Horror Aficionados discussion
This topic is about
The Saga of Dead-Eye Book One
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
>
January 2022 Group Read with Guest Author, Ronald Kelly
Mod
Mod
Mod
I'll do my best to fit this one in.
Mod
Howdy Folks! I’m happy to be here to answer any questions you might have about Book One of The Saga of Dead-Eye. This is a horror western series 45 years in the making, so I’m looking forward to hearing what you think. I hope y’all enjoy it! 🤠🐴🧛🏻♂️🧟♂️🧙🏾♂️
Mod
Horror x western is an incredible mash up of genres, also 45 years in the making, wow.
Mod
Kenneth wrote: "Hey Ron. Thanks for joining us. Your story on how Dead-Eye came to fruition is a hell of a tale. Would you mind sharing it here?"Believe it or not, the origin of Dead-Eye as a fictional character began in 1976, during my junior year in high school. I was an aspiring comic book artist then and avid reader and, among my stable of "superheroes" I had one western character, and that was a gunfighter with a glowing left eye named Dead-Eye. He never made it into one of my homemade comic books, so he was filed away with the rest as I began to turn my interest more and more toward writing fiction.
As I began to learn to write by trial and error in the early and mid-eighties, I became convinced that I wanted to make my name in the western genre. I decided to write a whopping 880 page traditional epic western with Dead-Eye as the protagonist. Needless to say, the western publishers weren't as enthusiastic about such a massive+ tome as I was. My agent shopped it around to numerous publishers, but none would publish it. So, once again, Dead-Eye went back into the files in my mother's old cedar chest.
When I was halfway through my mass market paperback career with Zebra Books in the mid-90s, I decided to pitch Dead-Eye to Berkley Books as a horror western series, with DE as a zombie gunfighter battling one cryptid or monster after another. Berkley was interested, but didn't believe I could sustain a "monster of the month" series for a lengthy period of time. Of course, they were right (Dead-Eye would have ended up battling Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and aliens before it was over and done with), so, once again, he went back into that dusty cedar chest.
Flash forward to 2020. Death's Head Press began to release their line of popular splatterwesterns and I thought it would be a good opportunity to resurrect ol' Dead-Eye from the grave once again; this time with a sidekick... a Louisiana mojo man named Job. I pitched the series to Thunderstorm Books, who agreed to publish five volumes over three years as a limited edition. Silver Shamrock agreed to do the ebook and paperback editions on the same three year schedule.
So, there you have it. How a character finally came to be 45 years after he was first created.
"Dead Eye" looks great! I'll be joining in. He's reminding me a little of my brother's obsession with the Jonah Hex comic of the 70s and 80s.
Netanella wrote: ""Dead Eye" looks great! I'll be joining in. He's reminding me a little of my brother's obsession with the Jonah Hex comic of the 70s and 80s."
I can't deny that the Jonah Hex comics probably influenced the creation of Dead-Eye to some degree around the same time period. Also, George G. Gilman's ultra-violent Edge paperback series and Eastwood's Man with No Name. Stoic, hard-edged loners with a proficiency with firearms was the fodder of western fiction/cinema back in the day.
Wow Ronald! Thanks for that origin of Dead-Eye! I find it very impressive that you never gave up on a great character, just waited for their time to come. I'll be getting into this one soon!
Mod
Mod
Latasha wrote: "How much civil war research went into this book? I also loved that you mention Soddy- Daisy, TN. I’m always delighted when I get spam calls from there. I’ve never been but I admire the unusual name."I've always been heavily into Old West and Civil War history, especially when I was in my twenties. So, I reckon including some Civil War lore into the storyline was just second nature.
I'm new to the horror genre and really looking forward to expanding my reading horizons in this group. This particular book fascinates me as I'm very interested in Civil War history and westerns. Really looking forward to reading it!
Tennessee was a border state, if I recall, so a lot of the fighting during the Civil War occurred there. I enjoyed that Dead-Eye is a Civil War veteran - it adds authenticity to a book that is peopled by zombies, vampires, and demonic horses!I finished the book early this morning - it was a fun read, and made me laugh out loud in a few places. I'm eager for others to catch up to the conversation!
Hi Ronald! I'm so happy to have you back here again! I have my copy and I'm hoping to join in the conversation here soon.
Happy New Year to you, sir!
Mod
I got my copy yesterday. I can't wait to start the new year off with a wild adventure.
Mod
Mod
"
Love it!
Mod
Mod
Latasha wrote: "Ron, I just met Job and I love him. Was the villains created the same time as Dead Eye or did they come later?"In the traditional western version of Dead-Eye, Jules Holland was a Union soldier who sought revenge because Joshua Wingade had severed his hand with a calvary sabre during a Civil War battle. When I decided to add supernatural elements to the storyline, Holland became a vampire outlaw. I only decided to include the three henchmen and Evangeline the witch when I began to plan this five-book series. Actually, the demonic bounty hunter, John Legion, first appeared in my novella, "Strong Steps" back in 2016. Legion will be a recurring character throughout the series.
Kasia wrote: "I ran into this artwork yesterday from Roman Chaliy and immediately thought of Dead-Eye! " I love this artwork! It does have the same vengeful dead mood as DE. Even the specter's pistol is the same... either a Colt Dragoon or Walker. And I love the two arrows through his torso. I'll have to check out more of Roman's work.
