MAN OF STEEL

 

I've been waiting on this one to hit the big screens, and after all the tornadoes and medical stuff I've been going through, I happily took myself to the theater to relax for a couple hours plus.  I have to admit, though, the scene with the tornado sweeping across the screen really quieted the audience here in Moore.  All I can tell you is that the computer generated effect is close to an actual tornado, but without the whipping wind and rain, it pales by comparison.  And even though the tornado in the movie is supposed to be horrific and destructive, it was nothing like an F-5.

 

Overall, I enjoyed the movie.  Henry Cavill makes a splendid Clark Kent/Superman.  He's got the build and the personality, and I liked him quite a lot in the role.

 

I appreciated the way the storyline kept flipping back and forth between the past and the present.  Telling the origin story again from the beginning would have been a mistake.  People are just too familiar with it even with the different twists and turns this origin story takes.

 

The beginning with Russell Crowe playing Jor-El was totally gripping and I loved the presentation of Krypton even though it didn't quite jibe with everything I've envisioned over the years.  I thought perhaps the "gladiator" moments were a little over the top, but I forgave the revisionist history because I was caught up in the narrative.

 

I also liked seeing Clark's journey to find himself.  I hadn't thought about what he might do, but crab fishing and working on archeological expeditions were interesting concepts.  It reminded me a lot of when Bruce Wayne went trekking around the world to get himself trained to be the Batman, which doesn't suit my idea of Superman's early years, but this fit well enough.

 

Frankly, the Kryptonian supervillains was just too repetitive of the second Christopher Reeve movie.  The architecture of Brainiac's weapons arsenal and vehicles bother me a lot too, because I felt those should have been reserved for Brainiac's appearance.  Of course, maybe the producer/director is going to revisit those assets for another movie in the series.

 

And I just didn't care for the whole "having to adjust to Earth's environment" thing.  Jor-El states that Kal will be a god on Earth and makes no mention of having to acclimate to the planet.  Unless I missed that.  The weakness was footnoted throughout the movie, but I just didn't buy it.  A class M planet is a class M planet.  The weakness felt like an intentional construct to offer a reason why Superman could beat dozens of people who should have been just as strong as he was.

 

Of course, dealing with Superman's powers has always been like walking a tightrope for writers.  That's why Lex Luthor uses science and other foes use magic.

 

I also had problems with the ending.  With all the chaotic destruction going on, Superman had to be partially responsible for killing hundreds of citizens that were collateral damage.  And the buildings kept falling like dominoes, to the point I actually grew weary of seeing that happen.

 

I did enjoy the movie, perhaps not as much as I wanted to because I wanted to be blown away by it, but I'm interested to see what is done for a sequel.  That's going to be the proof of the pudding.

New Sheriff Dan Rhodes eBooks!

 

 

In tiny Blacklin County, Texas, a curse is nothing more than a four-letter word hollered in a barroom or muttered in the heat. So Sheriff Dan Rhodes is more curious than concerned when he dutifully responds to a complaint of witchcraft. 
When Dr. Samuel Martin, the local dentist — and unpopular landlord — claims he's been hexed by a tenant, Rhodes does his best to smooth things out between the distressed D.D.S. and the would-be witch. But in two shakes of a black cat's tail, the good doctor disappears... and his wife turns up bludgeoned to death. 

For Rhodes, it means there's a bad moon rising over Blacklin County. And now he's got to do the voodoo he does best — asking pointed questions and extracting the painful truth from some tight-lipped suspects who also bite...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Someone in Blacklin County, Texas, is being disrespectful of the dead, and Sheriff Dan Rhodes must put a stop to it. 
First, there's the matter of the bodies at Ballinger's Funeral Home and the apparent misplacing of their valuables; the bereaved are beside themselves. There'd best be immediate action or the bell could toll again, this time for Sheriff Dan's reputation as the guardian of justice and decency in these parts. 

As if that weren't enough to contend with, yet another body tumbles into Sheriff Dan's path—out of a closet this time, and trussed up in most unsavory fashion. More disrespect, but obviously a separate case from the funeral home. Or is it? 

Meanwhile, with Hack Jensen and his sidekick Lawton (more comic than cop team) minding the jail, thank heavens there's Deputy Ruth Grady for backup. On the personal front, his fiancee, Ivy Daniel, is supportive as always, but a mystery rears its perplexing head here as well—namely, will Sheriff Dan propose or will he not? 


