Elsewhere In The Multiverse Part Five: Meet Jeff Deischer!

Somehow, I think Jeff is older now...

Many writers have looked at the various super-heroes that have entertained them throughout th years and desired to make something of them.  For the majority of people who have this desire, the path leads to fanfiction.  Some people actually get entrance into the hallowed halls of Marvel or DC and get to guide the lives of present day heroes.  Some, like myself, Van Plexico, Lee Houston Jr. and others who have graced The Agency, have created their own super-heroic universes to play with.

And then there’s Aurora, Colorado’s Jeff Deischer.

In Deischer’s new novel The Golden Age, now available from Van’s White Rocket Books, Jeff has taken the entire Standard/Bettor/Nedor stable of super-heroes that battled evil from 1939 to 1956 and built an entire super-hero universe from the ground up in an adventure with WWII as the backdrop.  Jeff finds ways to connect such disparate characters as Major Wonder, The Sphinx, The Crusader, The Black Terror, The American Eagle, and Pyroman to create a coherent world that was anathema in the Golden Age of comics.  This results in a super-hero novel that is true to the Golden Age while also having the feel of a modern continuity-heavy super-hero comic universe.

So let’s take a few minutes to learn about Jeff Deischer and The Golden Age!

Jeff, welcome to The Agency!

Thanks for having me!

So tell us about how you got into comics, and what led you to write THE GOLDEN AGE....

I started reading comics about 1970, though I have a very few from before that. I was exclusively a Marvel fan, reading a combination of new stuff and Lee-Kirby reprints.

I'd being done mostly pulp stuff, both fiction and non-fiction for a few years and really wanted to do something with superheroes. After a couple of false starts, I decided the best way to market a superhero prose novel might be do use public domain characters. So after making a survey of 1940s defunct comics companies, I decided that Nedor would be best, mostly due to the large number of characters they had.

Why do you think more writers don't plumb the depths of public domain characters?  There's literally hundreds, maybe thousands of characters a writer can make something out of lying around for the asking!

I don't know. It hadn't seriously occurred to me until I'd read Dynamite's Project Superpowers series, which I thought was the most interesting comics idea in some years. The current trend of comics mostly turns me off. It seems like it's all about a new idea and a quick buck, rather than good, old-fashioned storytelling.

The thing I loved about your mining of Nedor is the sheer width and bredth of the characters you unearthed--I mean, who could believe that there was a character as oddball as The Reaper running around in the Golden Age of Comics?

Yeah, thanks. From the start, my intent was to introduce and entire universe of characters, not just one and then explore his milieu through only his eyes. I think that's what intrigued me about Project Superpowers, to some degree -- there's all these different characters, from diverse companies and background. It was like opening a present every issue! I didn't really think of this on a practical level, but one advantage is that there must be some character that a reader will like, with all the variety.

Yeah, and I liked how you made some connections between them-particularly how you kind of put Major Wonder. Pyroman and The Crusader together as one branch of the Nedor family tree.


Given that so many of the characters you were working with were tabula rasas--being in some cases a costume, a power set and a secret identity--how much did you add to the way the characters were presented to flesh them out?

 To begin with, I started with very few preconceived notions. Originally, I knew very little about any of the characters. I found a few online sources (Wikipedia being one of them, and maybe International Heroes), which gave only names, maybe a civilian name, maybe a photo of a costume and maybe a foe. So I basically filled in everything else in most cases. Then, when I was about 3/4 of the way through the manuscript, I found Comic Books Plus website, which has many, many issues of the old Nedor comics. I spot-checked some stories, and made a few changes based on when I found, but not many -- I liked what I'd developed and didn't want to rewrite the manuscript from the start. And because the Golden Age stories what they were -- long on plot and short on characterization  I really didn't have to change much. Introducing so many characters didn't allow me to get into supporting cast, which is really what the comics turned up more than anything.

Speaking of your cast--it is MASSIVE!  How did you keep track of everybody while advancing the plot of the Gold Dragon Society's creation of Project: Sakura?

