Weekend Lounge ~ The Other Genre That Doesn't Exist

Welcome to the weekend!

It's been rather crazy recently, hasn't it? Not much time to just sit back and smell the roses, as it were. So lets just dive into it today.

We've talked a lot about how fake modern genres are, but we tend to focus on the 1940s when such things were starting to be solidified. That was when the eggheads seized control of the industry to give shape to artificial frames that no longer exist. In fact, as I wrote about in The Last Fanatics, by the 1970s it was already starting to die out in the wider culture even as said Fanatics tightened their grip on their then-dying sector. All of this stems from a game of definition dodgeball that has never truly been won, despite their claims otherwise. The game is long since over, and they lost long before the first ball was even thrown. It was never going to end any other way.

What we don't tend to mention too much is that there was just as much nonsense in the decades after the 1940s that helped warp definitions even further. While I tend to bring up the phrase Science Fiction Doesn't Exist in regards to the Futurian crowd, what I don't bring up enough is the other side of this non-existent coin they forged: so-called Fantasy Doesn't Exist either. In fact, the term itself is already meant to be disparaging, the lesser, nonsense-fueled half of the superior materialist fiction genre . . . even though its hinged on the frame of a philosophical worldview that is deader than disco. (Literally deader, disco has more influence on modern underground movements than "Golden Age" siffy has on its medium.)

For an example of what I mean, check out the above video that goes into how Lester Del Ray's marketing in the '60s and '70s not only created a trend, but then inadvertently birthed a "genre" that centered on then-common surface level clichés that were then flipped and then flipped again in the decades to come, all to create an endless string of subversion capping off at where said "genre" is today: dead.

Much like the "Science Half" of the "genre" it is built upon a division that is not relevant to today, just as it wasn't for the several thousand years of recorded civilization from before eggheads were given paper crowns and a seat at the table. It has no relevance to today, and the case could be made that it never actually did--we all just had to pretend otherwise as those in charge declared what their subjects had to think about certain subjects and where their limitations lay.

The fact of the matter is the reason so much of the old literary space and store shelves is cluttered with generic "genre" fare is because the Thor Power Tool Case from 1979 cleared out the backlog of stories from before 1980 and kept them out of print while the shelves were then filled with pumped out factory belt-line product to make up for the loss. It's how important and influential authors like A. Merritt and EE "Doc" Smith were memory-holed over night. What you went from having is timeless tales of myth and adventure at your fingertips, to having a shelf of product created to fill a quota of checkbox fiction to match advertising trends of the 1970s decades afterwards.

This is why the lack of new or fresh literary "trends" in the 1980s and 90s are non-existent. As a consequence to all of this, readership dwindled over time and those that remained were more interested in the tropes being fed to them over and over again instead the wonder or the creativity of the stories themselves. It was a massive dead end, and we all recognize it now.

By the 2000s, all we were left with was subversions of subversions and endless mashups of tired tropes originating from the 1960s because that was the only frame OldPub had left to work from. There was nothing exciting or new to come, just more of the same originating from those ancient advertising campaigns. And that is essentially why the industry hasn't had a breakout hit since Harry Potter took everyone by surprise back in the '90s. How could they have another one, when everything they produce has to follow a strict formula from over half a century ago to appeal to an audience that doesn't even exist anymore? That is why nothing is coming out of that system.

And that has lead them to where they are today: dead and irrelevant, just like their made up genre boxes that ran out of steam long ago. All that's left is the future: NewPub. The only place you'll get anything new is among those who have no cap on their imagination, no quota to fill, and no boxes to check. The only thing left is the story itself.

That is what the future holds.

Some have taken to calling Oldpub "Deadpub" instead, and it's easy to see why. The only question is how long has it actually been dead for, and when can we finally admit the corpse is stinking up the place? It's only a matter of time before the remains crumble away. In the meantime, Newpub has a lot of work to do to fill the hole. Here's hoping we can manage before it all collapses in on itself. It's gonna take some time.

In related news, I also just released a new podcast episode on the Patreon on this very topic! It's over an hour long and I talk about the future coming down the pike and how much things have changed since the Fanatics failed to see any of it coming. Listen now to learn just why Science Fiction Doesn't Exist in the first place! I bumped the preview to 10 minutes for this episode, so jump in and listen for yourself to see just what that means.

We're going to have to change our entire frame in order to find a new way forward. I think we can do it. The only question is when, not if, that will occur, because it's coming. Time to prepare accordingly!

That's all I've got for this week. Have yourself a good Father's Day and a comfortable start of summer coming up. Things are getting better, just not in the most obvious ways. It's especially difficult to se it these days, but it is happening. Just keep your head up and you'll eventually be able to see it coming.

Have a good weekend, and I'll see you soon!

Check out Rock and Roll Mercenaries and my story Spirit Rock! 15 Tales of Hard Rock adventure await inside!

Weekend Lounge ~ Boomer Blues

Welcome to the weekend!

I hope you've been having a good one. The weather is finally turning around, at least where I am. But enough about that. Let us get to today's topic.

This week I wanted to talk a bit more about the inevitable death of the 20th century and the legacy of the Baby Boomers. Instead of going over the usual points, I wanted to focus on what exactly is being left behind as they pass on. Turns out it won't be much.

It's no secret that as time passes, those of us who are a bit older, the ones who remember the Greatest Generation, as they were called, have noticed a clear difference between them and their children in regards to how they have aged. It's unavoidable, an elephant in the room that they are vastly different creatures, at the end of the day. In fact, it is almost night and day seeing how different the two are. Did they come from different planets?

Yes, obviously, but we already knew that.

When the Greats died, they did so confident in the fact that they did what they could in life (good or bad) and rightfully understood that their time was up and it was their children's turn for being in control and picking up the slack they were leaving behind. So how it always is, and has been through all of human history before this point. They grew old, accepted their time was near, and went into the deep night like we all eventually will, making sure to pass on their work when they were still cognoscente and used their final years to reflect and stand on the sidelines.

The Baby Boomers, however, are a very different story. As a generation, they have done none of this. Almost all political protests are attended by grey hair boomers. Almost all remaining watchers of TV (and news channels especially) are all Baby Boomers. The ones out in public proclaiming the death of all that is good and decent unless we repent of our 20th century sacrilege in ignoring said failed century, are all old people. They still think it's their goal to revolutionize the world. What this is all saying is that the boomers are not acting their age, and they are terrified of doing so. They are not capable of making that last move of acceptance. It's still the Me Generation, to the bitter end.