Tough questions on every side, and guess who's expected to come up with the answers before he gets carried away by Death On the Move?

 

 

 

 

Caught My Eye

 

They needed the perfect assassin.Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die-of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target.

But when he's assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's mission.

In this action-packed series debut, author Allen Zadoff pens a page-turning thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is gripping, introducing an utterly original and unforgettable antihero.

 

 

Out Today -- Stephen King's JOYLAND!

 

 

Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.

"I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts. That combo made Hard Case Crime the perfect venue for this book, which is one of my favorites. I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book." – Stephen King

 

 

 

I read this book and loved it.  My review here.

 

 

Jude Hardin's Colt

 

The Prequel to Jude Hardin's Nicholas Colt private eye/rock and roller series.

October 21: just an ordinary day, unless you’re a former rock star…

The sole survivor of a plane crash…

A private investigator working out of a camper…

For Nicholas Colt, October 21 is an unlucky day. A day for nightmares. It always has been, and this year is no exception.

Someone is brutally murdering the offspring of an anonymous sperm donor, and Colt’s missing client is next on the list. With less than four days to find the young man—and, with a pair of drug-addicted study partners, a violent motorcycle gang, a stalker ex-girlfriend, and a host of other obstacles standing in his way—Colt faces the most challenging and deadly case of his life.

Jude Hardin is the author of six Nicholas Colt novels and one short story. Each works as a standalone, but many readers prefer to experience the events of the series in chronological order. If you are one of those readers, this list is for you:

COLT*
POCKET-47
CROSSCUT
SNUFF TAG 9
RATTLED
KEY DEATH
BLOOD TATTOO

Love This Cover!

 

I love the colors, I love the character's attitude, and I love the title.  Now I gotta pick up the other two books and get caught up on this series.

 

 

 

FIGHT CARD: GET HIT, HIT BACK

 

 

Ottumwa, Iowa 1954

Griffin McCann's small-town world is rocked when the bank where he works as a guard is robbed. He chases the robbers out of the bank and into a gun battle, leaving one hood dead and one on the lam. Left alone with a dead robber and a bag full of cash, McCann makes a rash decision ...

Knowing he’s made a bad mistake, McCann wants to return the money, but life is never that simple. He needs a plan, so he turns to the one thing he knows best – boxing. Now, his moment of weakness has put him in the ring against a deadly opponent who wants to destroy him.

But McCann remembers the most important thing Father Tim, the battling priest, taught him back at St. Vincent’s Asylum For Boys in Chicago: When you get hit, hit back ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first two books of the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series have been hard to get, and unavailable as ebooks.  Now they're out in the wild and you can snatch them up with a couple of clicks.  Bill is a friend, so you can call me predisposed to his writing, but it's awfully easy to curl up with a Bill Crider novel and just while away an evening worrying about someone else's problems for a change.

If you haven't read the Rhodes series, you're in for a treat.  The sheriff and his cadre of crimefighters aren't like those big city detectives.  Think Longmire and Justified before folks knew that small town crime was as deadly as big city crime.  Sheriff Rhodes works the same neck of the woods with humor and charm.

TIES THAT BIND by C. J. Darlington

 

Newly released from prison, Brynn Taylor is determined to find her father, a man she's never met. Her only clue to his whereabouts is an address she finds in a rare volume of Jane Austen's “Sense & Sensibility” which he inscribed to her years ago. Armed with a bus ticket, a backpack, and her grandfather's gun, her search leads her to Elk Valley, Colorado where her plans and her life begin to unravel.

 

 

Deployed Currently Free As An ebook!

 

Lance Corporal Bekah Shaw joined the United States Marine reserves to help support herself and her son when her ex-husband, Billy Roy, decided they were no longer his responsibility. But when her team is activated and sent to Somalia on a peacekeeping mission, Bekah struggles with being separated from her son and vows to return safely.

Once a successful Somalian businessman, Rageh Daud has lost everything. Determined to seek revenge on the terrorists who killed his wife and son, he teams up with a group of thieves, killers, and others displaced by war. Despite his better judgment, Daud becomes the protector of a young orphaned boy—who becomes a pawn between the warring factions.

To defeat the terrorists and bring peace to the region, Bekah and her team must convince Daud that they are on the same side.

