Airship 27 and Fight Card Team Up for a One-Two Punch of Pulp Goodness!

 

Terry Quinn was an enforcer for the Irish Mob in New York during the 1930s.  One of the toughest and the best.  But before he donned a trench-coat and fedora, before his life took the deadly detour leading him deep into the underworld, Quinn was an up and coming heavy weight boxer with a good chance at the title.

Created by author Terrence McCauley, Quinn’s story is about to unfold from two of today’s most popular pulp publishers, Airship 27 Productions and Fight Card.

Initially McCauley submitted his full length crime novel, “Prohibition,” to Airship 27 Productions’ Managing Editor Ron Fortier.  “It’s a tough, gritty fast paced gangster book,” related Fortier, “that reminded me of those classic black and white Warner Brothers movies of the 30s and 40s.  After reading the first few chapters, it was a done deal that we were going to publish this.”

“Prohibition,” by Terrence McCauley will be released by Airship 27 Productions in December.  The book will feature a cover and nine interior illustrations by artist Rob Moran, a creator noted for his noir inspired art with book design by Art Director Rob Davis.

But McCauley was far from done with Quinn.  As a writer, he was intrigued by Quinn’s backstory- how he became the man the underworld fears.  For this early story, set in Quinn’s days in the boxing ring,  McCauley believed he knew the perfect target for such a story - the Fight Card series created by Paul Bishop and Mel Odom.  Each month since January 2012, the Fight Card series has published a new novelette from some of the finest action scribes in the field of New Pulp - all writing under shared pseudonym of Jack Tunney.  Each tale in the Fight Card series features a hard-hitting melodrama centered in the world of boxing inspired by the fight pulps of the ‘30s and 40s  - such as Fight Stories Magazine and Robert E.Howard’s two-fisted boxing tales featuring Sailor Steve Costigan.

Upon receiving McCauley’s inquiry, Bishop quickly approved it.  “I have been constantly amazed at the varied stories the Fight Card series has produced,” Bishop said, “And Terrence’s story featuring the origins of his Quinn character was another completely unique take on the mythology of boxing noir.”

McCauley’s tale of Quinn’s boxing days, “Fight Card: Against The Ropes,” will be published in January or Februrary of 2013.

As for McCauley, he couldn’t be happier.  “Even before Airship 27 agreed to publish Prohibition, I'd always envisioned my Terry Quinn character to be part of a larger body of work than just one book. That's why I was honored when Fight Card gave me the opportunity to tell of Quinn's beginnings with Fight Card:Against The Ropes. I'm honored that Quinn has found homes with both Airship 27 and Fight Card.  He’s also been featured in earlier short stories that have appeared in a variety anthologies.”

Airship 27 Productions and Fight Card are set to deliver a solid one-two punch knock-out that will have New Pulp fans cheering!

The Gloves Are... On!

GOLDEN GATE GLOVES
(FIGHT CARD)

San Francisco 1951.

Conall O’Quinn grew up at St. Vincent’s Asylum For Boys, a Chicago orphanage where he learned the sweet science of boxing from Father Tim, the battling priest. After a stint in the Army, Conall finds work on the docks of San Francisco – a place where his fists make him the dock champion. Soon, however, he gets on the bad side of a union boss and is set up for a dock side brawl designed to knockout his fighting career. When Conall comes out on top, things go from bad to worse when he is framed for the docks going up in flames.

Along with Benson, his best friend and trainer, Conall heads for the hills in search of a lost treasure in the vicinity of a mine controlled by the union boss. However, where Conall goes trouble follows and he is quickly embroiled in a heated grudge match between fist-happy miners and lumberjacks.

Championing the miners in an all out slugfest, Conall is about to find out there is more to fighting than just swinging fists… giant, hammer-fisted lumberjacks, the mine owner’s beautiful daughter, union flunkies, and mob thugs all want a piece of him… and when the opening bell rings, the entire world appears to be against him…

You can learn more about The Fight Card series at www.fightcardbooks.com.
Listen to Earth Station One’s interview with Paul Bishop here.

FIGHT CARD ANNOUNCES NEW WEBSITE!

FROM PAUL BISHOP, FIGHT CARD BOOKS!

Greetings Fight Card Team and friends of Fight Card ...

 

We are pleased to announce our brand new Fight Card website:

www.fightcardbooks.com

 

Thx and appreciation to Jeremy Brown (author of the dynamite MMA themed Suckerpunch, the upcoming sequel Hook and Shoot, and one of the first Fight Card MMA novels for publication next year) who volunteered his skills and patience to make the site a reality.  As always there are still a few tweaks to be made as we add more Fight Card authors, books, links, and other content to the site, but please take a look and tell us what your initial thoughts are ... Suggestions and ideas are always welcome -- This is a team effort.

