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| January 26, 2012 |
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NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES NOVEL read... |
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Greetings Loyal Airmen, well time is once again up to its old tricks and pretty much moving through the new year like a runaway freight train. And dragging us all along for the ride. The Air Chief is so happy to announce the first new Airship 27 Productions title for 2012 and it's a brand new Sherlock Holmes novel.
SHERLOCK HOLMES - The Baron's Revenge was written by writer Gary Lovisi and is a sequel to an actual story by Arthur Conan Doyle; "The Case of the Illustrious Client." It is a gripping suspense thriller with a madman out to destroy both the Great Detective and his loyal ally, Dr.Watson. It features a cover by Rob Davis and digital painter Shane Evans, with nine black and white interior illustrations by Rob. The renewed popularity of Holmes via the new movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law plus BBC's new "Sherlock" series has rekindled a huge world wide interest in this amazing fictional character and we've no doubt this book is going to be a huge seller. You can pick up a copy by clicking on our airship logo to the left of this column. Our Airship 27 Hangar store is selling digital PDF copies you can download on most e-readers for only $3, or you can go to (www.IndyPlanet.com) to purchase a hard copy for only $13.99 (plus shipping & handling). Again, we are thrilled to get the new year rolling along with this great book.
Another book we hope you'll pick up is FINAL FENWAY FICTION. Edited by Adam Patcher, and published by Cornerstone Book Publishers, it features a collection of stories, essays and fiction all dealing with the Boston Red Sox and their historical park, Fenway. This year Fenway celebrates its 100th Anniversary as a national baseball park where millions of have come to enjoy America's favorite pastime. It was an honor for the Air Chief to have been a part of this remarkable book. Our contribution is a short story, our very first ever published pulp sports story, entitled "The Hot Dog Kid" and it tells the story of a young player coming up from the minors to the "big show." The book is now available at Amazon and will soon be on sale via all the big book selling distributors. It features a stunning cover by Colorado based artist Daniel Ibanez with design work done by our good friend Rob Davis. If you're a sports lover, you need to pick up this book.
150th SHOW GOES LIVE TONIGHT!!!
Finally, as many of you Loyal Airmen are aware, the Air Chief has co-hosted a comic book podcast known as Zone 4 for the past six months or so and had a blast doing it. Along with co-host Brant Fowler & Gordon Dymowski, the three of us record a new episode every Saturday night and then they are posted at the Comic Related website the following Friday evening. Whereas Brant started the show nearly three years ago, today, Jan 27th marks the 150th episode of Zone 4. To help celebrate this monumental achievement, all of us thought it would be wild to record the show "live." It will be a two-hour gab-fest of craziness as the three of us welcome back former hosts, lots of past guests and just cut up with whatever pops into our heads to celebrate.
You can listen into the show by going to the following link at 7 pm EST. and logging on.
(http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/tscmd/tc/117412) We can promise you a really fun time, so give it a shot. And as ever thanks for your support. We'll see you back here in seven.
Ron - Over & Out!
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| January 19, 2012 |
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HAPPY TRAILS, OLD FRIEND read... |
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Greetings Loyal Airmen, as you know, last week we reported that our writing mentor, Ardath Mayhar was in ill heath and in hospice care. We were keeping her in our prayers and hoping for the best when out of the blue last Sunday, Jan 14th, we received the horrible news that one of our close friends and colleagues, writer Howard Hopkins had died of a heart attack two days earlier. Howard had just turned 50 on Dec. 12th, 2011. The terrible irony, Howard was one of Ardath's most successful writing students.
Howard Lance Hopkins Dec 12, 1961-Jan 12, 2012
Howard and the Air Chief became friends many, many years ago through his early fanzine devoted to the pulps called, Golden Perils. A lifelong resident of Maine, with the Air Chief living just across the border in New Hampshire, it was only a matter of time before we hooked up, having so many of the same interests in the world of writing. After many years of corresponding back and forth and meeting a few times at Maine comic conventions, Howard suggested Valerie and the Air Chief come up to Portland to have lunch with him and his charming wife Dominique. It was on that day that we learned of still another unique connection we shared; Ardath Mayhar. Not only was she the Air Chief's friend and mentor, she had also been Howard's teacher when he enrolled in a fiction writing correspondence course. What a truly small world it is.
