2024 IN REVIEW

It’s that time of year again, when we decide to look back at what we’ve done over the past twelve months. Frequently it’s a shock (for me, anyway) – sometimes in a good way, sometimes bad. This year’s a good one, since I appear to have done far more than I thought I had (an aspect of that good ol’ imposter syndrome, I suspect).

I had a Sherlock Holmes story published in the The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories Part XLIV: 2024 Annual 1889-1897 (that’s one away from XL5, for readers of a certain age): “Hollingbourne Grange”. Considering I once thought how nice it would be to write a Sherlock Holmes piece, somehow that had become several. I’m not complaining. I have one more in the pipeline, and I think that’ll be it. I’ve done everything I wanted with the character (and more!) so time to quit while I’m ahead (although I think Conan Doyle had thoughts along similar lines).

Peripherally connected was “The Return of Madame Sarah” in Sherlock & Friends: Eldritch Investigations edited by Lyndon Perry for Tule Fog Press, an anthology pitting investigators from the Holmes era against Eldritch horrors of a Mythos nature. I went with L. T. Meade (Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith) and Robert Eustace’s Madame Sara and her nemesis police surgeon Eric Vandeleur (as narrated by his assistant Dixon Druce) versus Nyarlathotep (or Nyar-lat-hotep, as I had it).

Also from Tule Fog, in their Swords & Heroes e-magazine, was the short story “Two Swords Waiting”, a heroic fantasy tale of twin sisters Brindglais and Brandguin and a couple of magic swords in what I have come to call my A World of Gods and Monsters series (quite likely a book in the making). The sequel – “Sisters of the Swords” – will see publication in the future.

From Sarob Press came The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Landscape Figures, edited by Rosemary Pardoe, which reprinted “All I Ever See” in a lovely, limited edition hardback. I shared the ToC with old friends David Sutton and John Howard along with many other notable authors and it was quite a privilege to be published in such a prestigious volume.

Then there was Phantasmagoria magazine #24, and the second part of my swords and dinosaurs serialised novel (presently of no fixed title), “Beyond the Ghost Caves”. We meet the remaining two protagonists, witness more cross-time oddness, and know that soon all of the characters’ disparate paths will cross. Issue #25 published an interview of yours truly, conducted by Allison Weir and Sarah Graven Weir in what was little more than a broom cupboard at Cherry Red’s in Birmingham at the Alchemy Press 25th anniversary get-together (which also celebrated certain significant birthdays for some attendees, and the 50th anniversary of my first published short story – “Designs of the Wizard” – in the BFS magazine Dark Horizons, for which I published a very limited edition chapbook of the story with cover artwork by Jim Pitts; no one at the place was allowed to leave until they took one).

I also turned up on Lee Benson’s Sunday lunchtime radio and streaming show – Listen with Lee on Black Country Xtra – making very little sense I suspect, even for a Sunday.

And as if that wasn’t enough, alongside Alchemy Press Supremo Peter Coleborn I co-edited an anthology of strange fiction for PS Publishing: Shadowplays. With fiction from Stephen Volk, Ray Bradbury, Rosanne Rabinowitz, Nancy Kilpatrick, Paul Kane, Robert Bagnall, Colleen Anderson & Tom Johnstone, Gary McMahon, Steve Rasnic Tem, Gail-Nina Anderson, Tim Jeffreys, Marion Pitman, Bret McCormick, KC Grifant, Garry Kilworth, John Linwood Grant, Wendy Purcell, Joanne Anderton and Reggie Oliver, it’s a book of which I feel justifiably proud. A signed, limited edition hardback will be available in 2025.

The major event of 2024 however was me dipping my toes into self (or independent) publishing. The first was a slim volume, Drawing Down Leviathan, collecting all three stories featuring (to date, anyway), the submarine USS Oswin: “Cradle of the Deep”, “Echoes of Days Passed”, and the previously unpublished title novella. My plan was to make all the mistakes and learn from the experience before launching into a novel, Hail the New Age – a fantasy thriller in the sub-genre spies and sorcery (which I invented, maybe, with any luck). Reviews for both books follow (with permission) so I’ll not say another word about them.

