Greetings Loyal Airmen. Well, we're back in Hangar 27 and slowly getting back down to the normal routine of things. What with the grand kids here for three weeks and then last weekend flying off to Columbus, Ohio for the premier of Pulp Fest, Ye Old Chief has been on the go.  And let me tell you, Loyal Airmen, Pulp Fest was truly the best pulp convention we've ever attended.  From Friday to Saturday it was simply non-stop fun, as lots of our Loyal Airmen and Pulp Factory amigos went out of their way to come to the show and join us, making those three days super special to both the Air Chief and his partner, Rob Davis.

        
                                       Rob Davis Holding Down The Airship 27 Hangar

Rob picked me up at the airport and happily the con hotel was only fifteen minutes away. Once registered into our room, we went back to his truck, took out the boxes with our books and comics and made it to the convention hall to sign in.  By 12:30 PM, Friday, we just getting situated. As the image above indicated, there were lots of other vendors who had yet to arrive.  By 2 PM, everyone seemed at their tables and the show really start hopping.

       
                            Pulp Writer and Con Neighbor William Maynard

Now when going to a  new show there always seems to be one book out there that the Air Chief is on the hunt for.  This time I was going to be looking for the brand new Dr. Fu Manchu novel that's been creating a stir on the internet circles, THE TERROR OF FU MANCHU by some fellow named William Maynard.  Well, as luck would have it, and clearly a terrific omen for the whole show, as Rob and me were setting up, I looked over at this fellow whose own table was backed up to ours and was totally surprised to see that very book I was after.  And as there were lots of them, I put two and two together, looked at the fellow and said, “William Maynard?” He, we shook hands, and the Air Chief had made a new friend.  I wasted no time grabbing a copy of his book and had him autograph it for me, thus making his first sale.  By the time we closed up Sunday afternoon most of Bill's copies would be gone.  Likewise for our Airship 27 titles.  This really was a super show in all ways.

        
                                 Pulp Writer & Loyal Airman Greg Gick

So here we are, Rob and the Air Chief just sitting there getting to know Bill when up walks this gentlemen and introduces himself as one of our long time Airship 27 pulp writers, Greg Gick.  Greg wrote a Secret Agent X story for our very first volume of that series and recently turned in a new tale for our forthcoming space opera book, Mars McCoy – Space Ranger.  We had not idea Greg was going to be at the show and his presence was such a great surprise.  He drove up just to meet with us and we thank him so much for that.  Happily the hall wasn't crowded yet and we had a really nice, long chat.  It is so much fun getting to meet such talented and wonderful people.  Greg, if you are reading this, we sent you an official invite to join the Pulp Factory. Hope you received it alright.

As the afternoon wore on, more and more pulp fans started entering the hall and very shortly Rob and I were doing a brisk business meeting with them and selling our books.  Usually most Fridays are slow at cons, but not this one.  It was off to a flying start.  And then several other Loyal Airmen arrived to include our good pal John Bruening, one of our proof-readers.  Soon after, cover artist Mark Maddox arrived and my old pulp amigos
Mark Halegua and David Walker.  When they closed the doors at 5 PM, four of us got together and went off to dinner at a super Italian place called the Spaghetti Warehouse.  Food was great and so was the company. By the time Rob and the Air Chief made it back to our room, both of us had been up almost eighteen hours.  We fell onto our beds and slept like babies.

          
                Bill Gladman, his daughter Raichel, Mark Maddox, Air Chief, John Bruening

Now Saturdays are traditionally the biggest day of a three day show and this one proved no exception. After a nice breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we once again headed for the con floor.  Knowing that several other Loyal Airmen would be arriving later.  The first to do so were Bill “G-Man” Gladman and his lovely daughter, Raichel.  Bill and I belong to Chuck Moore's amazing comic book site, Comic Related' and we've exchanged hundreds of posts over the past year, plus co-anchored a podcast together for the site.  He's a terrific guy and it was so great to finally meet him and Raichel, who loves comics as much as he does.  Valerie had let me bring her digital camera to the show and soon we were all snapping away, like the group shot above.  Of course that meant taking lots of zingers for why the Air Chief's camera case was pink!

