Tagged: Airship 27

CAN THE WRAITH SURVIVE THE CRY OF THE WEREWOLF?

New Pulp author and Trinity Comics publisher, Frank Dirscherl shared the following information about the upcoming novel, The Wraith: Cry of the Werewolf with All Pulp.

Dear friends

My latest novel (a look at the cover is attached), the fourth in The Wraith Adventures series, CRY OF THE WEREWOLF, will be released for sale on May 18 from my own Trinity Comics. You’ll be able to buy (initially) direct from my online store, as well as from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all other online and bricks and mortar stores shortly thereafter. EBook release will coincide with the print release.

Below is the book’s rear cover blurb:

Having gone through ordeal after ordeal, Paul Sanderson (aka The Wraith Dread Avenger of the Underworld ®) and his love Leena Patterson, decide to take a long overdue vacation. Choosing the mountain village of Bidbury as their destination, the two happily leave the crime and filth of Metro City far behind them, at least for a time. Once they reach the picturesque surrounds of the Little England area, their idyll is shattered by an attack by a creature nobody thought could possibly exist—a werewolf. Soon, Paul discovers a village wracked by fear and deceit, and an evil so pronounced, so monstrous, that only The Wraith could possibly defeat it.

CRY OF THE WEREWOLF is the fourth in this enthralling series of pulp novels featuring the Dread Avenger of the Underworld, and has all the thrills and emotion that one has come to expect from Dirscherl, surely the pre-eminent superhero pulp author of our time.

Thank you, and I hope everyone who chooses to buy this enjoys it. I put a LOT into this book, and I hope you all give it a chance and thoroughly enjoy it. Thank you again :)

Sincerely,

Frank Dirscherl
Publisher – Trinity Comics

Learn more about Trinity Comics at www.trinitycomics.com
Learn more about Frank Dirscherl at www.frankdirscherl.com

Also, look for The Wraith pulp anthology coming soon from Airship 27.

