Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 80
May 23, 2013
RED PLANET RISING Cover Sneak-Peek
Dave Golightly, editor of the forthcoming anthology, Red Planet Rising, in which I have a story, has released a look at the cover art by Brandon Wilt and it’s pretty gorgeous. Why not head over to his site and take a look?
My contribution is a reprint, this time around. “Mr. Brass and the Dragons of Mars”, which originally saw print in issue 5 of A Thousand Faces: The Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction, finds Mr. Brass and Teddy Roosevelt on Mars, attempting to kill one of the monstrous dragons of inner-Mars in order to cement an alliance between the United American Martian Territories and one of the native tribes of the Red Planet.
To learn more about Mr. Brass, the American Automaton, click HERE.
May 21, 2013
‘Steel True, Blade Straight’
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born today. I came late to enjoying Doyle’s work, insofar as it exists beyond Sherlock Holmes. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that Doyle wrote something other than the Great Detective, but when I did, boy howdy. I devoured The White Company, The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard, and all of the Professor Challenger stories in short order.
There’s something unremittingly honest about Doyle’s writing, even though it’s a sufferer-in-extremis of the imperial romance syndrome. Lots of sturdy, but honest peasants (or, conversely, murderous lower classes attempting to overturn the established social order) and chivalrous knights in his historical fiction and quite a few evil-foreigners-who-are-evil-because-they-are-foreign in his short fiction. But there’s a charm there that’s hard to deny. A love of story and language that keeps his books popular even today. And by books, I mean Sherlock Holmes.
Well, that and the movies. And by movies, I mean Sherlock Holmes.
He’d probably hate that.
Myself, I love “Lot No. 249″ like it was candy, you know? Pretty much every mummy movie ever is based on that story. I mean, yeah, Jewel of the Seven Stars, I know, but come on…that sequence where the mummy is stagger-dancing down that moon-lit country lane in Oxford, in pursuit of Abercrombie Smith? That’s the good stuff right there.
So, thanks, Sir Arthur. Thanks for making mummies cool. And happy birthday.
Also, thanks for The Lost World, because without that, we wouldn’t have gotten The Valley of Gwangi, and I don’t know that I could live in a world without the latter.
May 20, 2013
Manly and Me
This is one from the vault, but frankly, why re-write what you’ve already written, and well? Anyway, it’s Manly Wade Wellman’s birthday, and I want to talk about him.
Have you ever read Manly Wade Wellman? You’d remember if you had. His stories ran the gamut from science-fiction to horror, and the latter were, as the man said, a bit Johnny Cash meets the Cthulhu Mythos. He wrote about Sherlock Holmes and Professor Challenger fighting the Martians and about warrior-queens in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mostly, he wrote about the mountains, and the people who lived in them. And he did it well.
He influenced authors like Karl Edward Wagner and David Drake, as well as artists, musicians and a host of others, including film-makers. He influenced me, too. The first stories I ever wrote were Manly Wade Wellman pastiches. A lot of writers in the speculative fiction game start off with Lovecraft or even Howard, but I went straight at the big dog. The guy who wrote like I talked. He wasn’t some big-mouth Texan with a Celt fixation or the crazy-racist Yankee with a thing about fish and geometry. No, he was a stand-up guy. Prolific, too. In those first few months of discovering him, it seemed like I could read and read and never run out of stories about John Thunstone, Judge Pursuivant and John the Balladeer. But I did. Luckily, there were enough that I could start over fresh when the time came and re-read them.
Everyone’s got that one writer that they can go to when they’re in need of inspiration or comfort. That one writer that seems to say everything that needs to be said about whatever is ailing you when you pick up their book. That, for me, is Manly Wade Wellman. I think “The Third Cry to Legba” is the perfect occult detective story, and that “Nine Yards of Other Cloth” is as fine a tale of romance, ravenous horrors and redemption as you’ll find.
‘Pray for Hosea Palmer’. That chokes me up every damn time. If you know what I’m talking about, you’re probably tearing up a little too, because…yeah. If you don’t, you need to educate yourself, because you’re missing out.
Manly Wade Wellman taught me more about writing than any English teacher or creative-writing professor. He taught me that stories had to have a rhythm, like songs, even if that rhythm is weird and wonky and sounds like Tom Waits on his twelfth coffin nail of a twenty-smoke set. That cadence is better than dialect, because you can never reproduce dialect without it looking silly, but cadence will carry the sound right where you want it to go in the reader’s imagination. He taught me about Gardinels and Shonokins.
I wish I could have met him.
Anyway, today’s his birthday, so I thought I’d just mention it.
Happy birthday, Mr. Wellman.
May 18, 2013
The Ace G-Man Returns
Airship 27′s newest anthology, Dan Fowler, G-Man Volume 2, which I mentioned in my last post, is now available for your purchasing pleasure! The book is available in print via Amazon currently, with more options to come.
Here’s the press release:
Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to announce their fifth release of the year; DAN FOWLER G-Man Vol II. Volume One was published two years ago and well received by pulp fans warranting a second foray into the world of this classic tough guy federal agent.
