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Checking in…

camilaSo The Second Book of Babylon was released this weekend and that’s probably a good time for me to say that I’ve started work on the sequel – I’m currently a little over 18,000 words into it. Once I’m done with this, I have a Gothic Romance that I started work on that I might go back to… or I have been dreaming of a return to Sovereign City to pay a visit to Lazarus Gray and company. We’ll see.

I’ve been binge-watching Riverdale lately as I try to catch up on the series. It’s definitely one of my guilty-pleasures.

On the comic book front, I’ve been re-reading a lot of old Ghost Rider comics, mostly from the Nineties and onward. I’m currently reading through the Jason Aaron run and I have a lot of mixed feelings about it — it’s enjoyably written but I hate how we have a gazillion Ghost Riders now and I don’t have a clue how Noble Kale fits into this mess that’s become the ‘true’ history of the Spirits of Vengeance.

Thanks to everyone that’s written to me that they’ve purchased Babylon. I hope you guys enjoy it!

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Press Release: Babylon arrives!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STRANGE ADVENTURES OF BARRY REESE’S NEWEST HERO DEBUTS-‘THE SECOND BOOK OF BABYLON’ DEBUTS FROM REESE UNLIMITED AND PRO SE PRODUCTIONS

Known for his innovative creations and exciting characters, Barry Reese is not only an award winning author, but also the first author to receive his own imprint from Pro Se Productions seven years ago. REESE UNLIMITED has become the stage for the adventures of Reese’s Peregrine, Lazarus Gray, Gravedigger and others to unfold upon, and now Barry adds one more blazing star to his unique universe. THE SECOND BOOK OF BABYLON introduces, and yes it introduces, a super hero as only Barry Reese could create.

Birthed from the horrors of American slavery, the spirit of cosmic retribution is called Babylon. Inhabiting a variety of hosts, the spirit has waged a war for the protection of innocents…but now he finds himself trapped under a mystical shield that has weakened his powers and left him without a host. With the world teetering on the brink of destruction, Babylon must find his way through a mystic battlefield that’s lined with betrayal, shock and violence.Award winning author Barry Reese (Creator of The Peregrine, Lazarus Gray, and Gravedigger) introduces his own brand of super hero into his REESE UNLIMITED Universe in THE SECOND BOOK OF BABYLON.

Featuring a fantastic cover and logo design by George Sellas, interior illustrations by George Sellas and Steven Wilcox, and print formatting by Sean Ali, THE SECOND BOOK OF BABYLON is available in print at https://www.amazon.com/Second-Book-Babylon-Barry-Reese/dp/1093713801/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_2?crid=1PAF49YFFCK8J&keywords=second+book+of+babylon+reese&qid=1556370966&s=gateway&sprefix=second+book+of+babylon%2Caps%2C227&sr=8-2-fkmrnull and on Pro Se’s own store at http://www.prose-press.com/store for $9.99.

The first book in this new Reese Unlimited series is also available as an eBook formatted by Antonino Lo Iacono and Marzia Marina for the Kindle at https://www.amazon.com/Second-Book-Babylon-Barry-Reese-ebook/dp/B07QZG11PS/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=1PAF49YFFCK8J&keywords=second+book+of+babylon+reese&qid=1556371129&s=gateway&sprefix=second+book+of+babylon%2Caps%2C227&sr=8-1-fkmrnull for only $2.99. The book is also available to Kindle Unlimited members for free.

For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, contact editorinchief@prose-press.com.

To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to http://www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

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CELTIC EMPIRE – Clive Cussler & Dirk Cussler

I’m finishing up reading this one right now and this review perfectly encapsulates my thoughts on it.

bookpostmortem

Celtic Empire.jpgA DIRK PITT NOVEL – An entertaining adventure packed full of action and our well-known heroes: Dirk Pitt, and all his NUMA team, plus his son and daughter, Summer and Dirk Pitt Jnr. all behaving heroically and surviving, of course. Well, mostly, anyway. Yes, I enjoyed it, more than some.

Adventure? Absolutely! And it rockets around the globe from ancient Egypt to modern Egypt, Scotland and Ireland, by every conceivable mode of transport, with the baddies never far behind, and sometimes ahead.

But, thriller? Not really. To me thrillers entail a real uncertainty as to the survival of folk the reader has gotten reasonably fond of, the demise of whom would be somewhere between sad and heartbreaking… No chance of that here, but I do love the weave of historical links, stolen artefacts and hieroglyphic clues which are the hallmark of a Cussler adventure. Add a dash of deadly disease…

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Legends Fiasco

So in a post that was in the New Pulp Facebook group (sadly, it seems to have been deleted…), we were all informed that proceeds from the Legends of New Pulp book were no longer going to be given to New Pulp writer and publisher Tommy Hancock’s medical bills but were instead going to be given to Airship 27’s Pulp Factory Awards to help all the members of that group not have to pony up so much every year.

