I am delighted to have been an editor for this really fun anthology now nominated for Best Pulp Anthology at this years WINDY CITY PULP & PAPER CONVENTION.
Tales of the Interstellar Bartenders Guild is available on Amazon and Pro Se Productions.
To find out what else from Pro Se Productions has been nominated for awards check out our Facebook page.
Thanks for reading,
Ernest Russell
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A NEW PULP LEGEND’S EARLIEST ADVENTURE NOW ON AUDIO! DERRICK FERGUSON’S ‘YOUNG DILLON IN THE HALLS OF SHAMBALLAH’ DEBUTS!
Dillon.
A name that means many things to many people. Adventurer. Hero. Rogue. Nemesis. Friend.
But even a man who is a legend in his own time started somewhere and the beginning of that legend is now available as a top quality audiobook produced by Radio Archives-YOUNG DILLON IN THE HALLS OF SHAMBALLAH.
Even Dillon was young once. YOUNG DILLON IN THE HALLS OF SHAMBALLAH back the curtain on the past of a modern-day hero. Many are the tales that have been told about Dillon, but none are stranger than the whispers of his having been raised in the mythical and eternal city of Shamballah and his training by those deadliest of adepts in the martial arts, the Warmasters of Liguria.
Now, at last, the true story behind those legends can be told. This is a story of a Dillon and the events and people who would forge him into the man we know.
This is a story of a Dillon in the days before his feet were set on the path that would lead him to the wildest adventures of them all. And it is itself an incredible adventure in its own right.
This is the story of Young Dillon in the Halls of Shamballah. And, once you’ve heard it, you and Dillon will never be the same.
A Youngpulp! digest novel from Pro Se Productions and Pulpwork Press, now an audiobook performed by Calvin Worthen with a cover by Sean E. Ali, YOUNG DILLON IN THE HALLS OF SHAMBALLAH is available at Amazon and also available via iTunes.
This thrilling young readers adventure is also available in print and digital formats via Amazon.
For more information on and great products from Radio Archives.
For further details on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, click the link to visit the website to see our catalogue of over 300 titles and check our authors. Like Pro Se on Facebook to be informed of all the latest releases and news.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A PAST FULL OF PULP ADVENTURES! HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY: HISTORY’S HEROES DEBUTS!
History is full of Heroes…and Heroes make history! Pro Se Productions announces the release of HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY: HISTORY’S HEROES, available in print and digital formats.
The highly anticipated follow up to Pro Se Productions’ HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY focuses on the over the top pulpy adventures of characters chosen or even forced to take up the fight for right throughout time. Regardless of the era, heroes are always needed and Teel James Glenn, Matthew McRae Martin, Dale W. Glaser, and D. Alan Lewis deliver tales of derring do and danger in HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY TWO: HISTORY’S HEROES. From Pro Se Productions.
Featuring an atmospheric cover, logo design and print formatting by Antonino Lo Iacono and Marzia Marina, HIGH ADVENTURE HISTORY: HISTORY’S HEROES is available for 99 cents at Amazon.
The second volume in the historical pulp anthology series is also available for the Kindle for $2.99. HISTORY’S HEROES is also available to Kindle Unlimited members for free.
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, email editorinchief@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, click on the link to visit our website, browse our catalogue of over 300 titles, and check out our authors. Don’t forget to Like Pro Se on Facebook .
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PSYCHEDELIC PULP RETURNS IN THE FABULOUS WORLD OF ZENITH-THE RED DAGGER STRIKES II for 99 CENTS!
Chuck Miller, the creator of The Black Centipede and perhaps the father of Psychedelic Pulp, returns readers to The Fabulous World of Zenith, an original Pro Se Single Shot Signature Series that will examine the world of the Black Centipede, Vionna Valis, Mary Kelly and Doctor Unknown Junior from a variety of strange and oblique angles.
The mystery continues in THE RED DAGGER STRIKES: BOOK TWO. Is the Red Dagger a masked demon filling citizens’ hearts with fear? Or a horrific disease spreading through the world like wildfire? Perhaps a brave hero forced to hide her identity due to some secret? Or a top secret government operation intent on dominating humanity? Only Chuck Miller knows, but every reader will learn the truth if the Fabulous World of Zenith when THE RED DAGGER STRIKES! BOOK TWO. Now Available from Pro Se Productions!
