OVERDUE: The Unofficial Playlist

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Long before I wrote fiction, I was a music journalist and music historian. Those origins bleed through to my present in my fondness for creating playlists to accompany my published works as well as inviting my guest bloggers to do the same for their creations. Over the years, I’ve discovered such playlists have a remarkable ability to viscerally convey the style of a story and encapsulate an author’s influences and approach in a way that words do not match.

A playlist for Overdue: Mystery, Adventure, and the World’s Lost Books, presented a challenge in this regard, but also an opportunity. While Overdue contains my latest work, the novella-length “Provenance,” it is an anthology. Alongside my story are nine other, very different stories by nine other excellent, very different authors.

In short, Overdue is an anthology of stories about quests to recover history’s lost and forgotten books – a concept that seems to have resonated with authors and readers (both of whom tend to be bibliophiles). The anthology is set in a shared-universe joining together my Bel Nemeton series with the world of M.H. Norris’s All the Petty Myths.

The stories in Overdue run from Mythos horror to romance and from supernatural techno-thriller to YA coming of age. For this post, I reached out to my co-authors, inviting them to contribute a track or two or three about their story for this unofficial playlist and say a few words about each selection: was it something reflective of the plot, the characters, the tone, the setting, or even just something they listened to while writing the piece?

Authors, of course, are busy creatures. Not all of them had the time to respond to my request (though, to my great delight, most did). In those cases, I have taken the liberty of including tracks I think fit the story, and why. Where appropriate, I have noted when the selections and commentary are mine and not the author’s.

“On with the playlist…“

One of the great advantages of doing a playlist in a format like this is the ability to link to videos which are visually interesting as well as presenting the music. Where multiple links for a track were available, as long as the audio quality was acceptable, I went with the most visually compelling. This allowed me to include some real gems: in addition to music videos (official or fan tributes), we have televised performances from KEPX studios in Seattle and the seminal 1970s music program Burt Sugarman’s Midnight Special. We also have some amazing live performances from Prague, Gdansk, and two shows from London’s celebrated old Wembley Arena.

So, that’s the setup. Now, to paraphrase the late, great Casey Kasem, on with the playlist…

WICKER MAN, by M.H. Norris (selections and commentary courtesy of the author)

1) “The Promise of Action,” by Joseph LoDuca

It’s from The Librarians soundtrack. this was an album that I had on a lot while writing and working on this collection because for me, it captured the feel I wanted. Helped keep me in the spirit.

2) “The Jurassic Park Theme: 65 million years in the making” by The Piano Guys

It’s screamed Rosella at me since they released it. This is her style of music.

WHOLLY HOLY by Kara Dennison (selections and commentary are my own)

3) “Parsifal, Act II” composed by Richard Wagner, arranged/performed by Giorgio Ravoti

Wholly Holy is the quest not only for the legend-shrouded Kyot’s Parzifal, which Wolfram von Eschenbach claimed as the source for his own work, but for the Grail itself. As such, a selection from Wagner’s Parsifal seemed a natural inclusion. But rather than watching a bunch of overly-dressed musicians sitting in a concert hall, I thought we’d do something a little different. Who knew Wagner did such good prog rock/space rock?

4) “Return to Innocence” by Enigma

Enigma’s distinctive blend of electronica, ambient, and new age sounds inevitably pairs well with stories, such as Wholly Holly, which contain elements of the fantastical, allegorical, and magical realism. In this case, however, I find a more direct connection. The song’s progression, especially when expressed in tandem with the imagery of its offical music video, very much parallel’s Faye’s own journey from innocence to disillusion to wonderment.

PERPETUAL HAPPINESS by Heidi J. Hewett (selections and commentary are my own)

5) “Such Reveries” by Duncan Sheik

Yes, Perpetual Happiness is a globe-trotting adventure about the search for a lost volume of the Yongle Dadian. But what really makes the story work, and makes it special, is the relationship between its protagonists, Doctors Carl Rosenstein and Hyacinth Button. So much of the backstory of that relationship plays out in Carl’s memory: what their shared past means for their present and their future, what who she is means for who he is, and vice-versa. Sheik’s song of picturesque, powerful moments in a relationship, seen only through memory, felt like a perfect fit.

6) “Forever Young” by Alphaville

As Perpetual Happiness begins, there is no doubt that Carl is feeling his age: physically, mentally, and emotionally. While not so obvious at the outset, perhaps so is Hyacinth. Throughout the story, memory and present offer juxtapositions of youth, age, and the blessing and curses of each. At the same time, the lost volume of the Yongle Dadian dangles the tantalizing possibility of immortality or at least extending lifespan. All those threads are woven together in Alphaville’s new wave classic.

LOREDANA’S CHALLENGE by Liam Hogan (selections and commentary made with author’s guidance)

7) Main theme from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Ennio Morricone

When Liam suggested something from Morricone for its “instrumental, Italian western vibe,” the hipster in me wanted to go anywhere but the obvious place. But my mind kept coming back to Morricone’s best known piece. Its signature eight note refrain has become musical shorthand for showdowns at high noon. Loredana’s showdown, a battle of wits between chef and critic unfolding in a once grandiose restaurant in the Alps now fallen on hard times, is of a very different sort from that of a Spaghetti Western. But, nonetheless, a showdown it is.

8) “The Marriage of Figaro” composition by Mozart, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

A lovely diegetic selection. Throughout the story, we are periodically made aware of an offscreen dishwasher with a fine baritone voice, literally heard but not seen. It’s one of those little touches which makes Loredana’s Challenge not only so compelling but feel so genuine.

THE BOOK OF THE WAYS by RC Mulhare (selections and commentary courtesy of author)

9) “Meet Me In The Alleyway” by Steve Earle

I listened to the soundtrack to HBO’s True Detective: Season One on repeat while writing my piece (also some elements of the series rubbed off onto the story, particularly the Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane nature of the plot, even the climactic scene in my piece gave a tip of the hat to the climatic scene at Carcosa in the penultimate episode of TD: Season One). This gritty, Tom Waits-esque blues piece jumped out at me. The lyrics fit the general air of wheeling and dealing over occult stuff, plus the genre fit Jake Booker like a chambray shirt.