I used 22 characters, not counting 2 sidekicks. I started with the overall progression of the Dragon Society's scheme, and then plugged heroes in as I felt they could fit. For example, having the villains arrive on the Wesrt Coast (as might be expected), allowed me to use West Coast heroes. Ditto the Africa and European locales. With most of my heroes in NYC, that's where things got a bit tricker. But I had a master list of characters I wanted to use, so had something to work with there. You might notice that Doc Marvel gets a chapter and half that has nothing to do with Sakura -- but I wanted to include him in the book, so found a way to tie him in. It was easier than you think, probably. Characterization was just as important as plot to me.

Was there any character who 'broke out' as you wrote him or her, someone who ended up with a larger part to play in the story?

Until I got to plotting the finale, I didn't who it would star. In the first draft of the plot, it was just "some heroes".  But as I got to outlining the ending -- the outline containing specifics of who does what, for those who don't know the difference between a plot and an outline -- I saw that I could keep using Major Wonder and Pyroman, who'd starred in the previous two chapters, and then logically tie them to the Crusader -- thereby giving symmetry by ending the story with the hero who had begun it. But the breakout "star" to me is the Reaper, whom several people have told is their favorite character. He's mine, too, if I had to choose one.

He's just so....weird, although I suppose he falls into the tradition of The Psychic Detective that includes Dr. Occult on one side and Kolchak and John Constantine on the other....

So since you wanted to give these characters actual character...how did you approach making each of your Terrific Two Dozen distinctive for the readers?

Weird "good", I hope. The only description I had for the character upon whom the Reaper is based was something like, "wears plainclothes, possesses superstrength which seems to be supernatural". So I had a lot of room to work with. I thought, maybe it would be interesting to make him a mystic bloodhound that doesn't really know what he's doing. In this way, he wouldn't be invincible, like some mystic characters ought to be based, on their powers. It was an interesting take to me, anyway, and that's were things begin: If I'm not interested in my characters, how can I expect readers to be?

To answer your other question, what I tried to do with each and every character was to figure out what I thought made them who they were, that is, unique as a character, then build upon that. I tried to make them more realistic, more logical. So a lot of the minor changes I made I'd probably have made even if I'd had access to all the stories before I started the project -- maybe they'd be different, as I try to use as much of the original material as possible for inspiration (in later volumes that I've been working on), but I'd still discard or rearrange bits that I feel don't fit. Readers are more mature today than they were 60 years ago, and they expect characterization and realism.

How realistic did you want the WWII backdrop of the story, given that some of these characters have real life events like Pearl Harbor as part of their origin?

I'm no expert on the period, but I'm knowledgeable. I used what I knew, then did research to fill in the blanks for what I didn't know.  I used a lot of real-life material in small ways.

I'm assuming the Hood and the Golden Dragon were two separate personages in the original stories--what made you fuse these two villains into one?

Neither appeared in the original stories. I hadn't read any of the original stories until the first draft was 3/4 finished. So all of the villains with the exception of the Tankonaut, are my own creation.

And the Hood was a Black Dragon, not the Gold Dragon.

And I would have thought the Tankonaut was the original one...he seemed like a take-off on the Juggernaut!

"He" started off as a flying tank in the original story, and I wanted an honest-to-god supervillain, so I spruced him up a bit.

The Tankonaut does provide a moment of comic relief during a period where the book is getting kind of grim...

That was on purpose, of course.

Now at the end of this novel, you have an entire, coherent super-hero universe.  Did you do this with the idea of taking your characters further down their timeline, maybe even past the 1956 date when Nedor ceased publication?

Yeah, there will be many, many future volumes. I have about 30 planned, some which will take raeders to other times and other worlds, but most will occur in the "golden age" -- 1939-56.

I know that a rare handful of the Nedor characters have had previous revivals--I'm reminded of the Beau Smith Black Terror, for example. What do you hope readers coming to your novel will get from your versions that others haven't provided?

Well, it's both authentic pulp and authentic superheroes. I haven't read the BT you mention: I read the Chuck Dixon version and liked it -- but he wasn't a superhero. So the book should appeal to anyone who likes pulp adventure or superheroes.

That's the great thing about the novel--the way it successful straddles both genres--and both the 'golden age' and silver age' sensibilities--while seeming thoroughly authentic.

Thanks. I started with the idea of comics coming out of the pulp era, and wrote it like it was being told in the Silver Age, (as far as plot and characterization) when I read comics, but with a pulp narrative.

And it does come off as very silver age--sort of like reading an issue of THE INVADERS did back in the 70's.  