***

Lyndon Perry, Tule Fog Press:

Mike Chinn’s 3 novelettes collected in the volume Drawing Down Leviathan is simply fun, wholesome, pulpy adventure. The action takes place on a new experimental US submarine set in the late 1930s at the ramp-up to WW2. These tales are high sea battle romps with enough navy lingo to lend credibility and verisimilitude but not so much as to get in the way of the story.

First two tales (“Cradle of the Deep” and “Echoes of Days Passed”) involve a bit of sea monster mystery – man vs supernatural beast trope. Entertaining, nothing ground-breaking, but they definitely hit the right notes of cinematic nostalgia – think of the childhood excitement of shows like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

The opening story features the author’s pulp-styled action hero protagonist, Damian Paladin and his enigmatic sidekick, Leigh Oswin; and it ends with a sly bit of nomenclature humour. I was hoping for a return of Paladin in the second story, but the tension and mystery weren’t lacking even though the focus switched to the submarine captain and his crew. (BTW, Paladin appears in a couple different collections of the author’s stories, namely, The Paladin Mandates and Walkers in Shadow. Worth looking up if you enjoyed “Cradle of the Deep”.)

In the final story “Drawing Down Leviathan”, we have an encounter with a dangerous female ‘bad guy’ – the Captain-Admiral of a floating fortress. I liked the steampunk feel to this story, my mind going to Jules Vern’s famous antagonist, Captain Nemo. Action-packed and satisfying. I’d like to read more stories where our brave submarine captain and crew go up against this evil mastermind.

If you’re on the lookout for some quick adventure (about 100 or so pages) that brings back the pulpy action heroics from your childhood, this short collection is just the thing.

Trevor Kennedy, Phantasmagoria magazine:

Sea monsters and Nazis! Just a couple of the perils faced by the crew of the submarine, the USS Oswin, named after pulp hero Leigh Oswin, who, along with her dashing pilot partner Damian Paladin, appear in the opening story of author Mike Chinn’s new trilogy of nautical fantasy adventure tales. It’s 1936 and Chinn’s recurring characters serve to help introduce the reader to the crew of the submarine cruiser, helmed by Captain Dave Bannon and Commander Brad Munrow.

In the first story, “Cradle of the Deep”, the new team assigned to the prototype sea craft are assisted by Damy and Leigh and together they soon encounter a strange sea beast. “Echoes of Days Passed” sees the Oswin boarded by navy top brass just as they face off against another terror of the deep, and in the final title story they come up against a nefarious world conspiracy involving Nazis and a huge, fully-armed ship. Gun battles of a seaborne nature and within the air ensue.

 

Drawing Down Leviathan is some old-school pulpy enjoyment and exceptionally well researched at the same time – Chinn really does know his stuff in terms of naval and aviation terminology and technical details of the era, along with other relevant historical knowledge. This, of course, lends an air of authenticity and believability to proceedings.

Plainly inspired by Irwin Allen’s Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, this is strongly recommended for those of us who are into these types of underwater adventures from a seemingly bygone age, something that the author himself clearly still has a strong enthusiasm for, this being made quite clear inside the pages of Drawing Down Leviathan.

Chris Morgan, Birmingham Science Fiction Group newsletter:

Ninety years ago Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express was published. Now Mike Chinn has written a great fantasy version of it. In a more-or-less 19th century world, where wizardry competes with science and technology, a railway track has been laid between Ramini’s two major ports, Scan Leroth and Scana Carsofi. The inaugural two-week train journey is about to begin. On board are the technological genius responsible for the project, Professor Alva, and a small number of invited guests. They are meant to be celebrating the technological innovation of the steam railway. But nothing is as it seems to be and at least one of the guests is secretly a wizard (they are now out of power and beyond the law) determined to make the journey a total failure.

The Hercule Poirot figure here, who must work out who is who and prevent the failure of the trip, is Wilonek Scilli (dare I say that all the characters have been given silly names?) an unprepossessing youngish man. He has survived years of training at the wizards’ seminary without becoming a wizard or in any way favouring them. He’s also rather like a US crime fiction investigator, in that he’s often beaten up and bleeding. His weakness is this: his wizardry training has left him needing a liquid drug, chavet, every day or two, or else he suffers awful withdrawal symptoms.

