Pulp Heroes FTW!

A-mazeballs.

These fantastic pulp/dieselpunk/atomicpunk-era inspired figures are part of an upcoming range of figures called the 'DC Bombshells collection'. Indeed.

And to top off the 'punking awesomeness - a post apocalyptic Wonder Woman!

Methinks that those two Wonder Woman statues will be on my desk in the near future. They are way too awesome not to be.

But here's my other question - will they be releasing any blokes in all their 'punkitude glory? Am I going to be able to get a Pulp Trinity to sit next to my Post Apocalyptic Trinity?

DC Comics, make it happen!!!!

1920s Mugshots of Batman Villains.

The Clown Prince of Crime, Dieselpunk style.

This is awesome! An artist named Jason Mark has done up a series of 1920s-style mugshots for several Batman villains post-Batman encounter. There's also an Australian connection as the original mugshots that inspired the series is from our glorious little convict country. So I have 1920s (my favoured part of the Diesel era), superheroes (as pulpy as you can get, thank you very much) and Australia (Aussie Aussie Aussie...), all in one awesome, Dieselpunky package. How do you get better than that?

Click the piccy above to see the artist's website or check out Design Taxis website for more info on the original inspiration pics. The rest follow.

The Official Launch of the Dieselpunks ePulp Showcase!

Press play, then continue...

After much trial and tribulation (and more than a few curse words at Amazon for being so annoyingly stubborn) the writers of Dieselpunks.org would like to present:

Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase (volume 1)

Do you need more gritty, hard-boiled noir in your life? Do you feel the urge to drag on your beaten coat, tip your fedora to just the right angle, and slum it in a smoky speakeasy? Do the grimy streets of another age call to you from deep within your blood? If so, then do I have the book for you.

---

Featuring works by Grant Gardiner, John Picha, Bard Constantine, and Jack Philpott, the writers of Dieselpunks.org would like to present the very first Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase.
These four tales embody the spirit of another age and are absolutely free to download.

For young hoods, the Aether Age streets of mob-plagued Chicago present a world of opportunity. And Mack and Mickey are headed straight for the top in "That Sort of World: a Tale of the Aether Age" by Grant Gardiner.

It's class-warfare in Citadel City as Pandora Driver and her Car of Tomorrow deliver rough justice to the elites and a douche named the Gooch in "Who are the People in your Neighborhood?" by John Picha.

"The Wise Man Says" by Bard Constantine introduces Mick Trubble: a hard drinking, chain smoking charmer who bites off more than he can chew... then chews like hell. The Troubleshooter takes the grit and slang of a hardboiled detective and drops it in a dystopian setting that mixes Fedoras, trench coats, flying cars and android policemen.

Our last tale is set in the World of Mañana by Jack Philpott…

The dirty streets of Roanoketown were his home and his only family, until he met HER. Now he'll follow HER into hell, tamahaak held high, and fight as a proud Indian against the Anglo Oppressors. He'll wager his life to be a true "Friend of the Spirits."

---

Download them at Dieselpunks.org for free, or pick them up at your favorite online bookstore

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Dieselpunks

• MOBI Version - Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase (volume 1)
• EPUB Version - Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase (volume 1)
• PDF Version - Dieselpunk ePulp Showcase (volume 1)

iTunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dieselpunk-epulp-showcase/id604770234?mt=11&uo=4

Kobo
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Dieselpunk-ePulp-Showcase/book-xDKw0A7h6EG1_vLEp222Pg/page1.html?s=BSfQ-lZaNki4StUcM57UIg&r=1

Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/287097

DriveThruFiction
http://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/111474/Dieselpunk-Epulp-Showcase

Lulu
http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-picha/dieselpunk-epulp-showcase/ebook/product-20703690.html

GoodReads
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17382357-dieselpunk-epulp-showcase

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Dieselpunk-Epulp-Showcase-ebook/dp/B00BHK925G

Please note, when I was writing this release, Amazon still had the price of the book at 99c despite the fact we said it was free. They've been notified. In the meantime, feel free to download from Dieselpunks.org and sideload it onto your Kindle.

