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More Novel Updates

small_lazarus_batistaI enjoyed a nice vacation at the beach this past weekend and I’ve returned with recharged batteries! I added a bit to the novel yesterday and it currently stands at approximately 36,000 words. I still have a long way to go but we’re slowly getting there.

I also got the colored version of Chris Batista’s lovely Lazarus Gray image — with the colors added by the always incredible Tom Smith. Lovely stuff, eh?

As some of you know, I’ve long had a love/hate relationship with my writing. It’s often not something that I enjoy doing — rather, it’s more of a compulsion that I wish I could live without. With my busy schedule lately, I’ve had little time for working on creative projects, which has made it all the worse.

What does the future hold? I wish I knew.

But you have Gravedigger Volume Two and Lazarus Gray Volume Five coming later this year so don’t fret — more pulp adventure will be coming your way soon.

Take care, my friends!

 

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The Crossover Novel… More Details!

Barry_Reese_cover_colWelcome back to Ye Olde Blog!

Today I’m ready to announce that the crossover novel featuring Lazarus Gray, The Rook and Gravedigger will be called Götterdämmerung!

For those of you who don’t know the origins of the term, it translates as “twilight of the gods” and served as the title of the last of the four operas by Richard Wagner that comprised the The Ring of the Nibelung cycle.

The book will feature the cover shown at left, drawn by Chris Batista and colored by Tom Smith.

The novel is set in 1938, shortly after the events of “The Gasping Death” (The Rook Volume One).  For those who don’t remember, that was the story where The Rook teamed up with The Moon Man and gained his signet ring (the one he would sometimes brand the foreheads of criminals with).

Obviously,  Gravedigger and Lazarus Gray are both Sovereign City heroes so you can rightly assume that some of the novel takes place in that locale but there are also scenes in Atlanta (The Rook’s home base) and a good bit of traveling throughout Europe, as well.

Will we get to see some stuff involving the OFP (the Occult Forces Project) that bedeviled The Rook in so many adventures?

Maybe. 🙂

We’ll also see a new threat, a new villain that is powerful enough that it will require all three of my main heroes (plus a number of guest-stars!) to handle the threat.

So when will you see this book?

I’m currently in the stretch run on The Adventures of Lazarus Gray Volume Five… as soon as this one is finished, I’ll begin writing Götterdämmerung. So you’ll have to wait for me to actually write the book, then you’ll see Gravedigger volume two (already written) and volumes four and five of Lazarus Gray published before you get to see the crossover.

Honestly? That means you’re probably looking at 2015.

But good things come to those who wait, right?

Hope you’re excited about the possibilities.

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Wednesday Things

Barry_Reese_cover_colWelcome back to Ye Olde Blog!

I finished work on the latest Lazarus Gray short story yesterday — this one is the third of a projected five tales that will make up the fifth volume in the series. So far, so good. There’s a running subplot through the first few stories that will take center stage in the final piece so I’m continuing to build towards that.

Now I’m doing research for this Holmes novella I’m supposed to write. I’m still very daunted by the prospect. I suspect the best thing to do is to simply start writing and not worry about the reception it will receive. If people hate it and my version of Holmes, I’ll just shrug my shoulders and keep writing something else. That’s the only way to do it. Obviously, I’ll try my best to honor the character since I’ve always loved him but I know I’ll never be Doyle and won’t even try. I can only be Barry Reese and hope that’ll be enough.

Uploaded episode 57 of The Shadow Fan’s Podcast today so if you’re a fan of that, get to downloading! This week I review a 1946 novel and two recent Dynamite releases: the excellent Year One # 6 and the not-so-excellent Shadow Now # 2.

Our art today is the color version of Chris Batista’s cover for the upcoming crossover novel. Colors are by Tom Smith.

This one will bring together The Rook, Gravedigger and Lazarus Gray for a major adventure. When will it see print? Well, you really need to read Gravedigger Volume Two & Lazarus Gray Volumes Four & Five first… So it will be 2014 but I can’t say for certain when. Trust me, though, I’ll do everything I can to make it important enough that it deserves to be Lazarus gray Volume Six, Gravedigger Volume Three and The Rook Volume Seven, all rolled into one 😉

Thanks for supporting me and my little pulp adventure universe, guys. I never thought I’d get to write the sort of stories that I loved as a kid — and I hope my enthusiasm for the work translates its way onto the page. See you all tomorrow!

