Western Wednesday: Square Butts on Round Saddles?

Today’s advice: never try to saddle a sheep…those buggers are meaner than they look…

My upcoming August Lance Howard release, Dead Man Riding should be available soon at Amazon. You can sign up to be notified when it arrives. It’s good to see Amazon US carrying Black Horse Westerns new releases. You can sign up here: http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Man-Riding-Lance-Howard/dp/0709089449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272397368&sr=1-1-spell

Amazon is also carrying my recent Lance Howard release Coyote Deadly. http://www.amazon.com/Coyote-Deadly-Linford-Western-Library/dp/1847829651/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272397662&sr=1-1

In the recent issue of Black Horse Extra (http://www.blackhorsewesterns.com/) New Zealand author Keith Chapman makes a rather distressing point about one of the problems with locating Black Horse Westerns in the US, something that has been a problem here. They are easily obtainable through AmazonUK, and some other overseas sellers, but of course adding to the cost with airmail can be a big drawback, as the fee is nearly as much as the book itself. Fortunately that has been changing slowly with Amazon US finally starting to carry new releases and the UK’s Book Depository offering free world-wide shipping and sometimes significant price discounts (though you need to act fast, as the top authors in this line generally sell out immediately.)

What I found most distressing about Mr. Chapman’s statements was the quotes from a well-known agent he used to back it up. In a nutshell, it comes down to a bias against British and authors from other countries writing in an American genre. He quotes: “…’America is a closed shop to "British" westerns’. This is regardless of the research which goes into the work done by the better writers…”

This, if it is the case, is ludicrous, and I am in agreement with Mr. Chapman. While there may, indeed, be the occasional word or phrase tip-off from a foreign writer, so what? What the hell does that have to do with what is really important about the books—the fact that there are some damn fine story-tellers working in the line, who just happen to live outside the country that spawned the genre. Many of the writers in the line hail from the US, as Mr. Chapman points out, but I have read and personally know many of those who do not, and even the most elite genre snob would be hard-pressed to tell the difference or give a damn if they could. The fact remains—a good story-teller captures a reader with his/her words; and a good writer researches to a point where minor differences in word usage are negated. I liken it to accents: Can anyone really tell the husband in the TV show Medium is British or the vampire detective lead in Moonlight is Australian? And if you can, does it matter? Did it matter to anyone Robert Downey, Jr. in Sherlock Holmes wasn’t British? Not to me.

I think what annoys me most about this is the narrow pigeon-holing marketers have, or perhaps dim view of their readership they seem to take. Readers want good stories and Black Horse Westerns have some damn fine writers. This reader cares not a lick where the writer comes from; he cares whether the writer has commanded of his tale and involves him in its canvas. A Fistful of Legends is one—though I can be accused of being a bit biased and I’ll accept that—of the best Western anthologies on the market—and a number of the writers hail from other countries. I challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference.

To be fair, there are a number of writers from other countries pulling it off (especially in other genres), though on a relatively small scale. Avalon publishes top-notch Scottish/British writer Ian Parnham.

But if this attitude does exist on a large scale, it’s time to get over it and see the corral for the horses. I suspect far more talent falls by the wayside because of marketing department control and rigid flavor-of-the-month mentality than actually makes it to the readership. It’s a pity. And it’s time to change it.

Let’s get out there and ride some Black Horses…

Terror Tuesday: Ghost Leads?

Once upon a midnight dreary…while he stalked her so sincerely…there came a blasting through the window pane…scattering body parts across the leafy lane…

Ah, the modern age really has made it tough on the poor ghouls…damsels just aren’t the weak little victims they used be…

Read: Hide by Lisa Gardner. After an underground chamber filled with body parts is discovered on the grounds of a closed mental institution, State Police detective Bobby Dodge must seek the answers to a decades-old series of murders and save a young woman with multiple pasts from certain doom. The book starts a little slow but is a pretty good page turner once it kicks into gear. Like the previous book by this author, some things rely a little too much on coincidence and again with the child killing/pedophile thing, which is tough to read. Recommended with reservations for those bothered by the subject matter.

