Friday, September 7, 2012

Derrick Ferguson Hunts Down The EXILES OF THE DIRE PLANET





 Paperback: 256 pages
 Publisher: PulpWork Press; 1ST edition (September 15, 2009)
 Language: English
 ISBN-10: 0979732921
 ISBN-13: 978-0979732928


When last we saw Garvey Dire, he was doing pretty well for himself.  Oh sure, his mission to Mars had gone wrong, leaving him near death.  But then he was miraculously transported 47,000 years into the past.  And in that past, Mars is not a dying planet.  Indeed, it thrives with life including the Muvari tribe which is mostly populated by warrior women.  The males of the tribe are few and are guarded as they assure the continued survival of the tribe.

Garvey survives a number of harrowing adventures to rise to a level of prominence in the Muvari tribe as well as marrying the gorgeous and deadly Ntashia, the finest swordswoman of Mars.  Garvey even managed to prevent World War III back on Earth in his native time period and save the life of his best friend.  Salt-N-Pepa could very well have been talking about Garvey in their song “Whatta Man”

When we catch up again with Garvey Dire he’s facing an army of Galbran.  They’re a rival tribe of cannibals who have an old score to settle with Garvey and an older one to settle with the Muvari.  And while he’s trying to hold off this army in a remote outpost with but a handful of Muvari warrior women, he’s also trying to figure out how to handle the Muvari custom of a man having more than one wife.  It’s not as hard one might think since his first wife Ntashia has made the arraignments for the marriage and is actively encouraging it.  It’s custom, y’know and when on Mars, do as the Martians do.

It’s almost a relief for Garvey to discover that his old rival and fellow Earthman Arnold Stechter survived the events of “Dire Planet” and is alive and well.  He’s lost his memory of his life on Earth and doesn’t recall that he and Garvey are bitter enemies.  But Stechter hasn’t forgotten his ambition and desire for power.  He has gathered together outcast warrior women from a dozen different tribes and forged them into a savage, bloodthirsty army.  And with these EXILES OF THE DIRE PLANET he intends to conquer and rule Mars.  But it’s a plan that has to begin with the overthrow of Ledgrim, the hidden Muvari capital city.  And it’s Garvey Dire who will unwittingly help Stechter achieve that goal…

If you’ve read and enjoyed “Dire Planet” then you’ll certainly want to read the sequel.  Not only does Joel continue to explore and reveal new layers of his Martian culture but he also gives us new layers of his protagonist.  Garvey’s naturally hesitant about entering into another marriage when he’s already got a wife he’s perfectly happy with.  Garvey Dire exhibits more maturity in this multiple marriage thing than you would expect from a hero in this genre.  Garvey’s still learning his role and place in this world and he sometimes wishes things would go a little slower.

One thing he’s not slow at is facing down the hoards of enemies thirsting for his blood in this one.  If this book doesn’t have the highest body count of any of Joel’s books, its right up there in the top three.  Just the first fifty pages of the book has a higher death rate than most complete novels.  And this is before Garvey finds out about Stechter and his army of exiles.

EXILES OF THE DIRE PLANET is an enjoyable book but a demanding one.  Joel seems determined to give readers more bang for their buck and while he certainly does that it also means that there’s a lot more you to pay attention to attention to and keep track of.  The only complaint I have with the book is that in order to get in as much information as he can, Joel will occasionally have characters explain some aspect of Martian life and culture to Garvey, even during scenes where it seemed to me that concerning themselves with surviving whatever is trying to kill them should be of paramount importance.  Also there’s the character of Naegrik the Galbran.   While he provides Garvey with a sidekick who’s just as much of an outsider as he is, Garvey’s acceptance of his conversion from full-blown cannibalism to bosom buddy and lifelong pal is a bit too quick for my taste. But I liked how the other characters kept an eye on Naegrik when he was around and constantly reminded Garvey that hey, this guy grew up eating people.

But the main thing here is the adventure and Joel delivers it with great style and tight control over the half dozen subplots he’s got going.  And EXILES OF THE DIRE PLANET ends with a cliffhanger that will demand that you get the third book in the series; “Into The Dire Planet” to find out what happens next.  And for my money that’s exactly what Pulp, whether Classic or New is supposed to do.  Enjoy.

For more information about Joel Jenkins please visit:

The Vaults of Caladrex  http://www.joeljenkins.com/
Pulpwork Press   http://www.pulpwork.com/

And Joel has kindly provided a Dire Planet Compendium that you can find at The Vaults of Caladrex if you go to the right side of the blog and scroll down until you hit the keyword ‘Dire Planet Compendium’

And if you buy EXILES OF THE DIRE PLANET direct from PulpWork Press you get a 20% discount by entering the following code: 5YRZ6A8W

Also, this same code is good for a 20% discount on all of Joel Jenkins’ titles and most of the other Pulp Work Press titles!