10) “Madness Is My Destiny (Orchestral Version)” from Dreams in the Witch House: A Lovecraftian Rock Opera.

I consider this one the main title/end credits theme for “The Book of the Ways”. I finished principal writing on this piece during breaks at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival when the Lovecraft Arts and Sciences hosted them at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode island. This piece kept playing as trailer music for a preview that played before their short films blocks and it wriggled its way into my mind.

Check out RC’s full playlist for “The Book of the Ways.”

BRING THE FIRE by Michael O’Brien (selections and commentary courtesy of author)

11) “Revolution Industrielle” by Jean-Michel Jarre

This is an electronic instrumental piece. The work speaks to me of labor and creation, and the progression of our mechanisms from clockwork and steam to digital pulses and video. I find it a profoundly moving piece because our technology has always been extensions of ourselves, and it fits my story in the way it reflects the hacker’s and maker’s desire to make physical laws do things they’ve never done before.

12) “Atom Bomb” by Fluke

Wildly different from the previous choice, this is a bass-heavy track about a woman with the plans and means to dominate the entire world. The unnamed woman is clever, charismatic, and determined, with access to resources beyond the imagination of an ordinary person. While this obviously doesn’t directly reflect Naomi – she just wants to dominate the 5v5 ladder in the latest season of Overwatch – my brain does make the connection. [JB Note: There were two excellent options for the video here. While one spoke a little more to me, I went with the one that seemed to speak to the author’s aesthetic and interests]

UNDER COVER by Sean M. O’dea (selections and commentary courtesy of author)

This wonderful rap medley is poured over a country western beat like spicy honey over a flaky biscuit and I think it represents both the cultural confluence that is Houston, Texas and has the right tenor in terms of lighting up an explosive action scene.

14) [Middle Act] “The Influencers” by Bootsy Collins (featuring FANTAAZMA, Snoop Dog, Dave Stewart, Wiz Khalifa, & Westcoast Stone)

This is a tough one as a secret team of eclectic operatives gallivants across ancient continents in search of a book that is equal parts danger and magic. Nothing says eclectic gallivanting like Bootsy!

15) [Final Act] “Beaty Beats” by Beats Antique

This one was on repeat as I wrote the volatile final scene in a mythical city beneath the Arabian desert between cultists, foreign mercenaries, and tech-savvy secret operatives. “Beaty Beats” captured all these variables. A song that is definitively Middle Eastern laid over a downtempo, electronic foundation and infused with a little hip-hop. It’s a song that makes me want to curl up with a smoking hookah and a thrift store copy of 1,001 Arabian Nights.

CLUE TO THE PAST by Karen Thrower (selections and commentary courtesy of author)

16) “Fate Has Smiled Upon Us” by Marc Streitenfeld, from the Robin Hood soundtrack

I always liked this song, the title would remind me how lucky Lawrence was to be able to find the manuscript in the first place, and make it out alive!

17) “Trespasser,” Dark Solas Theme, by Trevor Morris

Nice, dark, perfect for Hazel on her own quest to destroy the formula.

18) “Chevaliers De Sangreal,” by Hans Zimmer, from The Davinci Code

This song plays at the end of the movie when Tom Hanks character realizes where she is, and when he kneels on top of her tomb it’s this really special moment,(at least to me) and I always felt like finding the manuscript was Lawrence’s special moment, worth the reverence that Tom Hanks portrays in that scene, the thing he had hoped existed and finds it truly does.

PROVENANCE by Jon Black (selections and commentary courtesy of author)

19) “Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)” by Pet Shop Boys

This song is all about not doing it the right way. It’s about cutting corners and ignoring rules (and laws) to go straight for the main chance and the big score. That’s something the two protagonists and even many of the secondary characters of Provenance can relate to: Cassidy and Hierbabuena’s masterwork forgeries. Jake Booker’s shady treasure hunting past. Even Jen Gerson’s ambition to become one of the world’s foremost linguists, without decades of playing academic games and without a doctorate, differs from the others more in goals and tactics than spirit. I had hoped I might find an alt-country cover of “Opportunities” as a nod to Jake Booker. Perhaps its just as well I could not, PSB’s Wembley performance is so delightful.

20) “Heroes” by David Bowie (with Queen, Mick Ronson, and Ian Hunter)

This is a diegetic selection, literally the song playing on the car radio in the final scene of Provenance as Cassidy and Jen drive into the unknown, questing for the real Sefer Bohem. Both Jen and Cassidy have within them the raw material to be heroes but, up to this moment, their limitations, quirks, and foibles have held them back. Provenance leaves the question unanswered: will their mutual idiosyncrasies cause the nascent partnership to explode in a hot mess or, working together, will each finally unlock their potential to be heroes?

IN THE HEARTS OF LADS by Fio Trethewey (selections and commentary courtesy of author)

21) “Hocus Pocus” by Focus

I was introduced to by the film Baby Driver. Yes, whilst the film itself has aged poorly due to quite horrendous acts by the actors, the soundtrack was able to lit a fire underneath me and “Hocus Pocus” was no exception. It’s upbeat rock anthem felt very much like the boys zooming away out of danger, whether that’s whilst they’re being chased down in Bristol, or dealing with the goons across the United States. It never failed to get me in the mood to write these lads.

22) “Song 2” by Blur

This has a more personal connotation for me. When I was a young student I had a wonderful teacher, and the day we left our school with university in our sights and out of his care he gave us all a CD. This was a playlist of about 20 songs, all of which were songs of his that he grew up with or had a special connection to. The first song was this one. Without fail whenever I listen to it, I feel like a teenager again with the world before me. It really was a good fit for the playlist. [JB note: There were several good options for video on this one, but I was unable to resist the dialback to the old Wembley Arena a full decade after the earlier video]

23) “The Goonies” theme by Dave Grustin

This is a little different to the other two. A orchestral 80s tune that is a softer instrumental, that builds into epic horns and slows back down again. If you’ve not seen The Goonies, you may have been living under a rock but as that was one of the original inspirations for the story it would be remiss not to talk about it. In case you don’t know, it’s an 80s adventure film by Steven Spielberg about a group of kids who are trying to find missing pirate treasure – whilst being chased by a family of murderous thieves. 

