Writing Plans

 My 2017 writing plans:

On Monday, January 1st, 2017, I start writing what I hope will be the first in a series of 70's pop-styled, space war action novels, tentatively titled Raid on Inferno. I have it loosely outlined - I've found in the past that if I do too much planning I feel stifled in the writing, and this time I want to try and keep it loose. I'm psyching myself up for it now.) My intention is to self-publish under the Atomic Pulp imprint through Amazon's program as both e-books and paperbacks. 

This is a big change in direction for me as I have almost exclusively only written comic books (and it's pretty much all I've ever wanted to write) and short fiction under 5,000 words. But my only two active comics projects (noted below) have stalled out or been postponed indefinitely, and while I'll keep plugging away at them, I've decided that it's time to try a different medium.

I'm nervous as hell about the idea of writing long-form prose, and as I struggle constantly with ADD and poor self-discipline, I'm worried that I won't be able to focus on a  single project long enough to complete even a short novel. But I've been receiving a lot of encouragement and support from my friends and fans on Facebook, and I'm going to give it my best shot.

I've also "dusted off" the first few chapters of my hardboiled fantasy mystery novel, The Sorcerer's Detective, and done some more outlining on that, too. I plan on keeping that on a side burner (so to speak) so if I get bogged down on the space opera, I can maybe switch over to the fantasy for a while.

I still have some Space Crusaders comics script writing to do, so I have that to fit in, and if Gravedigger starts up again, I'll have some more to write there, as well.

In terms of time, I should easily accomplish all of that (the only real benefit of being essentially unemployable). But it's discipline/focus that I have trouble with, so we'll see how well I deal with those issues in the New Year.

Wednesday Cover: QUARRY IN THE BLACK

Here's the cover for the upcoming Max Allan Collins "Quarry" novel, Quarry In The Black, from Hard Case Crime books. The stunning illustration is by the late Glen Orbik, a true pulp art master who passed away last May. Reportedly, it was his last completed cover painting. Quarry In The Black is the 12th(!) "Quarry" novel, and is due to be published in October, to tie-in with the Quarry television series on Cinemax.

GRAVEDIGGER Without Pictures?

Okay, here's a question for the readers of this blog - and the Gravedigger crime comics that I produce with Rick Burchett. If was to publish a short Gravedigger novel or novella through Amazon, would anyone buy it?

I'm not saying I'm even able to do it - I've never written a prose work longer than a short story - but I have about 4,000 words of a Digger story that I might be able to expand.... read an excerpt below and let me know what you think. (I've written more pages than this, by the way. And I ran this excerpt here on the blog some years ago in a slightly different form. If it sounds familiar, that's why.)

When the door burst open, I put two 9mm slugs into the first man's chest. The guy behind him looked vaguely familiar, but I didn't have time to take a second look as he raised an ugly, efficient-looking machine pistol and sprayed the room with hot metal.

The slugs didn't come anywhere near me, but they ripped the hell out of the small rented cabin. I waited on the floor behind the threadbare sofa, Beretta in my right hand, and when the guy with the squirtgun emptied his magazine, I shot him in the head.

I sidled carefully over to the two bodies and looked out through the open door and across the porch at the glass-smooth lake. Pale moonlight and flickering stars were reflected in its mirrored surface, and an aluminum rowboat I hadn't seen before was tied to the short dock.

I had no concerns about the gunfire. The nearest neighboring cabin was a good half-mile away, and was, at present, unoccupied.

I pulled the bodies into the room where I could see them clearly. I had been right about the second man; I knew him. His name was Wyatt, a burly, blond Australian ex-pat I'd worked with a couple years back on a payroll job in Nevada. The other gunman was unfamiliar; a blue jean and tee-shirt wearing kid, maybe twenty-five, with short, spiky black hair and a bad complexion.

I searched their pockets. Wyatt carried I.D. in the form of a Jersey driver's license and a Visa card that said his name was Porter. The younger man had apparently been going under the name of Joe Riley. I took their I.D. and credit cards and slipped them into my shirt pocket.

I wondered how they'd found me.

And why.