Derrick Ferguson Takes A Trip To The DIRE PLANET





 Paperback: 248 pages
 Publisher: PulpWork Press; 1St Edition edition (September 15, 2009)
 Language: English
 ISBN-10: 0979732948
 ISBN-13: 978-0979732942


Not being an historian I’m not sure if Edgar Rice Burroughs created the Planetary Romance genre.  But I am certain that he refined it into something so unique and special that all anybody has to do is say “John Carter” or “Dejah Thoris” or “Barsoom” and most everybody even remotely acquainted with Pulp will know what you’re talking about.  Planetary Romance or Sword and Planet as some like to call it is a wildly popular genre in its own right.  Burroughs having struck great success with his Mars books pulled off the same trick with his Carson of Venus books.   In the 1980’s I discovered other books/series in the genre written by Lin Carter, Michael Moorcock, Alan Burke Akers and even…sigh, the “Gor” books written by John Norman.

Suffice it to say without going into detail that some of them I enjoyed and others I shook my head in downright disbelief that they ever got published.  I can happily say that DIRE PLANET by Joel Jenkins is one that I’m glad got published as it’s a wonderful example of what New Pulp is about.  Joel embraces the conventions of Burroughsian Planetary Romance but it does it with a modern day eye.  As a result it’s a book that at once feels familiar and fresh.  Just when you think you know which way the plot is going to go, Joel manages to find another fork in the road that takes you someplace else.

The Earthman taken from his native world to the planet Mars this time around is Garvey Dire and he doesn’t get there by mystical means.  He gets there by spaceship, the NASA Mars Orbiter.  Garvey Dire’s mission is not just one of exploration and discovery.  His mission is one of vital importance to the continued security and safety of The United States.  China wants to establish their own base on Mars.  And so the race is on.

It’s a race that ends in disaster when Garvey’s ship crash lands on Mars.  With his leg broken, losing air and blood, it seems as if Garvey’s story is over.  But that all changes when he sees the image of a gorgeous green skinned swordswoman in armor.  And it’s because of that image his life is saved as he’s transported 50,000 years back into the past and to a Mars unlike any he’s ever dreamed of.

It’s all here; flashing swords against ancient super science.  Hideous beasts and their even more hideous masters.  Noble warriors battling against grotesque humanoid creatures of astounding cruelty.  Captures.  Chases.  Escapes.  Fates worse than death.  And romance.  Garvey Dire finds it all on ancient Mars.

But what really makes DIRE PLANET a cut above other Burroughs inspired Sword and Planet stories is the political element.  Once Garvey gets hurtled back to ancient Mars, Joel doesn’t forget the U.S./China conflict and indeed, the way he cuts back and forth between the two time periods is in true Burroughs tradition as he was expert at juggling two sets of characters, leaving one set in a nail-biting cliffhanger at the end of a chapter then bouncing over to the other set of characters for a chapter then leaving them in an inescapable trap then going back and-

Well, you get the idea.  It’s a good technique that never failed to work for Burroughs because it’s a surefire way of keeping the story going.  Joel even manages to resolve the conflicts in both time periods in a manner that while it’s clever it also involved just a little too much bouncing back and forth through time for my taste.  Not that I’m opposed to time travel, mind you.  But I think that Joel figured that the only way out was to pinball various characters back and forth between the two time periods.  It’s a little bit dizzying but hey, if you’ve hung on with Garvey Dire all that way, you’re going to go on to the end and you won’t be disappointed.

I can’t finish this review without mentioning two of my favorite bits in the book; Number one is the revelation of who The President of The United States. And number two is that Joel apparently is psychic because he predicted one of the most popular devices in use today way back in 2005 when this book was first published.

So should you read DIRE PLANET?  You certainly should.  If you’ve never read anything by Joel Jenkins this is the perfect place to start.  Joel has been writing what we’re now calling New Pulp as long as I’ve known him and we’re talking roughly around 15 years.  And in all that time he’s built up quite the respectable amount of work.  DIRE PLANET is one of his best.

For more information about Joel Jenkins please visit:

The Vaults of Caladrex  http://www.joeljenkins.com/

Pulpwork Press   http://www.pulpwork.com/

If you buy it direct from PulpWork Press you get a 20% discount by entering the following code: 5YRZ6A8W

Also, this same code is good for a 20% discount on all of Joel Jenkins’ titles and most of the other Pulp Work Press titles!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Kickin' The Willy Bobo With: JOE BONADONNA


DERRICK FERGUSON: Who is Joe Bonadonna?