Give the massive cast you've fleshed out, have you thought about letting other writers play in your toybox, writing stories of some of the characters who were more in the background of this story?

I have, particularly the other worlds stories, so that they will have a different feel from "my" Earth. Also possibly the other time period books, so that I can concentrate on the golden age. I'd have no objection of stories by other writers, if there was an interest for it, and Van [Plexico, publisher] wanted to ride herd on such a project.

Speaking of Van--he has his own little super-hero universe...have you talked about, somewhere down the line, a...ahem...Crisis on Two Earths?

Nope. I think we're both much too busy to think about that now. But I do have the history of the Auric Universe worked out from millions of years ago to 500 years in the future.

You say you've got thirty new stories to tell--want to give the readers of The Agency some hints as to what lies in the future of the Auric Universe?

Future volume will focus on characters who either didn't get much space in TGA, or who are popular. I know that the Black Terror is popular and he's set to star in at least two novels set in 1949. The second volume, Mystico, should be out next month, and starts the AU's mystic heroes, who team up to fight Nazis looking for a mystical object in the US in 1940. Volume 3 (Dark of the Moon) stars fringe characters who weren't seen in TGA; these are civilian heroes and has very strong ties to earlier popular fiction. It is connected to Lost World, First Men in the Moon, Frankenstein, and others.

I'm working on volume 4 now, Crusader, which covers the first year of the Crusader's career

So we'll be seeing more of The Sphinx, The Scarab and the other mystic characters we meet in the second act of THE GOLDEN AGE?  Dare I hope for a Reaper solo book somewhere? 

The Scarab debuted after the events of Mystico. It stars Haldor, the Sphinx, the Reaper, Theseus, the Oracle, the Ghost and Spectro the Mind Reader. And one of the enemies ... super Heydrich! It starts in ancient Spain, with Percival encountering Klingsor, from "Parzifal".

 A Reaper novel? No plans at this time.

That's okay...the idea of The Reaper interacting with Theseus, who is...odd...should be fun enough!

Each character gets their origin told. It also covers the Knights Templar and there's a lot of weird, true stuff in it.  It's sort of the AU verion of The Da Vinci Code.

Jeff, is there anything else you'd like to alert the denizens of The Agency to?

In addition to future volumes of The Golden Age series, I'm working on two other superhero books this year, one set in the present and the other using more public domain characters. I'm acting as editor and plotter of that book, which will be three parallel, concurrent comic book series in prose form.

Cool.  hopefully when these new projects reach fruition, you can return to our humble abode....

Be glad to. I'm glad you liked the book and thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about it.

You’re welcome, Jeff, and thank you so much for stopping by The Agency!  THE GOLDEN AGE is available through Amazon, and White Rocket Books.

First Glimpse Of...The Multi-Gun!

Hey, gang...if you remember, I mentioned in my last update how my friend David Lugo is designing and building props for all the weapons in the Shadow Legion series.  Well, last night he (with help from his son, Matthew), sent me this schemata!

You won’t see the Multi-Gun until the Nightbreaker story in The Shadow Legion Casebook Volume One: Four For Danger, but I hope you’ll find it one cool weapon.  Incidentally, David has broken down the name into an acronym; the Multi-Gun stands for The Multi-Lateral Tri-Yield Gun.  Why?  You’ll find out soon!

I expect to be posting an update soon, followed by the long-awaited visit to the Agency from Jeff Deischer, writer of the epic novel of the Golden Age of heroes called...well, The Golden Age!  And wait until you see who I’ve got lined up for our next visitor!

More later, amigos!

The Periodic Update Post

Hey, folks--I got some crazy stuff for you this time around...starting with this photo.

Yes, that's me.  I'm posing with sword and gun props designed by my dear friend Dave Lugo.  Dave's passion is munitions, and he specializes in creating these cool pulp weapon props...and he's going to be making props of such key weapons in my stories as The Nightbreaker's Multi-Gun, and Tao Jones' exotic blades.  I'll be sharing his progress with you as he moves forward on this, and if I come to a show in your town, you might be able to see them up close and personal!  Check out Vortexx Press, the site Dave runs with his son, and take a look at some of his props and sculpture.

