Do You Wanna Talk To Me Live And Other Updates

Hey, again, my fellow travelers, and Happy New Year!  Sorry for the radio silence.  Here's what's going down....

First off, just a reminder if you haven’t picked it up yet, but New Roads To Hell is still available through Amazon  and direct from Airship27.com.  I hope those of you who bought it enjoyed the first adventure of The Shadow Legion, and rest assured there’s lots more where that came from.

...like The Shadow Legion Casebook: The Shape of Fears To Come!  The book has been finished pending a polish of the last story, ‘A Prayer For The Toy God.’  This is a collection of four short stories, each one highlighting a different hero from the novel.  When you buy this amazing book, you’ll witness The Ferryman fighting a bizarre figure over the fate of a young girl; The Nightbreaker learning about the legacy of super-heroes in Nocturne as an old enemy comes looking for his mentor; The Black Talon facing a cult devoted to destroying the protectors of The City That Lives By Night; and The Dreamcatcher trying to unravel a mystery involving a young boy...and encountering the macabre protector of the city’s children.  If you’re looking for a preview, be sure to pick up Mystery Men and Women V. 4, which features stories by my good friend Derrick Ferguson and Joel Jenkins, and the first appearance of ‘A Waltz In Scarlet,’ the Ferryman story that will appear in The Casebook.

Before that comes out, we should see the appearance of Monster Earth 2 from Mechanoid Press, the anthology about an alternative Earth were the super powers wield giant monsters instead of nuclear weapons.  This book takes place in the 80‘s and 90‘s, and my contribution, “Giants of Industry,” witnesses an attempt to utilize a genetically created monster fabricated by a corporation to manipulate the affairs of a foreign country.  I had the most fun doing research for this story, and I hope you have a much fun reading it.

Also coming up is ‘Sit By The Fire,’ the new El Cuevo story that will appear in the third and final volume of How The West Was Weird from Pulpworks Press.  My hope is to write some more stories featuring my frontier exorcist and his beautiful assistant, with an eye towards producing a new collection in 2015.  If you like westerns with a touch of the strange, be sure to pick up the first two volumes of Russ Anderson’s excellent series, which features stories about El Cuevo and the steampunk scientist Doc Thunder.

And speaking of collections, I have started editing Amazing Alternity Stories, a collection featuring stories about historical personages in unusual roles.  This has been on my desk for literally years, and I am glad that it will finally see print from Pulpworks Press.

I bet some of you might have questions about The Shadow Legion, El Cuevo and the other denizens of The Chimera Falls Universe--and this Wednesday, February 12th, you’ll get the chance!  I’ll be appearing on my friend Viktor Aurelius’ podcast Whispers In The Dark, and I’ll be taking live calls from fans and readers.  The show will be live at 9pm, and if you want to call in, do so at (347) 884-9923.  I can’t wait to talk to some of you readers and find out what you think of my babies.

There’s other stuff in the pipeline, including new characters and adventures, but there’ll be more on that as soon as I know.  So keep watching this space, and be ready for more from The Chimera Falls Universe!

Meet Playmate

Happy New Year, Nocturners!

As you all know, I’ve been hard at work trying to close out The Shadow Legion Casebook V. 1.  Three of the stories are in house at Airship 27, ready to go--and hopefully you’ll see the Ferryman adventure, ‘A Waltz In Scarlet,’ in the upcoming Mystery Men and Women V. 4--and I’m hard at work on the final tale.  I’ve got roughly 8500 words to go before the book is closed out, and I’m really hoping that you’ll have it in your hands by the end of this year.

One of the cool things you’ll be seeing in this collection are some new characters that will add more depth to the city of Nocturne.  Now most of them are villains....but one of them is kinda, sorta a hero.  This was one of the characters I had included in my original pitch document I sent to Ron Fortier all those years ago.  There was no place for it in New Roads To Hell, but I’ve found a place for it in the new book....and now I’d like to give you a small preview of what’s in store for you, from the unvarnished initial draft of ‘A Prayer For The Toy God.’  Enjoy!

Standing over them, however, was the true answer.  It--if it had a sex, Maybelle could not see any indication--stood over what remained of the men who she assumed had arranged the kidnapping.  It was bent over like an animal, but the disturbing thing was how its limbs seemed...fluid.  There were no angles in its stance, just curves, as if there were no bones underneath.  It was dressed in a badly stained children’s costume, a mockery of her lover’s secret identity with the name ‘Black Talon’ written across its chest in a tiger-striped pattern.  The costume was too small, and it was ripped at the seams and frayed at the cuffs.  A thin cardboard mask hung from its too-thin neck, this depicting the Talon channeling Brother Lion, ripped at the eyes and mouth.

It had the head of one of the unfortunate criminals in one long-fingered hand.  The digits unfurled, allowing the corpse’s skull to fall to the concrete floor with a wet thud.  Its head raised up on a stalk-like neck and swiveled around, revealing a mockery of a face, contours fashioned by mismatched swatches and uneven stitches, eyes that could have been black buttons if not for the strange, dim glow within them.  A crooked mouth brightly colored like a crayon gash moved in what could be construed as speech.  

This, Maybelle knew instinctively, was Playmate.

The Periodic Update Post

Hey, again, my fellow travelers!  Sorry for the radio silence.  Here's what's going down....

