Airship27 Flight Log

REPEATING HISTORY

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 21:33:46 EST

Greetings Loyal Airmen. There is an old adage that says those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. Those words seemed to echo in our thoughts recently when several items, some national and others personal, seem to coalesce on us painting a very sad picture. There are several states across the country who are actually considering changing the history books at the high school level to start with events of the 1920s. Understand what we are saying here. These text would complete ignore all of U.S. history prior to that time period. There would be no teaching of the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War etc.etc. The reasoning behind this insane idea; apparently today's students are having a difficult comprehending long ago history and its relevance to our present times. Huh? Maybe it's too much history for them to take in?

Loyal Airmen, we aren't making this up. Once again the system that is suppose to be teaching our kids is opting out of its responsibility because the going is getting too hard. The level of education being given our American students is falling every year in comparison to other nations and our answer is to teach them less. Excuse me if Ye Old Air Chief doesn't get that logic one iota. And our fears if this trend continues are very, very real. Remember that old saying we started this column with, about not knowing one's history and the inherent dangers of that? Well here is the personal side to all that.



Our parents lived through the Great Depression that ravaged the soul of this great country during the late 1920s and most of the 30s. As a child growing up, we were constantly told stories about the endless bread lines and the millions of proud Americans out of work. Homes lost to foreclosure and the homeless wandering the landscape in search of any glimmer of hope. Often we would be told of vagabonds coming to the door and asking if they could work for food. These were the grim tales we grew up with and we went to bed every night thanking God that those days were gone. That thought we had learned from those awful economic mistakes and that we would never again repeat them. Apparently we were wrong. Last week, while out with her mother and siblings, Valerie saw several men standing outside a local mall with signs that read, WILL WORK FOR FOOD. When she came home and related this, we were shaken. Just like that, in the space of a heartbeat, all those horrible stories from the past resurfaced and we realized the awful truth. Those days are back and all around us people are suffering, are being forced out onto the streets and going to bed hungry. In the richest country in the world!

What makes all this even more unpalatable was a news item on the sports page a few days later announcing the sum of money (in the millions) being paid to a returning pitcher for a Major League baseball team. Millions, plural, to play a game. While thousands of people are on the streets begging for food, trying to stay alive. If the insanity of this picture doesn't bother you, then nothing will. It's all wrong. And we as a people, as a country need to fix it now.   But how do you spread the wealth to all equitably? Or a better question, should the government do so? Remember, in a free Democracy, he who works the hardest is paid more than he who does not. There is a way in which American could pick itself up out of this economic morass and begin to balance its ridiculously out-of-control budget expenditures. It is such a simple solution and has been proposed time and time again.


The operation capital to run our country comes from only one source, the taxes we the citizens pay. It is a totally boondoggle of a complex system with enough variables and exemptions to choke an elephant. It is almost impossible for the average citizen to understand. It is also broken. People with millions of dollars have legal options available to them so that in the end they pay a lesser percentage than those poor and middle class who do not have access to these same options. And please, Loyal Airmen, be aware, these rich people are bi-partisan, they are Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and Independents. Their one common denominator, their wealth and ability not to pay their fair share.

The answer is and has always been to do away with our current tax laws and replace them with one simple Flat Tax to the effect of 10 cents on the dollar. Period. For every single dollar a citizen ( or corporation ) earns, they pay ten cents to the government. End of story. It has been determined by economic experts that such a tax would within a few short years not only fund and maintain the government, but create a growing surplus that would in a very short time eliminate the national deficit. We aren't making any of this up. It's all true. There is also a moralist honestly to such a tax. Think about it. If all you made was $25, 000 a year, you would pay your ten percent and that ball player who made $2 million would pay his ten percent. Somehow that's just right. Everyone would pay the same equal share. Another glorious benefit that would be immediately felt would be the down-sizing of the Government Tax Bureau. Tax forms would cease being think booklets no one can understand, replaced by one single piece of paper. You would list your income for the year, calculate the ten percent and voila, taxes done. It can be that easy. It should be that easy.

And of course if its so miraculously easy a fix why hasn't the government implemented it? We'll leave you with that question. And if the answer you come up with gets you angry, then good. Maybe some day millions of us will all get angry together and do something about it. But first, let's not trash our history in the process. That, in the end, would simply be making the bad times even worse.

Ron - Over & Out.

PROJECTS OLD & NEW

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:54:25 EST

Greetings Loyal Airmen. Well the first month of 2010 is almost over and it seemed to whip by in the blink of an eye. Time is very much a roller coaster for us these days as we seem to have lots of things going on all at once. This coming Sunday, the last day of the month, I'll be joining my son Kevin, and several other gentlemen, for lunch. But before we enjoy that meal together, we'll be be fitted for tuxedos. You see, Kevin is getting married in April and that is an event all Fortiers are eagerly anticipated. His fiancee, Melanie, is a truly wonderful and beautiful young lady and we can't wait to help them celebrate the start of their lives together. So we're going to ask all you Loyal Airmen, come April, to keep us in your thoughts with lots and lots of good wishes for gorgeous, warm weather. Kev and Mel are planning on being married at York Beach, Maine and believe me, in April, you can still fall prey to nasty winter temps. We've watched many a Red Sox games where the fans sat freezing while snow fell on them at Fenway Park. But again, we're hoping God will shine down on these two and their special day.

