Prairie Fire When the New Gods and the government were after you, paranoia became your way of life. Yamamoto led Fox on a long surveillance detection run. Following the textbook, they wound through alleys, stalled at green lights and sped through yellow ones, alternated their speed at random times. Yamamoto went one step further, hopping […]
A Thirst for Beauty
For a published writer, I realize I don’t read a lot of fiction. Between my work and my other responsibilities, I don’t have a lot of spare time. A not-insignificant fraction of that time is usually spent chasing down avenues of research related to my current story. What little reading time I do have left […]
Appendix N: Robert E Howard, Masculinity and Morality
Robert E Howard stands astride the world of American literature as a forgotten titan. With hundreds of stories and poems to his name, he built a bibliography that dwarfs any ten modern writers by the age of thirty. He wrote in a vast array of genres, from Westerns to spicy romances, light-hearted humourous tales to […]
Between Pulp Wonders and Light Novel Trash
In his last podcast, JimFear138 sat down with Rawle Nyanzi to discuss the concept of genres in a freewheeling discussion that spanned, among other things, My Hero Academia, the blurry line between science fiction and fantasy, and, at the 40:15 mark, Japanese light novels. Rawle didn’t have a high opinion of most light novels. I share the […]
EPulp Sampler Volume 1: What Pulp Is Not
While the Pulp Revolution has been around for a couple of years now, it isn’t the only literary movement focused on pulp fiction. Indeed, it’s not even the first. Before PulpRev came New Pulp, which Pro Se describes as “fiction written with the same sensibilities, beats of storytelling, patterns of conflict, and creative use of words and […]
The Fighting-Man of a Hundred Faces
The fighting-man is the quintessential pulp hero. He has graced pages and screens since the dawn of the pulp age, driving stories through relentless action and raw vitality. He is an enduring archetype, and for good reason. As Bradford Walker discusses: To succeed as a fighting-man, you have to have the very qualities of character that […]
What Do Otaku Readers Really Want?
The Japanese publishing industry is getting predictable. Every other week, there’s a brand new series starring a Japanese high schooler who is mysteriously transported to a fantasy world. There he promptly gains overwhelming powers, the antagonism of the local Demon King, and the affections of a harem of cute, buxom, mature, demihuman and underage girls. […]
The Future Form of Fiction
Recently, Brian Niemeier argued that success in indie publishing demands a prolific release schedule. This, in turn, demands short novels. I think he’s right. The maths is simple. A 50,000 word novel can be edited, formatted and published much faster than a novel of three times the length. An author who releases four books a […]
Appendix N Profile: Robert E Howard
In the 1930s, the glory days of the pulp age, Robert E Howard cast a formidable shadow. The creator of Conan and Solomon Kane, a legendarily prolific writer with hundreds of stories and dozens of poems to his name, he molded the genres of weird fiction and sword and sorcery, leaving his mark forever. In […]
The Quest for Pulp Speed
A little over a month from now, thousands of writers will once again attempt the NaNoWriMo challenge. Once again, many will fall. NaNoWriMo is simple: write fifty thousand words in thirty days. An admirable goal, and a challenging one. For the past ten years, the success rate hovered between a high of 19% in 2009 […]