 

 

  

 

Love this Pulp Treatment of Iron Man 3!

More art can be found here.

William Bernhardt STORY STRUCTURE

 

My buddy Bill Bernhardt has released the first of his RED SNEAKER WRITERS BOOK SERIES.  Recommended!

 

“Writing is structure,” William Goldman said, but too often aspiring writers plunge into their work without grasping this fundamental principle. Story structure is one of the most important concepts for a writer to understand—and ironically, one of the least frequently taught. In this book, New York Times-bestselling author William Bernhardt explains the elements that make stories work, using examples spanning from Gilgamesh to The Hunger Games. In each chapter, he introduces essential concepts in a direct and easily comprehended manner. Most importantly, Bernhardt demonstrates how you can apply these ideas to improve your own writing.

 

William Bernhardt is the author of more than thirty books, including the blockbuster Ben Kincaid series of legal thrillers. Bernhardt is also one of the most sought-after writing instructors in the nation. His programs have educated many authors now published by major houses. He is the only person to have received the Southern Writers Gold Medal Award, the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award (U Penn), and the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award (OSU), which is given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large."

 

The Red Sneaker Writing Center is dedicated to helping writers achieve their literary goals. What is a red sneaker writer? A committed writer seeking useful instruction and guidance rather than obfuscation and attitude. Red sneakers get the job done, and so do red sneaker writers, by paying close attention to their art and craft, committing to hard work, and never quitting. Are you a red sneaker writer? If so, this book is for you.

 

 

And as an ebook!

 

Want a FREE Story?

Criminal Element is showcasing my story from BLACK PULP on their site here.

You say you want pirates?  The wilds of West Africa?  The menace of Portuguese slavers in the early 19th century?  Zombies?

Well, neighbor, you need look no further.  "The Drums of Ogbanje" has it all!

 

 

 

ebook is now only $2.99 for the whole collection of stories.

FREE FIGHT CARD BOOK April 28 &29

Havana, Cuba. 1954.

Mickey Flynn is an ex-Korean War vet turned merchant marine. He was born in the ghettos of Chicago and raised in an orphanage with his younger brother, Patrick. He was one of several young men who received an education from the nuns at St. Vincent's.

But he was also taught the "sweet science" by Father Tim, a Golden Gloves boxer and retired police officer who only knew one way to bring a troubled boy to manhood. Father Tim worked with his young charges, taught them how to jab and punch and throw a hook that seemed to come out of nowhere. When the young men left St. Vincent's (Our Lady of the Glass Jaw), they were changed, fit and ready to take on the troubles the encountered around the world, no matter where they found them.

Now Mick's in Havana, working on WIDE BERTHA, his ship. After surviving a fierce storm at sea, the last thing Mick and the crew need to do is get crossways with the Italian organized crime flooding Havana, but it doesn't take much to put him in the cross hairs of a vengeful mob boss working for Lucky Luciano.

Unable to get free of bad luck and unfortunate circumstance, Mick ends up in the ring in an illegal boxing match fighting a human killing machine.

Love This Cover!

 

A pirate captain of the Inner Sea, Torius Vin makes a living raiding wealthy merchant ships with his crew of loyal buccaneers. Few things matter more to Captain Torius than ill-gotten gold—but one of those is Celeste, his beautiful snake-bodied navigator. When a crafty courtesan offers the pirate crew a chance at the heist of a lifetime, it’s time for both man and naga to hoist the black flag and lead the Stargazer’s crew to fame and fortune. But will stealing the legendary Star of Thumen chart the corsairs a course to untold riches—or send them all to a watery grave?

 

 

FREE BOOK 4-27 thru 4-28! RANCHO DIABLO: THE HOLD UP!

 

When Randy Post, a young cowboy riding for the Rancho Diablo brand, gets accused of murdering a saloon girl, Sam Blaylock saddles up to get to the bottom of the matter before they fit him for a hangman's noose. Sam doesn't know that the murder has set off a chain of events that will end up with him swapping lead with a murderous gang of robbers eyeing one of the banks in Shooter's Cross.

In the past, Marshal Everett Tolliver and Sam Blaylock haven't seen exactly eye-to-eye on things involving the ranch hands. Tolliver intends to hold the peace in town no matter what the cost. But he's going to need help if he's going to find out who murdered Jessie Holden in cold blood.

