#I want more '80s and '90s genre pulp in my life

[c-is-for-circinate]

Okay! Putting a genuine dent in this list, actually, so let's do some keeping track, shall we? (Especially since my goodreads account seems to have...deactivated itself? or something? fuck goodreads anyway)

A bunch of books I've read (or at least tried to read) in the past week and a half, under the cut:

Finished:

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin: no magic/sci-fi, major award winner (NYT bestseller, One Book One Chicago 2024)

OBOC isn't exactly a major award, but it seemed worthwhile to check out this year's book, especially since the Chicago Public Library is currently overflowing with ebook copies. I don't regret the choice, exactly, but I didn't love it either? Mostly it reminded me that stories need conflict, and in the absence of external dragons/monsters/etc, Literary Fiction tends to create it by simply writing about very unhappy people. T&T&T has sort of a fascinating irony going on: it's a story about playing, and yet there's very little sense of playfulness in the story itself. There's a bit towards the end where the Gen X'er protagonists have a bit of a 'kids these days' moment about how their late-2000/early-2010s college students think their trauma is the most interesting thing about them, and it makes them more aware of systematic injustice but also sort of humorless. I genuinely do not think the author wrote that bit in full awareness that she was describing her own book. There's a lot of sincere love for video games and the art-making process in this novel, but somewhere in the midst of writing about her complicated characters' miscommunication, chronic depression, and struggles, Zevin forgets to include any of the actual joy of it. I think this is maybe how Literary Fiction works? (This may explain why I am a genre-fiction reader.)

Into the Riverlands, When The Tiger Came Down The Mountain, and The Brides of High Hill, by Nghi Vo: recommendation from friends

This is technically three novellas, but they're all part of the Singing Hills Cycle and I churned through all three in one day, so I'm counting them as one excellent thing. This is exactly my jam: a complex fantasy world that plays around with the echoes and tropes of folktales from a culture not my own, which means it feels exciting and new to explore while also echoing things I've seen before in interesting new ways. Also so much playing around with storytelling itself, as a convention and a topic of discussion! Wonderful. Many bonus points for being a casually queer world. Aside from the nonbinary narrator, Tiger features an f/f main narrative, Riverlands implies some potential relationships and poly things without technically saying it explicitly, and High Hill features m/f relationships while still feeling very much like it exists in a world where queer things can and do happen, they simply aren't right here and now. I wouldn't call any of these romantasy (maybe Tiger? technically? but oooh boy that is some toxic yuri if so), but I love the shrugging easy queerness that simply exists in the world.

The Crane Husband, by Kelly Regan Barnhill: major award winner nominee (Nebula 2023)

This book was...fine? I enjoyed it well enough, but I don't know what everybody at Nebula and NPR and all the other rave reviewers have been reading by comparison to like it as much as they seem to. This is, ultimately, a story about a parentified daughter and her mom's abusive boyfriend. It does a good job of being that, but I can't say it's particularly layered beyond that one thing. There's an edge of fantasy, with the crane himself, that doesn't particularly impact the plot or the worldbuilding; there's a hint of near-future scifi to the setting, which is basically unexplored aside from one or two little moments. If anything, this is one of those "fantasy" stories that's more interested in using its magic as a metaphor for a Real World Situation than engaging honestly with its premise for its own sake. I know there are people who like that! I just tend to find it an uninspiring way to go about creating a book.

Stories of the Raksura, Volume 1, by Martha Wells: well-liked author pick

Look. I'm fandom trash. We are on tumblr; it's just how it goes. Have I now read the 450k word FF7/Crisis Core Raksura crossover three times. Is that what it took to finally get me branching out into Martha Wells' works beyond the Murderbot books. You all already know the answer to these questions. This is where we live and this is just what we are doing okay. That said, I am enjoying working my way through the Raksura books for their own sake, and there will be more of them coming. As someone whose entire personality was basically Dragonriders of Pern for approximately 1-3 years around seventh grade, this series feels like a game of playing with that specific source material inspiration in a very new context. It's pulpy spec-fic, but look, the joy of pulpy spec-fic that's more interested in engaging with its premise than in being Respectable is that it can tear off on crazy hypotheticals that end up playing with cool ideas and layered themes. (This series is doing shit with questions about gender and social value as determined by reproductive function. It's not answering any of those questions, but it's definitely doing something with them.) Anyway, the short stories in this one were good and fun and not particularly deep but I liked them. Moving on.

Thornhill, by Ursula Vernon: well-liked author pick, major award winner (Nebula 2023 nominee, Hugo 2023 winner)

Ursula Vernon is great, we love Ursula Vernon around here. There will be more Vernon before this list is through. This is one of her appeal-to-younger-readers works, which are generally my favorites (her horror is just a little too spicy for me, and her romances are often just a little too extremely straight). Anyway, this story was just extremely sweet, very cute, and a nice fun read. Was the main character an anxious, guilt-ridden wreck raised by child-eating monsters, of course. (She would have been so much less anxious and guilt-ridden if they'd just left her with the monsters.) There's enough sadness in the story to keep it from being sugary or forgettable! It's still primarily a story about a kind person who's tried very hard for a very long time, very alone, who gets help and then doesn't have to be alone any more. It's nice. It's got that Vernon flair! Also, I read this in about an hour at the trans witch coffee shop across the street from the library where I got it, which was just an A+ October 1st decision for my life.

Still in progress:

The Little Friend, Donna Tartt: no magic/sci-fi, owned it for years

I really liked The Secret History when I read it back in college, which is...approximately when I bought this book. Ooops. Anyway, now that I'm finally reading it: the craft visible in this book is phenomenal. I am learning and remembering so much about ways books can be structured and written, when they're not fanfic. The characters in this book are sketched so very deftly, not with a cascade of facts but with such specificity that they all feel absolutely alive and individual, flawed and complex and understandable. This also feels like a master class in writing characters who're racist and class-ist without villainizing, excusing, or soapboxing -- everybody in this book is so intimately a creature of their own context, small town Mississippi in probably-the-1970s. Because every character is so allowed to be human, flawed, and multifaceted, the characters' prejudices and preconceptions all feel like part of that, in ways I will hopefully have more words for when (if) I finish the book. The one downfall: this book is so good at detail that it is dense and it is slow. I read about a third of it in a night, had to put it down for bed, and it's been sitting there as this looming, intimidating brick of a book ever since. It's very good! but oh boy do I need some things to actually happen in it soon.

The Eye of Jade, Diane Wei Liang: no magic/sci-fi, murder mystery novel

I went scouring the library recs lists for interesting mysteries, and this one looked fun! Doesn't seem to involve any murder just yet, but I'm still pretty early in the book, so it's still possible! This is another story that's very intimately wound into and around its setting, in this case 1990s Beijing, and I feel like sixty pages of book here has given me more of a snapshot of a culture I should probably know things about than every history class, news report, and General Vibe I've come across in the past thirty years combined. I should really learn more about day-to-day life in modern China. So far the mystery itself has only just begun, but it's a decent hook and a likeable heroine, and I think it'll be a quick read!

L'Etranger, Albert Camus: written before I was born, originally written in a language other than English, and a book I hated had complicated, ambivalent feelings about as a teen and haven't read since.

So I decided recently that it was about time to re-watch The Good Place, as one does (A+ idea, do recommend), which had me wanting to revisit some of the existentialist classics we were assigned in high school. In particular, I remember thinking The Stranger was fine but I did not like the ending, which wasn't happy enough for me. Twenty-odd years later, I suspect it's going to hit very differently -- though, hey! maybe it won't! We are reading to find out. This one is going to take...a while, probably. The little voice in my head that has more ambition than sense thinks that, while I'm investing in the self-improvement of reading again, I might as well also go for the self-improvement of "hey, remember when we were strongly conversational in French instead of just having an accent that let us pretend to be?" I absolutely do not have the vocabulary to read this book in its original language. I...am apparently going to try anyway, dictionary in hand. We'll see how that goes.