What's that you say?  The Multi-Gun?  Well, in the last two weeks I've been riding a real creativity tsunami surrounding the Nightbreaker story, which I'm now calling 'Ghosts of Steel.'  And it all began when I realized that the story I was struggling with was also the story I had started out to write, 'The Tick Tock Men.'  The biggest flaw with that original version was that I had our hero in the status quo I wanted him in, and didn't realize the story was about how he got to that status quo.  The Multi-Gun is a key part of that movement to where I want Isaiah Copper to be when I begin writing The Devil's Toybox, and it'll make its debut in this very same story!

(and because David Lugo's knowledge of weaponry is the best, bar none, he's been giving me some good background on how the Multi-Gun could work, and what parts would be used to build it...I hope this will create a veracity in future Shadow Legion stories and novels that will wow the fans!)

I'm also making slow progress on The Adventures of Tao Jones, my contribution to the Sovereign City Universe...plus I'm working on two new short stories for each of my Weird West characters, Doc Thunder and El Cuevo.  You'll definitely be seeing the Doc Thunder story at the end of this year...and as for the El Cuevo story, well, you'll know as soon as I do.

And, as with last time, let me direct you to some coolness I've been listening to and reading of late.

The 'listening to' is John Anealio, who writes these cool science fiction and geek-related songs.  John's been doing a project he calls '23 in '13,' where he vowing to write a new song every two weeks for the whole year--and these songs are free to download and listen to!  Check out his blog.

As for what's been occupying my Kindle, let me direct your attention to Monster Aces, a quartet of stories about a mysterious group of monster hunters roaming the Earth and...well, hunting monsters.  Two of the writers involved in this project are Ron Fortier, whose Airship 27 will be publishing the Shadow Legion novels, and Barry Reese, whose Lazarus Grey walks down the mean streets of Sovereign City over at Pro Se Press.  If you love old school movie serials and classic monster movies, this book is for you!

I've also been reading Lords Of Fire, the first of a science fiction series by Van Allen Plaxico, who I had the pleasure of interviewing in the very first Elsewhere In The Multiverse.  There's a unique mix of space opera and mysticism that reminds me a bit of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, only with a lot of military Sci-Fi thrown in.  If you're looking for a good solid epic, check this book out.

Finally, in the nonfiction groove, I've been digging Epic Fail: Bad Art, Viral Fame and The History of The Worst Thing Ever by Mark O'Connell, a discussion of how we tend to obsess over examples of unintentionally awful art, from the world's worst novelist to Rebecca Black's amatuer teen pop.  O'Connell is a very engaging writer who has a lot to say about this recent phenomenon--and how that phenomenon is not so recent after all.  It's a Kindle Single, which means it's a short and entertaining read....and it's only two bucks.

Well, time to get back to work....talk to you soon!

Learn About The Origins Of The Shadow Legion--And Hear The Sound Of My Voice!

My dear friend John S. Drew has been the host and head mover and shaker of the long running science fiction podcast (and before that, science fiction public access television show) The Chronic Rift.  Late last year, John agreed to help ease me into the idea of being in the spotlight as a creator and interviewed me about the origins of The Shadow Legion for the show.  Join him for an hour discussion as we talk about the genesis of individual characters, the direction of the series, the state of comics. and other fun stuff on the Chronic Rift website!

And check in regularly on the site for other great podcasts and content!  His stuff is amazing.

The Shadow Legion's New Artist!

For those of you who have been waiting for The Shadow Legion: New Roads To Hell, I do have some good news for you--namely, that Captain Ron Fortier has finally signed Chris Kemple to join cover artist Mike Fyles in bringing the world of Nocturne to life!  Kemple will be providing the interior illustrations for the book, adding his visual flair to our quartet of crusaders....oh, and our very, very wicked bad girl.

(Incidentally, it seems that those people who have gotten a glimpse of the Legion have been really taken with Our Murderous Fairy Tale Princess....so much so, I'm beginning to wonder if she should play a bigger part in what is going to be our second full-length novel, The Shadow Legion: The Devil's Toybox!)

Chris is working hard on those illustrations and I hope to share with you some goodies from him--maybe even have him sit down with me here at the Agency--once we're done and we move closer to the release!  Stay tuned!

Elsewhere In The Multiverse Part Four: Lee Houston, Jr.

