...AND WE’RE BACK

Sorry about the delays, everyone.  We should be back to normal service soon.

The big news since this site went dark is that Strange And Cozy, the anthology I co-edited with the creator of Gunfighter Gothic, Mark Bousquet, is out, available in paperback and Kindle format.  The book features tales that fuse pulp genres with the cozy mystery, including new stories by NTA contributor I.A. Watson, Joel Jenkins and others as well as ‘A Bullet for The Bride,’ a new Dreamcatcher tale where Maybelle and Colin travel to San Christobal for a wedding...and a murder!  This is the first story that explores a city outside of Nocturne, and it should be a doozy.  Go get your copy from Amazon here.

It’s also not too late to get a copy of A Grimoire of Eldritch Inquests, the Josh Reynolds edited collection of tales featuring psychic detectives.  My contribution, ‘Body Of Proof’ sees Maybelle trying to determine why a man is still walking around after his son murdered him.  Get your copy here.

The illustrations are being done for Shadow Legion: The Shape Of Fears  To Come, the next Legion book.  While I can’t show you them just yet, let me just say they’re knockouts!

‘Strange Weathers,’ the new El Cuevo story for this year’s Pulpworks Christmas Annual has been turned in.  This story will be significant, as it will both make a connection between the Cuevo tales and the Shadow Legion and give fans of the frontier exorcist the biggest hints as to his true nature.  And if you enjoy that when it comes out in the end of the year, wait until you see what I’ve got planned for Halloween next year....

The next book in the Shadow Legion, the second novel, is in the process of being written.  All the characters will be back, including a few from Shape in some new circumstances, and a new type of adventure as the Legion moves into a new era of history.

So there’s plenty to explore now, and plenty to look forward to.  And I’ll be back with more stuff soon!

An Abundance of Dreamcatcher!

So as we’re between the release of New Roads To Hell and the next Shadow Legion book, The Shadow Legion Casebook: The Shape Of Fears To Come, and something unusual has come to light.

Namely, that people want to read more about Maybelle Tremens, the Dreamcatcher.

I honestly did not expect Maybelle to be a breakout star.  New Roads was primarily Nightbreaker and Ferryman’s story.  I did manage to put in some time to sketch out Black Talon’s background, but Maybelle?  Outside of a conversation, not a lot was paid to Dreamcatcher or the Tremens family.  Add into the fact that ‘A Prayer For The Toy God,' the Dreamcatcher story for the Casebook took the longest to write (there’s literally four story fragments representing four false starts, including a baseball-themed tale I’m tempted to revisit), and you’d think our magic wielding maven would be the character least likely to generate interest.

But first Joshua Reynolds, the creator of Charles St. Cyprian and Ebe Gallowglass and author of their first full length adventure The Whitechapel Demon, requested that I provided a story for the anthology of occult detectives, A Grimoire Of Eldritch Inquests.  This resulted in my coming up with a little mystery tale involving greed, murder and the undead that, for some frustrating reason, is untitled.  Once a title becomes apparent, I promise I will reveal it.

At the same time, the great Mark Bousquet and I decided to produce Strange And Cozy.  This is an anthology of cozy mysteries (think of Agatha Christie) written in different pulp styles.  The original idea was for me to contribute a Don Cuevo story, but it became apparent that a Dreamcatcher story would be a better fit.  This resulted in me beginning ‘A Bullet For The Bride,’ where Maybelle and her paramore, Colin ‘Black Talon’ Palmersdale travel to the glamorous city of San Cristobal for a wedding....and end up having to solve a locked room mystery!  I’m working on that right now, and it should be available in the fall.

(And if you’re a writer who wants to contribute to our anthology, you can find more information here.)

So those of you who liked New Roads To Hell and can’t wait to read more Shadow Legion should feel secure--there’ll be more Dreamcatcher stories than you can shake a magic wand at soon enough!

While I'm Waiting For Something Cool To Announce--Here's Some Presents!

Hey, fellow Nocturne Travellers!  I know I've been kind of, sort of under the radar lately as I strive to finish The Shadow Legion Casebook Volume 1: Four For Danger, and wait for the release of The Shadow Legion: New Roads To Hell...along with Tao Jones and one other thing I will tell you about once I cobble together an outline and get an approval.

But...being as this is the time of the season, I wanted to point your way to two special gifties you all might enjoy.

If you remember, a while back I interviewed Van Allen Plaxico and Ian Watson.  Ian told me about the Blackthorne series that is published through Van's White Rocket books.  Well, if you go to Amazon right now, you can purchase Blackthorn: Thunder On Mars for your Kindle for only ninety-nine cents.  That's right--top notch sword-and-sci-fi action stories in the Jack Kirby and Edgar Rice Burroughs tradition for less than a dollar!

You don't have a dollar?  Well, don't fret.  Pulpworks Press, the New Pulp publisher that presented the How The West Was Weird series--the weird western anthology that introduced my creations Don Cuevo and Doc Thunder to the world--has put together The Pulpworks Christmas Special 2012.  It's a collection of great pulpy stories from Derrick Ferguson, Josh Reynolds, Joel Jenkins, and Russ Anderson.  And it's absolutely free in electronic format (If you're a traditionalist, you can also purchase it for eight dollars from Amazon or Pulpworks Press' web site).  Just go to the Pulpworks Press blog and follow the links.

Hey, it's Christmas-y, pulp-y fun for you, for less than a dollar--free is less than a dollar, right?--so get to clicking!  And if you're a pulp author or publisher who has a similar special offer, let me know and I'll let my handful of readers know in turn!