First off, I want to thank everyone who picked up New Roads To Hell.  The first adventure of The Shadow Legion spent the entire month on Barry Reese’s New Pulp Best Seller list, and contributed to one of the best months in the history of Airship 27!  If you’ve already read the novel, why don’t you take the time to leave a brief review on Amazon to help other people find the book.  Hell--over the next two weeks, I’ll randomly choose a reader who places a review on the Amazon page and gift them with a sampler that contains excerpts from three of the four novellas that will make up The Shadow Legion Casebook!  Just be sure to leave a link to your review in the comments below.

As for The Shadow Legion Casebook itself....a few weeks ago, my present laptop had a bit of a coma (the Best Buy Geek Squad member who helped me called it ‘the Blue Screen of Death’), and had to have its entire hard drive replaced.  This resulted in my losing a slew of data, including 6000 words of ‘The Ascension Of Indio Blaque,’ the Black Talon novella.  I’m presently doing a rewrite of the 9000 words I still have in anticipation of trying to recreate the rest of the story.  Finishing up this book so that it can be released sometime late in 2014 is one of my primary goals.

Remember--members of The Shadow Legion will be appearing in Mystery Men and Women 4 and 5, so if you’re still hungering for more Ferryman, Dreamcatcher and Nightbreaker, be sure to pick those books up.

Then it’ll be time to gear up for writing the next full length Shadow Legion adventure, Machina Ex Deus.  What’s it about?  Maybe knowing a little something about Greek Theater may give you a hint!

I’m presently at the end of my publicity podcast tour.  If you’re not tired of hearing me talk about the novel, you can hear me on The Gentleman’s Guide To Midnite Cinema, Earth Station One  and Dread Media!

There are, of course, other things I’ve been hard at work on.  My new Don Cuevo story, ‘Sit By The Fire,’ will be featured in the third volume of How The West Was Weird, available in 2014.  I also just submitted the first draft of ‘Giants of Industry,’ my contribution to Monster Earth 2, forthcoming from Mechanoids Press.  And I’m going to begin doing research for a novella that will witness my return to writing a blonde daredevil doll I had so much fun writing before!  And that’s just the most immediate stuff.

I hope you’ll keep following the Travel Agency to learn when these and other projects come out.

Secrets Of The Shadow Legion: Their Police Ally's Inspiration Retires!

By now, I'm sure a lot of you have read some, if not all, of New Roads To Hell. 

And I'm sure some of that lot have encountered, at least partially, Detective Munchen, who becomes a friend to The Nightbreaker and an ally to The Shadow Legion in their battle against Rose Red.

And I'm sure some of that smaller sub-group might have a suspicion that our urbane detective is based on another, more famous urbane detective who holds the record for appearing in more television shows than any other television character.

You'd be right.

Today, on the day of Detective John Munch's retirement from his present home as a supporting character on Law And Order: SVU, I can reveal that Detective Munchen was based on Richard Belzer.  I've been a fan of Belzer reaching back to his comedian days, and followed his career as a character actor.  Back when I was writing fanfiction, I needed a detective character based in Baltimore for GREEN LANTERN: YEAR ONE.  Since Belzer was playing John Munch in Homicide: Life On The Streets, I choose to create Munchen as a not-very-subtle tribute to the Belz.  And when I wrote FURY OF FIRESTORM for DC Legends and needed a detective character, it made sense to have Muchen transfer to New York as Munch transfered to L&O:SVU.

Of course, sending my own version of Belz back in time and relocating him to the New Orleans manque that is Nocturne is probably the most audacious thing I've done.  But it seemed right, given that Belzer had appeared on two super-hero shows in the past (Lois And Clark and The Flash), to place him in my own super-hero universe.  And I admit, he seemed to work real well with The Nightbreaker; so much so that he makes an appearance in 'Ghost of Steel,' the Nightbreaker novella that'll appear in The Shadow Legion Casebook V. 1.

I don't know if Belzer is aware of his alternative literary version of himself; I hope that if he is aware, he'll realize it was meant as a fond tribute to a performer I love, and look upon it as further proof that John Munch is the glue that holds the pop culture multiverse together.

Happy retirement, Munch!  Hope you enjoy your new posting in Nocturne!

The Travel Agency Travels To...ZONE 4

As part of the NEW ROADS TO HELL Podcastapalooza, I appeared on Zone 4's most recent episode, where John, Ron and Gordon interview me about the book, the city of Nocturne, The Shadow Legion, and writing in general.  Check out Episode 238 here!

Also, in case you missed it, I talked with Ric Croxton and Lee Houston, Jr. on Ric's Comics here, and did a little prose back and forth with my BETTER IN THE DARK partner Derrick Ferguson here.

Coming up...I'll be talking about the 20th Anniversary of THE X-FILES with the crew of Earth-Station One, and talking about the horrific elements of NEW ROADS with Des Reddick at Dread Media!  And there's more coming soon!  So don't miss out on a single stop on the Nocturne World Podcast Tour!

(And maaaaaybe, if you're in the general New York City area, there might be a chance to meet me in person and get a signed copy--keep watch for more developments!)

Behind The Scenes: The Original Character Notes For The Shadow Legion!

Hey, gang. Since the book is now out (and if you haven’t picked up your copy, why haven’t you)?, I thought I’d share part of the original proposal document I sent to Ron Fortier back when he offered to publish New Roads To Hell. This section outlines our quartet of heroes, and presumed a modern day setting for the novel. As you’ll see, some of these characters went through some pretty radical changes as they made their way to the page; there’s even a reference to two who didn’t make the final version of the novel but might debut in the future.

Hope you enjoy this little behind the scenes glimpse, and don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon if you liked the book!