I'd been living in the two-room cabin in western Maine for three weeks. Not hiding out, exactly; just resting and recreating between jobs. Once a week, I took the rented outboard across the lake, hiked a mile and a half to the clearing where I’d left my Buick, and drove another few miles on mostly dirt roads into Rangely for supplies. The rest of the time, I sat on the porch, enjoying the solitude, smoking, and reading trash paperbacks, a habit I'd picked up during my one extended stay as a guest of the state.

I didn't think I was currently on anyone's shit list, but in my business you can never know for sure. Emotions often run hot when large amounts of cash are on the line, and those who make their living acquiring it at gunpoint tend not to be overly sensitive to other people's feelings.

I tried to think who might be carrying a grudge and who also knew Wyatt. The list was short.

Gavin. Fucking Gavin.

Of course, he was supposed to be dead.

Wednesday Cover: QUARRY'S CHOICE

The amazing Robert McGinnis, nearly 90 years-old and not missing a trick, provides this gorgeous cover for Max Allan Collins' latest "Quarry" novel from Hard Case Crime. I just got this book and it's right on top of the reading pile. Collins' "Quarry" novels, which chronicle the life of a hardboiled professional killer, are among my favorite books - and Quarry one of my favorite protagonists - in the genre. 

Guns In the Gutters: FALLS THE GOTHAM RAIN (1992)

Written by Devin O'Leary
Illustrated by Jason Waskey
2 Color, Graphic Novel
Comico, 1992

This slender, 48-page graphic novel from '92 is a bit of an oddity. It's a 40's-styled film noir pastiche with subtle sci-fi overtones that possesses some minor similarities to Alex Proyas' 1998 motion picture, Dark City.

Trench coat-clad P.I. Vin Dressler searches for a missing girl in an unnamed city/police state divided into a red sector and a blue sector, where it "rains every day." Like the aforementioned Dark City, the town has numerous billboards scattered around, advertising luxurious, tropical vacations, but no one seems to have ever left the city, nor does there appear to be any world beyond its borders.

The plot is thin and straightforward, the script by O'Leary rife with captions and dialogue loaded with the stereotyped similes and metaphors generally associated with private eye voice-overs. So loaded, in fact, that it's almost a parody of the Raymond Chandler style, though I somehow doubt that was the intent. The writer tries for a Kafka-esque tone of surreality, but is only partially successful. It's not terrible, just kind of half-baked.

The art by Waskey, apparently rendered in black & white pastels with occasional spots of red, is nicely done, atmospheric and moody, although there's a heavy reliance on photo reference. In fact, various noir icons make appearances in the book – copied directly from classic film stills – including Peter Lorre, Ingrid Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock. Some panels (the heavily referenced ones) are nicer than others, but the overall effect is quite pleasing, and is the book's main selling point.

For fans of classic film noir, Falls The Gotham Rain is a decent homage, but offers very little in the way of anything new. Its sci-fi elements are so slight as to be easily missed, and have little effect on the story itself, effectively amounting to nothing. Still, the art is nice, it's a quick read, and its heart seems to be in the right place.

If you stumble across a copy in a back issue bin somewhere, its worth picking up.

Three out of Six Bullets.

Guns In The Gutters: YOU HAVE KILLED ME (2009)

Written by Jamie S. Rich
Illustrated by Joelle Jones
B&W, Hardcover Graphic Novel
Oni Press, 2009

Modern authors who attempt period private eye stories often end up turning out pale pastiche or unintentional parody. Or their stories are so heavily infused with the author's historical research that they read dry and artificial. What is often forgotten is that the private eye mystery - regardless of period - revolves around character more than plot. This is different from most other sub-genres of mystery fiction, where plot is all; a puzzle to be solved. In a P.I. story, it's all about people; their secrets, their motives, their passions.

Jamie Rich and Joelle Jones' You Have Killed Me is a private eye tale that remembers that, and is filled with deftly-drawn (in all senses of the word), richly-developed characters.

Private investigator Antonio Mercer is hired to find an old flame, a high society gal from his past, who has gone missing on the eve of her wedding to a down-on-his-luck gambler. It's no surprise that Mercer's investigation leads through smoky jazz clubs and dark back alleys, to various and sundry unsavory individuals, nor that it ultimately becomes very personal for our protagonist.

Rich's script is sharp, with terse dialogue and narrative captions that don't fall into the trap of trying to emulate Chandler's distinctive - and easily parodied - flair for simile. Instead, the first-person captions are employed sparsely and used to provide a bit of insight into Mercer's private worldview. The story treads very familiar ground, but that's okay - while familiar, it is feels fresh and is skillfully constructed.

