NEW RELEASE: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE MAN IN PURPLE

Cover Art by Mike Fyles

I have a short story in the just published anthology The New Adventures of The Man In Purple, a Pro Se Press release under their Pulp Obscura imprint.

For those unfamiliar with him, The Man In Purple is a Robin Hood like character from the 1920s originated by Johnston McCulley, famous for creating the legendary Zorro!

The disguise of a rich man named Richard Staegal and perceived as a crooked menace by the police, The Man In Purple actually robs from only the dishonest rich to assist the poor and needy.

The four stories in this volume occur after all the original material collected by Altus Press in their 2010 anthology.

Russ Anderson, Junior leads off with "The MEN In Purple", then my story has Staegal's alter ego "Captured!", but not by his long time nemesis Detective Troman. Ashley Mangin has "The Man In Purple Take A Room", while Terry Alexander helps our hero face "The Doppleganger". Finally, "Paladins of the Purple Prose" gives you a brief introduction to all the creative people involved.

In all honesty, I never knew The Man In Purple existed until this project arose on Pro Se's agenda, but Johnston McCulley was definitely ahead of his time with the concept, considering all the original material was published in 1921 issues of Detective Story Magazine, a good eight years before the infamous stock market crash of 1929 and long before the perceptions of today.

Overall, I had a great time writing my contribution, and am more than willing to revisit the character if sales warrant a sequel volume.

On behalf of the other writers and myself, we hope you enjoy The New Adventures of The Man In Purple, available in both print and e-book formats.

BACK STORY: "A BLACK FRIDAY IN AUSTRALIA" (NEW ADVENTURES OF THE EAGLE, VOLUME 1)

Hello and welcome to a new feature of my FILLING BLANK SPACES blog, where every once in a while I will tell you the origins and work that went into one of my creations.
Today, the spotlight shines upon "A Black Friday In Australia", the story I contributed to The New Adventures of the Eagle, Volume 1; from Pro Se Press in cooperation with Altus Press under the Pulp Obscura label.

Cover Art by David Russell

I was honored to be amongst Nick Ahlhelm, Teel James Glenn, Ashley Mangin, Bobby Nash, and R. P. Stevens to continue the story of Jeff Shannon, the top G-2 agent code named The Eagle. We were given PDF copies of the previously published Eagle tales from the classic pulp Thrilling Spy Stories, written by Captain Kerry McRoberts.
After reading his past adventures, I took the approach that my story would have been the next installment had the series continued.The only stipulation from the publisher (besides telling a rip-roaring adventure) was, like the originals, our contributions had to take place before World War 2 began in Europe.

When writing period set stories, research is always important, and I certainly did mine. The second World War officially began with Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. Backtracking from that date, I went over historical records until I found something interesting that I could use as a backdrop and plot for my tale.

The Black Friday referenced in the title has nothing to do with holiday shopping. The State of Victoria in Australia suffered a severe fire, due in part to a record heatwave at the time, on January 13, 1939 (a Friday).

Given Australia's geographic location and the advanced planning the Axis forces must have been secretly doing before the war began, the rest was just a question of logic and imagination. Whether or not such plans depicted in my tale were underway in reality I do not know, but it made for a great new adventure for The Eagle.

EASTER EGGS
Everyone, including me, looks for these. Those little gems acknowledging other things hidden within whatever you are reading or watching. While I will only include one if appropriate (it has to add to the proceedings and not be inserted just for the sake of doing so); there are a couple within "A Black Friday In Australia".
*Captain Hans Meerozean's surname is composed of two German words meaning sea/ocean.
*All references to a certain book stemmed from the fact that it was first published in 1937 and that the first part of the movie adaptation was due out in December 2012, months after the submission deadline for this anthology.

So there you have it. A brief look at the back story to a published work.
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE EAGLE, VOLUME 1 is available from Amazon in both the print and E-formats.