All the power of wizardry on this world emanates from crystals of abaston, a rare mineral of which wizards control the supply. An important part of their training is the handling of abaston.

Aboard the train are a marvellous group of eccentrics. There’s the artificially created heteromorph, Batrix, currently in female shape, who is a military lieutenant-commander (in charge of the venture) with whom Scilli has numerous encounters, trying to convince her that they’re on the same side. Others include Thryme (Alva’s mentor), Senator Nachollni, Dr Tork (a medical man) and Scendik Boz, a fiction writer from a nearby country. Also present is Major Rengalet, a former military hero and current alcoholic, who commands a group of about a dozen Sharpshooter militia, who seem to be non-speaking characters, only there to be killed. This being 19th century-ish, the Sharpshooters all have muskets, while most of the others carry repeating pistols (another Alva invention) which are sometimes reluctant to work properly.

The journey is beset with a multitude of problems. There are appearances by various swamp creatures and other monsters. The main train driver (or pilot, as Chinn would have it) is Sanej, a planted detective and a great friend of Scilli. When he is killed, Scilli is accused of the crime. The steam-driven locomotive is revealed to be abaston-powered. There are crashes and uncouplings of carriages as characters and their pasts are revealed. Every scene contains tension, excitement and surprise.

Just when you think the novel is ending, along comes an advert for a second exciting adventure starring Scilli and Batrix. Hail the New Age is privately published with a wonderful cover illustration.

Benjamin Kurt Unsworth, British Fantasy Society Online:

Given the popularity of the murder-mystery genre, it is always nice to see a new spin on it; one of the latest of these comes in the form of Mike Chinn’s Hail the New Age. Set in a world where the fantastical and technological have been clashing in civil war, the Ramini Republic has emerged, most of the magical Chrysomancers have been weakened, and distrust prevails. But the herald of the new technological dawn is the Novandik, a train whose inaugural coast-to-coast journey is beset by spanners in the works, of which a wizard determined to end the Novandik’s journey and many a backstabbing, metaphorical or otherwise are just the start.

The Ramini Republic manifests like a serrated version of a Studio Ghibli universe, vibrant and with the steampunkish mix of societies coming across smoothly and without delay. However, whereas Studio Ghibli leans more into the world of dragons, capes, and breathtaking vistas, Chinn’s universe is a drastic step in the other direction. The protagonist Wilonek Scilli, a not-wizard but with wizard training and an addiction to a drug called “chavet”, finds himself being beaten up at every turn as he tries to stop the Novandik being sabotaged. Less the Hercule Poirot figure, his role as detective feels more an involuntary manoeuvre, since the whole affair is styled less like Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and more Eugenio Martin’s Horror Express – you can picture Telly Savalas playing many of the grumpy, affronted characters in a film adaptation.

Although Chinn’s prose is attuned more to action than description, the fantasy realm bleeds off the page in a no-holds-barred sort of way, and for readers who naturally go towards the crime or horror sections of the bookstore, it’s a nice segue into a fantasy universe. And yet for all its vibrancy, there’s a deathly sense of chill running through everything; the characters opposite Scilli all possess the kind of internecine causticity you’d expect from a disgruntled werewolf, and lieutenant-commander Batrix aboard the Novandik embodies that. Although Batrix functions as quite a nice metaphor for non-binary or gender fluid people, being a heteromorph who flicks between genders on a semi-regular basis, they’re also impossibly distrusting, and you can’t help except imagine their many speeches prefaced by a scowl and an angry hiss.

As a murder mystery though, it does keep you on your toes, and the action sequences, some of which do involve fantastical beasts, never detract from that even though they’re the overriding aspect. Not to say some of the surprises you can’t see coming, but there are also enough there which feel fresh and distinctive to keep you turning the pages, and the fantasy elements are never used as a Deus ex machina, rather a tool to enhance the tension and make Chinn’s prose that little bit more vivid and unexpected.

