The Pirates of Xonira

Derrick Ferguson's Dillon is back in chapter three of Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira--now posted at the Pulpwork website. If you've missed the first two chapters, don't fret. Just keep on scrolling to the bottom of the page and you'll find them...

Conan vs. Frodo

And in one corner we have the two-hundred forty pound titan from Cimmeria who has trained for the bout by raiding ships and villages along the coast of Shem and Stygia with his piratical paramour Belit...


In the other corner we've got the seventy-five pound Frodo, who has trained for this bout by eating six meals a day, but has the advantage of a ring of invisibility...

I've heard lots of debate about who is the better author--Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, or J.R.R. Tolkien the creator of the Middle-Earth Masterworks of Lord of the Rings. Since I take part in a Howard List-Server much of the consensus seems weighted toward Robert E. Howard.

In his Epic Pooh essay, Michael Moorcock, author of the Elric books (and the man who created the Anti-Conan by making his hero a weakling that depended upon magics to survive), expresses his absolute loathing for Tolkien (and C.S. Lewis, among others), claiming that he and other orthodox Christian writers "substituted faith for artistic riguor" and "promoted their orthodox Toryism". Now I'm not clear on what exactly orthodox Toryism is but Moorcock seems to equate it with conservative values. Personally, I tend to see conservative values as a positive, not a negative. In contrast Robert E. Howard's Conan tales tend to illustrate the credo of "might makes right" along with his usual theme of barbarism versus civilization.

There's also the criticism that Tolkien's writing style is less vibrant. Author Jessica Salmonson once criticized my defense of Tolkien by saying "Howard is great, Tolkien is a bore!" And I must admit that with his vibrant use of words Howard does have the edge over Tolkien in this arena.

However, while Howard's works hint at depths of history and a rich tapestry of ancient civilizations (a method which I admit to using quite often) Tolkien had those histories fully fleshed out and could draw upon them with great accuracy and fidelity. Tolkien's works may be a bit slow going at times, but if someone sticks through the first fifty pages of the Hobbit they will be well-rewarded.

Ultimately, however, I find that arguments over who is the better author mean very little to me. I have love enough in my heart for both Tolkien and Howard; great authors with different strengths, who both changed the face of fantasy fiction forever.

The Obscure Works of Joel Jenkins, Part 2

The Eel and Adder tales take place during World War II and are written in homage to the pulps of the time. The Eel is a former escape artist and burglar who turns his talents to fighting for justice and against the forces of evil, and the Adder is a former thespian of great renown and a master of disguise whose mental stability is in question. In The Dust of Death they meet and join forces against a Nazi menace which hopes to spread death to all those living on Manhattan Island.

From that time forth the Eel and the Adder combine their efforts against the Nazi Threat in such tales as Death in Black, Iron Monster of Death, and Fire the Asylum. Some of these were published electronically via the daily pulp emails of Electronic Tales, but both Dust of Death and Iron Monster of Death saw print publication.

Originally Dust of Death was published in the pages of Double Danger Tales #28, a zine-style publication that has a great logo and great cover art (done by Damon Orrell). Though it is not as obvious in the photograph, the cover art was shrunk length-wise to fit the cover, and was not shrunk proportionately in the vertical direction--so the cover depicting the Eel and the Adder is not quite as nice as it should have been. It appears that a few of these back issues are still available at the Fading Shadows website for $6.30 post paid.

The Journal of Pulse Pounding Narratives contains Iron Monster of Death which introduces the intrepid Emma Trubody who goes undercover for the Eel to find the truth about a Nazi shipment that contains weapons capable of razing New York City. However, the Journal of Pulse Pounding Tales doesn't appear to be available anymore at the Moth Axle (the publishers) website--and searches on Amazon turned up nothing.

Tales of Masks and Mayhem, which contains a reprint of Dust of Death is easiest of all to find and is available at Amazon for around $20.00.

One day I'd like to publish all four Eel and Adder tales in the same place, but I have additional stories to tell about their adventures, so perhaps one day I'll have enough of their stories to make a novel length collection. In my mind I've tentatively titled this yet-to-be-completed tome, The Midnight Avengers.

Dark Worlds Update

I've just received notice that the first issue of the Dark Worlds magazine is slated for a June 1st release.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, my Barclay Salvaging science fiction story, The Investment, will be appearing in the pages of Dark Worlds--and I'm told that an artist is feverishly working on an accompanying illustration to render the horrifying and fantastic situation into which Aaron Barclay and his team of intrepid intergalactic salvagers have been thrust.

I'll keep you updated as more information falls into my hands...

The Return of Dillon

Derrick Ferguson has already published one Dillon novel, Dillon and the Voice of Odin, through Frontier Press and word has it that he has another in the works to be released through PulpWork Press.



Dillon is like James Bond and Doc Savage all rolled into one, and I recommend you pick up Dillon and the Voice of Odin on Amazon while it is still available. And if you want to get in on the ground floor of the 3rd Dillon Novel (and why wouldn't you?--this is good stuff) even as it is being written, be sure to visit PulpWork Press' placeholder website and check out Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira.

There are currently two chapters posted, and they'll be another posted every month. If you've missed the first chapter just scroll down to the bottom of page and you'll find it there.

Groaning Earth Progress

As many of you know, I'm currently working on the sequel to Escape from Devil's Head, which I've tentatively titled, Through the Groaning Earth. I've just recently finished a section of the book called The Jewels of Baba Yoth and with this latest section complete, I've hit approximately 49,000 words.

To anyone but a writer or a high school student trying to pump out the minimum required wordage for an essay, a word count doesn't mean a whole lot but most publishers look for a word count of around 100,000--which makes a healthy size novel. Through the Groaning Earth could end up a bit shorter or a bit longer, just depending on how long it takes me to tell the tale--but my word count tells me that I'm about half way through. Which puts me on schedule or perhaps a little bit ahead of schedule to complete the novel by the end of the year.

Amoral Characters, Part 2

In my ponderings on amoral characters I've done some ruminating on Derrick Ferguson's Diamondback: It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time. The interesting, and perhaps subversive thing about It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the time is the utter lack of good characters--and by "good" I mean characters with moral fiber or some moral rectitude, characters that choose the right more often than they choose the wrong.


Derrick Ferguson's story is populated by sleazy tramps, crooked politicians, cops on the take, power-hungry crime bosses, and blood-thirsty assassins (and that's just the first few pages). Normally this sort of set-up leaves me cold, because I like a character I can root for--someone who is trying to do the right thing and is battling against the overwhelming forces of evil. However, there is something compelling about being in the thick of things while this assortment of sordid characters conspire against, double-cross, and then triple cross each other.

One of my favorite of Derrick's characters is the voodoo-practicing crimelord, Toulon, who weaves juju talismans into his dreadlocks and is rumored to keep his heart in a box somewhere outside of his body. Maybe I like him because he's a family man--his one redeeming quality--but that still doesn't go too far in offsetting the fact that he's a merciless killer that dabbles in human sacrifice to demon gods.

Because both Diamondback and my novel, Devil Take the Hindmost, take place in the same sandbox of the City of Denbrook (the brainchild of Mike McGee) our various characters sometimes cross paths. In fact, I borrowed Toulon and he appears in the pages of Devil Take the Hindmost just long enough for him to wind up with a chest full of lead fired from a .50 caliber Desert Eagle handgun.



You see...when you borrow someone's character it's important to treat that character with the utmost respect. And in Denbrook, the land of amoral characters, shooting somebody on sight is the ultimate sign of respect.