Earp and Crow

I recently finished a section of my fantasy novel, Through the Groaning Earth, and though I've still got a few portions to write to complete the entire novel it's currently sitting at a fairly respectable 98,000 words.

In the meantime, I've taken a break to get a couple or three smaller writing projects written and off to the respective publishers that are waiting for them.

The first of these is a collaborative project for me--a Western tale for an anthology being edited by Russ Anderson. I'm working on this with artist, designer, and creative savant Damon Orrell who has provided me with quite a bit of background research that he's done.

The tale involves the meeting of historical figures Lone Crow and Wyatt Earp during Earp's tenure as the barkeep for the Alaska Trading Company in Nome and while Crow was in the employ of Miskatonic University in search of a professor who went missing while researching a pre-Tlinget civilization uncovered near Lake Bennett, about 50 miles from Skaguay, Alaska.

I'm hoping to wrap up a draft of it this long Thanksgiving day weekend.

Devil Take the Hindmost in Review

Pulp Fiction Review has posted a review of Devil Take the Hindmost. If you've got a few minutes cruise over and check it out, then check out some of the other book reviews posted by reviewer Ron Fortier.

If you haven't picked up a copy of Devil Take the Hindmost, yet, you can find them at Amazon.com, PulpworkPress.com or in digital format at Fictionwise.com.

The Pirates of Xonira Part 9

Be sure to check out the latest and greatest installment of Derrick Ferguson's Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira: Dillon, Toi and Shon scuba dive to the shores of forbidden Xonira in hopes of uncovering the secrets behind the Pirates of Xonira.

Dark Worlds Interview

G.W. Thomas, editor of the Dark Worlds magazine has conducted a short interview with me and posted it at the Dark Worlds blog. Check it out here. In the interview we discuss such topics as inspiration versus imitation, why write pulp?, which dead pulp-writer I'd most like to have a chat with, profanity in modern fiction, and my preference for vicious bloodthirsty vampires instead of brooding romantic vampires.

If you haven't already, do pick up the latest issue of Dark Worlds. The cover story (with fabulous cover art by M.D. Jackson), Lords of the Bitter Dark, is taken from my impending dark fantasy novel, Through the Groaning Earth.

Pumpkin Carving

The other evening we had a family night and spent some time carving pumpkins. After carving her pumpkin, my daughter Mikayla, spent a few moments examining the results and apparently noted that her jack 0'lantern bore an uncanny resemblance to someone that she had seen before.

"I'm going to name my pumpkin Hilary Duff!" she proclaimed.

I'm not so sure if Hilary Duff, former star of Disney's Lizzie McGuire and current pop star, would find the comparison flattering...
























Uncanny resemblance or not? Decide your yourself.

Lords of the Bitter Dark

I'm pleased to announce that, Lords of the Bitter Dark, a story extracted from my upcoming novel, Through the Groaning Earth, is now the cover story for Dark Worlds Magazine #2 and is now available for purchase at Lulu.com.

Lords of the Bitter Darkness revisits Bathos, the city of corruption, which is the setting for my previously published novel, Escape from Devil's Head.

When his ship is blown across the great oceans by a sudden storm and founders upon the reefs of an unknown land, Azark plunges into the depths of the fiend-haunted silver mines of the Monks of Racaovanj, in order to free some enslaved fellow sailors who have been captured and put to work mining the silver ore. Soon, he finds himself caught between the deadly monks that zealously guard the mines and the living dead that lurk within the deep caverns.

Besides Lords of the Bitter Darkness, Dark Worlds #2 is 120 pages chock full of pulpy goodness and features other stories such as "Voices" (Mystery) by Nick Andreychuk, "Cauldron of Life, Blades of Death" (Historical Fantasy)by David A. Hardy, "River Baby Weeps" (Horror) by Joshua Reynolds, "Trick Candles" (Horror)by Stephen D. Rogers, "The Clatter of Dry Bones" (Mythos)by Jack Mackenzie, "One Man's Trash" (Space Opera)by C. J. Burch.

Dillon & the Pirates of Xonira

Chapter eight of Dillon's and the Pirates of Xonira has hit the Pulpwork Press website. Dillon deals with the repercussions of a saboteur aboard his submarine, the Morgan Adams, and interrogates him as the ship slowly runs out of air, unable to emerge from the depths.

Check it out here. And if you've been enjoying Derrick Ferguson's Dillon tale, be sure to order up a copy of the full length Dillon novel, Dillon and the Voice of Odin which is for sale at Amazon.com.