Greetings Loyal Airmen, here we are a week away from Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season. Once again the year seems to have sped by us in the blink of an eye. Lots of very cool things happening here at Hangar 27 and we want to update all of you on what the Air Chief has been up to.  But first a few words about that amazing Star Wars symphony concert that Valerie and the Air Chief attended last Wednesday night in Manchester. It was simply spectacular! The live music by the amazing John Williams was so beautifully played, against the backdrop of a giant HD screen on which scenes from all six Star Wars were projected. My fondest memory of that evening was looking across that huge stadium to the crowds seated in the stands opposite our box seats. In the dark, many youngsters in attendance were waving their glowing light saber toys. One particular fan, with a green glowing saber, was actually moving it in time with the conductor's baton, as if he, with that toy light was actually leading the orchestra. To all the people who created and put on this magnificent evening, our heartfelt thanks. It is playing at theaters and stadiums across the country. If any of you Loyal Airmen have an opportunity to catch it, Valerie and the Air Chief give two big thumbs up. Do not miss it.

         
                       Characters from Dr.Demise & the Space Gypsies by Eric Hurley

Earlier in the year, over at the Digital Webbing Presents website, the Air Chief struck up a friendship with a talented young artist named Eric Hurley. We liked his work a great deal and saw much potential in it. Enough so that we continued to applaud and encourage any new works Eric would post on that site. Then, as summer came along, we stopped communicating, as each of us obviously had lots of other things keeping us occupied. Then out of the blue, several weeks ago Eric contacted us with some terrific news.  He was planning on a starting up a web-comic strip and was wondering if Ye Old Air Chief would be interested in scripting it.

        
                                        Doctor Demise & Madame Destiny by Eric Hurley

Eric had an ideas for a wild space opera he called DR.DEMISE & THE SPACE GYPSIES. He sent along half a dozen really cool drawings and sketches and asked us to give them names and biographies.  Something we love doing.  Creating a fleshed out plot based on Eric's nugget of an idea, the project is coming together quickly.  As more of it develops, we will be certain to keep you posted, especially once it is up and running on-line. 

The pulp side of things, as yet more exciting news.  Once of the greatest classic pulp characters ever created was Richard Henry Benson, better known as the Avenger. His magazine, published by the same people who did the Shadow and Doc Savage, first appeared on the newsstands in 1940. Later in the 1970s Bantam paperback reprinted the entire run in their paperback series, the first of these reprinted above. It was here the Air Chief first discovered this great pulp hero. Last year Moonstone Books published an Avenger's anthology with all new stories by some of today's best thriller writers. Apparently the book was was extremely successful because two weeks ago they announced they would be doing two new volumes in this series and Ye Old Air Chief was invited to contribute a story for book # 2.  To say we are excited would be a whopping understatement.  Moonstone is a fine outfit and their series of new pulp titles have been wonderful.  We've already done stories for their Spider, Phantom and Domino Lady titles and this will be our fourth story for them.  Again we'll keep you posted on the book's progress and when to expect it.

Keeping on the pulp track, we want to remind you that this past Tuesday night we were the guest of Ric Croxton and Dr.Art Sippo on their podcast show, the Bookcave.  We discussed our Captain Hazzard novels, how we came to write them, the process involved and our plans for the series' future.  It was a lot of fun, Ric and Art making it so and we hope all of you will stop by the Bookcave website and give it a listen. The show ran just a little over an hour. (http://thebookcave.libsyn.com/) – The episode (#49) will be posted on Friday morning, 20th Nov. Thanks Ric and Art for making this so much fun.

And there you have it, Loyal Airmen.  We want to wish all of you and your loved ones a truly Happy Thanksgiving.  When giving thanks, remember, the real blessings in our lives are the people in them, our family and our friends.  Everything else is secondary. That said, part of my prayer will be thanking the Good Lord for each and every one of you.

Ron – Over & Out!