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New Pulp Links (Updated 9/30/12)

There are a lot of great blogs out there and it’s easy to miss many of them. So here’s a few that I think might be of interest to my own readers:

Coming Attractions — The # 1 place to find out out everything pulp-related that’s out there. You’ll be amazed though your bank account may not survive the experience.

The Nocturne Travel Agency – Tom Deja has been spending a lot of time recently talking about his newest work, The Shadow Legion. Good stuff.

Pulp Cosmic – Van Plexico’s newest blog focuses on a sub-genre of a sub-genre: cosmic-flavored pulp fiction!

The Black Centipede – Chuck Miller’s New Pulp hero is one of the most intriguing out there and this site keeps you informed of all his doings.

Runemaster Studios – Mike Bullock has written many of the classic adventure heroes and now he’s moving into New Pulp with characters like Xander!

Pulp Fiction Reviews – Author Ron Fortier does a lot of New Pulp reviews on this site and he always has great points to make.

New Pulp Fiction – A great catch-all site that features news releases, reviews and columns.

All Pulp – Like the New Pulp blog but a bit more news release-heavy.

Bad Girls, Good Guys and Two-Fisted Action – Author Sean Taylor provides a nice mix of interviews and essays.

Ideas Like Bullets — Infrequently updated, this blog has plenty of author Tommy Hancock’s views about New Pulp.

Bobby Nash, Writer @ Large – A promotional website for author Bobby Nash.

Sgt. Janus, Spirit-Breaker – Jim Beard’s ghost-busting hero is featured here, with serialized adventures and more.

Dillon – Everybody’s favorite New Pulp hero and his creator (Derrick Ferguson) are featured on this site.

InterroBang – Duane Spurlock’s blog, where he keeps everybody abreast of his upcoming work.

Fortress of Pulpitude – Geek Syndicate’s look at all things New Pulp.

Wrapped Up Like A Blog – The personal blog of author R.P. Steeves

Mechanoid Press – A new publisher on the scene, established in 2012.

Pulp Empire – A growing publisher of New Pulp

Airship 27 – One of the largest New Pulp publishers out there.

Pro Se Press — Home of my own Reese Unlimited imprint.

Wild Cat Books — One of the oldest New Pulp publishers.

Go and spread the New Pulp love!

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The Barry Reese Webstore!

Just can’t wait for The Rook Volumes 1-5 to come back into print? Do you really want to get a personalized copy of the first Lazarus Gray book? Or would you just prefer to have every penny you spend go directly to the author, instead of Amazon? If so, you might be interested in the newest link at the top of this site — “Merchandise”! Yep, you can buy books directly from me and I’ll sign them or personalize them however you want. Some of the books listed there are in limited quantity and once they’re gone, they’re GONE. So click on over and take a look at what’s for sale — all books are listed at cover price, regardless of what they’re going for on the secondary market. In other words, some of The Rook titles that are out of print are being listed for hundreds of dollars by re-sell vendors but here, you’re only going to pay what you would have paid when they were brand new. All copies are in Mint/Near Mint condition and have been stored in a smoke-free environment.  Major props should be given to LaToya Davidson, who put the store together for me (and who also designed both the About and Bibliography pages on this site!). Thanks, LaToya!

Our art today is by the incomparable Fred Hembeck! Fred was gracious enough to do his own version of The Rook and his lovely bride Evelyn. I love it!

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Friday Fun

Just started reading THE GREAT PULP HEROES by Don Hutchison. I’ve read lots of pulp resource books but this is one has slipped under my radar until now. So far, so good.

Working on Gravedigger the past few days. It’s still going well but I’m feeling anxious to be done with both it and Lazarus Gray Volume Four. A long way to go on each, though. It’s rare for me to write two books at once and the resulting increase in length of time it’s taking to complete them is making me antsy.

Sorry for the brevity in some of my posts lately — there hasn’t been much in the New Pulp field that’s gotten me excited or anxious to voice my opinions on it so I’ve been forced to look around for other things to talk about. I will say that some of the plots I’ve received so far for Tales of The Rook Volume Two are quite exciting, though. I look forward to reading the stories and then sharing them with all of you later on.