One of the greatest pulp heroes of old returns in four gun-blazing new adventures. Dan Fowler, ace investigator for the FBI, is back action, this time facing off against quartet of deadly villains; from a hideous monkey faced gang boss to avenging the murder of an uncover agent. Along the way he’ll team up with a colorful assortment of allies from a sexy jewel thief to the none other than Jim Anthony, the Super Detective.
Writers Derrick Ferguson, Aaron Smith, Joshua Reynolds and B.C. Bell have whipped up four of the most fast paced, nail biting crime thrillers ever to grace any pulp collection. Dan Fowler is an iconic pulp hero who, during the course of his original series, battled criminals and outlaws from rural hick bootleggers to the organized syndicates of New York and Chicago.
“Dan Fowler was by far one of the most successful classic pulp characters ever created,” declares Airship 27 Productions’ Managing Editor, Ron Fortier. “If you start talking about any kind of crime fighting series, pulp fans will immediately bring up his name. It is synonymous with this particular genre of pulps. He was pretty much the Dick Tracy of the pulps. Airship 27 Productions is thrilled to be bringing him back into the spotlight of new pulp fiction with these original thrill-a-minutes tales.”
Wrapped up by a gorgeous cover from Brian McCulloch and featuring wonderful black and white interior illustrations by Neil T. Foster, DAN FOWLER G-MAN Vol II was designed by Rob Davis and edited by Ron Fortier. So move over Elliot Ness and Melvin Purvis, here comes the great G-Man of them all, DAN FOWLER!!!
AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!
My story, “Proof of Supremacy”, sees the Ace G-Man team up with the Super-Detective, Jim Anthony, as they race to investigate the deadly connection between a murderous gang of bank robbers and a kidnapped heiress. Along with the stories by Derrick Ferguson, BC Bell and Aaron Smith, it makes for a pretty snazzy anthology, so why not grab your copy today?
May 16, 2013
DAN FOWLER, G-MAN Vol. 2 Cover Sneak-Peek
Airship 27 has revealed a look at the forthcoming anthology, Dan Fowler, G-Man Volume 2, which includes stories by myself, Derrick Ferguson, Aaron Smith and BC Bell.
While the front cover is still under tight-wraps, the publisher was kind enough to give us a look at the back cover:
From the blurb:
One of the greatest pulp heroes of old returns in four gun-blazing new adventures. Dan Fowler, ace investigator for the FBI, is back in action again. This time facing off against a quartet of deadly villains; from a hideous monkey-faced gang boss to avenging the murder of an undercover agent. Along the way, he’ll team up with a colourful assortment of allies from a sexy jewel thief to none other than Jim Anthony, the Super-Detective.
Doesn’t that sound great? Dan Fowler, G-Man Volume 2 will be out soon, but while you’re waiting, why not grab a copy of Volume 1 from Airship 27?
May 14, 2013
Rough and Rowdy Review
Joseph Patchen over at the Lurid Lit review blog has taken a look at Hills of Fire: Bare-Knuckle Yarns of Appalachia, which includes my story, “Saxon and the Stand-Down”, and apparently enjoyed it quite a bit. Just what I like to hear.
From the review:
So why not go check that out? And then, if you’re of a mind, why not grab yourself a copy of the roughest, rowdiest anthology I’ve ever had the pleasure of being in? Hills of Fire: Bare-Knuckle Yarns of Appalachia is available from the publisher, Woodland Press, and via Amazon.
May 10, 2013
Interview of the Iron Butterfly
Richard Smith, converter, customizer and all around good bloke, has kindly interviewed me over at his site, Tales of a Wargaming Butterfly. We talk about Gotrek and Felix, Charles St. Cyprian, and writing in general. From the interview:
Why not go check out the whole interview? And after you do that, be sure to check out the rest of Richard’s site, especially the ‘Forge World Only’ project.
May 7, 2013
The Master of Monsters
Ray Harryhausen, the King of Dynamation, died today. There isn’t a lot I can add to the stirring tributes that are even now percolating. I loved his monsters as a kid, and I still love them today. The cyclopean centaur, the griffon, Talos, the skeleton warriors, the kraken, Calibos and his giant vulture, Ymir, and, of course, my favorite–Gwangi.
I watch The Valley of Gwangi at least twice a year. It has everything I want in a movie–cowboys, circuses, gypsies, elephants and dinosaurs. It’s a weird western, and a monster movie, and a romance and it has been a favorite of mine since I first saw it way back in the dim mists of childhood. The fight between the circus elephant and Gwangi (a Harryhausen staple) still raises a lump in my throat, as does Gwangi’s final stand in the burning cathedral.
Harryhausen gave his monsters a certain grace, for all that they were stop-motion puppets. They moved smoothly, thanks to his guiding hand and cinematic trickery, rising, hunting, fighting and dying with a life that even the greatest CGI nightmare as yet lacks. They had a roughness of presence that made them stand out on the screen, and his touch was invariably and ever-recognizably stamped upon his brute creations, like Frankenstein or Moreau.
The mark of the master upon his monsters.