And boy howdy, what an end it has been! Politicians defecating themselves on stage, Alzheimer's patients being shuffled around to give speeches as if this were serious business, and crusty entertainers posing and pouting like they're still a fresh-faced twentysomething rebel. For something really embarrassing, look up videos of Madonna's recent performances. If that isn't the most embarrassing thing you've ever seen I would be surprised.

What all this is saying, is that it's over, and none of them want to accept it. They don't want to accept it because they have no mind for anything else. All they can do is play pretend at being their version of you. "80 is the new 30" is, unfortunately, not a slogan getting much use. Those old movies and TV shows of grandpa trying to be hip and relevant have nothing on what those "hip" kids from back then have aged into. It's just sad at this point.

But this is all they have. They never strove for anything else.

As the most materialistic generation of all time (and there is some steady competition!) they do not believe in legacy, hope, grace, or anything that isn't cold hard cash or property. They never grew out of the world as a toybox stage the TV taught them way back when it was still relevant. As a consequence, the thing they are most terrified of is not being the one dying with the most toys. They are running out the clock by tightening their geriatric grip on the control levers they were gifted nearly half a century ago, to prevent the 20th century from ending. They do this because they know as soon as they do let go (regardless of the age demo, religious beliefs, or political affiliation of the ones under them) everything they fought so hard to do will be undone overnight. Everyone knows it, and it is their worst nightmare to be forgotten.

Baby Boomers can't bear being alive to see that inevitability. Therefore they will hold fast to the failed ideas and structures of the previous failed century and force it in place, even as their dying corpses are dragged into the clockwork to jam it up to prevent anyone from even attempting to fix it. They'll be dead by then, their toys securely with them (or so they seem tot think) and damn whatever comes next. That is their highest aspiration as a generation.

The above video is a good example of that mentality. the other younger generations might blame each other for stuck culture and the inability to create something new, but the problem is how deliberately jammed all the machinery is right now, and things won't change until it is fixed. We're all still dealing with ghosts of a past that some of us alive today weren't even alive to see. It goes without saying, they will be gone sooner than later. No one will be around to do otherwise. That's just how the passage of time works.

The good and bad news, is that it won't be that way forever, and we are destined to move on in as little as a couple of decades from now. This is unavoidable. The question is--will we be prepared when this shift finally happens? And when it does occur, how will we be able to move on from the dead era that is long since passed? What vision of the future will we have untied from the failure of the previous century? We're going to have to ask ourselves hard questions and accept some truths we were told to avoid. It will not be easy. Prepare accordingly!

That's all for this week, folks. I hope you've picked up the Rock and Roll Mercenaries anthology, and if you didn't know, I also recently finished the Psycho Mission serial on the Patreon. I also put out another episode of the podcast, this one on endings. There is no shortage of fun to be had over there, if you want it! There's still more to come after this, so hold on tight.

Summer's almost here! It's gonna be great.

Check out Rock and Roll Mercenaries here!

Weekend Lounge ~ Full Collapse

Welcome to the weekend!

Much has been said over the years about how the entertainment industry is currently suffering. Much has been written about how those on the inside, including actors actors and unions have destroyed both themselves and their credibility. However, I'm not sure there is a direct and obvious example to point to in order to really nail down the trend.

Until now.

I've mentioned this before in works like The Last Fanatics, and I'll say it again here. There is a certain breed of person that gets into the arts and entertainment not because they wish to connect with others but in order to put themselves at a higher class over them. A long time ago you could get past this for several reasons. The mainstream being the only viable choice and having a monopoly, putting yourself at the head of subcultures by weaseling your way through and saying the right platitudes, and the old favorite of simply buying credibility (like Bethesda saying they invented the First Person Shooter), were all popular choices.

However, it doesn't work anymore. Not in a fractured culture where no one really belongs anywhere unless your personality is to consume or to listen to people who consume more than you or to obey the company throwing its consumers pet treats every now and then. Too many people see this and have turned away, and the the ones with the power either don't notice it or are too far deep up their own rears to realize the problem. As a result, it all just implodes on itself.

Take the recent Writer's Strike, the strike you had to support no matter what or else you hated art. Remember that one? You weren't allowed to question what the terms really were, or how it benefited you as someone outside the industry, customer or artist yourself, or even if it was all just for show. As I covered in an earlier post, it was all more or less a shadow play. And with today's example you're about to see it unfold for what it is.

You will also see where the more recent vitriol around voice actors comes from. Again, it didn't fall from the sky. See how they involved themselves in this and only made themselves even more disliked by the people they are supposed to entertain. Lies, ego, unreality, and hate, are all plentiful, all to fight a cause that shouldn't threaten them in the first place. However it does because the audience have been pushed against them and they have to choose a side. Obviously, their employer is going to come first, but many don't want to accept it. These aren't valiant warriors doing battle for the Cause, they just want to look noble while making money.

All of this combines to make an industry of people that customers simply don't want to support. And, increasingly, they're not. The only way to turn this around is to overturn everything as it is. Unfortunately for them, it's looking less and less likely that it's ever going to happen. Not when there are too many alternate options.

Regardless, watch the above video and discover more details of the strike you were not supposed to know (because they didn't think anyone would bother looking) and understand just how little those in charge think of you. If you didn't know it before, you'll sure learn it now.

That's all for this week! June's here and summer is on the way, and with it, hopefully, the heat. We've got a lot coming to be excited for!

See you soon!

Psycho Mission has been completed! Check out the Patreon right now to read the serial of Book Two of Phantom War! What lies in wait in the corners of Menace Beach, and why exactly is the sky on fire? Read it today!

Weekend Lounge ~ No Space

Welcome to the weekend!

One of the most beloved movies of the 1990s is the film Office Space, which came out at the tail end. Must has been written and spoken of how it succeeds as a comedy, but little is expressed about why it works from a thematic perspective, or why it has aged as well as it has. For an in depth look, I recommend the above video for an analysis on how it has managed to remain relevant.