Screened: The Lovely Bones. Wish I hadn’t watched this. The subject matter, a little girl being raped and murdered by a neighbor (Stanely Tucci is more than a little creepy in the role), who is a serial killer, gave me an ill feeling to begin with (I was expecting something else, a ghost mystery), and the ending definitely fell flat, ruining any satisfaction and resolution that might have made an hour and a half of wanting to bawl worth it. Some very effective filming and scenes, but this movie just wasn’t something I was comfortable with on a personal level. If anyone has read the book, I’d be interested in knowing if it were better and how it was different.

One thing the movie did make me wonder about however, was if there are ghosts, and the owners of those ghosts died violently, why aren’t more serial killers caught through them? In recent episodes of Ghost Hunters—and I am going, for the sake of this article, with the supposition ghosts do indeed exist, though I am not convinced of that personally—they made claims of being able to question entities through the use of a flash light turning on and off or a meter blinking one or two blinks for yes and no. Since this occurred in places such as the home where Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson family, and other spots of violent crime, why aren’t there more answers from ghosts pointing to serial killers or others who murdered them?

From an investigator’s standpoint, it would seem if I were investigating a place supposedly haunted by a murder victim whose killer remained uncaught, I would want to phrase questions in such a way as to gain leads to the killers. There are, however, no verified cases of that having happened (though many unsubstantiated claims by psychics, both fraudulent and “legitimate” exist).

And why aren’t ghosts coming back and giving clues as to where their remains might be found, so that they and their loved ones might have closure? (Again, talking verified scientifically here, not claims).

The easiest answer is: there are no such things as ghosts. But assuming we accept the existence of spirits, then we need to question the legitimacy or skill of the investigators claiming communication with these entities first. Assuming some of those investigators are legit and pass the veracity test—then one has to wonder about some mystical set of rules governing entities, as is the staple of much supernatural fiction. Are they allowed to tell us? If not, why not? Ghosts seem to be answering questions just fine on the TV shows.

Oh, and if the victims can come back and maybe help…who’s to say the serial killers—put to death by the legal system or otherwise—can’t mess with the ghost hunters and send them down blind trails? Or worse, lead them into dangerous situations?

Ok…scaring myself…gonna go take the batteries out of all my flashlights...some answers are better left as questions…

The Chloe Files: Kicking Evil’s ass one demon at a time…
In the tradition of Sookie Stackhouse and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer…
In paperback from http://www.bn.com/

Return of the Pulp Heroes…

While DC’s revival of a couple of quintessential pulp heroes (Doc Savage and The Avenger) in their alternate world First Wave line has garnered quite a bit of attention in comic book circles over the past few weeks, a legion of exciting if lesser known champions of noir justice has remained primarily in the memories of a cult following of fans and with reprints from specialty presses. But all that is about to change. And change big time.

Enter Moonstone Books’ Return of the Originals Pulp Line (www.moonstonebooks.com). As many of you who have been reading my blog know, Moonstone has long been a champion of preserving those crime-battlers of the 1930s & 40s, primarily through their widescreen comic books and original short stories collections for The Spider, Master of Men, and The Avenger, both of which I have been lucky enough to contribute to.

With the Originals line, however, they are about to return a plethora of pulp heroes to 2-D glory through widescreen and panel comic books by some of the premier talent in the business.

I’m proud to be a part of that endeavor, with a major re-envisioning of John Russell Fearn’s golden-skinned heroine, The Golden Amazon. Chris Hanchey will be providing the art (see the sneak peek of the preliminary character sketch based on my designs accompanying this article). I plan on returning Violet Ray, The Golden Amazon, to a prominent stature she never fully achieved in pulp format but so richly deserves. Violet is a rich and unlimited personality I fell a bit in love with while developing her history and world, and I hope readers will fall in love with her as well. As the time nears for her launch, I’ll devote more space to her in this blog and hopefully have more samples.

Writer extraordinaire Martin Powell will be handling the reins for The Spider, that blood-thirsty vigilante of permanent justice, along with jungle hero Ki-Gor. Modern Doc Savage writer Will Murray returns 60s mystery-gal Honey West to a new audience. The Phantom writer Mike Bullock handles the ropes for The Black Bat and Captain Future (a Doc Savage-in-space type hero and one of my all time favorites). Elizabeth Massie tackles The Moon Man and Win Eckert exposes The Green Ghost. Other heroes returning include: Secret agent X, The Domino Lady (already in progress in her own series) and The Phantom Detective.

