Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 65

Winter’s Bite

The 2014 Pulpwork Press Christmas Special is now available, featuring an array of holiday themed stories, including “The Teeth of Winter” in which the Royal Occultist and his plucky (yet murderous) assistant spend Christmas hunting down a cannibalistic wendigo in the Canadian wilderness.

From the blurb:

Herein, you’ll find a septet of holiday tales in which the poor characters come to grisly, gory, and sometimes gruesome ends. Pay close attention, and learn from their fates, so that you might not make the same mistakes as they. You may find it safer to eschew the holiday tradition of the Christmas tree, for at least two stories in the coming pages warn of coniferous killers of the most sinister variety. Just when you’re getting comfortable with the idea of deadly flora, Josh Reynolds and Joel Jenkins turn things topsy turvy by swapping characters. Jenkins tries his hand at a tale of the British Royal Occultist, Charles St. Cyprian and his intrepid and sometimes bloodthirsty apprentice Ebe Gallowglass—both characters created by Reynolds. Not to be outdone, Josh Reynolds borrows Jenkins’ Native American gunfighter, Lone Crow, and teams him up with St. Cyprian and Gallowglass as they hunt down a wendigo in the Canadian wilds. You’ll also find masterful and unnerving Christmas tales by Robert Mancebo and Thomas Deja. Then Derrick Ferguson treats us to a full-blown novella, in which the global instigator, known only as Dillon, takes on the evil entity called the Krampus–drawn from one of the most malign Christmas legends ever recited to frightened, shivering children.

The 2014 Pulpwork Press Christmas Special is available from Amazon.com in both electronic and print. And be sure to check out the Specials from 2011, 2012, and 2013 for more great holiday themed fiction, including the Yuletide exploits of the Royal Occultist and co.!

Enyalius, In Memoriam

The Black Library Advent Calendar continues to deliver new stories, and this past Sunday saw a second entry from me, hot on the heels of Wednesday’s outing with Fabius Bile. “Enyalius, In Memoriam” is short and sweet, and revolves around the funerary practices of the traitorous Space Marines of the World Eaters Legion.

From the blurb:

Marakitedes, berserker of the traitorous World Eaters, fights on the hull of an Imperial starship. Battling the vessel’s beleaguered crew and the warriors of the Ultramarines, he is fighting not just for the thrill of combat or to feed the Butcher’s Nails, but to honour his fallen brother, Enyalius, and send him to Khorne with a mighty host of skulls.

“Enyalius, In Memoriam” is available as a digital download from the Black Library site. And be sure to check out the rest of the Advent offerings, while they’re still available.

That Which Cries By Night

The latest adventure of the Royal Occultist is now available from Airship 27, in Occult Detectives. “The Strix Society” sees Charles St. Cyprian and his assistant, Ebe Gallowglass, match wits with a secret society of psychic predators hiding in the heart of London in 1920. 

From the publisher:

Airship 27 Productions 26th release of the year is the first volume in a brand new pulp series, “Occult Detectives.”

They battle demons and monsters, hunt ghosts and defend us against the things that go bump in the night.  They are Occult Detectives and they’ve been a staple of pulp fiction since the beginning of those glorious, garish magazines.  Now Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to bring you a quartet of tales starring some of the most unique Occult Detectives ever created; three newly minted heroes and one classic master of mysticism.

From the days of the Wild West, Joel Jenkins offers up his Indian Shaman hero, Lone Crow.  Then we have Josh Reynold’s colorful Charles St. Cyprian, the King’s own Royal Occultist, followed by Jim Beard’s Sgt. Janus, the Spirit Breaker.  And we culminate with a little known pulp classic figure, Ravenwood; the Stepson of Mystery as chronicled by Ron Fortier.

“The idea for this collection came from Josh Reynolds,” reports Airship 27 Productions Managing Editor, Ron Fortier.  “The idea of bringing together, in one book, some of the most exciting new pulp characters in print today appealed to me immediately; especially if our line up included such popular heroes as Lone Crow, Charles St. Cyprian and Sgt. Janus.  Since their appearance, each of has won over a loyal following of readers.  But that still left us with one empty slot and that became the opportunity I jumped on instantly.”