Ultimately, it leaves each genre time to stand on their own and make its mark; however, as a mix of the two, its smorgasbord of gritty fantasia achieves something greater, both breathtaking and savage with to-the-point prose. For what seems like a very unassuming novel, the almost romantic sense of bitterness is very much at the fore, and as you turn the pages – because, don’t worry, you will feel compelled to do so – its crisp sense of humanity, or perhaps inhumanity, knows how to beat you down. Reading this is a fabulous way to spend a few hours.

***

I’ll just leave you with a taster for 2025. Proving I learned nothing from the above experience I plan to publish two more books. Warriors of the Boundless, more heroic fantasy which I am proud to say will feature artwork by Argentinian artist Enrique Alcatena, who drew some of my fantasy scripts for DC Thomson’s Starblazer digest comic, and an introduction by another old friend, Adrian Cole. Then there will be a sequel to Hail, entitled Citadel of the Moon and featuring Batrix and Scilli, once again rooting out enemies of the Ramini Republic.

THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF HORRORS Table of Contents

British Fantasy Award winning The Alchemy Press have announced the ToC for their forthcoming anthology (publication date TBA): The Alchemy Press Book of Horrors. It's an impressive lineup. Details can be found on their website.

Pulp Heroes: Stuart Young

Stuart Young provided the story "Do Not Go Gently" for THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2. Here he speaks of its inspiration, and Capt. WE Johns...

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

I started writing as a kid. I started submitting stories to the small press back in the ’90s. For some reason this has yet to bring me fame and fortune.

 

As for which of my stories are my favourites I suppose “The Mask Behind the Face” because it won a British Fantasy Award. Although on a less egotistical level it’s one of my favourites because it’s brilliant. (Wait, that was supposed to be less egotistical.) “Houses in Motion” is another favourite; it’s semi-autobiographical and so has a strong emotional resonance for me. And “Jarly and the Saga of the Snowball” was fun to do, partly because I got to play around with story structure and partly because I don’t get the chance to write comedy nearly often enough.

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

 

I suppose my favourite genre is speculative fiction, assuming it’s being used as an umbrella term for SF, fantasy, horror, weird fiction etc. And I quite often add a dash of crime and comedy.

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

Style. My gut response attempt at describing Pulp is that it’s fast-moving, accessible and fun, but that doesn’t necessarily give an accurate picture. Writers such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Cornell Woolrich, HP Lovecraft, Robert E Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber and Robert Bloch didn’t all write in the same style. The same goes for modern pulp writers such as Joe R Lansdale, Andrew Vachss, Stephen Hunter and James Ellroy. And let’s face it, no one’s going to refer to Lovecraft’s style as fast-moving, accessible and fun. Intense, maybe. Perhaps the best single word to sum up pulp is vivid.

 

What was the inspiration for “Do Not Go Gently”?

 

The impending deadline. I’d been working on another project that I only managed to complete the day before the Pulp Heroes 2 deadline ended, so I’d resigned myself to not actually submitting anything. Then I woke up with the inkling of an idea in my head and only got one day to get the story written. And then I realised this was the same day the clocks went forward…

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

 

For this particular story I went back to one of my childhood favourites, WE Johns, who created the aviator and adventurer, Biggles. When I originally created the character of John Blake about ten years ago for a one-off appearance I hadn’t actually read a lot of pulp so I just mixed a Biggles-style character into a John Carter of Mars type setting. The idea was to compare the reaction of an English gentleman with those of a Southern gentleman. For example, Blake, instead of taking the sight of a scantily clad alien princess in his stride, got all embarrassed and offered her his coat. Consequently the story ended up being something of a light hearted romp, which was quite fitting as some of the WW1 set Biggles stories have a comedic vein, with the pilots playing pranks on each other between the deadly dogfights. They read a little like PG Wodehouse taking a crack at adventure fiction – JEEVES AND THE ROYAL FLYING CORPS.

 

For “Do Not Go Gently” I decided to examine the grimmer side of the WW1 Biggles stories. The ones where Biggles would snap and engage in vengeance fuelled vendettas, where he couldn’t remember exactly when he fought the last six men he killed because the constant strain had distorted his sense of time, and where he ended the war as a bag of nerves with a drinking problem.