JOE BONADONNA: Well, I'm a single guy pushing 61. I'm of Sicilian-Irish blood, with some Spanish (my paternal great grandmother was born in Spain), German, Scottish, Greek and, so I'm told by older relatives, Ethiopian blood going back hundreds of years when the Moors and Ethiopians were in Spain. Both sides of my family are doing the Ancestry. com thing, and we even have a private Facebook page. I live alone; my relationship with a woman I've known as a friend since 1976 came to an end in November, though we remain friends. Never been married, have no kids, no brothers, no sisters. I do have a rather large family of cousins, and a few aunts and uncles who are still living. I'm quite a chatterbox and a sense of humor helps me survive.



DF: Where do you live and what do you tell the government you do for a living?

JB: I was born, bred and still live in Chicago. The IRS knows that in 2010 I was "forced" into early retirement when the pharmaceutical chain I worked for since 1978 closed their three main warehouses in my area. I've pretty much been writing articles for Black Gate magazine's website, blogging a little, writing my stories and networking ever since. I'm looking for part-time work, but have resigned myself to the fact that I may not find a job. So I'm riding it out best I can until January 2014, when I turned 62. Hopefully there will be some social security left. Do you think they'll give me all the money I put into it since 1969 -- right now? No? I didn't think so.

DF: How long have you been writing?

JB: I've been writing, off and on, since grade school. I wrote my first "story" in 5th grade, about 1962-63. It was a sequel to "Nightmare," an episode of the original THE OUTER LIMITS. I later wrote a play I had hoped to "produce and direct" in my parents' basement. It was called "The Return of the Greatest Monster Ever," a sequel to FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN. In high school I wrote a sequel to JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS that I called "The Glass Impala." After that I wrote poems, songs and song lyrics, dabbled in fiction, etc. In 1983 I wrote a screenplay based on my job, and between 1997 and 2001 I wrote and co-authored 5 screenplays, none of which sold. I was a board member of the Chicago Screenwriter's Network, from about 1998 to 2002

DF: From your blog I gather that you’re a major Sword and Sorcery/Heroic Fantasy fan. When did you discover the genre?

JB: I discovered sword and sorcery (and heroic fantasy) in 1970, quite by accident. In 1969 a guy who sat next to me in high school physics turned me on to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. A year later, while looking for more of the same, I stumbled across copies of deCamp's THE TRITONIAN RING, and Leiber's THE SWORDS OF LANKHMAR in a used bookstore. I bought them because they looked interesting. The Ballantine Books Adult Fantasy Series got me hooked. And then I discovered Robert E. Howard.

DF: MAD SHADOWS is one of the best reviewed New Pulp books to be published recently. You describe it as gothic noir. I’ve also heard it called “hard-boiled fantasy” Tell us about it.
JB: MAD SHADOWS: THE WEIRD TALES OF DORGO THE DOWSER . . . ah, I do call it "gothic noir." Don't ask why, lol! I like the sound of it. It's sword and sorcery with a film noir edge. Adding elements of film noir from the 1940s and 1950s, the old "Black Mask" type of story, and Warner Brothers gangster flicks of the 1930s were my inspirations. I wanted to attempt something different with my sword and sorcery.



DF: How did the character of Dorgo The Dowser develop?

JB: Dorgo the Dowser came about after watching THE MALTESE FALCON on television back in 1978. He just popped into my head, as Robert E. Howard said of Conan. Then I saw a TV Guide listing for the old GORGO monster film of the 1960s, and I just changed the "G" to a "D" and there you go!  At that time all I knew about "dowsing" was that it was about searching for water -- "digging" for it, so to speak, as Sam Spade dug for clues. A rerun of the old THE RIFLEMAN television show, wherein an old dowser was trying to find water, gave me the idea to add a nickname to Dorgo. Hence, Dowser. It was a last-minute bit of inspiration in 2008 that gave me the idea of having Dorgo use a dowsing rod as a "magical, investigative tool." I had NO idea until shortly before MAD SHADOWS was published that dowsing rods are also metaphysical tools: there are many types of dowsing rods, and each has its own use.

DF: Tell us about your future plans for the character.

JB: Ah, Dorgo's future. Let's see. . . . I have written 3 new tales of Dorgo the Dowser. I hope to keep writing his tales until I feel his time has passed, until I feel that his stories do not live up to what I accomplished in MAD SHADOWS. Haven't thought much about his "arc," but I have made him a bit tougher, a little more "hard-boiled." Because the stories (except for one thus far) are written in first person, I try to have the tales revolve around a main character who goes through changes, so to speak, with Dorgo as the narrator. These are his adventures, but since I don't really write the lone wolf or "barbarian solo" type of thing, I like to feature other characters: I like dialog with my action, human drama and interaction. I also like working in the 15-K to 25-K novella arena, and I may or may not write a full novel about him. I do, however, have one idea in mind starring Dorgo and some of his recurring cast of characters. This would be a sort of SEVEN SAMURAI and THE WILD BUNCH sort of tale. Dorgo's swan song? Who knows. I don't.

DF: Anything else in the works that we should know about and be on the lookout for?