When I listen to the song, not only does it also make me feel young again, but I feel the musical beats connects the emotional paths of the boys that they are going through. My story is about four very different boys, who find themselves connected by the internet, connected by their fears and dreams and are able to go on their own grand adventure together. Grustin’s music is able to weave a musical theme for us does make me feel connected to Duncan, Hobbs, Lucas and Austin when I listen to it and make me wonder how these boys are doing now, 7 years later! 

Check out Fio’s full playlist for “In the Hearts of Lads.”

Overdue: Mystery, Adventure, and the World’s Lost Books, from 18th Wall Productions, is now available in paperback, Kindle, and other eBook formats.

Check out OVERDUE, a Bel Nemeton/All the Petty Myths shared universe anthology

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It is with great pleasure that I announce Overdue: Mystery, Adventure & The World’s Lost Books, the new anthology from 18th Wall Productions – an anthology of stories revolving around the quest for history’s lost or legendary books.

And, when I call Overdue “my latest work,” I mean that in three different ways…

…yes, it contains my near-novel-length story, “Provenance.”

…it also marks the first time I am receiving an editing credit, having co-curated the anthology with the ever-excellent M.H. Norris (and an occasional silent but steady hand lent by 18th Wall’s CEO James Bojaciuk).

…but what really makes this special for me is the concept behind Overdue: a shared-universe anthology bringing together the world of my Bel Nemeton series with the world of M.H. Norris’s All the Petty Myths. So, all the stories in Overdue have some element of my handiwork: a fragment of my world, sometimes my characters. And that was something really special for me.

I was incredibly flattered when M.H. approached me with the idea of a shared universe anthology – and very excited by how supportive 18th Wall was about the idea. But it was a bit of our journey to get from the “hey, wouldn’t it be neat if…” kernel of an idea to a finished anthology. While Bel Nemeton and All the Petty Myths have many similarities, they also have differences. M.H. and I put our heads together to see what we could make out of the similarities: quirky, cerebral protagonists and an obsession with history – whether that “history” is the relatively recent urban folklore of All the Petty Myths or the dusty old manuscripts from Bel Nemeton’s 6th century historical-fantasy Arthurian Britain.

We imagined the three principal modern-day protagonists of the shared universe teaming up to launch an initiative to recover, discover, or rediscover the world’s lost, forgotten, or rumored books. That framework would give authors the opportunity to use their imaginations to create such books or to weave actual works of history or legend into their tales. It also created opportunities for a wide range of protagonists: archaeologists, historians, linguists, anthropologists, antiquarians, and book scouts – all, more or less, on the up and up. But it also left space for mercenaries, morally ambiguous archaeologists, treasure hunters, gentleman and gentlewoman rogues, warlords, and even the street kid who got lucky (or unlucky) and snatched the right backpack. If anyone really wants to nerd-out, you can read the full submission call here.

Page from a surviving volume of the Yongle Encyclopedia (in Overdue‘s “Perpetual Happiness” by Heidi Hewett, readers may encounter a previously lost volume)

The Overdue curation team was floored by the response – not just the quality of the submissions we accepted, but the sheer diversity of the nine stories we accepted: “Wicker Man” by M.H. Norris, “Wholly Holy” by Kara Dennison, “Perpetual Happiness” by Heidi J. Hewett, “Loredana’s Challenge” by Liam Hogan, “The Book of the Ways” by R.C. Mulhare, “Bring the Fire” by Michael O’Brien, “Under Cover” by Sean Michael O’dea, “Clue to the Past” by Karen Thrower, “Provenance” by Jon Black, “In the Hearts of Lads” by Fio Trethewey

Within the parameters of the shared universe, our authors wove tales that count as Mythos horror, neo-Gothic, supernatural techno-thriller, Arthurian magical realism (no, not mine, surprisingly), fine-dining intriguing, clock-punk-adjacent YA slipsteam, YA coming of age, and even romance-adventure.

Ubar, in present day Oman, may have been the real-world inspiration for the fabled Iram of the Pillars. Visit Iram’s ruins in Overdue’s “Under Cover” by Sean M. O’dea.

That being said, I’m also very pleased with my own contribution, “Provenance.” In one important way, it is unique from the other stories in the anthology. While spelling out that difference would probably be an unwelcome spoiler, the story’s title gives at least a bit of hint. Fans of the Bel Nemeton series, and my work in general, will likely appreciate the story for several reasons. It sheds some light on Jake Booker’s shady pre-Bel Nemeton past. It gives me a chance to write “linguistics-porn” about a language family other than Celtic, and it includes some Easter eggs establishing that the Bel Nemeton series, Gabriel’s Trumpet, and my Junzt County stories all take place in the same world. (I also need to give a very grateful shout-out to Jeremy Brett and Alexandra Hubbard for serving as authenticity readers on “Provenance.”)

That was one of the greatest joys of Overdue for me: seeing what other authors -including some who are better-known, or just plain better- did with worlds and characters I had created. (Interesting observation: our authors have many different interpretations of Myths’ Dr. Rosella Tassoni and Nemeton’s Dr. Vivian Cuinnsey. But everyone sees Nemeton’s Jake Booker the same way!)

Overdue: Mystery, Adventure & The World’s Lost Books is available in Kindle and paperback on Amazon and multiple eBook formats through 18th Wall.

Hebrew text printed in 16th century Prague, evocative of the fictional Sefer Bohem in Overdue’s “Provenance” by Jon Black.

Don’t Forget to Vote in Critter’s Readers Poll

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If you’re a fan of scifi, fantasy, horror, mystery, or any other corner of speculative fiction/genre fiction, don’ forget to vote in the annual Critters Readers Poll – a reckoning from fandom of the most interesting, most exciting, or just plain best offering from indie publishers during calendar year 2023.