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Isaiah Copper, The Nightbreaker

Isiah Copper begins his road to being a hero by being what he is not. As a light skinned black man, Isiah passed himself off as white to gain better access to what society could offer him. As a voice actor, Isiah pretended to be The Nightbreaker, a pulp hero who thrilled the children of Nocturne every Wednesday and Friday night on WDSK.

And his practice of wearing social masks worked; WDSK's owner, Alan Dennings, was planning on exploring the idea of syndicating the Nightbreaker show...and to publicize the move, the station threw a charity ball...

And that's where everything went to Hell.

For you see, the ball was targeted for the debut of the woman calling herself Rose Red, obstensively a robbery, but in reality a distraction for the desperate woman to test her abilties. Just as Alan Dennings was blinded attempting to save the life a family, Isaiah was murdered by the ruthless killer in the second between 11:59 pm and midnight...

And Isaiah discovered that, since he died in the literal ticks between days, he was not going to die ever. He slipped out of phase with reality, neither dead nor alive, a physical being who might as well be a ghost. People on the other side of this schism didn't even recognize he existed unless he concentrated, and even then that recognition would fade the moment he left their presence.

Most people would go insane. But Isaiah chose a different method of coping--by becoming something akin to the mask he hid behind professionally, acting to right wrongs an repel evil in a continuing crusade to prove to the world that yes, he still exist. This has been an uphill battle, although recent innovations in video technology has enabled him to be caught on camera as a smudgy, ill-defined form...so the story of man dressed as an old-time radio hero has been added to the library of weird and mystical stories that make up Noctune's heritage.

Luckily, there is another group of people who can perceive and interact with. Those people who are sensitive to mystical energies are able to perceive Isaiah's presence constantly. This is an island of relief to our friend, knowing there are people out there who do recognize he exists as more than a legend. He may become the one member of this Legion who actually thinks this is a formal Legion.

Alan Dennings,The Ferryman

Even though he was left alive after trying to prevent the death of occultist Maybelle Tremens (the grandaunt of April, and maybe one of the reasons her descendant has become the equivalent of a mystical bug zapper) at that Halloween Charity Ball, but Alan Dennings might as well have died.

Yes, he attempted to carry on with his career in spite of his blindness...but the voices started. Voices that registered in the back of his head, voices telling their stories and demanding he deliver vengeance. There were so many, and when Alan tried to ignore them, they just got louder until he couldn't hear what was going on in the real world. Alan quickly was ousted by his investors from WDSK, was evicted from his home and took to wandering the streets....

...where he was found by the retired Black Talon, Colin Palmersdale. Having struggled with the Talon's own curse, Colin was able to train Alan to master his condition, and endeavored to bring him back from the brink of insanity.

Colin Palmersdale failed. All he succeeded in doing was give Alan the means to transcend his mortal form and become something greater...something that allows him to assuage those voices. With each transgression he avenges for them, he lives a little longer, his body held in a sort of mystically sanctioned stasis until every last one of these voices are satisfied.

Alan is...well, he's not well at all...

April Tremens, Dreamcatcher

To the Narrow World, April Tremens is a mentally ill young woman who suffers from one of the most extreme forms of Disassociative Personality Disorder known to man. Psychiatrists have mapped out a staggering amount of personalities in April, almost all of them malevolent. Even with heavy medication, these personalities manifest--but they are at least managable.

The Wide World, the world that the Shadow Legion operates in, know better.

April Tremens' codename is equal parts sarcastic and ironic. Just as a dreamcatcher is supposed to catch nightmares in its web before they get to the dreamer, April Tremens is a giant paranormal scoop, catching demons and other malignant supernatural entities inside her corporeal form before they can manifest on our plane and wreck havoc. Having all these monstrosities rattling around inside her head has driven her hopelessly insane, and only a heroic effort on her part allows her to retain control of her body the majority of the time.

Oddly enough, April is a vital resource to the Legion, as she has a unique insight into the way evil works. I envision her allowing one of the myriad entities to surface so her fellows can gain knowledge that will help them in their battles. Also, I figure having mystical creatures literally dwelling inside her has given April a working practical knowledge of magic. She can do minor spells at will...and as she gains a modicum of freedom through her association with the Legion, those abilities will grow.

I also envision a sort of strange, symbiotic relationship between April, mentally disabled by the constant war she wages in her mind against these unwelcome lodgers, and Playmate, drawn to the delicate young woman due to its instinctive motivation to protect children. This might be what keeps the strange creature around, cooperating with the adults it usually shuns.

Oh, and sadly, Ron--April will most likely be the one Legionnaire who will not have a costume or unform...although I imagine Playmate might try to make one for her, and fail, down the line.

Mawbry Palmersdale, The Black Talon

For centuries, the Black Talon has been the enforcer of The Circle, the strange morphogenetic field that binds all life of earth. The Talon wears a ceremonial tribal mask that allows him to tap into the Circle's abilities, borrowing specific animal traits to give him special abilities. A Talon can briefly become as strong as an elephant, agile like a cheetah or blend into the background like a chameleon. However, accessing a single ability for too long allows the Circle's representative to leave a little of itself in the user, resulting ultimately in physiological changes in the wearer. Each Talon ultimately has to be put down when his body becomes twisted into an impossible patchwork of animal traits.

For the last two hundred years, the custodian of the Talon legacy has been the Palmersdale family, and for the last eighty of those years the Palmersdales have called The City That Lives By Night home. And the Palmersdales have had a rather unique hand in shaping the Legion through the years...