We learned how Howard had, since completing that course, gone on to become a professional western writer working for a British outfit called Hale Publications that published books under the Black Horse Western label. Howard took his first and middle names to create the pseudonym of Lance Howard. He would go on to write dozens of westerns under this tag and ultimately go on to publish others under his real name.
Howard's writing was brilliant, he had such a wonderful command of the language and his words were eloquent and graceful. His prose rolled over a page effortlessly and he was truly a great writer. Of course the Air Chief had to laugh at the idea of a Maine cowboy writer who had never been on a horse a day in his life and was in fact afraid of them. Note, Howard's other passion was his life long love of the classic pulps and eventually this brought him contact with Moonstone Books' managing editor, Joe Gentile. Joe at first hired Howard to write classic pulps stories for Moonstone's pulp anthology line. Seeing just how talented Howard really was, Joe soon recruited him to act as an editor for the line and Howard would soon take charge of such books as the recent Avenger anthology, Justice Inc. in which the Air Chief had a story. Working with Howard was a joy. Recently Moonstone had acquired the rights to one of Howard's favorite fictional heroes, the Lone Ranger. Although the company planned to do a full out anthology with a half dozen writers, Gentile was all too familiar with Howard's affection for the character and allowed him to write a brand new Lone Ranger novel before launching the anthology.
The Lone Ranger Vendetta was an exciting dream come true for Howard and his colleagues were all thrilled for him. He did complete the book and submit the manuscript but sadly did not live to see it published. The book is scheduled to be released next month. The Air Chief has had it on order since he first learned of it and now more than ever is anxious to hold it in his hands and read it.
There are no guarantees in this life and at best, as the poets tell us, it is only a fleeting thing. It does come and go so quickly. Howard Hopkins only had fifty years in this world, but he filled those years with so much creativity, laughter and love, his life changed for the better all of us lucky to have known him. We will never forget our friend. Ironically days after Howard's passing, we learned that Ardath Mayhar was miraculously regaining her strength and could possibly recover. Miracles and loss, the roller coaster of life. All over the internet this past week, Howard's pals have been writing so many wonderful, heartfelt tributes, many of them closing them with a very familiar western farewell Howard would have appreciated.
Happy trails, old friend. Till we meet again.
Ron - Over & Out!
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| January 12, 2012 |
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ANGELS IN OUR LIVES read... |
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Greetings Loyal Airmen, this week we want to share with you someone very special in our life. Someone who arrived when things were at their worst in the Air Chief's past and forever changed it for the better. As most of you know, the Air Chief is a person of deep, abiding faith. Such faith is a gift from God. You can't earn it, you have to pray for it and then accept it with daily gratitude. That faith has taught us about the "angels" God sends our way when times are bad. So allow us to tell you a story, a true tale about such an angel.
Many years ago, our first marriage was over and we found ourselves cast adrift, feeling like a complete and utter failure. Seeing our children in pain at their parents breaking up, unable to console them, we were guilt ridden and many nights fell asleep in tears, wishing we could simply cease to be. Truly, we wanted to die. Seeing our distress, someone very close to us suggested we pray to God. Having no better answer, we took that advice, it was a drowning soul's last desperate action. Then one day a letter arrived from this very sweet old lady who lived in Chireno, Texas. Her name was Ardath Mayhar; a writer who belonged to the same writers club as the Air Chief. Now keep in mind, at this stage in our career, we had published a few comic book stories, but that was all. Whereas Ardath had been a writing teacher, manager of a bookstore and author of several fantasy novels.