New Story is Live on the Interwebs!!!- The More Things Change: A Tale of the Aether Age.

Another one of my short stories has just gone live over on the Alternate History Weekly Update blog. Yay!

It's called The More Things Change: A Tale of the Aether Age, it's set in Las Vegas and it's a humorous look at what happens when you put citizens of the various north American nations of The Aether Age in the same room. I'm quite chuffed by how it worked out.

It's actually for a competition they're running on the website called Balkanize Me! which got my attention. Balkanization is when a country essentially falls apart into many smaller nations which is exactly what happens in The Aether Age. My entry was late so I'm not sure I can win but every visitor to the story counts as one point towards deciding the winner.

Either way, it was a good excuse to explore The Aether Age's political landscape in a funny way and got me writing at speed, which is always a good thing.

It's free to read, so have at it. And remember: if you like the writing, compliments are the food of artists. Our egos must be sustained :)

That's two stories on the interwebs! Wow. I must be a writer now...

And if you're visiting the website for the first time you can find my other published short story in the free promotional anthology the Dieselpunk ePulp Sampler which is available for free at Kobo, Smashwords, GoodReads, WattPad, and a whole stack of other places. It's also available for 99c at Amazon and still coming to iBooks which is why I haven't done a big announcement yet - cause it's awkward pointing someone to a free ebook when it's being sold for 99c. Avoid if possible but if you really need that Amazon version it's there too.

ePulp Review of the Week- Tales of the Red Panda: The Crime Cabal, by Gregg Taylor.

Tales of the Red Panda: The Crime Cabal by Gregg Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Pulp Warning* All my reading skews towards e-pulp, as do my reviews. Reader beware :) *Pulp Warning*



Overall: 4 stars (Recommended)

A really fun story with lively characters, witty banter, plenty of action and some great set scenes. This is your straight up masked pulp vigilante story with the joy turned up to 11. Its only downfall may well be the fact that it's too stereotypical and therefore has no real momentum to make it a true classic.

Pacing and Action: 5 stars.

Pacy and lively, the story has plenty of action. It also helps that the sense of humour and the witty banter between the two main characters really snaps and crackles. It's a whole lot of fun. And while there isn't a huge variety of actions scenes the many fights are nice and chaotic. Just the way the Red Panda likes it.

Pulp Concept: 3 stars.

In a funny way this is the weak point of the book. The characters are great but beyond the somewhat jokey fact that they are fighting on the 'mean streets of Toronto' and the guy looks like a red panda in his domino mask there isn't a lot unique about the character as a classic pulp hero. Personality etc are great but the whole 'rich guy in a fedora and domino mask fighting crime with weird special powers' doesn't get any new elements added to it.
And Toronto is... Toronto. It ends up being yet another 30s city in decline etc etc etc.
The saving grace is probably the bad guys who are very well done. They're suitably monstrous and Ebil and make you think what Toronto could have been like back in the 30s...

Character development: 4 stars.

The main characters are great. They have real personalities, a real and complicated relationship and, again, their witty banter is awesome. On a personal note, they do seem to be a bit arrogant and smug but then again, I've never been a one-man war against crime. Maybe that goes with the territory.
The real let down is the support characters. When they're not barely there they're somewhat annoying and clueless, helping the smugness of the Red Panda sort of run unchecked. And the lead support character sort of just shows up half way through and then... doesn't really achieve much. It made me wonder if he was there just to make the last half of the story work better. It's a bit of a let down considering how well the rest of the story is written.

Production: 3.5 stars.

The editting was fine and the cover okay but what really kicked me in the teeth was the price. $5 for a pulp story is steep when you can get quality stuff for $3 a pop. Not as audacious as the $6 plus stuff out there but pushing the limits of worth-it. I'll probably get the rest at $5 anyway but I'll still smart when I push the buy button.

Series Potential: 4 stars.

Gregg Taylor can write good pulp and the Red Panda series already stands at 3 books. Which is awesome. However, whether Toronto is up to the challenge of hosting pulp stories as interesting as the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel remains to be seen.

Special Award: My New Favourite Scene.