The line will have a unique style and coloring and promises something for everyone, with exciting stories, blazing action and intriguing characterizations. Moonstone cares about these characters, respects their fans and the source material, while presenting them in lush production with brilliant art guaranteed to bring in legions of new followers. They have set up a forum on their website: http://www.moonstoneforums.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=67 and a Facebook page for readers and writers alike:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Moonstone-Pulps/103747926334946

If you are a pulp hero enthusiast who’s been looking to see your favorites brought to life in comics the way they deserve or a new fan longing to discover the escapism and wonder of true action heroes, please give this line your support. Of course, I hope you’ll start with The Golden Amazon, but you can’t go wrong with any of these books.

The Chloe Files by Howard Hopkins: Kicking Evil’s ass one demon at a time…
In the tradition of Sookie Stackhouse and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer…
In paperback from http://www.bn.com/

Western Wednesday: Lancer

It’s another Western Wednesday…I got spurs that jingle-jangle-jingle...ok, no I don't, I just super-glued my keys to my boots again...

My next Lance Howard Black Horse Western release has been scheduled for August and can be pre-ordered from Amazon Uk. From the blurb: “Two years before, Logan Priest left the woman he loved in the hope of sheltering her from the dangers of his profession...but he made a terrible mistake. When a vicious outlaw whom he brought to justice escapes prison, he seeks revenge on the very woman Priest once sought to protect. Logan has no desire to return to the manhunting trail until he receives the outlaw's grisly calling-card. Can he gather his wits in time to meet the challenge or will he become the killer's next victim?” Order at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Man-Riding-Lance-Howard/dp/0709089449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271643738&sr=1-1

Despite the fact I am a Western writer, I didn’t watch a lot of Westerns as a kid, with the exception of The Lone Ranger and The Wild Wild West. The occasional Gunsmoke episode, or Bonanza…a few more episodes of The Big Valley. But one show I did watch was Lancer.

Lancer aired on CBS from1968-1970 and starred Andrew Dugan as the father of two half-brother sons (played by James Stacey and Wayne Maunder), somewhat like Bonanza running on NBC, but a little edgier. Stacey was the Mexican half-brother Johnny Madrid Lancer, he of the studded, painted-on pants and bad attitude. As a kid, I worshiped him as Western cool, though my mother drew the line at sewing studs into my bellbottoms. Lancer ran 51 episodes and didn’t quite catch on the way Big Valley, Bonanza and Gunsmoke did, but it sort of rode the tale end of the Western fad in the 50s and 60s, so it was probably more a matter of timing than show quality. It wasn’t quite as clean a Western as audiences expected, a bit rough around the edges (though nothing like today’s Deadwood, of course.) Dugan, as Murdoch Lancer, was not entirely the above-board dad Lorne Greene was in Bonanza, either. The show took place in California, as opposed to most other Westerns of its time, and centered around the three main characters learning about and to live with each other, though each was a strong personality on his own, after Dugan summons both sons home to aide him in fending off land pirates. In the first episode Madrid is rescued from a Mexican firing squad, setting the tone for the series.

I haven’t seen it since it originally aired, but I am hoping to catch it on DVD at some point. And I plan on eventually buying a Buttoneer to put those damn studs in my jeans…

Terror Tuesday: Comics from the Shadows

It’s another Terror Tuesday…still looking for a few good virgins…seems to be the one job tough to find applicants for…well, that and Ke$ha’s vocal coach…

TV Guide mentions House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows (with its missing 30 minutes restored) will be released this year. It’s about time.

I used to dislike Destination Truth, the Sy Fy Network’s follow-up show to Ghost Hunters. After catching the first few episodes, I wrote it off as all fluff and no stuff. Recently, I gave it another chance…and found it had improved immensely and in some cases presented some fascinating evidence of possible supernatural and/or monster encounters. The past week’s episode involving a ghost hunt in Jordan was pretty eerie, though the Gatorman thing was a bit silly. So check it out if the search for the unusual interests you.