Coming soon:

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies, Alison Goodman: no magic/sci-fi, murder mystery novel, random library pick

This just looks FUN. Middle-aged Regency ladies without husbands Solving Mysteries? It was on a library book list somewhere and it sounds like a delightful romp.

Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco: classic sci-fi...probably not sci-fi, but definitely genre something, originally written in a language other than English, written before not actually before I was born, but statistically speaking definitely before most of you

I may have made an ill-advised trip to the local thrift store to look for thirty-year-old mass market paperbacks. I may have come home with six books I did not need and a pair of $5 jeans, and I am not sorry about it. Anyway, this is exactly the sort of thing I wanted to be reading as part of this list, even if it doesn't technically fit most of the categories: a weird fucking spec-fic novel that doesn't fit categories well, but made a zillion international bestseller lists, from 35 years ago -- steeped in the genre conventions, understandings, and conversations of a totally different world. The past is a foreign land, but one whose works created the genre and narrative conventions we have today. Fuck yeah, bizarre philosophical semiotics study, conspiracy theory, DaVinci-Code-wishes-it-could post-modernist bullshit. This is going to be such an experience. It cost me $1. I can't wait.

A Spell for Chameleon, Piers Anthony: actually written before I was born, a book I loved as a teen and haven't read since

I read a lot of trash pulp fantasy in middle and high school, and I loved the hell out of it. In retrospect, I am sure a lot of references and implications in the Xanth novels went over my head as a 13-year-old. In retrospect, I...also suspect they may not have actually been very good. But I also know they felt magical, and I'm interested to see how much of that magical feeling might still be there as an adult, or whether I can identify what about the books feels that way, in spite of the probable flaws.

...also so many other books currently on hold that the library will send soon and also from my inadvisable thrift store trip LOOK I AM WORKING ON IT OK. We're churning through novellas and chewing through the novels. The queer romantasy recs should start trickling in through interlibrary loan soon! I am finally going to get to read Legends and Lattes!

Okay, between my incipient un(der)employment and my desire to actually fucking manage a NaNoWriMo this year, the thing I most need to do is start reading books again.

Which means a goal list, based on what I actually want to write and also what I think is going to be useful for me in doing it. And there's no sense not aiming big! So--

1 book I loved as a teen and haven't read since

2 gothic horror novels

2 books I've owned for years but never read

3 murder mysteries

3 books I hated as a teen and haven't read since

3 books from my own well-liked authors I never got around to

4 classic sci-fi

4 books with no magic or sci-fi in them whatsoever

4 books originally written in a language other than English

4 brand new releases no more than six months old

5 books written before I was born

5 random picks from the library that look interesting

5 queer fantasy/romantasy novels

5 major award winners

5 assorted recommendations from friends who know me

Am I going to read 55 books before November? No, probably not. But if a book fits more than one category it counts for both, and I bet I can at least make a good start.

I think I might need a Goodreads for this shit.

[the-outer-topic]

About this blog

Please keep reading, I promise it’s funny.

 At least I tried to be!

(names withheld to protect the witnesses, some editing done)

(originally submitted to notpulpcovers.com back in 2014, but meant for all the owners of blogs that post stuff I like) 

Greetings and long letter from a fellow collector

Hello!

This is a very long letter of appreciation for the wonderful job you do in this site. No, I regret to tell you in advance that I am not sending you a cheque as a token of appreciation, so you can delete this message now and read no further. However, if you have trouble sleeping or have two hours to spare with nothing better to do, like watching the paint dry, read on. Allow me to introduce myself, I am a connoisseur of art and a man of taste. The quality of said art and taste may be debatable, quesitonable even. By the way, I am not an American nor a native English speaker, but come from Spain, if you are American, that’s in Europe, not south of Mexico, Google maps is your friend. So please forgive any spelling and grammar errors and be thankful I don’t grate your ears with my horrible accent. Over the last few years I started collecting, retouching and posting in forums military and battle paintings to use as wallpapers and screensavers. If for no other reason that I had lot of time in front of the screen and I wanted to stare at something else than the dull Windows background. Oh, and because since I got married I couldn’t have naked girls on the screen anymore like normal guys do. Everybody needs a hobby. Until I find one, collecting and photochopping paintings for desktop will do. At some point I got a bit jaded of the monotony of images of war, death, destruction and the implements of it,  so for a change I started collecting images of art I like and find cool. So I turned to the hobbies of the age most mentally retarded of my life, that is my teenage and wasted youth years, and added to my art galleries the themes of roleplaying games, fantasy illustrations and computer games from the 1980s box art. Then I dug deeper and started with the genre of movie posters: the more lurid and trashy the better. adventure, sci fiction, horror, action, sexploitation.. etc. But my craving for bad art eye porn wasn’t satisfied. I wanted more, more! So one day in the bookshop I came across a book about the “Men’s adventure” magazine covers. A Taschen brick, coffee table size. Since it was too big to conceal, even under my trenchcoat, and was on discount sale, I bought it. I hit bottom with that one. I loved the pulp art. Being a World War Number Two freak, I specially enjoyed the Nazi and BDSM themes. That probably is Too Much Information… relax, I am kidding. In fact I was repelled by those covers. I like the whole “damsel in distress” theme, but trivialization of Nazi attrocities and the outright sadism of those covers were quite sick. One thing is being kinky, being sick and twisted is another entirely different thing. What was wrong with the American people who bought that? In the same way never liked gore movies. Anyway, the rest of the pulp covers I loved. Such great art technique! And such gorgeous women they had in the 50s and 60s, curvy and with slim waists! (just like my beloved wife). But there was a problem, the pics were either too small, or couldn’t get decent wallpapers of the full size covers because the book was a bitch to scan, being so heavy and thick, and I loathe taking a razor to it. So having hit bottom, I started to dig. I searched the internet for pulp covers of those masters. And found your site. From somebody that shares the same obsessive compulsive collecting disorder, I have to tell you that I can fully appreciate the work, no, the labour of love involved in finding all these wonderful pieces of art, collecting them, and sharing them. I spent days, weeks going through the archives downloading images I liked. Frankly, a lot of the images are rubbish, but what to one is trash, to somebody else may be a treasure, so please keep posting indiscriminately, we all have our own tastes. You probably don’t share my unhealthy obsession with sharp things or things that spit hot pieces of metal and things that go boom. I spent days arranging the images you posted, retouching them for better fit or improvement, and making collections for them. I use an old Webshots desktop application, wich was responsible for this  obsession with wallpapers. The sotfware allowed downloads of pretty photographs for wallpaper, and you could add your own images. It’s dated but it works, and allows me to manage my collections much better and has better settings than simply use Windows default screensaver. So thanks to you, my wallpaper galleries have now about 3 Gigabytes in size, numbering eight thousand images in several dozen cathegories. As I said the pulp covers are a welcome break from the images of tanks, airplanes, warships, soldiers and battles. It’s not just the pleasure of viewing the images when I am taking  a break, I switch on the screen saver and watch the paintings cycle on the screen for a few seconds, it’s just that the search for suitable images became an end to itself, I get a thrill when after hours of tedious internet search I stumble upon a source of good images. A gallery like this is a godsend. We are not worthy! Come to think of it, if you are a god, then I would have to send you some offering more suitable than a mere cheque, but I am afraid that sacrificial virgins are in short supply nowadays. In addition to the images you supply, the links you provide to other insane collectors like ourselves are very valuable. I bookmarked the 80s and 90s stuff site, and the Back in the Dungeon gallery. Even if the pics in itself are not good enough, they give a lead for finding other artists images. Over the years of posting war paintings at forums I have become frustrated and bitter about the lack of recognition and appreciation from people. Seems only a few freaks have the artistic sensibility (or the shared bad taste) to appreciate them. I got very few rewards in return for my effort to disseminate these paintings. I thought that after so much effort, it would be a waste that those images would die with me, and I want to share them with more people than just a couple close friends. Well, there really a lot of people interested in this stuff, judging by the thousand of views the paintings threads have. I was bitter that forum admins didn’t thank me for my contribution, but I no longer care about that. What kept me going was the encouragement and appreciation from some people that enjoyed my postings and thanked me. But alas, those faitfhul were few and far in between. Most people just click on the thread, download image and say nothing. No comments, not even a simple “thank you” message or “I liked this one”. Ungrateful bastards. So eventually I got fed up and burned up with forums. I only got aggravation from them and no respect. And some subjects are exhausted after retrieving and posting every painting of that theme, from museum galleries to book scans to box art. I had only kept going for the past couple years by inertia, and because the forum served as a backup of my images. I have lost a lot of work a few times due to computer crashes, despite precautions and periodic backups. Now that imageshack killed my old accounts, I have given up totally in messageboards. Their loss not mine. All this self pitying bitching and moaning is just to tell that if you ever feel unappreciated or get frustrated with posting the images in your blog, I know how you feel and want to know how much I value and appreciate your effort in this blog, and how thankful I am that you gathered all these pieces of art and preserved them for fellow enthusiasts and future generations. With every cool painting you posted that I liked, you gave me a little pleasure and made my life a little happier, and for that, I give you a big heartfelt thank you. I am sure I am not the only one that feels the same. Your example is also inspiring. I had posted my images in forums because it was easier. It never occurred to me that you could do a blog on illustration. I thought it was too much work, but everybody is doing it, so I can too. Once more, thanks again for your effort, and I hope this letter made you smile and feel good. Very best regards.