             
                                        Writer Steve Bennett & Ye Old Air Chief

Way back when we first launched our comic writing carers, we made friends with an Ohio writer named Steve Bennett.  That was twenty-sever years ago and he remains, to this day, one of the Air Chief's dearest pals. Aside for all his work for the old Malibu Comics, Steve is also a reviewer for the Comic Buyer's Guide, an industry standard.  The guy has a charming sense of humor and getting together with him is always a treat.  We just don't do it often enough. Thanks for coming up, Steve, and for bringing your friend, Ann, along.

          
                     Mark Maddox and the complete Daughter of Dracula painting.

When Mark Maddox told us he would be joining us at Pulp Fest, Rob suggested he do up prints of some of his wonderful cover paintings for us.  We offered to put them on our table and sell them for him.  Mark was delighted and took his advice. The prints were gorgeous.  At the end of the show, he gracious made a gift of several to us.  Mark also had his portfolio to show off some of his other amazing artwork to include the Daughter of Dracula painting he did for our graphic novel.  You'll note, the comic book crops the woman's face at the bridge of her nose, so fans of our book were thrilled to view this rarely seen “complete” picture.

       
                         Loyal Airman Chuck Moore & the Air Chief

We mentioned Comic Related's Chuck Moore and as promised he too arrived Saturday midday.  Chuck's is a great guy and will go out of his way to support his friends.  At 1:30 PM on that afternoon, we did a dramatic reading from our latest Captain Hazzard novel, CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK, and not only were Chuck and the rest of the CR crew on hand to offer moral support, but Chuck also taped the entire session and it is now available to download and listen to at (www.ComicRelated.com).  Check it out if you get the chance.

                
                                     The Air Chief reading from CAVEMEN OF NEW YORK

That reading, again thanks our Loyal Airmen went really well and we enjoyed it a great deal.  Enough to volunteer to do another at next year's show.  To all of you who attended, thanks so much for being there.  We are extremely grateful to all of you.

                     
                                         Rob Davis and the Air Chief  cutting up.

We posted the above photo to truly show all of you just how much fun was had at Pulp Fest.  This is not just hype.  Every minute we were there with our pals and all the great fans we met was just pure, unadulterated fun.  Something we just don't get enough of in our day to day lives.  Not so in Columbus. And if laughter is the best medecine, then all of us left a whole lot healthier.

                      
                                     John Bruening  – Mark Maddox – Chris Yates – Rob Davis

Another con tradition we cooked up back when attending our first Windy City Pulp & Paper show three years ago was the Sunday Morning Pulp Factory Breakfast Summit.  Seeing that we had established this so well, it was only natural to start a Pulp Fest version and five of us did just that.  John, Mark, Chris, Rob and the Air Chief invaded a local Starbucks and sat down over coffee pastries to talk pulp.  As the saying goes, a good time was had by all.  And Mr.Chris Yates was officially invited into the Pulp Factory, which he joined a few days ago.

                  
                                 Air Chief accepts copy of pulp Argosy from writer David Walker

After breakfast, we all headed back to the con for the final hours of the show.  Sunday mornings are usually when things slow down, but not at Pulp Fest.  We still met new fans and actually sold more books.  Amazing.  My good buddy, writer David Walker, surprised me with a gift of the fiction pulp mag, Argosy. This issue has an original Zorro story in.  Can't wait to dig into it. Thanks Dave, this was the perfect way to cap the show.

By two o'clock, folks were starting to pack it up and head out and Airship 27 joined the sad exodus.  We had had so much fun in such a short period of time, it was really sad to end it all.  Rob and the Air Chief would like to give our sincere thanks to all the promoters of Pulp Fest, from Ed Hulse, Jack Cullers, Mike Chomko, Chris Kalb and any others we may have forgotten.  This was by far the best pulp show we've ever attended and we owe it all to you and your superb planning and organization.  Thanks so much and rest assured, Airship 27 Prod. will be at next year's show.  After this one, you couldn't keep us away.

Take care, Loyal Airmen.  See you next week.
Ron – Over & Out.