And speaking of Dark Shadows, many don’t know there was a DS comic strip that ran for about a year in 1971/72. Unfortunately, for a show with such a large cult following, Dark Shadows’ comic book career has been a little sparse.

Gold Key issued 35 issues of a DS comic book from 1969-76. I remember picking up a couple issues as a kid and they were pretty good, with realistic artwork based on the gothic soap. Barnabas Collins was the primary star of the comic book series, and though the book did not adhere to the show’s continuity, it did involve zombies, werewolves, time travel and his relationship with Dr. Julia Hoffman. Quentin Collins and the witch, Angelique, appeared as well. Dan Curtis was forced to go with Gold key, because the two large comic book publishers, DC and Marvel, were under restrictions from the Comics Code Authority not to allow most supernatural—especially zombies—into their books (of course there were exceptions and this changed not long after as Marvel started a number of monster books, though zombies were still relegated to the more adult black and white mags). A few years back I nabbed a few at a flea market for 25 cents apiece. They have become somewhat difficult to find except in collector’s circles, usually for significant prices, but they are being released by Hermes press in hardcover volumes with restored color, and the book is well worth its price tag for fans.

In the early ‘90s, Innovation Comics (a short-lived, unfortunately, Indie company) released a handful of issues based on the DS revival show. The first arc was excellent, with gorgeous painted artwork that spawned a couple of posters. It’s a pity it didn’t continue.

Recently, Barnabas made a guest appeared in a special Kolchak: The Night Stalker comic book from Moonstone (based on the short story that appeared in their Kolchak short story anthology).

But it seems, with the upcoming movie starring Johnny Depp set to start filming later this year it’s high time for DS to make a return to the comic book format.

The Chloe Files: Kicking Evil’s ass one demon at a time…
In the tradition of Sookie Stackhouse and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer…
In paperback from http://www.bn.com/

Doc Savage Returns to Comics...The Avenger Does Not...

DC Comics launched the first of its single titles in its First Wave alternate universe series this week and after reading it I launched my dinner. The title is Doc Savage, the archetype 1930s pulp hero who influenced generations of other heroes and concepts from Superman to Star Trek to James Bond. The magazine co-features my all-time favorite pulp hero, The Avenger, whom I have written and co-edited for Moonstone.

I knew going in this was an alternate universe type deal, and I am ok with that. The fact that cell phones are concurrent with dirigibles and Deco is fine. Instead of strict 1930s time settings we get a sort of all-period, pulling pieces from then and now. Maybe not what I am used to for my pulp heroes, but ok.

What’s not ok is taking established characters and making them virtually unrecognizable and/or dismissing/disrespecting the source material. I have never understood why a company purchases rights to a character only to thoroughly castrate everything that makes it unique and cherished by legions of--or cult--fans. It rarely works, anyway.

I went into it with an open mind. I don’t mind some changes, updating. I am not a total fanboy purist. I was perfectly ok with The Shadow movie and its blending/changes and love Smallville, though many Superman purists do not.

So…the first half of the book establishes the Man of Bronze and his crew in their new form. The writer is Paul Malmont, who does have respect and knowledge of pulp, having written The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, which brought together some of Pulpdom’s biggest scribes in an adventure of their own. He’s a good writer and I am going to assume DC had him under some strict parameters and not that he didn’t know the Doc Savage character well enough. Howard Porter’s artwork is phenomenal. No complaints there, though the colorist has Doc’s hair blondish instead of darker bronze than his skin and give one of Doc’s men, Long Tom, dark hair when it should be blonde. Some of the characterizations are off/changed but overall at least Doc is recognizable. So I am going to wait and see where this goes before doing a comprehensive review.

BUT…the second half of book? Toilet paper.