The subject also tackles what the purpose of work might actually be and why we've seemed to have lost perspective on the subject leading to the way things are in Current Year. As good as Office Space is, it isn't just interested in blandly declaring Work Is Bad. In fact, the main plot is more determined to show viewers that the issue stems not from Work, but Meaningless Work which poisons both the mind and the soul. The way the working world is currently set up is dated to a time and place when technology is not what it was, but also when we knew less about the effectiveness of certain jobs and rules that have been proven to not work so well.

I appreciate that the video attempts to go into these various topics that the movie brings up, including the ending that was almost ruined before rewrites saved it. The ending, also, is good at showing how much things have changed in the quarter of a century since Office Space has been made and how perhaps we are deliberately missing the point as to how we should advance in how things are currently operating.

It's interesting how one comedy movie from the 1990s (that more or less flopped in theaters) can manage to remain so relevant, and it isn't just because of the office setting. It is because it has a surprising amount of things to say on the very subject of work itself. Definitely watch the above video to see for yourself.

There is more to the film than we might have noticed on the surface. They really don't make them like that anymore.

In other news, Rock and Roll Mercenaries is out now, my story "Spirit Rock" one of the tales within. As mentioned before, it is the fourth tale in my Night Rhythm series. Let's talk a bit about the short story series next. We've got a bit to go over.

The Night Rhythm stories all star a three piece rockabilly band in the distant future on a far off forgotten backwater planet, hoping to bring some life to their drab surroundings. They are named Three Wolves, their members Daniel, Jordan, and Edward.

The first story, "Black Dog Bend" was first released in 2020 (Five years ago!) and stars Jordan, the upright bass player and romantic, as he is caught in a motel that repeats events in a permanent loop caused by a witch! Is that a hitman? This one was released in StoryHack #5.

The second story in the series, "Living Land" was released in 2021, starring the headstrong drummer Edward. After following a troubled fan to a mysterious back alley shop, they are pulled into a painting that is both dead and alive. But what is the secret? You'll have to read to find out. This one was in the first volume of Sidearm & Sorcery.

The third story, "Mad Wind" was released in 2022, and stars the mysterious guitarist Daniel. A fan spills his guts at the bar and reveals something sinister is haunting him. But what exactly is it? And how do you stop something you can't touch? This one was put out in Pulp Rock!

As mentioned, the newest story, "Spirit Rock" was just released! This one stars all three members (and their manager) as they stumble upon the ruins of a forgotten town by the coast. But is it really forgotten? And can they find their way home again? This tale is long, the longest I've released in any anthology so far! And, yes, it's in Rock and Roll Mercenaries, out now!

And that's all four of the stories (so far) of Three Wolves. There's more to come, but for now, if you want to read more, you now have the full available list! Thanks for reading and following the band's adventures! I'm sure the guys appreciate it, too.

That's all for this week! Have a good end of May is we soon spin into June and, hopefully better and more suiting weather. We're about due for some real warmth and some sun.

Read 15 tales of Hard Rock Adventure in Rock and Roll Mercenaries, out today!

New Release ~ Rock and Roll Mercenaries!

Find it Here!

This one has been a long time coming!

Today I'm proud to announce the official release of Rock and Roll Mercenaries anthology edited by Mistcreek Publishing, This brand new book contains fifteen exciting stories of hard rock adventures all inspired by and/or centered around the art of rock and roll music. Both a throwback and a tribute to the greatest musical style of the 20th century, and an inspiration to all the above writers, this is the kind of thing that could only come from NewPub.

You might recognize the above authors from various different projects over the years, but they all share two things in common: a love for pulp-inspired adventure stories and of the art of rock. Both of these aspects come together to form an anthology that is a celebration of two of the greatest things to come out of the 20th century as well as a look towards what might be laying in wait on the road ahead. As the world is getting gradually more and more reenchanted with has been lost by those in charge fumbling the ball, one has to wonder just how much the stories and music we lost along the way might help guide our way forward.

As the band X once said, "We knew the gutter, also the future." Despite all the sad songs, the cocky rants, the blazing fury, the overindulgent behavior, and the goofball antics, there is a truth waiting there under the surface waiting to be discovered from this nearly forgotten genre of music. If Rock 'n Roll never truly dies it will be because of that wild and carefree spirit that lies deep within its chest: a celebration of the joys of life that will never stop beating.

My stories have quite a lot of musical influence to them, some of which are even directly inspired by the music itself, and my entry into this anthology is no different. In fact, NR LaPoint of Mistcreek was kind enough to generate a song to tell you about it!

Harmonica included!

If you recognized a couple of names in there, well, there's a good reason. This tale is a new entry in my Night Rhythm stories starring the band Three Wolves. I've written three stories before, each starring a different band member. You might remember Daniel, Jordan, and Edward, three guys in a rockabilly band driving across a forgotten backwater planet in a distant future on a world time seems to have forgotten. "Spirit Rock" is a novelette starring all three, as well as their manager, who find themselves in a situation more dire than any they've seen so far. 

You see, Three Wolves are a band that exist to revive a forgotten music style in a future where such simple joys are on the edge of becoming extinct, a world where even technology has been discarded for the shadows and the shade. The band got together after rediscovering such forgotten treasures and, not seeing a future for themselves where they were, decided to wander out into the world to share it themselves. It is their life's mission and calling.

The leader and guitarist, Daniel, is the one most in touch with the intangible hidden in the gaps of the world, always distracted by things he can't explain. The bassist and rational one, Jordan, is the romantic that desperately wants to see more than he can see and tends to get caught being the band spokesman. The muscle and drummer, Edward (don't call him Eddie!), is the blunt instrument who doesn't care if the threat is man or monster, but will push through regardless. Then there's the manager who is in it to give the boys all he thinks they are owed, even at the cost of his well-being. Learn more about them all in "Spirit Rock", the grandest and best of these stories so far.

The way this story came together was rather simple. I wanted a tale that brought all these characters into the driver seat and gave a reason they would all need to act individually in a crazy situation. What better excuse than discovering a legendary town on the coast that was rumored to have up and disappeared one day? Why did it vanish? Was it even real in the first place? If so, what could possibly exist to destroy it all? What is waiting out there in the wilds of this backwoods world?

And how can a bunch of dudes that can only rock do anything about it?