PS

If you wonder about the name of this blog is because it’s an off topic gallery of  all the paintings that I like and are not war paintings. And “outer”, because is a nod to sci-fi B-movies that had the “from outer space” in the title

My main gallery:

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/pinturasdeguerra

[grrrenadine]

Monthly Media: March 2017

I watched waaay too many movies this month (partly because I worked at the Moscow Irish Film Festival and could attend the screenings for free). 

……….MOVIES……….

Perfect Strangers / Perfetti sconoscuitti (2016)

Apparently a huge hit in Italy and now Russia (of all places), the movie concerns a group of friends who decide to make all their texts and phone calls public for the duration of a dinner. What follows is...kinda predictable: there’s a lot of infidelity on all sides and one guy is gay. Ah, the dark secrets we harbor.

The Night Before (2015)

A modern drug-fueled retelling of “The Christmas Carol” — unlikely to become a holiday classic, but subversive enough to feel like a breath of fresh air among similar comedies. When the film moralizes it does so in a way that doesn’t feel trite; and when shit goes down, it’s never mined for excessive drama. Also, I really enjoyed all the surreal elements thrown into the mix.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

There’s a good litmus test to see whether this movie is for you: can you see yourself watching 20 Lonely Island videos in a row? If yes, then this is your jam! The plot is generic, but for most the film (catchy) music, (delightful) cameos and (absurd) hijinks take center stage. Personally, I loved it — it’s a funny, spot-on spoof of the music industry and celebrity culture, and it holds genuine affection for its characters which means that, in the end, so do you.

The Skeleton Twins (2014)

Centered around two siblings with a twin bond of (I guess) depression, this is a pretty cliched dysfunctional-family indie dramedy with only brief flashes of excellence. I feel like the film would have been way better if it heightened the comedic elements and stopped taking itself too seriously, but alas.

Handsome Devil (2016) 

The LGBT movie about friendship we’ve all been waiting for! (No, seriously). With a plot centered around a closeted moody jock, a sarcastic eccentric outsider, and the threat their camaraderie poses to the school’s rugby team (....yeah), this movie is sweet, inspirational, keen to stress the importance of hobbies, and set in a fantasy world where all people can come to compromises and understanding. My one complaint: too chaste!

A Date for Mad Mary (2016) 

Female protagonists who are flawed and three-dimensional are a rarity. Female protagonists who are also allowed to be funny and tough and genuine screw-ups are a treasure — and so is this movie, a tale of a small-town girl trying to outgrow her bad reputation amidst a crisis of friendship and a discovery of sexual identity. Painfully familiar and ten kinds of wonderful.

Traders (2016)

Part “Fight Club”, part Black Mirror’s “Shut Up & Dance”, yet lacking the energy and black comedy of either, this critique of capitalism and masculinity has its themes undermined by the repetitive plot, droll execution and the protagonist’s remarkable unlikeability. Filmed in varying shades of grey and set in and around pub toilets and waste-grounds, it’s dark and depressing — to the point of being blegh instead of bleak.

The Young Offenders (2016)

Sitting comfortably at the crossroads of road movie, black comedy, crime film and coming-of-age, this film still feels like its own thing instead of a mishmash of influences. The characters are all odd and lovely, the relationships have a degree of nuance to them, and the coastal Irish landscapes are a beautiful bonus.

Sing Street (2016) 

 A story of a boy putting together a band to impress a girl and falling in love with music in the process, with really cool catchy songs harkening back to the various sub-genres of 80s alterna-rock. Kurt Vonnegut once said that the function of the artist is to make people like life better than they have before; well, the sheer beauty and youthful enthusiasm of the movie made me feel like I was 15 all over again and ready to conquer the world.

The Siege of Jadotville (2016) 

The (real-life) plot is the single best things about what is basically no more and no less than a solid war movie. There’s also refreshingly little in terms of violence or shock value, and a mustachioed Mr Grey Jamie Dornan proves he can be a charismatic actor when the script lets him.

Once (2006)

Two kindred souls meet on the streets of Dublin and start making music together, all the while pining quietly for each other. The film’s a very low-key affair in both style and tone, and works magic precisely due to its lo-fi vibe.

Tiger Raid (2016) 

You know The Alleged Car? The one that lacks half its parts while simultaneously having a bunch of superfluous parts and is old and smelly and clunky, yet soldiers bravely on? This movie is like that. It’s a claustrophobic pileup of bad dialogue and bizarre plot twists that somehow, miraculously, works — and by the time twist #3 or 4 rolls around, you feel like you’re on a journey worth taking. (P.S. please don’t read the plot summary on Wikipedia; you’ll only end up confused).

Clerks (1994)

A comedy of (funny, effortless, naturalistic) dialogues, it follows a mundanely eventful day in the lives of two young deadbeat friends who work at a convenience store and a video rental. Tastefully black-and-white (due to budget constraints, but who’s counting), endlessly quotable, oozing with sincerity and filled with oodles of quirky characters, this is something that is very 90’s yet still able to hold up after all these years. Like the “Pulp Fiction” of comedies!

South (2017)

I can just see the screenwriter of this film going for a bathroom break and never returning: the lack of resolution to the relatively simplistic plot (boy wants to conquer his stage fright, put his moves on a girl and set things straight with runaway mum) can only be attributed to laziness. The film’s short and sweet, yes, and the actors are charming — but it’s hardly a filling work of cinema. In fact, it barely qualifies for light dessert.

The Evil Dead (1981)

This movie was incredibly low-budget even for its time, and it shows — but, in an odd turn of events, the DIY charm and datedness add to the appeal rather than detract from it. Every aspect of this film— from the inventive camerawork to the goofy plot to the corny acting to the colorful cartoony gore — somehow works towards making an enjoyable, cohesive whole. The ill-advised tree rape scene notwithstanding, this is truly great stuff (...not for the squeamish, though).

T2: Trainspotting (2017)

Do you let go of your past or do you confront it? Mark Renton & co. can’t decide and neither can this film. Nostalgia is a tricky thing, and it’s key to both the plot and the appeal of a sequel that doesn’t really hold up on its own but is, nonetheless, a very solid, logical continuation of the 90’s classic. So what’s a fan to do? Choose old movies. Choose new movies. Choose life.