It was a Palmersdale who tried to save Alan Dennings from becoming the Ferryman. It was a Palmersdale who gave shelter to the Tremens family when they fell on hard times in the 80's. It was a Palmersdale sponsorship which allowed Tsura Boswell to go to law school, and a Palmersdale who suggested she use her pyrokine abilities to benefit others. One would almost think that the Circle wants there to be a unified force of protectors in this small Gulf Coast city....

NEW ROADS TO HELL is finally here!

Airship 27 Productions is excited to debut the first of a new line of pulp-superhero books with, SHADOW LEGION – New Roads to Hell as written and created by Thomas Deja.
“Thomas proposed this idea to me last year,” explains Airship 27 Managing Editor Ron Fortier, “and I thought it contained fascinating perspectives on the whole idea of supernatural beings.”

“Every sci-fi, pulp fan knows comic book superheroes evolved from the pulps heroes,” Fortier goes on to say. “The idea of turning the tables and doing prose stories of superheroes isn’t anything new and there have been several publishers who have explored that hybrid world recently. We didn’t want to copy what others had done; which is why SHADOW LEGION appealed to me in the first place.  In creating the city of Nocturne and its unique characters, Thomas has put a decidedly fresh spin on this genre and we think our readers are really going to enjoy these adventures.”

There has always been something strange about Nocturne, Florida; the City That Lives by Night.  It is an entertainment nexus luring tourist from around the world to its night clubs, music venues and other, more adult entertainment venues. But there is a darker side to which these carefree revelers never see; one of dark doings, violence and eldritch evil.

Now a new sinister force threatens Nocturne and only a handful of unique, gifted beings can protect the city’s innocent.

Nightbreaker; a radio star turned vigilante, he exist in a strange limbo world.

The beautiful Dreamcatcher who bends all magic to her will.

The mysterious Ferryman, a living conduit to the world beyond!

And their leader, Black Talon, the embodiment of the unfettered fury of the African Veldt...stalking a jungle of concrete and glass!

Together they are The Shadow Legion, a secret alliance of mystery men and women who battle the fantastic threats that can tear apart the metropolis they call home!

Their saga begins here in New Roads To Hell, a gripping novel by Thomas Deja that reveals the secret origins of Nightbreaker and Ferrymen, and features the menace of Rose Red, a crimson haired devil with a talent for murder!  The book features interior illustrations by Chris Kemple and a cover by Pulp Factory Award winning artist, Mike Fyles with designs by Rob Davis, another PFA art winner.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – New Pulp Fiction for a New Generation!

Now available at Amazon.com & on Kindle.

Sorry For The Delay....

Here’s why I’ve been silent for a while.

Over the last few weeks, I turned in both ‘Sit By The Fire’ and Amazing Alternity Stories to Pulpworks Press.

‘Sit By The Fire’ is a new Don Cuevo story told from a unique viewpoint.  If you liked 'Don Cuevo’s Curative,’ from the first volume of How The West Was Weird, you may enjoy the further clues this story gives as to the nature of our frontier exorcist and his comely assistant.   I think I may make one of my goals for next year to write a few more Cuevo stories with an eye towards compiling a collection of them for 2015 when I’m not working on my next novel; hell, a third tale formed so quickly in my mind I’ve started writing down the initial licks.

I personally am relieved that Amazing Alternity Stories has been delivered to its publisher.  There have been nights I’ve had dreams of me and Harlan Ellison sitting on a bench in the afterlife with manuscripts chained to our spirits--his being The Last Dangerous Visions, and mine being Amazing Alternity Stories.  I am so grateful to the quartet behind Pulpworks Press for their patience when it came to this anthology, and am so glad that all the writers who showed faith in my for all these years will finally see their work brought to the public.

(And I think this book will mark the end of my career as an editor....)

As for other things...well, ‘The Town That Hated Santa,’ the Doc Thunder story for this year’s Pulpworks Christmas Annual continues apace.  I’m still working on ‘Giants of Industry,’ the story for Monster Earth 2.  I’ve started work on that story for that project I’m not allowed to talk about juuuuust yet.

That leaves The Shadow Legion stuff.  I think I can safely announce that one of the stories that will ultimately appear in The Shadow Legion Casebook Volume One, the Ferryman story ‘A Waltz In Scarlet,’ will be featured in Mystery Men And Women Volume Four...and another of the stories might appear in the fifth volume of that series from Airship 27.

Right now I’m holding off on finishing the Dreamcatcher story for the Casebook.  Part of that is because of the more pressing deadlines for Monster Earth 2 and the other project...and the implied short deadline for the Doc Thunder story.  But the other reason is that I realized that ‘Amongst Monsters,’ which I was over halfway done with, is going to make a much better fit for what I want to do with the second novel.  My intention is to focus primarily on the legacy of Black Talon in that novel, as well as some new additions to the cast, and the threat for the story works much better in concert with that.  That means it’s back to square one for my Dreamcatcher tale.  I think I have a good idea for a replacement tale that will hit the same beats as the story it’s replacing, but I’ll only know until I start back up.

Incidentally, the Dreamcatcher story has proven to be the most difficult.  There are story fragments from two, maybe three previous attempts.  Maybe if Airship 27 is willing to do it, I’ll provide some excerpts as a ‘CD Extra.’

Keep an eye on this blog, folks.  There is going to be a very, very big announcement coming up very soon.

The Periodic Update Post

Sorry for the delay, my fellow travelers, but trust me...I have lots to tell you about.