Suffice to say, music is powerful. The band knows it, but its not a weapon to them: it's a way of life. That said, as Silver John taught us long ago, there is power in the audible that isn't quite understandable for those limited by their immediate physical sensations. And yes, this series of stories was very much inspired by those very stories written by Manly Wade Wellman. The difference is that I wanted to bring about the mysterious and powerful force of 20th century rock music in a place where its effects had been mostly forgotten and itself relegated to legend. Unlike the false advertising technique of selling rock as "rebellion" that's been a technique since the 1960s, I wanted to bring about rock's power to break tension and anxiety and strike through like a hammer through to the truth where emotions swirl about unchecked and entangled with hope.

Rock has been used as a weapon, an advertising technique, and an aesthetic, but I wanted these stories to cut to its essence of why it is so powerful. The depths of the blues, the warmth of the country, and the heights of the gospel, all inspiring to pick you up from the doldrums that threaten to ensnare you. Rock music consumed the music world for half a century for a good reason, and it is the same reason no other musical style can seem to replace it and never truly will. Much like how classical music has its place that can never be overthrown, so too does rock have a role no other can ever really fulfil, and I hope these stories can show how that might be.

[From L to R: Edward, Daniel, and Jordan]

I've never touched much on where the band itself comes from, but I don't think it matters as much as where they are going. The short story is they come from a small town like everyplace on this world, tucked away in a corner of the galaxy forgotten for progress among brighter stars waiting for better men, or so has been said. They are normal guys like you or me inspired to climb to greater heights than they thought they would.

Just like today we have younger generations taking inspiration from a past that was either demonized or deliberately buried. The main guys in Three Wolves find life in what was thought to be dead, finding light in what they were told was only darkness, and they have discovered adventure. In a sense, it is through the power, energy, and life, in the music, that they are able to discover more of who they are. Plus, it is eternally cool. What red-blooded male does not want to be cool?

But in "Spirit Rock" they have to face a different kind of forgotten world--one much different than the one they sought to discover. I could go a bit more into it, but I would much rather you read the tale for yourself. This is quite a fun story with a lot of moving parts (four protagonists will do that) and an ending that is the most outright cool I've penned so far. Of the four Three Wolves stories released, this one is my favorite so far. Read it and I think you will agree.

Are there more stories to come after "Spirit Rock" for the band? Yes, actually. I have one half written, another outlined, and a big finale I have yet to nail down. I like these guys and I want to see where their journey through the forgotten backwoods world takes them, and I would like to take you with me through these adventures.

Of course, Rock and Roll Mercenaries isn't just about me. It also contains 14 other stories by some top notch writers who love music and pulp-inspired adventure as much as I do. It's going to be a perfect summer read, too. Make sure you pick it up today!

Nothing can stop the rock!

Yes, the band put out an LP!

Chapter 13 of Psycho Mission just went up on the Patreon!

Weekend Lounge ~ Character Rot & Unchecked Ego

Welcome to the weekend!

It's been a bit since we did one of these, so I wanted to pick something of a bit more obscure subject to cover. This time I wanted to cover the current practice of character rot currently plaguing modern mainstream franchises and revivals. It isn't just an ignorance problem, it's an ignorance problem brought about by stubborn ego.

A lot of talk is spent about why so many properties forcibly change old things to "fix" them while a loyal cadre of people who got into it for what it originally was always complain about it. Contrary to popular belief, it isn't the customers who are wrong in these cases: it is the creators who willing ignore what they don't like or understand about the property and set about to "repair" its perceived problems. All while pop cultists who will consume anything let them uncritically demolish it because they too do not care much about the issue.

For an example of this very problem I suggest the above issue from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and franchise itself that has had one nasty identity crisis its entire existence, but only really became a problem when a certain sect of western obsessives got their foot in the door and started making demands instead of approaching the assignment with pure intentions. What you get is the mess above that completely misses the original intent of the project.

We go on a lot about how ideology is responsible for these trends, but the truth is that it all stems from an ignorant misunderstanding of a subject then, instead of correcting course, doubling down the way the ideology tells you to. In the end, it's ego. While artistic ego is real, when working with others one is meant to reign it in and collaborate to make the best of both worlds. At no point should you consider it carte blanche to run roughshod over everyone else and assume you are the final arbiter of what is right and good.

It's a strange narcissism that runs in this generation of creators that seems to be just about everywhere, even when it's completely undeserved. Whether in comics, TV, video games, and even books, there is a disturbing lack of humility to be found in it, even in something like an old stalwart property from the 1990s. Every 20th century IP is infected with this mentality now, and it appears to be completely inescapable.

However, what's not inescapable is the change in the independent spaces and NewPub. There you don't have to go through any of this decay because it's all owned by the original creators who have no aspiration to sell out to a dead industry for a quick buck. It's about building, not cashing in and going home. We have a duty to create, and we're going to do it.

In other news, there's a new podcast episode on the Patreon. This one is over an hour long and is about tertiary characters and creations and how they matter more than we might think. I also go on a bit where I think the industry is heading beyond this modern rut. It's an exciting one!

We've got quite a lot to look forward to.

Thanks again for all your support, and I'll see you next time!

15 Tales of Hard Rock Adventure! Preorder now!

Ready to Rock?

Find it Here!

I told you a bunch of news was coming!

The first thing I wanted to announce is that today marks another new free episode for the podcast on the Patreon. In this one I talk about the Post-Geek mentality we're going to have to decide on in order to move from the crumbling culture we're currently clinging to.

If you want more, join the Patreon for more episodes as well as the ongoing Psycho Mission serial and other goodies now and to come. I make sure to give you as much as I can for the support you give me. Believe me, ever little bit helps.

Next, you might have noticed the above advertisement. The next project I will be in is the Rock and Roll Mercenaries anthology out later this month! It's a book containing 15 adventures based on the music, spirit, and legends that formed out of the genre over its half-century history. The eBook version is up for preorder now, and even includes a custom soundtrack made for fun (which is also free!) based on the stories included.

For those curious as to what is the "tracklist" or the author roster for the anthology, I have included a helpful graphic below:

A lot of great writers included in this project. I'm excited to read it all for myself when I get my own hard copy. Until then, you can preorder the digital version here.

My story, "Spirit Rock", is a new Night Rhythms story, one that's been in the works for awhile. For those who don't know, I've written three stories each starring a member of the band Three Wolves before. "Black Dog Bend" from StoryHack #5, "Living Land" from Sidearm & Sorcery Volume One, and "Mad Wind" from Pulp Rock, each starred the bass player, the drummer, and the guitarist, respectively. the goal  was to show different aspects of this backwoods forgotten world where the unknown awaits around every corner. "Spirit Rock" is the sequel to all three of these, though you don't need to have read them to get it for yourself.