……….TV……….

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season 12)

First off: this season has been a blast. Few other shows have been on air this long and stayed this good. There were a couple of exceptional episodes (one of them written by Community’s Megan Ganz! Woo!) and even the duds weren’t that bad. However, the season finale has me anxious for the show’s future — and the fact that Sunny can actually provoke such a strong emotional response in me is a testament to how much I love it.

Documentary Now! (season 1)

A mockumentary show starring Bill Hader and Fred Armisen, it’s an anthology of “affectionate parodies” in a variety of genres and stylistic approaches to tackling the material. It’s funny and fascinating even when you don’t know jack about the stuff they’re referencing — all because the stories, characters and emotions feel real. Genius! (P.S. My favorite episode of the lot is “A Town, a Gangster, a Festival”, and I recommend you start with it to see whether the show’s your thing or not).

……….BOOKS……….

The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Douglas Adams, 1988) 

A plot that’s barely there, jokes that keep coming at breakneck speed, weird characters, weirder puns, interdimensional travel, magic, science, amusing injuries. In short, classic Douglas Adams. (This was actually his last book before he died. RIP.)

[beer-and-breakdowns]

1-65

Thanks for the asks, Anon

• 1. have you ever been in love?

Yesss, it sucked lol

• 2. who is your favorite artist?

Honestly not a HUGE art lover, maybe Andres Serrano for his creative and bizarre works like “Piss Christ” and the cover art for Metallica’s Load and ReLoad albums! 

• 3. what is your favorite music genre?

Heavy Metal as a whole, Modern Metalcore as a subgenre at the minute

• 4. have you ever had a penpal?

Yes! :)

• 5. are you single or in a relationship?

Single as FUCK yo

• 6. what color are your eyes?

Brown

• 7. what is your favorite word?

Honestly, probably ‘fuck’.  So many uses and meanings.

• 8. do you play any instruments?

I play the guitar! 

• 9. what is your favorite color?

Black (Unless you’re one of those that say that Black is a ‘shade’ and not a colour, in which case, probably a specific shade of red maybe?)

• 10. do you have any nicknames?

Nah, not really!  Wish I did tho, lmaoo

• 11. what is your favorite flower?

Probably a rose, not to be too generic, they’re just cool aren’t they!

• 12. what qualities do you find attractive in a person?

Chilled out and relaxed, kind hearted, whatever the opposite to pettiness is, funny, just don’t be an asshole really

• 13. do you have any pets?

Nope, but I used to have a cool-ass catto.  

• 14. have you ever travelled outside of your home country?

Yus, been lucky enough to have been to Rome, Paris, Florida, Mallorca among other places!

• 15. what language(s) do you speak?

English, wish I could speak more but languages are hard, yo

• 16. who was your first crush?

I can’t remember tbh, I just remember starting to get crushes on girls like, quite early on tbh, lmaooo

• 17. do you wear glasses?

Nope

• 18. what is your favorite pastry?

Probably puff, maybe?  Honestly not a question I’ve ever actually thought about before, but pastry is good lol

• 19. do you prefer swimming in a pool or in the ocean?

I prefer the vibes and aesthetic of the ocean, but idk, I’d probably be more inclined to say I prefer actually swimming in pools

• 20. bright, dark, or pastel colors?

DARK PLS (although bright are cool too)

• 21. what is your favorite social media app?

Tumblr and Instagram, and don’t make me choose between the two!!

• 22. what is your sexuality?

Straight

• 23. do you have any siblings?

Nopee

• 24. what is your favorite scent?

Maybe, the smell of rain in the air, OR, the musk of an old rotting building, IDK I’M NOT WEIRD YOU ARE

• 25. where do you want to travel to?

I wanna do a road trip of the USA one day, would also love to visit Canada and a lot of Europe, basically wanna travel the world tbh, lmaoo

• 26. what is your favorite film?

Hard Question... very hard question... depends what mood I’m in, but probably Pulp Fiction

• 27. who do people say you look like? (celebrity/family member)

My mum, mostly, but very occasionally my dad

• 28. who is your best friend?

I have a few, I have people I would consider my brothers and sisters so them probably!

• 29. what is your dream job?

PLAYING MUSIC FOR A LIVING IN FRONT OF A LIVE AUDIENCE, YESPLEASEYESPLEASEYESPLEASE, let me dream okay

• 30. do you know how to drive?

Yus, although I havent done it in a year, so maybe not anymore lmaoo

• 31. who is/was your favorite teacher?

My A-level psychology teacher.  What an actual angel and blessing she actually was, I miss her dearly

• 32. are you a feminist?

Yes, going by the true definition.  I want complete equality for all no matter who you are inside or out.

• 33. what is your zodiac sign?

Libra!

• 34. do you enjoy reading?

Honestly, no:(  I’ve never gotten into it, rip

• 35. do you have any hidden talents?

I dont think so?  I’m getting better at scream vocals, and it’s something I never display to anyone, but I’m still shit so no, lol

• 36. have you ever dyed your hair?

Nopee

• 37. what is your favorite thing in your bedroom?

My bed lmaoo.  Nah, maybe my guitar set up or my CD collection... or my bed

• 38. what is your biggest fear?

I’m not too sure.  I dont have any actual phobias, as such.  But losing people close to me scares the fuck out of me, as does any foreign bodies piercing my skin and being inside of my body be it a knife, a piece of scrap metal or even a medical syringe, lol, GET IT OUT, ITS NOT MEANT TO BE THERE.

• 39. can you whistle?

Yes, weirdly, I whistles literally a second before reading this questions what the hell, im shook

• 40. do you make your bed every day?

Kinda, I dont leave it messy, I arrange my pillows a bit and put my duvet on semi-properly but I dont do an immaculate job by any means lol

• 41. do you have any tattoos and/or piercings?

Nope but I HECKA want a tattoo and have for like almost 2 years now lmao

• 42. have you ever been on a roller coaster?

Yes, omgg, they used to scare me so much but I love them now

• 43. surfing or skateboarding?

Skating, 1000000%

• 44. are you a dog or a cat person?

I ADORE both to pieces, but because I had a cat, I’m inclined to say I’m slightly more a cat person, oops

• 45. what is your favorite animal?

OOOOH, uhhhh, I think maybe either a fox, a tiger or a wolf maybe?  Unless dinosaurs count in which case, always dinosaurs.

• 46. do you have a skincare routine?

No, but I should, lol

• 47. what time do you typically go to bed at and what time do you wake up at?

Stupid o’ clock, oops.  I cant remember the last time I fell asleep before 2am tbh, and I always try and wake up at like at least 10am but it rarely works, IM NOT LAZY I JUST SLEEP LATE IS SWEAR

• 48. what is your favorite memory?

I think maybe being in Florida with my parents the last time, maybe around 2012/14 something around then, that was fun and I miss those days

• 49. how tall are you?

I’m around 5″11 ish

• 50. what is the best gift you’ve ever received?

Probably a holiday away, OR, my ticket to Download 2018

• 51. do you have a garden?

Yus, but its a tip right now

• 52. do you like bugs?

I dont like them but they do fascinate me a little

• 53. what is your natural hair color?

VERY dark brown

• 54. what is your favorite food and drink?

Favourite food HAS to be Indian food, favourite drink would probably be fruit cider maybe?  But not Strongbow dark fruits, that’s easily the worst fruit cider, GROSS.  And no I’m not an alcoholic, but soft drinks and water are just boring at this point lol

• 55. do you want kids?

Yes, but not until I’m like in my 30s and have a stable career and life and I’ve spent my 20s enjoying life and having money to spend on me and not a little puke/shit/pee ball

• 56. what is/was your favorite class?

