BACK STORY: "THE UNFAIR FARE" FROM LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION

Originally "rally cry" poster

When I first heard the news, I honestly didn't know what to think.

Tommy Hancock of Pro Se Productions was seriously ill (which I would later learn involved his heart), so Jamie Ramos had presented an idea to Ron Fortier and Rob Davis of Airship 27 (yes, the friendly competition!) to do a benefit anthology on Tommy's behalf, with Hancock getting all the proceeds to help his family out with medical expenses and other bills.

Of course, I volunteered to contribute a story immediately.

For those of you who don't know Tommy Hancock, you would be hard pressed to find a nicer or more knowledgeable man in this crazy creative field that we call "New Pulp". There would be less talent out there now if Tommy hadn't given them (and me) their first big break, so it's only natural that when the need arose, we'd rally to return the favor somehow.

Now, this is far from the first time that a group of people in one specific field united in a common cause and "paid it forward", so it didn't surprise me at all that our small little creative community of writers and artists got together to help out one of our own. The fact that we were able to do so in such a spectacular manner is what flabbergasted me!

Cover painting by Doug Klauba

Back cover creator list

The end result of everyone's hard work is LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION!
At first, the projected totals were (as expressed by the black and white "in-house" poster that was circulated) that the anthology would obtain a tad over fifty contributions, but the project wound up with 64 writers (including Tommy) and 37 artists helping to provide an illustration to each tale under a gorgeous cover by Doug Klauba!

At 776 pages, this is the biggest volume Airship 27 has ever published (to date) and Ron and Rob, along with Jamie and associate editor Todd Jones, deserve a hearty round of applause and time off to rest and recuperate from all their hard work.

As you can see by the back cover list, there is a plethora of creators representing a wide variety of pulp genres within this anthology.

As for my humble contribution...
Everyone had a small word count (4,000 minimum/8,000 maximum) and a short deadline. At first, I seriously considered writing a short story featuring one of my "signature" creations, but there was no way I could do an ALPHA the superhero story without tipping my hand in regards to plot points that will be revealed within his forthcoming second novel, and I honestly didn't know the legalities that might be involved if I did a short HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE mystery.
But that left me with the quandary of what to write?

One thing you must know about New Pulp is its definition. We are telling brand new stories in the classic pulp style of the past with modern sensibilities. Being pressed for time, I intentionally set my tale in the present day to avoid any potential research snares that might arise from doing a period piece, and therefore, a couple of days later, the result was "The Unfair Fare", which came in at a modest 4,677 words.

The story, complete with such modern references as GPS and flash drives, was then sent to Airship 27 for consideration.
Now, no writer expects to hit a home run every time they submit a manuscript; but I was truly happy when I got Fortier's e-mail response to my tale about a cab driver who winds up in an even bigger mess when a passenger tries to skip out on paying the fare...

Damn, Lee, that was a fun little gem.  I really liked that a lot. Great story...authentic pulp feel throughout.
Thanks so much,
Ron

THAT certainly made my day!
The stories are presented in order, alphabetically based upon author's last names, so I am in-between "Señor Tijras" by Joe Hillard and "The Gentleman Thief and the Artist" by Emily Janhke, with an illustration by Joe Arnold.

The one thing I could never decide upon was WHO the cab driver should be, so I'll leave it up to your opinion dear reader as to who the driver is.

Otherwise, on behalf of myself and everyone else involved with this anthology, we really hope you like LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION.
It's a great read for a worthy cause and is now available in both print AND Kindle e-book editions at Amazon.com

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 26, 2015

Well folks, as I originally thought would happen going into last week, unfortunately I didn't get much actual writing done beyond Internet posts.
There were a couple of paragraphs here and there on the final chapter to PROJECT ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON; but besides finally getting over that dang cold, it was more important to get ready for the holiday and spend precious time with my family and friends.

I hope your holiday weekend went well too.

But that doesn't mean I'm without news!

Last week saw the release of not one,

but TWO projects I have been involved with!

Cover art by Doug Klauba

Cover by Scott McCullar

THE SUPER SWINGIN' HERO 1968 SPECIAL that I co-edited with Jim Beard for Mechanoid Press and THE LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION anthology from Airship 27, aka the Tommy Hancock benefit book that I am just one of many contributors to.

Both were marvelous projects that I'm proud to be associated with, and I cannot say enough about them, especially considering that 1968 and LEGENDS got their own special announcements on this blog when first released last week!

In time, either here or in my capacity as Editor-in-Chief of The Free Choice E-zine, I will be going into further detail on both; but for now, take care of yourselves, and I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior
27 December, 2015

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TOO: LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION NOW AVAILABLE!

Cover by Doug Klauba

Well folks, with the holidays approaching, unless Internet posts count, I've been unable to get any writing done, but just look at this news!

