, and goes far beyond the idea of “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a black Doc Savage?”
“Great literature not only features developed characters and skillful prose but is also a commentary on the society it was written in,” says Constantine. “That doesn't mean you hammer readers over the head with it, but you have to look at the world in which you're living, think about what you want to say in regards to it, and find a subtle way to relay that message through your fiction.”
He cites the recent Black Panther movie, with its “really serious and complex themes about colonialism and globalism” as an example.
4. But don’t be so obvious about it.
Remember that bit about art hiding itself? It’s worth repeating, particularly in pulp fiction. Find ways to write complex characters and themes in simple, subtle ways.
Ferguson has a method that works for him—using the movement between settings to get to know anything about his characters the action might not show.“Plenty of time characterization is done as my heroes are traveling in vehicles from Point A to Point B,” he says. “Let me provide you with an example from a popular movie: there’s a scene in the movie Silver Streak where Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor are in a stolen fire-engine red Jaguar racing to save Jill Clayburgh from Patrick McGoohan, and they’re exchanging what is some pretty meaningful dialog about their relationship, the situation they’re in and how they’re going to save Jill Clayburgh. It’s a nice scene with characterization but it’s done in a moving car that is taking them from one action scene to the next. The movie slows down to provide us with characterization but the actual plot doesn’t slow down and carries the promise that we’re going to see more action once to get to where we’re going.”
5. Keep it moving while you do all that.
Hot on the heels of the previous point, it’s important to keep pulp fiction movie moving along at a good pace and speed. There’s little room (none, some might say) to admire the mountains between Hobbiton and Mordor in pulp fiction. Nor is there time to lie down in the grass and dreamily point out cloud animals. Something needs to be happening. (Notice the tense of that sentence. I didn’t say “Something needs to happen.” I said: “Something needs to be happening.” Ongoing. It doesn’t really stop.)
Reese says it’s all based in the definition of pulp, as he sees it. “Pulp, to me, is about fast-paced adventure. I can deliver that while also giving you three-dimensional characters. Indiana Jones is a good example of what can be done with new pulp. He’s nuanced, but his adventures are thrilling to watch (and read—some of the licensed novels are excellent).”
Ferguson agrees:
“Writers of pulp knew the secret of having genuine characterization in their work long ago. You can do characterization and have sparkling, meaningful dialog and solid supporting casts and all those things that literary fiction prides itself on in the most action-packed of stories. Here’s the catch: Don’t stop the action to do all that stuff.
“Let me clarify. Action doesn’t mean that you have to have constant fist-fights, explosions, cliffhangers, the heroes continually escaping fates worse than death or chases and captures. Although if you are writing pulp, I would certainly hope that you do have all that stuff in there. After all, what’s the point of writing pulp if you don’t? It’s like making a ham sandwich without the ham. But in pulp, the plot always has to be going forward. You simply cannot stop the thrust of the plot to indulge in a three page introspective passage when your heroine is supposed to be saving the world.”
To put it in terms those who have attended one too many writer’s conventions can appreciate, don’t let the writer chew the scenery.
6. Realize that not all “art” is as good as some writers and critics think it is.
 |
| Percival Constantine |
#1—Literature doesn’t trump genre.
#2—There’s no such reader as the average dum-dum.
Just because a section in the bookstore is called literary fiction doesn’t mean the books there are better than everything (or even anything) else in the rest of the store. Nor does it mean it’s intrinsically good at all. Literary fiction is based on a set of rules for storytelling just like genre fiction is based on a set of rules for storytelling just like comic book writing is based on a set of rules for storytelling just like… Well, you get the point.
“The problem with the ‘literary debate’ is that you're not actually having the right conversation,” says Constantine. “Not all great literature is literary fiction. And I come at this from both sides, because not only am I a pulp writer, but I also teach literature.”
“One thing I’ve noticed with most writers whose work has stood the test of time and transcended whatever genre it was created for,” Ferguson adds, “is that most of them did not set out to create art. They simply wanted to tell a good story, maybe make a couple of bucks on the side and entertain themselves. A good deal can be said for writers simply relaxing and having some fun with writing. And it can be a whole lot of fun if you let it be.”
As the vernacular goes these days, “You do you.”