JB: As far as my upcoming projects are concerned: I have a space opera, THREE AGAINST THE STARS, coming out later this year or early next year from Airship27 Productions. A new tale of Dorgo the Dowser, a novella titled "The Order of the Serpent," will be published by Weird Tales, on the PDF version of their magazine, sometime in 2013, I believe. Another Dorgo tale, "The Book of Echoes," will be published next year in Heathen Oracle's eBook anthology, ARTIFACTS AND RELICS. A third tale of Dorgo, "The Girl Who Loved Ghouls," has yet to find a home; I tend to write "long," in the novella format, and this often works against me, lol! My first sword and soul story, "The Blood of the Lion," will be appear in 2013, I believe, in the second GRIOTS anthology, GRIOTS 2: SISTERS OF THE SPEAR.

I'm just finishing up a sword and sorcery pirate novel, WATERS OF DARKNESS, that I'm writing with David C. Smith, based on an idea of his. Dave has been writing and publishing since about 1978. He is the author of ORON, THE FALL OF THE FIRST WORLD TRILOGY, SEASONS OF THE MOON, CALL OF SHADOWS, and the upcoming DARK MUSE. Our good friend, Charles Saunders, "introduced" us back in 1977. Dave and I are also working on a sword and planet story, "To Save Hermesia," for a shared world anthology. I have at least three more Dorgo stories planned, and hope to write. Beyond that, the future is wide open.

DF: You’ve also got a musical background. Tell us about that.

JB: My musical "career" began when I took my first guitar lesson in October of 1964, about 8 months after The Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. My folks' basement and garage were the entertainment centers in my old neighborhood. I played in bands, wrote lyrics and songs for the next 20 years, while writing fiction on the side. I was a very, very minor barstar on the local music scene here in Chicago. In 1984 I hung up the guitar and concentrated solely on writing sword and sorcery, with occasional excursions into whimsical fantasy, horror, and screenplays. Arthritis in both hands makes it difficult and painful for me to play guitar nowadays, so I rarely touch my "six-string razor."  While I miss being up on stage, I don't miss the work involved in rehearsing and traveling. But standing on stage . . . that's pure fun, pure joy.



DF: What’s your thoughts on New Pulp?

JB: I've always said of myself: "I'm a pulp fiction author. I write pulp fiction." There are some comments about pulp fiction in MAD SHADOWS, and a discussion of my influences in the Afterword of the book. I've always loved pulp fiction, even before I knew the term. That's pretty much what I first started reading in the science fiction, fantasy and horror magazines: Analog, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Astounding, Ellery Queen, etc. I really wasn't aware of New Pulp until 2011, when I went to my first Windy City Pulp and Paperback Book Convention with Dave Smith. This is where kismet plays into the picture: A friend took me over to the Airship27 table to show me some books. I got to talking with Ron Fortier and Rob Davis, and learned we had a mutual friend in Charles Saunders; he's at the center of everything!!! As it turns out, Ron was a member of the same writer's group that Charles and I belonged to back in the 1970s, SPWAO, the Small Press Writers' and Artists' Organization. Well, one thing led to another . . . Dave Smith published CALL OF SHADOWS thru Airship27, my space opera THREE AGAINST THE STARS will be published by Airship27, and all sorts of connections were made.

I embrace New Pulp -- it's a breath of fresh, and yet familiar air in this heavily-competitive world of writing and publishing. There are literally scores of excellent writers involved in this, as well a a large number of great pulp houses. A variety of "genres" that you won't find in bookstores. Incredible amount of new and old pulp fiction characters. I've made many new friends through New Pulp, and have become a part of a number of fun and informative Facebook Groups. I am proud and happy to be associated with New Pulp and all the writers, artists and publishers I have met through friends and Facebook. To some it all up: Pulpae fabula victa!

DF: What’s a typical Day In The Life of Joe Bonadonna like?

JB: A day in my life is pretty dull and routine. I wake up, make coffee, check my emails and Facebook pages, write, read, dinner, television or hanging out with friends. I manage to get a few hours of sleep, too. That's about it, Oh, there are a few other things, but they're of no real interest to most people. Writing and networking are very lonely "professions," especially when you live alone. I should get a cat.

DERRICK FERGUSON: Anything else we should know about Joe Bonadonna?

JOE BONADONNA: I'm pretty much a domestic "housecat." I tend to keep to myself, though I get together quite a lot with friends. I have been getting back in touch and seeing a lot of my childhood friends -- many of them I've known since kindergarten 1957/1958. This Facebook thing is great for things like that, too. I'm really having one of the best times of my life right now. I'm truly blessed.