Even after they've set there differences aside for the time being, Sam and Tolliver still have to put their lives at risk to hold the line in Shooter's Cross in a gundown on Main Street that will become a legend.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Thor The Dark World

 

Gotta admit, getting excited about this one.  I really enjoyed the last one.

BLACK PULP! Now Out In Ebook!

 

 

It's quite an honor to be in a book with my buddy Joe Lansdale, Gary Phillips, Charles Saunders, Gar Anthony Haywood, and Walter Mosley, all of whom I've been reading for years.

 

BLACK PULP brings bestselling authors Walter Mosley and Joe R. Lansdale, Gary Phillips, Charles R. Saunders, Derrick Ferguson, D. Alan Lewis, Christopher Chambers, Mel Odom, Kimberly Richardson, Ron Fortier, Michael A. Gonzales, Gar Anthony Haywood, and Tommy Hancock together to craft adventure tales, mysteries, and more, all with black characters at the forefront! "Literature for the masses kindled the imagination and used our reading skills so that we could regale ourselves in the cold chambers of alienation and poverty. We could become Doc Savage or The Shadow, Conan the Barbarian or the brooding King Kull and make a difference in a world definitely gone wrong."--Walter Mosley from his introduction. Between these covers are 12 tales of action, adventure, and thrills featuring heroes and heroines of darker hues that will appeal to audiences everywhere! BLACK PULP! From Pro Se Productions!

 

Caught My Eye

 

The Age of Kings is dead . . . and I have killed it.

It's a bloody business overthrowing a king...

Field Marshal Tamas' coup against his king sent corrupt aristocrats to the guillotine and brought bread to the starving. But it also provoked war with the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics, and the greedy to scramble for money and power by Tamas's supposed allies: the Church, workers unions, and mercenary forces.

It's up to a few...

Stretched to his limit, Tamas is relying heavily on his few remaining powder mages, including the embittered Taniel, a brilliant marksman who also happens to be his estranged son, and Adamat, a retired police inspector whose loyalty is being tested by blackmail.

But when gods are involved...
Now, as attacks batter them from within and without, the credulous are whispering about omens of death and destruction. Just old peasant legends about the gods waking to walk the earth. No modern educated man believes that sort of thing. But they should...



GRAVEDIGGER!

 

I love this cover!!!!

 

Her Life Began...The Day She Died.

 

From Best Selling and Award Winning Author Barry Reese comes another fantastic creation from his action packed imagination! THE ADVENTURES OF GRAVEDIGGER VOLUME ONE from Reese Unlimited, Barry's very own Author Imprint at Pro Se Productions features the debut of a different take on the concept of Hero in Pro Se's Sovereign City Project!

 

The Adventures of Gravedigger introduces the latest masked warrior to inherit the mantle of Gravedigger. A lost soul who has returned from the grave to take up a mission of justice and vengeance, Gravedigger stalks the streets of Sovereign City assisted by her faithful agents and surprising familiar allies! She is the last defense against the criminals, madmen, and bizarre creatures that prowl in the shadows! Featuring a stunning cover by award winning Pulp Artist George Sellas and mind blowing interiors by renowned artist Will Meugniot.

 

THE ADVENTURES OF GRAVEDIGGER is a stunning, horrifying new addition to Pulp! From Author Barry Reese, Edited by David White, with Format and Design by Sean Ali! THE ADVENTURES OF GRAVEDIGGER VOLUME ONE from Reese Unlimited and Pro Se Productions!



FIGHT CARD MMA!

 

 

Belfast 2013

Mickey The Rage Rafferty has gone through some tough times, but he's not ready to tap-out just yet. The Belfast widower has to take care of his eight-year-old daughter, Lily. However, his main talent is fighting and the only way he can make enough money off it to support his girl is to take dodgy underground matches paying off in bloodstained cash. Mickey’s trainer, Eddie Smith, doesn't approve. He wants his most promising student to step into the cage as a real martial artist, not as a fool for thugs and gangsters.

With Eddie on the verge of cutting him loose, Mickey is up against the cage – crushed between fast cash and a legitimate career. Mickey has some big decisions to make and some even bigger opponents to face.

The MMA life can be harsh, and it’s never easy ... Welcome To The Octagon.

 

 

 

Ray Kurt was one of the first guys to step into a sanctioned MMA fight – back when you scrapped four times a night and didn't wrap your hands until you got to the hospital afterward. Now he trains fighters in his Kalamazoo mixed martial arts gym, searching for someone he can take to the top.

