Thomas Pluck's Blog, page 33

Happy Thanksgiving

1, 2, 3, 4!

Tagged: Thanksgiving

Meet the Blade Brigade: Neliza Drew

Meet Neliza Drew, writer ninja. Neliza is the author of several excellent crime stories. “Hollow,” published at Beat to a Pulp, stars one of my favorite characters, Davis Grove. Davis also appeared in “Addictions” in the Feeding Kate anthology, and “Tricks,” in Summer 2013′s Needle: A Magazine of Noir. Davis grew up hard, taking care of her mother and sisters, and she has done whatever she had to, to get by. She does part-time work for an investigator, and navigates the human wasteland of southern Florida like Charon taking us over the River Styx. Check out “Hollow” for a taste, while Neliza finishes her Davis Grove novel, which I can’t wait to read.

Neliza also trains in kempo and gung fu when she is not wrangling delinquents, making candles, or hunting vegan food with her bo staff. Torment her at your peril. You can find her, and her work at her website Neliza Drew.

 

Tagged: Blade of Dishonor, Martial Arts, Neliza Drew, Photos

Chatting with Senator Cory Booker

I congratulated Senator Cory Booker on his election, and told him we’re counting on him… in my own way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YadFEDZPLWU

Tagged: Cory Booker, Politics, Saving Private Ryan, twitter

The Christmas Empire Strikes Back

Yesterday I shared an anonymous letter that one of the residents of my building posted, about how the management was “torturing” us by putting up the Christmas decorations too early. Most of the ire returned to the anonymous protester was that s/he claimed to speak for all building residents, which is always a bad idea. If you say “we, the people” you had better be more than a handful of elites (waitaminute…)

Anyway, here are the very entertaining responses to the original letter:

Tagged: Christmas, New Jersey, Photos

The War on Christmas Hits Home

I live in a nice apartment complex in a once-bohemian suburb that is now a NY commuter enclave. Some of the old spirit still remains, though on cozy Church Street you will encounter old men driving their Lamborghinis at 5mph so you can see the wealth they’ve accumulated, and be assaulted by twin strollers as moms kamikaze their way to cut in line at your favorite diner. But it’s still nice to live there, and our building has a friendly community of artists, teachers, writers, child caregivers, psychologists, newspaper editors, office workers, a woman who runs a handmade clothing shop, construction workers, and so on. The building holds two parties a year, one in summer and another during the holidays. We have a pool, and community barbecue pits, and the management puts up a bouncy house for the kids. My friend Anie collected a bunch of planters and lets residents sign up to plant their own herb and flower gardens. It’s pretty cool. Not perfect, but I really like living here. And every year, Mary the building manager puts up holiday decorations in the lobby.

This year, that was too much for one anonymous resident, who took umbrage at how early the decorations went up. Never mind that Thanksgiving is a week later this year. This outrage called for that most gutless of protests, the anonymous public note:

 

I love the high drama the writer conjures. Spare us THE TORTURE. Now, I’m a bit of a Scrooge myself. I preferred when Christmas wasn’t mentioned until the turkey was fully digested. I worked retail for ten years in a neighborhood gift shop, and I can wrap presents faster than shit through a Christmas goose about to meet the chopping block. I can sing most carols including the Christmas version of Snoopy vs. the Red Baron by the Royal Guardsmen, because it has seeped into my very flesh. I’ve mopped up kid puke while Sinatra sang “O Tannenbaum.” Yet my spirit for the holiday season never falters, as the year dies and we gather to warm away the creeping sense of mortality, rekindling friendships and bonds that counter the chilling sadness brought on by the icy winds and dead branches.

I wish I’d included a photo of the decorations. They are confined to one corner of the lobby, but you see them when the elevator doors open. There is no music playing. The doormen are not humiliated into wearing Santa hats or saying “happy holidays” to everyone. I commiserate with the letter-writer, but find that we waste our energy on such petty things. We can’t look away from something as silly as this, but we can tolerate atrocity in our midst, when doing something about it requires more than an anonymous letter. I love that fellow residents came to Mary’s defense. I need to see what got blacked out. I’m sure it’s juicy.

Tagged: Christmas, Letters

Meet the Blade Brigade: Roxanne Patruznick

Meet Roxanne Patruznick, the artist who painted the cover of Blade of Dishonor! I discovered Roxanne’s fantastic art through the knockout covers she did for Blood & Tacos, the magazine homage to the men’s adventure novels of the ’70s and ’80s by Johnny Shaw. She is a marvel at realistic figures and choosing the perfect model. You can see more of her art on her website, Art by Roxanne Patruznick. If you want to rock one of these t-shirts  you can get them here (along with signed copies of the paperback).