If you yearn for the Silver Age, when heroes and villains were easily defined, Project: Alpha is for you.  If you miss the old-school space operas where dashing men and beautiful women had two-fisted adventures on strange planets, Project: Alpha is for you.  Lee Houston Jr.'s second series character (The first, Hugh Monn, is a hardboiled detective who plies his trade on a distant planet) is a super-hero/sci-fi mash up that will be a delight for those who want a gentler, less dark adventure for their heroes.  I sat down with Lee to talk about the series, writing and how the face of mainstream comics has changed since we both were younger.

Lee, thank you for stopping by the Agency to talk space opera and super-heroes with us!

Thanks for inviting me. Nice place you have here.

So what inspired you to create Alpha, Aldous, Conalaric and all the characters who appear in PROJECT: ALPHA?

I have been a reader, and I do stress the R word, of many things well back into my earliest childhood memories, and one of the things I have really enjoyed over the years has been comic books. In time, once I discovered what a writer was, I started dreaming of being on "the other side of the page" someday creating the stories that I loved, and the characters developed from that dream.

I found a lot of old school, Julie-Schwartz-style Silver Age DC in the world of Alpha....was that intentional?

Planned? No. Inspired, yes; because my very first comic book was Action Comics #434, circa May 1974, back in the heyday of Schwartz's editorialship at DC.

I thought I saw a lil' Superman in Alpha!  What is it about the silver age that is so inspiring to you?

Not many comic book fans may agree with me, but it was definitely a more inspiring period creatively. Heroes and villains were more defined. Multiple issue stories were rare, and good always triumphed over evil in the end, whether it took 8 or 20 pages to do so.

I think that the idea of 'decompression' and 'writing for the trade' has damaged comics--you look at those classic ACTIONs, and you get two complete, compact and plot-filled stories in one issue!

True. When I started reading, comic books were 20 pages for 20 cents! Now it's at least $2.99 to get the same 20 pages, and you don't even get a letters column anymore!

I first started reading them when they were 15 cents!

Then you probably got some of those 52 and 48 page issues for a quarter first run. I've managed to acquire some via back issues over the years. Those, along with the 80 and 100 page giants are collectors items today, because E. Nelson Bridwell chose some great reprints to include in each issue!

Yep!  I think I stil have a GREEN LANTERN 25 center, and a JLA one around here somewhere...that's where I was exposed to two  of my favorite comic teams for the first time--the JSA and the Doom Patrol.

Oh, those were great series! Especially pre-Flashpoint!

Now when you started creating Alpha, did you have in mind the idea of expanding the universe down the line to create more of a feel like DC and Marvel back then?  Are there other heroes floating around we might meet in future installments, for example?

Well, I've certainly considered the idea that two or three novels down the road, Alpha's presence in his new home (which will be established when I write his upcoming second book: Wayward Son) inspires other people to attempt following his career path, but he will be the only super powered one. For now?

What motivated you to place Alpha in the stone age for this first book?  Are we going to see him move through time, maybe have adventures in other great epochs of human development?

Who said the first book took place in the stone age on Earth? Seriously, Regardless of what planet Alpha actually hails from, you have to admit that was a great starting point for a superhero. If it's been used before, I can't swear to it off the top of my head.

The only times I can think of it being used is for villains--Vandal Savage in regards to DC, and The Master of The World for Marvel.  This is the first time it's been used for a super-hero.  I have to admit--I also felt a lot of a Saturday Morning Space Opera vibe in the book, especially when we deal with the Shamballan rebellion in the later half.

Knew about Vandal Savage. That Master is a new one on me, but there definitely hasn't been a superhero starting from that point in time. And when I was growing up, back in the pre-cable days, local stations would spend Saturday afternoons with such great stuff as Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and other classics. Of course I've also watched a lot of animation since I've first figured out how to operate a TV set, including all those great shows of my youth like Jonny Quest and Space Ghost.

Why do you think there's such an interest in super-hero prose fiction amongst the New Pulp writers?  So many of us--you and I, Van Allen Plexico, Jeff Deischer, and more--have been finding their ways to telling stories about men and women with extraordinary powers serving justice behind a mask....

The only reason(s) I can think of is that we grew up with the medium, loved the great stories, are not too crazy about some of what is being presented as comic books today, and can't land a writing gig with one of the established houses to begin with, so we're going our own way presenting our own tales the way we remember them and how they should be told. Or at least, all of the above is the situation in my case.