Joe Bonadonna, author of Mad Shadows: The Weird Adventures of Dorgo the Dowser, a collection of sword and sorcery tales. You can order it from: www.iuniverse.com, and Amazon.com at: www.amazon.com/mad-shadows-weird-tales-dowser/dp/1450276156
Also available from the Book Depository at:

Visit my Blog at www.dorgoland.blogspot.com You can find me on Facebook and Google+, and visit my Google Profile. I can also be found on YouTube. Just Google: "Joe Bonadonna sword and sorcery." It's a 6-part talkfest on fantasy and publishing.

Coming soon, from Airship27 Productions: Three Against The Stars, my new space opera: old-fashioned adventure in the grand tradition of Henry Kuttner and Edmond Hamilton.






Thursday, August 30, 2012

Derrick Ferguson Takes Aim At THE AVENGERS:TOO MANY TARGETS




THE AVENGERS: TOO MANY TARGETS
By John Peel and Dave Rogers
Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (June 15, 1998)
ISBN-10: 0812589092
ISBN-13: 978-0812589092


Mention The Avengers to your average Joe or Jane Punchclock and they’ll most likely reply that you must be talking about the recent blockbuster movie featuring a team of Marvel superheroes. And they’re right. But there’s another team of Avengers that has had just as loyal following as those other Avengers ever since the 1960’s.  The British TV series THE AVENGERS starred Patrick Macnee as John Steed.  Originally he wasn’t the main character. That was Dr. David Keel played by Ian Hendry. THE AVENGERS started out as pretty much a straight up crime drama but that changed once Steed became the main character and was partnered up with a succession of beautiful assistants. Women whose names soon became legendary due to their intelligence, sophistication, style and their ability to handle themselves just as well as Steed in a fight. Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) and Tara King (Linda Thorson) worked with Steed for a shadowy branch of the British Secret Service (given the name of “The Ministry” in the disastrous 1998 movie) combating enemies that became more bizarre the longer the series ran.

Robotics, time travel, mind control, invisibility, super computers wanting to take over the world, The Hellfire Club (a concept borrowed for Marvel Comics “X-Men” series) mad scientists…THE AVENGERS had all that and more, incorporating elements of science fiction, satire, parody, droll British wit flavored with eccentricity into an entertaining one hour package that ran from 1961 to 1969. There also was “The New Avengers” which ran from 1976 to 1977 that saw John Steed with two new partners played by Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt.

We won’t talk about the movie, okay with you?

But what I would like to talk about is THE AVENGERS: TOO MANY TARGETS. Judging from the date I’m assuming it was published to compliment the feature film. One has to wonder why there wasn’t a proper movie tie-in novelization but in this case I’m glad there wasn’t. THE AVENGERS: TOO MANY TARGETS is just fine the way it is.  It’s not a masterpiece and it’s not a book that I insist that you actually have to read but if you’re a long-time fan of the series then you’ll have a good time with this.

Somebody is going around killing agents of The Ministry. Somebody that looks a whole lot like John Steed. And he’s not a fake. Thanks to computerized voice analysis there can be no doubt. It actually is Steed. And considering his knowledge and experience, a rogue Steed is the greatest threat imaginable to British Intelligence. A reluctant Tara King is giving the assignment to eliminate him.

But while this is going on, Steed is being contacted by a retired colleague who gives Steed a special assignment that comes right from The Prime Minister himself: Steed’s superior, codenamed ‘Mother’ has apparently gone rogue and is killing his own agents. Steed is given the assignment to eliminate him.

Now believe it or not, this all ties in with a wild gorilla roaming the countryside being hunted by Cathy Gale and Dr. David Keel’s investigation into a lethal plague rampaging through the African nation of Katawa. All of these diverse threads lead everybody to Knight Industries, owned and run by Mrs. Emma Peel as apparently Knight Industries is the new birthplace of the deadliest foes The Avengers ever faced: The Cybernauts. Before, Steed and Mrs. Peel barely survived their encounters with the murderous robots. Now they have to face a new generation of Cybernauts that are faster, smarter and more powerful than their predecessors. Even with Dr. Keel, Cathy Gale and Tara King on their side, can they once again defeat the insane genius who has given The Cybernauts new life and save the world?

I trust you see the main attraction this book had for me. For the first time, Steed is working with all his former partners on the same case. There are a couple of others that don’t appear here such as the nightclub singer Venus Smith and Dr. Martin King but they only appeared in a handful of episodes each and they're nowhere nearly as well known. A lot of the enjoyment I got out of the story was seeing how Steed’s partners interacted and worked together. Tara King isn’t very happy about Mrs. Peel so obviously enjoying the adventure and working with Steed again. Dr. Keel and Cathy Gale discover that they’re quite the formidable team of brains and brawn while Steed seems to be taking an almost fatherly pride in the way his former partners mesh their talents and skills together.