So what's it about?

"Spirit Rock" is a novelette that stars all three of the protagonists from those stories, as well as their manager. The titular Spirit Rock is a legendary town from when humanity touched down ages ago that was said to have disappeared into thin air. A beautiful woman arrives to tell them that it does in fact exist. But is she telling the truth, or is there more to this than she's letting on? What is the truth of Spirit Rock? You'll have to check out Rock and Roll Mercenaries to find out!

I'm proud of this one, as it's been a story I've had in my back pocket for some time without any real way of getting it out to readers, until now! If you like adventure, wonder, music, and myth, you'll definitely dig this one!

The commercial!

Whether it's the Patreon or an anthology of rock stories, or other things I can't reveal yet, there is plenty of stories of adventure to be found.

Rock n Roll might be dead as far as culture is concerned, but there is remains a power and mystique to the genre that has managed to last and influence the way we see things. As the hedonism and arrogance that had once encircled like a boa to crush the life from it fades into memory, what remains is a power and passion that cannot be replicated in the same way elsewhere. Art is immortal, reaching for something higher than the here and now, and of all the 20th century arts that have died in the transition to the 21st, it still retains that strength, remaining even as the worst of it fades away. And I think this anthology helps show that.

While times are changing there are truths that never will. Even if rock n roll wasn't destined to last, what originally drove its creation, its evolution, and its tenacity, over the half century it was a powerhouse, cannot be understated. There will never be anything else remotely like it, and that's probably a good thing.

But that also doesn't mean it's going away anytime soon. Rock n Roll, despite its irrelevance for nearly two decades now, still inspires and still exists on the fringes, which is the way it was always destined to end. It started in a garage, and that's where it should end. When a bunch of teenagers with more free time than sense decide to make some noise, they are telling us all the spirit will never die. And that's a fitting end to its legacy.

Thanks for reading! I know this post isn't the typical one we get around here, but I thought it was a necessary one. Times are changing and I still really don't know what that means yet, but I'm going to go with what I know regardless. What else can I do?

Rock on, and I'll see you next time!

The song based on my story! Be sure to read "Spirit Rock" in Rock and Roll Mercenaries, up for preorder here!

Lets Go for a Ride!

Find the project here!

Welcome back, everyone! Have I got a special post for you today.

We've been talking a lot about fresh ideas and new blood in the entertainment space. It's easy to point out defects and flaws with the way things are now, but few ever try to point out solutions to move forward. This is mostly because there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. The fact of the matter is that we are more divided than ever, and creating art and entertainment that can link us together is a much more difficult feat than ever.

The only thing to do is to work for it. It's just a natural consequence of the state of the modern world. Without shared culture, it's more or less a free for all.

But one thing the state of things allow for is new ideas and new approaches to art in a way we never considered before. See today's example, one I wanted to highlight for myself, that being Jacob Calta's 365 Infantry project. It's quite ambitious, so I'd like to talk about it today, because I don't think anyone is really giving it the views it deserves.

I first caught attention of creator Jacob Calta floating around PulpRev and Iron Age spaces, a creative guy with a lot of love for art and entertainment and a million different ideas rolling around in his head. Not only does he also compose music (I hired him to not only create the Star Wanderers' themes, but also for the ongoing Phantom War serial on the Patreon, for a very good reason), but he is also a writer of action, adventure, the weird, and everything in between. so when I discovered his project, 365 Infantry, I was surprised with its scope and ambition.

The best place to learn about it would be on the official site here, so I will also include some choice quotes as well as the above primer video for newcomers. There is much to discuss.

"365 Infantry is multi-narrative digital magazine like no other. It concerns the many friends, foes, and dangers of the 365th Infantry, a fighting force for freedom waging war on A.C.E.S., a computer network gone mad with power in the last city on Earth. The series stars a cast of hellraising wolves and their magnificent machines as they take on all manner of dastardly villains and bizarre creations in a future of post-atomic anarchy and technological tyranny.

"Born from classic sci-fi, film noir, westerns, and more, 365 Infantry tells of paradises lost, psychological torture schemes, gruesome frontier justice, and at the heart of it all, a war with a computerized goddess, all realized through vivid prose and striking illustrations.

"The series is broken up into five “branches,” covering two serials, two episodic stories, and one anthology, with a wide cast of fun and unique characters exploring this strange anthro future through pulp thrills and thought-provoking concepts and storylines."

Welcome to 365 Infantry!

At the heart of the project is a world where the machines have won, chaos reigns, and all that remains to fight it are anthropomorphic wolves who love of guns, bikes, and being cool. there are different main strands of stories for the project, but they can be overwhelming if you are new to it all. I knew I was a bit flummoxed where to start with it.

However, there is a simple answer. You can either read the serials on the site, or you can do what I did and buy the yearly anthologies which include all the stories released that year in order and you can read it for yourself without getting lost in the weeds. The very first collection is not only available for purchase on amazon, but it's also available as an add-on for the Kickstarter.

Yes, that is the highlight of today's post. Mr. Calta is looking to grow his project and keep it going, and the easiest way to do that is to introduce new readers. Jump right in and enjoy them all, or pick the style that most suits you. Whether it be the war against the machines, urban chaos and violence, or high speed action, each strand has its own character. However, the main character is the setting and figuring out just how all of this fits together.

If you are interested in dipping your toes in for a quick read, I might recommend the one that first caught my attention called Acc Cult. It gives a good framing of the world, the threats, and the sort of thing one has to watch out for in this wild world. It's also a very quick read.

And then after that, you can check out the Kickstarter here!

It's an entire world of action and adventure to explore (there's even an audiobook radio show!) which has no shortage of stories to dig into and explore. As someone who has been following Mr. Calta's progress for a long time, I asked if I could write a post to highlight his project, and I hope I am doing it justice with everything I've showed you so far.

Truth is that the world is an exciting place with much wonder to discover, and it feels like our art used to reflect that more than it does now. With the limiting shackles of outdated genre expectations holding us down we are free to do anything, and yet we choose nothing most of the time. I for one would like to highlight a project that instead does everything.