VOTING ENDS 6:00 a.m. (Eastern USA time) MONDAY, JANUARY 15. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

A great honor for me

I’m a little sad that, because of publishing schedules, I didn’t have any eligible titles come out in 2023 (hold on to your proverbial hats, 2024 should more than make up for that). My successes in the Critters’ Poll over the years have been very important for establishing my career as a writer, both critically and commercially. But, even without yours truly, some amazing works have received nominations this year.

As a way to get really easy blog content, I thought I’d talk about some of the nominees I vote for (and why).

For Best Mystery Novel: Radcliffe by Madeleine D’Este, from Deadset Press. If you’re someone I talk about books with or if you follow my blog (where she’s a regular guest poster, including the excellent “official playlists” for her titles), you’re already familiar with Madeleine. She writes Australian-focused fiction, often with a supernatural element, and has true gift for stories exploring the intersection of quirky personalities and bizarre locations. Radcliffe, the story of eccentric residents of a lonely apartment on the outskirts of Melbourne, is her superlative work in that regard. (She’s also an upcoming 18thWall Productions author!)

For Best Steampunk Short Story: “The Falcon and The Goose” by David Lee Summers, in the anthology Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk from eSpec Books. Summers is southwestern author whose work does several things I adore: including weaving historical events into his fiction and using historical figures in cameos or even not-so-cameos. “The Falcon & The Goose” pits one of the turn-of-the-last-century’s greatest rail engineers against two of its most notorious outlaws in a life-or-death rail vs. airship race.

For Best Anthology: the aforementioned Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk from eSpec Books. Among all the various [x]punk genres, Cyberpunk and steampunk are favorites (and I may have some interesting things to say about clockpunk in a year or two), but Dieselpunk has a special place in my heart. But, like all the other [x]punks, Dieselpunk has style-over-substance problem. By focusing on the folks who make the technology go, “Grease Monkeys” sidesteps that problem and delivers an anthology of solid stories about the nuts, bolts, and grease of a different reality.

Additionally, all other things being equal, anything from Third Flatiron Publishing is usually going to have both the quality and the spin to get my vote.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Go vote! And I’ll see you on the nomination list next year. 😉

GUEST POST: Radcliffe, the Official Playlist

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Madeleine D’ Este

NOTE FROM JB: Yeah, I’m always happy to temporarily turn my blog over to someone and get good content on someone else’s dime (hey, I am a writer after all). But it is always a true pleasure to have a guest post from Madeleine D’ Este. There are few writers active today whose work I enjoy as much. If you asked me to reduce to a single sentence what appeals to me about her writing, if I’m going to eschew “because it’s really cool,” I will have to go with “She has a unique gift for crafting tales which explore the intersection of eccentric characters and eccentric locations.” Never has that talent been as remarkably on display as it is with her latest offering, Radcliffe.

Madeleine knows about my passion for music. And I know, every time she has a new release, I can look forward to having an “official soundtrack” for the piece dropped in my inbox. I knew her soundtrack for Radcliffe would be something really special. I was not disappointed.

RADCLIFFE PLAYLIST

…a weird apartment building full of weird women…

My new novella Radcliffe was released in August 2023 from Deadset Press.

A three-storey ramshackle house in North Melbourne is full of secrets. Tamsin is led to the building by a voice inside her head – a voice that tells her ‘Death is Coming’. With no respite from the eternal summer heat, can Tamsin find out who death is coming for and solve the riddle of Radcliffe?

Radcliffe is a gothic tale about a weird apartment building full of weird women. Meet the characters and their songs; Bunty, Defne, Cecily, Riko and Tamsin.

BUNTY

The longest resident of Radcliffe, Bunty is an octogenarian ex-ballerina always has a tale from her days on the stage.

‘A Night on Bare Mountain’ – Mussorgsky, Berlin Orchestra

A Night on Bare Mountain features in a compilation produced by the V&A ‘Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909-1929’ accompanied many hours of editing Radcliffe.

DEFNE

Defne is a late-blooming photographer with a penchant for the grotesque. Growing up in the 90s, Alanis would have rocked Defne’s suburban world.

You Oughta Know – Alanis Morrissette


Curiously, this is an example of how characters are not autobiographical, because I’ve never been a fan of this song and yet it’s perfect for Defne.

CECILY

The twenty-something psychology student Cecily is fascinated with the human condition and diagnoses everyone she meets.

Only Human – Rag n Bone Man


This song was also often playing in my dodgy 24-hr gym when I escaped from editing.

RIKO

Riko is a twenty-something industrial musician and DJ.

Corporate Slave – Snog

This song is from the grandfather of Australian industrial music, David Thrussel aka Snog. While I imagine Riko’s music to be more abrasive, something like Snog would have lit her original fire. I saw Snog live in 2022, supporting Pop Will Eat Itself in Melbourne. The show was amazing and bonkers.

GAIL

Gail is a reclusive writer with a dark past.

Red Right Hand – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds


How could I do Australian gothic without Nick Cave? Needless to say, writer Gail has some anger issues as well as a way with words.

TAMSIN

The main character Tamsin is a tax accountant and auditory psychic.

Love is a Losing Game – Amy Winehouse


Life has been a little unfair to Tamsin and she would have spent many nights singing along with Amy’s pain.

RADCLIFFE

The first song I thought of when Jon asked me to put this post together. A weird apartment building full of weird women? A gothic tale?

Happy House – Siouxsie and the Banshees

Madeleine D’Este

Madeleine D’Este is a writer of dark mysteries. Growing up in Tasmania and studying law (but never practising), she lives in inner city Melbourne surrounded by books. When not writing, D’Este enjoys podcasts, knitting, forteana, indie films, kettle bells and coffee as ‘black as midnight on a moonless night’.

www.madeleinedeste.com

Radcliffe is available from all good ebook platforms and in paperback from bookshop.org.

BEYOND KING CONAN: MARK FINN’S CASE FOR ROBERT E. HOWARD AS A KING OF TEXAS LITERATURE

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(edited October 2023 for typos, oops!)

Mark Finn delivers Blood & Thunder to the Dallas Historical Society.