Valerie continues to do well in her recovery from knee surgery. She still needs to ice it every so often, but for the most part has all of her mobility back. The doctor did say it would take at least a full six weeks before it was really all healed. So she isn't pushing it. And speaking of my better half, long ago Ye Old Air Chief created a comic book character based in part on her personality called Valerie Chevalier. The later name is French for horseman and is where we derive the old knight's code of honor known as chivalry. Which was what we tagged this proposal, CHIVALRY, INC.


                  Chivalry by artist Olivier Raymond

The idea behind the story is that Chivalry is a Montreal cop. Something happens to her during an undercover assignments and leaves her with a very unique and special gift. Because of this gift, she quits the force and opens up her own private investigations agency calling it CHIVALRY, INC.   Over the past ten years at least three different artists became involved with the concept but in each case they had to move on before getting it wrapped up. Recently Ye Old Air Chief joined the good folks at Delve Comics who will soon be launching their comics web site on the net. As we are already writing one series for them, DOCTOR DEMISE & THE SPACE GYPSIES, they asked if we might have another idea we wanted to pitch for the site. We immediately dusted off the files on this proposal and offered it to them. Lo and behold, they not only accepted the project, but went ahead and found a marvelous Canadian artist named Olivier Raymond to do the artwork. Above is his very first attempt at our heroine and we love it. He has totally captured Chivalry the way we have always imagined her. So stay tuned, Loyal Airmen. This one is going to be tons of fun.


Meanwhile on the pulp front, we've more terrific news. Within the next two weeks we'll be releasing Airship 27 Productions' second title of the year, ROBIN HOOD - KING OF SHERWOOD FOREST, a new novel by writer I.A. Watson. This is a bold retelling of the classic story, set against the authentic history of the times. It is one of the most enjoyable Robin Hood books we've ever had the pleasure of reading and we know it is going to be a huge hit. Our Art Director, Rob Davis, is providing all the black and white spot interior illustrations like the one above and artist Mike Manley is gracing us with a gorgeous cover painting. We can't wait to show it off. Again, it arrives in just a few more weeks.

And that's it for another Flight Log, Loyal Airmen. Thanks as always for stopping by and think Spring.
Ron - Over & Out.

HOLMES CONTINUES TO SELL

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:52:04 EST

Greetings Loyal Airmen. Last week we started off our Flight Log with the news of Valerie's knee surgery. Well, here we are, seven days later and nothing but good news to report. Her operation to fix a tear in her meniscus went extremely well. The entire process took only about twenty minutes and afterward the surgeon told me he was happy to find that her knee was in excellent condition, thus making his work that much easier. He predicted she would recover smoothly. Sure enough, within two days, Valerie was doing all the exercises she had been taught and moving around the house with almost no difficulty at all. She kept icing the knee to keep the swelling down and did exactly as instructed. Four days after her surgery she got on our treadmill and walked for thirty minutes. Ye Old Air Chief was simply stunned. Yesterday was her follow up visit with the doctor and like yours truly, he too was in awe of how well she has recovered. Bottom line is she does not require any therapy as long as she is careful and continues to exercise, she should experience a full recovery within the next six weeks. Meaning, once good weather arrives, she will be able to do our daily mile and a half walk without any pain. We'd like to thank all of you for your prayers and positive thoughts during this time. We truly appreciate them more than words can say.



We also reported last week on our winning the first ever Wild Wolf Award from that publisher for our graphic novel, DAUGHTER OF DRACULA, being their top selling book in 2009. Well the official award arrived in the mail and we promised we would share it with you. Again, our sincere thanks to everyone who bought a copy to make the book such a success and to Wild Wolf Entertainment's Sean Collins for supporting it as much as he did.



On other fronts of good news, Jan.1st marked the end of our fourth quarter sales for Airship 27 Productions and our publisher, Cornerstone Book Publishers just released the tally for all our titles. For the second straight quarter in a row, with sales of a 150 copies, SHERLOCK HOLMES - CONSULTING DETECTIVE was our number one seller. Which translates to almost fifty copies a month for the past six months. All of us involved with Airship 27 Productions are both thrilled and delighted. The book, pictured above, can be found at our on-line store, Amazon.com and other fine book sellers. And only a few weeks ago we released the second volume in this series. If you are a devoted fan of the Great Detective, pick up a copy and see why readers around the globe have made it such a big winner.