7. Literary techniques and genre techniques are the same techniques.
Never thought you’d hear that, huh? When it comes to writer’s toolboxes, there isn’t a fancy mauve one for literary writers and a beat-up, tried and true rust bucket for genre writers. (Unless you paint your own, of course. In which case you can mauve your heart out.) And if you open either toolbox, you’ll find the same tools in each. You’re no doubt familiar with them already:
- Dialog
- Pacing
- Characterization
- Point of View
- Grammar
- Breaking Grammar
- Research
- Setting
- Word sounds
- World building
- Connotation and Denotation
- Figures of speech
- Spelling
- Intentional Misspelling
- And so on…
When it comes to pounding in a nail, a hammer is a hammer is a hammer. Whether you’re building a shed or a mansion, the tool remains the same.
Conclusion—It Either Works for You or It Doesn’tSo, where does this leave us? Are you ready to take your action stories into the world of literary approaches? Or do you prefer to just sit in your office and make Character A punch Character B in the face? Then do it.
Are you tired of critics or other writers trying to tell you your genre writing is something less than their highbrow art? Ignore them.
Are you tired of reading poorer quality stories in your chosen genres? Move past them and write something better.
The genre doesn’t matter. It just “comes down to writers willing to go that extra mile to elevate the genre,” says Constantine.
=================================
For more information about Barry Reese, Derrick Ferguson, and Percival Constantine, please visit their websites.
If you want more about Literary Pulp, go read the companion piece to this article.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
PRO SE PRODUCTIONS’S FIRST AC COMICS NOVEL-‘NIGHTVEIL: THE QUIET GIRLS BY BARRY REESE DEBUTS!
She was one of America’s greatest heroes in its darkest days… She is now the world’s most powerful and alluring sorceress…. And She is working her magic in prose in the debut of her first digest novel-NIGHTVEIL: THE QUIET GIRLS!
By arrangement with AC Comics and Nightveil Media, Pro Se Productions brings Nightveil- and the AC Comics Universe- to life in prose! One of the longest lasting independent comic innovators, AC Comics breathed new life into super hero tales by reaching into the Past to blast into the Future! Now Pro Se Productions ushers in a new chapter with its AC COMICS Imprint, debuting with NIGHTVEIL!
“This,” says Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “has been a long time coming and, now that this first digest novel is here, there is so much more ahead, not just for Nightveil but for nearly the entire AC Comics pantheon. Bill Black and everyone at AC that we’ve worked with on this have not only been phenomenal, but they add a whole new energy to what we do, in a very positive way. And Barry, the architect really of this relationship between companies, was the perfect and only choice to pen the first work of many to come. Fan favorite characters. New adventures in prose. This is what Pro Se is all about!”
A mystery spanning decades rears its head in the modern day, plunging Nightveil on a globetrotting adventure that poses a threat not only to her immortal soul but to all life on planet Earth! Will her magic be enough to save the world again? Find out in NIGHTVEIL: THE QUIET GIRLS by award-winning author Barry Reese! From Pro Se Productions.
Featuring a stunning cover by John Nadeau, a Blue Bulleteer interior image by Bill Black, logo design by AC Comics, and print formatting by Antonino lo Iacono and Marzia Marina, NIGHTVEIL: THE QUIET GIRLS is available now at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Nightveil-Quiet-Girls-Barry-Reese/dp/197923261X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509379563&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=night+veil+the+quiet+girls and Pro Se’s own store at www.prose-press.com for 9.99.
The first entry in the Pro Se/AC Comics collaboration is also available as an Ebook designed and formatted by lo Iacono and Marina and available for only $2.99 for the Kindle at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076ZDGYYK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1509381413&sr=8-2&keywords=nightveil+the+quiet+girls. The ebook is also available for free via Kindle Unlimited for members.
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies to review this book, contact Pro Se Productions’ Director of Corporate Operations, Kristi King-Morgan at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Airship 27 Productions and Captain Action Enterprises LLC release new Captain Action
Cry of the Jungle Lord
Airship 27 Productions and Captain Action Enterprises LLC, are thrilled to announce the release of the third volume of Captain Action’s new pulp adventures.