Challenging the Storm with Don Gates

Florida native Don Gates has produced one of the outstanding New Pulp novels of 2011, with “Challenger Storm: Isle of Blood.” Published by Airship 27, with cover and interior illustrations by legendary artist Mike Kaluta, this is non-stop action in the traditional pulp mold. Gates has his pulp chops down, but he brings to these characters a depth that was absent in the early days. He recently took some time to tell us about his inspirations, his new novel, and his plans for future projects.
All Pulp:  How long have you been writing, and at what point did you decide you wanted to write a book?”
Don Gates:  Writing is actually pretty new to me. I did a LOT of creating in my head- daydreaming and stuff like that- but I usually never got things on paper beyond just a rough outline. Before working on this book, I’d start to write things that usually fizzled out before chapter 3. I always loved pulps and always wanted to do a pulp-style story or series, I just never felt I had the right mix of elements, characters, etc. I asked some friends online to let me bounce some ideas off of them, and after finding out what worked and what didn’t I had a handful of ideas that I wanted to try my hand at, all existing in the same pulp “universe”. Challenger Storm is the first of those ideas.
AP: What do you like to read, and how did it lead you into wanting to do it yourself?”
DG: I like to read the classic pulps (of course) along with newer pulp-like fiction like the Dirk Pitt novels and the Agent Pendergast series, and I love the Destroyer series of paperbacks. Outside of that, I like classic sci-fi & adventure like Jules Verne and HG Wells, and I absolutely love William Gibson’s earlier cyberpunk novels. I’m a huge fan of HP Lovecraft, and in the last few years I’ve come to enjoy JRR Tolkien as well. And of course, I try to read as much of the “New Pulp” crop of authors as possible… there’s a LOT of really amazing work out there!
As far as being led to create my own pulp, I can sum that up in one instance: the first time I read Doc Savage. I was home sick from junior high school, laid-out on the couch with the Doc Omnibus #6. Even though I know now they’re kind of sub-par Doc Stories when compared to the earlier ones, I didn’t know that at the time. All I know is for a few hours I was transported away from home and into an incredibly fun adventurous world. If I can bring any of that feeling to my work, I’m happy.
AP: What were some of your inspirations for Challenger Storm? In some ways, he is a very conventional character, and in other ways he is not.”
DG: A lot of the major influences came from Doc Savage of course, but I wanted him to be more human and less godlike. As much as I enjoy infallible heroes like The Shadow, I always appreciate when a series’ hero is more vulnerable, and even though you know they’re going to win in the end you still worry about them getting into scrapes. I also wanted him to have a motivation beyond the simple pulp-hero credo: “I’m rich, smart, and fit… let’s get the bad guys!” I wanted it to be about redemption with Storm: he wants to make up for a past in which he was an awful, selfish, and self-important jerk. The three scars on his face aren’t just there as a visual-cue to make him stand-out from other square-jawed adventurers, they’re also tied in with his “origin” and serve to remind him of where he comes from and what he went through to change his life.
AP:  It’s obvious that you have more than a passing interest in aircraft. Tell us a little about that, and how it informs your work.
DG:  I am interested in vintage aviation, and it’s something that I’ve always been into for some reason. Now I’m not so into it that I can tell you what kind of horsepower the engines on a B-17 Flying Fortress had, but I love the look and elegance of pre-war and WWII-era aircraft. It was a national and worldwide fad during those days, a relatively new science. It’s so fascinating to compare that era’s air-travel with ours. In those days, they were focusing on comfort, designing airplanes and airships that were like ocean liners in the sky… these days, they pack as many people possible into a cramped, over-sized tin can and shoot you across the country. Sure it’s faster, but it’s lost a lot of the personality that the golden era of aviation had.
It was during the art process of the book that I found out that Michael Kaluta, who is the legendary artist who did the cover and interior illustrations, is a bit of an aviation-nut too, even more so than I am. I’ve always been a huge fan of his, and when I found this out it was just another example of a perfect fit for the book. It’s funny: when I had come up with the MARDL pursuit-plane (the Witch), I was inspired partially by an old racing plane, the De Havilland DH-88 Comet, but never mentioned this to anyone. Later when I wrote to Michael and asked what he had in mind for his version of the Witch, he emailed me back and told me his design was influenced by the Comet too. It was pure synchronicity, hahaha.
AP: How did “Isle of Blood” come about? Did you write the whole thing and submit it to publishers? What brought you and Airship 27 together?
DG:  I had the cast of heroes created and ready before I had their first story. “Isle of Blood” evolved from 2 things: an idea I had about a lost valley of floating rocks and an old photograph of a wealthy-looking man and his daughter that I found in an antique store. Those elements came into play as plot points A through Z, then it became a matter of coming up with B through Y to bring them together. I wrote the book off and on from mid 2007 through the end of 2009, experiencing the longest setback after my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died before the book was completed, and of course the book is partially dedicated to him.
As far as publishing it through Airship 27, I’d actually wrote the book with them in mind. I really like their books and their production values, and so they were on the “short list” of potential publishers. I sent them the book a few days before Christmas of 2009, and it was accepted shortly thereafter.
AP:  What do you have in mind for the future of Challenger Storm? Do you have any other characters or comcepts you’re working on?
DG:  I have quite a few Challenger Storm stories in the works, all in various stages of outlining and plotting. I’m working on the second book now, “The Curse of Poseidon”, and had a major idea for a new book that will probably become the third novel. Without giving too much away, it’s going to play in H.P. Lovecraft’s funhouse a little bit, and if I can pull it off it’s going to be kind of epic.
I have lots of other series and characters I’d like to work on. One is a vigilante series called The Cipher and has a secret-identity hook that I hope will grab people, and another is a character I’ve had in my head since I was about 13: a man-of-mystery character called Codename: Shanghai. There’s also a one-shot story told from a Challenger Storm villain’s point of view, as well as a stand-alone lost-world adventure. Challenger Storm’s legacy involving his son and grandchildren is another thing I’d like to work on a bit also, along with a sword & sorcery book… Like I said, I have a lot of ideas. Finding the time to do all that writing is the thing I have issues with, but I’m trying.
AP:  When did you first learn that Michael Kaluta would be doing the illustrations, and how did that make you feel? That’s a pretty big deal.
DG:  The Kaluta thing was something absolutely crazy… I’m still shocked that it happened. I’d been a fan of his for years, ever since discovering his work on The Shadow. My wife Annie contacted him a few years ago with questions about commission work and something about their personalities just clicked and they became email-acquaintances. When Airship 27’s Ron Fortier was trying to find an artist to do “The Isle of Blood”, Annie said to me “Why don’t you ask Mike Kaluta to do it?” at which point I seriously began doubting her sanity. She’s not a fangirl, though, and to her he’s just a regular guy so she had no trepidation about asking him. Long story short, he said “yes” and he and Ron hammered an agreement out with regards to fitting it into his busy (and I mean BUSY) schedule, and here I am with not one but two dreams fulfilled in a single swoop.

WHO IS RICK RUBY?