Finally, we wanted to leave you with a piece of promotional artwork from a future Airship 27 Production title now in the works. We've always been fans of the old space heroes like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Later this year, we will be debuting our own original space hero, MARS McCOY - SPACE RANGER, in a series of all new anthologies. Pictured about is Mars' ship, the Black Bird 5. We hope you'll like this new galactic trouble shooter and come along for the ride.

And that's it for another week, Loyal Airmen, January is whipping along and pretty soon it will time for the Red Sox to report to Spring Training Camp in Ft.Myers, Florida. So, stay warm and think of good things. We'll see you all back here next week.

Ron - Over & Out!

VAL'S SURGERY

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:50:37 EST

Greetings Loyal Airmen. It's now early Thursday night and I want to get this in early because we are going to be off to bed early tonight in order to wake up at 5 AM. Last summer, while on her hands and knees planting our summer flowers, Valerie had to keep shifting and twisting her legs around and somewhere in the process did something to her right leg. At the time we had no idea what it could be but as the weeks and months went by, she began to experience a slight, but persistent pain every time she either climbed up or down, be it outside on the street or indoors on the stairs. There was absolutely no discomfort when walking on a level surface, so we were both perplexed as to what was going on. As usually happens with such things, this minor pain continued to make itself known until she finally decided to solve the mystery once and for all and went to see an orthopedic doctor. After an X-ray and an M.R.I, it was relieved that she had a slight meniscus tear in the muscle under her right knee. How to remedy that? By having the tear surgically removed. It is a common in-out day procedure and it will happen tomorrow morning at 6 AM.

The doctor assured us this is a very familiar ailment and that he does dozens of these surgeries yearly. He also added her recovery time, with the proper stretch exercising therapy should be about ten days. Again really good news. So tonight we're watching a little TV and then going to bed early with the alarm set. If you are reading these words and it's Friday morning, please say a little prayer it all goes smooth. Thanks, we truly appreciate that.

DAUGHTER OF DRACULA

Earlier this week, Sean Collins, the president of Wild Wolf Entertainment announced the first Wild Wolf Entertainment Award. This is given to the WWE title that outsells all others during a given year. This first time award for the best selling comic of 2009 was given to ye Old Air Chief and artist Rob Davis for our adult graphic novel, DAUGHTER OF DRACULA, cover pictured above. Both Rob and I want to thank Sean and Wild Wolf for taking a chance on our book and helping to bring it to a larger audience. That faith and support is the reason behind this gracious award. Rest assured Loyal Airmen, that once the award arrives, we'll be posting a good photo here for all of you to see. Meanwhile, if any of you would like to purchase a copy of this 108 pg. graphic novel, all you have to do is simply go to our Air Fare page and click on the cover you will find there. Note, those of you who prefer shopping at more traditional outlets, DAUGHTER OF DRACULA is available at Amazon.

And speaking of Amazon, we have also added an on-line pulp store at Amazon called The Airship 27 Emporium where you can find all our pulp books in one location, plus some other interesting fare like cliff-hanger serials on DVD. If you'd like to visit the Emporium, simply go to our Links Page and scroll down to our familiar dirigible logo and click on it.

And lastly, the horrible tragedy in Haiti confronts all of us, challenging our humanity. Please, give whatever you can to help the relief effort. Every single dollar will make a difference and above all else, pray for those survivors and the men and women from around the world rushing to their aid. As Christians, we believe all men and women are our brothers and sisters. This is about family, Loyal Airmen. We all need to do something.

Take care, Ron - Over & Out.

AVATAR AT LAST

Thu, 7 Jan 2010 19:21:17 EST

Greetings Loyal Airmen, we hope the new year is starting out as wonderful to you as it has for us here in Hangar 27. Prior to the coming Christmas holidays, there were two new movies Ye Old Air Chief was very, very anxious to see. One was SHERLOCK HOLMES, which we saw and in last week's Flight Log praised for its fun and sense of originality. The other was writer/director James Cameron's blockbuster science fiction epic, AVATAR. What with the amazing reception this film garnered upon its release, Valerie and the Air Chief made the decision to hold off seeing it until the furor over it had abetted...at least to a milder degree. Ha.

The more we kept seeing the trailers and reading reviews both professionals and from our friends, it became clear that we should do our utmost to maximize our viewing of this adventure film. To that end, this morning we drove up to Saco, Maine to see the movie in 3D at an I-Max theater. And we are so glad we did so. AVATAR is simply one of the greatest movies this fan has ever seen. In the 58 years we've been going to the movies, (my Dad first dragged me along with him when I was five) the Air Chief has seen every kind imaginable, from great to bloody awful. As a child we were mesmerized by the images on the giant silver screen and they fired our imagination. Those images transported us to ancient times or far off civilizations and we gladly went along for the ride. AVATAR is that kind of totally sensory immersion that defines why we love the movies so much.

