Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 73
January 20, 2014
YOURS TRULY, THE WHITECHAPEL DEMON
I blame it on Robert Bloch. I blame a lot of things regarding my writing on Bloch, frankly. But in the case of my debut novel from Emby Press, The Whitechapel Demon, I can trace it’s origin to three antecedents, the first of which is Bloch’s oft-reprinted 1943 short story, “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper”. In it, the Ripper is revealed as a black magician whose victims are grisly offerings to inconceivable and unknowable entities, in return for immortality.
I read Bloch’s story at a very young age. An impressionable age, one might say. “Yours Truly…” is the whole package as far as I’m concerned. It’s got humor, scares, action and a killer punchline. And it’s got Jack. Smiling Jack. The Whitechapel demon, with his keen blade and, most importantly, his smile.
I saw that smile again in “The Ripper”, the first episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, which first aired in 1974. Jack was back, and in a similar form, if thirty odd years removed from Bloch’s outing. The Ripper was embodied here in full regalia–the hat, the cloak, the blade; a demonic anachronism come to call. Too, he was more monstrous than Bloch’s cunning infiltrator. This was the Ripper as matinee monster…he tore through prison cells and fought off the entirety of the Chicago police department, the latter in a memorably kaleidoscopic brawl.
Then came Joe R. Lansdale’s “The God of the Razor”, which cemented for me the idea of the Ripper-as-eldritch-monster, rather than a man driven by understandable, if stomach-churning, psychopathic urges. Lansdale’s description of the God, with its eyes like smashed glass and silvery stickpin teeth, and dressed like the Victorian ancestor of the cannibalistic Sawyer clan from Texas Chainsaw Massacre stuck with me. All the creepiest elements of Hitchcock’s 1927 film, The Lodger combined with the black magician from Bloch’s story and the murderous juggernaut of the Kolchak episode.
And out of that heady brew comes my contribution–the Ripper-entity that Charles St. Cyprian and Ebe Gallowglass face in The Whitechapel Demon. The Ripper-entity is a ravenous psychic predator, one of William Hope Hodgson’s ‘outer monstrosities’, drawn into our reality by a seance gone wrong, and taking the shape of one of London’s nightmares…Jack the Ripper. But a monstrous Ripper, an exaggerated pantomime version of the killer, composed of corpses and ectoplasm. There are bits of Bloch’s black magician, Kolchak’s monster and Lansdale’s devil-god in my Ripper, in the descriptions of it, combined to come up with something different, but, I hope, equally memorable.
If you’d like to see if that’s the case, I encourage you to pick up The Whitechapel Demon. It is available both in trade paperback and electronic format from Amazon.com, Smashwords,Barnesandnoble.com and other online retailers. For a free PDF preview of the the first three chapters, click HERE. And if, after you read it, you’re interested in discussing it, or the world of the Royal Occultist, there’s a dedicated forum at the Emby Press site HERE or you can stop by the series’ Facebook page.
January 19, 2014
STATION IDENTIFICATION 2014
It’s a new year and that means it’s time to remind everyone reading this who I am and what it is that I do. So, let’s just get right to it, shall we?
My name is Josh Reynolds and I’m a freelance author, which is to say that I make things up for a living. I have been a professional author since 2007, and I have written and sold a number of novels in that time, some relating to media tie-in franchises, including Gold Eagle’s Executioner line and Games Workshop’s Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 lines. I have also written and sold a number of shorter fiction pieces, including short stories and novellas. An up-to-date list of my published work can be found on this site.
I have written in multiple genres, including science-fiction, fantasy and mystery, and have even tried my hand at scripts, book reviews and literary essays. In short, if it pays, I’ll write it. I’ll also write it if I think it’ll be fun, or I want to stretch my creative muscles. I indulge in pastiche, parody and homage with indecent frequency, but I have little respect for literary canon or established continuity. I’m a firm supporter of the reoccurring series character, the online serial and the holiday-themed short story. I have self-published more than once, and yielded to the tender blandishments of traditional and small press publishers. I am contrary and contain multitudes, to mangle Walt Whitman.
Should you wish to contact me for whatever reason, I can be reached via a number of social media outlets, including About.me, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Goodreads, and Linkedin. I’m happy to answer any questions you might have about something I’ve written, but unfortunately I cannot read your fan-fiction, unpublished novel or short story. I also cannot give you writing advice, put you in touch with my editor or introduce you to another author.