 

My protagonist Blake was also a WW1 veteran and adventurer so he would have seen more than his fair share of death. I thought it would be interesting to explore his reaction to all the carnage he had witnessed and dig into the darker side of his character that was only hinted at in his previous outing.

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

 

I fill out promotional questionnaires for publishers.

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals to you?

 

I tend to like popular yet slightly offbeat stuff like Talking Heads, the Beastie Boys, Elvis Costello, Dr John and Nina Simone. Then I use those bands as a way of easing into listening to the less commercial stuff that formed the roots of their music – afrobeat, funk, jazz, Americana, blues, R&B, gospel and show tunes. Similarly, Johnny Cash, the O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? soundtrack and Aly Bain from THE TRANSATLANTIC SESSIONS have given me a starting point for listening to country, country rock, Celtic, folk and bluegrass. And I’m also trying to expand my knowledge of classical music; right now I’m at still that stage where everything I know about it comes from pop culture. You know, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is from Die Hard, Grieg’s Piano Concerto is from that Morecambe and Wise sketch…

 

What are you currently working on?

 

I’m finishing up editing DEMONS AND DEVILRY, an anthology of black magic stories for Hersham Horror featuring tales by Peter Mark May, John Llewellyn Probert, Thana Nivea, David Williamson and yours truly. It’s my first foray into editing so hopefully I haven’t screwed it up too badly.

 

I’m also working on a collection of novellas, tackling a cross-section of different horror sub-genres – a haunted house story, weird fiction, cosmic horror, etc. If all goes to plan it’ll be out next year.

 

And I’m working on a bunch of pieces for SPARKING NEURONES, the column I write for Matt Cardin at http://www.teemingbrain.com/ where I discuss films, books, comics, television and other matters of vital importance.

Pulp Heroes: Marion Pitman

Marion Pitman contributed the Western "Meeting at the Silver Dollar" for THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2. Here she slaps leather and trades shot for shot in a short interview.

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

I’ve been telling myself stories ever since I can remember, and writing since I learned to write. I just have a need to tell stories. I think John Ford, asked which was his favourite of his films, said, “The next one.” I perhaps have a fondness for “The Seal Songs”, which I think was my first sale, and so far the most successful! I think it works well, and is well-constructed.

 

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

 

I like all genres, and non-genre – it’s all stories, it’s all good. Anything with a sense of the extra dimension to the universe, the spiritual or whatever you like to call it, meaning and significance.

 

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

Eesh, there’s a question. I think style. The subject matter can be anything, so I wouldn’t say it’s a genre. Mind you I’m very dubious about the whole genre thing anyway – as I said, it’s all stories, or should be. Genre is a marketing construct J. When I was a kid I read everything, I never thought about what genre it was.

 

 

What was the inspiration for “Meeting at the Silver Dollar”?

 

Well, the first thing was thinking, OK, what sort of thing is the editor looking for here? And I read the first book and decided that it was as much the concept of heroes as the pulp aspect. Then, I’ve been going through a re-immersion in the Western, which I adored as a kid, partly due to reading Harry Carey Jr’s memoirs about working with John Ford, COMPANY OF HEROES. Then I treated myself to a DVD of a rather bad movie called JOURNEY TO SHILOH, made from a rather good book by Will Henry. And then I thought for a bit, and various Western tropes and odd lines from movies came together and I wrote this story. Oh, there’s probably echoes of THE SHOOTIST as well.

 

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

 

Neil Gaiman’s high on my list, as he is on a lot of people’s. He writes about people you can relate to, and his world is rich and many-layered. Also he writes superbly and always with humour.

 

Other authors I read and re-read are Diana Wynne Jones, GK Chesterton, Dorothy L Sayers, Sarah Caudwell – all for much the same reasons: good writing, involving characters, a meaningful universe. And I still like CS Lewis, despite being aware of his faults.

 

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

 

Trying to earn a living, which involves selling second-hand books; watching cricket and rugby; interacting with friends (very important); travelling as much as I can afford. Reading, naturally. Trying to sing.