1969 -- Something mysterious is happening in the depths of the Yucatan jungle and Miles Drake, aka Captain Action has been sent to investigate. His superiors believe their main nemesis, the alien criminal known as Dr. Evil, is hunting something called the Sky Rock; a supposed fallen meteor containing strange energies. But as soon as Drake arrives on the site, he’s met with two other unexpected characters that may or may not be involved with Evil’s nefarious plans.
One of these is a beautiful female Mexican agent named Selena Rubio, whereas the other is a strange masked figure woven from local Mayan myths called the Gibbon, the Protector of the Jungle. Whose side are they on and how does Evil’s actual scheme involve the forthcoming Cape Kennedy space rocket launch? The deeper Captain Action delves into the affair, the more dangerous it becomes with death awaiting him at every twist and turn along this deadly verdant path.
Writers Jim Beard and Barry Reese weave a face paced, new pulp thriller filled action galore, exotic locales and larger than life characters to offer up a great new chapter in the exploits of one of the most iconic heroes of the 1960s, Captain Action. Miles Drake is his name but Action is his game!!
“This entire series was writer Jim Beard’s idea,” Airship 27 Production’s Managing Editor Ron Fortier recaps. “It was Jim who initially hooked us up with Ed Catto and Joe Ahearn of Captain Action Enterprise LLC. Generally, most small publishers avoid working with licensors, but in this case our partnership has been a great working relationship for both companies. No doubt because both Ed and Joe, and their new partner, Michael Polis, are still fanboys at heart.”
The original plan was to have Beard write all three books solo but when scheduling conflicts arose, he turned to another popular New Pulp author, Barry Reese, for assistance. A long time fan of Captain Action, Reese was happy to sign on and contributed the bulk of this third original book. Canadian artist Ted Hammond provides the stunning cover and Airship 27 Production’s Award Winning Art Director Rob Davis the interior illustrations as well as book design.
About Captain Action Enterprises
As Retropreneurs, Captain Action Enterprises, LLC specializes in taking old properties and rejuvenating them for a new generation. Captain Action’s appears in comic book series, lithographs, statues, action figures, books, T-shirts, model kits and more. Additional
properties include Lady Action, Captain Action Cat, Dr. Evil, Khem, Destiny Zero and Savage Beauty. For additional information, please contact Ed Catto at ed.catto@bonfireagency.com.
AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!
Available now from Amazon in both paperback and on Kindle.
Friday, March 17, 2017
NOT EVEN DEATH STOPS A HERO- ‘THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME SIX’ DEBUTS!
NOT EVEN DEATH STOPS A HERO- ‘THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME SIX’ DEBUTS!
THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY appeared to end in the aftermath of GOTTERDAMERUNG with Lazarus Gray making the ultimate sacrifice, but all may not be as it seems. Pro Se Productions and its author centered imprint Reese Unlimited proudly announce the release of THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME SIX, now available in print and digital formats.
“Lazarus Gray,” says Tommy Hancock of Pro Se Productions, “is one of the most popular characters New Pulp has yet to produce. Combining all the necessities a classic Pulp hero should have with the emotional weight and modern relevance the writing of Barry Reese brings into play makes Gray a staggering figure in genre fiction today. And this sixth volume of tales only ups the ante that much more, bringing a focus on not only Gray’s companions, but really centering on the importance of a single man to the battle for justice.”
The only clue to his identity was a small medallion with the words ‘Lazarus Gray’ stamped upon it. He took that name and became one of Sovereign City’s greatest heroes, and formed an alliance with other lost souls like himself. Together they were Assistance Unlimited…and now they face their greatest loss ever!
As the remaining members of Assistance Unlimited resume their lives, they find new allies and old who intend to honor the memory of the man who brought them together…
…but as they plunge into a new mystery, they find themselves facing the possibility that the death of Lazarus Gray may not have been the end for him after all…
Prepare to walk the shadowy worlds of death and life as a new chapter begins in THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME SIX!
Featuring a fantastic cover by Ted Hammond, wonderful interior illustrations by George Sellas, and print formatting and cover design by Sean E. Ali, THE ADVENTURES OF LAZARUS GRAY VOLUME SIX is available now at Amazon and Pro Se’s own store for 15.00.