Airship 27 just released LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION in hard copy, with the e-format to follow.
Over 100 people pooled their creative talents together, spearheaded by Jamie Ramos, Air Captain Ron Fortier, and his co-pilot Rob Davis; on a benefit anthology for Tommy Hancock to help him meet his medical and other expenses.
Check out the all star line up listed in the back cover image below, and it's all within a beautiful cover by Doug Klauba!
There's a lot of pulse pounding excitement running a whole gamut of pulp genres within these pages, so there's something for everyone.
You can acquire your hard copy at Amazon now, with the e-book to follow.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: SUPER SWINGIN' HERO 1968 SPECIAL NOW AVAILABLE!

From Mechanoid Press, cover by Scott McCullar

Okay folks, I didn't find out about this until earlier, but here's a ray of sunshine to brighten your day!
The Super Swingin' Hero 1968 Special has just been released for the Kindle by Mechanoid Press, with the print version soon to follow.

This anthology was a labor of love over most of the Spring as I helped Jazzy Jim Beard assemble an all star cast of authors to create some of the most outlandish send-ups in all of comicdom in one kooky collection of heroes straight from the flip side.

Thrill to the afterlife adventures of Ghostman by comics legend David Michelinie!
Hang out with Beauty and the Beetle as they solve a mystery of Lovecraftian proportions by Sam Gafford!
Witness The Coming of Changeor by Erwin K. Roberts!
Discover how The Crawler Creeps with Chuck Miller.
Do you dare go adventuring with Fate's Four and Thomas Deja?
Soar with The Peregrine and the Pigeon with Bonnie J. Sterling as your co-pilot.
What enigmatic mystery has Mark Halegua created for the robot detectives of Automation Investigations, Inc.?
Will Hathor's Gift be of any H.E.L.P.? Only Lisa Collins knows.

And finally, your kooky co-editors get into the act!
Jim presents the latest adventure of The Go-Go Gears and I reveal the outrageous origin of The Substandard Quintet!

The sky’s the limit for these Swingin’ Heroes in a pulse pounding collection of superhero prose fiction unlike anything you’ve ever seen before!

The wait is over Mechanoid Mavens!
You can get you Kindle copy now at AMAZON, and the print copy soon!

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 19, 2015

Well folks, it's my sad duty to report that unfortunately, there was no writing progress this past week, for I've been fighting a bad cold!

Now normally, like my recent battles with the stomach crud, I try to keep on writing as much as humanly possible.

Unfortunately, it just isn't possible with a cold in my situation.
Over the course of my life thus far, I have survived TWO bouts of pneumonia, congestive heart failure, AND an aortic aneurysm!
The above has unfortunately taken its toll on my overall health, but I'm still here.
Yet whenever I do get a cold nowadays, there isn't much medicinally I can take without risking something else, and it's bothersome (at best) to wear my reading glasses because of the extra sinus pressure their weight creates on

my nose.

Therefore, I just have to grin and bear everything the best I can, so
unfortunately, there was no writing progress on the final chapter of PROJECT ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON this past week.
Yes, that first word is back, because the publisher (Tommy Hancock at Pro Se Press considers PROJECT ALPHA the overall series title, while I just thought of it as the title of Book 1.

Anyway, I CAN tell you that I received an e-mail from Pro Se, which included a pencil sketch of the cover for Book 2, and it looks promising!

Not sure how this coming week looks yet. Still have to wrap gifts and am looking forward to spending the holiday with my family and friends.
But I'm not that far away from concluding the last chapter, so who knows?

See you around the Internet!
Lee Houston, Junior
20 December, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 12, 2015

Am still working on Chapter 20 to conclude ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON.
Two out of the three sequences are done.
It's the last, and the longest, that I'm still on. It will wrap up Book 2 and set the stage for Book 3.

What I didn't count on was a return of the stomach crud!
Thought I was over this junk after a weekend battle, but it came back Thursday for an encore!


In any event, I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
13 December, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 5, 2015

First and foremost...

To those who celebrate

the Festival of Light,

HAPPY HANUKKAH!

Chapter 19 is DONE! Am working on Chapter 20 (the finale) to ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON now.
Once that is completed to my satisfaction, I will take a short break from A2 to write the Sherlock Holmes story I promised Airship 27, then I will go back and reread the Alpha 2 manuscript to make sure it is a solid, coherent novel before submitting it.

After that...?

So, I better get back to writing now.
See you around the Internet!
Lee Houston, Junior
6 December, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 28, 2015

I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT THANKSGIVING WEEKEND, WHETHER YOU HAD TO WORK ANY OF IT OR NOT.

As far as the 2015 Christmas retail season that is now upon us is concerned, I

could always humbly recommend my own creative endeavors, or those of others; but you folks didn't come here for a commercial.

But in truth, there really isn't much progress to report since my last post.

Chapter 19, Take Two of ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON is still with my friendly neighborhood proofreader as I post this. I do have a rough draft of Chapter 20 completed, but will definitely need to go over it once more before sending it to Nancy Hansen, after Chapter 19 is done to my satisfaction.

Bet you were wondering if I'd get to use this, weren't you?

I also started work on the Sherlock Holmes story I promised Captain Ron Fortier of Airship 27!

Starting a new project is always refreshing, even if you don't know how the story is going to turn out when you begin.

In any event, I better shake off the sleepiness from all that turkey and start thinking about getting back to writing.

See you around the Internet!