Bobby Nash and Sean Taylor discuss the creation of The Ruby Files at Josh Reynold’s blog. Please check it out at http://joshuamreynolds.blogspot.com/

And check out these other Ruby Files interviews:

THE RUBY FILES GETS PULPED! The creative team behind the new anthology interviewed by the PULPED! podcast. http://pulped.libsyn.com/webpage/pulped-the-official-new-pulp-podcast-the-ruby-files-gets-pulped

All Pulp’s The Ruby Files Round Robin Interview: http://allpulp.blogspot.com/2012/03/all-pulps-round-robin-interview-ruby.html

And there’s a free preview download at http://www.taylorverse.com/Rick%20Ruby%20Preview%20Edition.pdf

You can learn more about The Ruby Files and Airship 27 at http://www.airship27.com/
You can learn more about Ruby co-creator Sean Taylor at http://www.taylorverse.com/
You can learn more about Ruby co-creator Bobby Nash at http://www.bobbynash.com/

Visit the official The Ruby Files website at http://rickruby.blogspot.com/

MEET LANCE STAR: SKY RANGER AND THE RUBY FILES CREATORS

MEET LANCE STAR: SKY RANGER AND THE RUBY FILES CREATORS

New pages were added to the official Lance Star: Sky Ranger website at http://www.lance-star.com/ and the official The Ruby Files website at http://rickruby.blogspot.com/, which gives links to shows, conventions, signing and other appearances made by creators who worked on those title.

Meet The Ruby Files Creators. New Appearances page added.

Meet Lance Star: Sky Ranger Creators. New Appearances page added.

If you’re at any of these shows, please stop by and say hello. These creators would love to meet you. Tell them All Pulp sent ya!
www.lance-star.com/p/creator-appearances.htmlhttp://rickruby.blogspot.com/p/appearances.html

AIRSHIP 27 LAUNCHES TALES FROM THE HANGING MONKEY

Art: Clayton Hinkle

Airship 27 Productions shared with All Pulp a sneak-peek of one of artist Clayton Hinkle’s illustrations for TALES FROM THE HANGING MONKEY, coming in May.

Tales From The Hanging Monkey offers readers daring South Seas island adventures as delivered by some of New Pulp’s best. Join writers Bill Craig, Derrick Ferguson, Josh Reynolds, and Tommy Hancock on a grand pulp adventure.

Coming soon.

For more information on Airship 27 Productions, visit them on-line at http://www.airship27.com/ and http://www.gopulp.info/

THE RUBY FILES GETS PULPED!

Cover Art: Mark Wheatley

PULPED! The Official New Pulp Podcast presents: THE RUBY FILES GETS PULPED!

Host Tommy Hancock brings on a whole herd of Pulp Cats to talk about Airship 27 Productions’ latest original anthology – THE RUBY FILES! Listen as Ron Fortier, Rob Davis, Bobby Nash, Sean Taylor, William Patrick Maynard, Mark Wheatley, and Andrew Salmon discuss noir, hard boiledness, gumshoes, dames, and more! Learn about the creation, writing, and art behind this brand new chapter in the history of Private Eye Pulp!

You can listen to THE RUBY FILES GETS PULPED! now at http://pulped.libsyn.com/webpage/pulped-the-official-new-pulp-podcast-the-ruby-files-gets-pulped

AIRSHIP 27’S LATEST- CALL OF SHADOWS- DEBUTS!

A MAN OUT OF TIME

Airship 27 Productions is proud to release its fifth book of the year; CALL OF SHADOWS, by well known fantasy adventure writer David C. Smith. Although known for its novel and anthologies starring classic and new pulp heroes from the 30s, Airship 27 Productions has occasionally ventured beyond that era umbrella.

“Every now and then, a project comes along that totally appeals to us as modern pulp,” Managing Editor Ron Fortier explained. “This was such a book. Written with all the sophistication and sensibilities of a 21st Century narrative yet capturing some of the same magic and sense of wonder the classic pulps were famous for. We’re very excited about this title.”

Restaurant owner Steve Beaudine is killed in a car accident and his beautiful wife, Ava is severely injured. After months of physical recuperation, she returns to AVA’S with the desire to keep the business going. But Tony Jasco, her husband’s partner, has plans to sell the eatery and split the profits. Ava adamantly refuses to terminate what had been Steve’s dream. She is determined to make it work no matter Jasco’s opposition.