Book gets an award for the first paragraph of chapter 5. Fantastic scene that not only paints an incredibly vibrant picture for what is a fairly simple sequence but also serves to move the story along at the same time. Well done.

Wrap Up.

A really fun pulp reading experience that is just a little let down by the supporting elements and the feeling that there could have been more to the concept. Recommend this to anyone who wants some fun in their reading. And who doesn't want fun in their reading..?

View all my reviews

Pulp Cover of the Week: Captain Future, Summer 1941.

It's... still on the way...

For those who don't know yet, I'm publishing my first story!

Yay!

It's part of a free promotional anthology of Dieselpunk stories I'm helping to put together with a bunch of other writers and the cover will look something (but not exactly) like this:

But we've hit a slight complication...

You see, Amazon doesn't like free stuff. In fact, it won't let you sell free stuff, which makes it difficult to publish a FREE anthology. But Amazon also likes to match the price of all its competitors, finding other prices and then lowering them to the same.

What does this mean? It means that we have our book out there and ready to read but, not at all according to plan, Amazon is charging money for it. Until it sees that other websites are 'selling' said book for free. At which point it will (hopefully) lower its price to $0 in order to match their price, the price we wish to sell it at.

Sigh.

So we are currently sweating on Amazon's 'dob in service' to recognise and change the price to 'free' before we go big on the whole promotional and telling-people part of publishing - which is the reason you publish!!!!

If you're really desperate to read it then it is available at several different platforms other than Amazon and I can post the links if anyone wants them, but at the moment we're still hoping for it to all get set up properly so we can go big proper-launch style.

So, again, sorry for the inconvenience, but it's still happening! Just a bit delayed and not as planned <grumble grumble...>

GoodReads reviews - The Troubleshooter: New Haven Blues by Bard Constantine.

The Troubleshooter: New Haven Blues by Bard Constantine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*Pulp Warning* My online reading is mostly epulp related and as such my opinion of a story's worth also tends to be epulp skewed. Review-reader beware :) *Pulp Warning*

Overall score: 5 stars (highly recommend)

The Troubleshooter was a joy to read. With all the zaniness you could expect for your epulp reading dime The Troubleshooter throws you into a very different world, one that is part Bladerunner, part 1930s America and then continues to heap on the weird and zany. All to the quirky, jargon-deep voiceover of our protagonist Mick Trubble. It's fast paced and constantly confronting the reader with whacky new ideas as we follow a bad, yet fairly typical day in the life of Mick Trubble. And if you like zany epulp style sci-fi/noir shenanigans then this is definitely the story for you.

Pacing and action: 5 stars.
This story is ludicrously fast if you're watching the clock. Within the space of 24 hours Mick Trubble does an insane amount of running and gunning yet amongst it all the reader still gets a fairly comprehensive story of political intrigue. Everything from sci-fi car chases to stand offs with leather clad assassins. You will not e left wanting for action.

Pulp concept: 5 stars.
It's a little complicated but essentially the world of The Troubleshooter is retro-style dieselpunk world with a reasonably believeable justification. Don't think too hard about it, but by pulp standards it's pretty good and creates a world full of potential future adventure while giving us plenty in the present. The setup also turns out an impressive number of whacky yet cool supporting characters. And that's what good pulp does.

Character development: 4 star.
The achilles heal of pulp, when you're doing all that running and gunning the characters can often get left behind. The Troubleshooter did this better then most with a comprehensive character story that Mick Trubble himself has to uncover. It's not brilliant but we at least get a good sense of who Mick is, even if the supporting cast can be easily forgotten as characters. Bit harder to forget them as garrishly dressed hitmen though. They're definitely better as archetypes than they are as fleshed out characters. But Mick himself saves this from being 3 star.

Production: 5 star.
This thing has been editted properly (I mean spelling, grammar, formatting - everything. It's a professional product) with good cover art and nice touches like the glossary at the front. 5 star production from a genre that can often be lacking in this department.

Series potential: 4 stars.
It's definitely there. If Constantine can come up with just as many whacky characters for a sequel then this will be quite the epulp series. Fingers crossed and here's hoping.

