Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 47

WIP Wednesday #32: Aaron Blur

Get it? Aaron Blur? Like Burr. Aaron Burr. Third vice president of the United States. Shot Alexander Hamilton. No? Isn’t there like a musical or something now? Was that a thing? Anyway, I thought that’d be a perfect super-type name. Aaron Blur, Fastest Politician Alive.

Look, I’m having a weird day, okay? Forget it. On to the weekly update.

Novel #4 of 2016 is sitting pretty at 28,000 words out of 80,000. So far, so good. All of the characters have been introduced (or re-introduced, depending), story arcs have been set up, and things are clicking along. And by clicking along, I mean they’re about to go horribly, horribly wrong. But wrong in an exciting way.

Really, this is an all round exciting book, for a few reasons, none of which I can talk about yet. Maybe later, if I get the go-ahead. It answers quite a few long-standing questions about this particular universe and these particular characters, in what I hope will be a satisfactory manner.

I should hit the halfway mark sometime next week–Tuesday or Wednesday. At that point, I’m probably going to have to take a day or so to block out the next ten or fifteen scenes. I know what I need to happen, but only in a general sort of way. I have to break it down even further, into individual scenes, in order to keep all of the story arcs/moments moving in the right direction.

Related to this, I spent Monday and Tuesday working on the rough pitch for Book #5. This one’s a bit shorter than either #4 or #6, but that’s probably a good thing. It’s a setting I haven’t worked in before, but dealing with several characters that I’ve written, and recently. I’m a bit nervous about this one, but the editors seemed to like the general gist of my pitch, so we’ll see how it goes.

On the novella front, I’ve moved my CRYPTID CLASH novella a few paces closer to the end zone. It’s hanging tight at 13,000 words. I estimate between 7-10,000 words before the first draft is finished. So, not much, but also not something I can finish in a day. I have a few months before it’s due, so I might back-burner it for a week or three. I hate to do that, but I have other projects, with tighter deadlines.

Case in point: “The Uninvited Guest”. My current short story in progress. I’m 2,000 words into what I figure will be a 3,000 word draft. One good day would be enough to muscle it over the finish line, so I’ll probably sneak it in this weekend. After I finish it, I have another story, tentatively titled “La Chauve-souris”, to start next week or the week after, for a late September submission deadline. I also managed to revise a short story for Black Library this week. Another fun one, with that old world flavour, some sport and even a bit of romance.

And that’s what I’ve been working on this week.

Lakeside Prowler

Dark Regions Press has released a sneak-peek at the cover for The Children of Gla’aki, the forthcoming Ramsey Campbell tribute anthology. Which I happen to have a story in.  

From the DRP site:

There is a lake in the Severn Valley, near a town called Brichester. It is an eerie, haunted place, both by day and by night. Night especially though, is a time when no one in their right mind would go anywhere near it, or those oddly deserted houses that stand, albeit barely, on the edge of the shore. But why? What is it that moves about in that lake, a thing that makes its presence known with three sinister glowing eyes that protrude from beneath the water?

Some believe it is an entity that traveled to Earth, many thousands of years ago inside a hollow meteor.

Certainly, anyone who falls asleep near the lake dreams of this, and worse occurrences. And, those that sleep near the lake, or wander too close to it, often disappear forever, or even worse, return strangely altered. The locals won’t help you; the police steer clear from it. But still, the horror, the inhabitant of the lake, seems to draw souls relentlessly, despite, or even because of the dangers.

This book contains stories written by eighteen of these hapless souls, men and women that dared approach the lake and later, with their sanity and bodies in tatters, return to write down what they experienced…

My contribution, “Squatter’s Rights”, finds the Royal Occultist, Charles St. Cyprian, and his assistant, Ebe Gallowglass, facing off with the monstrous Inhabitant of the Lake on behalf of a friend with poor taste in lakefront properties.

Other contributors include Ramsey Campbell, Nick Mamatas, John Goodrich, Robert M. Price, Pete Rawlik, W.H. Pugmire, Edward Morris, Scott R. Jones, Thana Niveau, William Meikle, Orrin Grey, Tom Lynch, Konstantine Paradias, Lee Clarke Zumpe, and Tim Waggoner.

