The Periodic, Western Flavored Update Post

Hey, everyone!  It’s time for another general check in on what’s going on.

The biggest news is that How The West Was Weird Volume Three, the final volume of bizarre tales of The Old West edited by Russ Anderson and released by Pulpworks Press, will be released as an e-book this Monday, May 12th.  Amongst the stories in this collection is a new El Cuevo story by me that was inspired by the amazing spaghetti western The Great Silence (and if you don’t know about this beautiful, powerful and dark movie, check out my 10 Statements on the film and seek out the DVD!); a new Sebastian Red adventure by my Better In The Dark partner Derrick Ferguson, a spooky tale of hanged men and ghost towns by Dread Media maven Des Reddick and more!  And if you prefer a dead tree version, it will be forthcoming in July.  Check out the cover by Jim Woodring, and if you haven’t read the first few volumes and the spinoff Campfire Tales, be sure to order them from Amazon!

Also, don’t forget that Betrayal On Monster Earth, Mechanoid Press' anthology of stories where giant monsters are the weapons wars are fought with edited by James Palmer and Jim Beard, is still available from Amazon.  This book features my story about corporate dragons, “Giants Of Industry,” and other amazing stories.  Pick it up now!

I’m already hard at work on some new things.  Presently, the thing occupying most of my time is “A Bullet For The Bride,” a new Dreamcatcher story for the upcoming anthology I’m collaborating with Mark Bousquet on, Strange and Cozy.  In this tale, Nocturne’s psychic detective travels to San Christobel for a wedding party and has to solve a locked room mystery in a movie star’s mansion!  “Body of Proof,” the Dreamcatcher story where Maybelle has to figure out why a dead man is acting as if his demise never happened, has been submitted to the occult detective collection A Grimoire of Eldritch Inquests, and is awaiting a decision.  Finally, I’ve just begun another Dreamcatcher story, “Jolly With A Pistol”....can you guess what this uses as a backdrop?  At this rate, there might be a Maybelle Tremens collection coming sooner than anyone thought!

And maybe I shouldn’t say anything...but I have been working not only on the outline for the second Shadow Legion novel, Machina Ex Deus, but I've written a tiny bit of it as well!

There are some other things I’m working on that are Super Top Secret, but once I’m told I can spill the beans, beans will be spilt!  But until then, enjoy How The West Was Weird Volume Three!

El Cuevo Rides Again In HOW THE WEST WAS WEIRD VOLUME THREE!

This week, the esteemed Russ Anderson of Pulpworks Press announced the Table of Contents for the third entry in the How The West Was Weird series.  Check out this line-up!

Sorrowful Are the Souls That Sleep With Gold by Derrick Ferguson
A Night In Deadwood by Ian Taylor
The Steam Devil by Joel Jenkins
Ellie Froggett and the Charnel Pit by Dale Glaser
Sit By the Fire by Thomas Deja
Trail's End by Stacy Dooks
The Bone Picker by Kevin Ross
Pater Syn by Matthew Sylvester
The City of Hanged Men by Desmond Reddick
Death Comes For the Anglerfish by James Pratt
The Pulse by Kevin Thornton

In case you’re wondering, ‘Sit By The Fire’ features the return of frontier exorcist El Cuevo and his beautiful assistant Dolores set in the snowy Rocky Mountains.

If you haven’t read the first El Cuevo story, you can pick up the first How The West Was Weird on your Kindle here.

There’s more exciting news coming, including new stories featuring other members of the Chimera Falls Universe, but that’ll be showing up soon.  Stay tuned!

For Those Just Joining Us....

Here are the links to already extant stories set in the Chimera Falls Universe...

Onyx Revolver

This serial was originally conceived as part of Frontier Publishing, the pulpish concern which ultimately evolved into Pulpwork Press. It's the first thing of mine to be set in Chimera Falls and introduces both El Vengedore de Sangre and Elsa Dawn, both of whom I intend to have pop up again in some form. However, the version of the Falls you read about in this story is very different than the one you will see in later iterations of the world, so take what you read with a grain of salt.

If you're curious about the original version of this story, you can find it here.  Later on, I made an attempt to rewrite and rework it. Dino Pollard was kind enough to host my attempt on DC Omega during its orginal incarnation. Neither version, of course, was completed.

Gawain Knight and The Ungentlemanly Caller

A story featuring one of the Protectors of Chimera Falls, it's noteworthy for sketching out some of the neighborhoods of this New England city and establishing it as a major fishing center. Knight is a Rogue-With-A-Code-Of-Honor that I intended to be my tribute to one of my favorite heroic character, Leslie Charteris' Simon Templar. You can find the tale here.