Featuring an atmospheric cover and logo design by Jeffrey Hayes and digital formatting by Antonino Lo Iacono and Marzia Marina, THE FABULOUS WORLD OF ZENITH: THE RED DAGGER STRIKES BOOK TWO is available for 99 cents on Amazon. The second chapter in Miller’s tale is also available to Kindle Unlimited members for free.
The first book of THE RED DAGGER STRIKES is also available on Amazon in digital format.
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies for review, contact Kristi Morgan, Pro Se’s Director of Corporate Operations, at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, visit our website and see our full catalogue. Follow Pro Se on Facebook to keep up to date on new releases and open calls.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HOLLYWOOD’S AFRICAN AMERICAN SINGING COWBOY RIDES AGAIN IN PROSE! ‘THE ADVENTURES OF THE BRONZE BUCKAROO’ DEBUTS
From out of the Wild West, gun on his hip, song on his lips, returns a historic hero of the silver screen in brand new stories. THE ADVENTURES OF THE BRONZE BUCKAROO is now available in print and idigtal formats from Pro Se Productions.
Portrayed by singer/actor Herb Jeffries, The Bronze Buckaroo, Bob Blake, appeared on screens in 1939 as the first African American singing cowboy. Cast in the mold of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, The Buckaroos’ films had one major difference. They sported largely African American casts and were produced by African American companies. With four films usually listed as the Buckaroo’s legacy, this truly great moment in cinema history has been largely forgotten, except for film experts and fans of great stories. THE ADVENTURES OF THE BRONZE BUCKAROO features Robert J. Randisi, John Lutz, Gary Phillips, Christopher Alan Chambers, Frankie Y. Bailey, Michael Gonzales, and Percy Spurlark Parker, each giving their own take on the most unique Singing Cowboy to ever ride into a theater! Load your sixguns, saddle up, and get ready to charge into two fisted matinee movie action with THE ADVENTURES OF THE BRONZE BUCKAROO!
With a rip roaring cover and logo design by Jeffrey Hayes and print formatting by Marzia Marina and Antonino Lo Iacono, THE ADVENTURES OF THE BRONZE BUCKAROO is available now at Amazon and Pro Se’s own store for 11.99.
This unique anthology celebrating one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets is also available as an Ebook, designed and formatted by Lo Iacono and Marina for only $2.99 for the Kindle. The book is also available on Kindle Unlimited, which means Kindle Unlimited Members can read for free.
For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies to review this book, contact Pro Se Productions’ Director of Corporate Operations, Kristi King-Morgan at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook.
One of my favorite parts of any workday is my lunch time. It’s not the food, it’s a solid block of time I can count on for one my favorite past times. Reading. This past week lunch has been really pleasurable as I devoured the most recent offering from Ellie Raine, Nightingale.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ellie Raine at Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention in November 2017. Her energy and smile were infectious. I picked up her first book, Willow of Ashes, and I immediately became an Ellie Raine fan.
Ellie Raine is a very talented author, bringing a distinct vision and fresh voice to her stories. I am glad to have an autographed copy of her first book. I will be getting her autograph for this one as well. She is an author in whom I believe will be a constant delight as she matures in her art.
When the chance came up to read and review Ellie Raine’s current offering from Pro Se Productions – Nightingale, I leaped at the chance. All I knew about it was from the promo tease, “A New Take on the Private Eye tale…and Death as well.” I already knew Ellie has a talent for writing fantasy that absorbs you into the story. Could she do it with a Detective Story?
Ellie’s main character Alastor Deus, P.I. seems to be the archetype of a man seeking vengeance for the murder of his father. Nightingale properly opens straight into the action. While “discussing” a lead to his father’s murderer, the interrogation is rudely interrupted by the murder of the informant. This is the last “normal” scene. From here on out, we are on the rollercoaster with Alastor as he finds his true family…even meeting Death. Just when you think you have a handle on the plot twists, Ellie finds a monkey wrench. But she doesn’t hit you over the head with it. Most of the plot twists came with a subtle lagniappe, a little extra. As a veteran reader of detective stories, it was quite refreshing. Imagine, reading a story that is almost predictable, but not completely.