Ever since we fell in love with science fiction at the age of eleven, we have dreamed of going to the stars, of visiting far off alien worlds and meeting the beings who inhabit them. AVATAR did that for us within the first few scenes. Its powerful images carried us along to the planet PANDORA, a world we have only ever dared visit in our childlike daydreams. And now, thanks to the magic of the movies, we were living those dreams. We were once again captured by a pure sense of wonder while viewing a place totally new, yet oddly familiar all in one. We've never forgoten the first time we saw the original KING KONG, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBING HOOD and STAR WARS. Now AVATAR joins that august list of movies that have touched our very souls. Thank you James Cameron, for making the magic live again.

Being such a big science-fiction fan, many of the elements of AVATAR were quickly recognizable to the Air Chief, from the theme of using humanoid avatars (cloned bodies) to explore hostile environments to the enhanced robotic Waldos employed by the space marines in the tale. These are familiar trappings. But what caught the Air Chief's wonder was the lush jungle world of the planet Pandora, and as we watched the story unfold, we kept having flashbacks to another such setting, one that clearly echoed Cameron's alien setting. Back in 1975, popular sci-fi writer Alan Dean Foster wrote a novel called MIDWORLD which takes place on a fantastic jungle world very similar to that of Pandora, where ecology is so interconnected in myriad ways creating a single, spiritual entity that is the very planet itself. If you see AVATAR and come away moved by it as the Air Chief, I would urge you to hunt up MIDWORLD and read it. Then drop us a line and see if you don't share my thoughts on this terrific novel and its similarities to the movie here.

And finally we shift gears, once again returning to 221 B Baker Street and the world of the Great Detective. Last year, Airship 27 Productions released SHERLOCK HOLMES - CONSULTING DETECTIVE Vol.One and it quickly went on to become the most successful title we have ever produced. It continues to sell briskly and folks who have read it have written asking us to do more of these anthologies starring the Baker St. Sleuth. So now the wait is over.

Our Second Volume features five more original stories by Andrew Salmon, Bernadette Johnson, I.A.Watons and Josh Reynold. It features a stunning cover by Canadian painter Ingrid Hardy, with interiors by the book's designer and the art director of Airship 27 Productions, Rob Davis. It is now available for sale at our on-line store simply by going to the flying dirigible logo to the left of this column and clicking on it. If you enjoyed the new Sherlock Holmes movie and want to continue enjoying this character's adventures, then what better way than pick up this book. As ever, thanks for your support. This is our first book of 2010 and we are fairly excited about it. We've set a goal of doing twelve books this year, one a month. Can we do it? Keep your fingers crossed and wish us luck. We've truly got some great titles on the way. Some old favorites and others that we hope will surprise you in pleasant ways.

And there you have it Loyal Airmen, 2010 is kicking off in such a wonderful and positive way. Let's keep this ride going for all year long.

Ron - Over & Out.

WELCOME 2010

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:18:05 EST

Greetings Loyal Airmen, as I write these words, we are only a few hours away from bidding farewell to 2009. It's really been quite a roller-coaster ride start to finish and truly not one of the better years we want to remember. Several of our good friends lost their fathers this past year and one of our sons got pretty banged up in the country's economic down-turn. And it doesn't look like the recession is going to be ending anytime soon. Still, we've been a happy-go-lucky optimist most of our life and truly believe there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, a new dawn just beyond the blackest hour of the night.

We got a little taste of that silver lining last week during the Christmas holiday. Because of monetary limitations, it was simply impossible for us to shop extravagantly for our family members as we have done in the past. Early on, Valerie and the Air Chief came to the realization that we were truly going to have cut back on the gift giving this year including not buy anything for each other. Sound too Scrooge-like? Well, give it a little more thought. As Christmas neared, we found ourselves coming to appreciate the true meaning of the holiday, the message of God and how He sent us Jesus. Jesus, who devoted his life to preaching the message of God's love to all men and women everywhere, in every time. Mass on Christmas morning was especially poignant this year and both of us realized having cast aside the commercialism, we in end found a richer, more meaningful Christmas then either of us ever experienced. We spent that afternoon with our daughter Michelle and her family and later that night son Scott and his gang came over, along with our daughter Heater, visiting from Chicago. After they left, we logged on to Skype and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, got to see son Alan and his family as well. So we spent Christmas day with the people we loved and that's the greatest gift of all. We truly hope and pray your own Christmas was as special.

One of the things both Val and the Air Chief love to do is go to the movies, and so in lieu of that personal gift giving, we caught a movie and went out to a nice dinner. What was the movie? We're glad you asked.

Jude Law as Dr.John Watson & Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes

The new SHERLOCK HOLMES is a terrific movie. For those of you purist who have shied away from it because you think it is too radical a departure from the traditional interpretation of the characters, let us assure you this is very much a traditional Sherlock Holmes mystery, and wonderfully acted. Downey is great as the cold, methodical genius and Jude Law perhaps the best Watson we've ever been given. We will grant you that several of the action sequences run a wee tad overly long and could easily have been trimmed, but that is our only nit-pick with a film that has already broken all kinds of box-office records. We hope you get to see it.