I inquired recently if anyone had any topics they wanted me to address but nobody responded so I assume you’re all happy with me rambling about whatever is on my mind at the time. If there is something you want me to cover, please drop me a line.

For those wondering about the Lazarus Gray Origins project, it’s still alive with artist Mark Propst. Maybe someday….

Our art today is by Norm Breyfogle. One of my favorite Rook images ever!

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Hack. Cough. Repeat.

Sore throat? Check. Tired eyes? Check. Feel like crawling in a hole and sleeping for a few days? Check.

Yep, I’m sick. Normally, the ‘con grunge’ hits me sooner after Dragon*Con but this year it allowed me a few weeks to lull me into a false sense of security. Sneaky thing.

Work resumed on Gravedigger last night and I’m currently writing a scene where she meets Max Davies, aka The Rook. Fun times. Gravedigger is very much a “spine” kind of thing, where it plays very hard with my other continuities. So there are references to The Rook, Lazarus Gray and much more. I’m still aiming for a first quarter 2013 release with this one but I need to pick up the pace to make that happen — I’m currently about 12,000 words into the story.

If you’re a comic fan, check out X-O Manowar # 5. Best comic published by the revamped Valiant so far. Really, really good stuff.

Reading “The Golden Dog Murders” right now — it’s a 1938 Shadow story. Good fun with some great scenes but it feels a bit like a mishmash of several different stories. Honestly, they’re throwing everything but the kitchen sink in there!

Reaction to yesterday’s Tales of The Rook announcement has been very positive — a lot of people are really pleased with the lineup of authors and are excited to see what they come up with. So am I!

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Tales of The Rook Volume Two!

Press Release:

The Rook first took flight into the world of New Pulp with the release of his debut story, “Lucifer’s Cage,” in 2006. Since then, he’s starred in six volumes of his own adventures, plus a comic book adventure in All-Star Pulp Comics # 1. The character has become a New Pulp standard-bearer and is recognized both inside and out of the ever-growing field. A favorite of many artists, The Rook has been depicted by the likes of George Sellas, Frank Brunner, Norm Breyfogle, Ed Mironiuk and Anthony Castrillo.

Earlier this year, Tales of The Rook was released to great critical and commercial acclaim, debuting at # 1 on the New Pulp Best Seller List. Now comes news of the follow-up volume, which will see print in 2013 from the Reese Unlimited imprint of Pro Se Press.

Rook creator Barry Reese says, “All of the authors who took part in Volume One did a wonderful job but I wanted to continue mixing things up, getting different visions of the character and his universe. To achieve that, I only sent out invitations to authors who didn’t take part in the previous book — and I think we’ve got one heck of a lineup!”

Pro Se Editor-in-Chief Tommy Hancock, who took part in the first volume, shares that same belief. “There’s nothing like a great idea. Except when that great idea has enough legs to come around again. Pro Se is ecstatic about Tales of the Rook Volume 2 and the ever growing collection of writers leaving their stamp on this iconic character.’

Lined up for Volume Two:

Russ Anderson, author of We Keep the Cars Running and the editor of the How the West Was Weird series.

Jim Beard, author of Sgt. Janus, Spirit-Breaker and Captain Action – Riddle of the Glowing Men.

Adam Lance Garcia, author of The Green Lama – Unbound and The New Adventures of Richard Knight.

James Palmer, author of Slow Djinn and the mastermind behind Mechanoid Press.

Sean Taylor, author of The Ruby Files and Gene Simmons’ Dominatrix.

Creator Barry Reese will also be contributing a brand-new Rook story.

Accompanying art is by George Sellas and is the cover of the Pro Se re-release of The Rook Volume Two

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Everyday, More Words!

So it’s a Tuesday here at Reese Unlimited and I’ve just sent out an invitation letter to several writers, gauging their interest in taking part in Tales of The Rook Volume Two! The first book went over very well and I’d like to see a second book that held up to the standards of the original — my hope is to have five NEW authors, along with a new Rook story from myself. Fingers crossed that there’s enough interest from the writing community to make this a reality.

Wrote a little bit on Lazarus Gray Volume Four yesterday — hoping to finish off a pivotal scene and then return to Gravedigger for a few days.