For the second time (the first occurring with a two-part Avenger graphic novel by Helfner/Baker in the 80s) DC has decided to utterly ruin Richard Henry Benson, The Avenger. It’s not a simply case of updating or adapting—it’s nonsense. The writer is Jason Starr, who states in his bio he “didn’t read much as a kid” and it shows. While I have not read his other work and he may be a perfectly fine writer in his genre, he does not know The Avenger from his ass. Or he is locked into guidelines set by the series’ architect Brain Azzarello, who has made no secret of his disdain for core pulp fans and the characters. DC/Starr simply does not “get” The Avenger. They have thrown away most of the things that made the character and the series unique, and or made excuses for the parts they kept. Benson—now called “Benny” by one of his men—is now some sort of revenge-driven social worker. His aides have been altered to look and act nothing like those in the original series. Nellie, a blonde, is now Asian…I think; it’s hard to tell from the poor artwork. Josh has a new last name and backstory and dropped a wife somewhere in the process. Mac grew a beard, lost his Scots accent and Smitty shrunk. Richard Henry Benson, millionaire, suddenly is worried about turning down the heat in the building.

I have been trying to find something good to say about this start to Justice, Inc. (The Avenger’s little organization and title of the first novel in the series), but there is nothing. It is awful. A total disregard for the character and his fans. Not a single shred of evidence those associated with the project have ever read a single word in the series, or if they did they didn’t care.

Don’t get me wrong—I am a big DC fan and love nearly all of their titles. I spend enough money on them. And I wonder how they’d like it if some writer/company did to Batman or Superman what they have done to The Avenger.

Some things work as they are for a reason. They don’t need to be changed--simply presented and built upon. The soul of the source material needs to be left intact or at least honored. That did not happen in this book.
Avenger fans…Moonstone is putting out two further volumes of original Avenger short stories this year. They know and respect the character. I know how the EIC loves Benson and I am co-editing and writing for these books. I recommend if you love Richard Henry Benson as well you stick with The Avenger Chronicles and let DC know your dissatisfaction with this latest travesty.

Western Wednesday: Hex Marks the Spot

It’s Western Wednesday—where sheep run for cover and the words My Pretty Pony must never be spoken…

First, many thanks to Margaret Marr at Nights and Weekends Reviews for the awesome review of my vampire/western, The Dark Riders. You can read the review here: http://www.nightsandweekends.com/articles/10/NW1000151.php

Since I started out as a horror writer, then made the transition to Westerns, combining the genres has always come naturally to me. With the vicious vampires in The Dark Riders or the Jack the Ripper scenario in Pistolero, unapologetic horror rode the dark trails. But even in my more traditional Black Horse Westerns written under my Lance Howard name I mixed in a bit of the spooky stuff, such as in The West Witch and The Comanche’s Ghost.

I think the simpler times of the Old West, along with the great unknown and constant day to day rational fears of starvation, Indian attacks, drought, etc. made fear-drenched campfire tales all the more potent. Nobody could flash a digital camera or EVP recorder on things that went bump in the night. And from that tradition comes the modern blending of terror and trail-blazing. Still, I wonder why there hasn’t been more of an explosion in the cross genre. Other authors went there long before I, and still do—though oddly enough I have heard some persons in the know complain about mixing genres. That all may change soon, if the upcoming Jonah Hex release does well.

Jonah Woodson Hex is a DC Comics property, who debuted in 1971 in All-Star Western #10 and was created by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga. He was a western anti-hero with a gruesomely mangled face who ended up shooting his way through 92 issues in his own title and made scattered appearances thereafter until his recent revival in 2005 (still running) by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti. The stories are often disturbing, to say the least, though not outright supernatural horror. It’s hard to like Mr. Hex, because, basically, he’s one mean son of a bitch. His morals are…well, nearly non-existent. He’ll kill or bed just about anything, with little—ok, no remorse. He’s a bounty hunter, for hire to the folks with the largest billfold. But every so often, something almost human peeks through.

The new Jonah Hex movie will plumb the depths of horror, however, complete with zombies. It stars Josh Brolin (Hickok on The Young Riders) and Megan Fox and is scheduled for a June release. It’s is my hope the film will bring much more awareness to the potential of not only the Western genre but to the Horror/Western cross-genre.