Seven years ago, Fortier and Airship 27 Productions Art Director Rob Davis, had produced an adult horror graphic novel entitled, “Daughter of Dracula,” that received rave reviews upon its release from Redbud Studio and is still one of that company’s biggest sellers.  Fortier had long wanted to do was write a sequel that would answer some of the questions posed by many of the comic’s readers.  In particular, “What happened to the main character after the events in the story?”  Now, this anthology offered him that stage combined with the added bonus of allowing him to write a character that was one of his favorites.  “Ravenwood – Stepson of Mystery is such a cool, occult detective and I was itching to get my creative mitts on him,” Fortier confesses.  “This is a story I’ve waited a long, long time to tell.”

The book features interior illustrations by Davis and a cover, colored by Jesus Rodriguez, that spotlights all of the heroes together in a setting outside of space and time.

Get ready to take on possessed gunfighters, eerie mesmerizing spirits, a bewitching temptress and a legion of the undead as these four brand new tales usher you into  thrilling adventures beyond the realm of the ordinary; your guides….the Occult Detectives.

Occult Detectives is available in print and for the Kindle via Amazon. It is also available in PDF, directly from the publisher. And be sure to check out the Royal Occultist site and Facebook page for more about St. Cyprian, Gallowglass and their ongoing adventures.

New Interview

Busy week, right? Anyway, here’s a new interview. Why not go check that out? Maybe leave a comment or two. Show the interviewer that you care. And if you want to read more about my opinions, why not check out the dedicated Interviews page? Or even better, ask me a question yourself.

Repairer of Ruin

‘You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of ruin…’, Isaiah 58:12. Bit cheeky to swipe a Bible verse for a title, but there you go. Besides, it seemed appropriate, on this, the third day of Black Library’s Advent Calendar, and the release of my new audio, “Fabius Bile: Repairer of Ruin”.

From the blurb:

Lupercalia burns, the might of the Traitor Legions reducing the last redoubt of the Sons of Horus to rubble. And through the ruins strides Apothecary Fabius of the Emperor’s Children, with an army of vile genetic experiments. But what does the twisted Apothecary want in the temple to the fallen primarch Horus? And will he find it?

As you might have guessed from that, this story kinda, sorta, shamelessly ties-in with Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s phenomenal Talon of Horus. You don’t need to have read the one to enjoy the other, but I encourage you to give Talon… a try, if you haven’t already.

“Fabius Bile: Repairer of Ruin” is available as an MP3 download from the Black Library site. There’s also an extract you can listen to, before you open your wallet. And be sure to check out the previous Advent offerings, “The Final Compliance of Sixty-Three Fourteen” and “Cold Roads”.

Seven Heart Beats

As you might recall, or might not, depending on how closely you follow this blog, a while back I sold a story called “Seven Heart Beats”. Unfortunately, the anthology that it was due to appear in will not be coming out, and all of the stories were released to find new homes elsewhere. Which, luckily, it did.

I’m happy to say that “Seven Heart Beats” is a part of issue 8 of Black Treacle Magazine, which just came out today. Which is a bit of serendipity, as the story is an unofficial sequel to  “Rattlesnake Eyes” (in that it features the same (unlucky) family and Appalachian setting, and while you don’t have to read the one to enjoy the other, I encourage you to do so) which appeared in issue 1 of the same magazine.

“Seven Heart Beats” was an interesting one to put together. For the Bass stories, I’ve always had an unstated rule: Nothing But Ghosts. After all, what sort of ghost-breaker fights vampires? But sometimes you just got to break a rule for a good cause, i.e. money. So this time out, Bass faces off with something a bit different–a monstrous spirit out of Cherokee lore.  I was quite pleased with the way the story turned out, and I’m happy that folks will get a chance to read it. And if you read it, and enjoy it, why not check out the other stories featuring John Bass, Ghost-Breaker?