Last week, I had the privilege of attending “Blood & Thunder,” author and scholar Mark Finn’s presentation on Robert E. Howard for the Dallas Historical Society, an in-person treatment of Finn’s identically-titled seminal biography of Howard. Finn makes a compelling case not only for Howard’s inclusion in the top tier of Texas authors but also the essential Texan-ness of much of Howard’s work, including Conan.

A little bit of background, if you are unfamiliar with Howard (though, if you are unfamiliar with Howard, I’m also curious as to how you found my website):

The classic photo of Robert E. Howard

Robert Ervin Howard was born in 1906 in the tiny north Texas town of Peaster but was raised and spent the majority of his life in Cross Plains, a place where central, north, and west Texas come together not just geographically but culturally and historically. By Howard’s late teens, the West Texas oil boom had rolled over Cross Plains like a black wave, significantly impacting not only Howard’s life but also his work.

While best known for Conan and a certain style of action-heavy, hyperbolic tale, Howard’s literary scope was vast including poetry, drama, and many forms of fiction. While Howard himself traveled relatively little in his brief life, he had far-reaching intellectual horizons and maintained correspondence with many authors of his day including H.P. Lovecraft and his associates, eventually becoming a member of that circle.

Howard’s life was seldom an easy one and he died by suicide at the age of thirty.

Cross Plains during the oil boom. (SOURCE: Portal to Texas History)

Finn sets the scene for the Blood and Thunder lecture by narrating a hypothetical, or rather composite, moment in Howard’s youth, surrounded by Cross Plains’ oilfield roughnecks and reverends, housewives and boxers.

Initially, Finn focuses on Conan’s evolution from a creature of pulp magazines to a cultural icon so ubiquitous that “Conan” has become conversational shorthand for a particular personality type and specific kind of tale.

Conan’s first appearance in the Dec 1932 issue of Weird Tales.

Finn’s ultimate point to this chronology of Conan is that the barbarian’s success has generally come at the expense of Howard’s. Both because of Conan has sucked the air out of Howard’s many other creations and because of the stigma attached to genre fiction until relatively recently, Conan has played a large part in keeping Howard from a status that Finn believes should place him in same ranks as Texas authors like such as Larry McMurtry, Cormac McCarthy, and J. Frank Dobie.

That is a Texas-sized assertion, but Finn proceeds to deliver the receipts. These include Howard’s many creations beyond Conan: his Steve Costigan stories, his boxing fiction, his prodigious correspondence with other authors, even an expansive collection of poetry. The cornerstone of Finn’s argument, however, is the framing of Howard as perhaps the ultimate practitioner of the art of the tall tale. A distinctive narrative form with its own hallmarks and conventions, the tall tale holds a special place in the broader context of Western (in the sense of the American West) literature. These conventions: humor, hyperbole, unreliable narrators, and physical comedy, flow so naturally from Howard that a reader is often not conscious of their use. Finn points to Breckinridge Elkins, an absurdist exaggeration and caricature of the rustic mountain man archetype, as the pinnacle of Howard’s creations in this regard.

The Tallest of Tall Tales: Breckinridge Elkins whoops some ass in the August 1934 issue of Action Stories (illustration by Rudolph Belarski)

I’ve always had a soft spot for Howard. In fact, a throwaway line in my Bel Nemeton series may imply that Howard is co-protagonist’s Jake Booker’s grandfather (Howard had no children that we know of but that’s okay, Bel Nemeton was already something of an alt-history after I apparently decided the druids of Anglesey should hang on a few centuries longer than they did our world).

Howard was obsessed with Texas, its history, its landscape, and its rough-and-tumble oil patch society in which he lived. The final part of Finn’s presentation is devoted to showing the linkages between that love and the essential Texan-ness of so much of Howard’s work. Yes, even Conan.

I love an underdog and, with popular memory leaving him playing second fiddle to Lovecraft in weird tales and to Tolkien in fantasy, Howard is definitely an underdog. Finn helps make the case that this relegation is unfair. His soft spot for Howard runs even deeper than mine does. So, if you want to know more, pick up Blood & Thunder.

Uncovering the Dreamquest Beast

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(For fans and friends voting in the Critters Readers Poll, you can scroll down to instructions at the bottom of the post)

Discover the story behind the strange obsession of Camelot’s strangest knight.

Two volumes of “Camelot vs. Cthulhu?”
You know you want it.

As an author, the two things I hang my proverbial hat on are Arthurian mythology (via my Bel Nemeton series) and Mythos-infused historical fiction. So, when 18th Wall Productions put out a call for “Camelot vs. Cthulhu” stories for an upcoming anthology, I knew I had to be involved.

As it turns out, 18th Wall got so many quality submissions that the resulting anthology, Shadows Over Avalon, encompasses two volumes, both edited by the ever superb Nicole Petit. Volume I focus on tales of traditional Lovecraftian cosmic horror, and it’s filled with names who do not disappoint, such as Simon Bucher-Jones, Edward Erdelac, and Josh Reynolds. Volume II channels Lovecraft’s other side, stories of shifting perceptions and realities, fantastical journeys, and dreams. There, you will find my novella “The Dreamquest Beast” along with stories by worthy authors such as Georgia Cook, Kara Dennison, Lukasz Furmaniak, Sophie Iles, and C.L. Werner.

“The Dreamquest Beast” is a non-canonical story set in my Bel Nemeton universe (leading my beloved wife to observe “So, you’re writing your own fanfic now?”).

Taking place a generation before the start of Bel Nemeton, when Arthur is an infant and Merlin still known as “The Wanderer,” northern Britain bakes under an unending drought unlike any in memory. As brave warriors and shield maidens take up the quest to discover what afflicts the land and set matters to right, the would-be champions invariably fail and fall. After the quest claims his much loved older brother, Prince Pelinyr (or “Pellinore” in more contemporary renderings) of Damnonia becomes the unlucky 13th to take up the challenge.

“So, you’re writing your own fanfic now?”