Currently reading “The Golden Dog Murders” — an old Shadow novel. It’s gotten off to a REALLY  good start. I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Can’t beat old Shadow novels for fun reading!

 

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New Pulp Best Seller List (Based on Amazon Sales Ranks 9/24/12)

It’s that time again! Before I unveil the Top Ten, let’s go over a few of the ground rules, shall we?

1) This list only tracks sales through AMAZON. It does not keep track of sales through Barnes and Noble, face-to-face or anything else!
2) This list only tracks PRINT sales. We do not currently track e-books. Exactly how Amazon calculates these things is mostly a trade secret and they vary wildly from day to day. If I checked this tomorrow, the list could be very different. This list reflects sales ranks as of Monday morning September 24, 2012.
3) In order to keep the focus on new releases, eligible works must have been published within four months of the current date. So, since this list is being done in September 2012, I’m only looking at books published since June 2012. Please keep that in mind before complaining that Title X is not listed. Also, keep in mind that for the most part, I’m tracking sales from smaller press publishers who actively publishing New Pulp material. I don’t generally track sales from Simon and Schuster or places like that — they have the New York Times Bestseller List for that. If one of the major publishers starts doing The Shadow or something, I’ll track that… but I’m not tracking Hard Case Crime or similar publishers any longer. The playing field is simply not level enough.
4) I am no longer tracking pre-release orders. Some publishers never actually release their books and when they do, it’s months after they were supposed to be released. Everything listed in the Top Ten is currently for sale.
5) Like the name suggests, we’re tracking “New” pulp — I’m not tracking sales rankings for reprints of classic material. In order for something to qualify for this list, it has to be at least 50% new material that has not been printed in book form before.
6) I am human. I make mistakes. If you are aware of a title that should be listed below (keeping in mind all the rules above), please let me know and I will make sure to remedy the situation.
7) I get most of my information from All Pulp, New Pulp, the Pulp Factory mailing list and a few other sites. If you think I might miss your release, let me know in advance — drop me a line and tell me when it’s being released.

Without further ado, here’s the completely and totally unofficial New Pulp bestseller list as of right now (title, then publisher, then release date, then sales rank):

1) Captain Action: Riddle of the Glowing Men by Jim Beard (Airship 27, July 2012) – 125,208
2) The Green Hornet: Still At Large by Various (Moonstone Books, August 2012) – 150,583
3) Blood of the Centipede by Chuck Miller (Pro Se Press, September 2012) – 327,012
4) Pro Se Presents # 13 by Various (Pro Se Press, August 2012) – 418,517
5) Jungle Tales by Various (Airship 27, June 2012) – 621,962
6) The Pulptress by Various (Pro Se Press, June 2012) – 1,007,513
7) Black Bat Mysteries Volume Two by Various (Airship 27, August 2012) – 1,124,408
8 ) The Adventures of Lazarus Gray: Die Glocke by Barry Reese (Pro Se Press, July 2012) – 1,317,105
9) Tales from the Hanging Monkey by Various (Airship 27, June 2012) – 1,584,419
10) Aliens Among Us by Various (Pulp Empire, August 2012) – 1,599,001

Just missing the list were: Sinbad – The New Voyages Volume One by Various (Airship 27, September 2012) – 1,599,182, Pro Se Presents # 12 by Various (Pro Se Press, July 2012) – 2,025,521 and Dillon and the Pirates of Xonira by Derrick Ferguson (Pulpwork Press, August 2012) – 2,214,408.

Captain Action is a former # 1 and has been a strong seller but to see it back on top this late in the game is a pleasant surprise. I can only assume Airship 27 will be announcing a follow-up soon. Chuck Miller’s Black Centipede character gets a new release, debuting at a strong # 3. Beyond that, it’s definitely a two horse race as Pro Se Press and Airship 27 swap spots all the way down to # 10, where Pulp Empire’s Aliens Among Us retains its spot on the list. Overall, sales are still a little soft compared to just a few months ago. Airship 27’s Sinbad book just misses the list this time around but the return of Jungle Tales to the top ten helps a bit in terms of market share.

From a publisher standpoint, we have four publishers represented. Airship 27 and Pro Se Press have four titles each while Moonstone and Pulp Empire each have one title on the list.