The sixth volume of hardcore New Pulp is also available as an ebook, designed and formatted by Antonino Lo Iacono and Marzia Marina for only $2.99 for the Kindle and for most digital formats via Smashwords.
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies to review this book, contact Pro Se Productions’ Director of Corporate Operations, Kristi King-Morgan at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
[Link] From the Vault: Just Write, Stupid.
People often ask me for advice about writing. I’ve even given talks about writing to would-be writers. But I don’t think people really like what I have to tell them. You see, a lot of them are members of “writer’s groups” where they swap stories, critique them and go into re-writes. I don’t really believe in those because they’re an example of why a lot of people never manage to finish that novel they’ve been working on for twenty years: they spend too much time talking about writing and not enough time writing. I once infuriated a room full of folks by saying that nothing was scarier to me than somebody with an English degree and a passel full of “How-To” writing guides.
Because that English degree person is probably never going to write a damned thing. They’re going to spin their wheels, talking about this and pondering that, instead of sitting down at the keyboard and pounding the keys.
Look, I’m not the world’s greatest wordsmith. But I write. I write a lot. I don’t sit around on my ass and say “Boy, I’d love to write a book.” I wrote a book. And then I wrote another one.
Read the full article: http://barryreese.net/2015/10/30/from-the-vault-just-write-stupid-7/
Saturday, June 27, 2015
ADVENTURE HAS A NEW NAME! BARRY REESE’S ‘THE PEREGRINE OMNIBUS VOLUME ONE’ DEBUTS!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of Genre Fiction and New Pulp, proudly announces the latest release from its Reese Unlimited imprint! The first such author centered imprint of the company, focused solely on author Barry Reese’s work, is now the home for the character Reese is most known for, albeit working his heroic magic under a new name. The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One is now available in print and digital format.
“Change,” says Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief of and Partner in Pro Se Productions, “is sometimes inevitable. But with change often comes the best of benefits, and that is definitely the case with The Peregrine! Although he fights under a new name not yet familiar to his die hard fans, Max Davies is still the two fisted, double barreled hero that Barry has meant him to be and now, finally, his complete adventures will be collected into three colossal books! This first volume collects his earliest adventures and over the course of the next three months, two more omnibuses will be released, reprinting all six volumes of Max’s action packed tales as well as the two volumes of Tales of the Peregrine, with tales penned by Barry as well as other authors, including myself. It’s been a very long time in coming, but it was the perfect time to bring every tale of this classic New Pulp character together, flying high under a new name. The Peregrine has indeed taken flight!”
ADVENTURE HAS A NEW NAME! Award Winning Genre Fiction Author Barry Reese, known for creating such fantastic characters as Lazarus Gray and Gravedigger, revitalizes one of his greatest creations for fans old and new! Max Davies lives on as The Peregrine! An adventurer. A man of mystery. A hero. Max Davies, newly moved to Atlanta, Georgia, finds himself unable to avoid danger, intrigue, and death. Donning the mask of The Peregrine, Davies seeks to bring justice to a world dying for it and peace to his own troubled spirit. And the only price he may have to pay is his soul. The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One brings the first three book length volumes of this classic New Pulp hero’s adventures together into one massive two-fisted collection. Fly again for the first time with Barry Reese’s The Peregrine!
Featuring a fantastic cover and interior illustrations by award winning artist George Sellas and logo design and print formatting by Sean E. Ali, The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One is available now at Amazon and Pro Se’s own store, 806 pages for only $30.00.
This first of three omnibuses is also available as an Ebook, designed and formatted by Russ Anderson and available for only $5.99 for the Kindle and for most digital formats via Smashwords.
For more information on this title, contact Morgan McKay, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.
Pro Se Productions, a leading Publisher of Genre Fiction and New Pulp, proudly announces the latest release from its Reese Unlimited imprint! The first such author centered imprint of the company, focused solely on author Barry Reese’s work, is now the home for the character Reese is most known for, albeit working his heroic magic under a new name. The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One is now available in print and digital format.