Wrap up.
Definitely one of the best epulp stories I've had the pleasure of reading. It's quality, it's fun, it has a unique and endearing style. It leaves you wanting more. And that's good pulp.

View all my reviews

Pulp Manifesto: What is Pulp?

That’s the question people always ask me: “What is pulp?” So for my first Pulp: Manifesto article I’m going to answer that very important question. Or at the very least tell you what ‘pulp’ means to me.

First up... it has nothing to do with that film by Tarantino. Nothing. Nothing at all.

This has nothing to do with pulp fiction writing. Sorry to disappoint.

 Now that we’ve got that out of the way...

The not-so-sexy answer to the question “What is pulp?” is that ‘pulp fiction’ is a production method for prose fiction that has sort of fallen out of favour over the last five to six decades. It’s actually the forerunner to many of the Western world’s most popular genres and storytelling mediums from the Hollywood blockbusters we watch at the cinema through to the comic books we read, or any form of sci-fi or action/adventure television that has somehow escaped cancellation. Even your Mills and Boon collection can trace its lineage straight back to this noble, yet forgotten genre. Pulp was there at the start but most people have never really been exposed to the source.

Yep, this be pulp. In all its 'horror'.

 The golden age of the pulp magazines was back in the 20s, 30s and 40s ie before television took over the family home. Back then, as literacy rates went through the roof, for the first time everyday people wanted to read stories and read them en masse. The more the better. But they didn’t enjoy, or couldn’t afford, those dusty hard-backed novels that the lar-dee-dah rich people read. For the first time the working-class were flexing their popular culture muscles and some entrepreneurs clicked to the fact that something new was needed to fill the need.

A dime novel cover, the pulp magazine's forerunner.

 So what did they do? The early magazine entrepreneurs took the older-style dime magazines, the sort that published serialised excerpts of stories by Charles Dickens et al, and jazzed them up for the new Jazz Age. They slapped a bright and thrilling cover on the front, started publishing multiple magazines that collected popular genre stories together, printed these magazines on the cheapest paper possible to keep the price reasonable (wood-pulp paper, hence ‘pulp’ magazines), then they sold these magazines at your local corner newspaper stand where everyone could find them. Voila! Affordable entertainment for the masses on a monthly basis.

"Just readin' me magazines..."

 The writers of these magazines didn’t worry about literary worth. They didn’t worry about innovations in the art of storytelling. Or trying to add to the Western canon. Pulp writers just sat down at a typewriter and belted out stories that normal people would want to read. And the field took off. Month by month new magazines helped people escape their factory or secretarial work by taking them to new planets, showing how extraordinary citizens vanquished extraordinary bad guys, or revealed how the quiet girl finally got the cute beau from across the road she always pined for. It was all about entertainment and not much else.

People loved it.

Over time some characters became huge. They were so big they got their own magazines all to themselves. Names like Doc Savage, The Shadow and John Carter of Mars became household names. New-fangled genres started up – like those bizarre ‘scientific fiction’ stories – and soon had multiple magazines and devotees. The characters became so popular they were co-opted by Hollywood in movie serials or even a few of the A-features. They even spawned new storytelling mediums like graphic pulps, what we now call ‘comic books’. All these things and more began during that intense period spanning the first half of the 20^th century and most of the genres and characters we still read and watch today trace their DNA straight back to the characters and stories of this fertile period of writing and reading.

You may not know this bloke, but many of your heroes are cheap knock-offs of him.

 The pulp magazines eventually died-out post-World War 2. Paper rationing during the War took its toll on profits and then television became the new preferred method of consuming serialised stories. There was no longer a need for magazines that provided cheap entertainment for the masses. Not when you could afford a television or buy those cheap paper-back novels that were now being made. The time of the pulp magazine was past and most of the energy and creativity of the industry migrated over to television to make Cold War Spy-Fi shows or Westerns.

Dime Novel > Pulp Magazine > Spy-fi  TV > Bond, James Bond.