And that is the story of me. Now back to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress.
January 8, 2014
NEW MASTER OF DEATH REVIEW
The good folks over at the Fifty Shades of Geek have reviewed the newest entry in the Blood of Nagash series, Master of Death, and they seem to have enjoyed it, which is always nice.
From the review:
I’ve really enjoyed the way Josh has matched Mike Lee’s style, keeping the conflicts between characters alive but making them his own by exploring these conflicts in more detail and bringing different personality traits to the fore. This was a highly enjoyable book, and a great follow up to Neferata.
Master of Death is the sequel to Neferata, and follows a number of the characters from that novel into the ever-shifting tides of loyalty and betrayal that surround the schemes and stratagems of W’soran of Mahrak, as he endeavors to conquer the mountain kingdom of Strigos and make himself the eponymous ‘master of death.’
I encourage you to head over to the site and read the review, as well as the one they gave the first book in the series. And then, if what you’ve read interests you, maybe you’ll think about nabbing your own copy from Blacklibrary.com, Amazon.com or the retailer of your choice.
January 6, 2014
NEW WHITECHAPEL DEMON REVIEW
Tim Prasil, author of the Vera Van Slyke mysteries, has reviewed the first Royal Occultist novel, The Whitechapel Demon over at his site.
From the review:
It’s fairly telling of the work’s tone, though, which manages to balance the dark and gruesome with the light and witty. And this entertaining tone strikes me as one of Reynolds’ greatest strengths as a writer, his ability to make a reader cringe on one page and then snicker on the next…
If you’ve been on the fence about whether to pick up a copy of the book, I hope you’ll take a look at Tim’s review and see whether it fans the flames of interest. He seems to have enjoyed it, and if the creator of the Chronological Bibliography of Early Occult Detectives likes it, you might as well. So why not grab a copy of the book from Amazon.com or Smashwords and see for yourself?
January 3, 2014
AND THE FIRST NEW THING OF 2014 IS…MASTER OF THE HUNT
Hey, guess what? I wrote an audio drama for Blacklibrary.com. And it’s now available as an MP3 download. It’s called “Master of the Hunt” and sees Kor’sarro Khan, Hunt-Master of the White Scars Space Marines, going up against the perfidious potentate of pulsing engines known only as…DOOMRIDER.
Blurbage:
A Great Hunt has been called, and Kor’sarro Khan, Master of the Hunt, gathers the White Scars for war. They shall track their prey across the galaxy, never resting until his head is taken to be displayed in the Chapter’s fortress-monastery on distant Chogoris. But this prey will be a challenge, for he is as fast and as cunning as the sons of Jaghatai, and as deadly a foe as the khan has ever faced. For on this Great Hunt, the White Scars seek the daemon prince known only as Doomrider…
That sounds pretty great, right?
I mean, I guess it’s great. I haven’t heard it yet. And it was my first stab at script-writing, so I’m a bit nervous as to how it all came out, frankly. Interestingly (for those who find such insights interesting) it was my first time writing Space Marines or Warhammer 40K. Sure, “Cadre” and “Remorseless” came out last year, but this is the thing that convinced the high editors of Terra that it might possibly be okay to let me, maybe, write some other stuff that didn’t involve elves, dwarfs or vampires.
Another fun fact…the original title was just the approximation of a guitar solo, written in 18 pt type, in all caps, for a page. They…unh…they thought I was joking and changed it accordingly.
Anyway, why not go download that and see what you think?
December 31, 2013
THE YEAR THAT WAS
2013 was a busy year. From the get-go, I’ve been working on one project or another. My last day off was in December of 2012, which means that my mental gears are grinding metal at this point. I have worked on one project or another every day for the past three hundred and sixty five days. For the record, I do not recommend this. Between the stress headaches and the lack of sleep, most of 2013 has passed in a blur. Nonetheless, I’d say that I’ve managed to accomplish a good deal in spite of myself.
BOOKS
I had four books–Gotrek & Felix: Road of Skulls, Master of Death, The Whitechapel Demon and Death’s Head Cloud–come out this year, and I wrote five. There’s some overlap in those numbers, but not much. All in all, I banged out over 500,000 words of book this year, and probably aggravated the looming spectre of arthritis that clings to my joints even now. I will likely be duplicating this feat in 2014, if the four contracts sitting in my inbox right now are any indication.