The Children of Gla’aki will be available for preorder on August 23rd.

The Contest of Night

I recently got some author’s copies in, and rather than add them all to the pile, I’ve decided it’s contest time again. So, grab your sigmarite shield and throw a saddle over the dread abyssal, it’s time for the Contest of Night. Mortarch of Night, that is.

From the BL site:

Long ago, Sigmar numbered Nagash among his allies, but the Master of Death betrayed the God-King, causing the great pantheon o gods to crumble as the Age of Chaos began. Now, Sigmar seeks to reform his ancient allegiances – Tarsus Bull-Heart, Lord-Celestant of the Hallowed Knights, has been sent to the Vales of Sorrows with his Warrior Chamber to treat with the Great Necromancer. The Stormcast Eternals soon discover that Shyish is an unforgiving realm, and they are forced to accept aid from a vampire of dubious provenance, one whose name resonates throughout history: Manfred von Carstein. Tarsus and his Lord-Relictor Ramus both fear that there is more to their new guide than meets the eye, for it is well known that the dead cannot be trusted…

I’ve mentioned this one before, so if you want to know the skinny, go check out the previous post.

Anyway…the contest. I want you to snap me a picture of your best fully painted Stormcast Eternal or Death Grand Alliance model. The winner is whichever one I like best. So far, so subjective. I’m offering a brand new, spine-uncracked, signed-by-me copy of the aforementioned novel to the winner, popped in the post at my expense. If you want Guymer’s signature, you’ll have to track it down yourself.

Send your pictures to argus33 at hotmail dot com with ‘Night Contest’ in the subject line. Oh and be sure to let me know if you’re okay with me sharing the photo on twitter and such. Last time there were some great models entered, and I think it’d be neat to show them off.

Judging starts today and runs until midnight on Thursday (the 11th), which means you have just under a week to send me a photo of your best model, give or take a few hours. The winner will be announced here on Friday the 12th.

Simple enough, right? So what are you waiting for? Get to snapping.

WIP Wednesday #31: Book 4

I started working on my fourth novel of the year this past Sunday. After I finish it, I have two more to write before the end of the year. Because I’ve got bills and this is how I pays ’em.

As of this morning, I’m 10,000 words into the 80,000 word draft of Book 4. I say 80,000, but really, it’s probably going to be more like 90,000. That’s usually how it goes. So far, it’s a fun project. I’ve been chomping at the bit to write it ever since I pitched it, and it’s flowing easily thus far. It features a handful of characters I’ve written about before, doing something  exciting. Because invading an other-dimensional realm devoted to decay and disease is exciting, right?

I think it’s exciting.

I haven’t even written a battle scene, yet. It’s all funerals and character interactions and portentous musing. Doesn’t that sound fantastic?

I’m also still chipping away at my CRYPTID CLASH! novella. I’m around 12,000 words into what I figure will be a 20,000 word draft, so not much farther to go. The story is ramping up now–murder-hobos are attacking our friendly neighbourhood mercenaries, even as our reptilian hero hunts a three-eyed ghost-wizard. It might not win a Hugo, but it’s pretty fun.

To round things off, on Monday I started a new Royal Occultist short story, “The Uninvited Guest”. It’s about a seance gone wrong (is there any other kind?), black dogs, Tyburn murderers, and hidden treasure. I’m aiming to keep this one short and sweet–say, around 3,000 words. Right now, I’m around 600 words in, which doesn’t sound impressive, but it took me an hour, so…y’know, shut up.

And that’s what I’m working on this week.

(Not Quite) Best Horror

Editor Ellen Datlow has posted her honourable mentions long list for volume 8 of Best Horror of the Year. As has happened for the last few years in a row, a story of mine gets a mention.

If you’d like to check out the story in question, it was “Seeking Whom He May Devour”, in issue 35 of The Lovecraft eZine. It’s free to read, and feel free to leave a comment afterwards, if you’re of a mind.

Song’s End

Alternative Realities has announced some of the authors who’ll be contributing to their forthcoming anthology, Summer’s End, including folks like Sarah Cawkwell, Adrian Tchaikovsky and me.