Probably either GCSE music or A Level psychology.

• 57. what color shirt are you wearing?

Black, duh

• 58. if you could time travel, what year would you go to and why?

Any point in the 60s, 70s 80s and 90s so I can experience each decade that I’m fascinated by. 

• 59. what is your skin color?

I’m a pasty white boy, BUT, going to Download this summer I did get a sweet-ass tan which has never happened to me before, lmaoo

• 60. hugs or kisses?

Kisses, but hugs are also phenomenal

• 61. have you ever drank alcohol?

Yes, lol

• 62. have you ever done drugs?

Nah

• 63. netflix or youtube?

YouTube, netflix is overrated, RIP

• 64. ice cream or frozen yogurt?

Ice cream 200% 

• 65. succulents or flowers?

Probably flowers!

THIS WAS FUN, THANKS ANON!!

[mysteryshelf]

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - Tom Pitts

Welcome to

THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF!

DISCLAIMER: This content has been provided to THE PULP AND MYSTERY SHELF by Saichek Publicity. No compensation was received. This information required by the Federal Trade Commission.

  About the Book

Beaten and left for dead, young Steven finds himself stranded in a small Northern California town. When a mysterious stranger named Quinn offers a ride, Steven gets in the car and begins a journey from which there is no return.

Quinn has an agenda all his own and he’s unleashing vengeance at each stop along his path. With a coked-up sadist ex-cop chasing Quinn, and two mismatched small town cops chasing the ex-cop, Steven is oblivious of the violent tempest brewing.

Interview with the Author

What initially got you interested in writing?

Learning to type, actually. Way back in the mid-nineties, I had to learn to type for a job, and I refused to use one of those computer programs that taught you the old-fashioned way. I was on a lot of drugs, and there’s no way my mind could focus that long. So I decided the easiest way was to write a book. So that’s what I did. It worked too. I mean, I learned to type. As for the book, it’s still sitting on a floppy disc somewhere.

What genres do you write in?

Crime Fiction, crime thriller. I think I prefer the latter tag, it’s more applicable to what I do. I try to keep things moving, and the reader interested.

What drew you to writing these specific genres?

True crime pulled me into crime fiction, strangely enough. There’s a book called the Westies by T.J. English, specifically. The criminals in it resonated with me because they felt real. They were drunken screw-ups, working class jerks, and a lot more like the bad guys I’d run across in real life. Being involved with criminals and petty crime while I was a drug addict, I discovered the reality of criminal life, and it was nothing like it’s represented in books, TV, and movies.  I think in the last ten years, there’s been a movement toward capturing life at the bottom rung of the criminal ladder, but it’s still got a long way to go to break away from the kind of glorification you used to see with movies like The Godfather.

How did you break into the field?

I was dragged in kicking and screaming. I sent a story to a writer friend of mine named Joe Clifford. It was a story about being interrupted while shooting up in one of those pay-by-the-minute porn booths. He dug it and asked me to read at a series he hosted in Oakland. I got up there, knees knocking and hands shaking, and read and absolutely slayed. It gave me the confidence to push onward and start sending more stories out.

What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?

A sense of what the criminal mind is really like. There are no masterminds, there are no evil geniuses. There are, however, a whole lot of lowlifes.

What do you find most rewarding about writing?

When I’m about three or four chapters in and the story starts heating up and I don’t know where it’s going. It’s the point in a novel when the plot begins to broaden and new characters get introduced, to the reader and myself. It’s the thrill of watching my own tale unfold.

What do you find most challenging about writing?

Carving out the time. I’ve still got to contend with the day job, my family, and all the little things life throws at you, so I’ve got to make sure I get that steady time in behind the keyboard. Right now, that means getting out of bed hours before I have to, daily. Writing a novel is a slow process, so consistency is paramount to progress.

What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?

Stop wanting, and start doing. Send something out to a small press or an online magazine. Especially the online mags. Having been an editor for several years at Out of the Gutter Online, I can tell you the online mags are always looking for content. Getting a story out there can light a fire under you to march forward to the next level.

  What type of books do you enjoy reading?

All kinds, but in truth, it’s been hard to keep a sense of variety up in the last few years. I’m immersed in my genre for many reasons and the weight of the to-be-read stack keeps me from spending time with non-fiction and other literature. It’s unhealthy, I know. The only thing cure is more reading. Fortunately.

  Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you?

Shit, I was in a touring punk band back in the 80s, a junkie in the 90s who ended up on the street, a struggling dad while I dispatched taxis during the graveyard shift for the 2000s, and I’ve been a crime writer ever since. I guess gauging my life as interesting would relative to a person’s perspective.  A lot of the other stuff people might find interesting I really can’t talk about in a public forum, but bits and pieces have been published here and there.

What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your work?

My web address is tompittsauthor.com and I’m always out there on social media. If someone wants to ask a question or find a book, just whistle.

About the Author

Tom Pitts received his education firsthand on the streets of San Francisco. He remains there, writing, working, and trying to survive. He is the author of two novellas, Piggyback and Knuckleball. His shorts have been published in the usual spots by the usual suspects. Tom is also an acquisitions editor at Gutter Books and Out of the Gutter Online.

Find Tom Pitts online …

Website: http://tompittsauthor.com/ Blog: http://www.tompittsauthor.com/blog/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tom.pitts.5201 Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrtompitts Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Pitts/e/B009XOC82M/

AUTHOR INTERVIEW – Tom Pitts was originally published on the Wordpress version of The Pulp and Mystery Shelf

[glamourandgrime]

What’s new in Hollywood? …not much actually.

I love Hollywood movies. I really do. My earliest memories of movies were in the 80’s with Indiana Jones: and the Temple of Doom on television at Christmas time, closely followed by Jaws, E.T. and The Karate Kid. Into the 90’s from age ten, I got really into science fiction and enjoyed Terminator 2: Judgement Day and crime films like Pulp Fiction and Seven. These films transported me into a different world and showed me something new and exciting, leaving me wanting more.

But guess what? For me, ever since the turn of the century, movies have become a lot less memorable. Maybe it’s me. I’m a boring adult now after all. Maybe I’m changing as I’ve a busier and more serious life, but I honestly struggle to find many films in the last 10-15 years that I really thought were original. Pans Labyrinth and Let The Right One In were notable exceptions. Both were foreign. The latter was subsequently remade for Hollywood with the movie Let Me In.

The comic book superhero has grown into its very own movie genre. Spiderman when it first came out in 2002 was fresh and new and captured the essence of the comic and cartoon that preceded it. But then we were inflicted with five more of them, including another far inferior reboot in 2012 with The Amazing Spiderman. At this stage I was all superheroed out and there was little that was amazing any more about the famous webslinger. Batman was no different. Since 1989 we have had seven caped crusader movies and an eighth if you include Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

 Nothing seems to be new these days. Everything is now a remake, re-imagining, or a reboot. 80’s classics are being made again to find a new audience – e.g. The Karate Kid, Star Trek, Star Wars and more recently; Wonderwoman.

From a marketing point of view, I guess it makes sense why the major studios are doing this; instead of trying to find a new audience – they want to produce content for an existing established fanbase. Old farts like me can educate the young ones so we have done all the viral and word of mouth marketing for the studios. Genius – less risk and less cost.

Oh and lets not forget, movies that can produce merchandise especially in toys, are a license to print money. No wonder Disney bought Marvel.

But what about the writing? Are less people going into screenwriting these days?

In a way, this trend is not new. In the 60’s, movies were war, western or of the musical genre. It wasn’t until the early 70’s with the arrival of young brat pack filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Brian de Palma, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did we see some new original ideas and approaches. These guys had trouble breaking through initially though. Francis Ford Coppola openly admited that he was at risk of being fired at any moment on The Godfather as did Spielberg on Jaws. But when one movie succeeded, slowly other risky films were allowed to be made such as Taxi driver, and Star Wars.