“Change,” says Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief of and Partner in Pro Se Productions, “is sometimes inevitable. But with change often comes the best of benefits, and that is definitely the case with The Peregrine! Although he fights under a new name not yet familiar to his die hard fans, Max Davies is still the two fisted, double barreled hero that Barry has meant him to be and now, finally, his complete adventures will be collected into three colossal books! This first volume collects his earliest adventures and over the course of the next three months, two more omnibuses will be released, reprinting all six volumes of Max’s action packed tales as well as the two volumes of Tales of the Peregrine, with tales penned by Barry as well as other authors, including myself. It’s been a very long time in coming, but it was the perfect time to bring every tale of this classic New Pulp character together, flying high under a new name. The Peregrine has indeed taken flight!”ADVENTURE HAS A NEW NAME! Award Winning Genre Fiction Author Barry Reese, known for creating such fantastic characters as Lazarus Gray and Gravedigger, revitalizes one of his greatest creations for fans old and new! Max Davies lives on as The Peregrine! An adventurer. A man of mystery. A hero. Max Davies, newly moved to Atlanta, Georgia, finds himself unable to avoid danger, intrigue, and death. Donning the mask of The Peregrine, Davies seeks to bring justice to a world dying for it and peace to his own troubled spirit. And the only price he may have to pay is his soul. The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One brings the first three book length volumes of this classic New Pulp hero’s adventures together into one massive two-fisted collection. Fly again for the first time with Barry Reese’s The Peregrine!
Featuring a fantastic cover and interior illustrations by award winning artist George Sellas and logo design and print formatting by Sean E. Ali, The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One is available now at Amazon and Pro Se’s own store, 806 pages for only $30.00.
This first of three omnibuses is also available as an Ebook, designed and formatted by Russ Anderson and available for only $5.99 for the Kindle and for most digital formats via Smashwords.
For more information on this title, contact Morgan McKay, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.
Friday, June 20, 2014
[Link] BLOOD AND INK: 25 NEW PULP BOOKS TO GET YOU STARTED [GUESS WHO MADE THE LIST]
This is a nice list the guys put together. I'm honored to have The Ruby Files, which I co-created with Bobby Nash, listed.
You can read the full list of the 25 New Pulp Books To Get You Started here.
Learn more about The Ruby Files here.
Friday, February 14, 2014
[Link] From the Vault: Dangerous Curves Ahead
I gave a how-to writing class to a group of high schoolers about two years ago and one of the young men asked me how I wrote female characters. Having written several books starring female protagonists (The Damned Thing, Rabbit Heart and Gravedigger all come to mind), I immediately had a response. I said that you should always start thinking of your characters as people first and gender later. I told him that there is no one “type” of woman out there… there are women who cry at the drop of a hat but then there are women who are tough as nails. There are women who love to shop and wear pink… there are also women who love mixed martial arts and who can drink any man under the table. There are even women who love to wear pink, cry at the drop of a hat, are still tough as nails, love mixed martial arts *and* can drink any man under the table.
Women are people first. The same goes for different races or anything, really.
I also told him that if he were still worried, to look at the women around him — his friends, his family, his sisters. Think about how multifaceted those women are and then incorporate that into his work.
Continue reading: http://barryreese.net/2014/02/01/from-the-vault-dangerous-curves-ahead-4/
Monday, February 10, 2014
Tales of The Rook Volume Two Is Here!
NOTE: This volume features my tale of the female hero to bear the name The Rook, set in the groovy 1970s, baby.
TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO DEBUTS EXCLUSIVELY ON KINDLE FROM PRO SE PRODUCTIONS
A leading publisher in New Pulp and Genre Fiction, Pro Se Productions announces the debut of its newest title exclusively on the Kindle for a limited time.
The Rook Lives Again! Well known Genre Fiction author Barry Reese created one of the seminal characters of New Pulp when he penned ‘Lucifer’s Cage,’ an engaging adventure story starring Max Davies, troubled millionaire who also fought crime of all colors as the masked vigilante, The Rook! Once more Reese opens the doors wide into the rich, varied universe of his best known character and welcomes a host of authors to tell their own takes on Max Davies and company in TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO from Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions!
Compelled through dark dreams to hunt down and destroy evil wherever it might hide! Assisted by loyal friends and a vast array of allies from the annals of Classic and New Pulp as well as Comics of a bygone era, The Rook’s escapades have been a hallmark in the world of New Pulp!
TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME 2 features stories by David White, Sean Taylor, Jim Palmer, Russ Anderson, and Adam Lance Garcia, as well as a new interview with ROOK creator Reese, a script for an unproduced ROOK cartoon short, and an updated timeline of the Reese Unlimited Universe. TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO takes Reese’s original creation to all new heights, to places not even The Rook has gone before.
“The TALES OF THE ROOK concept,” Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “was born out of Barry’s desire to see how others would handle his character, how other writers would play in the Reese Unlimited sandbox. I thought it was a fantastic idea and still do. The batch of writers Barry has brought on this time to tell their own tales of Max and company are some of the best in the business today and take The Rook in some really fun directions. Different styles on an established character are always fun.”
TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO is debuting as a Kindle exclusive initially and will be available in print in coming days.
“We are seeing,” says Hancock, “a great number of sales in ebooks, particularly Kindle, so debuting the latest Reese Unlimited book as a Kindle Exclusive for a while as well before the print edition makes a bit of sense. It also gives us the option to offer a special promotion or two along the way and Amazon Prime members can actually borrow the book for free, which is a neat thing.”
TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO features a wonderful cover by Grant Miehm, logo design and print formatting by Sean Ali, and Ebook Formatting by Russ Anderson. Get Your Kindle Copy today for only $2.99.
For review copies of this title, interviews with the authors and creator, and other information concerning this book, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations at MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com.
For More Information on Pro Se Productions, go to http://www.prose-press.com and like Pro Se on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.
TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO DEBUTS EXCLUSIVELY ON KINDLE FROM PRO SE PRODUCTIONS
A leading publisher in New Pulp and Genre Fiction, Pro Se Productions announces the debut of its newest title exclusively on the Kindle for a limited time.
The Rook Lives Again! Well known Genre Fiction author Barry Reese created one of the seminal characters of New Pulp when he penned ‘Lucifer’s Cage,’ an engaging adventure story starring Max Davies, troubled millionaire who also fought crime of all colors as the masked vigilante, The Rook! Once more Reese opens the doors wide into the rich, varied universe of his best known character and welcomes a host of authors to tell their own takes on Max Davies and company in TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO from Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions!Compelled through dark dreams to hunt down and destroy evil wherever it might hide! Assisted by loyal friends and a vast array of allies from the annals of Classic and New Pulp as well as Comics of a bygone era, The Rook’s escapades have been a hallmark in the world of New Pulp!
TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME 2 features stories by David White, Sean Taylor, Jim Palmer, Russ Anderson, and Adam Lance Garcia, as well as a new interview with ROOK creator Reese, a script for an unproduced ROOK cartoon short, and an updated timeline of the Reese Unlimited Universe. TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO takes Reese’s original creation to all new heights, to places not even The Rook has gone before.
“The TALES OF THE ROOK concept,” Tommy Hancock, Partner in and Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions, “was born out of Barry’s desire to see how others would handle his character, how other writers would play in the Reese Unlimited sandbox. I thought it was a fantastic idea and still do. The batch of writers Barry has brought on this time to tell their own tales of Max and company are some of the best in the business today and take The Rook in some really fun directions. Different styles on an established character are always fun.”
TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO is debuting as a Kindle exclusive initially and will be available in print in coming days.
“We are seeing,” says Hancock, “a great number of sales in ebooks, particularly Kindle, so debuting the latest Reese Unlimited book as a Kindle Exclusive for a while as well before the print edition makes a bit of sense. It also gives us the option to offer a special promotion or two along the way and Amazon Prime members can actually borrow the book for free, which is a neat thing.”
TALES OF THE ROOK VOLUME TWO features a wonderful cover by Grant Miehm, logo design and print formatting by Sean Ali, and Ebook Formatting by Russ Anderson. Get Your Kindle Copy today for only $2.99.
For review copies of this title, interviews with the authors and creator, and other information concerning this book, contact Morgan Minor, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations at MorganMinorProSe@yahoo.com.
For More Information on Pro Se Productions, go to http://www.prose-press.com and like Pro Se on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.
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