And I also liked how the book is set in period. There’s a part where Mrs. Peel and Tara are talking and Mrs. Peel makes a reference that it’s been a year since she and Steed’s partnership ended. So apparently Steed and Tara managed to get that spaceship they accidentally flew off in at the end of the final episode back to Earth. Being set in period gives the writers a chance to have fun with the technology, terminology and British eccentricity of the 1960’s. It’s also pretty funny at times, especially the scene where a poor Russian agent is harassed by one Avenger after another, all looking for information on Steed’s whereabouts. It’s also appropriately bizarre in the scenes where Cathy Gale battles a gorilla and where Steed and Mrs. Peel have to fight off Cybernauts disguised as flying stone angels in a graveyard.

So should you read THE AVENGERS:TOO MANY TARGETS? Like I said, if you liked the TV series and you're a fan then I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to. It’s a light, breezy read and the characterizations of Steed, Mrs. Peel and Tara are as I remember them. And even though I’m not familiar with Cathy or Dr. Keel, the writers sold me on them being worthy partners of Steed and just as deserving to be called Avengers. Well-written action scenes and you can’t beat a cyborg Neo-Nazi mad scientist with an army of killer robots as bad guys. It’s a fun read.   






Friday, July 27, 2012

TALES FROM THE HANGING MONKEY Reviewed!

William Patrick Maynard, currently the talented writer who is bringing a new audience into the world of Sax Rohmer thanks to The Terror of Fu Manchu and The Destiny of Fu Manchu had some really nice things to say about Airship 27's Tales From The Hanging Monkey which contains stories by Bill Craig, Joshua Reynolds, Tommy Hancock and myself. Bounce on over to the Black Gate blog to read for yourself what he had to say.


Sunday, July 22, 2012

Kickin' The Willy Bobo With: VALJEANNE JEFFERS


DERRICK FERGUSON: Who is Valjeanne Jeffers?

VALJEANNE JEFFERS: I'm an artist, poet and science fiction author. I'm also a member of the Carolina African American Writer's Collective (CAAWC) and a graduate of both Spelman College and NCCU.



I've written six books. I paint and I've had poems and nonfiction published too. During the late '90s, I wrote my first, and only, nonfiction book, The Story of Eve, a collection of essays in which I analyzed the media's connection to politics and our behavior. I really had a lot of fun writing it, because I'm something of movie buff. Obviously, this wasn't my last stop. The Story of Eve was never published as an entire volume, although excerpts have appeared in PurpleMag.

But the absolute love of my life is science fiction.

DF:Where do you live and what do you do to keep yourself in cheese and crackers?

VJ:I live in Alabama. I have an MA in Psychology, and I taught college for a few semesters. I enjoyed teaching—I've always loved a good rousing discussion. I mean, let's face it, what is teaching but engaging your students in dialogue that encourages them to think and question the world around them?

More recently I've begun working as an editor for Mocha Memoir Press and also as a freelance editor (I'm co-owner with my fiancé of  Q and V Affordable Editing). Editing is another job I enjoy, because I get to read some of the best novels written before they're even published! I'm also self-published, so I sell my own books and earn income this way too.


DF:How long have you been writing?

VJ:I've been writing since I was nine or ten years old. As a child, I found writing to be a wonderful escape— just like reading, only more interactive. I was also a greedy reader of SF/ fantasy literature.
I rediscovered this love during the '90s, when I became a lifelong fan of Stephen King. I remember working as secretary (while going to classes at night) and reading books during my lunch hour—in class too whenever things got boring.

Then I stumbled upon Wild Seed by Octavia Butler. Octavia was a revelation! I'd never read science fiction written by a Black person—I didn’t even know People of Color wrote SF! I became obsessed with writing my own novel, creating my own worlds. When I first starting writing science fiction, I found that I was able to escape into my characters' lives, even when I just thinking about a plot or scene twist. For me, this is still the most productive and fun part of writing—the ability to slip into my character’s skin.


DF:Why science fiction?

VJ:Science fiction, in my humble opinion, is the most wonderful genre ever created! In what other motif can you create an alternate universe, give your characters preternatural powers, and make a statement about the human condition? You're only limited by your imagination. As an author, I like having that kind of freedom— the freedom of not being constricted by the laws of our physical universe.

With science fiction you can use your character's “powers” to make statements about who they are. You can even manufacture the kind of world you'd like to live in...one that is imagined, but (perhaps) not impossible, such as in the “not-too-distant-future” worlds. After all 40, years ago cell phones and modern computers were science fiction. Two hundred years ago, so were airplanes.

DF:What writers have influenced you?

VJ:There have been so many! In my youth, I read a lot of  YA SF/fantasy, pulp fiction and African American literature. I was addicted to the Nancy Drew mystery series and to Marvel comics. I also devoured the works of Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, James Baldwin and Chester Himes. I'm the daughter of two English teachers, so AA literature was required reading in my household. But I didn't enjoy them any less because of this.

