Category Archives: Uncategorized

Writing Update, January 2024

Just a quick update on the 2024 Words per Day in 2024. I hit the target and averaged 2031 words per day in January.

So far, that’s a win for the year. I didn’t write anything yesterday because I was on the road, so I’m starting February behind. I’ll catch up.

Writing included blog posts, an article for REHUPA, which I’ll reprint here in a few weeks, and or course, fiction. I’m working on what started out as a short story but is heading into novella territory. I’ve got some otyher fiction I need to finish, as well.

So that’s  how things stand with the writng at the moment.

Onward to February.

RIP, Tom Purdom

Tom Purdom (1936-2024) has died. He passed away on January 14.

Purdom began writing science fiction in the late 1950s. He took a break from writing in the early 1970s and then returned in the 1990s. His most recent publication was “Exit Contract” in the May 2023 issue of Asimov’s.

Purdom’s name was one of the ones suggested when I asked what writers needed more exposure. I’ve always enjoyed his short fiction, and I intend to read some of it over the next few months. I’ll report on it here.

What’s Up With Our Intrepid Blogger? Why Isn’t He Posting?

Those are very good questions, questions that deserve answers.

Short answer: I’ve been busy.

Long answer: I’ve been busy with Real Life.

I mentioned a few months ago that my wife was going into the prison system.  Well, –

What’s that? What did she do?

She filled out the application, got an interview, and accepted the offer.

What, you thought she was going in as an inmate? If anyone in the family were going up the river, it would most likely be me. There is someone in a previous generation of my family named Chicken Thief Smith. (Really. I’m not kidding.)

We’re buying some property to keep the land in the family. I’m teaching for the summer to earn a little extra cash. (Very little, as it turns out, but every little bit helps.) Then it’s pack up and move.

Oh, and look for gainful employment so I’m not a burden on society.

In the meantime, most of my writing has been fiction or assignments for some online writing workshops I’ve been taking. Some of the workshops have novels as reading assignments, which we have to analyze for various things, depending on the topic of the workshops. I’m learning a lot, and I hope it shows in the writing.

I’ve got some things I need to publish, as well as a few stories to submit to markets. I’m hoping to have at least two collections and one novella up by the end of the summer. Part of that will involve how to do print books. I’ve gotten requests for some. (Waves at Will Oliver.)

In the meantime, I’m trying to pack (sooo many books, so few boxes), survive the heat (107 degrees yesterday), and look for a job. I’ll try to get a review or other post up from time to time.

Just so you know, I’m not dead and haven’t killed anyone whose body has been found yet. This blog isn’t dead, either, but it looks like it’s on life support. I’ll try to resuscitate it at least a little going forwards.

 

 

A Tribute to James Bama, Pulp Reprint Artist Extraordinaire by John Bullard

James Bama

I received word from my friend Tony Tollin Sunday night that the artist James Bama passed away in his sleep. I never got a chance to meet him, although when I was going to be up in Wyoming in 2018, Tony offered to put me in contact with him to see if I could meet him in person, but I felt I would be too busy with other things, and mainly, I felt that I would be imposing on him, so I declined.

James Bama was a highly successful commercial artist, painting covers for magazines and paperback books from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. When he decided to retire, he moved to Wyoming and began painting incredible portraits of American West subjects. His style is of the school of photo realism. Continue reading

A Belated Report on the 2022 Jack Williamson Lectureship

Things have been crazy this past month, and I’ve been too busy with other projects and/or just wiped out to get this up sooner.

COVID killed the lectureship in 2020. Last year’s was all online. That was better than nothing, but everyone agreed it was less than satisfactory. Fortunately, this year’s event was held in person. It was good to be back in Portales again. I’d attended in 2018 and 2019 and had a fantastic time. Continue reading

“St. Patrick’s Day at the Dancing Leprechaun”

St. Patrick’s Day at the Dancing Leprechaun” is available for purchase. My collaborator, G. Addison Blaine, and I so much fun writing “Christmas Eve at the Dancing Leprechaun” that we decided to write another story. Like before, Gayle wrote the romance parts, and I handled the fantasy.

This isn’t a direct sequel to the previous story, but there will be a couple of familiar characters. We’d hoped to have it out sooner, but Real Life got in the way. At least it’s out before St. Patrick’s’ Day.

Depending on the reception this story receives, we might write more holiday-themed fantasy romances.

Black Noir Friday – Adventures Fantastic Style

Today for Black Friday, I’m going to do something a little different. Noir is French for black, and I’m a big fan of noir in both written and cinematic form. So this is my Noir Friday post.

This post would be better suited over at Gumshoes, Gats, and Gams, but I’ve not been active enough on that site this year for it to get much traffic. So I’m posting here.

One of the great writers of noir was Cornell Woolrich. He had an entire series of novels with “Black” in the title. They were all stand-alones; they are considered a series due to the word “Black”. Let’s look at them. Note, I’ve read some of these, but not all of them (yet). Continue reading

Spending Time In the Palace of Shadow and Joy

In the Palace of Shadow and Joy
D. J. Butler
Baen
trade paper $16.00
ebook $8.99

I’d like to thank Mr. Butler for providing a copy of this novel. I won it a few months ago in a raffle he held.

This is a fantasy adventure that will appeal to fans of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, although this story isn’t quite as dark as some of Leiber’s tales and has more humor. The publisher’s advertising copy says its a far future adventure, but I’m not seeing the far future aspect of it.

Indrajit and Fix are two down on their luck guys who are hired to protect an actress and singer, Ilsa Without Peer. Isla is the last of her race, and she is something of a slave to a powerful man in the city. She performs at one of the premiere theaters in town, The Palace of Shadow and Joy. A risk contract (think insurance policy) has been taken out on her. The risk merchant who holds part of the contract wants them to provide additional security. He’s got ulterior motives.

Things go wrong very quickly.

Continue reading

Who Are the Giants?

So yesterday’s post on Edgar Rice Burroughs and Harold Lamb and the recent post on the canon, coupled with today is the anniversary of the passing of J. R. R. Tolkien and the seventh anniversary of the death of Frederik Pohl, got me to thinking. I referred to Burroughs and Lamb as giants. In the canon post I quoted Newton talking about his achievements being due to his standing on the shoulders of giants.

So who exactly are the giants in the field? Continue reading