 

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals to you?

 

Folk music has always been my favourite, leaning more towards the traditional. Also early music – 17^th century and earlier. I also like classical, jazz, and some (by no means all!) rock music. Musicians – probably too many to mention.

 

 

What are you currently working on?

 

Couple of short stories, in the weird/fantasy/supernatural field, and a novel that I don’t know how to classify, which takes place partly in contemporary England and partly in another dimension, where one of the characters is mad, one’s been dead for years, and it kind of goes on like that. It’s good.

Pulp Heroes: Adrian Cole

Adrian Cole contributed the Nick Nightmare story "Kiss the Day Goodbye" to THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2.

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

Adrian Cole, born 22^nd July, 1949 in Devonport, Plymouth. I guess I was inspired to write through an early love of reading and a natural desire to (literally) put pen to paper. From Primary school onwards I always used to write essays (stories) that took up half an exercise book. I read all sorts as a kid, mostly adventure stuff and my first introduction to “classical” literature was thru reading most of the CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED comics! I started my first book when I was 19 (published five years later as THE DREAM LORDS trilogy) in 1968.

 

My favourite books of my own are MOORSTONES, which captures the mood and atmosphere of Dartmoor (where I grew up), A PLACE AMONG THE FALLEN, which broke new ground for me and NIGHT OF THE HEROES, which was just great fun to write.

 

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

 

My favourite genres are Fantasy (to some extent) Horror, Spy Fiction and Ancient/Dark Age History. I like stuff to stretch the imagination and the Dark Age stuff is something I seem to have an affinity for, probably as I have “Celtic” antecedents, being from Devonian stock.

 

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

I don’t think it would be right to call it a genre, as it comprises of loads of genres – crime, SF, fantasy, westerns, horror, S&S, etc., etc… It is more of a style, rooted in the Depression Era in the States, when dozens of writers hacked out stories for dimes, the mags printed on trashy pulp paper and sold very cheaply at a time when most people were eating their boots for breakfast. Perversely it does seem to have “evolved” a bit, but pulp today reflects the old style.

 

 

What was the inspiration for “Kiss the Day Goodbye”?

 

As a writer, I am ceaselessly caught out by the truly horrible: “Bugger it, someone has already written my latest brilliant story!” How many times have I come up with something hot, only to find out someone got there before me? If other writers are honest, they’ll tell you the same. I’m still peeved about the fact that George Lucas nicked my DREAM LORDS stuff as the basis for STAR WARS – my stuff came out first, by the way. So the Scene Stealer in “Kiss the Day Goodbye” was my answer to it. Only there must be more than one, because I’m still getting my brain picked…

 

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

 

Apart from lifelong favourites like Edgar Rice Burroughs, HP Lovecraft, JRR Tolkien and Robert E Howard, I particularly like Dan Simmons, Jonathan Carrol and Bernard Cornwell/John le Carré. The old gang were the very best at excitement and adventure and the modern writers combine superb storytelling with powerful, evocative writing that is not only exciting but moving.

 

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

 

From about March to November (weather permitting) I’m a bit of a beach bum and like nothing better than plunging into the waves at nearby Westward Ho beach – one of the best in the country. I also like cycling through the local woodland areas. For my indoors pursuits, I am an avid comic book fan (as well as doing a lot of reading) and love movies. And there’s the small matter (very small these days) of my favourite soccer club, Plymouth Argyle, whom I visit during the season. In the summer I’m hard of hearing, on account of my “surfer’s ear” and in the football season I’m hoarse from encouraging my team.

 

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals to you?

 

Weaned on the Stones in their early years, then used to go to gigs very regularly – top bands for me were always Pink Floyd, Bowie, Deep Purple, Quo and then on to the electronic stuff like Kraftwerk and Tang Dream. New Order, too. Still like new stuff – e.g. Daft Punk.

 

 

What are you currently working on?

 

An ambitious three volume saga about an alternative Romano-Celtic Europe, which begins with the death of Augustus Caesar’s wife, Livia, in 2 AD and the murder of Claudius shortly afterwards at the age of 16. After that, things begin to drift right off the known historical map…

 

Also working on some new Nick Nightmare stuff, with a view to putting enough material together for his very own collection, NICK NIGHTMARE INVESTIGATES.