I later came to feel that the magic realism of African American literature (especially the novels of Himes and Wright) had a profound effect upon my evolution as a writer. I mean take Richard Wright's The Outsider, for instance, in which the protagonist fakes his own death and recreates himself. This is the classic stuff of pulp and science fiction!

As an adult, I credit Stephen King, Dean Kootz, Sarah Zettle and Tad Williams as among my early influences. But during my last five years as a writer, I believe I was most strongly influenced by Octavia Butler, Charles Saunders, Tananarive Due, and Steven Barnes.

Of course I have other favorite authors, who I know have impacted me—folks like Mimi Jean Pamfiloff, Carole McDonnell, Quinton Veal, Ronald Jones, Edward Uzzle, Milton Davis, Joe Bonadonna, Derrick Ferguson and Balogun Ojetade.


DF:When I'm asked to describe your work I always say it's imaginatively experimental. How would you describe it?

VJ:Thanks for the compliment! I'd say that “imaginatively experimental” is an excellent description. In adding to this, I'd describe my work as loosely fitting into the science fiction genre, with elements of fantasy, erotica and horror.

The alternate worlds I build are in keeping with what is scientifically probable if not yet possible. But there is sorcery too—magic just seems to find its way in my books. Charles Saunders once described my Immortal series, as a world in which science and sorcery co-exist. (I floated around on cloud nine for a month after that review!)

There is horror too, simply because some of the scenes in my novels can be very frightening. But life can be scary, and art imitates life. So there are scenarios that will make the reader's hair stand up on the back of their necks.

I've also been known to write some pretty steamy love scenes. Hence the erotica. I take the attitude that all authors express their connection to love and sexuality differently. There is never a right and wrong approach. James Baldwin, for example, could be graphically sexually in his novels. Octavia Butler, more reserved. Both are brilliant authors, and both are acceptable ways of approaching love and sexuality. I view sex as a part of life. I don't ignore it. I don't emphasize it either, so it's not on every other page.

DF:Tell us about the IMMORTAL series.

VJ:Each novel has time-travel, sorcery and shape shifting woven into the plot. The books are set on the alternate planet Tundra, a world without racism, sexism, poverty or crime. This is the setting of Immortal in the year 3075.

But the setting of 2075, a year which impinges on the present, is just as violent and conflicted as American during the 1960s. In fact, I drew heavily on the '60s, an era of great conflict but also of great love and sacrifice, when I wrote the Immortal series. And my readers have said that they get a strong “Make Love not War” vibe when reading them. 

In the first novel, Immortal, I introduce Karla and Joseph: lovers who've been separated by time and space. The inhabitants of Tundra decided that this was the way they wanted it, and fought to make it so. Karla and Joseph are gifted. They are also burdened. Gifted because they are werewolves. Burdened, because it falls upon them to protect Tundra from a powerful evil that has been unleashed upon their world.



Karla and Joseph are not the only protagonists of Immortal. The first novel builds the groundwork for the communes of supernatural beings, good and evil that make their appearance. In the second novel, the reader meets Karla and Joseph's kindred, who are also the saviors of Tundra. In Immortal III: Stealer of Souls, another key player emerges: Annabelle, a vampire with her own agenda and her own stake in Tundra's survival.




In Immortal IV: Collision of Worlds, the characters find themselves in a sinister, steam punk realm without their memories. Their death or survival is interwoven with the fate of Tyrol (The Switch II: Clockwork). That's all I can say giving away too many plot goodies. This is the conclusion to the series. At least, it was supposed to be. However, my readers have told me in no uncertain terms that I can't end it there. So we'll see.



DF:In the IMMORTAL series you're fearless in mixing science fiction with werewolves, vampires and eroticism. When you began the series did you worry that it would be too much for potential readers?

VJ:Most definitely! In the beginning, I felt like I had so much going on, that no one would ever want to read it. But the story is what the story is. When one begins to write, the characters take on lives of their own...these spirits that walk across the page.

I got good feedback from CAAWC. So I pressed on. I started to realize that I had a very unique book and that everything somehow fit together to create a compelling mosaic.  I remembered Octavia Butler's fiction. She was well known for her supernatural “communities.” I thought of The Talisman too, a SF odyssey in which the characters “flip” between realities. Then I knew I had a winner.


DF:Tell us about THE SWITCH series

VJ:The Switch was my first plunge into the steam punk genre. It takes place on the planet Tyrol: a world in which the wealthy live in luxury in the skies, and the poor in a cancerous, steam punk underground.  One of the problems with Tyrol, along with the oppression of the poor, is that the society has become so cut-throat that wealthy women cannot take lovers— for fear the men will marry and then murder them to steal their money. So the rich create androids for their own pleasure.