First off, I’m roughly five thousand words away from closing out The Shadow Legion Casebook Volume One.  The last story to be completed will be ‘Amongst Monsters,’ which sees Maybelle Tremens, the psychic detective known as Dreamcatcher, comes to the aid of a brand new hero whose encounter with a hideous creature has led them to a veritable house of horrors!  You will learn a lot about Maybelle and what sets her apart from her fellow Shadow Legionnaires mentally, emotionally and physically while also getting more glimpses of the menace that will be looming over the city of Nocturne in the next two novels, which are tenatively titled Machina Ex Deus and Urban Inferno!

I also recently finish the preliminary draft for ‘Sit By The Fire’ (the title may change), the first new Don Cuevo story in years.  An old man is visited by our frontier exorcist and his beautiful assistant during one of the nastiest snowstorms in memory.  The old man serves them some food and is willing to let them warm up....but Cuevo has some suspicions about the man’s hospitality and a mission he must carry out.  I know where I’d like for this story to go, but I don’t want to jinx it by saying much more.

Now onto things still being worked on...

You’ve probably already seen the announcement that I am the one new author to play in the worlds of Monster Earth for it’s second collection.  The story I’m working on is called ‘Giants of Industry,’ and I’ll tell you more as we get closer to completion.

Then there’s ‘The Town That Hated Santa Claus,’ the new Doc Thunder story that’s slated to appear in this year’s Pulpworks Press Christmas Annual.  I’m roughly two thousand words in, and the story might be self-explanatory from the title, as Elias Thunder responds to a curious letter to Saint Nick from a child, teaming up with a mysterious stranger to visit a small town that shuns the holidays.

There’s also a third project that I was just invited to.  I can’t go into details just yet, but I will say it plays into one of my great passions (one that I devote an entire blog to, in fact) and it’s one I’m looking forward to letting loose on!

Since these three projects have roughly the same deadline (October or thereabouts), I’ll be focusing on them before returning to The Shadow Legion Casebook and The Adventures of Tao Jones.  Plus, there’s the other project that needs a little explanation....

Several years ago, I proposed a short story anthology to Pulpworks Press called Amazing Alternity Stories, a collection of tales in alternate universes where famous personages took very different paths.  Amongst the tales pitched to me and turned in were ones where Abraham Lincoln was a crime-busting boxer, Charles Darwin was an intergalactic lawman; Winston Churchill was a spy; Barack Obama was a masked avenger; and a number more (although I will admit I regret that the writer who pitched the story featuring George Carlin as a Vietnam-era fighter pilot never submitted anything).   I asked for a few rewrites....

And then I stalled.  I can’t honestly say why the progress on the anthology stopped so dead for so long.  When I got the opportunity to write New Roads To Hell, the collective brain trust behind Pulpworks Press took the project off their production slate and asked me to concentrate on the novel.

Well, the novel’s been finished for a while.  The second book is just about done.  I had an idea for what will become my second novel I was looking for a home for.  Pulpworks Press wanted to do it, but we both knew there was a big ol’ elephant in the room that needed to be put behind us....

Thus, Alternity Lives!

I am in the process of compiling the stories into the final manuscript.  God willing, you’ll see it this winter!

So yes, it’s true.  I’ve got a lot on my plate.  And hopefully, you’ll all enjoy what I serve up in the coming months!

Coming Soon....

As we get closer and closer to the release of New Roads To Hell, the first Shadow Legion novel from Airship 27, a bunch of my friends and I got together and made an old-school audio promo!  You can download it here!

I want to thank my cast for stepping up.  To wit:

Narrator: William Robinson
Gunsel: Paul Herrman
Black Talon: Kelen Conley
Gloria: Rachel Bailey
Nightbreaker: Michael Bailey
Ferryman: Desmond Reddick
Dreamcatcher: Trelina Gonzalez Anderson
Rose Red: Megan Reddick
Johnny Seven: Andew Leyland

Kelen Conley also provided the musical bed.  Let's all give them a round of applause!

I'll have more goodies for you to enjoy as we get closer to the release date...so stay tuned!

Welcome To Nocturne Facebook Page!

As we get closer to the publication of New Roads To Hell--I've been told that the illustrations are close to being done--I've set up a Facebook page for people to follow news on the Chimera Falls Universe, as well as something else really exciting that's coming up soon.

Just go here and sign up to see artwork, news and fun!  See you there!

The Periodic Update Post

Hey, again, my fellow travelers!  Here's what's going down....

Two more of the three stories for The Shadow Legion Casebook Volume 1 are done.

One is 'Ghosts of Steel,' the Nightbreaker tale, which is going through its polish phase before I send it off to Cap’n Ron at Airship 27.  This has shaped up to be both the most pulp and the most superheroic of the four stories, as our pistol packing protector comes to the aid of a young heiress is the target of a decade-long vendetta.  This is going to be pure action with Isaiah Copper fighting all sorts of mechanical horrors manufactured by the insidious Dr. Creole.  Plus you’ll learn more about the history of vigilantes in Nocturne’s past and see the debut of Nightbreaker’s signature weapon, the Multi-gun!

More importantly, however, is that ‘Ghosts of Steel’ gave me a chance to fill in something I had to leave out of New Roads To Hell.  You’ll learn how Nightbreaker gained control of his powers and developed the fighting style that will become his signature. I originally had scenes addressing this in the initial draft of the novel, but cut them due to flow and time constraints.  Now, through this story, I get to share this angle with you.

The other completed story is ‘The Ascension of Indio Blaque,’ which will be the Black Talon story in this volume.  In this tale you’ll see Talon at the mercy of a cult headed by the titular Indio Blaque.  Talon will find himself without the powers given him by The Circle as he combats the sinister cult leader and his crusade to stave off a disaster by killing off every superhero in Nocturne!