Maybe today we are at another end of a cycle. Perhaps there will be some new independent stories to be told. I have a feeling it won’t be for a while yet.

Elisabeth Banks Charlies Angels reboot has got a summer 2019 release date.

Netflix to its credit seems to be the shining light in television and film. Everything that’s original can be found there. Winona Ryder’s Stranger Things was the hit show of 2016 but lets be honest, this show is not entirely original either. It has more than a few echoes of past classics such as The Goonies, E.T. and The X-Files. Still better than “Spiderman 9”, so lets not complain too much.

Winona is not the only star to swap the big screen for the small one. Kevin Spacey has found big success in the Netflix original; House of Cards. Oh wait….. that’s a remake of an old BBC series. Silly me!

    What’s new in Hollywood? …not much actually. was originally published on Glamour and Grime

[20thcentutygeek]

My top 10 “Genre Action Movies” of the 20th century

Sometimes action films mix it up with other genres, sci-fi, Historical fiction even horror. This list is my top 10 genre action films in date order. What do you think of the list? What films would you add?

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) – The first Mad Max film is good but its sequel is brilliant. It is     so out there in story, imagery and action. The story is a simple sci-fi     post-apocalyptic western, a lone ‘Road warrior’ helping a small isolated     community against a much stronger outlaw force. A young Mel Gibson, before     his American break out, is perfect in the role and gives it his all in a     film that could have failed massively. This film deservedly created a     legacy for both the genre and Gibson. Max may limp off in the sunset at     the end of the film but Gibson walked into a series of great roles as a     result.

Indiana     Jones and the Raiders of the lost ark (1981) – This was homage to the serial adventures of the 30’s and 40’s but     also set up a new generation of treasure seekers. When I first saw this     film as a kid it thrilled and terrified me. I wanted to be Indy but the     fate of the Nazi’s after opening the Ark gave me nightmares, regardless I     was hooked. Harrison Ford embodies the slightly jaded archaeologist so     much that it I struggle to imagine anyone else filling that iconic fedora.     Raiders is pretty much episode after episode of action but directed by     Steven Spielberg it hangs together to become and all-time great action     adventure.

Highlander (1986) – A     medieval Scottish clansman played by a French actor, an Egyptian soldier     trained in Japan played by a Scottish actor and an ancient Russian lone     killer played by an American. All in all it’s a bit muddled but it works, especially     when played with tongue in cheek humour. This is perfect Saturday night     entertainment with a legendary soundtrack by Queen and ending in an epic     sword fight on a roof. All of it shot beautifully, whether in the dingy     alleys of New York or the wide open Highlands of Scotland. The sequels     without expectation are bad but this film stands up and should be regarded     as a classic.

Aliens     (1986) – James Cameron took Ridley     Scott’s Alien horrific haunted house film and expanded the universe and     story with an action packed war movie. I enjoy the theatrical cut but I am     a bigger fan of the extended cut. Not only does it provide more Xenomorph     action but it also provides more back story for Ripley and the     Wayland-Yutani Corporation. This film is so intense and fast paced when it     kicks in, the action is good and the cast are excellent but all of this is     held together by something else that makes this film timeless. The practical     special and creature affects by Stan Winston are amazing, all topped off     by the iconic Alien Queen.

Robocop (1987) – Paul Verhoeven’s break out American film and     what a breakout it is. A super violent dystopian dark comedy satire of     80’s corporate privatisation culture, what more could you ask for? How     about a bad-ass cyborg cop taking down the gang that killed him.  Not only is the action in this film     bloody, violent and top notch but it is punctuated by excellent takes on     adverts for ludicrous products (a board game called NUKEM about     international annihilation, a vehicle the 6000 SUX, which offers 8.2 miles     to the gallon). This is kind of film that benefits from repeat viewings     and actually, unfortunately, has become more relevant over time.

The Running Man (1987) – Based on a very different Stephen King     novel, under the Richard Bachman pen name. The dystopian story of an     innocent man being trapped in a game show in which he gets to win his life     back. It may not be as clever as Robocop but its satire of American     Television and justice culture is obvious. Once the contestants are thrown     into the arena the film kicks into high gear. Arnie is typical Arnie and     great for it but the film thrives because of the ludicrous villains like     Buzzsaw, Dynamo and Sub-Zero, all over seen by the deliciously evil     Richard Dawson, real life game show host.

Terminator     2 (1991) – Another sequel on this     list. The Terminator series mirrors the Alien mould, the first is a dark     sci-fi slasher film but the second is an all-out action film. I would     suggest that this is the peak of Arnie’s action career. The film is     outstanding in expanding the universe, upping the stakes and actually     makes the original a better film. Three high points for me are the Asylum     escape, the Cyberdyne office building attack and the final showdown     between the T800 and T1000. The series falls apart after this point but     getting a film this good from it is worth a couple of bad films.

Demolition Man (1993) – Another     future but this one utopian, at least on the surface. Despite being a fun     action film it has a dark message about the cost of peace and human     nature. I am not sure I completely agree with the message that we are     innately violent and dark and that we should allow that to be a part of     society. It comes across a little mixed by the end. However, the fun comes     from the Stallone and Snipes characters and their fish out of water antics     and eventual show downs. This is supported by some excellent world     building using off hand comments and background touches.

The fifth element (1997) – This European intergalactic pulp adventure is     brilliant because of its balls to the wall craziness. Written and directed     by Luc Besson with production design by Mobius and costumes by Jean Paul     Gaultier. This film was going to be crazy stylish if nothing else. Bruce     Willis is basically playing a future John McClane, remaining cynical while     aliens of all kinds do battle round him. The high points of the film are     the battle at the Opera in which Willis shines and Milla Jovovich pretty     much throughout. A colourful, funny and imaginative romp that is busting     with style in every frame.

The Matrix (1999) – I think it’s fair to say that The Matrix,     coming out in the last year of the millennium, ushered in so many elements     of movies for the 21st century. It is a film between two eras.     It has the urban gothic style that is very 90’s, as well as early ideas     about what computers could do but introduced special effects and franchise     structures that are still being used today. As a standalone film its     excellent high concept paranoid action fun. The martial arts fights are     awesome and while Keanu Reeves is never going to win an Oscar he is the     perfect opposition to Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith. I would suggest     forgetting the sequels and watching this as a standalone film.

�

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Andrew Offutt, The Broken Sword, Walt Simonson, Siege of Malta, Lovecraft Lunch Bags

Authors (The Silver Key): Andrew J. Offutt was a complex, deeply flawed man. A resident of rural Kentucky, Offutt was a husband and a father who supported his family with a successful insurance business, a job which he did not love and ultimately abandoned to make the bold leap into full-time writing. He was at one time a promising science fiction writer. He also subjected his children to emotional neglect, held baseless grudges against various personages, lacked a full emotional maturity and cohesive personality, and held a life-long obsession with pornography.

New Release (DMR Books): Next week will see the release of the 20th title from DMR Books. After publishing numerous excellent authors past and present, for the first time I’ll get to release a collection of my own writings! Necromancy in Nilztiria contains thirteen stories of adventure and wonder with a touch of gallows humor. A few of the tales have appeared before in other publications, but most will see print here for the first time (including “A Twisted Branch of Yggdrasil,” which was supposed to be included in the ill-fated Flashing Swords #6).

Fiction (Dark Herald): It was written in 1954, you can tell it was written in 1954 because it couldn’t be written today. This is a work of high tragedy that is strongly influenced by the Norse sagas.  If you like Game Thrones but would prefer that it be written by a non-sadist that can actually fit a story that should only take two hundred pages, into two hundred pages.  This is the book for you.

  RPG (Kairos): A speculative element is what sets the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror apart from literary fiction. There’s no element more speculative than magic, and it’s become a common term of art to speak of an SFF universe’s “magic system”. By reader request, here is my philosophy of magic in genre fiction–with advice on how to handle magic in your secondary world.