Issue 8 of Black Treacle is available in EPUB and MOBI, among other formats, and all for free. Besides my effort, it also includes stories by David Annandale and Sean Moreland. Go download yours today.

Cyber Monday Shenanigans

It’s Cyber Monday, which is not to be confused with…well, every other day of the week. Today is the day that you buy things online, as opposed to Black Friday, which is for wrestling old people for iPhones in the K-Mart. So, to that end, here are some things of mine you can buy online. 

*DRUM ROLL*

Everything.

Literally everything I’ve written, you can buy online. Pick a thing, off this list here, and buy it. Or go to Amazon.com, find my Author’s Page, and buy a thing off of that. Anything. All of it helps. Failing that, go to Blacklibrary.com and buy something of mine from them. Electronic, print, MP3, whatever.

Want me to be more specific? Okay. How about this? Or this? What about this one? Or even…this? Any of those. Maybe this as well?

All of it’s available online. Some of it’s even for sale. Most of it is pretty cheap.

Oh, and here: have some free stories to celebrate your impending purchases.

The Shield of Baal

Ah, Black Friday. A day when people spend money they probably don’t have, on things they probably don’t need. Things like, say, a shiny new hardback novella*, about everyone’s favorite cosmic space-vampires, the Blood Angels, as they wage war on the intergalactic menace of the Tyranids, written by me.

From the blurb:

 The sons of Sanguinius land upon Phodia, commanded by First Captain Karlaen, the Shield of Baal. Their mission is to find and secure the planetary governor, whose blood may hold the key to curing the twin curses of the Chapter: the Red Thirst and the Black Rage. But the Spawn of Cryptus, a sinister tyranid creature, is also seeking the governor, and Karlaen stands in its way…

As you can tell from the cover, Deathstorm is part of the ‘Shield of Baal’ series, which also includes the novella, Tempestus, and the short stories, “Dread Night” and “Shadow of the Leviathan”. The latter, as you might recall, is also by me. I encourage you to check them all out. Too, you might consider checking out this nifty box set, which includes everything you need to re-fight the desperate struggle depicted in the novella.

Shield of Baal: Deathstorm is up for preorder from today, and will be available in hardback and ebook. Make sure you line up your copy today!

* Look, the line between ‘novella’ and ‘novel’ is fairly thin and prone to moving, but this sucker is almost 60,000 words.** No matter how you scratch it, that’s a fairly substantial amount of wordage. From my point of view, this sucker is a novel.
** You know what else was 60,000 words? Almost every science-fiction novel published between 1960 and 1985 that wasn’t called Dune.

‘As God As My Witness…’

Learning Curve

So, a few days ago, I made my first homegrown ebook, The Royal Occultist: Haunted Holidays, available for purchase on the Royal Occultist site. Two dollars buys you a collection of five stories–four reprints and one all new story–in .MOBI, .EPUB, and PDF formats. Pretty good deal, I thought. Other people did as well, because I’ve sold like a dozen copies since I first made the collection available. So far, so good. 

However, I’ve had a number of difficulties in ensuring that the folks who were kind enough to purchase it actually got a copy as soon as they ponied up the cash. Some folks received it immediately, but others, not so much. I blame gremlins. Regardless, that meant that I had to chase things up and make sure that everyone got what they paid for.

The learning curve, it is steep. Especially when dealing with the vagaries of Paypal.

But, ain’t nobody got time for that. Especially not me. So, I figure this is the universe’s way of poking a thumb in my eye, and reminding me of some things, i.e. ’tis the season of giving. So, to that end, I have done two things:

1) I have donated the thirty odd bucks I’ve made off of the collection to date to RSPCA Sheffield, my local animal shelter. It’s where we got the murderous, fuzzy albino chainsaw my wife calls a cat, so I figure we owe them.

2) I have made Haunted Holidays free to download. Click the link at the bottom of the page, download a .zip file. I only ask that you kick a few bucks to RSPCA Sheffield or the charity of your choice after you do so, in lieu of payment.

And that’s it. Go forth and be charitable.