You’ll notice that I’ve not used the original subtitle for the Casebook, Four For Danger.  That’s because I’ve experienced another happy accident.  Namely, I’ve noticed how even though each story can be read on its own, certain elements carry through the stories that will give you a greater sense of the world The Shadow Legion will exist in.  You’ll see the creation of the fifth (and the seeds for the sixth!) member of Nocturne’s heroic community, the introduction of the threats that will plague the Legionnaires in the next two novels, more about the history of the city, and other goodies.  My goal has always been to create a fully realized world which authors--both myself and others--can tell super-hero stories, and a lot of what you’ll learn goes to bringing Nocturne and its environs to vivid life.  But that means that the collection needs a title that ties into the theme a little more.  And once I have it, I’ll announce it right here.

Once I finish the final story in the collection, I’m going to concentrate on a few other things, primarily The Adventures of Tao Jones for Pro Se Press and the new Doc Thunder story for Pulpworks Press.   I do want to write something else before beginning the second Shadow Legion novel.  I don’t want to say much, as it’s still coalescing in my mind, but I will say this...if the Legion is my tip of the hat to The Defenders, then the new project is my way of genuflecting towards another famous Legion.  More as it develops!

I’m now going to go and do my final prep for the first Nocturne Travel Agency podcast, where I sit down and talk with famed fantasy author Richard Lee Byers about his super-hero e-book series, The Imposter!  Talk to you soon!

First Glimpse Of...The Multi-Gun!

Hey, gang...if you remember, I mentioned in my last update how my friend David Lugo is designing and building props for all the weapons in the Shadow Legion series.  Well, last night he (with help from his son, Matthew), sent me this schemata!

You won’t see the Multi-Gun until the Nightbreaker story in The Shadow Legion Casebook Volume One: Four For Danger, but I hope you’ll find it one cool weapon.  Incidentally, David has broken down the name into an acronym; the Multi-Gun stands for The Multi-Lateral Tri-Yield Gun.  Why?  You’ll find out soon!

I expect to be posting an update soon, followed by the long-awaited visit to the Agency from Jeff Deischer, writer of the epic novel of the Golden Age of heroes called...well, The Golden Age!  And wait until you see who I’ve got lined up for our next visitor!

More later, amigos!

The Periodic Update Post

Hey, folks--I got some crazy stuff for you this time around...starting with this photo.

Yes, that's me.  I'm posing with sword and gun props designed by my dear friend Dave Lugo.  Dave's passion is munitions, and he specializes in creating these cool pulp weapon props...and he's going to be making props of such key weapons in my stories as The Nightbreaker's Multi-Gun, and Tao Jones' exotic blades.  I'll be sharing his progress with you as he moves forward on this, and if I come to a show in your town, you might be able to see them up close and personal!  Check out Vortexx Press, the site Dave runs with his son, and take a look at some of his props and sculpture.

What's that you say?  The Multi-Gun?  Well, in the last two weeks I've been riding a real creativity tsunami surrounding the Nightbreaker story, which I'm now calling 'Ghosts of Steel.'  And it all began when I realized that the story I was struggling with was also the story I had started out to write, 'The Tick Tock Men.'  The biggest flaw with that original version was that I had our hero in the status quo I wanted him in, and didn't realize the story was about how he got to that status quo.  The Multi-Gun is a key part of that movement to where I want Isaiah Copper to be when I begin writing The Devil's Toybox, and it'll make its debut in this very same story!

(and because David Lugo's knowledge of weaponry is the best, bar none, he's been giving me some good background on how the Multi-Gun could work, and what parts would be used to build it...I hope this will create a veracity in future Shadow Legion stories and novels that will wow the fans!)

I'm also making slow progress on The Adventures of Tao Jones, my contribution to the Sovereign City Universe...plus I'm working on two new short stories for each of my Weird West characters, Doc Thunder and El Cuevo.  You'll definitely be seeing the Doc Thunder story at the end of this year...and as for the El Cuevo story, well, you'll know as soon as I do.

And, as with last time, let me direct you to some coolness I've been listening to and reading of late.

The 'listening to' is John Anealio, who writes these cool science fiction and geek-related songs.  John's been doing a project he calls '23 in '13,' where he vowing to write a new song every two weeks for the whole year--and these songs are free to download and listen to!  Check out his blog.

As for what's been occupying my Kindle, let me direct your attention to Monster Aces, a quartet of stories about a mysterious group of monster hunters roaming the Earth and...well, hunting monsters.  Two of the writers involved in this project are Ron Fortier, whose Airship 27 will be publishing the Shadow Legion novels, and Barry Reese, whose Lazarus Grey walks down the mean streets of Sovereign City over at Pro Se Press.  If you love old school movie serials and classic monster movies, this book is for you!

I've also been reading Lords Of Fire, the first of a science fiction series by Van Allen Plaxico, who I had the pleasure of interviewing in the very first Elsewhere In The Multiverse.  There's a unique mix of space opera and mysticism that reminds me a bit of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, only with a lot of military Sci-Fi thrown in.  If you're looking for a good solid epic, check this book out.

Finally, in the nonfiction groove, I've been digging Epic Fail: Bad Art, Viral Fame and The History of The Worst Thing Ever by Mark O'Connell, a discussion of how we tend to obsess over examples of unintentionally awful art, from the world's worst novelist to Rebecca Black's amatuer teen pop.  O'Connell is a very engaging writer who has a lot to say about this recent phenomenon--and how that phenomenon is not so recent after all.  It's a Kindle Single, which means it's a short and entertaining read....and it's only two bucks.

