John R. Fultz's Blog, page 50

WEIRDBOOK #37 now on sale

[image error] WEIRDBOOK #37 is now available.

 

Don’t miss this issue, which includes the first tale of the Magtone Saga (i.e. “The Veneration of Evil in the Kingdom of Ancient Lies”) and loads of other good stories and poetry.

 

—–Contents—–

• “Sea Glass Harvest” by Bear Kiosk


• “The Changeling” by R. Rozakis


• “The Maiden Voyage of the Ariona” by Dale W. Glaser


• “One Million & One” by Andre E. Harewood


• “War is Grimm” by Clifford Be


• “Blood Pact” by Sharon Cullars


• “Something I Have to Tell You” by John B. Rosenman


• “The Curious Simulacrum of Dr. F” by Michael Canfield


• “A Cure for Restless Bones” by Angela Enos


• “Homecoming Corpse” by Andrew Bourelle


• “A Chorus of Shadows” by Sarena Ulibarri


• “Graveyard Wine” by Joshua L. Hood


• “My Last Sixteen Hours” by Angela L. Lindseth


• “Wide Wide Sea” by Jackson Kuhl


• “The Safari” by Michael S. Walker


• “The Water Horse” by Bill W. James


• “The Long Way Home” by S.E. Casey


• “Unseelie Things” by Taylor Foreman-Niko


• “The Veneration of Evil in the Kingdom of Ancient Lies” by John R. Fultz


• “Livingstone” by Cody Goodfellow


•  Plus a selection of poetry by Darrell Schweitzer

 

WEIRDBOOK.

Get Your Weird On.

wildsidepress.com/weirdbook

SON OF TALL EAGLE eBook Now Available

[image error]The wait is over!

The SON OF TALL EAGLE eBook is now on sale!

If you’re into eBooks, grab it today for only $4.99.

The paperback edition will be available in Spring 2018.

Also: The first Tall Eagle book, TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE, has moved over to Crossroad Press and is also available in eBook format.

Both books will be available in paperback this Spring, and both are stand-alone stories that can be read in any order.

SON OF TALL EAGLE eBook Now Available!

[image error]The wait is over! The SON OF TALL EAGLE eBook is now on sale!

If you’re into eBooks, grab it today for only $4.99.

(The paperback edition will be available in early Spring 2018.)

TALL EAGLE lands at CROSSROAD PRESS

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Art by Alex Raspad

[image error]I’m happy to announce that the TALL EAGLE series is moving to Crossroad Press. I’m glad to have found a stable home for these books. Some of Ragnarok’s other former authors have already moved to Crossroad, and I’m very pleased to be joining them.

And here’s the best part:

SON OF TALL EAGLE

will be released far earlier than originally planned!

Ragnarok had it scheduled for June 2018, but Crossroads is anticipating a January 2018 release for the eBook–with the print version to follow shortly after. There are also indications that there will be an audio-book version of each novel. All of this means that the odds of me writing a third Tall Eagle book (and more) just became a whole lot greater. Ragnarok will continue to offer THE TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE until December 1st. After that we’ll be moving it over to Crossroad as soon as humanly possible. Then SON OF TALL EAGLE makes its world-wide premiere in the first month of the new year.

I will announce specific release dates here (and on FB) as soon as I have them.

Special thanks to John Betancourt, Darrell Schweitzer, Charles Phipps, Seth Skorkowsky, and David Niall Wilson for helping TALL EAGLE find its new home.

TALL EAGLE lives!!!

SKELOS #3 -and- World Fantasy 2017

[image error]SKELOS #3 arrived with a bang at the World Fantasy Convention. I hadn’t been to WFC in the last six years, and I’d almost forgotten how fascinating and enjoyable this con really is. Having the lead story in this third issue of SKELOS (“Ten Thousand Drops of Holy Blood”) was a surprising synchronicity–almost like a “welcome back” to World Fantasy. The folks in Texas really put on a great convention, and the SKELOS crew made it extra-special.

[image error]Always great to spend time with Darrell Schweitzer, whose latest collection AWAITING STRANGE GODS I picked up in a gorgeous hardcover edition from Fedogan and Bremer. I try to catch all of Darrell’s fiction wherever it appears, but he is so prolific that I always miss a few tales. This latest volume is no exception, with rare dark-fantasy jewels like “The Last of the Black Wine” and “Stragglers from Carrhae” appearing alongside a strongly Lovecraftian set of stories.