Young fighting phenom Tallis Dunbar might just be that someone, but Tallis comes attached to a whole lot of trouble. Detroit mob fixer Andru Harp wants Kurt to turn Tallis into an MMA beast tough enough to take on the Chicago mob’s fearsome fighter, High Voltage – the same man who nearly killed Tallis’ brother a year earlier.

For Detroit and Chicago it’s all about turf, but for Kurt and Tallis their lives and redemption are balanced on a razor’s edge. Kurt is used to fighting with few rules, but now there is only one – survive...

 

 



 

 

New Sheriff In Town

 

Bordertown private investigator Luke Oliver’s beat is the dimensional fold in Manhattan between the human and supernatural realms. But now a secret from his past—the League of the Black Swan—has surfaced. Because Luke isn’t any ordinary P.I. He’s the Dark Wizard of Bordertown, and he never backs down from a fight.

But this time the fight threatens his life and his heart. Rio Jones, the only woman he loved, needs his help against a deadly menace. Luke pushed her away once before, so she’d never fall prey to the curse that threatens to destroy him. He swore he’d never let her go again.

Luke and Rio, with the help of the newly reformed League, must keep evil forces from taking over Bordertown—all the while battling a passion on the razor’s edge between danger and desire. And going to take everything they have just to stay alive.

 

Coming in May.

 

 

Caught My Eye

 

The Hunger Games meets the X-Men in an exciting postapocalyptic debut. Two years after London is struck by a devastating terrorist attack, it is cut off from the world, protected by a military force known as Choppers.

The rest of Britain believes that the city is now a toxic, uninhabited wasteland.  But Jack and his friends—some of whom lost family on what has become known as Doomsday—know that the reality is very different. At great risk, they have been gathering evidence about what is really happening in London—and it is incredible.

Because the handful of London's survivors are changing. Developing strange, fantastic powers. Evolving.

Upon discovering that his mother is still alive inside London, Jack, his sister, and their three friends sneak into a city in ruins. Vast swathes have been bombed flat. Choppers cruise the streets, looking for survivors to experiment upon. The toxic city is filled with wonders and dangers that will challenge Jack and his friends... and perhaps kill them. But Jack knows that the truth must be revealed to the outside world or every survivor will die.

Ebook Workshop on Saturday, May 4th

 

Here I am with Pioneer Librarian Cindy Stevens.  The library has invited me to speak at their 3rd Annual Writer's Workshop on Saturday May 4 in Norman, OK.  I'll be talking about the ebook boom and how you can start your own publishing empire.

 

Details here.

 

 

Set in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, the urban fantasy serialized novel follows the law practice of Thomas Brock and Evelyn Love. The duo crusades for the rights of "OTs" . . . Other Than Humans, and their clients include ghosts, gargoyles, vampires, and things they've yet to put a name to. The danger and intrigue is as thick as the mist that teases the Golden Gate Bridge.

From Spectre of Justice: The "OTs," as they were often called, tended to cluster in cities, and Thomas was well aware there were a good number of them in San Francisco, where some say true magic was born and laid heaviest in the land. OTs: Other-Than-Human, like his client Holder, who was a ghoul, an undead creature normally associated with graveyards and considered a corpse-eater.

 

The first LOVE-HAIGHT novel is out now!  Get it here!

 

 

Love This Cover and Concept!

 

Imagine an Age of Exploration full of alchemy, human dissection, sea monsters, betrayal, torture, religious controversy, and magic. In Europe, the magic is thin, but at the edge of the world, where the stars reach down close to the Earth, wonders abound. This drives the bravest explorers to the alluring Western Ocean. Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist who cares only about one thing: quintessence, a substance he believes will grant magical powers and immortality. And he has a ship.

 

 

Bugatti Blue Dream Kickstarter Project!

One of my students at the University of Oklahoma is writing a book about this project, but the history of the plane and the recent developments are fascinating.  To find out more, and to potentially donate, here's a link to the Kickstarter page.

Taking Quinn Home -- For Free!

 

Four men leave the local bar on a snowy night, cautiously driving an old truck down rural back roads to get home. Although the snow and ice are unforgiving, the weather conditions aren't to blame when they find themselves stranded in the woods.