FANTASY AUTHOR ARDATH MAYHAR
Somehow in my letters, she was able to glean that we were in pain and had lost our way. Out of the blue she suggested we come up with a plot for a book and she would help us to write it. We would do it together. Having nothing to lose, we followed her lead and within a few weeks were busily at work on what would eventually become our first published book. The Air Chief would write a few chapters, send the manuscript to Ardath and she would do the next few chapters. This was way before the days of the internet. Within six months we had completed TRAIL OF THE SEAHAWKS. And as exciting as that was for this first time book writer, our life had also begun to course-correct. We had begun dating again, our children were coming to understand that their father had not abandoned them and realize he would always love them and be there for them. And we were going back to church on a regular basis. Somehow, while lost in the process of creating, God had pulled us back to the land of the living. Then Ardath's agent sold the darn thing to Windwalker Books, a branch of the old TSR.
When our copies arrived in the mail, we were simply overjoyed. One of our biggest dreams had been realized and it was all because of an angel named Ardath Mayhar. She was born Ardath Frances Hurst in Texas in 1930 and shortly thereafter he parents moved to Oregon. She began writing poetry at the age of nineteen and in 1979 returned to Texas with her family never to leave it again. She married Joe Mayhar and the two of them raised a family of boys while at the same time operating "The View From Orbit Bookstore" in Nacogdoches until his passing in 1990. Along the way, she continued writing and the Science Fiction Writers of America named her Author Emeritus in 2008. During her lengthy career she was a teacher for a writer's correspondence school and helped guide dozens of young men and women along the path of wonder and creativity. After the success of our first joint venture, TSR came calling wanting us to do another. We were both happy to oblige them with a prequel called, "MONKEY STATION."
It too would sell relatively well. By then the Air Chief's life had completely turned around and things were going super. We had married Valerie, moved into a new house and the kids were doing great. When we suggested to Ardath a third book, she agreed but with the kind declaration that it would be our final collaboration as there were many other stories she wanted to tell on her own. That third book was called "WITCHFIRE" and again, it was from the Air Chief's imagination. It tells the story of a beautiful young witch whose mother dies while she is very young and she is raised by a truly wonderful and kind woman named Mother Kalavela, who becomes her mentor in all things. We've often wondered if, while writing this fanciful adventure romance thriller, Ardath ever realized we had modeled Kalavela on her? When finished, this particular book seemed an odd duck and the big publishers didn't want it. Still, we never lost faith that someday it would find a home. Over the interceding years, Ardath and the Air Chief kept in touch with the usual Christmas card and few kind letters ever so often. It would well over twenty years later, after the Air Chief & Rob Davis hatched the plan that became Airship 27 Productions that "WITCHFIRE" would finally find a home.
MOTHER KALAVELA APPEARS ON THE BACK COVER
A few days ago, another of Ardath's many writing proteges sent us an e-mail reporting that Ardath is in very poor health and at 82, in hospice care with her family close by. Born of rugged, pioneer stock, this lady has led an incredible life and is a fighter. Yet, if it is the Good Lord's will to be calling her home, to be reunited with her beloved Joe, then we pray her passing will be a peaceful one she so richly deserves. We have several good friends who are practical people who scoff at the idea of angels, miracles and a Loving God who sends them our way daily. As much as we respect their opinions, we know they are wrong. We know an angel, her name is Ardath Mayhar ....and she gave us back our life.
Ron - Over & Out!
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| January 5, 2012 |
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SPACE HEROES & SWASHBUCKLERS read... |
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Greetings Loyal Airmen, well 2012 is off to a good start. The Air Chief has been really productive this past week getting a lot of writing under way. We mentioned last week be assigned to write two new Spider pulp stories for Moonstone Books. Well "Spider Trap" is now under way and we are having a blast with it. At the same time one of our artist pals, Brian Level, took it upon himself to do an amazing collage starring the new Space Captain Jain Marlee that we created for our short story, "The Smuggler's Lament" and Brian help bring to life graphically. He obviously has fun drawing her and did this piece as a complete surprise for the Air Chief.