 

In other Fight Card news, our next title (September 1st) is Bluff City Brawler from Heath Lowrance, followed by The Knockout from Robert Randisi, Irish Dukes from Mike Faricy, and Rock-Face Bred from Robert Evans.

 

David Foster is busy working on the next issue of Fight Fictioneers, which will also premiere in September.  Be sure to check out David's new fight fiction short story, Bushwhacked (written as James Hopwood  http://tinyurl.com/8obzybx) and his retro-spy novel, The Libro Deception (also written as James Hopwood  http://tinyurl.com/8cyso2u).

 

We have a number of big things planned for Fight Card in 2013, including the premiere of Fight Card MMA and other Fight Card brands.

 

Thanks to all of you who have helped support the Fight Card novels on your blogs and with reviews.  And thanks to the Fight Card Jack Tunneys who continue to astound me with the quality of their prose and the high standard of storytelling.  Great work!

A Punch and a Jab with Paul Bishop

A novelist and screenwriter, Paul Bishop also has a distinguished career with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he has twice been honored as Detective Of The Year. With over thirty years experience investigating Sex Crimes, Paul brings a gritty realism to his writing along with a healthy dollop of hard earned gallows humor.

As a nationally recognized interrogator, Paul appears regularly as one of two principal interrogators on the hit ABC reality series Take The Money And Run . . .

His novels include Hot Pursuit, Deep Water, Penalty Shot, and four novels in his L.A.P.D. Detective Fey Croaker series: Kill Me Again, Grave Sins, Tequila Mockingbird, and Chalk Whispers. He has also published two short story collections, Pattern Of Behavior and Running Wylde, as well as written scripts for episodic television and feature films.

Tell us a bit about your latest work.

Currently, I’m busy writing and editing the books in the Fight Card series. These are 25,000 word e-novels, designed to be read in one or two sittings, and are inspired by the fight pulps of the '30s and '40s – such as Fight Stories Magazine – and Robert E. Howard’s two-fisted boxing tales featuring Sailor Steve Costigan.

The first two e-novels in the series, Felony Fists (by myself) and The Cutman (by series co-creator Mel Odom) made their debut in November 2011 and have both been well reviewed. The third Fight Card e-novel, Slit Decision (by Eric Beetner), was released in December 2011. The fourth and latest Fight Card e-novel, Counterpunch (by Wayne D. Dundee), has just hit Amazon’s virtual bookshelves. All the Fight Card novels are listed under the 'open' pseudonym Jack Tunney to unify the series.

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

I often find myself writing about characters doing the right thing despite personal cost. I like to paint stories in shades of gray where there aren’t always easy answers about right and wrong, where actions have consequences – if a proverbial trigger is pulled, there is a price to pay.

What would be your dream project?

I’ve been very lucky in having been able to do so much – novels, produced TV scripts, produced movie scripts, co-starring in a TV show on a major network – all of those things being a dream.

That said, I dream about selling an action TV series and getting to be the show runner. However, I think that I should heed the warning, ‘be careful what you wish for.’

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

The reality television show, Take The Money And Run, in which I co-starred. I’d love to re-edit the episodes in a manner explaining the rules better to the viewers and showing how long the interrogations lasted and how many times we went back and questioned the ‘hider’ contestants. The current episodes sometimes make it look as if the ‘hider’ contestants gave up to easily. I’m here to tell cracking them was some of the hardest work I’ve ever done.

What inspires you to write?

The wolf at the door would be the obvious inspiration, but in reality I have a compelling need to tell stories. There are characters inside my head screaming to get out onto the page.

What writers have influenced your style and technique?

My influences are as common as all the great pulp writers who have gone before, and as uncommon as writers such as Nevil Shute and Somerset Maugham. The Razor’s Edge was the seminal novel of my youth. Contemporary writers such as Dick Francis and Robert B. Parker are who I study to learn compelling narrative and striking dialogue.

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

Writing rises to the level of art when it not only tells a story, but helps the reader discover something about themselves, makes them question entrenched beliefs, or gives the reader a unique perspective they would not have otherwise encountered. The responsibility of a writer is to entertain a reader – the goal of a writer is to make a reader think.

Any other upcoming projects you would like to plug?

2012 will see Fight Card entries from Kevin Michaels (The Hard Road), James Hopwood (King Of The Outback), Heath Lowrance (Bay City Brawler), Eric Beetner (Mouth Full Of Blood), Gary Phillips (Bare Knuckles), Bob Randisi (The Knockout) and others – along with more from Mel and myself (Swamp Walloper).

Pulp is also rocking my world as I am in the middle of writing and editing stories for a series of new pulp anthologies (Pulse Fiction) set to premier next year – with all stories featuring new pulp characters spanning the width and breadth of pulpdom.

I’m also fleshing out plans for two Fight Card spin-offs, Fight Card: MMA and Fight Card: Now!
A wonderfully busy and creative time.

To learn more about Paul and his work, visit his blog at http://www.bishsbeat.blogspot.com.