The world of Nightingale is a very different, yet familiar reflection of our own. The twists in mythologies are highly creative and well imagined. The marriage of Private Eye story and the mythologies invoked is just shy of brilliant. Her prose is clever and evocative in the best tradition of Pulp detectives. The characters begin a little flat but each page reveals more of their past, adding shades of depth and grey motivations. There is not quite enough growth for them to become fully 3D but enough I wanted to see more of them. What else is waiting to be told? Between the pace of the story with new questions and revelations constantly expanding the backgrounds of the characters, Nightingale was very difficult to put it down.
As a pulp story, this tale really sings.
Thank you for reading,
Ernest
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
Sharing an excerpt from one of the stores from an anthology I am writing. This is raw draft, no edits yet, hoping it polishes up well.
“My family and I arrived on the shores of Draisia in the dead of night. Life seemed simple to me then, life through the eyes of a child always does. Complexity is for the adults who knew this was a calm before the storm. The eerie darkness of the night we landed will never escape my memory. The milky speckles twirled and danced along the river in various patterns, tugging at the corners of my lips in a way that almost made me smile.
The Canso was a veteran of the brine. The old planks retained the fetid odor of fish, though leaky had been seaworthy enough. Her nets had been removed to allow every inch of room and we filled it, many sitting with knees tucked to their chests. When her hull crunched into the mud of the river’s edge, one leg of our trek was complete.
Everyone awake. Everyone asleep. Many eyes were bleary, reactions slow, tiredness running in their veins just the same as their blood. Everyone who survived the crossing climbed up the grassy embankment in a mix of emotions. For some relief, some fear, some grieving for the place they left. Ahead is unknown, all we can do is pray for things to be better where they are heading for they cannot know what awaits them.
At the top of the embankment we all huddled into the shed. This is where we had been told to wait. On the floor near the front wall sits a woman and child, the kid relaxed into her arms so fully it was like they were one organism, melted together. He has a look of contentment on his face. Now that her son is drifting into sleep her face becomes grave. Without his timid gaze she has no reason to feign a confidence she may not have felt.
The tiny window in the shed has its view obscured behind swirls of dried mud. The dawn came with a musical silence. The soul hearing a melody ears could not. A new day had come, new possibilities, a fresh page yet to be written.
With it a funny feeling comes, not excitement, though at first it appears that way. Some cry, some look grim, and the children are held close and loved with all the strength they have left in their bodies. My parents gathered myself along with all my brothers and sisters into a circle, hugging us as the first rose tinted rays of dawn glowed through the dried mud of the window.
Soon, the sound of a coughing diesel engine came from beyond the levee. A pair of the braver ones peered out. Excitedly they tell the rest of us the bus is coming. We all pour out of the shed, waiting as the old bus trundles up the road, its grumbling old engine spitting smoke like a trail of breadcrumbs.
It rumbles to a stop just above us, on top of the levee. An older alligator in a vest and a beret wearing weasel climbed out and motions to us to board.
“C’mon, we ain’t got all day.” The weasel called as he pulled the ladder down to throw cargo on top of the bus.
“Youse three, help people load their gear. You climb up and move things forward, you get to the top of the ladder and hand stuff ovah, while you, my you are a tall one, hand things to the guy on ladder. You heard Cavan, now get a move on.” The alligator hissed at an Orangutan, a Mountain Goat and a black bear, who took the positions indicated. So we loaded the few belongings while the old diesel pinged and creaked as it cooled. The process did not take long. There were not many belongings among those who made the journey.
Soon, we were all aboard the old bus. Rusted and dirty it was but to our eyes, it was a chariot to our hopes and dreams for a better life. The seats were full and those of us who were too big to sit in the laps of others lined up along the floor. After a couple of sputtering failed attempts the old engine roared into life with a mighty belch of exhaust. The decrepit bus lurched forward along the levee road pitted and bumpy with rocks soon to kiss the smooth asphalt to their destination.
From my vantage point on the floor I began to see the roofs of houses. Vaughan drove while Cavan stood on a rail at the front. Sometimes staring back at us, sometimes punching the alligator pointing directions. Then other taller buildings appeared as we passed through a city. The buildings gave way to houses and as two hours passed the houses gave way to barren road.