My wife (who, and I say this not only because it’s true but also because she may be reading this, is my biggest fan)

On the surface an unlikely hero, Pelinyr has all his life been plagued by nightmares and strange occurrences surrounding his dreams. In this desperate endeavor, he is joined by his friends: the gregarious Prince Cynfarch of Gorre, the clever Prince Tuadel of Alclud, and Jana, Pelinyr’s childhood playmate, now a shunned sorcerer and seer haunting a cursed Roman amphitheater. Together, the four will cross the wild frontier into the kingdoms of the dreaded Saxons before descending through a black tower without name or builder into the land of dreams themselves.

Once in the Dreamlands, the challenges and dangers only grow. The company will meet gods, battle monsters, take caravans into deadly jungles and endless deserts, pour over tablets written in unearthly tongues, and solve riddles that are a matter of life of death for the companions and for millions back in the waking world.

The Questing Beast drinks from a river (perhaps the good, strong Adamandara) – illustration by Arthur Rackham (1917)

Pelinyr has always been one of my favorite members of the Round Table as well as, to me, one of the most fascinating. Along with Galahad and Percival, he is one of the knights that is “touched” in a way Arthuriana usually reserves for its Druids/Magicians/Whatever you want to call them. For Galahad and Percival, that mania is clearly religious in nature. With Pelinyr, however, its source is never clearly defined. Certainly, it seems to be connected with the “Questing Beast,” the strange creature which he is sworn to follow but which only he can see – but whether the beast is a cause or effect of Pelinyr’s madness is unknown.

This characterization of Pelinyr is surprisingly consistent throughout Arthuriana: from Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, where it is implied he is afflicted by his relation to the Fisher King, to the eccentric and slightly senile figure of T.E. White’s Once and Future King.

This aspect of Pelinyr has been incorporated into my Bel Nemeton series. Pelinyr is a minor yet significant figure in the second book, Caledfwlch. The book opens with a friendly duel between Arthur and Pelinyr, as Merlin looks on and frets about Pelinyr’s instability manifesting during the combat. And Caledflwch ends with, in a fit of inspiration, Pelinyr being the one who finds the true name of Arthur’s new blade and becoming the first significant British noble to pledge fealty to Arthur.

So, the idea of “Dreamquest Beast” (a kind of titular portmanteau of Arthuriana’s “Questing Beast” and Lovecraft’s “Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath”) as a thought-experiment exploring how Bel Nemeton’s Pelinyr “got that way” and the origins of the Questing Beast was extremely appealing. Like many previous authors, scholars, and artists, I connect the Questing Beast with the mythical creature known as the camelopardus or camelopardalis. Additionally, I thought it would fun to take two of the foils from Caledfwlch (both based on historical 6th century British rulers), make them Pelinyr’s boon companions in “Dreamquest,” and explore the roots of their own transitions from friend to foil.

I am Cameleopardus
From the Serpent, Master of Cunning, comes my Head.
From the Leopard, Lord of Fleetness, is taken my Body
From the Lion, King of Bravery, are drawn my Haunches
From the Hart, Emperor of Virtue, are given my Feet.
And from Sacrifice, I take Breath and Mind and Life

The Riddle of the Questing Beast, from “Dreamquest Beast”

As a writer, I’ve dropped elements of Lovecraft and the Mythos into my stories dozens of times. Doing it with “Dreamquest,” perhaps because I was cutting from the whole cloth of the Dreamlands rather than picking and choosing an element or two for what was essentially my own world, was different. I felt a tremendous sense of pressure, even obligation, to be “good enough” and “get it right.” For all that, it was enormously exciting, one of the most exciting things I’ve done as an author, both to be able to use my favorite elements of the Dreamlands and to add more than a few things of my own.

I also peppered “Dreamquest Beast” with Easter eggs, weaving in nods and shout-outs to stories, myths, and legends from Herodotus to Jim Henson, which also play with the dreamlike, the surreal, or the radically fantastic. Likewise, I endeavored to keep things fresh by occasionally using established Mythos creatures without naming them or renaming them in accordance with cultures involved in the stories (such as using the Saxon “barrow wights” for Lovecraft’s ghouls).

Play along at home! Use this card to track the Easter eggs, shout outs, and obscure references I’ve tucked into “Dreamquest Beast.”

As part of giving “Dreamquest Beast” a distinctive and appropriate atmosphere, I also played with the language of the story. For those of you familiar with my other work, no part of “Dreamquest” is quite in my usual authorial voice. In the first and third acts, taking place in the waking world of 6th century Britain, I have leaned hard into the conventions of epic poetry. For the second act, occuring in the Dreamlands, I have attempted to channel the distinctive language Lovecraft used in the Dream Cycle.

I am very gratified that “Dreamquest,” despite only being released in December, has already been nominated for “Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Short Story of 2022” in the Critters Readers Poll. For fans and friends interesting in supporting me, I’ve included directions for voting below:

  • Go here. 
  • Scroll down until you find “The Dreamquest Beast / Jon Black / 18th Wall Productions and then tick the circle
  • Scroll down again and enter your name and email address in the appropriate fields
  • Jump through their “I’m not a bot” hoop by looking at the random book cover they show you and entering the name of its author in the appropriate field 
  • Click “Submit Vote”
  • You’ll get a confirmation email sent to you, click the link in the email to confirm your vote.

“The Dreamquest Beast,” part of Shadows Over Avalon: Volume II from 18thWall Productions, is available in paperback and ebook formats.

Back in the Field: Writers in the Field returns for 2022

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TL;DL: Writers in the Field, a unique, outdoor hands-on event for writers, is October 8 & 9 in the Dallas area. Click links for schedule (see also stations) and tickets. I’ll see you there.

“A grown-up field trip” for authors

Writers know that the best kind of research is hands-on experience. Something that you have actually done is much easier to viscerally and authentically convey to a reader than something you have only read or watched videos about. Almost as good as doing it yourself is being able to talk face-to-face with an expert. Unfortunately, not everything lends itself to easily acquiring hands-on experience and it is a rare author who has an expert for everything on speed dial.