 But the spirit of pulp has never died as it lives on in pretty much every genre-related field of entertainment known to pop culture. And, with the rise of the internet age and, more importantly, the e-reader, a new renaissance has occurred in the field and pulp fiction has become the inspiration for new stories and new characters in the new digital age. Downloadable kilobytes have replaced wood pulp paper and Amazon has replaced the newspaper stand but there’s a growing number of people who want to tell stories in the style of the old pulp magazines. Cheap, fast-paced, genre-focused stories that unapologetically exist to entertain, released on a regular basis so readers can get more and more of what they want. All of this has been made possible by the e-publishing revolution and it has meant that pulp is yet again alive and kicking.

And for some bizarre reason I’ve been caught up in it all...

"How did I get here?!?"

 So that’s a brief overview of pulp, with an even briefer flyover regarding the new satus quo of the field. A very short overview. But stay tuned next week. Next week I’ll go a little deeper and try to explain why I have chosen to write the Aether Age stories in the style of the pulps as well as the rewards, challenges and quirks of the genre and how they relate to Tommy Thunder. 

For all that and more, stay tuned...

E-pulp Review of the Week - Dinosaur Jazz by Michael Panush.

One of my GoodRead.com reviews for e-pulp series. This week it's the whacky and oh so pulp, Dinosaur Jazz:



Dinosaur Jazz by Michael Panush
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Pulp Warning* My ereading pretty much revolves solely around epulp. My reviews are thus skewed. Reader beware :) *Pulp Warning*

Overall score: 4 stars (Recommended)

This is a story about Jazz Age dinosaurs. And whacky people who spend lots of time within close proximity to said Jazz Age dinosaurs.

If that doesn't excite you then check your pulse.

This is a fantastic read about a world that anyone with an adventurous bone in their body should want to visit. It's pulp at its pulpiest with genre smashing concepts embedded deeply within a period setting that would be familiar to anyone who holds fond memories of ye olde movies such as Lost World and its many derivatives. It's a fantastic idea that is backed up by great action and fantastic characters but, to my personal taste, does trip a little over its main protagonist.

Pacing and Action: 4 star.
This is a story that involves people who hunt and shoot dinosaurs for a living. Trust me, there's plenty of action. Throw in despotic robber-baron lunatics, Tommy gun toting gangsters, zeppelin flying smugglers and peace-averse cavemen all chasing after the same Macguffin and - trust me - there's plenty of action. About the only thing preventing this from being 5 stars is the protagonists bad habit of constantly going emo and reflecting on the world around him and how it doesn't understand him etc. This can become infuriating when you know there's a T-Rex just over the next ridge. I found myself internally screaming "GET ON WITH IT" more than a few times. But then I can be a bit impatient that way.

Pulp Concept: 6 stars.
You read me right. 6 stars out of 5. Pulp concepts don't get much better than this. It could have easily been implausible, having that many different dinosaurs stomping about on such a small geographical space, but this actually has a lot to do with overriding conspiracy of the island and is therefore saved on count back. Apart from that (and a fairly American-centric explanation about people going to the island just to drink booze. When they could just go, you know, anywhere else in the world) the concept is well grounded. Which is impressive considering how out there everything is. The concept is so good that you even forget about some of the other annoying parts, and that's why it gets 6 out of 5. The concept is just that good.

Character development: 3 stars.
This is probably more a personal thing than anything but the protagonist annoyed me. A lot. For a bloke who spends his work hours shooting T-Rexs with a hunting rifle he is incredibly mopey and passive. Very emo in all the worst ways. In the end I wondered if he would even be the hero of the story if the other people around him didn't make him do what everyone else knew he should be doing. The supporting cast however is very strong and diverse and helps to reveal the breadth and depth of what is possible in this crazy world. They help a lot.

Production: 5 stars.
No problems here. Good cover, well formatted and has maps and other things that help the reader and give the impression of a professional job. I think there was a few spelling mistakes but only enough to rile the spelling Nazis. Well done.

Series potential: 5 stars.

Be a crying shame if this doesn't continue. Absolute crying shame. Most of the story is wrapped up, and personally I wouldn't mind another protagonist, but the future adventure potential of this concept needs to be explored. Pronto.

Wrap up.