Speaking of Sherlock Holmes, as we roll full tilt into 2010, we at Airship 27 Productions are ready to get back into the production of our pulp novels and anthologies. Our goal is to offer a book a month and we'll be starting with SHERLOCK HOLMES - CONSULTING DETECTIVE Vol. Two. Last year's Volume One was the most successful Airship 27 title we ever produced and you, our Loyal Airmen, made it so with your support. You told us you wanted more traditional tales of the Great Detective and we are only too happy to oblige. Again, keep following this log, as we'll be announcing that title's release in just another week.


                         The Black Bat by Jay Piscopo

Meanwhile we thought you all would like a little peek at some of the other titles that will be coming your way in 2010. Following the January release of our second Holmes book, we will be offering up an brand new Robin Hood novel by British scribe, Ian Watson called THE KING OF SHERWOOD FOREST. We also love putting the focus on lesser known pulp heroes and in May one of the best returns in BLACK BAT MYSTERY; four brand new tales of the Black Bat with interior illustrations provided by the amazing Jay Piscopo. It will also sport a cover by Mark Maddox.


                    Writer Bill Gladman and a cool named street.

Another almost forgotten B-hero was an occult detective called, RAVENWOOD - The Stepson of Mystery. His exploits were featured as back up tales in the monthly SECRET AGENT X magazine. In July we will be publishing an anthology starring this little known avenger and one of our writers is my very good pal, Bill Gladman. Shortly after tuning in his Ravenwood story, Bill was driving along a highway in Ohio and spotted a street sign with the character's name. He stopped and snapped the picture about. We guess he was just fated to be a part of the Ravenwood legend.


                            Be Afraid!!!

Another photo that arrived in the Hangar 27 mail pouch was the one above send to us by writer Michael Vance. Way back at the start 2009, the first Airship 27 title we published was Michael's WEIRD HORROR TALES, a terrific collection of 13 tales of the macabre by this truly talented writer. Well, just recently a young lady bought a copy for her husband and then snapped this shot of his reaction to it. That's Shawn Granger mugging for the camera, at a truly fantastic painting. Note, this book is still available at our on-line store. Simply go to the dirigible logo to the left of this column and click on it. Michael's busy are work on a sequel which we are very, very excited about.

Again, the Air Chief is setting this all down on the 31st of Dec., 2009 and two very special events bear taking notice off. Many, many, many years ago when DVDs first hit the market and we started purchasing them for our then new players, we began logging down the titles of each DVD movie we watched before finding a place for it on our library movie shelves. As time went on, so did the number of movies we owned and soon we owned a few hundred. Ye Old Air Chief started wondering exactly what movie would ultimately become our 1,000 recorded title. Well, two nights ago we popped in a disc to watch an old favorite. It was a movie we'd picked up in one of those Walmart $5 bins a few weeks earlier. This afternoon, between other chores, we sat down, pulled up our movies list and realized we were about to enter that 1,000 titled. And that particular honor went to....



MAD MAX - Beyond Thunderdome starring Mel Gibson and Tina Turner, it being the third and last of the Mad Max movie. We believe it's release date was 1985. Watching it again after all that time, we think it still holds up pretty well as a great action adventure flick. Oh, and we do actually have more DVDs, by at least another 30 or so. But they are only officially counted after they've been viewed and then recorded. So, dear Loyal Airmen, you can believe it when we say we do indeed love movies.


                            Logan Fortier Age 4

And finally, the other BIG THING about this last day of the year is that it is our grandson Logan's 4th birthday. Logan, of the curly hair and ready smile, is the youngest of our six grand kids and we do so love him to pieces. Happy Birthday Big Guy!!! Now that's the kind of happy note to end any year, no matter how rough it was.

As 2010 rolls out with all her hopes and promises for new prosperity, we pray that she is a grand year, one that will bless and enrich all of us. Take care and God Bless.
Ron - Over & Out.

PEACE ON EARTH

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:08:58 EST

Holiday Greetings Loyal Airmen. Earlier this afternoon, the Air Chief got to thinking of past Christmases and sat down to write about one that made him rethink his life and purpose. Hope you enjoy it.

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE

Well here we are, Christmas Eve, and about to celebrate another great Christmas with the family. I think it is impossible, at least for us old folks, to enjoy a new Christmas without at some point in the festivities, stopping to remember memorable moments of past Christmases. Mine generally revolve around those particular happy times. The Roy Rogers ranch set my folks gave me when I was ten, the first Christmas with our kids, etc.etc. I’ve never doubted it is a magical time of year and one filled with miracles. One in particular shines bright in my thoughts this year and I’d like to share it with all of you.