The fun of this piece is that Brian dreamed up these different little scenarios that would all make great Captain Jain stories and believe me, the Air Chief has been properly inspired here. Thanks, Brian. Note another pal who saw this and a few other illustrations of the character compared her to a female Han Solo and we'd have to agree that's exactly the kind of rogue-personality she has. Stay tuned, we will of course let you know when her first story does see comic print.
Our first I.V. Frost 12 pg story, "The Beastmaster" has been drawn completely with gorgeous pencils by Jake Minor and beautiful inks by Jeff Austin. Brant Fowler will be adding letters in the next few weeks and then off it goes to Moonstone Comics. Speaking of Brant, our co-host on the ZONE 4 TMV Cafe internet radio and yours truly are both having a grand time doing this show, along with the Professor, Gordon Dymowski and the show now airs on the internet at 9 PM EST on Tuesday nights. We really hope you'll tune us in.
Earlier today, over on Facebook, the Air Chief posted a list of the first four Airship 27 Productions pulp title. The plan is to release a book a month. January will debut Gary Lovisi's novel, "Sherlock Holmes - The Baron's Revenge." In Feb. we'll release "Deathwalker" a novel by R.A. Jones. Imagine Conan as an early Native American Cheyenne and you'll get the idea of this great fantasy adventure. In March we bring out "The Ruby Files," an anthology featuring a 1930s private eye that you won't want to miss. The book features a gorgeous cover by Mark Wheatley. And then in April look for, "The Moon Man" another anthology featuring the bizarre pulp Robin Hood like hero from the 1930s in four brand new adventures. We at Airship 27 are very excited about this line up and can't wait to bring them to you, plus all the other books coming down the hangar assembly line.
To that end, we've today registered for our table at this year's Windy City Paper & Pulp Show which opens April 27th. Now there's a lucky number. And again this year, Rob Davis and the Air Chief will be presenting the Pulp Factory Awards for 2011 at the con, awarded excellence in four categories; Best Pulp Novel, Best Pulp Short Story, Best Pulp Cover and Best Pulp Interior Artwork. Nominations have now begun and once a ballot is completed, members of the Pulp Factory will have from the start of Feb. to the end of March to vote. We wish all our colleagues, both artists and writers the best of luck.
ACTOR ERROL FLYNN
And finally, we finished off our last Flight Log for 2011 by listing our favorite book of that year. We thought you might enjoy knowing what we've chosen to read as our first book of the new year. It is ERROL FLYNN, a marvelous biography of the late screen star by Thomas McNulty. Flynn was the epitome of the dashing, adventure swashbuckler and one of the Air Chief's all time favorites while growing up. We don't believe the screen has ever seen his equal since. This biography is superbly researched and written and we are enjoying it a great deal. You can expect a full review when we are done.
And that's it for week one of 2012, Loyal Airmen. Take care and as ever thanks for stopping by, see you in seven.
Ron - Over & Out!
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| December 29, 2011 |
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GOODBYE 2011 - HELLO 2012 read... |
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Greetings Loyal Airmen, we hope that all of you had a fantastic Christmas with your family and loved ones. Ours was amazing, perhaps the best ever for Ye Old Air Chief. It was that much fun. So here we are, about to say goodbye to another year and usher in a new one. And there have been lots of changes around the old Hangar 27 that require announcing, but before we go to that we've one final chore.
BEST READ OF 2011
This past year we had the fun or reading 38 books and reviewing them at our PULP FICTION REVIEW blog site. In that mix were many excellent books by some of our favorite writers plus lots of new discoveries. One such was REX RIDERS by J.P. Carlson, a young adult science fiction western we absolutely adored and wish more people would find. It's target audience is teenage boys and that's just what the Air Chief felt like after having finished this amazing, exciting and fun novel. Please, do yourself a favor and go find it at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It truly was our favorite book of 2011.