An excellent story with fantastic concepts that only suffers from a vaguely wearisome protagonist. Most people won't even notice so I highly recommend this to anyone who likes adventure or fun or dinosaurs. It's awesome.

View all my reviews

Pulp Cover of the Week.

New Logo!!!

Like the logo? Credit goes to the talented Mr John Picha, a fellow Dieselpunk writer with his very own pulp-style Dieselpunk hero, The Pandora Driver. To check out his other work and his book just click the piccy below:

E-pulp Review of the Week: The Adventures of Lazarus Gray by Barry Reese.

Welcome to the first of my weekly GoodReads e-pulp reviews. These are reviews I've already posted over at Goodreads.com and each week I will spotlight one here. And first cab off the rank is The Adventures of Lazarus Gray...



The Adventures of Lazarus Gray by Barry Reese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*Pulp Warning* All my e-reading, and therefore my reviews, are e-pulp skewed. Reader beware :) *Pulp Warning*

Overall: 5 stars (Highly Recommend)

The Adventures of Lazarus Gray is a series of well crafted pulp stories that illustrate exactly what's available for potential e-pulp afficiandos looking to see what the whole e-pulp thing is about. The supernatural, Dark Avenger concept is well served with great world building, interesting characters and a dark, sinister mood punctuated by crazy supernatural villains. This is modern Dark Avenger e-pulp at its best and if you're looking for a gateway into the field then this is where you should start.

For those who are already pulp zombies - you should have read this already.

Pacing and Action: 5 stars.

In using a collection of shorter stories the old school pulp pacing is perfect. Each story is consistently good, filled with two fisted action and bizarre and dark supernatural bad guys. The action isn't as fast or frenetic as your typical adventure pulp but the more consistent pacing is more suited to the sense of menace and darkness provided by the stories. It works really well.

Pulp Concept: 5 stars.

Using its Dark Avenger hero the book develops both its setting and supernatural themes really well. The book is actually set in Sovereign City, the same Sovereign City of a book I've reviewed previously, Adventures of Fortune McCall, The which was a nice surprise. Lazarus Gray, however, swims in the much darker, supernatural parts of town and the combination of corrupt, decaying 30s city and the outrageous supernatural bad guys is done really well. Much credit to the author.

Character Development: 5 stars.

The characters are not only interesting but they also develop over the course of each story, providing three dimensional people you care about. In a field in which this aspect often gets lost in the flying bullets, Reese has done a good job not only making the reader care but then promising that there's more in store and you will want to read further to find out what happens next. And that's good series writing.
The protagonist Lazarus Gray is also well developed with complicated motivations and back story that is slowly revealed and then examined over the course of each story so that, by the end of the book, we have a very good idea of who he is and what possible drama he will end up in during future stories. It's very very well done.

Production: 5 stars.

Great cover that makes me wonder why they don't use comic art for more pulp covers. Both styles are from the same fiction genetic pool, after all. The editting is also professional with great setting out etc which is important when you have multiple stories. A very professional product and well worth the price.

Series Potential: 5 stars.

No 'potential' about it, over the space of this first book we're already knee deep in the series. Reese has shown that he can write a series like the best of them so now it's only a matter of more more more. The vast conspiracy has been established, various reoccuring characters are on the board, and there's still plenty to learn about our intrepid team of supernatural murder solvers.

More please.


Wrap Up.

Seriously, if you want to know if this Dark Avenger e-pulp thing is your kind of thing then start here. If this doesn't take then maybe the genre isn't for you. If it does - welcome aboard.

And, again, if you DO like modern renditions of Dark Avenger stories then you should have read this already.

View all my reviews

Tales of the Aether Age

The world in which Tommy Thunder exists is called 'The Aether Age'. I've given it a name because the world existed long before Tommy came along and, although Tommy will be the main focus of my initial stories, I will want to explore and flesh out the rest of the world as I go. In this way I can illustrate parts of the world that Tommy could never see. To that end I've developed The Tales of the Aether Age, a catch-all title for any story set in the same universe as Tommy but not related to Tommy himself.