Terror Tuesday: Get Your Mu Mu On…

It’s another Terror Tuesday…ah, don’t you just love how spring brings out the pretty young virgins…what? Oh, really? Virgin shortage, you say? Humph…well, that sure throws a monkey wrench into Raise a Demon Week…Nobody respects tradition anymore…

Screened this week: Hide and Seek. More like Nod Off and Snore. After the suicide of his wife, a psychologist moves himself and his troubled daughter to a house in the country. Soon, daughter has a new friend nobody seems to see, though “Charlie” is responsible for some nasty goings-on. I saw the ending coming nearly from the beginning…and the snooze-fest hour and a half between was not worth the journey getting to find out I was right. Robert DeNiro…not sure if he was just picking up a paycheck or incapable of doing much with the predictable material. Dakota Fanning, who played the little girl, however, is highly believable and rises above what she’s given to work with. There are like five alternate endings on the damn thing, but I had no desire to watch them. Not recommended.

Read: Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner. A serial killer known as the “Spideyman” rapes, humiliates and murders prostitutes and little boys, while taunting a pregnant detective. I have mixed feelings on this one. The writing is generally good, though there are confusing points of view and even sentences I had to go back over to figure out their meaning. The conflict between the pregnant detective and her investigator husband was set up and only passingly resolved. There are a few nice twists, some decent suspense, but the whole pedophile thing, while not exceptionally graphic as far as detailed descriptions go, was tough reading matter. The lead character is supposed to be strong, but she comes across as not particularly linkable or empathetic. My biggest problem was a sort of deus ex machina employed to save a character that you do identify with near the end. It’s a good thing it came so close to the finish or I might have dropped the book right there and then. The sad part of it was that the device was simply not needed. Everything to resolve the conflict was already in place. Since the book was suspense/mystery and not horror, the device was terribly jarring.

Last week I talked a bit about lost continents that have perished beneath the sea, two of the most famous being Atlantis and Lemuria. I touched briefly on Mu, which is the more fantastical of the lot. This week I revisit that mysterious land.

Colonel James Churchward, big game hunter, former Bengal Lancer, claimed he had learned of a lost continent named Mu buried beneath the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean—a six-thousand-mile-long continent! He said he had learned it from ancient hidden tablets in India revealed to him by a Hindu priest.

Churchwood also claimed humans appeared on Mu 200,000 years ago and evolved into an advanced race of 60 million, spanning ten tribes. But after a tremendous volcanic eruption about 12,000 years ago, earthquakes and tsunamis obliterated the continent. Some inhabitants escaped, fled to other lands. The Colonel asserted Mu’s existence could be witnessed in artifacts and legends of the ancient Greeks, Mayans, Egyptians and Cliff Dwellers of North America; the Chinese, Burmese and Pacific Island dwellers, as well as others. He wasn’t one to hedge his bets, I guess. All the islands of the Pacific Ocean are pieces of Mu.

Chruchwood’s veracity is highly suspect, as was perhaps his mental state. He never produced the tablets to verify his claims and the existence of Mu and some of his evidence was based on trance travels into past lives. Of course, he wrote Mu tour books. Why not make a little cash out of the deal?

No scientific evidence exists, either, at least at this point, though the Pacific is a vast expanse and volcanic activity is high, so it’s not inconceivable some lands might have vanished beneath the waves. But for now Mu remains a fascinating piece of science Fiction…

The Chloe Files: Kicking Evil’s ass one demon at a time…
In the tradition of Sookie Stackhouse and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer…
In paperback from http://www.bn.com/

Western Wednesday: Hossing Around

It’s Western Wednesday—have you hugged your horse today? How ‘bout your local saloon gal? When did they get all funny about slapping on restraining orders, anyway? Apparently the old, “But, ma’am, I’m a cowboy” routine doesn’t carry much weight in this day and age. Meh.

Whenever I’ve got my figurative Western hat on at book signings, folks inevitably get around to asking how someone from Maine—about as far from the West as you can get in the US—ends up writing about the mythical West. Surely I must have lived out West at some point…surely I own a dude ranch—oh, yeah, lots of those here in Maine—and spend my days atop my trusty mount, riding the trails and rounding up lobsters.

Truth be told, my experience with horses growing up consisted of religiously watching Mr. Ed. When I found out horses really couldn’t talk, I was pretty disappointed. Then of course there was my one bad experience with a pony as a kid. It nipped me right in the saddle—I think I was about six. At least I think it nipped me. I’m not entirely sure what it was doing back there. But I never turned my back on a pony after that day…forgetting that getting nipped in the front might be a whole lot worse of an experience.