Take it all with a grain of salt, folks.

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Shadowman (Marvel Heroic RPG Stats)

SHADOWMAN
Jack Boniface
Valiant Universe (VH1 Version)

Affiliations: Solo D10 Buddy D8 Team D6

Distinctions: D4 (+1PP) or D8
Free-form improvisation in the dark
Fated to die
I love the nightlife!

Power Sets:
You the Shadowman!
Enhanced Reflexes D8
Enhanced Senses D8
Enhanced Stamina D8
Enhanced Strength D8
Mystic Resistance D10
Regeneration D8
SFX: Absorption – On a successful reaction against an attack using Darque Power, convert your opponent’s effect die into a You the Shadowman! stunt or step up a You the Shadowman! power by +1 for your next action. Spend 1 PP to use this stunt if your opponent’s action succeeds.
SFX: Something’s Wrong – Step up Enhanced Senses by +1 when detecting the presence of Darque Power.
Limit: Late Sleeper – Step back all You the Shadowman! powers by -1 during the day and receive 1PP. Recover during the next transition scene.

Specialties:
Acrobat Expert D8 or 2D6
Combat Expert D8 or 2D6
Covert Expert D8 or 2D6
Musical Master D10 or 2D8 or 3D6
Milestones:
Party Like It’s 1999
1 XP when you reveal to someone that you’re fated to die in 1999.
3 XP when taking a huge risk that should mean certain death.
10 XP when you either fulfill the prophecy in some manner or you manage to avoid it.

Dancing In the Darque
1XP when facing an enemy who is powered by Darque energy.
3XP when defeating Master Darque.
10XP when you absorb too much Darque energy and begin behaving erratically.

Background Info:

A jazz musician, Jack Boniface nearly died one night—attacked by something out of a nightmare. By fateful chance, he escaped. Just a murderous madman with a sick flair for horror, Jack told himself later. Jack recovered. But since that terrifying experience something has changed. Now, when darkness falls, a feeling comes over him, the urge to find demons who defile the night—his night—and cast them out. Jack was always a night person, but since the attack, he thrives at night. He feels strong, wild…and violent. Unaccountably, he sees better in the dark. Jack begins to roam the streets after dark. He comes across a brutal wife-beater…a gang of muggers…a knife-wielding psycho. Demons. The night is full of demons. Jack puts each of them down hard. He’s not sure how. He was never a fighter. But, at night, he has absolutely no fear…and therefore, no limits. He improvises. He’s spontaneous. Unpredictable. It’s all jazz and he can play. By day, Jack is his old self again. But more and more he lives for the night, longs for the night.

His major enemy is Master Darque, who is able to tap into and utilize a form of necromantic power dubbed The Darque Power or Darque Energy.

Roleplaying Jack can be fun. He’s a lot more manic and crazed at night, often putting himself into crazy situations. This was especially true after he learned in the original Unity crossover that he was fated to die in 1999. That meant that he couldn’t die before then and he took some incredible chances in an effort to prove it.

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Doc Panic Reviews “Rabbit Heart”

Doc Panic (David White) posted the following review of RABBIT HEART on Amazon.com:

WOWWW!!! This book really jumps outside the lines of what I have read in the past from Barry. It was not a bad thing though. The book is more of a R rated book and that is putting it mildly, but don’t let this fool you. The book is still packed with the great story telling and wonderful character creation I have come to expect from Barry. It also has quite a bit of input from Ascott Keane, the Occultist, who I have enjoyed and wanted to see a little more of. This book provides that, and in some ways even shows a little deeper side of the character, which was great.

The story centers around a young girl named Fiona Chapman, who finds her life changed at an early age, but decides to choose her own path, and with a little nudge from Ascott, she does.

The book has a very strong sexual and somewhat violent context, but it grabs hold of you from the beginning and doesn’t let go till the end, and if you are like me, you will be wanting MORE!

Thanks, Doc! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I did begin a sequel at one point but I set it aside — it was MUCH more violent and sexual than Rabbit Heart and I just thought it was a little too much. Plus, writing Rabbit Heart was a very dark period for me, creatively, and I haven’t been bold enough to go back there yet. But maybe someday!