Now that the future looms brightly ahead of us, we want to give you a few peeks as to what we will be involved with in the coming new year. Airship 27 Productions is parting ways with our old publisher and going solo. Rob Davis and I hope to put out at least ten new books in 2012, starting with a brand new Sherlock Holmes novel by Gary Lovisi that should be out in Jan. It's a pip! We also plan on another volume of Airship 27 Presents of All Star Pulp Comics. Issue one is selling like hotcakes and so we are planning issue two right now.
COMING IN 2012
In my thirty five year career as a professional writer, the Air Chief has worked in possibly every genre there is except two: romances & sports. Well, as of next year, we'll have finally done and had published two sports stories. One is a story called "The Hot Dig Kid" that is about our beloved Red Sox and will be appearing in Adam Patcher's FINAL FENWAY FICTION, see the gorgeous cover above by artist Daniel Ibanez. We are guessing this will be out sometime in Spring and is advantageous as Boston's Fenway Park is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2012 as a professional baseball stadium. Wow. Hopefully that party will translate well for sales of this great book which is a collection of not only short stories, but essays and poems as well.
Then sometime in either Feb or March of next year, Borgo Press will release BATTLING BOXING STORIES which will contain my tale, "Blood Feud." Sports pulps were very common in the 30s and 40s and it has been a thrill for the Air Chief to explore new territories with his fiction. We will keep you posted on their official releases and where to pick them up at the proper time.
A SPIDER MAGAZINE COVER 1942
As for our personal pulp writing, you can expect to see a great deal with our name affixed to the credit line next year. Several years ago, Moonstone Books did an anthology of new Spider stories featuring this truly classic pulp hero and the Air Chief was thrilled to have a story in that book. Well, Moonstone editor Joe Gentile recently came knocking once again. It seems Moonstone will be producing two more brand new Spider anthologies and the Air Chief will have a story in each of these. The first, which we are currently plotting will be a typical Spider actioner pitting him against a monstrous and oh so clever villain. Whereas the second tale to be written later in the year may well have him crossing paths with another pulp character, this one not so well recognized among pulp fans; I.V. Frost. Frost was a combination of Sherlock Holmes & Sam Spade and appeared in 18 stories in the pages of Clue Magazine. Working out a plot that teams him with the Master of Men is a challenge we simply could not pass up.
Meanwhile there are other pieces of fiction we've completed that should see the light of print in 2012. These include a Johnny Dollar Insurance Investigator tale from Moonstone, a Rook adventure for Pro Se Productions and an Athena Voltaire World War II yarn for creator Steve Bryant's proposed anthology. As you can see the Air Chief has been busy.
I.V. FROST & JEAN MORAY
Leave us not forgot the comic book front and all the projects we've got in the works there as well. We have every intention of doing more pulp connected comics as mentioned above. At long last the three I.V. Frost scripts I penned nearly a year ago are now being completed for Moonstone Comics and will feature the artwork of Jake Minor and James Lyle with inks by Jeff Austin and letters by Brant Fowler. The pin-up above is by Lyle and Austin. The first of these three stories should be completed and in-house within the next two weeks.
We've already mentioned All Star Pulp Comics # 2 and knock on wood, if all goes well, you will finally be seeing our graphic novel adaptation of Captain Hazzard - Python Men of the Lost City, a project that has been over six years in the making. We are truly excited about that one. Never mind more Mr.Jigsaw zaniness from Redbud Studio and of course future issues of "Ron Fortier's Tales of the Macabre." Number two should be out in a few more weeks and number three is already in production.
The Good Lord willing, the Air Chief will finally sit down and finish my fifth Captain Hazzard novel as well. So say a prayer for us and keeping sending those good thoughts out way. It truly looks to be a most fun and creative year ahead. We hope you join us on the journey. Hey, there would be no point in doing any of this if it were not for you Loyal Airmen.
HAPPY NEW YEAR and please, be careful and NO drinking & driving. We want you all back here next week for our first Flight Log of 2012. God bless,
Ron - Over & Out!
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