And it is certainly not the freezing weather that is to blame for the terror and bloodshed that will occur before the sun rises.

There are wolves howling in the distance and the truck won't move...but these are the least of their problems.

 

 

 

 

Absolutely LOVE these NOIR styled covers.

 

Love These Covers!

 

If the only way to save the world was to destroy what you loved most, would you do it?

The clock is ticking. Everyone must choose.

Passion. Power. Secrets. Enchantment.

Danger closes in around the Shadowhunters in the final installment of the bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy. Be sure not to miss the special first edition, complete with an exclusive family tree.

 

 

 

New Fight Card Book!

 

Chicago 1925

Amidst the violent, bloody boulevards of gangland Chicago, Archie Mannis uses his fists to rise from the shadows of St. Vincent's Asylum For Boys. Forging a reputation from his earliest amateur bouts, Archie’s fists carry him through the Great Depression and into the heat of The War In The Pacific. Back home, his fistic skills put him once again on a championship road. But there are dangers lurking – the sweet taste of morphine, crooked fight promoters, and a bitter enemy whose hatred has festered since their hardscrabble childhood.

As Archie Mannis faces his last round, legendary boxers, famous writers, Hollywood celebrities, and notorious mobsters are all part of the mix – waiting to see if Archie will still be standing in the ring when the final bell clangs ...

Written in the style of the great fight biographies found in the sports pulps of the ‘40s and ‘50s, The Last Round of Archie Mannis will have you cheering from ringside ...

 

Interview here.

 

 

Rancho Diablo #1 free on March 17 & 18

 

 

Army Scout Sam Blaylock wasn’t looking for trouble when he rode into Shooter’s Cross, a small Texas town with a colorful history, but he found trouble in spades.  After being nearly killed in an ambush, Sam discovers a patch of land where he thinks he can settle his family, put down roots, and build a future.  Unfortunately, that land has poisoned water and rumors of ghosts.  Sam’s figured a way to fix the water problem, and he’s never been a big believer in ghosts, but he hadn’t planned on running up against newspaperman Mitchell McCarthy, who’s willing to kill to take Rancho Diablo now that Sam has turned the land into a profitable enterprise.

Sam enlists the aid of two friends from the army – fast talking Duane Beatty and gunhawk and fellow scout Mike Tucker – and digs in tighter than a tick to fight back.

COLBY JACKSON IS:  Bill Crider, James Reasoner, and Mel Odom – cumulatively the authors of HUNDREDS of books including Westerns, mysteries, suspense stories, horror stories, and anything else that catches their fancy.  Check them out at www.billcrider.blogspot.com, www.jamesreasoner.blogspot.com, and www.melodom.blogspot.com.

Caught My Eye

 

This action-packed ePulp Anthology unleashes four new noir tales inspired by the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. Blazing brawls and gritty adventure awaits dieselpunks, nostalgians, die hard or pulp-curious fans. Hope you can take a punch, because these two-fisted tales hit hard!

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."

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?"

"The Wise Man Says" 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.

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 "A Friend of Spirits."

Download if you dare!

Caught My Eye

 

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternatea twin raised by another familyand citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriagelife.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes Wests confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, shes no longer certain that shes the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Elsie Chapman's suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.

 

 

Feel Good Moment

 

 

I absolutely love the fact that the Obamas are such a down-to-earth First Family.  I've seen this video of the First Lady dancing with Jimmy Fallon several times, and every time I get a good feeling about the fact that this woman and her husband are people I could actually talk with -- and laugh with.

I know she's probably getting a lot of criticism from folks.  Every parent takes a hit from other parents at one time or another because of some parenting choice or another.  God knows I did for several things.  My kids have turned out well and still like me most days -- which is about the best you can ask for.  I can remember when I was a single stay at home dad and got criticized for not having a job, though I was writing novels and making more money than I could have anywhere else.  I just didn't advertise the fact and most people in the neighborhood wouldn't have believed it.  Now I'm listed as a Famous Oklahoman (right under Chuck Norris), and most people don't know that either.

Michelle Obama is having fun here, but her message is serious regarding the health of our kids.  My fifteen year old deal with a precursor to Type II diabetes, which directly relates to the program the First Lady champions so well.

This is still one of my favorite pictures of Barack Obama.

 

Since when has this country ever had a more approachable First Family?  We'll probably never see the like again.