My one other experience with a horse—other than the kind you put a quarter in—was a horseback riding date. A swift choice, since I had never been on one and the damn horse knew it. Oh, I caught those backward sly horsy glances that said “piss me off and I’m tossing your skinny little ass twenty feet, Tonto…” From then on I was that horse’s bitch. Mr. Ed had a whole lot better attitude, if you ask me.

But they are magnificent creatures. My mother raised them when she was young (even ended up with a crushed kidney when one fell on her), so maybe some of my Western writing interest was passed through the blood. People might wonder how a writer can be authentic telling tales about the West never really having ridden, but then most sci-fi authors probably haven’t been to Mars and do just fine. It has to do with extensive research, of course, but more with letting oneself be swept into the grandeur and past, into the fantasy and wonder of another age and lifestyle. When a western writer closes his/her eyes, he/she can hear the whip-o-wills at dusk, smell the musky redolence of horse lather and old leather, feel the ripple of throbbing muscles beneath his/her legs as a bay gelding gallops along a winding trail.

With writers, it’s all about transporting themselves emotionally into worlds different from their own. Vicariously living and reliving the past, the unknown. How do you write about the West when you haven’t lived there? The question seems much more prevalent for western writers (perhaps they are more pigeonholed than other genre writers?) than those who pen Historical Scottish sagas, Science Fiction, Medieval tales, but it all comes down to one thing—whether the writer can transport him or herself into a story and whether they can sweep their readers along with them.

And that’s the hoss’s true color…

Terror Tuesday: I’d Like to be, Under the Sea…

I thought of doing something really scary this week for Terror Tuesday, like photocopying my butt, but apparently it was some sort of danger to pacemakers and babies, so why take the risk? Damn, those funky blue laws, anyway…

Anyhow, I have always been fascinated by the idea of lost islands and continents that lie beneath the sea. One of my favorite Doc Savage books, Mystery Under the Sea, brings the Man of Bronze to the sunken remnants of history’s most famous submerged land and its stone libraries of lost knowledge. It was followed by another favorite, The Red Terrors, which dealt with some denizens still left alive in that underwater realm. Races and continents lost to the pages of time, perhaps somehow preserved in the dark brine, evoke mystery and secrets. What lies beneath the waves? What treasures, what hidden knowledge and clues to our own past wait in the depths? And what, if they exist, happened to them? Could it happen to us?

Of course, the most famous of these lost continents is Atlantis, Plato’s fabled island that allegedly sank beneath the waters after some cataclysmic event ten-thousand years ago. That sinking occurred anywhere from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean to places between, depending on which theory you subscribe to. In the comic books, the Sub-Mariner and Aquaman both hail from this mysterious kingdom beneath the sea.

While Atlantis is certainly the most famous of the sunken islands, it is not the only one.

Lemuria is probably the second-best known. It was purported to be in the Indian Ocean. Legend has it, it was the place of the Garden or Eden and the birthplace of Creation. The theory of the existence of Lemuria arose in the nineteenth century, when scientists sought to explain Darwin’s Theory of Evolution of a common ancestor for similar species. An English zoologist, Philip Sclater, posited a land bridge once existed during the Eocene Age, running from Malay Archipelago to the south coast of Asia and Madagascar, connecting India to southern Africa. The theory explained why animals like the lemur are found primarily on Madagascar and in parts of Africa, as well as India. From lemur came the name Lemuria.

Mu was another lost land. Colonel James Churchward, big game hunter, former Bengal Lancer, claimed he had learned of a lost continent named Mu buried beneath the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean—a six-thousand-mile-long continent! He said he had learned it from ancient hidden tablets in India revealed to him by a Hindu priest. Mu has quite an extensive and interesting legend, so I will save it for another time.