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Wednesday Updates

20121228-083913.jpgWelcome back, my friends!

Several things to share with you today — first off, I uploaded the 53rd episode of The Shadow Fan’s Podcast this morning. I’m afraid I go a bit negative in the direction of The Shadow Now # 1. It genuinely pains me to do it because I really want every Shadow comic and product to be the very best. As a fan, it’s in my best interest to see these things succeed. Having said that, this… was disappointing.

In better news, I finally (!) finished my Pulse Fiction story last night. Yep, I sent in the exciting tale of Doctor Darkness and The Insanitors to my editor and now I’m wiping my hands of it. The characters are fun and I hope they have a long life ahead of them but I really struggled with the story for some reason. Still, I think it works and hopefully folks who read it will be interested in the characters and they’ll continue on in other people’s hands.

So what’s next for me? Well, I’d like to belt out the third short story for Lazarus Gray Volume Five. I may lay some seeds in that one that will bear fruit in the crossover novel that’s coming down the road. That one will pair Lazarus Gray, The Rook & Gravedigger for the first time… and feature a heavy dose of my old character Catalyst, as well. “But wait,” says the one person who has dutifully studied my universe’s timeline, “Catalyst isn’t introduced until 1942! Gravedigger and Lazarus Gray are both back in 1937 right now… Are you skipping a few years?” No. If you read Catalyst’s introduction, you’ll know that there were Catalysts who preceded Nathaniel Caine… I’m pretty much spelling it out for you, right?

I’m expecting to get the color cover back from Tom Smith in a few days – Tom is a legendary colorist and I’m expecting to be amazed at what he does over Chris Batista’s artwork. I only hope my story will match the dazzling cover!

After I finish off that third Lazarus Gray story, I’ll be moving on to the next work-for-hire thing I have to do: the Sherlock Holmes novella I owe Pro Se Productions. As I’ve said before, this will be written in my style but featuring Holmes & Watson. I am not doing a pastiche.

The Liberty Girl book is coming very soon, as is the new Rabbit Heart release. I hope you’re excited about both!

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Tuesday Things

Shadowman-1-Valiant-2012-BHello, folks!

As some of you know (if you follow me on Twitter), I’m currently working on a story for Kindle Worlds — the officially licensed program that allows you to write stories set in some pre-existing universes (or “worlds”). As a longtime fan of Valiant Comics, I decided to dabble in the Kindle Worlds stuff with one of those characters. I chose Shadowman because not only do I really like the character but he’s the closest to what I write on a regular basis. I’m over 7,000 words into this short story and I hope to have it up and for sale in about a week or so – I’d love to have it up even sooner but I have a busy life in the “real world” this week. Still, it will be fun to see if there’s anybody reading/buying these things… the terms of the Kindle Worlds program are that they’re ONLY available as eBooks so you’ll need to fire up the Kindle to give it a looking over.

I will say that I hesitated to do one of these things mainly because I thought I should hold on to my ideas for one of my own stories… but then I figured that maybe this would expose my work to new readers and it’s always good to take a chance on that. If it fails to get me any new followers, the worst thing that happened was that I spent a few weeks writing about a character that I like anyway.

To celebrate my new story, I’m using a cool piece of Shadowman artwork on the site today. Enjoy!

Tom Smith, longtime Marvel Comics’ colorist, is currently working on the Chris Batista cover that I posted yesterday. The crossover novel still needs a title — if you have one you’d like to suggest based upon the art you’ve seen, feel free to pass it along. I’ll give you a “thanks” in the book itself if I choose to use it.

I’ve been talking to a prominent New Pulp author about doing a guest blog on the site… he’s raised some interesting issues in recent months on his Facebook page and I think they’re worth exploring here. I’m sure that many people may not agree with all his points but I think it’s a discussion we all need to have as pulp fans — how’s that for teasing you, eh? I love doing that.

See you guys tomorrow!