    Lovecraft (Tentaculii): So, kiddies, it’s back to school on Tuesday 1st September. Here are a few suggestions for last-minute rush-orders for school stuff, to arrive Monday. All available now on eBay… The H.P. Lovecraft shoulder bag for all your stuff, robust in black and blood red…

History (Compagnia san Michele blog): A common misconception is that the siege of Malta of 1565 was a one-on-one battle between an army of Hospitaller Knights against an all-Turkish invasion force. The opposing forces, in reality, were composed of troops hailing from a number of locations. In this write-up we will look at some foreign forces assisting the Order of St John in the defence of Malta. According to contemporary sources such as the diary of Francisco Balbi di Correggio, who served as a harquebusier during the siege, and from later historiography such as the work of Giacomo Bosio, the total defending force comprised of approximately the following:

Art & Philosophy (Chrislans Down): Over at Amatopia, Alexander Hellene discusses nihilism, primarily in art. It’s a good post, worth reading. There’s one segment of it that I want to discuss, though, because I think that it somewhat misses the bigger picture. There are two ways in which this misses the bigger picture.

Fiction (Amatopia): The Fall of Hyperion may as well be titled Hyperion: Part Two, as it picks up right where the first book in Dan Simmons’s Hyperion Cantos abruptly ends. Yet The Fall of Hyperion doesn’t merely pick up the story, it runs with it into wild, exciting directions before delivering a deeply satisfying conclusion that actually resolves mysteries while creating a few new ones to propel the narrative into the final two books of the series.

Pulp Science Fiction (Pulp.Net): Ray Cummings (1887-1957) is one of the “founding fathers” of pulp science fiction who unfortunately never got out of the “pulp getto.” During his career he wrote some 750 works, most for the pulps, and mostly science fiction. I was surprised to learn he had written quite a bit outside of sf. His most well-known work is Girl in the Golden Atom. This was his first original professional sale as the short story “Girl in the Golden Atom” in All-Story Weekly in 1919.

Science Fiction (Porpor Books): ‘Cestus Dei’ (283 pp) was published by Tor Books in June 1983. The cover art is by Kevin Eugene Johnson. This novel first was published, in greatly shortened form, as a hardback book titled ‘The Strayed Sheep of Charun’, issued by Doubleday / The Science Fiction Book Club in 1977. ‘Charon’ was John Maddox Roberts’s (b. 1947) first published novel. Roberts went on to be a prolific sci-fi and fantasy author during the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, writing novels for the Dragonlance and Conan franchises, as well as for his own ‘SPQR’, ‘Stormlands’, ‘Cingulum’, and ‘Island Worlds’ properties.

History (Western Fictioneers): Happy National Rum Day! This Sunday (August 16) is National Rum Day. I felt inspired to write an article about my personal favorite form of alcohol – along with some other libations your character would have been exposed to in the Old West. The first North American distillery began making rum in present-day Staten Island, New York (or New Amsterdam) in 1664. The earliest spirits distilled in the colonies were rum, gin, and brandies.

Comic Books (Diversions of the Groovy Kind): Walt Simonson’s birthday was this past Wednesday. If you ever wondered how much Ol’ Groove loves the handiwork of Walter Simonson, just check out any of the 66 (this will make 67) posts he’s featured in here on DotGK! There’s a reason the Marvel Bullpen nick-named him “Wondrous”! Here’s a huge pile of spectacular Simonson masterworks for you to ooh and ah over–then go check out all those other posts to give it all some context–and yourself added joy! Happy 74th, Mr. Simonson! Groove City loves you tons!

Edgar Rice Burroughs (DMR Books): The two defining works of ERB’s career, A Princess of Mars (1912) followed shortly after by Tarzan of the Apes, hit the pulp readership of All-Story Magazine like a bombshell. Nobody had ever read anything quite like those novels. Movies and hardcovers soon followed. For the mass market impact, the movies were more important. However, the hardcovers allowed young, aspiring writers who never had a chance to read the original pulp appearances–authors like Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore and Fritz Leiber–to devour the early Burroughs classics.

  Alt History (According to Quinn): One of the causes for the decline and fall of the (Western) Roman Empire is the revival of the old enemy Persia under the vigorous Sassanid dynasty. This gave Rome a major military threat to the east at the same time the Germanic tribes were growing larger and more organized and the weaknesses of the Roman imperial system (namely how the armies could make emperors in the provinces) were becoming apparent.

Pulp & Comic Books (Mens Pulp Mags): Lately, I’ve been on a Mike Shayne kick. My reading and watching involving that famed Miami-based Private investigator has led to a series of posts on this blog, starting one about the first appearance of a Mike Shayne story in a men’s adventure magazine, “The Naked Frame” in BLUEBOOK, February 1953. I blame my Shayne trip on my new friend Bill “Mad Pulp Bastard” Cunnigham and my old friend, novelist, editor and retromedia maven Paul Bishop.

RPG (Monsters and Manuals): Dickheads bring sexual content into a gaming session. This is one of the fairly large number of things that traditional conservatives and woke types can merrily agree on: don’t bring up the issue of sex unless you are really sure it’s appropriate. And never bring up the issue of rape at all, because: why are you doing that other than to either be deliberately edgy, or be a creep?

Dickheads hog the limelight. If you feel like you are talking too much, you probably are. If you don’t, you still probably are.

Fiction (Chrislans Down): Over on Twitter, Benjamin Kit Sun Cheah wrote a very interesting thread on Wuxia (Chinese heroes) and the meaning of this genre. He kindly gave me permission to quote it in full here since that’s much easier to read than a Twitter thread if you’re not used to Twitter.

Fiction (Paperback Warrior): Using a combination of the names Ian Fleming (James Bond) and Alistair MacLean (Where Eagles Dare), author Marvin Albert (1924-1996) conceived the pseudonym of Ian MacAlister in the early 1970s. The prolific author of crime-fiction, tie-in novels, and westerns authored many books under his own name as well as the names of Al Conroy and Nick Quarry. Conveniently, at the height of the 1970s high-adventure market, Albert used the MacAlister pseudonym to write four genre novels.

Paranormal and Fiction (Tellers of Weird Tales): Six months ago, before the world fell apart, I wrote about the evolution of the flying saucer from nineteenth-century airship to twentieth-century flying disk. Now I write again. It seems to me that the conceit of the nineteenth century was both progressive and romantic. The conceit was that Science, this new and exciting force, could be and would be used to solve previously intractable human problems. Airships were a symbol of this kind of thinking, the belief being that airships, because of their great power, would render war impossible to wage.

Crime Fiction (Pulp Serenade): I initially reviewed Ed Gorman and Martin H. Greenberg’s By Hook or By Crook, and 30 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year (2010, Tyrus Books) when it was new, and when we could count on new anthologies from its editors every year to highlight a fine array of stories from writers new and old, our favorite writers of today and tomorrow. How I miss those times. Cancer robbed readers of both of them, Greenberg first, in 2011, and Gorman in 2016.

Manga (Karavansara): Hiroaki Samura’s dark fantasy Blade of the Immortal was the last manga that I bought regularly before I decided it was too expensive a hobby, and I did not like the local fandom anyway. The fact that the Italian publisher of the series went belly up halfway through the comic’s run was also part of my decision to let it go, and with it let go of the whole hobby for a decade or two.

RPG (Skulls in the Stars): Operation Seventh Seal (1985), by Evan Robinson. Let’s look at an adventure from another TSR roleplaying game, Top Secret! Top Secret was introduced in 1980 as a contemporary espionage roleplaying game, designed by Merle M. Rasmussen and published by TSR. Looking back on playing Top Secret as a teen, I’m struck at how strange it is: it is effectively “spy D&D,” with a group of 4ish spies accomplishing missions. But can you imagine anything less practical than doing espionage as a *group*?