Well, time to get back to work....talk to you soon!

Learn About The Origins Of The Shadow Legion--And Hear The Sound Of My Voice!

My dear friend John S. Drew has been the host and head mover and shaker of the long running science fiction podcast (and before that, science fiction public access television show) The Chronic Rift.  Late last year, John agreed to help ease me into the idea of being in the spotlight as a creator and interviewed me about the origins of The Shadow Legion for the show.  Join him for an hour discussion as we talk about the genesis of individual characters, the direction of the series, the state of comics. and other fun stuff on the Chronic Rift website!

And check in regularly on the site for other great podcasts and content!  His stuff is amazing.

The Shadow Legion's New Artist!

For those of you who have been waiting for The Shadow Legion: New Roads To Hell, I do have some good news for you--namely, that Captain Ron Fortier has finally signed Chris Kemple to join cover artist Mike Fyles in bringing the world of Nocturne to life!  Kemple will be providing the interior illustrations for the book, adding his visual flair to our quartet of crusaders....oh, and our very, very wicked bad girl.

(Incidentally, it seems that those people who have gotten a glimpse of the Legion have been really taken with Our Murderous Fairy Tale Princess....so much so, I'm beginning to wonder if she should play a bigger part in what is going to be our second full-length novel, The Shadow Legion: The Devil's Toybox!)

Chris is working hard on those illustrations and I hope to share with you some goodies from him--maybe even have him sit down with me here at the Agency--once we're done and we move closer to the release!  Stay tuned!

The Periodic Update Post

Hey, pals and gals...welcome to 2013!  Hope your holidays went well and January finds you healthy and happy.

I'm still hard at work on The Shadow Legion Casebook V.1: Four For Danger, and have reached the halfway mark on the book.  'The Ascension of Indio Blaque,' the Black Talon tale that sees our Predator of The Concrete Jungles of Nocturne reach back into his childhood knowledge to battle a sinister cult leader with lethal designs on the superhuman population of The City That Lives By Night, is halfway finished, and should be next to be done.  Of course, the most fun I'm having is with 'Final Innings,' the Dreamcatcher story, which sees our Sexy Sorceress trying to determine who is using magic to wreck the season of Nocturne's resident baseball team.  It's one of the reasons why I wanted to alternate between novels and antholgies for The Shadow Legion--the anthologies give me a chance to do different styles of stories with different tones and feelings to them.  And I hope that all of these stories will give you new insight into our heroes and heroines, and a greater concept of Nocturne and the world around it.

Also moving along is The Adventures of Tao Jones.  I've been concentrating on 'The Damocles Gun,' the story that will see Tao and her ally Mike Townsend trying to reclaim a weapon that kills with a thought before all Hell breaks loose in Sovereign City.  That one's still a ways away, but if you want to learn more about Sovereign City--and read some cracking stories in the pulp tradition--go to Pro Se Press and purchasing Derrick Ferguson's The Adventures of Fortune McCall and Barry Reese's The Adventures of Lazarus Gray and Lazarus Gray: Die Glocke!

There's something else I just signed on for--something from Pulpworks Press you won't see until the end of this year.  But that'll be something we'll discuss as it takes fuller shape.

Before I do close out this update--and hopefully the next time I'll finally be able to get you that long-promised interview with Lee Houston Jr. about his super-hero/space opera mash-up Project Alpha, also available from Pro Se Press--I want to alert you to two New Pulp Books I've been grooving on lately.

Ed Erdelac's Merkabah Rider: Tales of A High Planes Drifter(Damnation Books) is an excellent collection of four weird western stories featuring a Jewish mystical gunfighter known only as The Rider.  Ed is an excellent writer whose evocative prose mingles a number of different genres.  As for the Rider himself, he's a great addition to the New Pulp canon, the sort of figure that fans of Solomon Kane and Jonah Hex would feel right at home with.  Hell, any of these stories could have easily been retrofitted to become the Jonah Hex movie I really wanted to see!  And the best thing is that there are two other books in the series, and I can't wait to read more of The Rider and his quest to right wrongs and track down his mentor and betrayer, Adon.

I'm a sucker for alternative history novels, and Wayne Reinagel's Modern Marvels: Viktoriana (Knightraven Studios) posits a doozy of an alternative history--one where literary figures Mary Shelley, H. Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and others are part of a secret order that wages war against a vampire army headed by Countess Elisabeth Bathory.  Wayne's got a tendency for epic storytelling, and it is a Big Read--we're talking almost five hundred pages.  But it is a Big Read of wonderfully gothic setpieces, great characterization and lots of action and intrigue.  If you, like me, long to read stories where vampires are treated as monsters and not boyfriends with interesting dentition, this book is for you.

So check these two books out.  I'll alert you to other great new pulp reads as I get to them.  Come back soon for some interview-y goodness with Lee Houston Jr.!

(Oh...and if you're a writer or publisher who'd like to see me talk about your books in future Agency updates, please contact me through my Facebook page....)

The Periodic Update Post

Hey, pals and gals...I'm sorry for the radio silence. I've been doing some big things in my private life, including making arrangements to finally get the diploma I apparently earned twenty-five years ago but didn't claim, which precluded myself from updating until now.