Blade of Dishonor T-Shirts

And here is a sample of her great talent, from her noir pinup series:

Tagged: Blade of Dishonor, Blood and Tacos, Noir, pinups, Roxanne Patruznick

Meet the Blade Brigade: Ben LeRoy

This week I introduce you to some of the friends who helped with Blade of Dishonor. Ben LeRoy, the force being Tyrus Books, didn’t help with the book directly, but he has been an inspiration in the publishing community since we met at Bouchercon in 2011. He is constantly driven to do whatever he can to improve the world, whether that is publishing new and striking voices, giving books and music away every week, or donating to whoever needs help most. And when a new writer is often told that publishing is a monolithic cabal granting entry only to a select few, he cuts through the BS with a weekly Q&A at Hey, There’s a Dead Guy in the Room. Check out the Tyrus website for a varied selection of excellent reads, from poet laureate of noir Reed Farrel Coleman’s Moe Prager novels, to Angela Choi’s Hello Kitty Must Die, Peter Brown Hoffmeyer’s Graphic the Valley, and Steve Weddle’s “dazzling” (NY Times Book Review) novel-in-stories, Country Hardball. Follow @tyrusbooks on Twitter if a positive force publishing great new fiction is up your alley.

 

If you want to rock one of these t-shirts with the cover art by Roxanne Patruznick and design by Suzanne Dell’Orto, you can get them here (along with signed copies of the paperback).

Blade of Dishonor T-Shirts

Tagged: Ben LeRoy, Blade of Dishonor, Photos, Reed Farrel Coleman, Steve Weddle, Tyrus Books

Meet the Blade Brigade: Elizabeth Amber

This week I introduce you to some of the friends who helped with Blade of Dishonor. Part 2 of the trilogy, Devils and Dragons, is free on Kindle until the 16th. You can get Part 1: The War Comes Home for 99 cents here, and Part 3: The Shadow Shogun for $1.99 here. That’s a dollar savings off the omnibus edition (which collects all all 3 novellas for $3.99). And yes, it is available in Trade Paperback from bookstores and e-tailers. If you buy the trade on Amazon, you can get the Kindle version for 99 cents through the matchbook program.

That’s Amber Unmasked looking bad-ass

I met Amber through her charity work with Comic Fusion- each year they hold a superhero parade to benefit a Hunterdon domestic violence shelter. I bought a Thor poster for Firecracker to support the cause, and earlier this year Amber interviewed me on her comics, writing, and art podcast Vodka O’Clock. When she’s not interviewing, she models, writes, cosplays, blogs, and supports the art she loves. You can visit her website at Amber Unmasked and follow her on Twitter at @elizabethamber

If you want to rock one of these t-shirts with the cover art by Roxanne Patruznick and design by Suzanne Dell’Orto, you can get them here (along with signed copies of the paperback).

Blade of Dishonor T-Shirts

Tagged: Amber Unmasked, Blade of Dishonor

Meet the Blade Brigade: John Milkewicz

This week I introduce you to some of the friends who helped with Blade of Dishonor. Part 2 of the trilogy, Devils and Dragons, is free on Kindle until the 16th. You can get Part 1: The War Comes Home for 99 cents here, and Part 3: The Shadow Shogun for $1.99 here. That’s a dollar savings off the omnibus edition(which collects all all 3 novellas for $3.99). And yes, it is available in Trade Paperback from bookstores and e-tailers. If you buy the trade on Amazon, you can get the Kindle version for 99 cents through the matchbook program.

I met my friend John back in 2001, when we conquered Orctown with bow and axe. We have roved and roamed this great country far and wide on wide hobbit feet, from the Marines memorial in DC just before Johnny shipped to Iraq, to Stairway to Heaven, one of the most brutal hikes in New Jersey, and to Hillbilly Hotdogs and the home of the Mothman deep in the heart of West Virginia. John signed up in the Marine Corps reserves after 9/11 and served in Iraq. He helped me give Blade of Dishonor a sense of military realism and he’s been a great friend for a dozen years. He brought the book on his trip to Rome, where he photographed this memorial to the Devil’s Brigade, who spearheaded the Allied liberation of the Eternal City. I fictionalized this in the novel, because when I read of the accomplishments of the Devils–aka the 1st Special Service Force–I could not resist sharing their heroic exploits.

Here is the memorial:

A photo of the book in Rome:

And here’s me and Johnny, battling for the One ring atop the cracks of Mount Doom in the Sourlands:

Tagged: Blade of Dishonor, Hiking, Milky, Photos, Rome, The Devil's Brigade, World War 2

Meet the Blade Brigade: Holly West

This week I introduce you to some of the friends who helped with Blade of Dishonor. Part 2 of the trilogy, Devils and Dragons, is free on Kindle until the 16th. You can get Part 1: The War Comes Home for 99 cents here, and Part 3: The Shadow Shogun for $1.99 here. That’s a dollar savings off the omnibus edition (which collects all all 3 novellas for $3.99). And yes, it is available in Trade Paperback from bookstores and e-tailers. If you buy the trade on Amazon, you can get the Kindle version for 99 cents through the matchbook program.

But enough of that… meet Blade Brigadier Holly West!

Holly invited me to a writing circle comprised of herself, Josh Stallings, and Neliza Drew. Holly is the author of MISTRESS OF FORTUNE, a historical mystery set in 1600′s London, which will be published by Carina Press in February 2014. She is also a great friend and one hell of a writer.

Her husband Mick West is a hell of a swordsman… if you notice, he and Holly are properly holding a traditionally made katana in their photos. If I could feel pity, it would be for the ninja facing these two warriors…

Tagged: Blade of Dishonor, Holly West, Photos