Lee Houston, Junior

29 November, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Chapter 19, TAKE TWO of ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON is back with my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader, with over two pages of NEW material!
Because of the impending holiday, not sure when Nancy Hansen will be able to review and send it back to me.

I know everyone is looking forward to reading this novel, but question why it's taking so long.
I do understand everyone's anxiousness to read ALPHA 2, but would you prefer to read a high quality work or a hack job?

The latest word from Captain Ron Fortier of Airship 27 concerning the LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION project (also known as the Tommy Hancock Benefit Anthology) is that all 62 stories are done, the volume will be roughly 400 pages, and they are still hoping for a between Thanksgiving and Christmas launch date, as seen by the image on the right.

Over 100 talented writers and artists, including yours truly, have donated their time and talents toward this endeavor. You will be hard pressed to find such an exotic collection of today's creative personnel in one place, and we all hope you appreciate our efforts towards this worthy cause when its available to the public.

There are roughly six weeks left in 2015, and 2016 is on the horizon, so let's see what awaits us.

See you around the Internet!
Lee Houston, Junior
22 November, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 14, 2015

Alpha

Well folks, I've gotten Chapter 19 of ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON back from my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader and I'm going over it now.

Once that's done, I'll send it back to Nancy Hansen to review again while I resume work on Chapter 20, the grand finale to the novel.
Of course, I'll still have to go over it one last time to make sure the manuscript reads well as a coherent whole once I finish the first draft.

Everything I've mentioned before about impending releases is still on schedule. I'm hoping at least one of those projects will be out for the holiday season, but it all takes time.

SOLIDARITÉ!

So I better get back to writing now.
See you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
15 November, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 7, 2015

Okay, Chapter 19 IS FINISHED!

Will be sending it to my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader after I finish posting this progress report today.

However, the manuscript to ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON WILL be going a full 20 chapters!





I have been thinking about my future projects after Alpha 2 is finished and submitted for publication.

I now have a plot worthy of Sherlock Holmes for that short story featuring the Victorian era's consulting detective that I promised Airship 27. I've also been considering a few short stories for some of their other anthologies, but more on that when those plans start edging closer to reality.

I'm also five pages into the other short story I originally committed to writing this year. Thankfully neither Holmes or this tale ever had an actual deadline attached (and I'm even more thankful that I met all those commitments on time as they arose), because in this case I'm dealing with a totally BRAND NEW CHARACTER and I definitely want to make sure everything is as right as humanly possible.

I've also been considering potential plot ideas for whatever will become Book 3 in the HUGH MONN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE series. Still not sure exactly what caper(s?) the detective of the far flung future will be taking on yet though.

Let's be honest with each other folks.
So far, 2015 has not been a great writing year for me.
Parts of it have been my fault, and for those I take full responsibility.
Others were influenced by things outside my control, and I just had to deal with them the best I could. Not as well as I would have liked to, but the best I could.

With this year only having a few weeks left at this point, it's definitely time to move forward and plan ahead.
No commitments at this time for 2016 beyond the plans I've already discussed above. Just have to take it all one day at a time.

Better get back to writing now.
See you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
8 November, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 31, 2015

FIRST OFF...
I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween.
I also hope that those who needed to remembered to set the clocks back one hour, since Daylight Savings Time ended overnight.
If you didn't, at least you'll really be on time wherever you have to go today.

NOW THEN...
I finished formatting and proofreading that anthology for my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader Nancy Hansen; so I'm back working on ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON.

Writer's cap

At this point, still not sure if Chapter 19 (the one in progress) or Chapter 20 will be the last one.
Unfortunately, I lost Thursday to a cardiologist's appointment, but I have my writer's hat back on now and intend to have this manuscript finished by Thanksgiving.
Of course, I'll still have to give it its final "once over" to make sure the entire story reads as one coherent novel instead of a disjointed start/stop/restart project. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I have been told that everyone involved at Mechanoid Press is hard at work preparing THE SUPER SWINGIN' HERO 1968 SPECIAL that I helped visionary Jim Beard with for release, and that the Tommy Hancock Benefit anthology: LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION is doing well at Airship 27.
Only the latter is scheduled for actual release before the end of 2015 at the moment, but I'm looking forward to both projects being available to the public when ready.
I had a great time participating in both anthologies, and Jim Beard has already shared some thoughts on a potential sequel to 1968 with me, so I'm truly looking forward to working with him again.

Meantime, I better get back to writing.
Take care, and I'll see you around the Internet.
Lee Houston, Junior
1 November, 2015

PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK ENDING OCTOBER 24, 2015

While I am still working on Chapter 19 to ALPHA, BOOK 2: WAYWARD SON and am still uncertain at this moment whether or not 19 or 20 will be the final chapter of this novel, I have had to pause and switch gears for the moment.

My editor's hat, sort of

I am now wearing my editor's hat as I format and proofread an anthology for my friendly neighborhood beta/proofreader Nancy Hansen.

As I post this, I am only a couple of pages away from finishing the second of three stories, so I will be back on ALPHA 2 later this week.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween, and I'll see you around the Internet.

Lee Houston, Junior
25 October, 2015