My contribution, “The Last Song of Iranon”, is a follow-up to my 2014 story, “Mordiggian’s Due”, which appeared in Pulp Mill Press’ Libram Mysterium. It continues the adventures of Amina Algol and her ghoulish siblings in Earth’s Dreamlands. This time, they’re on the hunt for a murderous ‘ghost-eater’ in the lizard-haunted ruins of Sarnath, as he attempts to employ the talents of a mournful ghost to uncover a hidden treasure.

WIP Wednesday #30: King Snake

Busy this week. Too busy writing to write about writing, too busy crawling to bite, you know?  So have some Buddy Guy instead. My favourite version of this particular song, by the way.

When, Where, What, Who

Over the past five (nearly six) years, I’ve written a plenitude of stories featuring the characters of Charles St. Cyprian, the Royal Occultist, and his assistant, Ebe Gallowglass. So many, in fact, that two years ago I had to assemble a story chronology, for my benefit, if no one else’s. And since I’m busy this week and it’s unlikely that you’ll be getting any substantive posts, here’s said chronology, with accompanying art by MD Jackson.

Formed during the reign of Elizabeth I, the post of the Royal Occultist, or ‘the Queen’s Conjurer’ as it was known, was created for and first held by the diligent amateur, Dr. John Dee, in recognition for an unrecorded  service to the Crown.

The title has passed through a succession of hands since, some good, some bad; the list is a long one, weaving in and out of the margins of British history and including such luminaries as the 1st Earl of Holderness and Thomas Carnacki.

Now, in the wake of the Great War, the title and offices have fallen to Charles St. Cyprian who, accompanied by his apprentice Ebe Gallowglass, defends the British Empire against threats occult, otherworldly, infernal and divine even as the wider world lurches once more on the path to war…

[1592] “A Tiger’s Heart, A Player’s Hide”, Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu, Snow Books, 2016; The first Royal Occultist, Dr. John Dee, and his assistant, William Sly, investigate a mysterious plague afflicting the playhouses of London.

[1913] “Monmouth’s Giants”, Carnacki: The New Adventures, Ulthar Press, 2013; Thomas Carnacki makes the acquaintance of one Charles St. Cyprian as they investigate ghostly giants in Guildhall. 

[1914] ”Hochmuller’s Hound”, Blood Trails, Emby Press, 2014; Thomas Carnacki and his assistant, Charles St. Cyprian battle the monstrous Hound of Mons.

[1918] “Dead Men’s Bones”, Kaiju Rising, Ragnarok Publications, 2014; Thomas Carnacki and his assistant, Charles St. Cyprian join forces with an American ghost-breaker to battle a giant made from the corpses of fallen soldiers.

[1919] ”The Unwrapping Party”, Pro Se Presents, issue 13, Pro Se Press, 2012; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass confront a linen-shrouded horror out of black eons at a Soho mummy-unwrapping party.

[1919] ”The Dreaming Dead”, Horror for the Holidays, Miskatonic River Press, 2011; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass face down a trauma-eating entity in Bethnal Green Infirmary.

[1919] ”Merry John Mock”, Pulpwork Press Christmas Special, Pulpwork Press, 2011; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass deal with ghostly swine and malevolent mummers during a Winter Solstice in the Channel Islands.

[1920] ”The Maida Vale Mummy”, Bento Box, issue 11, Artifice Comics, 2013; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass confront some decidedly risible Roman remains in a Maida Vale wine-cellar. 

[1920] THE WHITECHAPEL DEMON, Emby Press, 2013; In the wake of a séance gone wrong, a monstrous killer is summoned from the depths of nightmare by a deadly murder-cult. It’s up to St. Cyprian and Gallowglass to stop the bloodthirsty horror before another notch is added to its gory tally, but will they become the next victims of the horror disguised as London’s most famous killer?

[1920] “Hairy Hands”, Bento Box, issue 15, Artifice Comics, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass attempt to capture a murderous phantom (or is it a pair of phantoms?) on Dartmoor.