Birmingham Tales

Even though Birmingham is one of Britain’s largest cities, historically it’s never been the setting for fiction (or even drama) in the same way that, say, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh or Glasgow have. That may be changing with the success of the BBC’s Peaky Blinders (even though it was filmed elsewhere) and less obvious drama such as Hustle and By Any Means (both set in London, but ironically filmed in Birmingham…). There has been the occasional literary excursion, too, and it recently occurred to me that I have appeared in three of them.

 

First there was Birmingham Noir (Tindal Street Press, 2002, edited by Joel Lane and Steve Bishop). Well before Peaky Blinders, this anthology showed that Birmingham was just as gritty and crime-ridden as any major city. After the building of the ICC and NIA, Birmingham had established itself as a major conference and sports venue, with accommodation to match – from Hilton and Radisson hotels down to the humblest Travelodge. And keeping pace came adult entertainment; either legit or criminal, businesses grew to keep visitors amused. My contribution – “Brindley’s Place” – was set among the pubs and restaurants that were growing up alongside the newly-scrubbed canals in Brindleyplace and along Broad Street. It showed what happened when those at the bottom of the food chain get caught up in the inevitable sleaze and corruption – whilst offering the hope of some form of redemption.

 

Years later, to accompany a historical walk around Brum’s Digbeth and Deritend areas – part of the Andromeda One convention held at the Custard Factory – Weird Trails (Fringeworks 2013, edited by Adrian Middleton) was published: a compilation of facts that tied in with the walk, and short pieces of fiction set around the area. I supplied a mock article that was supposed to have been originally published several years earlier in the magazine Strange Brew (a fictionalised Fortean Times). Under the by-line Clifton Davies (“…a writer and fortean investigator living in the Midlands”), the article – “Bird’s Over the Bullring” – was a melange of actual history (the Bird’s Custard factory in Birmingham and Banbury) mixed in with reports of UFOs, strange figures, hauntings and mysterious voices on the telephone. All completely fictional (at least, that’s what I told the editor). It was a fun thing, and gave me a chance to indulge my interest in strange phenomena.

 

Then most recently has been Second City Scares (Horror Express 2013, edited by Marc Shemmans), an anthology of horror fiction not only set in Birmingham, but with contributions from local writers who should know the place (and its terrors) best. I supplied “Cheechee’s Out”: a straight to video nasty about the subversion of the city fathers and other well-placed individuals, and the role of the extensive underground car parks and miles of passageways underneath Birmingham (almost a mini-city in itself). All played out in a part of the suburbs which, despite some altered names (to protect the innocent), might be familiar to anyone who knows where I live. Again, it was a fun to write and, I hope, to read.

 

I’m pleased to be able to write about my home city: its seedy underbelly and even darker, less tangible elements. Birmingham has a rich history, present and intended future – all of which may be mined for their potential. Here’s to future editors and anthologists, and the shadowy treats they may perceive in the city’s grimy heritage or burgeoning prospects.

Pulp Heroes: Pauline E Dungate

Pauline supplied "Night Hunter" for THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2. Here she answers a few questions on it and life in general.

 

 

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

I write fiction as Pauline E Dungate but poetry, non-fiction and reviews as Pauline Morgan. My own favourite? If I have to choose I’d go for “In the Tunnels” that first appeared in BENEATH THE GROUND edited by Joel Lane (The Alchemy Press). Stephen Jones liked it enough to put in BEST NEW HORROR 15.

 

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

 

I don’t have a favourite genre as so many genres have good practitioners. I like writing that is well crafted. At present I am drawn to Urban Fantasy as that has the capacity for mixing genres together.

 

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

Can’t it be both?

 

 

What was the inspiration for “Night Hunter”?

 

I had been playing with the set-up for “Night Hunter” for a while but as a film in which my lead character was the actor who played the role of Hunter. The setting, Shoreham in Sussex, is where my mother lived and when there were recent reports of sightings of a lion in the Home Counties, the ideas came together.