Alan wrote: "Four chapters in, and in the foreward of the book you teased there may be some cosmic horror, and by golly, there was some Lovecraftian/cosmic elements. That makes me happy to read."Alan, I first read H.P. Lovecraft when I was fourteen years old and his work completely bumfuzzled me at that age. I just couldn't wrap my head around his concepts or his style of writing. But, I recently began to give him another try. I've also been reading cosmic horror by Mary Sangiovanni and Hailey Piper. It's opened a lot of possibilities with some of my future projects, including FEAR ETERNAL, the upcoming sequel to FEAR.
Mod
Mod
The smatterings of cosmic horror in this story were spot on. They felt inspired by H.P. more than just as a pastiche of him. Well done sir.
And I'm already finished. This was a fast, fun, funny entertaining read. In a lot of ways it reminded me of one of my all-time fave TV shows, "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.", but with the Scif-Fi and Steampunk elements replaced with horror and hoodoo. I've been hesitant to try the recent rash of "Splatter Western" because I'm not into extreme gore, but this book I really enjoyed, and it didn't so much feel like "splatter" to me; rather, it was just Western/Horror.
And the story had arguably the best line I've read in a book in eons: (view spoiler) Loved that line!
Alan wrote: "Ronald wrote: "Alan, I first read H.P. Lovecraft when I was fourteen years old and his work completely bumfuzzled me at that age. I just couldn't wrap my head around his concepts or his style of wr..."Thank you, Alan! I'm glad you enjoyed Book One!
Mod
Mod
Mod
Kenneth wrote: "Ron, I know that you’re no stranger to writing westerns and have an interest in Civil War/late 1800s time period. Was there anything that sparked your interest in these subjects?"The stories my grandmother told when I was a child really got me interested in Civil War and western history. She told me dozens of tales about my ancestors fighting in the War Between the States, both for the Union and the Confederacy. It was even believed that my great-great grandfather was a Confederate spy (he disappeared shortly after the Battle of Murfreesboro, but was never found, although Union scouts tracked him to the edge of the Cumberland River). Also, my grandmother claimed that my great grandfather and grandmother gave shelter to Frank and Jesse James and the Youngers during their exploits, mainly because rural folks saw them as modern-day Robin Hoods. I grew so engrossed with her storytelling, that I studied Civil War and Old West history during my teenage years, read a lot of western fiction, and even took up black powder shooting, gunsmithing, and knifemaking during my twenties and thirties.
Alan wrote: "Ronald wrote: "Alan, I first read H.P. Lovecraft when I was fourteen years old and his work completely bumfuzzled me at that age. I just couldn't wrap my head around his concepts or his style of wr..."I was laughing my ass off at that Alan!
Mod
Ronald, I finished this over the weekend and I enjoyed it so much! It had cosmic horror, humor, a little gore, gunfights...I mean what's not to like?
Do you or Ken know how these novellas will be spaced out? In other words, how long until the next one is available?
Char wrote: "Ronald, I finished this over the weekend and I enjoyed it so much! It had cosmic horror, humor, a little gore, gunfights...I mean what's not to like?
Do your or Ken know how these novellas will b..."
Char, Book Two: Werewolves, Swamp Critters, & Hellacious Haints should be out around June of this year, and Book Three in December. So, one volume every six months until the series ends in December of 2023. I'm really looking forward to getting to work on Book Two. It's going to be a monsterfest!
Alrighty then, thank you! I'm going to save spots in those months right now!
I just picked up my copy and plan on starting today. To be honest, westerns are not really my thing, but anything with a "splatter" prefix is going to grab my attention. I'm excited to dip my toe in this new to me genre!
Mod
Mod
It had cosmic horror, humor, a little gore, gunfights...I mean what's not to like?
Do you or Ken know how these novellas will be..."
That was my question, too! :D
Kenneth wrote: "Ron, do you have a particular favorite sub-genre of horror to write in?"I reckon Southern horror would be my favorite, since I've been writing the stuff since day one. Also, I like to write extreme and body horror. And I'm really having fun writing Western horror, which I believe describes Dead-Eye better than Splatterwestern. True, there are some gory scenes at time, but not as extreme as the splatterwesterns seem to be.
I have lived the last twenty years in middle TN and recognize many of the locations. I have ridden horses on the Natchez Trace since I moved here. Ron, do you find it easier to write about real locations, or ones wholly fictional?
Badseedgirl wrote: "I have lived the last twenty years in middle TN and recognize many of the locations. I have ridden horses on the Natchez Trace since I moved here. Ron, do you find it easier to write about real l..."
Howdy, fellow Tennessean! When it comes to period fiction that is set during the Civil War or the Old West, I gravitate toward using actual locations. Of course, the towns and territories mentioned are only representations of how I imagine them as being in the past (sometimes I do research and uncover actual maps of that time period; you wouldn't believe how many towns were founded around the late 1800s and early 1900s that weren't even around during the Civil War or the Old West). In my present day fiction I usually set the storyline in places made up from my imagination. Most of the settings in my Zebra novels were fictional towns and counties that were loosely based on places I was familiar with or had lived in at one time. Pikesville near Fear County and Coleman in Bedloe County are fictional areas that show up from time to time in my short stories and novels... forming my own Southern-fried horror mythos in a way.
Mod
Latasha wrote: "That was a fun trip Ron!"Thanks, Tosha! I'm glad you enjoyed Book One.
Obviously decided to do this group read just by reading the name starting it asap
Grab your copy by clicking the link below and please help me welcome back to Horror Aficionados, Ronald Kelly!
https://geni.us/BO81PLX