So far, no concrete evidence has been discovered to support any of these lost lands, though there are interesting hints and theories. With the larger percentage of the world being covered by water, it is certainly not inconceivable some large land mass might not of somehow sunk beneath the waves, taking an advanced civilization with it. The Earth’s arrangement of continents has changed over billions of years, so why couldn’t some civilization, at present unknown to man, have evolved and vanished? The much larger dinosaurs disappeared somewhat abruptly sixty-five million years ago. While Mu is likely the product of imagination, who knows how many smaller budding societies might have come and gone throughout antiquity? It is likely only a matter of time before some evidence of something is found. I, for one, can’t wait.

The Chloe Files: Kicking Evil’s ass one demon at a time…
In the tradition of Sookie Stackhouse and Buffy, The Vampire Slayer…
In paperback from http://www.bn.com/

Slap her Down Again, Pa! (Redux)

(I am reposting this because it's been awhile and I think it's too important a subject to not keep in the public eye. Please, those of you who witness abuse--help. Those of you who suffer through it--get help. These guys won't change. They won't ever love anything but control...)

It feels good, doesn’t it, guy? Your knuckles smashing into her face, bloodying her nose or mashing her lip. You love the sense of supremacy and domination your strength, your violence gives you over her. It’s gratifying to see her cower, tears streaming from her eyes, sobs shuddering through her body. It makes your heart sing and your ego blaze. She’s weak and YOU are mighty. All powerful. YOU have the control over YOUR world. No one can touch you as you loom over her, your fist raised, your eyes burning with fury.

And what’s even better? Now you can step in and hold her, tell her, “There, there, everything’s gonna be all right. I love you, babe, and I’m just trying to teach you. I’m just trying to show you your place.” YOU are her hero, goddammit. Her protector. No one can hurt her.

Except YOU, of course.

And don’t stop there. No, no, no. Why not make sure any ember of her self-esteem is drenched in the icewater that might have once been your compassion for another human being? A woman you once said and still say you loved. Forever. Why not make certain her friends and family don’t give her any highfaluting ideas about independence and self-worth. Good God, no, you can’t have her head filled with THOSE despicable notions. You can’t let her be her own person, because that would make you, well…irrelevant. She might actually think she can get along without your “protection.” So isolate her. Tell her to make excuses about that black eye or those bruises. Damn clumsy of her falling and hitting her face on that coffee table anyway. And make sure you buy her little presents, trinkets to show her how much you care and get her thinking, well, maybe you’re not such a bad guy. Because you aren’t, right? You’re just protecting her from the big bad world. From the guys who would let her be herself and all that lofty garbage. But, hey, don’t those bruises have a lovely purple color to them?

And while you’re at it, hell, don’t forget the kids. Get in their faces and scream obscenities at them. Call them names and destroy any chance of them ever getting any of that horrible self-esteem crap. Oh, and set that fine example while you can. Make sure your son knows how to treat his woman. HIS woman. Make sure he carries on the respectable family tradition. You’re the MAN, and so shall he be. And your daughters? Well, they need to know their place. No opinions, no backtalk, no equality. Those things are evil and those bitches should realize they are here for one purpose only—to please their man. Hit them a few times just to make sure. Ruin their lives before they start. Make damn sure all the innocence is purged from their soul. With your fists.

And if they want to get away from you? Why, hurt them some more. Beat those silly notions right the hell out of them. Show them the error of their ways. Stalk them. Call them a hundred times a day and work your magic. Please forgive me, honey. I won’t do it again. I’ll change. I’ve gone to church. I’m not the man I used to be. I’ve learned.

But you didn’t learn, did you? You had the only knowledge you needed all the time, though it’s not the one you profess. You had the gift of the lie. The story. You have the ability to wear them down, like an incessant drip of water wearing away a brick.

What or who gave YOU the right to do all this? Was it maybe the dysfunctional family you came from? Or was it your God, who spoke to you in blood and self-righteous fury and told you how powerful you had the right to be?

What perverted your soul so obscenely you determined abusing another was justified? No, not justified: OK, even. Necessary. Demanded.

You feel pretty good about yourself, because you always win, always get them back. And always satisfy your cravings for controlling your skewed little world by abusing them, emotionally, physically, again.

Big man.

Big man, indeed.

Powerful? No. Your woman’s savior and protector? Hardly.

There’s only one word for you.

Coward.