 

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

 

There are too many to list. I like the aspects that constitute good writing such as believable characters and a strong plot.

 

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

 

These days my main interests are gardening and wild life photography. Travel to out of the way places like Ecuador and Easter Island give great opportunities.

 

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians – which appeals to you?

 

Heavy rock. On my time table at present are Black Veil Brides, Alice Cooper and Within Temptation.

 

 

What are you currently working on?

 

A nearly contemporary novel involving a rock group.

Pulp Heroes: Mike Resnick

Author of "The Incarceration of Captain Nebula" from THE ALCHEMY PRESS BOOK OF PULP HEROES 2, Mike Resnick answers a few pertinent (and impertinent) questions:

 

Would you like to briefly introduce yourself: what inspired your writing and when you began, and – if possible – of all of your published work could you tell me which your favourites are (and why)?

 

I’m Mike Resnick, I’ve written a batch of books and stories and won a batch of Hugos. I sold my first article at 15 (in 1957), my first poem at 16, my first short story at 17, and my first book at 20 (but it didn’t come out until I was 22). None, I should add, were science fiction.

 

My favourites? SANTIAGO, because it was my greatest seller and paid for our house and a few safaris; KIRINYAGA, because it was my most-honoured (67 major and minor awards and nominations to date);  and THE OUTPOST, because it was far and away the most fun to write. My favourites of my continuing characters are Lucifer Jones and Harry the Book, both humorous; Lucifer is a parody of every bad pulp story or B-movie I ever saw, and Harry is what Damon Runyon would be writing if he were around today and doing fantasy.

 

Do you have a favourite genre, or sub-genre? What exactly is it that attracts you?

 

Probably science fiction, which gives me all time and space to tell my stories, and can accommodate anything from humour to tragedy to adventure.

 

Some say Pulp is a genre, others a style; which side do you come down on?

 

It’s a genre which is primarily defined by its style and its subject matter.

 

What was the inspiration for “The Incarceration of Captain Nebula”?

 

I’ve occasionally used the device of the Unreliable Narrator. I thought it might be interesting to write a story with multiple narrators, each of whom is unreliable. 

 

Do you have a particular favourite author, or authors? What is it about their work which appeals to you?

 

In science fiction: CL Moore, Robert Sheckley, and Barry Malzberg. In each case, it’s that they excel at certain things: in Moore’s case, emotion and an evocation of the Sense of Wonder; in Sheckley’s, a cerebral form of humour (in the 1960’s, anyway) that only works as science fiction; and in Malzberg’s, an ability to evoke, in his considerable body of recursive science fiction, the milieu in which we work.

 

Outside writing, what else occupies your time (assuming you have any free time left)?

 

My passions are the musical theatre, horse racing (I don’t bet, but I wrote a weekly column on it for 15 years); Africa; and collies (we bred and exhibited 23 champions, most of which we named after science fiction titles and characters.

 

Is there any particular style of music – or musicians  which appeals to you?

 

Show music. Over a 50-year career, I think I’ve probably written 90% of my output with some cast album/CD playing in the background. My favourites: the team of Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt, Stephen Sondheim, William Finn, and Michel Legrand.

 

What are you currently working on?

 

Still coming out this year: THE WORLDS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS, co-edited with Bob Garcia (Baen, October), and THE DOCTOR AND THE DINOSAURS (Pyr, December). In progress for next year: CAT ON A COLD TIN ROOF, a mystery, 3rd in the series that began with DOG IN THE MANGER and this June’s THE TROJAN COLT (Seventh Street, August); I.N.C.I. (title tentative), a team-up with Tina Gower (Stellar Guild books, date not yet set); THE FORTRESS IN ORION (Pyr, December), and an-as-yet untitled Stellar Guild team-up with Lezli Robyn. I’ve got a story – a collaboration with Ken Liu – in press at ASIMOV’S, something like 7 other stories in upcoming anthologies and magazines, Harry Kloor and I just completed what we hope is the final draft of a screenplay titled SOME HEROES DIE, and I’m editing the Stellar Guild line of books and GALAXY’S EDGE bi-monthly magazine. In my spare time, I sleep.