Enter Writers in the Field (WitF) … a unique two-day event providing us with the hands-on experiences and access to helpful experts that allows us to bring these activities and lifestyles vividly and credibly to life in our work.   “It’s a one-of-a-kind outdoor, grown-up field trip filled with experts, new information, and tons of inspiration,” explained Kathryn McClatchy, vice-president of WORD (Writers Organizations ‘Round Dallas), who handles promotions and media for WitF.

Firing black powder weapons at Writers in the Field 2019 (photo: Jon Black}

After two years off because of COVID, the WitF team is overflowing with energy and enthusiasm for 2022. “It feels like we’re a bit out of practice,” McClatchy admits. “But we’re so happy to reconnect with our community of writers and experts. It is also very exciting to have new members of the team bringing fresh life and new skill sets to the event.”

Programming for 2022 reflects of mix of popular favorites and exciting new opportunities. Some of this year’s highlights, old and new, include:

  • Becky Burkheart on Horseback Writing (all things equestrian for authors) as well as session on soap making
  • Genevieve Dodd of Tea Punk Teas on Historical Moments in Tea
  • Dan Greenig on Tech for Writers
  • Georgina Holzmeirer on Dowsing Rods
  • Detective RJ Hanson on Criminal Investigation: Details and Dummies
  • Tex Tompson on forensic lock-smithing, lock picking and breaking and entering  

“I always think of Writers in the Field as a buffet of skilled professionals,” said presenter and author RJ Hanson. Digging deeply into his law enforcement/investigation career for the Criminal Investigation class, Hanson says the tagline for his presentation should be “Crime and murder, you’re doing it wrong.” He looks forward to sharing aspects of a few real-word cases with attendees and taking questions to help authors with particular issues they’re having . But Hanson isn’t going to let them go without showing they’ve learned something. “I will hand out a statement from an actual kidnapping case, quiz them on it, and show them the technique I used to prove its veracity.”

Writers in the Field also includes sessions on the craft and business of writing. Among this year’s options are “Publishing Wide” by Adam D. Jones, “Scene and Structure” by Keith Goodnight, “Villain Character Development” by Amanda Arista, “Writing in Vivid Color” by Lisa Bell, and  “You Got Science in My Fiction” by Rhonda Eudaly.   

Tex Thompson shows the noobs a thing or two about locks, Writers in the Field 2019 (photo: Jon Black)

While there are a few indoor classrooms on site, most of Writers in the Field (as the name suggests) occurs outdoors. In 2022, the event is returning to its traditional location at the Steampunk November grounds in Mansfield, Texas (on the southern edge of Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area). Camping is available ($25 for the entire weekend, payable at registration) and the weather is supposed to be beautiful (I’m a writer, not a weather god) partly cloudy with highs in low 80s and lows in upper 50s.

If camping is a bit too much “field” in your “Writers in the Field” don’t worry, there are a variety of hotel and AirBnB options nearby.

AT A GLANCE: WRITERS IN THE FIELD

WHAT: Two days of hands-on activities and demonstrations on topics handled (and often mishandled) in fiction.

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, October 8 & 9, 2022.

WHERE: The Steampunk November grounds, 492 Cordes Dr., Mansfield, TX 76084

HOW: Tickets ($65 for all weekend)

WHY: Because it’s awesome (have you not been reading all this?)

INFO: WitF Website

Becky Burkheart is on a mission to make sure writers get horses right! Writers in the Field 2019 (photo: Jon Black)

Caper Crusaders: The Caper/Heist in Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Beyond

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I recently participated in a panel on Cross-Genre Capers: A Discussion of Capers and Heists in Fantasy and Science Fiction at ArmadilloCon. I had the honor of joining Mark Finn, Marina Lostetter and Marshall Ryan Maresca for a discussion, moderated by Lauren Teffeau.

Of course, there is never enough time on a panel to get out everything you want to say (unless you’re willing to risk becoming one of those panelists), so I thought I’d put some of my extra thoughts into a piece here.

Silver Screen Sleuths, featuring “A Scandal in Hollywood”

While capers are not my bread and butter, I do have a toe in the genre. My novelette, “A Scandal in Hollywood” is a counter-caper (see terminology, below) featuring actor Basil Rathbone stepping into the shoes of his most famous role, Sherlock Holmes, to thwart an existential threat to 1940s Tinsel Town. “Scandal” is a tongue-in-cheek love letter to Holmes and Doyle that was voted “Best Short Story of 2018 (all other genres)” in the P&E Readers Choice Poll. You can find it in the anthology Silver Screen Sleuths from 18th Wall Productions.

Speaking more to the panel’s focus, I’ve written a Weird West/light steampunk caper novella, The Clash at Crush (which my publisher assures me will be out any day now). Set against the backdrop of H.G. Wells’ War of the Words, “Clash” indulges my fondness for historical cameos with three historical figures among the caper crew and introduces an atypica wrinkle when Martian tripods inconveniently show up as the caper reaches its climax.

Obligatory Note on Terminology

It’s the Italian Job … but it is an Italian Heist or an Italian Caper?

The terms caper and heist are often used interchangeably. But is there a difference? And if so, what is it? Mark Finn posits the difference between the two is that humor is a key element of capers but mostly absent in heists. That’s a division I find both intriguing and useful, and one I continue to ponder. But the one I have used and, at least to this point, continue to use is that in a heist, the target is always a tangible object and material and the crew’s plans emphasize the physical and technological. A heist is, in essence, always a burglary – no matter how fancy. In a caper, however, the crew’s ultimate goal may or may not be a something physical, and elements of social engineering (Con jobs, impersonation, blackmail, whatever.) play a much larger role.

There is also the counter-caper story, where the antagonists are planning and executing the caper and it falls to the heroes to foil them. While one could technically subdivide this into counter-caper and counter-heist categories, I will use counter-caper to serve for both.

My Favorite SF/F Caper Canon (and Horror, too!)

There is arguably a streak of sci-fi even to many capers set in what is ostensibly the modern, mundane world. These stories often involve very-near-future, clearly-on-the-horizon technology or deploy existing technology in creative ways which sometimes stretches credibility. With so many capers showcasing talents, expertise, or technology that stretches the believable, it’s only a short hop to introducing magic and technology.