And you do have everything. There are many different tiers available in the project's Kickstarter, all of which offer many stories for you to enjoy. Explore for yourself to choose what looks most interesting, though I personally recommend the yearly collections as the best place to begin. you will also see Mr. Calta grow as a writer along this journey with us.

Whether you prefer physical, digital, or subscription, you have your pick of format. As said, there is much to choose from!

There is something for everyone.

That's all for today! Thank you for letting me share this project with you and I hope I successfully showed a side of the NewPub sphere you might not have considered before. There is a lot out there, much to sift through, but much more than we could have imagined even a decade ago. 365 Infantry is a result of this new space.

With over three years of stories currently out and about there is no shortage of 365 stories, so take a look and see what satiates your curiosity. There's simply too much to go over, even in a post like this. All I can say is to just dive right in!

Back the 365 Infantry Kickstarter here, and have a blast. It's a good time. That's all I've got today so I'll see you on the next post!

There's a lot of cool stuff on the way! I can't wait to show you when it's time.

Check out the Psycho Mission serial on the Patreon! We've just reached Chapter 7. Join and get the first book as well as a slew of podcast episodes and extra posts!

Weekend Lounge ~ The Cost of Flops

Welcome to the weekend!

We've gone over slop enough recently, so lets talk a bit about what happens when you rely on it for so long that it destroys the very industry you operate in. The above video from Red Letter Media decides to wade into the obvious reality that Hollywood is dying. Their conclusions might be different than some, but it is still very obvious as to what is happening.

The "success" of the Minecraft movie is a very telling one, and also depressing to think about for those who enjoy the artform. It is essentially a Snakes on a Plane, but successful. In other words, it's a movie that has made money due to the death of the medium.

for those who don't remember, Snakes on a Plane was a bad movie that had no marketing budget except to try to reel in folks with how bad it was. The entire marketing campaign was a meme before memes. You didn't want to see the movie to enjoy a quality product or have a good time at the cinema. They wanted you to watch something bad and give them the privilege of handing them money for it. It was an "intentionally bad" movie before that trend got kicked off. In essence, it was ahead of its time in a lot of ways.

However, it bombed. The mainstream audience still wanted good movies. They still wanted quality and effort put behind it. It was a sign the industry still had life in it because the audience still had expectations for the industry. They no longer do.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Minecraft Movie is only popular because it's a meme that people want to laugh at. They're going to the theater to trash it, to run roughshod over the place, and to cackle ironically at the product made to entertain them. I am not even discussing the quality of the movie itself: as RLM above shows, this is who is seeing the movie and this is the reason they are going to the theater. This is a sign of a dead medium.

As we've also discussed before, there is a lot of issues internally, as well. Sound design is a mess. The masters are retiring and dying off without sharing their secrets. CG is decaying despite requiring more people than ever before (to also work even longer hours). The overreliance on ancient IP is wearing out its welcome, even though nothing new is being made that can seem to connect with audiences. All of this is a sign of an industry that has lost the plot and has no idea how to move forward. That's without going into how those inside the industry appear to have no connection of understanding of their audience at all anymore.

It's all just a giant cluster of confusion.

On top of it, as they also report, the other movies on the highest grossing films of 2025 (so far) list, are all bombs. None made their budget back, and considering how much they spent to be made, breaking even wouldn't even be enough. All of this is the clearest pattern of a dead industry on the way out. It could have been avoided, but we are past that point now.

No one is going to the theaters for "Hollywood Magic" anymore. They are either going to laugh at it, or not at all. They are attending IP farm entries less and less, and walking away at increasing rates. Not even the overseas market is interested like they once were. It is a sign of the times and another market that the 20th century is over. We aren't going back to where we once were ever again. All we have is what lies ahead. And we have no idea what that is.

And for those who keep pointing excitedly to their own TVs in the comfort of their own homes: There's still no money in streaming. No one has yet to figure out what a hit is or how to even measure it. They will continue to strike over this issue, but the bigger problem is that there isn't any feedback on the level of the box office or Nielsen ratings for streaming. Especially not in the online space where bots and paid agents clutter social media space. These are glorified ads more likely to annoy potential audiences than anything else.

All of this is also without going into the loss of shared culture. There is no reason to watch something you aren't sure if you're going to like if there's no one to talk about it with. What's the point? Water cooler talk has changed.

In fact, everything has changed. That is how the passage of time works. While the world we grew in is long gone, so is the world of even a decade ago. Old systems are falling away and will eventually leave the field clear for new ways going forward.

We're going to have to explore it ourselves, it seems. That's fine. There are plenty of excited creatives in indie spaces willing to do what they can to entertain you instead. until we figure out how to rebuild again, this is our best bet going forward.

Personally, I have the Psycho Mission serial currently ongoing at the blog (with a just-released podcast episode about it here!) as well as other projects on the way. But I'm also just one of many working as much as we can in a landscape with no real direction forward. There are plenty of others, including one below I'd like to end today's post on.

I would once again like to thank you for reading. It's been a long ride so far with no clear destination ahead. I appreciate you joining me as we figure out our path through the wasteland. Hopefully one day we'll find the way out.

Until next time!

For something new, check out the 365 Infantry project! Wolves, motorcycles, guns, robots, and the apocalypse! There's nothing quite like it!

Weekend Lounge ~ Today the Slop, Tomorrow the World

Welcome to the weekend!

It's been a bit of a weird couple of weeks, and I've spent it in a little bit of shock. This is mostly because I did not realize how much the entertainment industry has deteriorated behind the scenes in such a short time. It's actually amazing to look at, and I wanted to share some of what I've seen today. (Hat tip to Pipkin Pippa and her viewers for some of this knowledge. Their ability to discover cringe kino remains undefeated.)

We've talked a little about what slop is and why it's here, but I don't believe we discussed how it's going to be like living through the era of entertainment its going to bring forth. Long story short, it's going to be around longer than you'd prefer. It's going to change everything, while changing absolutely nothing at the same time. To explain how will take a bit.

For a good summation of how things are now check out the above video. It isn't going to stop there, either. Just as we've accepted deteriorating standards in entertainment over the years, we're eventually going to accept the very things we used to laugh at as parodies on old Mad TV and other sketch shows of the 20th century as normal. It's not just a joke anymore. Now it's real.

We wanted it, and now we've got it.