May 4, 2013
‘Those Questions Which Lie Between Us…’
Today, I turn another year older. But that’s not the only momentous occasion that took place on this date in history, and I’ll be celebrating that one today, rather than the other. What occasion is this, you ask? Well..
’I am pleased to think that I shall be able to free society from any further effects of his presence, though I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to my friends, and especially, my dear Watson, to you. I have already explained to you, however, that my career had in any case reached its crisis, and that no possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to me than this.’
-AC Doyle, “The Final Problem” (1893)
Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty had their final battle on this day in 1891, according to Dr. Watson and Arthur Conan Doyle. If that’s not a date worth celebrating, I don’t know what is. I intend to watch the Granada version of “The Final Problem” (which you can watch on Youtube, if you’re of a mind) and then, perhaps The Pearl of Death and The Scarlet Claw.
And, as a treat for you, gentle reader, here’s a brief essay I wrote several years ago for a now defunct site, concerning the sinister maths professor himself:
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“The Napoleon of Crime”
There’s an inherent, primordial viciousness to Professor James Moriarty that many of the names you’ll see on this blog lack. Whether that’s due to the cold-blooded, reptilian nature of the character himself, or to the circumstances of his creation is up for debate.
Moriarty was created to kill. Both literally, and figuratively. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1893, the good Professor was a literary bullet aimed at the fictional heart of Sherlock Holmes by his creator. There’s a sort of sleekness about him, crafted as he was to be the dark mirror of Holmes, an insinuating sort of presence-we know who Moriarty is, because he is the reflection of Holmes. He possesses an implacable intelligence that we, as the reader, only understand as an afterthought. Deus ex Machina in a tailored suit and top-hat.
An evil genius with a criminal strain in his blood, his mental faculties rivalling or, indeed, exceeding those of Holmes and his brother, Mycroft, Moriarty was the emperor of the London underworld-a calculating Caligula, a soulless thing of cogs and gears and ruthless appetites. Where Sherlock Holmes is the World’s Greatest Detective, Professor Moriarty is the World’s Greatest Criminal. The perfect foil, the perfect executioner for a character that had taken on a life of his own, almost separate from that of his creator.
Too, for a character who lacked even the benefit of an on-stage canonical appearance (true, read The Final Problem…Moriarty only pops up in Holmes’ hurried explanation to Watson), Moriarty has had an impact reminiscent of one of those heavenly bodies he supposedly theorized about in The Dynamics of an Asteroid. He’s the phantom that haunts Conan Doyle’s opera house, trailing his shadow across the life of Sherlock Holmes and causing it to wither, even after his primary purpose had been fulfilled.
After Holmes’ miraculous return in The Adventure of the Empty House, he was never the same. Still the Great Detective, but somehow lessened, as if the memory of Moriarty’s near-victory had a vampiric effect on Holmes’ abilities. There are a number of further stories where the spectre of Moriarty haunts Holmes as he grapples with difficult cases, including His Last Bow, the final story in the official canon. The Professor even managed to worm his way retroactively into The Valley of Fear.
Then, consider the influence Moriarty has had on pop culture-eerily reminiscent of that of his enemy, dogging his footsteps beyond the boundaries of canon even as he trailed him across Europe. He has appeared in countless pastiches, sometimes facing his old foe, other times occupying the limelight alone (John Gardner’s Moriarty novels, for instance, or Kim Newman’s collection The Hound of the D’Urbervilles). He has made appearances in films and various other media. He has locked horns with other malevolent figures, including Fu Manchu and Dracula (both of whom also fought Holmes and neither of whom came as close to destroying the Detective as Moriarty himself). Whatever media Holmes conquers, Moriarty is there, slinking through the back door, inflicting himself on the unsuspecting.
It could be said that Conan Doyle, desperate to kill one egregore, unleashed a second, even more sinister one. Desperate to eradicate the ultimate hero, he crafted the ultimate villain, and one thing that villains are good at is cheating death. Moriarty, created to kill Holmes and then fade away like a bad dream, clung stubbornly to life, thrusting himself into the public consciousness via the very act that was supposed to bring about his destruction. And like Holmes, he has flourished in the aftermath, albeit in a more subtle fashion.
Appropriate for such a shadowy figure, don’t you think?
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And if you’re hankering for some Holmes, why not check out volume 2 and volume 3 of Airship 27′s Sherlock Holmes-Consulting Detective, both of which contain stories by me. One of ‘em is even a sequel to “The Final Problem”, in a way.
April 30, 2013
‘They are Lean and A-Thirst, He Shrieked’
Permuted Press’ long-awaited anthology, Times of Trouble, is now available! It features twenty-two stories of time-travel gone wrong, ably edited by Lane Adamson, including my contribution, “Hounded”. If you’re a Frank Belknap Long fan, you can probably guess what the title is in reference to.
Here’s the cover:
The anthology contains stories by folks like Brian P. Easton and Aaron Polson, as well as yours truly, and is available for the Kindle, the Nook and in a variety of formats from Smashwords. It’s only available electronically at the moment, but it should be hitting the shelves as a physical book sometime in the near future.