Well, I think that's the great thing about super-hero prose fiction--we get to create our own universes and do the things we've always wanted to see done....do you think that the dissatisfaction with this post-Civil Wars/Post-Flashpoint world is what has brought readers to check out these books?

Definitely. I've been with DC since long before the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, but in all honesty, saw no reason for Flashpoint at all; and am reading nowhere near the number of DC titles I used to. But Marvel for me were going down hill long before Civil War, with the mistreatment of Steve Gerber, Jack Kirby, et. al; along with trying to tell me that the Peter Parker I'd been a fan of since Amazing Spiderman #180 was actually the clone when they started all that Scarlet Spdier nonsense. And don't even get me started about One More/Brand New Day!

See, the irony of the Flashpoint mess is that Marv Wolfman wanted to do this same thing after Crisis--and Karen Berger refused to let it happen!  She said it'd be 'too confusing' for the fans!

Well, I had no problem with the multiple Earths to begin with, although I feel the JLA and the JSA should have been on the same one from the very beginning, instead of doing it post Crisis. The one problem with comic books that developed over the decades from their Golden Age beginnings was that no one in the publishing world foresaw long term fans, let alone continuity minded ones. The companies thought there would be a turnover in readership every 10-15 years, which is why stories from one decade echoed events from the previous decade(s) from time to time. Whether or not it would have worked if Wolfman won the argument is left for more more experienced theorists than me to ponder.

Now, as a comic fan....you must enjoy the idea of a larger universe and crossovers....does that mean there might be a possibility of seeing Alpha and Hugh Monn teaming up for an adventure?

I've certainly given it some serious thought, although it will easier for Alpha to visit Hugh than vice versa. But to do any team up, you need a more valid reason for the characters to meet than just "Wouldn't it be neat if..." The why, if it happens, still eludes me at this time.

Are they both in the same 'universe' in your mind?  The Lee houston-verse?

Oh definitely. Different corners of it, but still part of my "verse".

You've done a lot of editing work, both for PRO SE MAGAZINE and THE FREE CHOICE...has being on the other side of the writing life helped you develop to be a better writer?

I like to think so, but that's ultimately the readers' call.

What do you think is the most important thing for an aspiring writer to do to move from 'aspiring' to 'published'?

Don't be afraid to go back over your first draft and correct any mistakes. I've seen too many stories over the years that could have used a little more polish before being submitted. But the moment they type those last words ("The End"), they think they're done and ready to go on to the next project. The published versions of any of my material are far from what they were at their first drafts. The chapter in Project Alpha where Aldous explains to Alpha what he is capable of had eight rewrites before I was happy with it; because I not only wanted to explain the powers, but also make them believable, as well as present a good chapter instead of just a massive, boring "info dump".

How do you make the more fantastical parts believable?  Do you do a lot of research?

I try to research what I can. There were some major acknowledgements at the end of Project Alpha. But any work of (superhero) fiction requires some suspension of disbelief. My (super power) theories may not be practical in real life, but they do sound plausible enough so that the reader will accept the possibilities.

What is, in your mind, the most important thing to take care of to make sure your super-hero feels real and plausible to your readers?

I think the first step is not to make any character too powerful. If there is no problem they can't solve, if there is no villain they can't defeat, then why read that character's adventures to begin with? After all, DC has had to depower Superman a few times over the course of his career. Yet there still has to be challenges to face, whether physical or dramatic. Writers walk a very fine tightrope in regards to superhero characters because of this.

So you're presently working on PROJECT ALPHA BOOK TWO: WAYWARD SON.  What can fans look forward to seeing as our hero's saga unfolds?

Actually, I'm honoring my short story commitments to Pro Se first, so work on Book 2 will begin in earnest this Spring. But when I do turn to Wayward Son, Alpha will be trying to figure out his place and purpose in the universe. At best, you can call his debut mission a draw, considering how things turned out. So now Alpha is trying to basically pick up the pieces of his life and wondering "What's next?" But I do want to assure Alpha's fans that the series is currently plotted through Book Five!

Cool!  What else would you like to tell people at the Agency about?