Again, the era of slop did not fall out of the sky. Audiences did not decide overnight they were fine with automated beltline production fashioned around the shallowest of tropes and clichés to be consumed and then disposed of instantly for the next. They were trained to be that way for decades by an industry that wanted walking wallets instead of patrons. It is a fundamental misunderstanding of art at the heart of it.

Do you want to see what entertainment is going to become? Watch the video below. Do not skip around, do not stop early, and do not turn down the volume: give yourself the true experience of the future and watch the entire thing. This is the exact product the industry has been striving to fashion for decades as it normalizes lowering standards in both creativity and production quality. This is the future of slop.

This isn't a joke. There's no punchline here. It isn't a parody channel or an old sketch from when comedy shows were relevant. This is a real channel with over a quarter of a million subscribers on YouTube, and this is the level of content they produce. This video is only one example of it.

The channel in question isn't alone, either. There are plenty of others, some of which make similar product based on web novels that span hundreds of chapters. Yes, authors are also responsible for the state of things as they are. We can't just excuse it with the desire to "get paid" when we are contributing to things like the above existing and being normalized. Creating is about more than just making money. There isn't any attempt at connection here, just trope lists checked off (or subverted!) to give the audience the bare minimum to swallow before moving on to the next thing on their playlist. It's deliberately designed to be forgotten.

We don't want to admit it, but this is the future of the entertainment industry. We are pushing towards this every day we accept a Borderlands movie or an Avatar sequel. Accepting the bare minimum is not making anything better, and we know this, but we don't seem to want to do anything about it. We've been trained to excuse a downhill slide as an all or nothing proposition, as if the people in charge own us lock, stock, and barrel.

This is the future we chose.

And to be honest, it might be too late to do anything about it now. The genie is fully out of the bottle. It isn't about AI: it's what lead to AI being used in the first place. No one actually cares as long as it gets them their content faster. That's a truth we have to accept, and one we've allowed become reality. It can't be escaped. It has to be faced.

This is what a growing number of audience members want to consume. This is the direction we want to go in, as an audience. It's just slapped together clichés, vague characters and ideas, and the lowest possible quality threshold. What's worse is that they even have member's content.

I'm not kidding. Here is the only comment on the above video:

This is the future of mainstream entertainment.

We all know this, even if we won't say it out loud. It's a completely avoidable future, but it requires the sort of effort we simply do not wish to engage in. That is what makes it inevitable. The slop future is just ahead. 

I wish I had a more positive end result to tell you, but we all know this is the end of this road. It doesn't go in any other direction than this one. All we can do is push for more and support those who wish to do as much. At the end of this road lies normalized slop, and it's getting closer every day. Letting Hollywood take your money is not going to fix it.

In fact, they will make it even worse. They already are.

Unfortunately, that's just the way it is now. Who knows what the future holds from this point forward, but it will only change if we push to change it ourselves. Simply waiting for the old dying industries to wake up is a losing game. We either more forward together, or this continues, and the slide down into the slop only becomes more pronounced.

The future is up to us, so lets build it together. We have to work forward to create something else: a new way forward. I believe we can do it, together.

Have yourself a fruitful Easter and I'll see you again soon!

Psycho Mission is currently running! Check out here!

Psycho Mission is Go!

Find it Here!

Finally, it's begun!

The next instalment of the Phantom War series, Psycho Mission, is now starting on the Patreon. Join now and you can catch up with part 1, as well as get the full version of the track composed by one Jacob Calta, on top of the near 20 episodes of the podcast. Quite the bang for your $5. Right now, three chapters are up, and will be coming two a week until we reach the end by May. Join up now, because it's going to be wild!

After the events of Phantom Mission, Menace Beach has only deteriorated further with the gangs now turning even more violent. A large group called the Dead Heads are now throwing their weight around, demanding loyalty from the others. They even arranged a big brawl to decide which gang gets to be king of the city!

But is that all there is to it?

Trash is a member of the 47th Street Psychos, a young man with no way out but through. With a collapsing city, a mysterious girl missing someone of her own, a detective with more guts than sense, and a creeping menace hiding in the shadows, can he fight against a world that wants to exterminate itself?

And why is the sky rumbling?

The Phantom Mission is over.

The Psycho Mission has begun.

Read it here today!

Chapter 2 is already up!

As you can tell, I haven't posted much recently because I was trying to get all of this together. After this instalment, there is one more book to go, Final Mission, which I have only begun outlining. In the meantime I am also planning for a crowdfund for a physical release of Phantom Mission. The plan for that is this summer. We'll see how it all shakes out!

In case you couldn't tell by the description, this series is my most bizarre one so far. There's a lot of action, a lot of weird, and odd turns I did not expect when I began this journey. As a consequence, the last book is probably going to end up longer than the first two. It's just unavoidable with how out of control it became.

I wanted to thank everyone here and on the Patreon for your support. It's been quite the journey over the years, and I never would have expected doing what I'm doing now without you.

At the same time, there are other surprises on the way. I have a book in the works with a publisher, a few short stories coming down the pipeline (and others still waiting for submissions to open), and of course the Phantom War serial. On top of it there is a big unannounced project I've hinted at before that is shaping up in crazy directions.

I've got a few more ideas for a serial after Phantom War is done, and there are many short stories I have to get to on top of it. you might wonder just what I could possibly do once that one finishes (Trust me, it gets nuts in ways I did not anticipate), but there is a plan. I might not always know what it is, but my muse seems to. Regardless, there's a lot of cool stuff coming up.

I hope you're having a fruitful 2025 so far. We're almost a third of the way through already. It's been a strange one, but it really does feel like we are in the midst of a shift. Who really knows what it'll be like when we come out the other side?

Anyway, have a good week and I will see you again soon enough. The next Psycho Mission chapter should also be released tomorrow, so look forward to that.

We've got a lot of surprises ahead! As OldPub crashes and burns, NewPub soars over the remains into a whole new world.

I 'm eager to see just where it ends up!

Read Psycho Mission (and more!) on the Patreon!

Weekend Lounge~ The Men Are Here

Welcome to the weekend!

Last time we questioned where the men are, so lets take a look at where they've gone. The above video continues the recent trend in the last few years of the return of adventure stories outside the mainstream. Where are the men? They're reclaiming what's been lost.

