Monthly Archives: April 2017

Hard-Boiled Monday Returns

mammoth book private eyeSort of an ironic thing to post on a Friday, isn’t it?

I’ve had numerous requests for the return of the ongoing column, and I’ve spoken with Chris Hocking, my Hard Boiled Monday pal, and we’ll be getting back to it in a little while. I’ve given up trying to read stories in the order of the original list, though, and it may not be EVERY Monday. I’ll get a schedule up in a little while.

For now, I wanted to tell anyone who wanted to read along that the first book we’ll be discussing is an exceptionally fine anthology titled The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories. It’s considered a landmark volume and now that I’m most of the way through it I definitely see why. Arr, there be great fiction in here, matey’s! Said the pirate…. Who apparently reads hard boiled detective novels. Who are you to stereotype?!

Anyway, not this coming Monday, but Monday May 8th I hope to start discussing the very best out of this greatest hits anthology. If you like (or at least are curious about) private eye stories, this is an excellent place to go. If you’re looking for a copy, try here for paperbacks, or go to the other usual places. For once, copies seem plentiful, though I have no idea why. I can’t imagine why someone would want to part with this volume, because I definitely plan on reading from it again. It’s a great introduction to the work authors I’ve already started exploring.

Max Latin

max latinI’ve been reading a lot of short stories lately. Any of you out there read some Norbert Davis? Particularly the Max Latin collection from Altus Press?

Man, there’s no one like Norbert Davis. Sly, with great elements of humor at the same time he’s delivering a strong mystery and great action.

The only thing I haven’t enjoyed about the collection was John Macdonald’s introduction, which didn’t much discuss the fiction and instead sideswiped the author a little.

You can find the book here.

Field Commander Alexander

fc alexanderI spent a good chunk of the weekend cleaning and organizing various things around the house. If you’re a home owner sometimes it feels like the weekend is so busy that the week itself is more relaxing.

I did manage to get in, finally, some playing of Field Commander: Alexander, and tried to launch an expedition into Persia. I won the first time but didn’t quite get the rules right, so I tried again and got trounced, alas. But it turns out I still missed out on some rules intricacies. I’m looking forward to a re-match against those wily Achaemenidians next Sunday morning.

I’m a big fan of Field Commander: Napoleon from the same company, DVG, and I’ve been curious about this earlier game for years.

Private Eye

victory's knifeHere at Jones central things have been on the quiet side lately, which is nice. I’m working away on the revision of the second novel of my new series, although revision is a stretch for some portions when a lot of the middle is going to be drafted from scratch.

When not drafting, or still hacking away at the honey-do list, I’ve been reading a lot more, and returned to some of the noir volumes on my shelf. I just polished off Fredric Brown’s The Fabulous Clipjoint and ended up wishing I’d read it a lot sooner, and have been slowly working my way through some great stories in The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories, which I’m told by those in the know is a landmark collection. Certainly I’ve enjoyed everything in it, and a lot of it I’ve loved. Finding a lot of new (to me) writers in it I mean to explore.

I’ve also been reading my old friend Joe McCullough’s collection of swashbuckling fantasy fiction, Victory’s Knife,  in preparation for writing a proper review. I hope to have something up about that in a few weeks, and Chris Hocking and I are talking about reviving our Hardboiled Monday series. I want to at least talk about the aforementioned anthology and Wade Miller and some other hardboiled detective writers who need more love.

But for now I need to get back to writing.

Nostalgia

trek continues crewI don’t know how it is for people growing up today, but as a child of the ’70s I ended up growing up with the ’60s all around me. Sure, there were ’70s TV shows, but there were an awful lot of ’60s reruns on the television, and the music from the ’60s was still in the air. When I think of my childhood I remember the jangly guitar of the mid ’60s rather than the disco of the ’70s, and I remember the thrill of watching original Star Trek.

It should come as no surprise then that I’m excited when the lovingly crafted Star Trek Continues releases a new episode (one of a final few, alas). You can find it here.