Jones' art is clean and well-composed. Backgrounds are occasionally sketchy, but the characters are all distinctive and expressive, and her storytelling is clear and cinematic. Overall, it's beautiful stuff.

Oni Press has done a really nice job on the production of the book, with striking, attractive graphic design and high-quality paper and binding. It's a truly gorgeous book.

You Have Killed Me is an excellent period P.I. tale, extremely well told. Highly recommended.

Six Out of Six Bullets.

Mickey Spillane IS Mike Hammer... in HD!

On October 14th, Scorpion Releasing presents the 1963 film, The Girl Hunters, starring author Mickey Spillane as his own hardboiled P.I. hero, Mike Hammer, on Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray version will be a limited edition and will be sold only on the Kino-Lorber website. It will feature a brand new 16x9, 2:35 HD master, as well as an audio commentary with Max Allan Collins, and vintage on-camera interviews with Mickey Spillane and Shirley Eaton (Goldfinger). MSRP for the Blu-ray is a hefty 29.95, while the DVD edition will retail for 19.95.

I am deeply annoyed that this will be an expensive Limited Edition online exclusive, but I'll have to get it anyway. I'm a big fan of the movie, and it'll be nice to finally have a quality video edition

Interesting note: back around '95, when I was working at TeknoComix as editor of the comic book series, Mickey Spillane's Mike Danger, I gave Mickey my personal VHS bootleg of this movie because he didn't have a copy and said he hadn't seen it in a decade or two!

Now, if only somebody could release the 1982 version of I, The Jury on Blu-ray...

Wednesday Cover: The Wrong Quarry

The "Quarry" series, chronicling the life of a Vietnam vet-turned-hired killer, is my favorite of author Max Allan Collins' various crime fiction series. Originally published in the 70s, the series got a new lease on life in recent years at neo-pulp publishing house Hard Case Crime, for which Collins has written five new Quarry novels. The latest, The Wrong Quarry, will be out next year under this gorgeous cover painting by Tyler Jacobson.

I've neglected this blog of late, while I concentrated on wrapping up a couple of projects, but I'm back and should be posting about comics, B-movies and other pop culture goofiness fairly regularly again... for a while, anyway. Stay tuned.

PERILS ON PLANET X & GRAVEDIGGER Return

Finally, after more than a decade of trying to pull my comics projects Perils On Planet X (an interplanetary swashbuckler in the Flash Gordon tradition) and Gravedigger (a hardboiled crime caper inspired by the Gold Medal paperbacks of the 50s) together and out to the readers, I'm pleased to announce that both projects - which originally started life together as online comics on the long-defunct AdventureStrips site - are returning to the Internet as weekly webcomics.

This is something I'd been thinking about for a long time, and thanks to my amazing wife, Brandi, who figured out how to set up proper webcomics sites, I'm finally able to get these comics back online. 

Perils On Planet X, with art by the exceptional Gene Gonzales, will debut on February 1st, with a new page being posted every Friday. Although the previous webcomic version was drawn by Jon Plante, this version is expanded and completely redrawn by Gene, with colors (on the first chapter) by Ian Sokolowski. The plan is to serialize the entire graphic novel (around a hundred pages or so) online, and then collect it in a print version upon its completion. We already have six month's worth of pages completed - and six months' more drawn and lettered - so maintaining the weekly schedule won't be a problem.

Gravedigger, by Rick Burchett and yours truly, will debut on February 4th. We'll be posting a page a week every Monday, starting with the original Gravedigger story, "The Scavengers" (which hasn't been seen online or in print for years) and then serializing the new one... "The Predators." As with Perils On Planet X, the plan is to collect both storylines in a graphic novel format once they are completed.

When we get closer to the launch, I'll announce the website addresses and provide links.

Wednesday Cover:VARIETY DETECTIVE

I swiped this from Paul Bishop's blog. I don't know who the artist is, but it's now one of my favorite crime pulp covers ever! Not only is that fantastic painting dynamic, but the cover copy may have just given me the name for a future Femme Noir villainess - "Lady Loot!"