It's hard to understand if you don't know or remember what it was like back when I wrote The Last Fanatics, but at the time such things were not ever discussed. The pulps, fairy tales, penny dreadfuls, and basically anything that wasn't "approved" billion dollar corporate IP, was thought of as complete worthless trash with no value at all.

You'd have folk bragging about the "woman who wrote the original draft" of the Space Battle movie, but said people would never read a Leigh Brackett story, if they even knew what her name was. And of course Flash Gordon and the old serials are trash and valueless, because people who hate adventure stories told them they were years ago. No one ever confirmed any of this, it was just assumed to be true. The people in charge would never ever lie to you, after all. Right?

They did, though. I grew up raised on a lot of different forms of art and I never cared about age. I was as likely to watch Rocky & Bullwinkle as I was to watch the new (at the time) Spiderdude series. What mattered is if it was good. But we all know there was a push to declare "Kids wouldn't engage with old things" at the time, and it wasn't because they wouldn't. It was because those in control of said billion dollar corporate IPs didn't want competition. So they made sure they didn't have any, which ended up chasing a lot of normal people away. Though this isn't a new phenomenon.

But that kind of Big Lie doesn't last forever. As mainstream entertainment declined in the '00s before completely falling to pieces in the '10s, men still wanted to have fun and blow off steam. They wanted stories of exciting adventure and derring-do, of cool settings and strange places, and protagonists that weren't going to mop--they were going to do what needed to be done. Basically they wanted what had died when the men's adventure industry was strangled to death back in the 1990s and the Thor Power Tool Case obliterated the backlog of classic adventure stories in the 1980s. In the modern age there are really only two places to find it now.

The first is to scour used bookstores and online shops for old men's adventure books (like the above video goes into), digging for treasure that the mainstream doesn't want you to have anymore. The other is to go digging through independent and NewPub writers to find new stories in that vein that otherwise wouldn't be allowed to exist either. Regardless of which path you choose (I recommend both!) if a male wants to find an adventure tale to get his blood pumping, he is going to have to fight for it. There is simply no other choice if we wish to reclaim what was lost and build something new.

It's not going to be easy, but this is the point we have to build from in order to make a space for an audience that was more or less left behind over a quarter of a century ago. Remember that even mega-popular franchises like Goosebumps that did manage to reach males were also sabotaged and never explored by the publishers, because they just don't care. You will never find this material from any of the people in charge of OldPub. They do not want it.

And yet, it still exists. Not only as buried treasure from the past but also in the present. You only have to be willing to dig and your efforts will be rewarded. The important part is that we never give up, because only we at this point can't turn things around. No one else is going to do so, especially not in the dying industry being left behind.

So keep your chin up. The men are here, and they're staying. No matter what OldPub says or does, we're sticking around. Now to build back what was lost to show them just what they've lost out on. We can do it, because nobody else will. It's up to us.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time. Have a good weekend!

Don't forget to check out the new issue of Cirsova! Stories of cool protagonists, crazy settings, and wild action await you!

Weekend Lounge ~ Where Have the Men Gone?

Find the post in question here!

Welcome to the weekend! 

Today we're going to look into the question as to why males have been not only cast out of the book industry, but are actively ignored and looked down on as readers by those still inside. This is not a new issue. Where did all this hostility come from, and why is a growing problem?

First, I will direct you to author Kristin McTiernan's Substack and her recent interview with Louis L'Amour's son, Beau. It's quite an interesting read. If you do not know who Louis L'Amour is, well, then that is very indicative of the very problem we are facing today. Let us just say he is the top selling and most influential western writer of the 20th century (the only ones who come close are Max Brand and Zane Grey), and that he isn't as well known today is a sign of what we are talking about. There is an ambivalence, at best, to even bothering to approach half of the population as potential customers. That is not a sign of a healthy industry.

This isn't a new problem, but is one that is finally being addressed today after over a quarter of a century being blatantly ignored by the top dogs in charge of the old industry. Why don't mean read and why does an entire industry seem uninterested in learning why?

The above video attacks the most recent blow-up over the "Men's Fiction" problem and what to do about it. She isn't the first one to talk about this, not even recently, but it is a sign that more and more folks are waking up to the issue and wish to do something about it.

I recommend both the video and the interview linked above, but we all well know there is a bias against men in writing, specifically men who don't want to write for women or middle-aged urbanite women's grievance study pet projects. But this is the nature of OldPub and what it has allowed itself to become, which is a gatekeeper for letting in mediocrity at best above all else. They use their trope checklist-adled brains to check the right boxes both for the author their eyes are set upon and for the works they want to pump out to their increasingly microscopic readership.

This is who runs the industry now:

And they'll take their dying husk of an industry with them to the grave. There is no returning from this level of tone-deaf behavior. OldPub is dead and not coming back.

You might lament that it ended up this way, but that's how it was always going to be when the industry didn't select for intent, ambition, or sociability, only on those who faked it until they made it. Once said people got in, the mask dropped, the gates swung shut, and now you've been subverted. The only thing that happens now is terminal decline.

Should have kept vigilant! But they didn't, and now they are paying for it, swirling down the drain to irrelevance. It cannot be stopped now because there is no one in charge with the desire to change course. Like all cultists, the need to go down with the ship far outweighs the desire to turn before barreling into the rocks. This result is what they want.

Of course, this is all only if you're still focused on the old industry. OldPub is dead because old things die. It was always going to happen, we just didn't know how or when, and while lamenting about how it happened is natural, eventually we're going to have to accept it's gone, never to return. And at that point we will have to move onto something new and built on sturdier ground. Most of us already have: it's called NewPub.

So what is a good way forward out of this? Perhaps this response from McTiernan's interview with L'Amour's son should help clear it up:

And this is exactly the sort of thing that is going to carry NewPub forward into the future. There is no other way, if we want to both connect to the past and find a new road to travel down, then to use the last ideas that gave any sort of success as to how to reach abandoned audiences.

We have our path forward, and nothing is going to stop us. Especially, not anyone who still clings to a dead industry while pretending it is still vital.

At the end of the day, this destruction isn't anything new. We all know who is doing it and why, and they have no problem telling you themselves. Now that we know it, we can work to building something much better than what we're leaving behind.

And it's about time!

The newest issue of Cirsova is out now! My story, Void Railway, a tale of creeping terror in space and the Enforcer fighting against it, is included. Check it out to see just what NewPub has to offer!