And I was just as thrilled to discover that one of my favorite modern song writers — someone well acquainted with jangly guitar power-pop (Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne) — oversaw production on a new Monkees album. I couldn’t believe how well Micky Dolenz’ voice has aged. Released last year, I only learned about it yesterday morning. Here’s a track.

This was almost like discovering these things I love again for the first time, and both brought a smile to my face.

Resolution

mound builders 2A few weeks ago I sat down and resolved to examine my life a little. This may sound a bit grimmer than I’ve been feeling, but here it is: I’ve realized that my life is almost certainly more than halfway over. It’s time to prioritize a bit. What do I wish to do with what I have left, assuming I have an ordinary healthy span and don’t lose my mind?

Putting aside the obvious goals of always striving to be a better father, husband, and human being, I looked at the way I spend my time and tried to come up with some ways to get to the things I like or have wished to do and haven’t found time for. 

Dedication

gate in the seaRemember how my new book, Through the Gates in the Sea is now available? Well, inside is the saddest dedication I’ve had yet to write: “To the memory of Kris Ghosh, M.D. (1969-2015), father, chef, surgeon, traveler, and brother in all but blood.”

Wish I could have dedicated it to him while he was still with us. Still can’t believe he’s gone.

I haven’t yet had the heart to delete his contact info. I suppose some part of me still expects to receive a phone call from him, greeting me in his terrible fake Liverpool accent…

Kris Dedication

Kickstarting

in search of hannibalTalk about first world problems! There are so many cool Kickstarters running right now that I can’t afford them all!

Longtime site visitors might remember that Hannibal of Carthage was one of my heroes growing up, right up there with Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew in importance to my moral development. Well, I’ve just stumbled upon a Kickstarter that’s a graphic novel about Hannibal’s life, complete with a cool t-shirt and some other goodies that can be ordered. The Kickstarter’s actually over, but you can still join in here. Judging by the amount of money raised, I’m not the only one who grew up with Hannibal as a hero. Wish I’d known some of those other folks when I was a kid…

Speaking of my favorite Carthaginian, the acclaimed board game Hannibal: Rome Vs. Carthage is getting re-released via Kickstarter in just nine days, and it comes with an additional game starring Hamilcar, Hannibal’s father, who led Carthaginian forces through the First Punic War. I’ve been hearing about how glorious this game is for years and I’m more than a little interested in seeing how it will play.

Behind the Scenes

gate in the seaA few weeks ago Paizo’s James Sutter asked me to draft an essay about my newest Pathfinder novel, Through the Gate in the Sea. It ended up being a peek behind how I drafted the novel, with a little discussion about my own role-playing gaming. If that sounds of interest, you can find it here.

I think this novel, and its predecessor, Beyond the Pool of Stars, are stronger than their predecessor Pathfinder novels. In particular I love the characters, and would like to return to them someday. The famously hard-to-please reviewer known as Mrs. Giggles even seemed to like this one, although she couldn’t help sideswiping the previous novel a little as she talked it up. Ah well. I was pleased that she enjoyed the book as much as she did!

This week also brought a video review from Dungeon Master Mark, one which could only be described as glowing. So, good news all around, actually.

Nominations

Robert E. Howard

Robert E. Howard

On Monday I meant to fit in another Robert E. Howard related topic, but I ended up talking about Breckinridge Elkins for so long that I left that topic for today.

I recently learned that in addition to having a number of friends on the preliminary ballot for the 2017 Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards, I myself am on there as well! Three times!

  • I was nominated for an essay I wrote for Two-Gun Raconteur about one of my favorite historicals, Robert E. Howard’s “Gates of Empire.”
  • Bill Ward and I were nominated for our Conan read-through, which actually began in 2015, but concluded in 2016. We were nominated last year for the first half of the read-through and I have fingers crossed we cross the finish line for the back half of it. I was proud of our work and thought Bill especially had some great analysis.
  • Lastly, this site itself was nominated — which seems like the longest shot to me, although I suppose I do talk about Robert E. Howard an awful lot, even more than I do Harold Lamb.