The First PARKER Trailer

I have mixed feelings about this preview trailer for the upcoming film, Parker, based on the Richard Stark (Donald Westlake) books. I've been a bit wary about Jason Statham's casting ever since I first heard about the project - we all know that I love Statham as an action star, but I suspected from the beginning that the filmmakers would end up adapting the character to his established film persona, rather than get him to play the Parker of the books.

Based on this trailer, it appears that I was right.

The opening scenes of the heist and double-cross certainly have a Stark/Westlake flavor, but the rest of the trailer plays out like every other Statham star vehicle. Which means I'll probably enjoy it as an action movie... but as an adaptation of Stark/Westlake? Probably not so much.

Still, it's only the first trailer, and it may simply be a marketing choice (and probably the correct one) to try and make it appeal to the legions of Statham fans who probably don't have the foggiest idea of who the character Parker is.

I'll try and keep an open mind....

I do love the poster, though. Nice, clean, striking design.

Filling In The Gaps

Thanks to some recent freelance income, we were able to catch up on our overdue medical and veterinary bills, and even had a little left over. I've used some of that small surplus to fill in holes in my various pop culture collections. Specifically, I've bought the handful of seasons of the WB/DC Animated series Batman Beyond (seasons 2 & 3) and Teen Titans (seasons 3-5) that we were missing. I'm a big fan of both programs, and I'm grateful that I now have the complete runs of those shows on my shelves, especially since I missed the last couple years of both shows when we chose not to get cable TV here.

I also ordered the last Mickey Spillane/Max Allan Collins "Mike Hammer" novel, Kiss Her Goodbye. It came out last year, but I was unable to purchase it when it was released. Now I'm nearly caught up with my Collins collection... just in time to look forward to the next Spillane/Collins collaboration, Lady, Go Die! - which is due out in May.

Since I stopped buying comics on a regular basis several years ago, I have still tried to follow a couple of ongoing titles in trade paperback form. One of these is The Walking Dead, the other is Dark Horse' Conan. Unfortunately, money's been so tight the last couple of years, that I've fallen behind on both of them. I'm still behind (I think they're up to Volume 11 or 12... or maybe even beyond), but I was able to find volumes 7 and 8 of Conan on sale online at a very reasonable price, so I'm closing the gap slightly.

The two books arrived today, and I'm really eager to read them.

Wednesday Cover: Dead Weight

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been enjoying the 1957 Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer television series for the past few nights, especially the episodes written by pulpster Frank Kane. So here's one of Kane's "Johnny Liddel" private eye mysteries, Dead Weight. Enjoy.

More Covers For Perfect Crime

I just completed these six cover designs for Perfect Crime's upcoming re-issues of author Robert J. Randisi's "Miles Jacoby" private eye novels. As with the covers I put together for Max Allan Collins' "Nolan" books, the idea was to give them a uniform trade dress, while incorporating visual elements on each cover specific to that novel. These new Perfect Crime trade paperback editions will be available in June.

As with the Collins assignment, this one was a personal as well as professional pleasure. I've been a fan of Randisi's books since the mid-80s, and specifically, I always really enjoyed the "Jacoby" novels. They are steeped in affection for the genre and its history, and include plenty of nods toward other authors and characters from private eye fiction, as well as being terrific mysteries in their own right. Of course, I already own copies of all of the books (three in paperback, three in hardcover), but it will be nice to finally have all six available in uniform editions.

I've had the pleasure of meeting Bob Randisi a couple of times, and it was an honor getting to work on his books. Who knows? Maybe I'll get an opportunity to do so again.

Wednesday Cover: THE BLONDE IN SUITE 14

Max Allan Collins' NOLAN Returns from Perfect Crime

Max Allan Collins has been one of my favorite crime fiction authors since I first discovered his work around 1983. I was a fan of his comic book series Ms. Tree (with artist Terry Beatty), and, once I stumbled across a paperback copy of his novel Blood Money in a Dover, New Jersey thrift store, I was a die-hard fan of his novels as well.

Around 1991, I finally had the opportunity to work with him – first when he contributed stories to comics and magazines that I edited for a small company called Alpha Productions, and then again a couple years later, when I went to work for Tekno*Comix in Boca Raton, Florida. It was there that I had the great privilege of working with both Max and Mickey Spillane as editor of their Mickey Spillane’s Mike Danger comic book series.