Like my Immortal series, there is a sharp contrast between the privileged and the poor. There are also two lovers, Simone2 and Dumas2, who are central to the plot, and to the liberation of their planet. There is sorcery and there is time travel. But The Switch is also an erotic thriller, with a plenty of sharp turns and twists. I've had two fellow writers compare it to Phillip K. Dick's Blade Runner! Of course, I'm honored by such a comparison!

There is also heavy emphasis on the other characters, such as Z100, an evil agent provocateur, and Lotus, the time keeper. And for anyone who missed reading Book I: The Switch (originally published by Mocha Memoirs Press) not to worry. I've condensed both books into The Switch II: Clockwork.  


Charles Saunders has just written a fantastic review of The Switch and Immortal IV and I'm really juiced up about it!  It's up on his site for anyone who wants to check it out!

DF:What are your future plans for your writing career?

VJ:I've just two of my stories published in anthologies, which I'm very excited about! My interracial romance story, Mocha Faeryland was just published in 31 Shots of Mocha (Mocha Memoirs Press). This was the very first fantasy romance story I'd ever written. But I like pushing myself outside my comfort zone. And my sword and soul story, The Sickness, was accepted for publication in Griots II: Sisters of The Spear (MV Media). Griots II should be out in 2013.

I'm also writing a space opera, Colony. If readers are interested, they can read the first chapters at smashwords or my wordpress site. I have a paranormal novel, set in New Orleans, in the works. And I'm working on a film based on one of my stories, Grandmere's Secret, with Balogun Ojetade. It's the first time I've ever attempted anything like this, and so I'm both anxious and excited about it.

DERRICK FERGUSON:What's a Day In The Life Of Valjeanne Jeffers like?

VALJEANNE JEFFERS: I spend my day writing, editing, reading—not necessarily in that order—and playing with my grandbaby. And I hang out with my guy, Quinton Veal. Quinton writes erotic poetry (Her Black Body I Treasure) and he's an extraordinarily talented artist too. So we have a really cool relationship.

Anything else we need to know about you?
I'd like to thank Derrick Ferguson, pulp fiction writer extraordinaire for interviewing me. I had a blast!

Valjeanne Jeffers








Tuesday, July 10, 2012

C'mere And Sit Down For A Minute. I Wanna Talk To You...


One of the true pleasures I enjoy is when I open up an email and see that a story is attached to it. It happens on quite a regular basis.  Some of the stories are from other writers I’ve known for years and just want to get my feedback on certain aspects of the story or certain characters or just want to let me read it ahead of the hoi polloi.

Then there are the stories I get from those aspiring writers who labor under the belief that I actually know what I’m doing and are looking for some constructive criticism about their prose.  It’s a a pleasure to get those stories as well.  And I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and say that it’s not flattering as hell that a writer would put himself out there like that and send out their literary child to be examined by a stranger who just may well flay it alive over a pit of red-hot coals.

But I don’t do that.  Really.  Even on that rare occasion where I receive a story that…needs work, let’s say…I do my best to be supportive and provide the necessary encouragement while attempting to be realistic and practical without being a complete and total dick about it.

But there is one thing that grinds my grits to no end…

I can never understand why someone would send  me a story and feel the need to add to the email something that usually goes like this or some other variation: “I really appreciate you reading this story even though I know it sucks.” Or “This story is just so much crap and I’m probably wasting your time asking you to read it.” 

My question is this: if you know the story is crap or it sucks and you wrote it then why are you asking me to read it?  Apparently you must think I like reading crap.  In which case you must not think much of me to begin with. Or maybe you think that by you coming out first and saying it’s crap or it sucks that you’re getting a jump ahead of me and cushioning the blow if it turns out that I don’t like it.

How about this: let me read the story and let me decide for myself if the story sucks or not.  There’s absolutely no upside to you making up my mind for me before I’ve even read Word One and prejudicing me against your own work.  And in my experience, 9 times outta 10 the story is nowhere near as crappy as the writer thinks it is.  Matter of fact it usually turns out to be pretty damn good.

And when I say this one on one to a writer he’ll usually email me back something that reads along these lines; “Well, that’s easy for you to say. You don’t write crappy stories.”

Say wha?

Of course I write crappy stories.  Every writer does.  The difference is this: you’ll never see the crappy stories because the only stories I send out are the ones that I know without a shadow of a doubt represents the best work that I can do. The crappy stories I leave on my hard drive until I can rewrite them until they ain’t crap or I decide to give them up altogether.  And believe me, the amount of crappy stories I have written are considerable to say the least.

Okay, glad to have gotten that off my chest at last.  So we’re clear on this, right?  No more sending me stories with a little “I know this story sucks” note attached, okay? Don’t worry.  If it is that bad, I’ll say so.  And then I’ll roll up my sleeves and get to work to help you make it better.

So why are you still sitting here?  Go get busy writing.


LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS Proudly Presents LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION Earlier in the year we learned that New Pulp writer/edi...