KIRI'S QUEST: THE EASTER EGGS

Hello Everybody!

Afraid I haven't accomplished much writing over this past week with the Thanksgiving holiday and personal matters to deal with. Hopefully next week will be better.

But when it was first released, I did promise everyone a run down of the Easter Eggs (those little tidbits authors hide to enrich their stories) within KIRI'S QUEST, so without further adieu...

Cover by Larry Nadolsky

Besides the jokes and other bits of nonsense within the tale of a Companion Dragon on an adventure to retrieve a magical item that was stolen from its rightful owner...

IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE...

MR. ROANOKE was a play on Ricardo Montalban's classic character from another island.

Among the ship references at the dock were THE LOVE BOAT (cruise ship guaranteeing love) and the S.S. Minnow from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND (the reference to three hour tours)

While I could not have Barnabas Collins appear in an all ages adventure, I did make a DARK SHADOWS reference in Castle Umbra’s appearance.

The Ghost Guard Warning Theme and Bruce the (Lone) Shark were nods to JAWS.

“This island proudly guarded by the Amalgamated Association of Monsters, Local 678.”

Was a play on a classic Three Stooges routine.

The two monsters on beach patrol were inspired by MONSTERS, INC. and TICKLE ME ELMO, along with RALPH E. WOLF and SAM SHEEPDOG from classic Chuck Jones’ LOONY TUNES shorts, while the SWORDFISH password was my homage to THE MARX BROTHERS’ AT THE CIRCUS.

In the jungle, the group was a conglomeration of musical acts from the 1960's while The Tally Man and the Tarantula were Easter Eggs from DAY-O by Harry Belafonte.

The Tired Lion Trying To Sleep and WIMOWEH are both nods to THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT by The Tokens.

And although most people think I can't carry a tune in a forklift, I not only know all the words to this classic song, but I can sing ALL the vocal parts too! SOLO! 😀

SHELDON’S GREAT GRANDMOTHER was a Kaiju reference to another classic monster, as also portrayed on Larry Nadolsky's cover.

The lion's lost “Movie studio mascot job” was at MGM, naturally.😉

Between Grewsum and Wiggamore, "The Illustrious Potentate" and "Nobel Lumpkin" were nods to THE SHRINERS’ CONVENTION by Ray Stevens.

For those unaware, a MIDDEN is a MEDIEVAL DUMP.

Grewsum calling the stolen magical item “My precious," was him aping Gollum in THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. Just goes to show you how full of himself the man is.

I homaged that classic writer Snoopy quoting "IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT."

And Kiri's comment about “I did not have fun storming the castle," was a play on a classic line from that great novel/movie THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

Of course, these are far from the only jokes and other word play within the adventure that awaits you on every page.

COMPANION DRAGONS TALES VOLUME SIX: KIRI’S QUEST is available in print and e-book formats at Amazon.com.

Also available to Kindle Unlimited members for free.

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.