Then the mysterious David Ehlert enters her life with a fantastic story, one straight out of a fairy tale. He claims to be a wizard and that Jasco is trying to have her killed to gain his own ends. Ava simply can’t believe such a fanciful claim…until they are attacked by magical dark forces. Suddenly she finds herself the target of a twisted, dark magician and her only salvation is Ehlert, a man claiming to have been born in 1886 but still looking young and fit.

Writer David C. Smith spins a colorful, fast paced thriller that introduces a fascinating new hero in the vein of the classic golden age pulps but with a decidedly modern day twist. It is the story of a haunted man out of time seeking redemption for past sins in a world of arcane mysteries and magiks. CALL TO SHADOWS is a masterful thriller by a veteran writer that will keep you on the edge of your chair from start to finish.

The book features a cover painted by Bryan Fowler and designed by Art Director Rob Davis with nine interior illustrations by artist Mark Saxton. Look for it at Amazon, Airship 27 Productions’ website and soon fromwww.IndyPlanet.com.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulp Fiction For A New Generation !

Available now at Amazon’s Create Space

(https://www.createspace.com/3829099)

$3 PDF version available at Airship 27 Hangar Site

(http://robmdavis.com/Airship27Hangar/airship27hangar.html)

And soon at the POD store, Indy Planet.

(http://indyplanet.com/store/)

Want to read a free preview of The Ruby Files?

Cover: Mark Wheatley

Airship 27 has released a special preview edition PDF of their latest title, The Ruby Files.
Get your free preview download here:
http://www.taylorverse.com/Rick%20Ruby%20Preview%20Edition.pdf

You can also read All Pulp’s interview with The Ruby Files writers and editor at http://allpulp.blogspot.com/2012/03/all-pulps-round-robin-interview-ruby.html

You can find The Ruby Files at the following:
Digital: Airship 27 Hangar – http://robmdavis.com/Airship27Hangar/airship27hangar.html
Print: Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/0615609236/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_NHRypb1G20K9Y
Print: Indy Planet – http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6797
Please visit the official site for The Ruby Files at http://rickruby.blogspot.com/

ALL PULP’S ROUND ROBIN INTERVIEW – THE RUBY FILES

http://rickruby.blogspot.com

In March, Airship 27 launched its 45th title (the 4th of 2012) about a 1930’s pulp detective named Rick Ruby. All Pulp sat down with co-creators/writers Bobby Nash and Sean Taylor, writers Andrew Salmon and William Patrick Maynard, and editor/publisher Ron Fortier to delve into The Ruby Files.

AP: Tell us a little about yourself.

Ron: I’ve been a professional writer of comics and genre fiction for over thirty five years now. Created Airship 27 Productions seven years ago with my pal, artist Rob Davis. This book is the 45th title in our current catalog of New Pulp fiction.

Andrew: My name is Andrew Salmon and I live and write in Vancouver, BC, Canada. I discovered Classic Pulp back in 2000 with Doc Savage and have been hooked ever since. When the New Pulp movement began in earnest 4 or 5 years ago, I had the great good fortune to write pulp stories of my own featuring classic, public domain characters like Sherlock Holmes, Secret Agent X, Dan Fowler and Jim Anthony as well as new creations like the Ghost Squad (with Ron Fortier) and Rick Ruby to name a few.

My short stories and novellas have since been nominated twice for the Pulp Factory Award (winning once for “The Adventure of the Locked Room” in Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Volume One from Airship 27), three times for a Pulp Ark Award and once for the Ellis Award, which is the Canadian equivalent of the Edgar.

Writing pulp has been very rewarding, an experience I wouldn’t have missed for the world. I love writing pulp and have BIG plans for the future.

William: Hi, I’m William Patrick Maynard. I have the honor to be authorized by Sax Rohmer’s Literary Estate to continue the Fu Manchu thrillers for Black Coat Press. I am fortunate to have been nominated for both a Rondo and a Pulp Factory Award. I also contribute an article on all things pulp each week for The Black Gate. My short fiction has appeared in GASLIGHT GROTESQUE and TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN. THE RUBY FILES is my first work for Airship 27.

Sean Taylor

Sean: I write stories. I write them in comic books, graphic novels, magazines, book anthologies and novels. I write them for money, and I write them for fun — both at the same time. I’m fortunate like that.

Bobby: I’m Bobby Nash. I write stories for novels, comic books, short stories, novellas, graphic novels, and have been dabbling with screenplays of late as well. I started writing pulp stories back when Airship 27 launched with its first title, Lance Star: Sky Ranger.

AP: What attracted you to The Ruby Files anthology?