The “Reading Dunsany Aloud” panel was a fantastic experience for all involved, as was the “Ancient Cultures, Modern Sensibilities” panel. I was honored to be on both of them, and the latter was the second time I’ve done a panel with the great David Drake. Also the first time I met Alex Irvine in person–his MARE ULTIMA stories made me an instant fan when I read them awhile back. Alex tells me he’s written a new tale in this setting, and hopefully he will write more of them in the future.

[image error]Overall, I met so many great people, it’s hard to express in words how vital WFC is for a fantasy writer like myself. It’s a great blend of writers (both professional and aspiring), artists, dedicated fans, editors, publishers, and fantasy enthusiasts of all kinds.

My first WFC was in San Jose in 2009, and I loved it so much I went the next year (Columbus), and the next (San Diego). Then I got so busy working, writing novels, and generally being distracted by the Art of Living, that I stopped attending. Sometimes this globe-hopping con was simply too far away, other times I was simply unable to make the trek.

That won’t happen again.

[image error]You see, if I had gone to Britain for the 2013 WFC, I would have met one of my greatest heroes and favorite authors, Tanith Lee. I didn’t make the trip to England that year, and now Tanith is gone. (Rest In Peace) Her legendary body of work remains, so part of her remains with us, but I’ll never be able to shake her hand or see her smile or tell her how much her work means to me. Who knows what I’ll miss if I miss another WFC? If my pal Darrell can make it 40 years in a row, I can too. Of course, he’s got a 39-year head start. But I’m glad to say that I’ve been to WFC four times now, and the con is better than ever.

[image error]Next year WFC comes to Baltimore, home of Edgar Allan Poe. This is a good sign for me: My first first WFC was celebrating Poe’s 200th birthday–I remember we had red velvet cake and a spot of absinthe in San Jose. My association with Poe goes back even farther: After a performace of the late John Astin’s one-man-play THE LIFE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE in Chicago circa 1997, I participated in a seance with the actor and a guest medium to call upon the spirit of Poe himself (the results were entirely subjective).

So once again the spirit of Edgar Allan is calling me, this time to Baltimore, where World Fantasy convenes in 2018.

I am so looking forward to it.

The Magtone Saga

[image error]I’ve started a new story-cycle starring Magtone the Poet-Thief, a lyrical lowlife who inherits a gift of ancient sorcery along with a sentient flying carpet. These stories are high fantasy meets sword-and-sorcery, with an ancient-world flavor and a heavy dose of magical weirdness. The saga of Magtone’s wanderings will run mainly in the pages of WEIRDBOOK, but he may show up in a few other publications as well.

The first Magtone story is “The Veneration of Evil in the Kingdom of Ancient Lies.” It appears in WEIRDBOOK #37 (slated for a November 2017 release). This innaugural tale introduces Magtone and the fantastic city-state of Karakutas, a metropolitan Babylon built by the power of ruthless wizard-kings. As the Doom of Karakutas approaches, Magtone strikes a deal with the only person that can save him from the coming apocalypse–the same wizard who is about to bring civilization crashing down.

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Art by Rowena Morrill

The second Magtone story is “Clouds Like Memories, Words Like Stones.” It will also appear in an issue of WEIRDBOOK (sometime after #37). This tale follows the transfigured Magtone’s adventures in a primal world where he must keep the Legend of Karakutas alive while trying to find a place to call his own. I don’t want to say too much more about it for fear of giving away too many secrets.

More Magtone stories will follow as inspiration strikes.

Meanwhile, don’t miss WEIRDBOOK #37 featuring Magtone’s infamous origin.

WEIRDBOOK.

Get Your Weird On.

wildsidepress.com/weirdbook

WEIRDBOOK: WITCHES – “Strange Days In Old Yandrissa”

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Art by Sanjulian

Greetings, Boils n’ Ghouls…

Another of my gruesome fantasy tales has slipped the bonds of its sarcophagus and fled back into the world to astonish and terrify readers of WEIRDBOOK. And if you’re going to read fantasy, why not make it Weird Fantasy? It’s the best kind, really.