For the most part The Tales of the Aether Age will be short stories in the same vein as Tommy Thunder adventures, each ranging from 25 to 50 thousand words and grouped together in volumes as necessary. They will also lean more towards the Dieselpunk end of the spectrum which is a genre I like to dabble in whenever I can. I'll talk more about Dieselpunk at a later date but essentially Tommy tends to scare off Dieselpunk stories because of his one track mind and residence in the sunny Caribbean, a place not optimised for most Dieselpunk stories.

Not really Tommy's scene. But not by choice, just by geography.

 So Tales is probably where you'll find me scratching out stories set in Chicago or New York or even Los Angeles. Stories that revolve around gangsters and their molls, lone lawmen trying to keep the peace on the New West frontier with the help of their trusty Thompson submachine gun, or wild recounts of the dastardly deeds of the continent's new breed of mad scientist who have taken it upon themselves to rule the world with the aid of science. All these stories and more will pop up from time to time under the banner of Tales of the Aether Age.

In fact I should be releasing a short story very very soon...

Pulp Cover of the Week

Another first post for a regular feature here at the Tommy Thunder aerodrome: The Wednesday Pulp Cover of the Week.

Why? Because they're fan-tastic. That is all.

I actually posted this one on my previous post but it has to be one of my favourites so I'm posting it again. Have to kick these off with my fovaourites :)

They don't make book covers like this anymore...

So who is Tommy?

Tommy Thunder, Scourge of the Skypirates is the title for the upcoming story series I'm writing in the style of the old pulp magazine tales. I'll talk more about pulp in a later post but if you want a clear example of the genre it's definitely Indiana Jones. George Lucas based the Indiana Jones series (as well as Star Wars) on the old movie serials of the 1930s and 40s which screened before cinema 'A' features. Each new week a new chapter would be played so that regular cinema patrons could follow the daring exploits and thrilling action of their favourite action/adventure hero until the incredible cliffhanger that would have you on the edge of your seat to find out what happened next week. They're brilliant, and as a lover of these old-style adventure romps my aim is to write in a style that packs as much punch (and endearingly useless punches) as those fun movie serials did (but without having to wait a full week to see what happens after the cliffhanger).

Undersea Kingdom. Movie serial. One of the best.

And to lead us on these crazy adventures we'll be following the title's namesake, Tommy Thunder. Tommy is an aspiring skypirate hunter in a world where there is certainly no lack of skypirates. Whether they're raiding zeppelin cargo lanes or fighting each other in the air, skypirates are everywhere in the Aether Age. Law and order is quickly returning to Old West levels (especially in the parts of America that were the Old West) and, thanks to the new aeronautical wizardry developed during the Great War, that failure of law and order is quickly spreading throughout the American continents and beyond. The only thing standing in the way of this epic tide is the various skymilitias and privateer groups who collect bounties issued by government and law agencies. And Tommy is about to get a huge opportunity to join one such group in one of the most lawless parts of the Western Hemisphere - The Caribbean.

Tommy both dresses and poses just like this. On mountains.

 The Caribbean of the Aether Age proves that old-school ship pirates ain't got nothing on skypirates :)

So what is Tommy Thunder? Tommy Thunder, Scourge of the Skypirates is a pulp-style prose series whose Hollywood pitch would be 'Indiana Jones in biplanes set in an alternate universe 1920s America'. If I get my butt in gear the first story should be released some time in the next two months and published for e-readers everywhere on a regular basis after that (hard copies a bit later on when I can work out the technology and a few short stories in the build up to whet people's appetite for the big show. Stay tuned).

Move over G-8. Here comes Tommy Thunder.

And who is Tommy Thunder? Tommy Thunder is the little bloke with big ideas that will take us there.

Stay tuned as in the next few posts I'll be explaining the two biggest sources of inspiration for the Tommy Thunder series, namely the style of writing known as pulp and the subculture known as Dieselpunk. From these two things all else flows, including the music, art and other articles you will see appearing on this blog on a daily basis. If you're at all interested in any of this whacky sounding stuff I hope you'll join me for the rest of the ride. It should be pretty crazy :)

Grant.