I, and others, donated our work and proceeds to help out a fellow writer in need not to help fund a set of awards whose legitimacy I’ve questioned in the past. This seems like quite a bait-and-switch… I never would have contributed if I’d known I was donating to the ‘charity’ that is Airship 27’s awards. We have guys in the community like Jaime Ramos going through rough times and the money could go to him if Tommy no longer needs it… or maybe a fund could be set up to let New Pulp authors draw on the funds as needed whenever these terrible situations come up… but instead this is supposedly going to “benefit” all of the New Pulp community. No… it’s not. And even if you quizzed a handful of folks at Windy City and they all said it was fine and dandy with them, doesn’t mean it’s okay to unilaterally tell sixty writers and thirty-six artists that the cause they donated to is no longer the cause being funded. Right there on Amazon it says “…And all of it generated as a benefit project to aid and support writer/editor Tommy Hancock.”

For having questioned this decision, I was told that I was the only dissenting voice and that they couldn’t please everyone. Then all my comments were deleted.

As I said in the thread, I would like my story and name removed from the contents of this book. I have donated to the Airship 27 awards in the past – WHEN I WAS ASKED TO – but this particular book was not supposed to pay for awards, it was to help a fellow writer in need.

I don’t mind being the only dissenting voice when it comes to this – but, to be honest with you, I don’t think I’m the only one feeling this way. I’m just the only one that’s said anything so far.

UPDATE # 1: I have been informed by Ron Fortier that my story will be removed from the Legends book, as per my request.

UPDATE # 2: Ron Forter posted the following on Facebook about four hours after I posted this blog entry – RADIO ARCHIVES TO SPONSOR PULP FACTORY AWARDS. Recently Ron Fortier, moderator of the Pulp Factory Group, suggested that in the future, proceeds from the benefit anthology, LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION, go to supporting the cost of the Pulp Factory Awards. Sadly, several contributors of the volume were not in agreement with that decision, wanting the tome to remain solely for benefit purposes. After some deliberation, Tom Brown, Manager of Radio Archives, which is in the process of recording LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION, magnanimously stepped up to solve the issue. As of now, Radio Archives will sponsor the Pulp Factory Awards. As for the anthology, Editor Ron Fortier, is open to suggestions from all contributors as to where they would like to see the proceeds go.

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My Liberty Guard novel… is kaput.

noooooo-god-nooooI now have an entire novel written in someone else’s universe that won’t see print. Wonderful. Ah, well. I enjoyed working with these characters and feel that I brought something interesting to what I was given to work with. Some of the characters I have to admit struck me as incredible losers at the beginning but I really liked them by the end. TNT, Blue Fire, even that wacky version of Cat-Man that I think I took in some odd directions from where Jeff Deischer intended… I had fun ideas for one and all. I’ll probably repurpose some of those ideas for other characters down the road.

I hate that you guys won’t get the chance to see it.

It’s awful when things like this happen but that’s life.

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Babylon (Marvel Heroic RPG Stats)

babylon_small_no_textBABYLON
Created by Barry Reese

Affiliations: Solo D10 Buddy D8 Team D6

Distinctions: D4 (+1PP) or D8
Cosmic Spirit of Retribution
Unclaimed by Heaven or Hell
The Family Curse Unites Us

Power Sets:
Hell-Forged Armor
Enhanced Durability D8, Cosmic Energy Blast D10, You’re Guilty (superhuman senses) D10, Penance Stare (Psychic Blast) D10, Superhuman Stamina D10, Enhanced Strength D8, Subsonic Flight D8

SFX: Feel the pain you have inflicted on others! In an action including Penance Stare against a single target, add a D6 and step back the highest die in your pool by –1. Step up emotional stress inflicted by +1.

Specialties:
Combat Expert D8, Menace Master D10, Mystic Expert D8, Vehicle Expert D8
Milestones:
Vengeance is mine!
1 XP When you declare an opponent is a sinner and worthy of vengeance.
3 XP When you stress out an opponent you have declared worthy of vengeance.
10 XP When you encounter a truly pure individual or renew your commitment to deliver vengeance to all mankind.

Can’t escape my curse…
1 XP When you actively help a person in need.
3 XP When you battle a supernatural creature.
10 XP When you encounter Satan or one of his lieutenants.

Background Info:
The strange tale of Babylon begins with a slave named Gideon, whose taboo relationship with a young woman led to her murder at her father’s hands. Summoned forth by the unfair murder of a female, the Furies of myth attempted to gain revenge on her behalf. When the devil-worshiping father made a deal with Satan to save his own life, Gideon’s soul was offered up to the Lord of Lies… and Satan bound Gideon’s spirit to a set of armor forged in Hell. With this armor, Gideon defeated the Furies but was saved from Damnation by the arrival of an angel that argued that Gideon’s soul was not meant for Hell. A bargain was brokered in which Gideon would be empowered by both Heaven and Hell but claimed by neither. He would wander the Earth, occupying the bodies of his descendants, seeking retribution for those innocents whose blood had been spilled.

Though he had many hosts, his longest-lived was Daniel Higgins, a Jazz musician whose sister was killed by criminals in 1940. Together, Daniel and Gideon became a powerful force, battling a wide array of villains over the course of several decades. Daniel finally passed on to the other side in 2010 but his spirit was summoned back less than two years later as Gideon’s time with another host (Jennifer Black) ended abruptly. Daniel agreed to return to life and once again serve as host to Babylon.