“Strange Days In Old Yandrissa” is a tale of cursed fools and foolish curses, a demon-haunted beard, and a Romanesque world plagued by inconstant eruptions of magic. This wandering space-mummy of a tale is appearing in the first-ever WEIRDBOOK ANNUAL #1. On sale now.

The annual’s theme is “WITCHES.” It’s a big ol’ candybag full of dark fantasy, weird fiction, and sinister poetry. Coming just in time for All Hallow’s Eve, 2017.

What would Halloween be without a few witches?

______________________________

WEIRDBOOK: WITCHES Annual #1

—-Table of Contents—-

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Art by Sanjulian

FICTION

“Thou Shalt Not Suffer” by Matt Neil Hill

“No Holds Bard” by Adrian Cole

“Laying The Hairy Book” by Josh Reynolds

“Here Is Where Your Proud Waves Halt” by Erica Ruppert

“Vicious Circles” by Paul Dale Anderson

“Assorted Shades of Red” by Franklyn Searight

“Strange Days in Old Yandrissa” by John R Fultz

“Fertility Rites” by Glynn Own Barrass

“The Witch’s Heart” by Rachel Bolton

“Hag Race” by Andre E Harewood

“Best Friend Becky” by Wayne Faust

“The Rat in the Rabbit Cage” by Ashley Dioses

“Two Spells” by Neva Bryan

“Pulled Over” by Paul Spears

“The Witch of Skur” by LF Falconer

“Cat and Mouse” by Duane Pesice

“Last of the Ashiptu” by Paul Lubaczewski

“Nora Witch” by Brandon Jimison

“Firestorm” by Richard H Durisen

“The Witch of Pender” by John Linwood Grant

“The Broken Witch” by Scott Hutchison

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Art by Sanjulian

POETRY

“The Desert Rose Inn” by Maurits Zwankhuizen

“The Ballad of Blighted Marsh” by David F Daumit

“The Witch-Queen” by S L Edwards

“A Witch’s Work is Never Done” by Lori R Lopez

“Halloween Witch” by KA opperman

“Remembering the Peculiar Effects from the Sugar Witch’s Goblin-Brew” by Clay F Johnson

“Sea Witch” by Vonnie Winslow Crist

“Oracle Bone Script” by Frederick J. Mayer

“Little Youkai at the Witch House” by Chad Hensley

“Mother Persephone” by Oliver Smith

“A Warlock Slips Into My Dreams” by Darla Klein

WEIRDBOOK.

Get Your Weird On.

wildsidepress.com/weirdbook

“Strange Days In Old Yandrissa”

[image error]

Art by SanJulian

Greetings, Boils n’ Ghouls…

Another of my gruesome fantasy tales has slipped the bonds of its sarcophagus and fled back into the world to astonish and terrify readers of WEIRDBOOK. And if you’re going to read fantasy, why not make it Weird Fantasy? It’s the best kind, really.

“Strange Days In Old Yandrissa” is a tale of cursed fools and foolish curses, a demon-haunted beard, and a Romanesque world plagued by inconstant eruptions of magic. This wandering space-mummy of a tale is appearing in the first-ever WEIRDBOOK ANNUAL #1. The annual’s theme is “WITCHES.” It’s a big ol’ candybag full of dark fantasy, weird fiction, and sinister poetry. Coming just in time for All Hallow’s Eve, 2017.

What would Halloween be without a convergence of witches?

WEIRDBOOK.

Get Your Weird On.

wildsidepress.com/weirdbook

Interview @ “Beauty In Weird Fiction”

[image error]S.E. Lindberg has posted an in-depth interview with me at his “Beauty In Weird Fiction” blog: http://www.selindberg.com/2017/09/john-fultz-interview-by-se-lindberg.html?spref=fb

TALL EAGLE Flies Into Bookstores

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Alex Raspad’s cover art for
SON OF TALL EAGLE (June 2018).

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Alex Raspad’s cover art for
TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE.

It’s official:

TESTAMENT OF TALL EAGLE

arrives in bookstores everywhere in May 2018.

One  short month later

SON OF TALL EAGLE

follows it (June 2018).

TESTAMENT has only been available from online retailers until now, so I’m thrilled that it’s getting re-released with full bookstore distribution. Now more people will discover the series–and existing fans waiting so patiently for SON OF TALL EAGLE will not be disappointed.

Major props to Ragnarok Publications for making this happen.