Over the ensuing years, Max and I have stayed in touch off and on, and about a month or so ago, he contacted me to see if I would be interested in designing some covers for new editions of his out of print “Nolan” crime novels, scheduled to be published by Perfect Crime Books. These books, which chronicle the exploits of an aging professional thief and his youthful, comic-fan sidekick, are among my favorites of Max’s many works, so I was thrilled by the offer.

I’ve just sent off the final print files to publisher John Boland, and, with his kind permission, thought I’d share them here. Presumably, these books will be available for purchase sometime in 2012.

I really enjoy doing this kind of design work, and will be working on some covers for my pal James Chambers next.

Wednesday Cover: The Consummata

I was in a bookstore yesterday for the first time in months, and finally got to see the new Hard Case Crime releases from Titan Books. The new, larger trade paperback size is certainly attractive, but it's going to make it a bitch shelving the new releases with the earlier, standard-sized, HCC titles.

I picked up two: Quarry's Ex by Max Allan Collins, and The Consummata by Mickey Spillane & Collins. The Consummata is the long-awaited sequel to Spillane's The Delta Factor, wrapped up and polished by Collins and published by HCC under this gorgeous Robert McGinnis cover painting.

Oh, by the way, I'll have some interesting news to share regarding my involvement with some Max Allan Collins re-releases soon.

Wednesday Cover: Wake Up Dead

Never read the book (though I think I'd like to), and have no idea who painted the cover. But I love it.

Wednesday Cover: The Out Is Death

Cover illustration by the great Mitchell Hooks. The book's pretty good, too.

A Dog's Life... of Mystery!

I am not - generally speaking - much of a fan of literary "gimmicks," especially in mystery fiction, but a while back (I forget how - maybe through an Amazon "recommendation") I became aware of the "Chet & Bernie" mystery novels by Spencer Quinn (real name: Peter Abrahams), about a hardluck private eye named Bernie Little, and his canine partner, Chet... mysteries narrated by Chet. Yeah. The dog.

I don't know why, but that intrigued me, especially since the reader reviews on Amazon and other sites were generally very positive. So, I put the first book in the series, Dog On It, onto my Amazon wishlist, and figured I'd pick it up one of these days.

Well, on Friday, Brandi took a half day off from work, and with my jury service completed, we made an afternoon of it. We went to Longhorn steakhouse for an early dinner, and then went to see the last Harry Potter film. We had an hour to kill between those two activities, however, so we dropped by the local Barnes & Noble to browse around a bit. There, I happened to find the first and third "Chet & Bernie" novels in trade paperback, and remembered my interest in them. But at $15 each, it was a bit more than I could justify spending (money's tight for most of us these days), especially since I wasn't really sure if I'd like them, and they didn't have book 2 on the shelf. But, as we were leaving, I found the first two books - in their original hardcover editions - on the bargain table for only about $6 each. Two books for $12 seemed like a deal that made more sense, so I picked up Dog On It and Thereby Hangs A Tail (mystery writers love their puns, don't they?) and headed off to the movie.

I've already read the first book and am about halfway through the second. I'm kinda surprised, because I've had difficulty focusing on reading anything of length lately (my TBR pile holds the last two Robert Crais "Joe Pike" novels, the last two Spillane/Collins "Mike Hammer" books, the last two "Alex Rider" adventures from Anthony Horowitz, and Carte Blanche, the new Bond book by Jeffrey Deaver - all books that normally would get read immediately upon purchase, and quickly completed, at that!). But the "voice" that Quinn has created for his canine narrator is truly engaging, and I have been well and truly engaged.

The concept is ridiculous and impossible, of course, but Quinn manages to make it somehow believable. Chet (plain and simple) certainly possesses an astounding vocabulary, but his reactions, distractions, observations and obsessions are somehow... right. Chet's loyalty to his "partner," joy in life's simple pleasures, confusion over abstracts like finances, and overall ability to live completely in the present, all make for a unique and comforting read -- and apparently, these books were exactly what I needed right now.

As mysteries, they're not all that challenging, but they're surprisingly involving and enjoyable reads, and if you're someone who doesn't mind a little goofiness in your crime fiction, you might want to check them out for yourself. Me, I need to find that third book cheap now.... (Wait? There's four books?!)

More info at chetthedog.com