Back in the early 80s my comics writing career had started and I had published several comic books from a small little outfit called Ocean Comics. One of these being a five issue mini-series featuring an urban avenger named Street-Fighter (and no, this had nothing to do with the popular video-game). At the time Valerie and I still worked at the local GE plant and when some of our co-workers learned that I was writing comics, they began asking me to buy some. Thus, before each new each of Street-Fighter came out, we would get an order list and give it to the publisher. In the end there may have been some ten to fifteen people who purchased every single issue of the series. Of course they made sure I signed them all. Ha. The thing is, I gave a second thought to what they were doing with the books, simply assuming they read them and then put them away. All in the good cause of supporting a fellow co-worker, which I appreciated greatly.

Well, about a year after that series ended, my writing efforts hit hard times. All of a sudden none of the new proposals I was sending out to various publishers were being accepted. Rejection slips started to mount up on a steady basis and with them my natural frustration. Seven months had gone by since I’d sold anything and I found myself in a truly depressed funk as the holiday season rolled around. Enough so that by Christmas was only a few days away, I made the decision to stop pounding my head against that wall and simply quit.

Really. Why did I need writing anyways? It obviously was not ever going to make me rich. And with these rejections, it seemed cleared most publishers didn’t think I was that good anyways. So why put myself through the pain any longer? It seemed the easiest thing to do was simply quit and go on with the other parts of my life. I’d find something else to fill that void. Yup, that’s what I would do. Quit. When I told Valerie my intentions, she gave me one of her patented mystery smiles (you, ala the Mona Lisa) which I’ve never been able to fathom. I had the feeling she didn’t believe me. But I would show her. I was done writing.

That year, as the weather was favorable, we decided to attend one of the church’s most beautiful traditions, Midnight Mass. Being in that decorated church, surrounded by our friends and neighbors, it was so easy to get into the proper spirit of Christmas. To remember that we came together to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who came into this world to give us the gospel of God’s love for all mankind, every single one of us. It is a message we should never tire of hearing.

All too soon the service was done and we filling out of the church, all the while shaking hands with people, wishing them all a joyous Merry Christmas and feeling our hearts buoyed by what we had just experienced. Outside the air was crisp and the stars were splashed across the heaves. It was a beautiful night.

We were walking through the parked cars when a young voice called out behind us, “Mr.Fortier?”

I stopped and turned there was this boy about ten, a stranger. “Yes,” I smiled.

“I’m Ben. I’m from Texas. Here in New Hampshire spending Christmas with my grandparents.”

“Oh.” Valerie had come to stand beside me and we were both wondering why Ben had come after me.

“My grandmother is Bea Landry. You work with her.”

“Yes, we do.”

“She sent me all your comics.”

“Oh.”

“Street-Fighter is the best comic book I ever read. I wanted to tell you that.”

I was speechless for a second. “Er..oh..thank you,” I finally said. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“It was really great. Bye.” Then he spun around and ran off to rejoin his folks and grandparents. We spotted Bea and she gave us a big wave, hugging Ben to her.

As we climbed into the car, I was overwhelmed by Ben’s sincerity and gratitude. I looked at Valerie and she smiled. “So you’re going to quit writing, huh?”

We both started laughing a loud, happy laugh that sustained us all the way home. Both of us knowing fully well that Ben’s presence that night had been no accident. God had given me a miracle, one I have never forgotten. He had heard my words and humbled me. Each of us in the world is blessed with a talent from God, be it painting, sculpting, being good with animals, whatever. We are given those talents to use them, not to toss them aside.

Merry Christmas to all reading these words. May you use your talents always for the good of all and may they bring you joy and satisfaction.

ZEKE THE CHRISTMAS SUPER-DOG

Valerie and the Ye Old Air Chief want to wish all you Loyal Airmen and your loved ones the most wonderful, fun filled Christmas ever. Here's hoping Santa has a bag full of super prizes waiting for you under the tree. God bless, and be safe.

Ron - Over & Out

SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:35:16 EST

                                                               Mona, Santa & Mom

Greetings Loyal Airmen and a continued Happy Holidays to all of you. Never let it be said that the Air Chief's Mom doesn't know how to get into the Spirit of Christmas. This past week the Wentworth Home held it's annual Christmas party for all its residents, to include Mrs.Gabrielle Fortier. Sure enough, the following day the Social Director sent us this snapshop showing Mom (on the right) and her best friend, Mona, meeting with Old Saint Nick. Upon seeing the photo, we gave her a call to confirm the situation. Laughingly she swore she is sitting on the chair's armrest and not the Big Red Elf's lap. If you say so, Mom.



As Val continues to clean out cabinets, we are uncovering lots and lots of things we didn't even know we had. Like this drawing of the Great Detective, Sherlock Holmes, done for us by our granddaughter Chelsea a very long time ago. Discovering that her Pepere (grandfather) was a huge Holmes fan, she whipped out her crayons and magic markers and drew this truly wonderful illustration that we promptly filed away for safe keeping. We wonder when she sees it here, if she'll remember doing it. She's a freshmen in high school days, and enjoying the experience of being a teenager to the max.