Well, besides being the editor for the monthly Pro Se Presents magazine, I am also the writer/creator of another series entitled Hugh Monn: Private Detective. I took all the basic trappings of the private detective genre and placed them on another planet in the far flung future. The second book in that series Catch A Rising Star, is due out later this year from Pro Se, and will be Hugh's first full length adventure.

How does writing long form differ from short form for you?

It takes more time obviously. ;) Personally, I prefer to let the story dictate its course and word length whenever possible. In this case, while I was intentionally trying for longer Hugh centerd stories, Catch A Rising Star kept growing and growing on me, until it reached the point where it became a novel unto itself instead of just the opening story within a second anthology of Hugh Monn tales.

Well, Lee...I want to thank you for taking the time to talk shop with us here at the Nocturne Travel Agency.

No problem. Thanks for inviting me.

Project Alpha can be purchased here.

The Periodic Update Post

Hey, pals and gals...welcome to 2013!  Hope your holidays went well and January finds you healthy and happy.

I'm still hard at work on The Shadow Legion Casebook V.1: Four For Danger, and have reached the halfway mark on the book.  'The Ascension of Indio Blaque,' the Black Talon tale that sees our Predator of The Concrete Jungles of Nocturne reach back into his childhood knowledge to battle a sinister cult leader with lethal designs on the superhuman population of The City That Lives By Night, is halfway finished, and should be next to be done.  Of course, the most fun I'm having is with 'Final Innings,' the Dreamcatcher story, which sees our Sexy Sorceress trying to determine who is using magic to wreck the season of Nocturne's resident baseball team.  It's one of the reasons why I wanted to alternate between novels and antholgies for The Shadow Legion--the anthologies give me a chance to do different styles of stories with different tones and feelings to them.  And I hope that all of these stories will give you new insight into our heroes and heroines, and a greater concept of Nocturne and the world around it.

Also moving along is The Adventures of Tao Jones.  I've been concentrating on 'The Damocles Gun,' the story that will see Tao and her ally Mike Townsend trying to reclaim a weapon that kills with a thought before all Hell breaks loose in Sovereign City.  That one's still a ways away, but if you want to learn more about Sovereign City--and read some cracking stories in the pulp tradition--go to Pro Se Press and purchasing Derrick Ferguson's The Adventures of Fortune McCall and Barry Reese's The Adventures of Lazarus Gray and Lazarus Gray: Die Glocke!

There's something else I just signed on for--something from Pulpworks Press you won't see until the end of this year.  But that'll be something we'll discuss as it takes fuller shape.

Before I do close out this update--and hopefully the next time I'll finally be able to get you that long-promised interview with Lee Houston Jr. about his super-hero/space opera mash-up Project Alpha, also available from Pro Se Press--I want to alert you to two New Pulp Books I've been grooving on lately.

Ed Erdelac's Merkabah Rider: Tales of A High Planes Drifter(Damnation Books) is an excellent collection of four weird western stories featuring a Jewish mystical gunfighter known only as The Rider.  Ed is an excellent writer whose evocative prose mingles a number of different genres.  As for the Rider himself, he's a great addition to the New Pulp canon, the sort of figure that fans of Solomon Kane and Jonah Hex would feel right at home with.  Hell, any of these stories could have easily been retrofitted to become the Jonah Hex movie I really wanted to see!  And the best thing is that there are two other books in the series, and I can't wait to read more of The Rider and his quest to right wrongs and track down his mentor and betrayer, Adon.

I'm a sucker for alternative history novels, and Wayne Reinagel's Modern Marvels: Viktoriana (Knightraven Studios) posits a doozy of an alternative history--one where literary figures Mary Shelley, H. Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and others are part of a secret order that wages war against a vampire army headed by Countess Elisabeth Bathory.  Wayne's got a tendency for epic storytelling, and it is a Big Read--we're talking almost five hundred pages.  But it is a Big Read of wonderfully gothic setpieces, great characterization and lots of action and intrigue.  If you, like me, long to read stories where vampires are treated as monsters and not boyfriends with interesting dentition, this book is for you.

So check these two books out.  I'll alert you to other great new pulp reads as I get to them.  Come back soon for some interview-y goodness with Lee Houston Jr.!

(Oh...and if you're a writer or publisher who'd like to see me talk about your books in future Agency updates, please contact me through my Facebook page....)