Don Cuevo's Curative

This story introduced the possibly ageless, disturbingly quiet frontier exorcist Don Cuevo and his assistant Dolores. The interesting thing about Cuevo is that he originated elsewhere. A version of the character, sans Dolores and the semi-Lovecraftian motivations, showed up in my fanfic version of Birds of Prey, originally written for Bill K'Tepi's DC Year Two, and then rewritten for Vertigo: Subculture. You can still find the V:S version here if you're curious to see where Don Cuevo sprung from.

If you want to read the actual story that introduced Don Cuevo, you'll have to go to Pulpwork Press and plunk down your coin for a copy of How The West Was Weird. You also have to go to Pulpwork Press to purchase the debut of...

Doc Thunder Pursued

The steampunky inventor/secret agenty crime fighter, Doc Elias Thunder came to me literally in a dream, when I woke up one morning with the idea of a chase between cowboys astride motorcycles in my head. This was written in a rush of inspiration, and opens up a whole new world of fantastic thrills in this universe. The story within How The West Was Weird Volume Two is the character's origin, and I've already got a second adventure cooking in my brain, waiting for me to finesse it into an actual story. As with Don Cuevo, go to Pulpwork Press to purchase the book and enjoy the tale.

That's the whole extant Chimera Falls Universe at this time. You'll be learning more about the characters who make up The Shadow Legion and their city, Nocturne, here as we move closer to the release of the first book, New Roads of Hell, through Airship 27 sometime in the near future.

So go, read the stories. Have fun. Then come back here and we'll hang out some more!

WHAT IS THE CHIMERA FALLS UNIVERSE?

The Chimera Falls Universe did not begin as a universe.

Chimera Falls started out as a fictitious backdrop for the abortive novel I was writing on behalf of Frontier Publishing, Onyx Revolver. A fishing town that had experienced a catastrophic accident that cut itself off from the rest of the world, it became this siren's call for all manners of bizarre and strange figures. My intent when I pitched this novel was to create 'an anime on paper,' which is why you had a human insect and the unofficial sheriff of this lawless town-gone-mad, a man in a silver, black and red luchador mask called El Vengedore de Sangre. El Vengedore became one of the first heroes of the Chimera Falls Universe, and some of the others like Elsa Dawn will appear in slightly altered fashion soon.

Even though Onyx Revolver bled away, I had decided that I could return to Chimera Falls and started setting up the idea that the Falls had a tradition of attracting heroes who reflected the way the city changed throughout the decades. Only one of these stories ever got published, thanks to Curt fernlund's website www.carnaj.com, introducing readers to the roguish Gawain Knight.

In the last few years, Chimera Falls became a true universe thanks to the people at Pulpworks Press. When Russ Anderson approached me about contributing to the first How The West Was Weird volume, I reached back to a concept I played around with as far back as my fanfic days and wrote 'Don Cuevo's Curative,' the first official story featuring the seemingly immortal frontier exorcist and his sexy Chicano assistant, Dolores. I created him with two ideas in mind--one, that he could move back and forth through time to appear in a number of different stories, and two, that he could be connected to Chimera Falls at a later date. When the second volume of How The West Was Weird came along--and I struggled with writing the El Cuevo follow-up I had initially proposed--I got to add another hero to this burgeoning world, the great steampunk inventor Doctor Elias Thunder. And stories explaining the connection between these characters and the ones in The Falls is still sitting here on my hard drive in partial form, which explains a strange relationship between Cuevo and El Vengedore.

And soon, the biggest expression of The Chimera Falls Universe will be ready to be placed in your hands. The Shadow Legion (named by the Captain of Airship 27, Ron Fortier) is a series of books beginning with New Roads To Hell that will chronicle the adventures of a confederation of adventurers devoted to protecting the city of Nocturne.

Nocturne, The City That Lives By Night, is like many cities that appeared in super-hero comics a fictitious metropolis based on a real one. It's a city that for some reason is infused with magical energy, which makes it a hotspot for mystical personages. Some of them have malevolent designs on this historic city, prompting others to form their own defense force...a Shadow Legion to keep this place safe.

In the coming weeks and months as we approach the release of New Roads To Hell, this blog will introduce you to key personages in the Chimera Falls Universe, tell you more about how this parallel world works, and share with you some behind the scenes stuff--some from me, some from my pal Michelle Scuito and, if I can swing it, some from other people who have played a part in shaping some of these characters--that'll get you all ready for this brave new world.

So keep watching this space. Your itinerary is in hand, and your visit to The City That Lives By Night and many of the cities of this world--Chimera Falls, The City of Empire, Jotun, San Cristobal and more (something we'll get into soon, I promise)--is waiting!