Meanwhile . . .

A lot has been happening recently, so I thought I would use this chance to update everyone at once with one big post. So buckle in. This should be good.

First up is Cirsova. You might have realized I have reviewed 7 of the 8 available issues of this magazine. That is because I genuinely believe in it. Whether you are part of any Pulp Revolution movement or not, Cirsova runs great stories that are sure to excite the reader and stir their imagination. It is one of the best out there.

It is also currently running a kickstarter campaign to fund its second volume and is 4/5 of the way there with four days to go. It's getting down to the wire! But if you donate at the $20 tier or higher you will also get some free e-books along with Cirsova's 2 new issues, including my book Grey Cat Blues for free. So if you want a bit more bang for your buck, there are plenty of tiers available. More e-books will be added in the days to come, so jump on! There is no better time than now.

Another crowdfunding campaign (and one I am not directly involved in) is the one for the Star Knight Saga space opera mecha series. Pulp Revver and Superversive student, Bradford Walker is creating his own mecha series that is influenced by not only the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise and old super robot series, but also classic space opera like the Lensmen and Skylark books by E.E. Doc Smith. His goal is to combine everything great about classic space stories and put them into one massive series. The excerpts he has released sound great, as do the designs he has shown off.

However, it is also already funded. Throwing in a couple of bucks will guarantee you the first book in the upcoming series. But the more the campaign makes, the more he can fund later books and even eventually look into merchandising. This is a highly ambitious project, and one well worth looking into if you want more exciting space opera and/or mecha works.

Lastly, on the crowdfunding side, is a comic by PulpRev dynamo Jon Del Arroz called Flying Sparks. JDA has been pumping out quality material like crazy recently, and this is his hat in the ring for the newly rising indie comic scene. This one is funded, but he is still trying for the final stretch goal. You can find the campaign here.

As you can see, things are quite busy and exciting in the PulpRev world right now!

But as for me? Well, I've got a few updates of my own.

I was recently invited on the Jim Fear podcast to talk about writing and many other things that tickled our interest. The episode is rather long, but we had a blast. I hope you like talk about video games and anime, because we also went there. The whole thing was a lot of fun, so please check it out. The episode is available here.

I also revealed a few tidbits in this episode, including the fact that I am involved in Silver Empire's Heroes Unleashed project as one of the first writers. My project is called Gemini Man and is about two heroes who have separate powers, but combine into one. I described it as the Wonder Twins meets John Carter, though it is a story I had been thinking of doing for quite some time. We are currently looking at a Fall release. The first book is called Gemini Warrior. It is quite action packed!

There are a lot of great authors also involved in this project, but it is not my place to reveal them yet. Nonetheless, I suggest keeping an eye on the site, and this blog, for future updates!

One last thing, Heroes Unleashed will also be having a Kickstarter in the middle of August, so please be sure to be on the look out for that. I will post about it when it's live, too.

I have also recently sent back edits for a piece I submitted to StoryHack magazine. My story is called Inside the Demon's Eye and will be in the third issue coming later this year. I can assure you that this was a good deal of fun to write, and is not something I could have written even two years ago. This is a story I wrote after reading a lot of C.L. Moore, getting ideas, and wanting to write a story in that vein only from my pen. It's about an adventurer in the mythical Black Lands under the eye of the demon who is pursued by a creature feeding on his mind and soul. My editor on this one, Brian Niemeier, helped me polish this to a shine and get the kinks out. Please look forward to this one when it releases!

In other news, I also had a story accepted by Dimension Bucket Magazine. This one takes place in the same Hero Magic world as Someone is Aiming for You and Lucky Spider's Last Stand, and is from the villain's perspective as he discovers new abilities within himself. It's called Endless Nights in Villain City. If you enjoyed the previous stories in this series you're sure to like this one. It's terrifying!

Lastly, I have a few stories submitted to other places, one of which I almost have a confirmation on, but can't reveal it yet. It's killing me not to tell you, but that's just how it is. Nonetheless, they are on the way!

So as you can see, I haven't just been sitting on my hands! Quite a lot of gears are turning. 2018 is going great so far.

Now that you know what I've been up to, hopefully you can see why I've been dying to tell you all this. There's good news aplenty!

In non-writing news, I've also been playing the classic PC shooter Strife, which is a strange amalgamation of DOOM, Elder Scrolls, and Deus Ex, and is a ton of fun. Unfortunately, it has been almost completely forgotten. If you can get beyond the old school graphics, I highly recommend it. The game has otherwise aged well with fantastic voice acting, early 90s comic book art, killer music, and rock solid gameplay.

Oh, and I also released a post on the '80s on the Cannon Cruisers blog. I'll leave you with an excerpt as I go on to do what I gotta do today:

"The underground movement in the '10s has been a very exciting place to hang out. Literary movements such as PulpRev and Superversive are dedicated to doing what the dying traditional publishers refuse to do: bringing back the adventure and optimism long since thought lost. Indie comics are beginning to take root via crowdfunding while the larger companies hemorrhage money after hiring abysmal talent. Even music has seen a rise in genres like Retrowave to clear out the bad taste of modern pop music well past its expiration date. Independent film is also on the way, but it's taken its time. Even anime has seen college students cobble together funds to create original projects that look far fresher than what their industry is putting out. 

"For the first time since the '90s went out like a whimper, it looks as if storytelling is on its way back."

It sure does look that way, doesn't it?