SHORT STORIES
I had twenty short stories see the light of day this year, and I sold twenty-four. Again, some overlap there, but not as much as you’d think. Of the ones sold this year, a third of them were reprints, which is a new experience for me. I will be cutting my short story output for 2014, if possible, I think, if only to give my brain and hands a much-needed break.
OTHER STUFF
I had an audio album, featuring characters I created, released into the wild. I wrote a few more ‘Nightmare Men’ essays for Black Gate Magazine, though not so many as I hoped. I did a few interviews, got some nice reviews, and got to work on a few things that I can’t talk about yet.
In summation, not a bad year, all things considered. Roll on 2014.
December 30, 2013
RISE OF THE GHOUL-KING
The last day of the year, bar one, sees the release of not one, but TWO, short stories by me over at Blacklibrary.com. Ghoul-King is a novella length story split into two handy-dandy bite-size chunklets for ease of digestion: “Conqueror of Worms” and “Empire of Maggots”. The novella is a side-story to my novel, Master of Death, which came out a few weeks ago as you may or may not recall. Links and blurbs below.
“Conqueror of Worms” blurb:
Vorag Bloodytooth, Strigoi vampire prince, moves upon Cripple Peak, intent upon uniting the ghoul tribes who labour under the shadow of Nagashizzar and carving out an empire for himself to stand against his warring fellow vampires. Accompanied by his closest allies, Vorag descends into the caverns of the ghouls and challenges their leader to combat. The victor will claim the title of Ghoul King and rule a realm of monsters. The loser will find only death.
The story is available as an electronic download from blacklibrary.com.
“Empire of Maggots” blurb:
Now undisputed ruler of the ghoul tribes of the Plain of Bones, Vorag Bloodytooth has enslaved greenskin tribes to build a fortress worthy of his stature. As his slaves revolt against his cruelty and envoys from his fellow vampires arrive seeking his aid in their petty squabbles, Vorag’s plan to resurrect his long-lost love comes to fruition – if he can escape from the deadly trap he is driven into by the rebellious goblin slaves. The fate of his empire hangs in the balance…
The story is available as an electronic download from blacklibrary.com.
Both stories follow a select few side-characters from the second volume in the ‘Blood of Nagash’ trilogy, Master of Death, and run parallel to the main story, albeit at a remove of several hundred miles and a mountain range away. Too, if you were a fan of certain characters from the previous novel, Neferata, here’s your chance to see them in action again!
Sort of.
At any rate, why not buy some stories or some books before the year’s end and goose my royalty statement a bit, hmm? If you’ve already done so, why not leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads or wherever you happen to do such things? And if you’ve done both, well, you have my thanks.
December 24, 2013
CARNACKI: THE NEW ADVENTURES NOW AVAILABLE!
Reblogged from william hope hodgson:
Yes, after far too long than it should have taken, the new collection CARNACKI: THE NEW ADVENTURES is now available for order!
You can order it directly from Amazon here:
There is also a Kindle version available here:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HHCHVU6
I'd like to thank everyone who has made this book possible. Especially, of course, the fine contributors to the collection:
HAVE A HAUNTED HOLIDAY!
Happy holidays, and a merry new year!
December 23, 2013
THE ROYAL OCCULTIST: THE CASE FILES Now Available
The album contains four audio-adventures ably performed by Richard Gough-Thomas and Ruth Narramore, with assistance from Jen Edwards and Erik Crossley, including the NEVER BEFORE HEARD OR SEEN story, “The Devil of Dog-End”! The theme music is ‘Limehouse Blues’, a jazz standard.
As ever, these short audio productions are free to listen to, though you can donate, should you wish, to show your appreciation for the hard work and hours of fiddling with the audio that went into these.
Even better, in honour of the holiday season, I’m offering the album as a free download to anyone who purchases or has purchased a copy of THE WHITECHAPEL DEMON in the month of December.
Simply send proof of purchase (a receipt, confirmation e-mail, etc.) via a FB message or an email, and I’ll send you a link for the free download!
“An Ounce of Prevention” was published in 2012 in the anthology, A Cat of Nine Tales, from Rookhaven Publishing.
“The Maida Vale Mummy” was first published in 2013 in Bento Box 11, from Artifice Comics. It is available to download for free.
“Owd Hob” was published in 2013 in the February issue Monster Corral. To read the story in its original form, visit: monstercorral.com/2013/02/16/owd-hobb-by-josh-reynolds/