Ron: I’ve always been a sucker for old fashion private tales whether it was Sam Spade or Mike Hammer, I love the tough guy heroes of fiction. We’d done some different genres in our line-up at Airship 27 but never a private eye series.

Bobby Nash

Andrew: I was a huge fan of hardboiled fiction long before I stumbled across classic pulp heroes like The Shadow and Doc Savage. I’m steeped in Cornell Woolrich, Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane, Ross Macdonald, Donald Hamilton, Dan J. Marlowe, John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain, Edwards S. Aarons, Richard Prather, Brett Halliday and so many others.

So when I got wind of Rick Ruby and discovered that an invite to race down the dark alleys of Ruby’s world was out there, I jumped, baby! Writing classic pulp characters has been a blast but I realized immediately that I hadn’t used my hardboiled voice in far too long. Well, with Ruby I’d have a chance to cut loose. No way was I going to miss it.

Ron Fortier

Added to that was the level of talent associated with the project. With Bobby Nash and Sean Taylor at the helm, the book couldn’t miss. Throw in brilliant artwork from Mark Wheatley (cover) and stunning interiors courtesy of Rob Moran along with the top New Pulp writing talent and a first-rate publishing outfit like Airship 27 and I could see right off that the book was going to be one for the ages. It was a perfect storm. I dove in with both feet and had a blast!

William: Hammett and Chandler and Ross Macdonald are a part of my essential appetite for fiction. I feel the same way about JOHNNY DOLLAR, SAM SPADE, and RICHARD DIAMOND for Old Time Radio and PETER GUNN and RICHARD DIAMOND for Golden Age TV. This was a natural fit. I’m very grateful to Ron Fortier for giving me a shot at demonstrating I could do something other than Yellow Peril thrillers. One of Airship 27’s strengths is the fact that they don’t try to pigeonhole talent. Encouraging versatility and believing in giving new voices a chance to be heard is definitely part of what helps Airship 27 make its mark alongside those stunning covers.

Andrew Salmon

Sean: Noir detectives? Duh. Next question.

Seriously, I’m a sucker for the noir P.I. One off my favorite series of a books at the moment is the Hard Case Crime line of books. Both the classic ones and the brand new stuff written in that style. Some of my favorite films are noir films, and the characters really resonate with me. The emotionally tortured, morally conflicted leading Private Dick, the femme fatale with legs up to where she hides the revolver, the dirty cops, the gangsters… what’s not to love?

And on top of all that, getting to do the book meant renewed life for the dead concept Bobby and I had originally conceived to tell stories of Richard Diamond. And let’s be honest, I much prefer Rick Ruby to Richard Diamond now anyway.

William Patrick Maynard

Bobby: I blame Sean Taylor. No. Really. I was slowly digging myself out of a backlog of stories under the weight of that old dreaded deadline doom when I noticed the discussion on The Pulp Factory Yahoo Group about detectives. I was intrigued, but was way too busy to add more to my plate at that time. Then Sean goes and throws down the gauntlet by suggesting that he and I co-create the character that became Rick Ruby. How could I refuse? So, yeah, it’s all Sean Taylor’s fault. (grins)

AP: The characters that fill the pages of The Ruby Files are classic archetypes from pulp and noir detective stories. What attracts you to these types of characters and stories as a writer and a reader?

Ron: Growing up watching those classic black and white gangster and noire films with actors like James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, I loved the edge gray world they existed in. Not so much shiny white knights as tarnished souls in search of redemption.

Andrew: They’re real. It’s as simple as that. Often in hero fiction we forget that our stalwart defenders against injustice stare long and hard into the abyss. This affects them, how they think, how they act and their attitudes towards the world they inhabit. Sure, they can often be buried in cliches and stereotypes when written poorly, but they provide a wealth of great opportunities when handled properly.

As a writer, these are characters you can sink your teeth into. You can explore what makes them tick, how they survive what the world has thrown at them. Also the detective tale allows you to shine the spotlight on aspects of the human condition that we all experience in our daily lives to one extent or another.

As a reader, hardboiled fiction works as a kind of ‘what if’ morality tale. We’ve all got that boss we’d like to strangle or that co-worker who screwed us out of that promotion. But we don’t murder them and try to get away with it, do we? Or, maybe we do… why are their sirens outside my door just now?

Also, one does not have to look too long to see injustice in the real world and, sadly, a lot of the time the bad guys get away with it. Hardboiled detective fiction reminds us, in the fictional world, that there are people out there who will catch crooks, find kidnapped loved ones, bring murderers to justice and so on. Hardboiled fiction is great escapist fiction and we all need that sometimes.