[1920] THE JADE SUIT OF DEATH, Emby Press, 2014; Evil prowls the docks of Limehouse and a priceless artifact is stolen. St. Cyprian is contacted by an old acquaintance to find it, but what he and Gallowglass discover is far more than anyone bargained for, when a thousands-year-old spirit is released to unleash a plague that will feast upon humanity…

[1920] “The Strix Society”, The Occult Detectives, Airship 27, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass confront a deadly society of psychic predators in London.

[1920] ”An Ounce of Prevention”, A Cat of Nine Tales, Rookhaven Publishing, 2012; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass taking on an avian entity of the Pictish persuasion in rural Cornwall.

[1920] THE INFERNAL EXPRESS, Emby Press, 2016; Charged with the safe-keeping of the remains of Dracula, St. Cyprian and Gallowglass depart London and race across Europe in death-defying mission to pass the remains over to those that can hopefully keep and guard them…

[1920] “The Door of Eternal Night”, The Science of Detection, 18th Wall Productions, TBA; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass join forces with Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to defeat a sinister cult and an old enemy in London.

[1920] ”The Artist as Wolf”, Leather, Denim & Silver, Pill Hill Press, 2011; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass locking horns with an artistically inclined lycanthrope in London.

[1920] “Deep Red Bells”, Sharkpunk, Snow Books, 2015; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass battle an antediluvian ghost in Dorset.

[1920] “The Fates of Dr. Fell”, Spawn of the Ripper, April Moon Books, 2016; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass confront a sinister fortune-teller on a train to Penzance.

[1920] ”Krampusnacht”, Horror for the Holidays, Miskatonic River Press, 2011;  St. Cyprian and Gallowglass battle the demonic Krampus in London on Christmas Eve.

[1921] “The Faceless Fiend”, Free Halloween Story, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass go up against a monstrous killing thought, summoned by a combination of higher mathematics, devilish incense and illicit carpentry, in a Seven Dials garret.

[1921] ”Sign of the Salamander”, Fantasy & Fear, Pro Se Press, issue 3, 2011; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass deal with murder, foreign agents and a ferocious fire elemental in Egypt.

[1921] ”The Gotterdammerung Gavotte”, Lovecraft eZine, issue 18, 2012; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass join forces with five other occult detectives–including Algernon Blackwood’s John Silence–to confront the horrors of the Great Old Ones.

[1921] “The Teeth of Winter”, Pulpwork Press Christmas Special, Pulpwork Press, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass hunt a cannibalistic ogre, with the help of fellow occult investigator, Lone Crow, in Northern Alberta.

[1921] “Return of the Hound”, Pulpwork Press Christmas Special, Pulpwork Press, 2015; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass encounter an old foe in a new form in the wilds of Limehouse.

[1922] ”Iron Bells”, The Trigger Reflex, Pill Hill Press, 2011; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass investigate horrors in the Underground, and worse things waiting in London.

[1922] ”The Hunting of Philip Ackroyd”, Mark of the Beast, Chaosium, 2015; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass battle a phantasmal predator in their own sanctum sanctorum.

[1922] “The Bells of Northam”, Lovecraft eZine, issue 27, 2013; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass team up with Harley Warren and Randolph Carter to prevent the rise of a horror out Roman times.

[1922] “The d’Erlette Configuration”, The Royal Occultist Primer, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass must solve a demonic puzzle-box before an unholy unpleasantness is unleashed.

[1922] ”The Wedding Seal”, Beast Within 3, Graveside Tales, 2012; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass deal with a selkie under domestic duress and her fierce kin in the Orkney Islands.

[1922] ”Feast of Fools”, Pulpwork Press Christmas Special, Pulpwork Press, 2012; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass face down the sinister Saturn Society on a bothersome Boxing Day.

[1923] ”In the Dark and Quiet”, Use Enough Gun, Emby Press, 2013; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass confront a monstrous not-a-ghost beneath the Bank of England.

[1923] “Wendy-Smythe’s Worm”, The Royal Occultist Primer, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass confront a rapacious and ever-expanding serpent of mythical, malevolent proportions in Kensington.

