The 2012 Pulp Ark Award Winners!

Congratulations to all the winners this year!  If you're not familiar with these names then I suggest you check them out, particularly my personal favorites from the list: Derrick Ferguson, Chuck Miller, and Barry Reese.  The awards are well deserved, and I look forward to checking out the entries eligible for next year's awards!

"Tommy Hancock, Editor in Chief of Pro Se Productions and Pulp Ark Coordinator, announces that voting has closed for the 2012 Pulp Ark Awards, the first awards given in association with this inaugural Pulp creators' conference/convention.

The Winners of the 2012 Pulp Ark Awards are-
BEST NOVEL-Yesteryear by Tommy Hancock (Pro Se Productions)

BEST COLLECTION/ANTHOLOGY-Four Bullets for Dillon (Pulpwork Press)

BEST SHORT STORY- The Devil’s Workmen by Barry Reese-The Avenger: The Justice Inc Files (Moonstone)

BEST COVER ART-Hugh Monn, Private Detective-by David Russell (Pro Se Productions)

BEST INTERIOR ART-The Adventures of Lazarus Gray-George Sellas (Pro Se Productions)

BEST PULP RELATED COMIC-All Star Pulp Comics #1 (Airship 27 Productions)

BEST PULP MAGAZINE-Pro Se Presents (Pro Se Productions)

BEST PULP REVIVAL-The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage by Will Murray (Altus Press)

BEST NEW PULP CHARACTER- John Blackthorn Created by Van Allen Plexico (White Rocket Books)

BEST AUTHOR-Teel James Glenn

BEST NEW WRITER-TIE Sean Taylor And Chuck Miller

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD-Howard Hopkins

The awards, 8X10 engraved wooden plaques, will be awarded in the middle of Pulp Ark, the evening of Saturday, April 21, 2012. Hancock stated that all winners as well as nominees are encouraged to attend, but any winners who could not would receive their awards by mail. Pulp Ark thanks all who nominated, all who voted, and congratulations to all the nominees and especially to the winners of the Pulp Ark 2012 Awards!

For any questions concerning Pulp Ark, contact Hancock at proseproductions@earthlink.net or follow Pulp Ark news at www.pulpark.blogspot.com"

Challenger Storm Goes "Undercover"...

"Undercover Reviews", that is!  Over at the New Pulp Fiction Blog, Nick Ahlhelm gives his take on "The Isle of Blood".  Thanks for the review, Nick!  More Storm is on the way...

After "The Isle of Blood", What's Next...?

I've discussed this before in a few interviews, but I want to confirm it here as well: the second Challenger Storm book is in the pipeline, and about halfway complete at this point.  The title is "The Curse of Poseidon", and it's shaping up to be a pretty fun ride for me so far: Storm and the MARDL crew versus ancient superstitions and piracy in the Aegean Sea near Greece.  My writing-speed at this time varies from "sluggish" to "non-existent" so I can't accurately predict exactly when it'll be done and submitted for publication, but I'm trying to get it out there.

In the meantime, the seed for another Storm adventure has been planted, and it's rapidly grown pretty big... so big that it's nudged all other plans for subsequent Challenger Storm novels back by a peg or two and has forced me to consider restructuring my planned timeline of the entire series.  I can't give very much info at this point other than the title (which was partially suggested by Storm fan and MARDL feedback-scientist Bob Besco): "Challenger Storm: White Hell".  (I could tell you more, but then I'd have to kill you...)

I have other projects I'd like to work on as well: other series, stand-alone one-shots, things like that.  It seems silly to talk about future projects when my productivity rate is so damned slow, but I find that it helps me to actually work on things if I talk about them publicly... in that way, I look like an idiot if I don't follow-through with my announced plans.  I'm a little jealous of the infernally-prolific writing-machines awesomely-talented fellow writers I'm acquainted with: I'm in awe of their sheer output, and it's all quality stuff.  If you're not familiar with these folks, check the links to the right and start clickin' and buyin'... you'll be glad you did!

Michael Kaluta's Artwork for "The Isle of Blood"... Yet Another Pair of Nominations!

Congratulations to Michael Wm Kaluta for his 2011 Pulp Factory Award nominations for both the cover and interior artwork for "Challenger Storm- The Isle of Blood", and to the rest of the nominees as well... there was some fantastic stuff put out in 2011!

"Terrific, a Six-Demon Bag!"

A mini-interview with yours truly has been posted over at Josh Reynold's blog.  It is pretty brief, but it was a blast to do.  Thanks, Josh!

"The Isle of Blood"... Nominated for the 2012 Pulp Ark Awards!

The book is up for a total of five nominations: Best Novel, Best Cover Art, Best Interior Art, Best New Character, and Best New Writer.  This is obviously a really cool moment for me.  Thank you for the nominations & votes, and congratulations to all the other nominees!

Visualizing "The Isle of Blood": The Kaluta Sketches

One of the major selling points of "Challenger Storm: The Isle of Blood"... ok, THE major selling point for a lot of people, I'm sure, is the amazing artwork of comic and illustration legend Michael Wm. Kaluta.  Airship 27's Ron Fortier made the official announcement regarding Michael's involvement at last year's Pulp Ark, and while I wasn't there myself I did hear a recording of that panel over at The Book Cave.  It certainly caused quite a stir and interest rose for the then-upcoming book.  We'd been sitting on this secret-weapon for a little while, and we were happy to have finally been able to start talking about it.

If you're familiar with Kaluta's art (and you'd better be... if not, get on that link up there, stat), then you know his style instantly: an extremely intricate melding of Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles; these elements often raise his work above the standard "comic-booky" feel of others in the field and into the lofty realms of high-art.  His work can be very decorative and florid, and his more thematic illustrations can be hyper-detailed and intricate.  It's always been these elements of his art that have long made Michael Kaluta my favorite artist: the fact that he's basically the first guy to visualize my character in publication is just awesome.  He's a consummate professional who brings a lot of dedication to his art, and he certainly didn't skimp on any of these qualities when he did his work for "The Isle of Blood".  I'm honored to have had him aboard Challenger Storm's inaugural flight.

After the jump below are a few of the rough design sketches he did in preparation for the cover and interior illustrations.  Just from these roughs alone, I could tell that he wasn't phoning-in this assignment.  He pulled no punches here, and if you've seen the finished product you know that his work on my book was 100% Kaluta.