The squeal of brakes signaled our journeys end. In front of us a building stood with a curved roof and corrugated metal walls. There were other similar buildings in the area but the road we had traveled was littered with old machinery covered in dirt and long since scavenged into skeletons of whatever they once were, indicated this place was long abandoned.
Cavan had run to the top of the bus while were taking in our surroundings. He began throwing our belongings down.
“This is where we part company. Your future lies in there.”
As soon as the bus top was emptied Cavan swung inside where Vaughan had kept the temperamental engine idling. We picked up our belongings and shuffled into the structure.”
Thank you for reading,
Ernest
This is a rough opening for a work in progress. A short story set in the world of The Three Billy Goats Gruff for an anthology. I think it’s off to a good start. Perspective needs to shift slightly but a good start.
*****
Don’t expect to find dignity in an old bar. Not here. Not at “The Sleeping Hare.”
The sallow light of street-lamps trickled into the darkened room through diamonds of lead panes. The smoke twisted in an artistic way, forming curls in the gloom, illuminated only by the age-speckled bar lights.
The smell has changed over the years. Once it was of cigarette smoke only, the bouquet clung to clothing, skin and furniture alike. Now it is joined by the miasma of stale beer, cheap hooch, body odor and cheaper perfume from the quiff trying to make a buck.
“The Sleeping Hare” was always a den of debauchery, alcoholism and the great unwashed of the town. It still is. No-one comes here with anything wholesome in mind. Probably why the small mountain of a goat sat on the stool by the door. Black, with tufts of grey in his beard, a tight T-shirt highlighted bulging muscles. If he did not look menacing enough, flexing those muscles was often deterrent enough for the occasional trouble maker.
Once upon a time, the place might have had a classy, old world feel. Now nicotine-stained walls, which might have been white, the darkened wood and stained reddish carpet only hinted at what might have been. There are establishments that are more like restaurants now – all clean with waiting staff. Not at “The Sleeping Hare.” Here, you still bellied up to the bar, where along the wall was every hue of amber liquid in their inverted bottles, and caught the barkeeps eye to place your order. Bring your patience though, tortoises are not known for their speed and Tabor is not as fast as he used to be, but he will take care of you.
The thunk of darts and clack of pool balls came from the back of the joint. An addition to the old building the plaster and wood gave way to cinder block walls painted black. Four red felt pool tables commanded the center of the room. They and the dart board lanes in the back of the room brought in almost as the cheap hooch Tabor stocked.
Only one table was in use tonight, a young brown goat crisp white shirt with sleeve holders, thin black tie tossed over his shoulder as he lined up a shot while nearby a ferret in a beret watched, anxiously hoping for a scratch.
Thank you for reading,
Ernest
Craving adventure? Pulse Friction has all you could want. This anthology will take you on a whirlwind tour of pulp stories. The collection does a good job of presenting various archetypes from Masked heroes, Mercenaries, Cat Burglars, Westerns and Hard boiled detectives and all undeniably Pulp.
Pulse Friction is a great buffet of authors. I am familiar with and have enjoyed three of the authors in both other anthologies and their own work, D. Alan Lewis, Barry Reese and Tommy Hancock are all favorites sitting on my shelves and they do not disappoint. I enjoyed the sampling the works of Eric Beetner, James Hopwood and Brian Drake and will be looking for more of their work. Each author brings their own flavor and the result is a series with a good rhythm. Each story has a plot with memorable characters which drive you forward in the action. A complaint I sometimes have with anthologies is a tendency for the stories to feel the same. Not to worry about Pulse Friction, the variation in protagonists and settings means you will not be reading the same story over and over.
The narration by Chase Johnson is solid. There are no background noises to distract from the narration. He enunciates clearly and is well spoken. In listening to the different stories Chase was at his best tone and style in the hard-boiled detective stories such as “Never Enough Corpses” or “Cry Blood”. This is personal taste but he did not feel quite right to me in “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Worst Friend”. Overall, the listening experience was enjoyable and I would listen to more books narrated by Chase Johnson.
Bishop & Hancock’s Pulse Friction: Anthology
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
Thank you for reading,
Ernest
Follow Pro Se Productions at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions for this and more!
When My Worlds Collide 