Amongst tons of comics and magazines, Val also dug up comic company fliers. These are smaller comics or periodicals done up specifically to help promote a special event. The above come from such a mag from the now long forgotten Tekno Comics out of Florida. Between 1994 and 1996, we wrote Gene Roddenberry's Lost Universe for this outfit, and towards the end of our service with them, we were given the job of writing their first (and only) company wide-crossover. This was one story that would run as four page chapters in the back of all their titles and thus feature all their characters in one adventure. It was a challenge, but then again afforded me to the honor of being the only writer in the company's short history to write every single one of their characters. Like a lot of comic companies of this time, they came on the scene with a big bang and then disappeared just as quickly. Still, it was a blast while it lasted.



Another outfit promo was this page above highlighting The Boston Bombers, an alternate world series that I created and sold to Caliber Comics. It was to be a six issue mini-series. It ended up being a black and white offering and was canceled after only four issues because the artist on the book was immature and couldn't meet his deadlines. Still it was one of the most original concepts we had ever come up with. Our idea was to do a female version of the pulp hero, Doc Savage, in Indra Devine. And as Savage had a team of five male aides, we gave Indra three unique women as her adventuring squad. Once we had the characters, we then opted to put them in an alternate 1970s, one in which Jesus had been female, was accepted as the true Messiah by the Jews; where the Roman Empire survived in South Africa and where a powerful League of Nation prevented World War II from happening. Against this background we created the Boston Bombers, a group of high flying female aviators who are secretly agents of the female Pope, caught in the middle between the cold war-like tensions existing between Christian Europe and Pagan Rome.

Years after those four issues were done, we still had comic fans coming to us at conventions asking the fate of the Boston Bombers. Then, some ten years later, we managed to get those final two books completed and Caliber did print them together as a one shot special edition. Best guess, few people ever got to see it. If reading all this has got you curious, hang in there Loyal Airmen, because Ye Old Air Chief has an idea that may salvage the Bombers. There may exist a way to collect the entire six issues and reprint them as a complete graphic novel. It is something we are working on for next year. Stay tuned. It's something that truly needs doing.

Finally, we wrap up this week's entry with some fun and exciting news.   Moonstone Books has begun releasing more information on its new Green Hornet prose anthologies, the first of which is slated for next June. Besides the Air Chief, the first volume will contain stories by James Van Hise, Harlan Ellison and James Van Hise, and others. It will also feature a forward by actor Van Williams who played the Hornet in the 60s TV series along with martial arts star, Bruce Lee. Moonstone will have two covers for this volume.


                               Cover by Glen Orbik

One will be by the talented Glen Orbik whose work has appeared on many paperback covers in the past few years. This is a project we're extremely excited about and hope you are too.

And that wraps up this week, Loyal Airmen. Again, we hope this season of giving has all of you in a happy, festive mood. Till next week, be well.
Ron - Over & out!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS !!

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:07:50 EST

Greeting Loyal Airmen. The above card is our official holiday greeting wish to all of you and your loved ones for this wonderful time of the year. Just as the Air Chief was wracking his brain with what kind of image to use, along comes our buddy, artist Rob Davis, who makes this terrific holiday image using the great detective, Sherlock Holmes and his loyal friend, Dr.Watson. It couldn't be more appropriate, as our book SHERLOCK HOLMES - CONSULTING DETECTIVE, released this past summer, has gone on to become the most successful Airship 27 Productions title we have a ever done. To this day it remains a best seller on Amazon and Barnes & Noble on-line. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, simply go to either of these sites, or better yet click on to our Airship logo to the left of this column at shop at our on-line store where you can get the book at a sale price.

The Baker Street detective is poised to make a huge comeback when the new movie SHERLOCK HOLMES debuts on Christmas Day, starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson. The Air Chief is really anxious to see this film, as the trailers look like wall to wall fun and adventure. And trust me, we at Airship 27 Productions know when our readers want more of a good thing. Because of the overwhelming success of our Sherlock Holmes book, we immediately set about putting together a Volume Two which will be released in Jan.2010, thus becoming the first Airship 27 title of the new year.



And if bringing back a classic British based hero brought us success once, imagine what bringing back a second would do? Or so we thought when British writer Ian Watson offered us a brand new Robin Hood novel entitled The King of Sherwood Forest. We are currently editing this book and are extremely excited to have it on our roster, as it is a brilliant retelling of this classic adventure hero. Ian has not only written a swashbuckling tale of action, but he's grounded it against an historically accurate time which makes it that much more entertaining. This will be our second book of 2010 and be out in Feb. A good couple of months before Universal releases their new blockbuster Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott, with Kate Blanchette as Maid Marion. From what we've heard, this is going to be another rousing good movie. Clearly lots of great reading and cinema ahead for all our Loyal Airmen.