William: It’s a simpler world without DNA testing and political correctness, but it’s still modern enough to turn an honest critical eye on capitalism and human nature at its worst. Chandler really laid it all out in black and white in his “Simple Art of Murder” essay – it’s all about the knight errant who rises above the dark streets he walks. That moral complexity hooks you every time. For me, hardboiled detective fiction or noir thrillers are pulp fiction at its purest.

Sean: I still remember with gusto the first time I saw Bogey as Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep and as Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. Just one cocky line to the coppers, one snarky come-on to the femme fatale, one left hook to a crook’s glass jaw, and I knew I was hooked. (I learned how to whistle too, for the record, thanks to Bogey’s costar, but that’s another tale for the telling.) The addiction only grew stronger when I discovered Stacey Keach as Mike Hammer (in both TV versions, thank you very much), and later, the old radio show and television show featuring Richard Diamond.

There was something about these renegade men that appealed to the kid in me who needed someone not only to root for but to try to emulate. Sure, we all knew that smoking was bad for you and that you shouldn’t treat a lady like sexual property, but when the private dicks did it, it seemed somehow… innocent… as if a mere throwback to an era when it was all okay and kind of, well, expected.

Of course, looking back, I know now it was pure fantasy.

In reality, private detectives seldom got the girl, more often than not got stuck photographing cheating lovers, and rarely got to beat the cops out of any famous murder cases. And they never, ever, ever had leggy dames with curves like the coast of Florida lining up outside their offices for double entendres, sultry seductions and hard-boiled adventures.

Bobby: There’s something so exciting about watching the harried p.i. get in over his head and take his lumps while trying to solve a case he would rather not have taken in the first place, but only did so because he couldn’t resist a damsel in distress, even though every instinct he had told him that she couldn’t be trusted. As a reader, those stories are fun to read. I also love seeing them in TV and movies. Writing them was simply too much fun.

AP: Tell us a bit about your Ruby Files story and some of the challenges or unexpected surprises you encountered in Rick Ruby’s world? Ron, can you give us some insights about editing and publishing this volume?

Ron: I knew going in this was going to be a fun job for me. As each of the four writers were old pros, I had no anxieties their stories wouldn’t be great. It was the range of themes that took me by surprise, from Andrew’s delving into Rick’s past concerning his father’s death in WW I to Bill taking him to Hollywood in the heyday of movie making. Each story was, as cover Mark Wheatley so aptly put it on the cover, a real gem!

Andrew: My entry is called “WOUNDS” and it was an honor to learn that the story would kick off the anthology. It explores to some extent what I was talking about earlier. The characters inhabiting hardboiled tales are often broken but most, if not all, have been wounded in some way. I wanted to explore that in my tale. The character bible sketched out that Ruby’s father had died in WWI and I hit on a way to touch on this in the tale as Ruby tries to hunt down the people responsible for a cop’s murder.

It was a challenge getting into Rick’s head as he was not a character of my own creation. I wanted to do justice to what Bobby and Sean created and stick to their guidelines to the best of my ability. The hardboiled world was one I was very familiar with so I had no trouble slipping into that however.

When I hit my stride on the tale, I was surprised at how easily I was able to tweak some of the hardboiled tropes we all know and love. The result is a tale I hope will feel familiar to fans of this wonderful genre but will also bring something new to the table. Also the ending of the tale is not what readers would call typical for the genre. I wanted my story to hit and hit hard. I pulled no punches. That to me is what good hardboiled fiction is all about. Only readers can decide if I succeeded or not.

One of the big surprises of writing the tale was how many pop culture easter eggs simply dropped into Ruby’s world. They were not intentional but just fell into place while I was writing the first draft. Savvy readers will be able to spot them. Sorry, no hints. But, hey, Easter isn’t that far away. What better time for a little easter egg hunt? Can you spot them all? Happy hunting!

William: My story, “Tulsa Blackie’s Last Dive” is a fish out of water story. We take Rick out of his comfort zone of New York and drop him into the artificial utopia of 1930s Hollywood. We get to see the glitz and the grime underneath. Rick has enough trouble being underestimated at the best of times, it’s even worse out among Tinsel Town sharks.

No real challenges fleshing out the story. I was working with a great character bible and I immediately felt I knew Rick so it was easy enough to drop him into a case in a town where everyone is a fish out of water (whether they’re immigrants or small town dreamers) trying to act like they belong. This was pure pleasure to write. I love THE RUBY FILES and hope the series takes off big for Airship 27.

Sean: My story formed in my head the minute Bobby and I finished fleshing out the character. I saw the tawdry love quadrangle (love square?), the leggy jazz crooning dame to mix up Rick’s thinking, and the way that a man in that kind of situation just needed one little match to set off one heck of an explosion. I couldn’t help but make sure she carried a full box of matches, just in case.

But if you’re asking for specifics, my tale puts Rick in the middle of a defecting German scientist, a worried niece, and a lethal level of inheritance. And that’s never a safe place to be.

Bobby: My story for The Ruby Files volume 1 is called “The Case of the Wayward Brother.” On the surface, the case seemed simple enough. All Rick Ruby had to do was track down the runaway brother of the sexy socialite from California then collect his fee. Of course, in Rick Ruby’s world, even the simplest case is never that simple.

AP: Where can readers find and learn more about you and your work?

Ron: We have a brand new website for all things Airship 27 Productions and we hope our readers, old and new will check it out. Not only that, but register as well. That way they can keep abreast of each new book we release during the year. http://robmdavis.com/Airship27Hangar/airship27hangar.html

Andrew: I don’t have a website at the moment, but most of what I’ve published to date can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Salmon/e/B002NS5KR0/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_7?qid=1328666769&sr=1-7

Folks can also swing by my Facebook page.

William: Well, I have a blog, http://www.setisays.blogspot.com/ that cross-posts my articles for http://blackgate.com/ and archives the articles I wrote for http://thecimmerian.com/ I use Facebook as a free marketing tool rather than social networking so anyone is welcome to befriend me there. Outside of my work, I’m a husband and father and keep that side of my life private from my writing.

Thanks, I enjoyed being part of this.

Sean: Are you kidding?! I’m all over the place. For more information visit http://www.taylorverse.com/ or my blog, Bad Girls, Good Guys, and Two-Fisted Action at http://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/. Or visit any social networking site from Facebook to Twitter and look for seanhtaylor and the new Rick Ruby site at http://rickruby.blogspot.com/. I’m easy… to find, I mean.

Bobby: Much like Sean, I’m all over the net. My home base is http://www.bobbynash.com/, which has all you need to know to find more about me and my work. You can also find me at www.facebook.com/AuthorBobbyNash, www.twitter.com/bobbynash, http://www.lance-star.com/, http://ben-books.blogspot.com/, and the new Rick Ruby site at http://rickruby.blogspot.com/.

More Ruby Coming Soon

AP: And finally, Ron, Bobby, and Sean, what are the future plans for Rick Ruby and his companions? Can we expect a return visit to Belle’s Bar?

Ron: Alan Porter has already turned in a wild and wacky Rick Ruby tale for Volume Two, so yeah, we’re rolling again. Going to be interesting to see what kind of new trouble old Rick gets himself into next time.

Sean: Oh, hell yeah! I’m already hard at work plotting a new adventure to see which sultry dame will turn Rick’s head next and get him in a world of trouble. Readers of the book already know that one of Rick’s regular affairs doesn’t sit well in 1930s society, and succumbing to racial “experimentation” can be the kind of thing than can get a man and his girl killed in two shakes of a lamb’s tale. So yeah, we’re definitely heading back to Belle’s for good times, strong drinks, and fast bullets.

Bobby: I’ve already plotted a new Rick Ruby story called “The Life” that has Rick running afoul of a high-end prostitute who may or may not be more than she appears. It should be a fun time.

Please visit the official site for The Ruby Files at http://rickruby.blogspot.com/.

THE RUBY FILES PRESS RELEASE:
GANGSTERS & GUNMOLLS

Airship 27 Productions dons its tough-guy mantle, as it premiers its newest pulp star in THE RUBY FILES.
It was the 1930s and America was locked in the grip of the Great Depression. Gangsters controlled the major cities while outlaws roamed the rural back country. It was a time of Speak Easy gin-joints, Tommy-guns, fast cars and even faster dames. This is the world of New York based Private Investigator Rick Ruby, a world he is all too familiar with. From the back alleys of Gotham to the gold laden boulevards of Hollywood, Ruby is the shamus with a nose for trouble and an insatiable appetite for justice. So if you’ve got a taste for hot lead and knuckle sandwiches, tug your cuffs, adjust your fedora and light up a Lucky, a brand new pulp detective is coming your way.