That doesn't mean I've been lazy. Right now I'm still concentrating on getting the first drafts together for The Shadow Legion Casebook Volume One: Four For Danger so it can quickly follow-up New Roads To Hell. In fact, the first story is already in the can--it's 'A Waltz In Scarlet,' featuring our very own Avenger For The Other Side, Ferryman! Alan Dennings finds himself questioning his own methods when he finds himself protecting a little girl trapped and pursued on the mystical plane where he keeps his mental sanctum. And, like all of the stories I'm working on, this will introduce new characters and concepts that will play out in both The Devil's Toybox and other, future books.

Truth be told, I've been working pretty hard on all the stories in this collection--and I'm over a third of the way done with the book overall. If you can't wait to see one of these tales (and I'm hoping you will after New Roads To Hell is in your hands), the plan is for one of them to appear in Volume Four of Mystery Men and Women, also coming from Airship 27 in 2013.

Speaking of New Roads To Hell, the book continues winding its way through the Airship 27 pipeline. I've been seeing preliminary artwork from Mike Fyles for the cover, and let me tell you it's great. I can't share it with you right now, but trust me, your eyes will pop!

I'm still working in low-impact mode on The Adventures of Tao Jones for Pro Se Press, and should kick into overdrive on that once I get at least one more story for the Casebook done. The one that's coming along the best is 'The Damocles Gun,' which introduces a character who I may have big plans for--but more on that as it develops.

And I'm still going to be doing more 'Elsewhere In The Multiverse' interviews. In the coming months I have Lee Houston, Jr. and Jeff Deischer coming by to discuss their own super-heroic fiction pursuits.

So don't forget to check in on The Agency periodically for more news, commentary and pulpy fun!

What Makes Our Heroes Great!

Here's some really early concept art, featuring the first version of
New Roads To Hell Rose Red and two versions of Dreamcatcher...

So here I am in limbo, New Roads To Hell in the hands of Captain Ron of Airship 27, and I'm already working on the next book in the Shadow Legion series, The Shadow Legion Casebook Volume One: Four For Danger.

(I'm also working on The Adventures of Tao Jones, but that's a story for another blog entry...)

What that means is I've got four different files, one for each of our initial heroes, that I've been hopping between. Sometimes all I write is a single sentence in one story, then switch to a second story to write a whole scene, then off to a third to write a paragraph. It's a heady experience doing all these very different stories that are still unified in some way, and I am enjoying it.

And one of the reasons I'm enjoying it so much is that I get to create some new villains.

And let's be honest--our heroes would be nothing without villains just as colorful as they are. Used correctly, Villains help draw the hero into sharper relief--how can we understand the selflessness and dedication to protecting other of Superman if we didn't have the venality and self-interest of Lex Luthor to contrast it with? How can we appreciate the discipline and relentlessness of Batman without the chaotic nature of The Joker to play against it? Villains can be more than just colorful excuses for our heroes to save lives, do the right thing and...well, act heroic.

Now I'm pretty confident that Rose Red is a bad girl on a scale big enough to give the initial quartet that comprise The Shadow Legion fits in New Roads To Hell (and trust me when I tell you she'll be back in future books)....but the idea of the next book is to create four epic short stories showcasing each of my original heroes at different points in the twenty five years between New Roads and the next novel, The Devil's Toybox. The earliest takes place partially concurrent to New Roads and in the weeks immediately after; the latest will take place at the dawn of the 60's, when culturally and intellectually the country expanded its boundaries--sometimes into darker territories.

But the cool thing is I can now create some villains who are specific to our individual Legionaires--and that's proving to be very fun. You see, I can indulge in a little more creativity when it comes to these guys. With Rose Red and the villains you'll meet in The Devil's Toybox, I have to think in broad strokes. My bad guys there have to be huge, massive threats that can occupy all four of my heroes. But because of the nature of the Casebooks (Think of them as the equivalent of those bags of comics that used to be sold at Toys R' Us and Walmat with four random issues of the individual Legionaires whereas the novels are graphic novels collections gathering up a complete story arc), I can now do smaller villains, the type of characters that will provide the same contrast to my heroes as Lex Luthor provides to Superman and The Jokes does for Batman.

And because each of these baddies is only for one hero, I can create a wider variety of villains. Unless things change, I'm going to have a dark mirror of one of my heroes who confronts him with questions on how he will deal with his burgeoning powers; a wild visionary whose idea of Nocturne's future is at odds with another of my heroes; and a otherworldly creature that will help a third discover new abilities. I may even have a peculiar comedic one that will provide a bit of relief from the darkness of the Shadow Legion series as a whole.

I can't wait for you all to meet these characters (and I'll be honest; one of these is proving to be so fun I'm looking for a way to work him into one of the future novels)....but then, I love my bad guys as a whole, no matter how nasty they can be.

　

Covering Me...Is A Great Artist!

Last week I got an email from good ol' Captain Ron Fortier, mastermind of Airship 27 and the man who'll be publishing the Shadow Legion's adventures, as I continued to slave away on the stories that will comprise the follow-up to New Roads To Hell....and he brought some good news.

It seems that Ron has located the cover artist for the book that'll introduce The Shadow Legion to the world...the one, the only Mike Fyles!

If you're not familiar with Fyles, you're missing out. He's one of the premiere artists in the field of New Pulp, having provided gorgeous fully-painted covers for loads of magazines and books...but don't take my word for it, check out this interview and ogle some of the work he's done previously!

There's more to come her at the Agency, including another great 'Elsewhere In The Multiverse' interview with Project: Alpha author Lee Houston, Jr. and more previews and goodies to get you up to speed on The City of Nocturne!