Sensor Sweep: Andrew Offutt, The Broken Sword, Walt Simonson, Siege of Malta, Lovecraft Lunch Bags published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Pulp on Pulp, Sabatini, Jirel, Weird Westerns

New Project (Misha Burnett): A reminder that the collection of essays that Cheah Kit Sun and I are putting together is open for submissions. I don’t know that Pulp On Pulp will be its title when it comes time to publish it–I just needed to call it something. I am looking for essays from writers, editors, reviewers, and readers of fiction on the subject of what makes fiction fun. The emphasis should be on practical considerations–do this, don’t do that.

Writing (Amatopia): I recently put up a huge blog roll of sites I read and authors I want to spread the word about. Problem is, lots of them didn’t have websites or blogs to link to! Sure, there are alternatives. For example, I linked to many Amazon pages, either for the author or a particular book. But an actual web presence can make an author seem more official, and in the indie world, this is very important.

Review (DVS Press): Brian Niemeier’s new book is out now, and it’s a number one best seller. Let’s address one 100 IQ level comeback I see frequently when talking about shutting your wallet to the mega-corporations who not only don’t give a shit about the franchises that you grew up with, but actively hate you and your culture and want it (and you) dead: bUt yOu Use AMaZon/yOuTUbE /fAcEbOok/PAtreON.

Popular Culture (Wasteland & Sky): As you can see from the photos in this post, normal people were all over the arcades at its peak in the late ’80s to early ’90s. I know, because I was there. When the most creative and successful games from Double Dragon and Final Fight, to Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, to Time Crisis and Dance Dance Revolution, were around, arcades thrived. By the end of the ’90s, the crowds got smaller as the games were shifting to home consoles. Normal people left, and developers abandoned the subculture.

Fiction (DMR Books): When I wrote my first post about Rafael Sabatini and his swashbuckling fiction, the concept for a series about the “Forefathers of Sword and Sorcery” here on the DMR Blog was still merely a glimmer in my eye. As with Arthur Machen, it’s high time Sabatini received his own entry. In this post, I try not to retread too much ground. For a more complete picture of the man and his work, I recommend that you check out “Rafael Sabatini: King of the Swashbucklers”.

Westerns (Brain Leakage): it’s not hard to see the appeal of stories about rugged loners living by their own rules. Nor is it difficult to see the appeal of books and movies that dwell on the majestic beauty of wide open spaces. Above all, Westerns are stories about personal freedom. After so many weeks being told where we can and can’t go, how close we can and can’t get to people, and what businesses we are and aren’t allowed to patronize anymore, who can blame viewers for looking to John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Yul Brenner for a little cathartic release?

Weird Western (Marzaat): There are new additions to the Weird Western subgenre all the time in games, fiction, comics, and movies. I’ve been interested in it for decades, starting with old Twilight Zone comic books and the Clint Eastwood movies High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider. The trouble is that, while I haven’t looked at every single example of the subgenre, I have sampled quite a few and most have been disappointing. For me, that disappointment comes in three areas.

Art (Broadway World): The Frank Frazetta The Serpent (aka “Aros”) Paperback Novel Cover Painting Original Art (Paperback Library, 1967) and Bernie Wrightson Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein Front Endpapers Illustration Original Art (late 1970s) sparked furious bidding to lead Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comics Art Auction to $9,099,710 in total sales April 30-May 3. So strong was the demand that the Dallas-based auction raced past its pre-auction estimate of just over $7.3 million and boasted sell-through rates of 100% by lots and value.

D&D (Jeffro’s Space Gaming Blog): Magic is way more interesting. Tons of off the wall spells get used. Having to find magic the AD&D way creates one of the best incentives to adventure ever made. Success here– finding even two or three new first level spells– can fundamentally change the nature of the game and the balance of power between the first level classes. Exciting! With three big books of monsters instead of a “pure” edited down list of archetypes, the players run into something they’ve never seen before almost every session.

Art (Mens Pulp Mags): David is, among other things, an aficionado of men’s adventure magazines (MAMs). So, he knows that Eva is the most widely-recognized female artist’s model in the MAM genre, in addition to being a popular pinup photo model featured in various types of men’s magazines from the mid-1950s to the 1970s. He also knows that Steve Holland is the most famous male model in the realms of both MAMs and paperback covers. Holland is particularly well known for being the model artist James Bama used for Doc Savage, in the cover art Bama did for the Bantam paperback series.

Sword-and-Sorcery (Legends of Men): What makes this story bad is first and foremost the prose. Phrases are repeated in ways that only seem like that of an amateur author. In the opening scene, Jirel storms a castle and impatiently calls for Giraud’s head. Twice more we are told how impatient she is. This sort of repetition is rampant. More importantly, C.L. Moore does not follow the best practice of “show, don’t tell.” Rather than showing us that Jirel is brave Moore just writes “she was not afraid.” This frequent and another example of how the author comes off as an amateur.

Video Games (That Matt Kid): Conan has had quite the bumpy ride in his transition to the video game world. Let’s revisit some of the earliest titles in the barbarian’s gaming adventures.

Pulp Magazines (Don Herron): ere’s a shot of Kong emerging from an alley next to a news agent shop. More mags. The big model allowed panoramic shots and flyovers, but the level of detail extended to street scenes as well. Those shots are rich in every way. Relevant to our interests, there are numerous shots of newsstands, featuring a variety of magazines, including pulps.

Streaming T.V. (Running Iron Report): The world was living for real in the shadow of the fictional prophecy that forms the bedrock of Showtime’s new horror tale, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels: City of Angels is built around the seething racial tensions that simmered just below the golden surface of Los Angeles through most of its history. The planned Arroyo Seco Motorway (eventually the 110 Freeway running from Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles) will displace a Mexican-American neighborhood, just as the construction of Dodger Stadium would clean out Chavez Ravine two decades later. Nazis are infiltrating the film studios and the aircraft manufacturing plants.

Review (Paperback Warrior): After the pulp magazines disappeared, they were largely replaced by a more gritty and realistic magazine genre collectively known as Men’s Adventure Magazines (MAMs). These glossy, color publications featured stories and artwork by the same people servicing the men’s paperback original market in the 1950s and 1960s. Magazines like Adventure and Real Men were filled with colorful illustrations and stories designed to appeal to working class men returning home from the wars of the Mid-20th Century.

Fiction (DMR Books): Gustave Flaubert died on this date in 1880. While most famous for his novel, Madame Bovary, and dubbed “The Father of French Literary Realism”, Gustave nonetheless had a strong influence on the early formation of sword-and-sorcery. Salammbo–published in 1862–is loosely based upon the events following the First Punic War. The Carthaginians had lost their war with Rome and then decided to stiff the mercenaries who had fought for them. Predictably, mayhem and atrocities ensued during what has been dubbed the “Mercenary War”.

Fiction (Dark Worlds Quarterly): Fire Hunter (1951) by Jim Kjelgaard follows Hawk, chief weapon-maker for his tribe, as he makes innovation after innovation and leads his tribe to survive sabertooth tigers, rival tribesmen and grass fires. It was illustrated by Ralph Ray. Kjelgaard, who is best known for his Big Red dog books, serves up a fascinating tale of cavemen and invention that is plausible for the time but filled with action and adventure too. He attempts Burroughsian fantasy but strives for plausibility in a way that Jean Auel will make best-sellers of in thirty years. The film 10,000 BC should have used this story.

Gaming (Pelgrane Press): There’s value in seeing how a hero you know translates into Swords of the Serpentine, especially when that hero changes over time. SotS lets you play fledgling (less experienced) and sovereign (exceptionally experienced) versions of the same character, jumping back and forth in time between adventures in the same way a collection of fantasy short stories might jump between different eras of the same hero’s life.

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