This past week, Valerie started cleaning up drawers that haven't been emptied in nearly twenty-six years of our living here. There is a plan to sell this place come next summer and move Hanger 27 to someplace out west. More or that as things develop. But for now let's leave it at she was starting to pack things in boxes. Amongst these were hundreds of old photographs including some of the Air Chief during his tour of duty over in Vietnam between 1967-68.


                              Specialist 5th Class Ron Fortier

Looking at these brought back to Ye Old Air Chief tons of memories. Recently someone sent me a poem about the men and women of our Armed Services who will not be home for the holidays this year, as they are serving our country in foreign lands, protecting all of us and our freedoms. Seeing this photo reminded me of what it was like to be away from home at this time of year, and the pride we took in serving our country. So please, during the hectic days ahead, if you should end up waiting in some long check out line, take a silent moment to pray for these men and women, ask God to bless them and keep them safe. We all owe them so much.

Finally, due in large part to that photo above, earlier this evening, we logged on to the social network Facebook and punched in the name of a fellow who had been our closest pal while serving in Vietnam. Lo and behold, not twenty minutes later we had a reply, and there he was, after all these years still the same fun guy we remembered. So now we've got a whole lot of catching up to do. Sometimes Santa gives you an early present.

Take care, Loyal Airmen. Enjoy these days as time to share with all your loved one. Till next week,
Ron - Over & Out.

AVENGER STORY COMPLETED

Thu, 3 Dec 2009 21:20:20 EST

Greetings Loyal Airmen. A few weeks ago we reported that we had been recruited to write an new Avenger story for a forthcoming anthology from Moonstone books.


                       Cover of First Avenger mag 1939

Created by Street & Smith, this pulp hero was a late comer, first appearing on the magazine racks in 1939. Richard Henry Benson is a world traveling adventurer. When his wife Alicia and their daughter Alice are brutally murdered by gangsters, he suffers a physical shock that leaves his hair white and all the nerve muscles in his face dead. He can thus mold them into any shape and become the greatest disguise expert of them all. Using this bizarre ability, plus many others he learned over the years, Benson creates an organization called Justice Incorporated for the sole purpose of going after criminals the law cannot touch. He recruits a small, but loyal band of similarly motivated people and thus the series kicked off.

Being asked to write an Avenger story was both a thrill and a tremendous challenge. Our story is called VENGEANCE IS MINE and divulges the background on a particular aspect of the Avenger's life that was never completely explained in the novels. We turned it in yesterday and are anxiously awaiting the editor's response and verdict with all fingers crossed. In the fiction game there are never any guarantees. We will of course keep you posted.



Two years ago actor Ben Stiller starred in a funny movie called NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, wherein he played a night guard in the New York Museum of Natural History and witnessed all the exhibitions coming to life. All the mannequins, through an old Egyptian magic, were alive only at night. Characters from Genghis Khan to Teddy Roosevelt, wonderfully played by Robin Williams. Much to everyone's surprise, including the producers, the movie was a hit and this past summer they released as sequel, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - Battle for the Smithsonian. Having seen it at the theaters, we were very anxious to have it come out on DVD and it did so this past week.


                         Amy Adams & Ben Stiller

Of course as one would expect, most of the regular cast from the first movie were back in this new one, but the real fun here was the additional historical figures that were added. Amy Adams as aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart totally steals the movie with her effervescence portrayal of the plucky flier who was so ahead of her time in so many ways. She totally shines in this role.

                            Christopher Guest & Hank Azaria

The second delight of this sequel is comic actor Hank Azaria portraying the evil Pharaoh who wishes the Egyptian tablet to take over the world. Azaria plays him broadly using his voice mimicking skills to speak like the late Boris Karloff. From the moment he appears on screen, the entire film is elevated into a new comedic level and he never lets up once. There are several times when he and Ben Stiller completetly improvise their dialogue into pure screen silliness that is hilarious. This is a funny-funny movie, and Ye Old Air Chief and Val give it two big thumbs up.

On another terrific note, our oldest granddaughter, Kristi, received her first college acceptance notice yesterday. She is a high school senior graduating next year and had applied to half a dozen schools in the New England area. Yesterday's letter was only the first. She is such a talented, bright student, we know she'll receive more as the weeks go by. And we couldn't be prouder of her than we are right now. It will be fascinating to see which school she finally chooses.

Lastly, the temperature rose to 69 degrees here today. On Dec. 3rd in southern New Hampshire. The TV weather guy said that was a full eleven degrees over the previously recorded high for this date. Wow. And of course we loved every single minute of it. Winter will come all too soon, so we take advantage of these rare, beautifully warm days.

And that's it for another week, Loyal Airmen. Hope you are getting your Christmas shopping done early to avoid those last minute stampedes. Till next week, take care and be happy.
Ron - Over & Out