[1923] ”The Jagtooth Lane Horror”, Pro Se Presents, issue 5, Pro Se Press, 2011; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass tangle with an angry Viking ghost in the snickleways of York.

[1923] “The Creature from the Abysmal Sea”, Free Halloween Story, 2015; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass join the London Tunnel Authority in a hunt for a creature from an otherworldly sea, loose in the sewers of London.

[1923] “The Riders of St. George”, The Royal Occultist: Haunted Holidays, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass seek to exorcise a host of murderous undead knights in Hertfordshire.

[1923] “The Hungry Stones”, Luna’s Children, Dark Oak Press, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass match wits with a possessed woman and a lupine horror in Derbyshire.

[1923] ”The Pnakotic Puzzle”, Lovecraft eZine, issue 33, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass match wits with a bevy of devilish intruders, including a time traveler and an amorphous entity.

[1923] “The Necromancer’s Drum”, Legends of New Pulp Fiction, Airship 27. 2015; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass confront the walking dead, a cunning necromancer and a demonic Ankou in darkest Wessex.

[1924] “Deo Viridio”, The Royal Occultist Primer, 2014; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass battle a pagan fertility god in Lincolnshire.

[1924] “The Devil of Dog-End”, Royal Occultist: The Case-Files, 2013; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass hunt down a fearsome ghost in York.

[1924] ”Owd Hob”, Monster Corral, February, 2013; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass match wits with a vicious boggart in Suffolk.

[1924] “Hairy Shanks”, Single Shot: Weird Heroes, Pro Se Press, 2015; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass face the fangs of a phantasmal bear in the sewers of London.

[1925] “The Third Death of Henry Antrim”, Pulpwork Press Christmas Special, Pulpwork Press, 2013; St. Cyprian and Gallowglass hunt for a vampire during a Christmas party.

Most of these stories are still available in one form or another, though a few are now out of print. Others are available for free, in their entirety, either online, as downloads or in serialised form.

Too, there will be a few additions to the chronology later this year, including “Squatter’s Rights”, in which St. Cyprian and Gallowglass face the wrath of the Great Old One, Gla’aki, and “The Hound’s Daughter”, a follow up to the stories “Hochmuller’s Hound” and “Return of the Hound”.

And if you haven’t picked up a copy of the newest novel in the Adventures of the Royal Occultist, The Infernal Express, why not do so today? If you’ve already read and enjoyed it, feel free to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

WIP Wednesday #29: Watanabe

Busy week this week, in ways other than writing. Much to-ing and fro-ing, hither and yon. Over river and under mountain. I am walking to and fro in the deep places. So, not much actual, y’know, work this week.

I managed to drag Inzignanin over the 10,000 word mark, which could be construed as the halfway mark, but–ha! No. Probably not. We’ll see. Characters have been positioned, motivations explored. Now, we get to the meat of it.

Thank you, Ken Watanabe.

I’ve also managed to muscle the new short story into something resembling completion. 10,000 words. There is a fight with a kraken. There are ghosts who might be hallucinations. I am mostly satisfied with it, because besides the bit with the kraken, there’s less fisticuffs and more arguing with the aforementioned hallucinations.

I maintain that verbal sparring is a viable source of conflict, even in this sort of story. Hopefully, maybe. If I did it right. We’ll see what the editors say.

But that’s pretty much it, this week. As I said, busy.

Anyway, if you haven’t picked up a copy of the newest entry in the Adventures of the Royal Occultist, The Infernal Express, why not do so today? And if you’ve already read and enjoyed it, feel free to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Just a thought.

Consulting Detective(s)

Airship 27 has made the electronic editions of all eight volumes of Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective available in one handy volume, via Amazon.com. I contributed stories to Volumes 2 (“The Affair of the Wretched Flesh”) and 3 (“The Singular Affair of the Sultan’s Tiger”), both of which were great fun to write. I hope to work on more Sherlock Holmes stories in the future.

Until then, if you were hungering for more Holmes-related fiction from me,  you could do worse than to check out “The Door of Eternal Night”, in which Charles St. Cyprian, the Royal Occultist, seeks to unravel one of the Great Detective’s unsolved mysteries alongside Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini.