Interview: Glen Held

Today I chat with author Glen Held. Born on a Monday, Glen Held grew up in Brooklyn, then was unceremoniously whisked off to Long Island where he still resides with his wife Kathy and the fabulous Eddie the dog! His writing credits include the just published 1930's adventure Legends in the Earth, the pulp team-up novel, The Devil You Know, the young adult sci-fi tale Way Out World (all three available on Amazon), The Killer -  a short story anthology (available from Gromagon Press) and the mystery/romance novel Burning Secrets (available nowhere.) In addition, he has a number of science fiction and fantasy short stories published in various magazines/anthologies. Glen is retired from a thirty year plus Civil Service career and enjoys travelling as well as watching the Mets - having converted his adult children into fans, thus teaching them the agonies of NY National League baseball.

Hi Glen. Thanks for taking some time to chat with me.

A pleasure!

Indeed — always a pleasure talking to a fellow long-suffering Mets fan!

I’m running this series of interviews as a lead-up to PulpFest, so my first question is: what draws you to the pulp genre?

What drew me to the pulps, what I guess drew most of us, was Doc Savage. It really was a strange circumstance that introduced me to The Man of Bronze. I was in fifth grade and this one kid, who was a bit nutso, raced over to me at lunch, stopping inches from my face. He said he had this book I must read (I learned afterwards, his parents forced him to read a book as punishment for something he did, and he wanted me to give him a summary of it.) It was The Devil’s Playground, one of the Bantam Doc reprints. The cover interested me in it immediately…as did the fact I didn’t want to have to fight him.  So I put aside the Foundation novel I was reading, and started the Doc. Even though it’s not a Dent, I was drawn in immediately. From then on, I devoured every Doc I could find. As my neighborhood had a number of antique stores, I went to them hoping to find original Doc pulps. The few I found were way expensive, however I did find other pulps that I could afford and that lead me to other reprints and heroes and…here we are!

Your latest release is Flights of the Peregrine Book One: Legends of the Earth. Tell us a little about the book and how you came to re-launch the character.

This book had a strange journey from the start. A few years back, I saw an ad on the old Pro Se site saying they were looking for authors to write a novel based on Barry Reese’s character The Peregrine. At that time, I had one book published, a romance/mystery printed in 1991, and a few short stories. Fascinated by the art for the character, I came up with a proposal and was thrilled when I was given the okay to write the book! Four months later it was done, and I submitted the finished manuscript. I heard nothing for over a year. I kept contacting the company and was told various things. I had just about given up, when I was contacted by Dale Russell who would be the book’s editor. Together we polished up the story and got it ready for publication. More months passed and I saw various things on the internet which led me to believe Pro Se was in trouble. Eventually I was contacted by them and told, yes, they were going out of business and releasing stories back to their respective authors. However, as The Peregrine belonged to its creator Barry Reese, I would have to work something out with him to use it or change all the names and descriptions. Luckily, Barry was thinking about starting his own publishing company and we worked out a deal bringing Legends out as the first of his Flights of The Peregrine series.

The book itself is a two-part story. The first section deals with establishing the characters and has our good guys fight a truly evil menace that they had inadvertently released. But when the bad guys are defeated, it turns out  there’s a bigger bad behind them. Part two deals with The Peregrine, his fiancé, and a surprise from part one, venturing into the hollow Earth with the fate of the world resting on their shoulders. I tried to give the story as many twists and turns as I could, throwing in some easter eggs and cameos, and gave an ending which, I hope, was thought provoking. Once I get some reviews, I’ll know for sure.

 Will you be writing further installments? Or is this a multi-author franchise?

There will be at least two more novels in the series, but I won’t be writing them. One of the stories will be written by my friend, J.P. Linde, author of Fool’s Gold. I can’t wait to read his take on the characters Barry allowed me to play with. I suppose one should never say never though as The Peregrine is a great character and I’d be happy to return to chronicle more of his adventures.

Tell us a bit about your other recent novel, The Devil You Know, which came out in 2024. This also has some strong connections to both classic pulps and the “New Pulp” movement, right?

Boy that one was a doozy to write! At the time I started thinking about concocting a story for Airship 27, I figured I’d have a better chance of getting published if the tale had as many public domain characters as possible. Doing my research, I came upon an image that blew me away. It was the cover of the August 1935 Weird Tales with a picture of a red clad, horn masked man with the words “Meet the Sinister and Mysterious DOCTOR SATAN, the World’s Weirdest Criminal” I mean, come on! What could better than to have a character like that as my antagonist?

I immersed myself in all eight Satan stories, feeling a fondness for not only him, but his enemy, Ascott Keane. Although Keane, a minor practitioner of the mystic arts, would be my main hero, he would need help going up not only against Satan, but another villain of my imagination who would be working for the nazis.

Since there would be a decent amount of magic in the tale, I figured Ravenwood, Stepson of Mystery, would be likely to give a hand. So, I read a bunch of his stories. Considering the worldwide scope I had planned, there would have to be a governmental liaison to eventually coordinate the efforts. More research brought Major Steele, a minor pulp character, as that liaison. And, what the hell, why not add a bigger hero into the fray? I looked for someone who wouldn’t overshadow Ascott. When I discovered that the girlfriend of Secret Agent X, the man of a thousand faces, shared the same last name of Keane’s girlfriend, I knew it was fate. (And I also had an easy way of bringing X into the picture when the cousin’s got together.)

After that, I sprinkled in some real-life characters of the time (such as Amelia Earnhardt’s navigator Fred Noonan and the criminal Meyer Lansky) as well as historical places such as the German bund camp in Yaphank on Long Island and, eventually, I had a story. It’s gotten some good reviews (always room for more!) so I think I may have done a good job.

I’d be interested to hear a bit about your writing process. Are you a plotter, a “pantser,” somewhere in-between? Do you have a set writing schedule?

Definitely not a plotter; not even close. Nope. No, sir! I have a vague idea of the story’s beginning and nothing more than that. My chapters are usually a few pages long and end on cliffhangers to get me (and hopefully the reader) excited about what’s to come. After chapter one, I have to spend some time thinking about where to go from there. Usually a new chapter idea comes to me overnight or on a walk with Eddie the dog. It’s really a terribly time-consuming way to write since I have to go back and change the previous parts to agree with any new plot twist. However, writing this way keeps me engaged with the story and I don’t get bored. Frustrated? Yes. Bored? No.

I know you’ve published short stories in anthologies like Atomic Stories, Dead Science, and Spectacular! Spectacular! Does your process for writing short stories differ at all from writing novels?

That depends on what sort of short I’m writing. If it’s someone else’s character – like the ones I’ve written for Code Name Intrepid, the Reese Unlimited Universe, Atomic Stories and the Radio Rita anthology – I have to immerse myself in the character’s established histories. I don’t want to go against anything that’s already established or have the characters behave differently than readers of the series are used to. Completely new stories require a different kind of research as I try to make my stories believable in their unbelievability. Like for my story ‘At His Hands’, which featured John Wilkes Booth and Dr. Samuel Mudd (‘Hands’ appeared in Freedom Fiction Journal) I read everything I could about the aftermath of the Lincoln assassination and visited both Mudd’s house in Maryland and Ford’s Theater. (Actually, I would have gone to those places anyway as history fascinates me.)

Finally, do you have anything in the works that readers should keep an eye out for?

Thankfully, I do! Currently, I’m writing a Lazarus Gray story for a Barry Reese anthology as well as a tale bringing a version of The Shadow into the Doc Talos universe. I’m just starting to write a sequel to my book The Devil You Know, available on Amazon (plug, plug)  with what I hope is a really cool idea that I just got on a walk with Eddie. In it, Doctor Satan…well, that would be telling.

At the moment, I have a young adult book making the rounds at a number of agents and another I’ve written about 10,000 words of that I’d like to finish. I also have a story in Robert J. Mendenhall’s Code Name Intrepid anthology coming out mid-August as well as a Radio Rita short to be published later this year by Airship 27.

I’d like to write a mainstream novel, but I’m still hunting for that one great idea. I think Eddie and I are going to have to start taking much longer walks!

Thanks again Glen! See you at Pulpfest!

Readers, it is not too late to register for and attend Pulpfest 2025 (THE pulp magazine-focused convention in the Northeast) and the other three conventions it hosts: FarmerCon (dedicated to the works of Philip Jose Farmer), ERBFest (dedicated to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs) and DocCon (dedicated to all things Doc Savage related). Check out the Pulpfest website for registration and hotel information!

Interview: Douglas Klauba

Today I chat with artist Douglas Klauba. An award-winning illustrator, Douglas Klauba was born and raised in Chicago, and is a graduate of the American Academy of Art. His paintings have been included in the art annuals of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, the Society of Illustrators, and Imagine FX magazine. His artwork has graced the covers of books from Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. (Tarzan Trilogy, Untamed Pellucidar, Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, The Girl from Hollywood Centennial Edition, and Tarzan and the Forest of Stone), Flinch! Books (the Midnight Guardian series), and Craig McDonald’s Zana O’Savin Doc Savage pastiches.

Hi Doug! Thanks for taking some time to chat.

Thanks for thinking of me, Anthony!

First, I’d like to ask about your early influences. What are your earliest memories of really connecting with a piece of art?

Looking over my earliest childhood drawings that my family saved, you would see drawings of Batman and Robin, Superman, The Beatles, and lots of monsters. One of my earliest recollections of the visual world around me was movies and the magazine and comic racks at the corner grocery store. There I saw Famous Monsters of Filmland for the first time and my obsession with monsters began. Soon after, a newsstand/cards and gift shop opened next to the grocery store and that became my place to explore paperbacks, monster magazines, and comic books. I began collecting the Warren magazines, because the artwork looked the best to this 8-year-old developing artist. With the Frazetta and Sanjulian covers, and inside I found the Reed Crandall, Pepe Gonzales, and Richard Corben stories. And soon I would become obsessed with an artist named Wrightson. The artists that have influenced me the most is a long list. Some of them are: Frazetta, Basil Gogos, Steranko, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Barry Windsor-Smith, Franklin Booth, Joseph Clement Coll, Dean Cornwell, N. C. Wyeth, Roy Krenkel, J. Allen St. John, Hubert Rogers, Reynold Brown, Drew Struzan, Thomas Blackshear, and Alphonse Mucha.

What were your earliest creative outlets?

I was fortunate to be raised in a creative household. My father was a painter in the trades who grew up on EC and Classics Illustrated comics. His original career choice was to follow his older brother and become a Chicago illustrator. Instead, my father decided on marriage and starting a family. So he went into the trades. Our home was still decorated by oil paintings that my father painted. My uncle George was an illustrator at the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper, and I would see his artwork every week in the newspaper. We would visit my aunt and uncle often and I got to hang out in his home studio. We would visit his gallery openings, and I always thought it was pretty cool that my siblings and I were the youngest in attendance. I would soak up each experience. George Klauba is an internationally recognized painter and is best known for his Moby Dick series. There was always some form of inspiration throughout my early years - and beyond. Drawing was pretty contagious, and I did it daily, for hours. I didn’t lack imagination and when I didn’t have anything to draw, I would copy the Famous Monsters covers by Basil Gogos. My mother would often ask me to stop drawing and go outside and play with the neighborhood kids. But, throwing rocks at passing trains, or getting into fist fights grew old fast. One memorable Halloween, I entered a contest to paint a Halloween scene on a store front window. I painted Lon Chaney’s vampire from London After Midnight. I didn’t win the contest, but all of a sudden, I had made myself known as the neighborhood artist - and more importantly I met this kid, John, who lived two blocks away on another street. Like me, John had the Aurora monster models, collected the Warren monster magazines, he was into old monster movies and John had a Super 8 movie camera and his own projector! It was pretty fortunate to meet someone else that shared my interest in movies, comics, and monsters. Over the years we made our amateur movies, we tried our hand at stop motion animation, I worked with make-up to transform ourselves into monsters. We soon found other like-minded creative kids and spent hours creating fanzines, reading monster magazines, comics and going to the movies.

I’m always interested in hearing about the creative process. What medium and materials do you work with most frequently (your “favorites,” I guess)?

I love to draw in pencil. I am happiest when I am sitting at my drawing table and working on drawings. The last few years, I have been drawing with black acrylic paint. It was a natural transformation of working on a pencil drawing or using a black color pencil and I have continued to explore and enjoy working this way. It’s similar to any illustrator or comic book artist working with brush and ink - only I am using acrylic paint. I have been using acrylic paints for my color work since my advertising years of working in a Chicago illustration studio. Originally, I was hired because I was able to work in a variety of mediums from pen and ink, markers, watercolor paint, etc. But eventually the air brush was forced upon me at the studio, and I soon acclimated myself to this new tool and form of applying paint. I began exploring all that I could do with it and developed a working technique that has evolved into how I work today with acrylic paint. My process when working on a color piece has its measured steps. I start with putting gesso on a Crescent illustration board, followed by transferring my drawing onto the gessoed surface. I sometimes tighten up the drawing with color pencils before painting with the brush. At some point, I soon break out the air brush and apply color. I then finish up with my lighter values, using opaque acrylic paint. That’s basically the painting process from start to finish. The only thing not mentioned is finding good music to accompany the session (or listening to an old time radio drama) to help capture the mood of the narrative, the back and forth wrestling the artist will go through with the painting, maybe some frustrations, but eventually emerging through the challenges.

Has this changed over the arc of your career?

When I entered the art program at The American Academy of Art in Chicago, I was mainly a pen and ink artist that emulated Bernie Wrightson’s style. I had some experience with watercolors, but I didn’t have any confidence with working in color. I was intent on developing my craftsmanship with black and white ink and becoming a comic book artist. However, the few years at the Academy was more than I could have asked for. The academia of figure drawing, oil painting, watercolor instruction, and commercial illustration classes formed me into a much more rounded artist. My pen and ink illustrations became more developed, but I soon realized my passion for painting. In particular, I was drawn more towards pursuing a commercial art path, than a comic book career. Those were exciting times, as a developing art student. I worked at a few Chicago illustration studios that serviced advertising agencies for the next few years. I worked in every medium: pencils, pen and ink, marker renderings, watercolor / gouache paints, pastels, oil paints, air brush, and acrylics. It soon lost its lustre and the many hours of work, switching mediums, being told which technique to do a project - soon burned me out. I fell into an awful depression because I had lost my path. I no longer knew what kind of artist I was or wanted to be. I thought that if this was what the rest of my life was going to look like, I didn’t want it. But, instead of quitting, I left my studio position. And, within days (literally) I packed up my things and moved to California. I enrolled at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco for a semester, and studied with my favorite illustrators: Thomas Blackshear, Kazuhiko Sano, and Drew Struzan. The program, the fellow students, and the art community opened my eyes to becoming a better artist. The work that I developed, the friendships I made, put me back on a better footing of the artist I wanted to be and goals to pursue. I eventually ran out of money and returned back to my hometown of Chicago and intended to save up funds to permanently move back to San Francisco. But I became a busy illustrator, and life took its course. I eventually returned to working in pen and ink and developed a painting style of working in acrylics. The technique has changed a little over the years, but the process is more focused.

Does your process change at all depending on the type of project you’re working on?

Deadlines can dictate a path for a project. Under tight deadlines, I might not develop tight sketches or studies - and go straight to board. Spend less time constructing the drawing, and do more work with the painting process. It has its advantages, and the work is more immediate, and have a certain impact. The most important part of working on an illustration is the thumbnail sketch. Very small sketches, maybe 1 x 2, or 2 x 3 inches a piece. And I’ll sometimes do endless concepts. Usually, every assignment gets the 12 to 36 thumbnail session. I’ll immediately rough out every idea that comes to mind. The thumbnails are very simple, just shapes and scribbles - until something catches my eye.

I know you primarily as the artist of so many amazing book covers. Can you walk us through the process of developing a book cover? How much input does the author or publisher have throughout the project?

Once I finish the thumbnail session, I’ll pick the best of the lot and narrow them down to the best four or five to present to the client. I like having a discussion. I like getting input and much information or thoughts during this stage. This has worked well for me, so I don’t second guess myself or over analyze during the next stage of drawing studies and the finished pencil drawing. Once this drawing is approved, I have all of the confidence of creating the finished painting. I’ll spend up to 10 hours developing the drawing onto the board. Depending on the design and composition, applying paint can be 12 to 16 hours over 2 days, and then approximately 12 more hours of finishing. Depending how much time the painting wants to wrestle with me. Then I scan it and send the file for its approval.

What projects do you have coming up that fans should be on the lookout for?

I am developing an original pulp, sci-fi book of illustrations. I have been talking about it for years and I am slowly going through it. I would love to work on it full time, but commissions and projects come in at their own timing. I started a personal project earlier this year of painting black and white portraits of the classic movie monsters, as I reconnect with my younger monster kid roots. I also would like to strengthen my pulp influence. So, I’ll be exploring ideas with color paintings and black and white illustrations. Even while teaching part-time, I am always open for more assignments. I enjoy working with new creatives, and I like working in a team setting to develop new ideas and concepts. It’s that work that opens my eyes and fuels growth. In the meantime, I’m working on ideas and sketches for The Land That Time Forgot from ERB Books, as well as an alternative movie poster for the film, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut. You can also expect more covers for Craig McDonald’s Zana O’Savin books, as well as John Bruening’s The Midnight Guardian. And I look forward to any upcoming project from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

Thanks, Doug! Looking forward to talking to you more in person at Pulpfest in a few weeks!

Readers, it is not too late to register for and attend Pulpfest 2025 (THE pulp magazine-focused convention in the Northeast) and the other three conventions it hosts: FarmerCon (dedicated to the works of Philip Jose Farmer), ERBFest (dedicated to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs) and DocCon (dedicated to all things Doc Savage related). Check out the Pulpfest website for registration and hotel information!

Interview: CHARLES F. MILLHOUSE

Today I chat with writer Charles F. Millhouse. Charles is the author of more than thirty books in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/New Pulp genres. A storyteller/dreamer since childhood, Charles published his first book in 1999, and he hasn’t looked back. A pioneer in Independent Publishing, he patiently waited for technology to catch up with his visions and with the advent of Print on Demand and the eBook craze, Charles created Stormgate Press in 2006 to further his publishing endeavors.

Hi Charles! Thanks for taking some time to chat with me.

It’s my pleasure, thank you for asking me to participate.

You write across a variety of genres. What were some of your earliest influences in science fiction, fantasy, adventure, pulp, etc.?

My earliest influence in science fiction of course, for many people my age was Star Trek. I immersed myself in anything I could when it came to the final frontier. Of course, for my generation, TV was like a best friend and there was a lot of science fiction throughout the 1970s into the early 80s. And by the time I hit my teens I started to read a lot more, The first book I remember reading was Ringworld, by Larry Niven. But when I encountered DUNE when I was in high school, everything changed for me, including how and what science fiction I gravitated to.

From science fiction I found myself reading a lot of fantasy books, one of my favorites then and still now, is Elric of Melniboné and of course Conan, by Robert E. Howard (Great stuff!)

After I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, my dad introduced me to the world of pulp. The Shadow, Zorro, the Spider, on and on. In the 1980’s you could find a lot of pulp in boxes under tables at comic shops I went to. The owner sold them to me cheap, and I didn’t turn down a deal. I discovered a lot of serials around that time, The Phantom Empire with Gene Autry my favorite.

Your longest-running series features a golden age / pulp adventure named Captain Hawklin. Can you tell us a bit about the genesis of the character and how the series has developed?

I first created Captain Hawklin in the early 1990s but then he was named Captain Thunder, but a friend of mine made me realize that that name was overused and could eventually get me sued lol, if I decided to publish it. It was his suggestion that I changed the name, and he threw out, “Just call him Hawklin, or something like that.” Originally, he was set in the early 1960s and an astronaut who ran a secret organization that had been travelling to other planets since the 1950s. From there he evolved into a 1930s pulp character. (I’m not sure why. I think it could have possibly been that I had an idea for a 30’s story, and that’s why he manifested into that.) I only intended on writing one book just to fulfill my need to write a pulp character. So, I wrote The Skyhook Pirates in 2004, And after I wrote the first couple chapters I saw the trailer for Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and it kind of mirrored my work in progress. So, I held off writing the book until after I saw the movie thinking that—if it was a lot like what I had written I would change the story completely. I'm happy to say that even though there were some similarities I felt there was enough difference between the two characters. And sadly, Sky Captain never manifested into a series.

After I published the first book in 2012, I discovered there was this new movement called “New Pulp” and there were other people writing their own versions of pulp type characters. Skyhook Pirates sold really well, to my surprise, and I decided to write a second one. I'm happy to say that he has gotten a bit of a following over the years and the evolution of the character has really taken root not only by me, but from other pulp writers who have written the character, adding to his already growing vast history.

 I think the first of your books that I read was the first Serena Darkwood science fiction adventure. I hear you’re working now on the third book in the series. How’s that going?

Thank you for reading Absolution. Serena doesn’t get the love that Captain Hawklin does. When I first wanted to be a published writer, I thought I would be a science fiction author, but as fate would have it, I became more of a pulp writer. Which I have embraced. But my love for science fiction is still in my heart. I'm currently outlining the third book for Serena Darkwood called “Capital” this will move the story forward immensely and will really put her in the middle of some galaxy changing events. Readers can look for “Capital” to release in the first quarter of 2026.

I’m always interested in hearing about a person’s creative process. Tell us a bit about how you develop a story. Does your process differ from genre to genre? Does it differ at all when you’re working on a short story versus a novel?

First, and I think this goes for most writers, I come up with the idea for a story. Most of my ideas come from driving in the car, and pitching them to my wife, who is great at helping me flush out ideas. Sometimes it's just a premise, other times it's a character and the story revolves around that character.

Sometimes the story begins one way and ends up totally different. My idea for my supernatural western trilogy “New Kingdom” started out as a mining colony in space and then took a sharp right turn to the Old West.

I scribble my ideas on index cards and keep them taped above my head when I'm writing.

I do this for novels and short stories. I write more from the seat of my pants than I do from an outline. My outlines generally are just a description of the characters and if I think of something that I really want to say in the story I'll jot it down on an index card.

I consider my first draft my outline, and from that outline I sculpt it into its final version. I always write my first draft at my desk. Working on the second draft and editing I tend to do on my iPad at work during breaks.

Speaking of short stories: I am intrigued by and loving your Stormgate Press Quick Reads series, which feels like it is meant to cover ALL THE GENRES! What inspired you to create this line and give it such diversity in content and tone?

I have to give credit where credit is due, and the idea for the Quick Read Books came from my wife. (The actual name Quick Read Books came from my cover designer Jeffrey Hayes.)

I have a banner that I sit up at my shows and on that banner are several characters that I created that had appeared only in the “Pulp Reality” series, and I had a lot of people at a show we were at in 2024 ask about characters like the “Purple Mystique” and “Night Vision.”

I knew I would never have time to write full-fledged novels with those characters, and it was my wife's idea to publish a series of short stories around 10,000 words and offer them on my table for $5, this would give patrons a chance to read my work who might not spend $10 or $15.00 for a novel and allow them the opportunity to see how I write. I’m happy to say it’s been a huge success.

I intend on keeping the series primarily on pulp style characters and manifesting them into the Captain Hawklin universe. Given time I will even work my barbarian character into that universe.

Finally, what do you have coming up that readers should keep an eye out for? And where will you be appearing in the near future?

I just released “Evolution Man Year Three” back in June of this year, I had great fun writing that book and the series is quickly becoming a favorite for returning readers.

On August 12th the third book in “The Lost Adventures of Captain Hawklin” will be available on Amazon, and its eBook will be available on several platforms. It is my intention to have copies exclusively on my table at PulpFest in August.

Readers can keep an eye out for more Quick Read Books; I'm currently writing another “Purple Mystique” story that will end this current wave of Quick Reads.

Also, for the Captain Hawklin fans who may be reading this interview, I am writing a new series of short stories set in the 1930s that are being released exclusively on my Patreon page.

My upcoming appearances:

On August 7th – 10th you can find me in Mars PA at PulpFest

For a complete list of my appearance, you can visit www.stormgatepress.com.

Thanks again for chatting, Charles! See you at Pulpfest!

Readers, it is not too late to register for and attend Pulpfest 2025 (THE pulp magazine-focused convention in the Northeast) and the other three conventions it hosts: FarmerCon (dedicated to the works of Philip Jose Farmer), ERBFest (dedicated to the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs) and DocCon (dedicated to all things Doc Savage related). Check out the Pulpfest website for registration and hotel information!

Interview: FRANK SCHILDINER

Today’s interview is with author Frank Schildiner. Frank’s work has been published by Belanger Books, Black Coat Press, Meteor House Press, and others. He writes in multiple genres, including historical fiction, horror, and adventure.

Hi, Frank! Thanks for taking a few moments to chat with me.

My pleasure, brother, it’s been way too long. I hope you’ve been well!

As well as well can be! Your current Kickstarter project (through the wonderful Belanger Books) is for Let Loose the Falcon. The Kickstarter ends on July 20th, so let’s start there. Tell us a bit about the book.

This is a book that is very important to my heart. I started it when my late wife Gail was in the hospital. I started it as a way of dealing with how rough that time was for me and hiding how bad I felt from her.

The story is one set in 1751 about a Royal Navy Post Captain named Henry Falconer aka the Falcon. He’s an excellent sailor and a very dangerous fighter with weapons and hands. His unwillingness to follow foolish orders has him forced into intelligence work. He picks up a few fellow spies along the way as he tries to uncover a major danger for the king.

What inspired you to write a nautical novel set in the late 1700s, and what influenced the character of Post Captain Henry Falconer?

I love Royal Navy fiction, having become a fan of Patrick O’Brian, Dewey Lambdin, Julian Stockwin, Alexander Kent, and C.S. Forester over the years. I also had an interest in the Georgian era, especially the real Hellfire Club under Sir Francis Dashwood and the 4th Earl of Sandwich. They were an infamous bunch whose stories were both bizarre and exaggerated. It all came together that way and I had fun writing it.

Knowing you, this is intended to be the start of a new series. Have you started on a sequel, and can you tell us anything about it?

The second book is also completed and involves 2 cults of killers whose styles are truly nuts, even for me. I also have an idea for the 3rd one involving a pirate treasure and a few ideas for the 4th and 5th. So yeah, definitely a unique series and maybe one I try and write for many years to come.

Your previous novel for Belanger Books, Caesar Now Be Still was also a historical novel but set in the late 1800s in New York City, an era I know you also have a passion for. Will there be more books featuring Detective Wilson Hargreave?

Yes, I do plan on doing more with him and old New York. I have an idea about a team of burglars who are tormenting the wealthy. There’s also a group of gangsters hoping they can catch them for…well…reasons…

I’d be interested to hear about your writing process. Are you a plotter, a “pantser,” somewhere in between? Do you have a specific daily word-count goal?

I am the living embodiment of a pantser. I sometime start work on something and switch to something else that my evil muse wants written. I have no word count goal but usually do between 1500-2000 a day. I have been known to exceed it when I get going or less when I suddenly go dry. It’s weird.

I’d also be interested in hearing about any literary or filmic influences you haven’t mentioned yet.

Oh my, so many.

 Literary: Jack London, Dennis Wheatley, Frank Herbert, Philip Jose Farmer, Louis Cha, Eiji Yoshikawa, Paul Feval, A.C. Doyle, Donald Westlake, Joe Lansdale…the list could keep going…

Film: Yojimbo, the Zatoichi series, Le Samourai, The One-Armed Swordsman, Brave Archer 1-3, Berserk, Alexander Nevsky, Universal and Hammer Horror films, Memories of Murder, The Dollars Trilogy, a few dozen Shaw Bros. Films with Philip Kwok, Lo Mang, and Lu Feng, The Ringu series, The 3 Mothers Trilogy, Devilman Crybaby…

I watch movies and read books constantly, so the list is nearly endless.

Finally, what’s on the horizon after Let Loose the Falcon?

I finished the 2nd book in the series, and I’m almost finished with a short story in the series called “The Dancing Falcon”. I’m writing the 3rd book in the Atlantis trilogy as well as a samurai era slow building cosmic horror series. After they’re done, I’ll do either a 3rd Falcon, a 2nd Hargreaves, or start a Fantomas novel. There’s also some non-fiction I might do, so I’ll keep busy.

The Kickstarter for Let Loose the Falcon ENDS TODAY (as of when I’m posting this). You can find Frank’s Ceasar Now Be Still and other titles published by Belanger Books on their website. The Atlantis series Frank mentioned, along with his Frankenstein and Napoleon’s Vampire Hunters series can be found on the website for Black Coat Press.

Interview: JIM BEARD

I have my first new publishing credit in quite a few years in Jack of All Comics!, an anthology of essays about Jack “King” Kirby’s work for both Marvel and DC Comics in the 1960s-70s. My essay is about Kirby’s work on the woefully short-lived DC ‘70s series The Sandman. Rather than just blog about having a new book out, I thought I’d chat with the book’s editor/publisher Jim Beard about how it all came together.

IMAGE: Jack Kirby’s head and arms bursting out of an art table, from which an ink bottle is falling. He’s holding a paint brush in one hand, a lead pencil in the other, and the flame from his cigar looks like the Human Torch. He is surrounded by art pages. Cover art by Ron Hill.

First, a little about Jim:

Jim Beard is a writer, editor, and publisher of adventure fiction and pop-culture non-fiction. He is the co-founder of Flinch Books and the founder of Becky Books (which published Jack of All Comics!). His licensed works include Star Wars and Ghostbusters comics, a Spider-Man novel, and Green Hornet and Kolchak the Night-Stalker novellas. Jim’s original fiction creations include the Edwardian ghost-hunter Sgt. Janus and the 1970s globetrotters D.C. Jones and Adventure Command International. He lives in Northwest Ohio with absolutely no pets whatsoever.

Hi Jim! First of all, thank you for inviting me to be a part of Jack of All Comics!. It's both a pleasure and an honor to be a part of not just a book about Jack Kirby, but also a book in a really wonderful series of books on "Comic Book Culture." Can you talk first a little bit about the inspiration for the series?

Pleasure’s all mine. Always a good feeling to give a struggling young writer a chance at the big time 😉

“Comic Book Culture” is inspired by my own comic interests primarily, but also by the drive to inspire readers to pick up each volume. That means going places they might not expect, while at the same time appealing to their own interests and passions within the medium.

What inspired you to make this latest volume about Jack Kirby, and in particular his 1960s-1970s work at both DC and Marvel?

A Jack Kirby book needs no other inspiration beyond “Jack Kirby.” The length, width, and breadth of the King’s work is banquet enough for a thousand-thousand books, and I had always wanted to add my own to that stack. The key, as with all my non-fiction books, was to “do it my way,” i.e. come up with something that hasn’t already been said and done a million times over—and with Jack, that ain’t exactly easy, given that’s he’s arguably the most discussed comic book creator ever.

Part of that encompasses just what you say: the parameters of 1961-1978. It always helps me to set a framework down to fill up with thoughts about whatever subject I’m addressing, and the three eras of Jack’s work during that timespan worked perfectly for what I wanted to do, which was have a different writer talk about each one of the series Jack worked on at Marvel and DC during those years.

When putting together a book of essays like this, how do you as an editor decide which writers get which assignments?

Sometimes it’s the easiest thing in the world. Writers say, “Ooh! I want THAT!” and you know you’re gonna get magic. Other times, it’s the most challenging thing because you always have the essays no one really wants to write…but I’ve been lucky because when I’ve thrown down a gauntlet to a writer to challenge themselves on one of those topics, they always find they’re the right person for the job. And then you still get magic.

In particular with this book, was there anyone you immediately thought, “That person HAS to write about THIS series”? Conversely, was there anyone whose interest in writing about a particular series took you by surprise?

A few. Cliff Biggers had to write about Fantastic Four. Van Allen Plexico had to write about The Avengers. That said, many of the other topics just fell into place and in the end, nearly everybody got their first choices. This book in particular was so great in that way for me. It was almost an editor’s dream. The excitement was high across the board.

I surprised myself by being the exact right guy to talk about First Issue Special 😉

Your own essay in the book is about Kirby’s issues of DC’s First Issue Special series, and I won’t spoil here which of his FIS issues was your favorite. But what enquiring minds really want to know is: what is YOUR favorite Kirby series of all time, and why?

Hate to be so mundane, but it has to be the obvious choice: Fantastic Four. Stan and Jack just rocked it out on that one, and over a huge amount of time and issues. It still stands as one of the greatest achievements of a creative duo in comic books to this day. And there’s two reasons why: Stan and Jack. Say what you will, and many of you have, but that was some kind of perfection going on there.

Finally (for now, at least), is there anything upcoming from either Becky Books or Flinch! Books (which you co-run with John C. Bruening) that you’d like people to know about?

It’s Flinch Books’ tenth anniversary this year and we’re releasing the fourth volumes in our signature series, me with Sgt. Janus and John with The Midnight Guardian. Frankly, I’m more excited to return to Union City than Mount Airy….

Both settings, and both characters, are great, in this interviewer’s not-so-humble opinion! I’m looking forward to chatting with you more about Sgt. Janus in August, and with John when the new Midnight Guardian book bows in the fall. Meantime, Thanks again Jim!

PRIDE 2020 INTERVIEWS: David B. Roundsley

Today’s Pride Month interview is with musician, designer, and memoirist David B. Roundsley:

Hi, David! I hope you’re staying safe and healthy during the current pandemic lockdowns. What are you doing to stay creatively motivated in these unusual times?

Hello Anthony. We’re definitely staying safe. We generally work from home, so there were no big shifts there, but I found my productivity and creativity were suddenly in high gear without much prompting.

Since June is Pride Month, I have to ask: how has being gay influenced or informed your art/craft?

Knowing I was gay from a very early age (and knowing it was neither approved of and under no circumstances ever discussed) definitely influenced me and my art. Being born in Southern California at that point in time, there was definite pressure to conform and not stand out. My earliest creative efforts were in art: oil painting, watercolors, pen and ink. Very bland. After moving to the bay area in my teen years and seeing the self-assurance and bravery of much of the gay community living their lives openly showed me a path that you don’t have to hide in the shadows or pretend that you’re something you’re not.

The real turning point was the late 70’s collision of gay pride / dance music / punk and the whole D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) ethos where people were allowed to overlap in areas that might be discordant or seemingly incompatible. While going to see gay cabaret and the disco scene, I was also a regular at Winterland (there were weeks where I was there six out of seven nights) seeing everyone from Blue Öyster Cult, KISS, Bowie, Styx, Judas Priest on through to the Sex Pistols combusting. At the time it would seem like the hard-rock part didn’t mesh, but now with historical hindsight, there was a lot of gay subtext lurking there.

What is your process like for creating a Munich Syndrome album? Has it changed at all over the years?

The first era of Munich Syndrome was two synths, a drum machine, a mixing board and a Tascam PortaStudio. I’d generally play the bass part on one keyboard, melody or chords on the other, and set up a rhythm. I played it live, and then would mix things down, to open more tracks. This was time consuming and painstaking, but it always fell a bit short of what I wanted it to be.

The second era worked much better. I started out with ProTools and was making some headway when an acquaintance suggested Logic, saying it might suit what I was doing better. It was a much better fit.

 My creative process for the most part is to go into the studio with no preconceptions. I fail miserably every time I sat down and said, “I’m going to do a “fill-in-the-blank” song”. If I had it in my mind to do a dance song, more often than not, I’d end up with something atmospheric, downtempo and significantly slower. The same when I sat down to do something introspective. Now I just start exploring sounds, playing with tempos and beats and let them take me where they want me to follow.

You’ve recently completed work on a memoir about your search to know more about your birth parents, which took some wild twists and turns. How did you approach writing the book? Was there anything you initially wanted to include but decided it was too much of a tangent?

I honestly never saw myself writing a proper book when I was younger. Ironically, my adoptive mother always used to say I’m a great storyteller and should write a book. If she wasn’t already deceased, I think this book would do her in. The search for my birth parents was a fluke, but within 48 hours of starting, I was suddenly in quite deep. Several months in and talking to people, everyone started saying “oh, you should write a book about this. I’d read it.” I thought, “yeah, right.” About 8 years in (I just had the 13th anniversary of when this all started) I seriously thought about it and made some attempts. I started with a fairly straightforward retelling of my birth parent’s history. It felt clunky. It read like a very dry history book and I put it away. Well, not that dry, with the drugs, swinging, organized crime, a possible Zodiac link…

Around Christmas of 2017 I received a holiday card from the woman who got me started, who was incredibly helpful in providing me with information and introducing me to other sources. She kiddingly said, “I’m still waiting for the book”, so I decided it was “do-or-die” time.

Ultimately the only way I could really tell it was chronologically as it unfolded for me. So, there are a lot of jumps back and forth in time, but I think it makes sense. The only area I had to think about a tangent on was giving my disabled half-sister a chance to tell her story. It’s rather unorthodox and probably breaks most rules of literature, but I felt it gave substance to the story and an insight to who my birthfather was at that point in time.

I didn’t hold back too much and hopefully my conclusions are substantiated with the hundreds of hours of interviews and calls that took place over the last 13 years. I will say, some of the conclusions surprised me. 

You’ve also created/curated a “soundtrack” of sorts to the book. Talk about that process a little bit, if you could.

This kind of ties back into the first question about creativity. At the start of the year, the book most definitely felt done. As we are nearing the point of launching a Kickstarter campaign, I thought doing a song for the book would be appropriate. The song “Bad Blood (The Ballad of a Bad Man)”, is a distillation of my birth father’s life, but also opened me up to stretching out musically. Munich Syndrome originated from the synth pop / electro new wave in the 80’s, but mentally, I never saw Munich Syndrome in strictly defined musical terms. My first stabs at music were teaching myself the blues on the piano. I felt the book had some David Lynch overtones, so for a few of the songs I anchored things in acoustic and electric guitar and went for a more cinematic feel in spots. At this point, I recognized some songs dating back to 2007 were written specifically about what I was going through with the journey and thought about a curated listening experience including past songs. But as I moved into this, I felt some of the older ones weren’t quite the right fit sonically, so I ended up remixing, re-recording and re-envisioning some of the tracks. Also, there was one piece of music, “Out of the Blue” from Alan Parson’s 1999 album, “The Time Machine”, that really resonated with me. It came up often while we were on the long drives out to Montana and beyond. The theme of the album was time travel and it was definitely something I was doing at the time. Much like the book, I felt the album was done, until I redid the ending of the book at the start of the year. I went back and added one more song, “Goodbye”, about letting go of expectations, the past and any pain or regret associated with it.

The book/soundtrack project will be on Kickstarter in the near future. Where can people go to be informed when the project launches? And where else can they find you and your work online?

This will be my first attempt at a Kickstarter campaign, and it’s not for the faint of heart. As we’re getting nearer to formally launching it, we’ve set up a page to subscribe on MailChimp: https://david-b-roundsley.mailchimpsites.com/

In the meantime my main website, which started out to be strictly about my graphic design work now is a central location for my art, music and the book: <https://dbrdesign.com/>

My music with Munich Syndrome is available on all major music websites and at BandCamp: https://munichsyndrome.bandcamp.com/

And lastly, my YouTube Channel for Munich Syndrome: https://www.youtube.com/user/munichsyndrome

I appreciate you including me in your interviews for Pride Month!!!

It was my pleasure!

David B. Roundsley has been involved in a wide array of artistic disciplines ranging from fine art (painting, pen & ink, watercolor), to graphic design, multi-media, writing, video, and music (composing and studio production) over the past 50 years. He has run an independent design company since 1994 as well as having held the Creative Director positions at GetSmart and Fast Find, and has released 11 albums under the moniker Munich Syndrome.

LINDA POITEVIN "SINS OF THE LOST" - Interview

It’s always a pleasure to welcome Linda Poitevin back to the site to talk about her latest. This time out, we’re discussing SINS OF THE LOST, the third book in her four-part series The Grigori Legacy. Linda is also the author of the contemporary romance GWYNNETH EVER AFTER. You can read all of my previous interviews with Linda, and get a sense of how The Grigori Legacy series has developed, by clicking HERE.

ANTHONY: SINS OF THE LOST, book three of The Grigori Legacy, comes out this month. Now that you’re several books into the series, what roadblocks or character moments did you hit while writing the new book that caught you by surprise in comparison to the earlier books?

LINDA:  I was actually surprised at how difficult the entire book was to write, to be honest…probably because I had to do so many awful things to my characters. I’m not sure I’ll ever recover from the trauma, lol!

ANTHONY: There’s been a bit of a gap from the publication of book two, SINS OF THE SON, to book three. You published GWYNNETH EVER AFTER, a stand-alone romance, in between.  What caused the long break from TGL?

LINDA: There were a number of reasons for the gap: (1) it took a while to settle on a contract with my publisher; (2) when I’m not under a fixed deadline, I tend to drag my heels on writing; (3) this really was a tough story to write; and (4) I met with a dog-walking accident (hint: one should not have the leash of a 127-pound dog wrapped around an index finger) that put me out of commission for almost a month with a bad sprain.

ANTHONY: OUCH! How much time has passed for the characters, and where do we find them at the start of the new book? (And can you answer this question without major spoilers, haha?)

LINDA: Very little time passes between the books; Sins of the Lost picks up a scant two weeks after Sins of the Son left off. Alex and Seth are back in Toronto, struggling to make a go of their fledgling relationship in the aftermath of the events in Vancouver, and Alex is just returning to her job.

ANTHONY: Assuming we will be spending plenty of time with Alex, Aramael, Seth, Lucifer and the rest … are there any new characters we should be excited for / wary of?

LINDA: One very important new character is hinted at in Sins of the Lost, but you won’t actually get to meet her until the fourth and final book. Apart from that, there’s a return of an old enemy and more of the Archangel Michael…who really is one of my favorites. 

The Grigori Legacy, Book Three

ANTHONY: Color me intrigued! SINS OF THE LOST is only out in e-book format, right? Why the change from the print versions we got for books one and two?

LINDA: Sins of the Lost is what my publisher is calling “digital first” — which essentially means that there’s a possibility of print, but no guarantee (it will depend on sales figures). The change occurred because sales on book 2 slumped a little, as second books often do, apparently. But, while that slump generally spells death for a series, my publisher (and my amazing editor) really likes the series and wanted to give it another chance. Talk about a vote of confidence! 

ANTHONY: That is a great vote of confidence. Please thank the publisher for giving it another go. So many fun urban fantasy series do seem to fail with book two. Now, the cover art is also a bit different. It seems that Alexandra Jarvis is not on the cover for the first time. Does this bode unwell for our heroine?

LINDA: LOL…Alex is safe, Anthony, I promise. Horribly tortured, perhaps, but safe. The change in art was made because of the switch to digital-first. Too much detail doesn’t show up well on the widgets you see online, so we needed to simplify the design a bit. We also wanted to place more emphasis on the angel aspect of the story.

ANTHONY: Which makes sense, given the events of the book.  And not that I’m rushing you, but what will book four be called and when will it be done? No, like, seriously. When? 

LINDA: This book is going much faster than the last one, lol. It’s tentatively entitled Sins of the Warrior (expect a lot more Michael in this one), and I plan to have the first draft done by the end of March. No word yet on publication, however…sorry! 

ANTHONY: Well, you know, if you need a beta-reader for it, you have my email address.   Instead of my usual “what’s your favorite book” question, which I think you’ve answered several times, tell us what your resource on Angels and their mythology has been most helpful/influential on you in creating the Grigori series.

LINDA: Google was my best friend when it came to research for this series. Because I knew I would be twisting angel mythology to fit with my own nefarious purposes, I didn’t need accuracy as much as I did inspiration—and the Internet is rifewith sources for that. I read extensively on Bible study, Catholic, and new age sites, taking bits and pieces from all over in order to construct my own world for the series. The diversity in the takes on angel lore was utterly fascinating and made for great fodder…and I barely even scratched the surface of what’s out there.

THE GO TO - Interview

A few months back my pal Cruise Russo turned 21 and his band Reverse Order played a Birthday Show for him at The Architekt in Butler NJ. A bunch of bands I wasn’t familiar with were on the bill, including a New England based quartet called The Go To. They impressed me with their energy and stage presence and the sound of their originals, and they did a pretty damned fine cover of Neon Trees’ “Everybody Talks.” I contacted their manager, set up an email interview, got their answers … and finally, a month later, I’m posting the interview here. Hopefully, the new music they talk about in this interview will be available for purchase soon. Meantime, here’s our chat.

ANTHONY: Hi guys!  Thanks for taking the time to chat with me.  Let’s start with the usual: how long has the band been together and how did you form?

MAT:  Hey!  The current line-up of TGT (Mat, Austin, Cory and Alex) has been together a little under a year now, but TGT has been around about a year and some change.  I have been writing music and performing for such a long time, and then Austin and I started jamming around three years ago.  We just decided that we wanted to bring what we were doing the public, so that’s really where the heart of TGT began.  Then we found Cory on YouTube playing a RHCP song on bass and knew we had to have him, and also met Alex around that same time.  Ever since the four of us started playing, it just clicked and we knew that this is the band we wanted to take to the top.
ANTHONY: I know you were asked this question at the show where I first saw you, so I have to ask: how many times have Mat and Cory been asked if they’re brothers?

MAT:  Haha, well it seems like every time we play a show in a new area to people who haven’t seen us live yet we get asked that, so I’d say at least a thousand times by this point.

CORY: I’m asked at least once every show if I’m Mat’s brother. It’s gotta be at least 50 times.

ANTHONY: And honestly, how many times has Mat been told he looks like (and has the stage presence of) a young Ricky Martin?

MAT: This is the first time anyone has actually given us that comparison…  But now everyone is on to me.

ANTHONY: For a while you were posting bi-weekly cover song videos on Youtube. The first cover video you did in that project was “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees, which I saw you do live at The Architekt. It struck me that song really fits your style and Mat’s voice and stage presence, better than almost any other song you’ve covered. How do you guys decide which songs you’re going to cover, and is there any song you absolutely would never cover?

MAT:  As a band we have a tendency to obsess over certain songs together.  It’s almost like every week we’re all running around each other singing a new song, old or now, non-stop.  Like right now we’re currently hung up on Rap God off Eminem’s new album, but like a month ago Wrecking Ball was the newest one haha!  I guess our method to picking songs to cover is which ever non TGT has gotten our total intention.  As for songs we’d never cover, I guess you can say we’d cover anything we possibly could.  I mean, just this past weekend we playing a Johnny Cash (Cocaine Blues) cover to a packed room at Pearl Street in Northampton MA.  It was a total fake out before our on encore, but it still counts!

ALEX: We pretty much just all throw out song suggestions until we all agree on the best one, and we are pretty open to our cover suggestions.

CORY: Usually during practice if we need a new cover, well all throw out ideas. Other times we might hear a song we all love and just need to cover it. I don’t think Mat would EVER do a one direction song because of how often he gets compared to Harry.

ANTHONY: Okay, of all the singers Mat reminded me of, Harry Styles didn’t come to mind at all! Will you be doing more cover videos, and what songs can we expect?

MAT:  Right now since we’ve released the “Too Sore” music video, most of our YouTube efforts are being out into promote that, but we plan on doing some higher quality cover videos soon, and also releasing some great live footage.  Just gotta stay tuned. 

ANTHONY: Your self-titled EP has been out for a while.  The five songs on it are all originals. What was the song-writing process like for those songs?

MAT:  It’s funny, most of the songs on the EP are songs I had written a long time ago and finally got the chance to start sharing so I jumped on those first.  Back then I would simply grab my guitar and a note pad and scribble down lyrics and chord changes and commit it all to memory.  Now my process is much different because I record ton and tons of demos on my iPad with all the instruments I have in mind, and send them to the band.  They get a few every week!
ANTHONY: I like the whole EP, but “Me Oh My” and “Too Sore” are probably my favorites. As a writer, I hate when people ask me the “where do you get your ideas from” question, so I won’t ask that. But I am curious how extensively you draw from life experiences versus just thinking “hey, that would be a great story to tell.” (I always tease my family and friends: be careful what you say, or you’ll end up in a story.)

MAY:  I draw a lot from my personal life!  Sometimes I tell stories of things I’ve gone through, or elaborate on a certain emotion.  An example of the latter is one of our new songs “Upside Down” which is a song I wrote totally on the idea of feeling like I was watching the world from the outside in.   But on the other hand, another new song “Conundrum” is me singing about dealing with a relationship when one person has moved on and the other is still hung up on it, which is something I personally was going through at the time.

Alex, Mat, Austin, Cory

ANTHONY: The “Too Sore” video has hit 21,000 views (which is about 20,700 more than either of my cover videos). Congrats on that. Are you planning videos for any of the other songs on the EP?

MAT:  Most likely not from the EP, but we are working on some new tunes and have a pretty cool game plan coming up that may entail another video!

ALEX: We haven’t quite decided if we are going to do another video from the EP yet but we are definitely going to be shooting a video for one of our newer songs hopefully in the near future.

ANTHONY: I know you’re answering these questions during a weekend in the studio, so what can you tell me about the new stuff you’re working on. With one EP under your belts, has the songwriting process changed at all? How about your sound?

MAT:  As I stated before, I have a home studio that I used to record demos and such to send to the band, but this has also opened me up as a song writer.  I have the ability to add as many instruments and experiment with new sounds.  It’s so great, and it’s much more expressive then some of the older stuff.  However, it’s still just as catchy, and hopefully you’ll still be singing all the new ones too!

AUSTIN: Our sound has matured incredibly in the past few months! The only way I can prove this is by telling you to come out to a live show. It’ll change the way you look at us. I can almost promise you that.

ALEX: The new songs that we are working on sound incredible! They are very strong and catchy tunes. And as far as sound goes, since our first EP dropped our music has matured into more of a Rock feel with that little bit of a pop feel still there.
ANTHONY: How extensively have you toured, and when are you headed back on the road?

MAT:  Actually, TGT has never done any extensive touring, but have played ALL OVER the north east!  We do have some plans for the summer though… But that’s all I can say.

ALEX: We are hoping to go on our very first tour very soon. We have been working very hard to get to where we are now.

CORY: We’ve gone out to New York, Cape Cod, Connecticut and a few other states around here but we haven’t gone on a full blown tour yet.

ANTHONY: And my usual closing question: Since I’m a writer, I’m always curious to know — what is your favorite book, and what would you say to someone who hasn’t read it to convince them that they should?

Mat:  I’m actually a huge fan of Stephen King, and my favorite book is “Pet Semetery”.  Crazy book, man.  That’s all I can say, don’t want to spoil it at all.

ANTHONY: Thanks, guys!

THE GO TO:  Thank you too!

You can follow find The Go To on Facebook, Instagram,  on their own website, and follow them on Twitter: @theGoToBand,@TheGoToMat, @TheGoToAlex, @TheGoToCory, and @TheGoToAustin.

And of course you can subscribe to their channel on Youtube.  Here’s their video for “Too Sore” to whet your appetite:

J.M. LOFFICIER - Author

I’ve been a fan of publishers J.M. and Randy Lofficier’s writing for decades now, and I was honored in 2013 to become one of the authors published by Black Coat Press, their small press focused on new and reprinted adventures of classic French pulp magazine characters such as Harry Dickson, Judex, Rouletabille, the Black Coats and more.  I conducted this interview with J.M., about Black Coats’ history and mission, months ago and owe him an apology for how long it’s taken to post this.  Read along as we discuss French pulp characters, Philip Jose Farmer’s Wold Newton concept, and the overlap between the two, among other subjects:

ANTHONY: How long has Black Coat Press been in existence, and where does the company name come from? What was the company’s first published title?

JM: We started Black Coat Press in the Summer of 2003, just in time to be able to release our first book — Arnould Galopin’s DOCTOR OMEGA — for the San Diego Comicon of that year. The name “Black Coat” was taken from Paul Féval’s ground-breaking criminal saga which we intended to translate and publish at some point. I’m pleased to say that, thanks to Brian Stableford’s industriousness, we were able to release all seven volumes (plus a few related titles). The last one was released in 2011, so it did take about eight years!

ANTHONY: Where did you love for the pulps in general, and French pulps in particular, start?

JM: Like most of us, during my childhood and teen years. There is one major difference, however, which is that most English-language “classics” were readily available to me in the same paperback imprints as their French counterparts. For example, the Livre de poche imprint released editions of Holmes and Lupin, Fantomas and the Saint, Poirot and Rouletabille. Marabout published the Black Coats and Rocambole next to the Scarlet Pimpernel, Doc Savage next to Bob Morane. So the “universe” of pulp literature to which I had access was vastly greater than the ones accessible in the US or the UK.

ANTHONY: It seems, in the US at least, we’re experiencing a “pulp resurgence,” with publishers like Meteor House, Dynamite, Moonstone and others bringing back every 1880s to 1940s adventure character they can get their hands on. What is the attraction for modern readers to these classic, and sometimes campy, pulp characters?

JM: Some of it is nostalgia, of course. But I think there is a perennial aspect to the best pulps that transcends time and changing fashions. Sherlock Holmes, The Three Musketeers, Tarzan, The Count of Monte-Cristo, The Shadow, Arsene Lupin (to name but a few) have survived the test of time and will likely be remembered forever; their modern-day descendants are to be found on television. The TV series, especially today with its complex plots, character arcs, etc. is the inheritor of Alexandre Dumas and Paul Feval. The same people who rushed to the New York harbor to get their next installment of Monte-Cristo in the French papers (at a time when a lot of educated Americans knew foreign languages) are the same today eagerly waiting for the next episode of LOST or MAD MEN.

Tales of the Shadowmen includes a short story by Anthony R. Cardno

ANTHONY: The idea of having classic characters meet up is not a new one in world literature, although in the modern day I think Philip Jose Farmer deserves a lot of the credit, through his Wold-Newton Family concept, for making such crossovers more than just fun mash-ups. In your TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN anthologies, you encourage writers to cross the French pulp characters who are your forte with just about everything else in the pop culture canon.  What criteria do you follow for those stories?  Is any “crossover” concept just too out there?

JM: Jess Nevins wrote authoritatively in his intro to Win Eckert’s CROSSOVERS about the history of “crossovers”, going back to Jason and the Argonauts, the Round Table tales, etc. So yes it is hardly a new phenomenon, although I think Maurice Leblanc’s bold initiative of having Lupin cross swords with Holmes deserves a lot of credit. Regarding TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN, my only two criteria are: (1) there has to be a character from French fiction (being Black Coat Press, this comes with the territory) and (2) the story has to be in continuity and respectful of the original materials. No funny ha-ha pastiches, no killing off heroes, no dark reinterpretations. That’s all. Other than that, I welcome any crossover, the more outré, the better. To quote but a few of the more unexpected crossovers, we had stories featuring The Little Prince and Doc Savage, Zorro and Jean Valjean, The Wizard of Oz and Richard Matheson’s Born of Man and Woman, Jerry Cornelius, Pere Ubu and the movie Alphaville… This year, for example, we have a story that conflates Boulgakov’s Master and Margarita, Jean Ray’s Malpertuis and Marie Nizet’s Captain Vampire… As you can see, we roam pretty far and wide.

ANTHONY: What’s the weirdest crossover you’ve seen submitted to you, the type of thing that made you think ‘this can’t possibly work’ but then it did?

JM: The ones I mentioned above all fit the bill. I myself wrote the one mixing The Wizard of Oz with Richard Matheson’s horror tale Born of Man and Woman because someone challenged me to do it. I have another one mixing Enid Blyton’s Famous Five with the Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom, but I haven’t written it yet.

ANTHONY: I’m sort of excited but disturbed by that concept. Did you intend TotS to be an annual anthology event when you put the first volume out?

JM: Yes, I always did, which is why I put a #1 on the spine of the first book!  That’s a clue.  Since then, we’ve also released some character-themed anthologies that include about 50% of already published stories (usually from TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN) and 50% new stories. We’ve had anthos dedicated to Arsene Lupin, Dr. Omega, the Nyctalope and Judex, and I’m preparing one on Harry Dickson.

ANTHONY: The 10th volume came out a few months ago. Has your process for choosing stories or putting the book together changed at all?

JM: Not in the least.

ANTHONY: Do you have any plans to bring the TotS books out in ebook format in the near future?

JM: Yes, I have been slowly making our catalog available as ebooks, but it is a slow process. I still have the Black Coats series to do and then I’ll tackle the Shadowmen. I’m also working on converting our huge library of comics (in French) for Comixology, and that is a long and time consuming process, and there are only so many hours in the day — and I’m basically the only person doing all this.

ANTHONY: I really need to get a tablet I can read comics on. Right now I just have the Nook Simple Touch (I’ve been slow to move to e-readers) and it’s not really good for comics. I want to circle back to the Wold-Newton concept for a moment. Farmer created a pretty distinct family tree and linked them to a particular event, the crash of the meteor at Wold-Newton.  People have referred to Black Coats’ output as “The French Wold-Newton Universe.”  Have you ever posited an event similar to the WN meteor to explain what Farmer would call “a supernova of genetic splendor” in France?

JM: No, not at all. At best, I piggybacked on Farmer’s concept; he already had ancestors of Arsene Lupin and Monsieur Lecoq at Wold Newton, because there were the two French characters he knew best. So I merely suggested a few more, a notion that has since been coopted by a few other authors. I also added some French historical content (as it were) by suggesting that the French characters at Wold Newton had a political agenda, which resulted first in the French Revolution, then, later, the ascent of Napoleon. That notion was first put forward by Alexandre Dumas, so it is not mine, entirely, but it blended rather well with Farmer’s. You can read it in greater detail here:
http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/wnu7.htm

ANTHONY: In addition to “new pulp” books like the TotS series, you also publish a large number of translations of French pulps into English (the Harry Dickson and Madame Atomos books, most notably, but too many others to list here).  How do you decide what to translate and what authors to use to do the translating (when, that is, you don’t do the translating yourself)?

As far as deciding what deserves to be translated (or in some cases retranslated), obviously, I use my own judgment of what is really important. If you were doing it the other way, you would translate Doc Savage, but perhaps not Jim Anthony. So I think characters like Mme Atomos, Lupin, Fantomas, Harry Dickson, Doctor Omega, Sar Dubnotal, Rouletabille, etc. deserve to have at least a reasonable sampling of their adventures made available in English. I’d like to do Jean-Claude Carriere’s six remarkable Frankenstein novels but they’re not in the public domain and the rights aren’t available. Rocambole is something I’d like to do too, but someone else already put out a good series of abridged / condensed versions that pretty much cover it. I rely on Brian Stableford, Michael Shreve and a few more hand-picked folks to help me with the translations. The great majority of the books we publish ARE important; they all contain some ground-breaking idea, some new stylistic inventions… Whether we’re talking vampires or space travel, mystic heroes or cloaked avengers, criminal conspiracies or super-detectives, French popular literature contains a huge number of truly wonderful works which deserved to be made accessible to the English-speaking audience.

ANTHONY: What is upcoming from BCP in the near future?

JM: We tend to plan ahead, so for what’s coming up, you can check this link:
http://www.blackcoatpress.com/catalog.htm#SOON

Pulp-wise, in 2014, we’ll have all 18 MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR CORNELIUS novels released in a big, fat trilogy of books; hopefully the last two never published before in English FANTOMAS novels; the last two DOC ARDAN stories (a French young Doc Savage-type hero), the end of the MADAME ATOMOS saga; a new FU MANCHU novel; a series of books from the early 1900s about DR. CARESCO and PROFESSOR TORNADA, two mad scientists and another early Martian saga.

ANTHONY: I think the sound we hear in the background is my bank account collapsing. So let’s go to my usual closing question: What is your favorite book, and what would you say to someone who has not read it to convince them that they should?

 JM: If you’re a pulp mystery fan, the BLACK COATS (INVISIBLE WEAPON would be my recommendation) or JOHN DEVIL by Paul Feval; if you’re more sf-minded, anything by Maurice Renard is really quite good — he wasn’t nicknamed the French HG Wells for nothing.

SEAN ASTIN: THIS SHOW NEEDS AN APP - Interview

If you had told me ten years ago that I’d have a chance to interview Sean Astin, someone I’ve been a fan of since The Goonies, I’d have laughed. Honestly, if you’d told me even two years ago, when I started doing interviews for this site, that I’d interview Sean, I’d have been skeptical. But it’s happened. Sean recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for his radio show Vox Populi: The Voice of the (Occasionally Interested) People. I’ve listened to the show, and I think Sean does exactly what he says in the show’s mission statement: he brings people together to talk civilly and calmly about the hot topics of the day, without regard for sound-bytes or better ratings. It’s about talking, and about listening.  So I backed the Kickstarter, and took a chance to ask Sean if he’d do an interview for my little personal website. He agreed to it, “after I run the Chicago Marathon.”  So here it is. It’s a short interview, but hopefully we get across why Vox Populi is a project worthy of being funded and more. As of today, there are 4.5 days left in the campaign, and it is funded… but Sean would like to hit the $60,000 stretch goal to build the show an app. The video at the end of this interview explains why he’s so passionate about this despite adding it late in the campaign.  I’ve seen KS campaigns raise much more than $20,000 in much less than 4 days, so like Sean I believe it can be done.  But enough of me …

ANTHONY: Let’s start with an easy one: After such a strong acting career, what led you to start a political radio talk-show?

SEAN: Well, I think I would have done some kind of political show regardless of my career. My mom was president of the Screen Actors Guild and hosted a morning tv show in LA when I was a kid. So, the desire for citizenship and using my voice was placed in me by my family. The fact that I’ve been blessed with a long career, just makes the transition easier. Lots of people are familiar with my name, so it’s easier to build an audience. At least on paper, encouraging people to see someone in a different light, particularly when it’s politics, takes work. Also, it’s not the only thing I do. In fact, it’s a hobby for me at this point; a hobby that I’m extremely passionate about, but it’s not about money, yet. It might be in the future. I am currently acting in a show for FX with Guillermo del Toro directing. So, life, particularly with my wife and three daughters is sailing by. The political show gives me the satisfaction that on some level, I hope, I’m making a difference!

ANTHONY: Your focus is on “civil discourse,” and I really admire the way you let people have their say, even if you disagree with them. But I’m sure people wonder: what would make you cut a discussion short or lose your cool with a guest?

SEAN: Ha! Fun question. Well, as the HOST I get to disconnect the call if someone flouts the premise of the show and behaves in an uncivil manner. I might get nervous about doing that, but I would do it because I must protect the integrity of the show. I think in most instances, when people are directed to “be nice” and then given the time and space to express themselves, they usually become the best contributors. I lose my cool sometimes at events in the world, Sandy Hook, Benghazi… but I believe that the HOST role carries responsibilities and I like to be responsible.

ANTHONY: I’m sure you get this all the time, but I have to ask: what was your favorite part of filming The Goonies (one of my top five life-time favorite movies)? And, more seriously: can you tell my readers about your marathon experiences and the #Run3rd movement?

SEAN: One of my favorite things about making The Goonies was driving onto the Warner Lot and feeling like a big shot. The pirate ship, Dick Donner, Steven Spielberg, My Goonies friends, the Crew, Waterslides…it was a great adventure. I love talking about running. I would direct your readers to my Mission Statement and our official Run3rd.blogspot.com site. Just know that I choose now to dedicate my runs to people, causes, ideas. I declare before 5k’s,10k’s, 1/2 & Full Marathons that I “#run3rd for (insert person etc..)” It started as a twitter campaign, which offers a prompt to people to make dedications themselves. When I or you or anyone dons the emblem #run3rd on their clothes or whatever, they are said to be running on behalf of all of the dedications. I ran 3 marathons this year, LA, SF & this month, Chicago. These events inspire the heck out of me. I just love the challenge, the community everything. Running is more than a sport to me, it’s a sacred experience!!!

ANTHONY: And my usual closing question: what is your favorite book, and what would you say to someone who has never read it to convince them that they should?

SEAN: I don’t know anymore. I studied English and History at UCLA. At certain periods of my life, I was a voracious reader. In recent years, I haven’t dedicated myself to reading very much. It saddens me to say so, but it’s true. I think when I was kid, I was probably A.D.D. That may have come back. My usual answer is Candide, by Voltaire. It sound high faluten, but basically it’s a great adventure story with a powerful bit of philosophy and morality mixed in for good measure.

ANTHONY: Thank you again, Sean!  Now, what’s all this about “The Show Needs An App?”

And finally, most importantly: the Kicstarter page. All you need to do is go to www.StartTheVox.com.  That will take you directly to the Kickstarter page where you can see all the Backer Rewards Sean is offering, as well as Sean’s original video explaining the show and the project, and of course, where you can back the project yourself. Every little bit helps!