Created by pulp masters, Bobby Nash & Sean Taylor, Rick Ruby echoes the tales of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe while offering up his own brand of two-fisted action. Joined by fellow pulp smiths Andrew Salmon & William Patrick Maynard, these modern scribes of purple prose present a quartet of tales to delight any true lover of private eye fiction. This instant classic features a gorgeous Mark Wheatley cover and eight evocative black and white illustrations by Rob Moran.

This is a book that harkens back to the classic black and white Warner Brothers gangster movies that featured James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson to name a few. The atmosphere is gritty with a no-nonsense hero pulp fans are going to applaud from the first story to the last. And when that last tale comes to a close, you can bet we haven’t seen the last of Rick Ruby, Private Eye.

AIRHSIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!
$3 digital copy available here – http://robmdavis.com/Airship27Hangar/airship27hangar.html

From Create Space here – https://www.createspace.com/3810386

POD version from Indy Planet – http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6797

Please visit the official site for The Ruby Files at http://rickruby.blogspot.com/.

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO ‘DEATHWALKER’!

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT- Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

DEATHWALKER
By R. A. Jones
Cover Art by Laura Givens
Interior Art by Michael Neno
Published by Airship 27 Productions
2012

It is always exciting when a  New Pulp character debuts.  It’s also a great thing when writers, especially those known in other mediums, make their way into the New Pulp field.   In the instance of this Airship 27 release, DEATHWALKER, both of these events have occurred.  Deathwalker, the central character of the book, is the creation of R. A. Jones, a writer known largely for his comic work.  This is one of two New Pulp works that Jones has had debut in the month of February.

But there’s a third neat occurrence that I like to see happen as well that DEATHWALKER also takes advantage of.

In DEATHWALKER, Jones mines a field of inspiration and creativity that I think we as New Pulp writers all too often either completely overlook or just steal bits and pieces from intend of wrapping ourselves in it whole cloth.  That is, the rich tapestry that so many ancient civilizations, religions, and mythologies offer to creators to draw stories and new adventures from.  Why more New Pulpsters aren’t stepping off into the catastrophic cacophony of myths and the screwed up creatures that inhabit them is a mystery to me.  Jones does not shy away from that at all, setting his entire tale squarely in Native American mythology, particularly that of the Cheyenne, Deathwalker’s tribe.

The story centers around the title character who, when he was known as High Bird, experienced a rite of passage common to many aboriginal races world wide, that of the vision quest.  In his fevered quest, High Bird is visited by Death itself and marked forever more to be a Hero, but also a Bringer of Death.  It will follow him, He will cause it, He will be surrounded by it, respected because of it, and feared for it even by those who love him.  Taking the name Deathwalker, he becomes the leader of the Dog Soldiers, a band of warriors within his tribe and serves in many ways as the protector of his people.

The action of the story erupts when a band of young Cheyenne braves steal ponies from a nearby Pawnee tribe.  The shaman of the Pawnees, Stands Alone, takes great offense to this and begins a quest to wreak his revenge on the Cheyenne.  Never one to back down, Deathwalker confronts the shaman, heaps a few insults on to the old man himself, and thus begins a war between the two men that involves wolf men, centaurs, flying pestilence, snake women, and so many more concepts and characters drawn straight from Native American beliefs.   Not only that, but Jones insures that his characters authentically use rituals and observe customs common to the featured tribes, even so much so that one such custom plays a pivotal role in the story’s resolution.

DEATHWALKER has a lot to offer.  It is peopled with realistic characters while also being filled with fantastic magic and awesomely conceived mythical beasts.   Although the story telling is ponderous toward the beginning, it quickly gets beyond that and rolls fairly nonstop until the last page.  Also, there’s a device used toward the end of the book that sort of distracted me, took me out of the flow.   But overall, it was a solid read and fantastic story.

The interior art by Neno (that I was able to see in the PDF copy I had) stood out and was a fantastic rendition of the action in the book.  The Laura Givens cover was a mixed bag for me.  The central figure of Deathwalker was striking, but the surroundings and whatever lay in front of him seemed muddled and less clearly defined.    The overall design of the book, however, is top notch and makes a great package.

DEATHWALKER has been called ‘a Native American Conan’.  I don’t think that’s what I read.  The central character here had a code of honor and a direction much more specific and inherent than Robert E. Howard’s barbarian.  This struck me more as a Native American Hercules or Perseus and the story flowed with a more traditional Greek or Roman mythological pacing as well.  But, that is no way a negative at all. I actually find the depth that Jones worked into this tale its strongest point.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT-DEATHWALKER runs the gamut of well told, fast paced, great mythological fun!  Well worth the read!