Cyberpunk’s persistent shadow economy of highly skilled experts is perfect for capers/heists.

That been said, many classic caper/heist stories explicitly fall under science fiction or fantasy:

Going all the way back to that foundational classic of the genre, Neuromancer (an assembled crew of criminals and other experts on the margins of society steal the hardcopy of downloaded consciousness), it would be difficult to find a cyberpunk story where a credible case cannot be made for it being a caper/heist.

But Sci-fi capers are not limited to the near future or the morally ambiguous confines of cyberpunk. A New Hope is rife with caper/heist elements: escaping Tatooine, helping Leia escape the Death Star, and the off-screen caper of Bothan spies acquiring plans for the Death Star (which, of course, makes Rogue One a caper story as well – and, while it may not be a great Star Wars story, it’s a good caper story).

Star Trek IV may be one of the most unique caper stories in any genre. Not only does it piggyback time travel on top of science fiction, but its heist object (a pair of humpback whales) is as distinctive as it is unforgettable.  

Star Trek IV: 60 tons of McGuffin

Speaking of Star Trek, the normally straight-laced, goody-goody Next Generation bangs out an incredibly smart, funny caper story with a healthy dose of meta in the season two episode “The Royale:” [Oversimplification Alert] The crew of The Enterprise becomes trapped in a pocket universe created by aliens based on a (fictional) caper novel also called “The Royale.” As their only sample of human culture, the aliens are under the mistaken impression that the third-rate novel reflects humanity’s preferred lifestyle. Ultimately, to escape the pocket universe, the away- team has to successfully pull off the caper referenced in the novel.

Heist Crew, Hyperborean style.

Fantasy takes to caper/heist stories very early in its history. Many of Fritz Leiber’s stories of Fafhard and The Gray Mouser revolve around capers or heists. Especially notable in this regard are “Ill Met in Lankhmar, “Jewels in the Forest,” and “Bazaar of the Bizarre.” Similar tropes can be found in Howard’s Conan stories. These are on full display with the 1982 pastiche film adaptation of Howard’s most famous creation, Conan the Barbarian, as Conan’s party (crew?) sneaks into the Snake Tower to steal a legendary jewel and then penetrates Thulsa Doom’s temple complex.

Caper Crew, Florin style.

Conan isn’t the only overlap of fantasy and caper among 80’s cinema classics. The Princess Bride is an excellent caper story (and one of the best and most endearing examples anywhere of how “assembling the crew” can become an adventure in its own right). The same, of course, can be said of William Goldmann’s original novel, though I would argue the caper flavor is more explicit in the movie than the book.  

Horror also offers us at least one noteworthy entry. Lovecraft’s “The Curious Case of Charles Dexter Ward” is a classic counter-caper narrative with diabolic antagonists Joseph Curwen and crew engaged in multiple capers: their body-snatching and necromancy ring as well as their efforts to keep the Curwen’s resurrection a secret and return him to his former glory.  Conversely, the protagonists, led by Marinus Bicknell Willet are trying to thwart those plots (at which they are ultimately successful) and preserve young Charles Dexter Ward’s life (at which they are not).

The Lord of the Stings

The author of a famous caper story?

More than a few people have argued for The Hobbit as a caper story. I respectfully disagree. True, the whole segment at the Lonely Mountain with Smaug is definitely a caper/heist. However, while that is the company’s ultimate goal, it is only a small part of the story as measured both by page count and emotional journey. It would be like a version of Oceans 11 where the main characters spend the first 90 minutes driving to the casino.

On the other hand, I see a much stronger case for Lord of the Rings as a caper story: the crew spreads out across Middle Earth using stealth, guile, magic (gadgets), and the occasional bit of muscle with the ultimate goal of sneaking the McGuffin of Power through Mordor to Mount Doom.

(Somehow, I suspect the notion that he might have written a caper story would send Tolkien spinning in this grave).

Meanwhile Back in Our World

And, because it doesn’t really seem to fit anywhere else, two my favorite non-SFF caper stories are both from the world of 90s cinema. A third comes from prime time cartoons.

“All he’s asking for is peace on earth and goodwill toward men,” Martin Bishop, Sneakers.

Sneakers (1992) has a cast that has to be seen to be believed: Robert Redford, Sydney Poitier, Ben Kingsley, Dan Aykroyd, River Phoenix, and Stephen Tobolowsky (you might know him as Ned … Rhyerson!).

Hudson Hawk (1991) is admittedly a tough one to classify. It does have hints of magic (or at least alchemy) and miracles alongside a dose of clock-punk, but takes such a light touch with them that I feel it round up to a real-world, if very cinematic, reality. While technically a ‘90s film, Hudson Hawk, in all its glorious cheese, actually has more of an ‘80s aesthetic.

Two decades later, in 23rd season of The Simpsons, the episode “The Book Job” sees a motley collection of Springfield residents collaborate on a get-rich-quick scheme to publish a young adult novel, which turns into a caper when the group is screwed over by their publisher. An appearance by Neil Gaiman, playing himself as the crew’s Ringer, transforms an already strong story into something truly special.  

Why Do We Love Caper Stories (And Why Do I)? The Big Picture

At their most fundamental, caper stories are underdog stories. Crews run the gamut from lovable rogues with hearts of gold to full-blown anti-heroes in all their amoral glory. Exposition sets up social contexts in which there are perceived winners and losers, in groups and out groups, enforcers and renegades, underdogs and overlords. But caper stories play with the ambiguity and fuzzy corners of those worlds. With the right crew, a good plan, and a little bit of luck, the underdogs can come out on top. 

Definitely Underdogs and Outsider (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels)

Caper stories further endear themselves to us because, rather than brawn or superior resources, in capers the underdogs almost always triumph by being cleverer than their opponents. Most of us don’t have phenomenal strength or martial prowess among our assets, but we like to think of ourselves as clever. It’s enjoyable to see a little of ourselves in the caper crew and wonder “hey, could we do that?”

A final part of the genre’s appeal is the humor which permeates so many of these stories. This emphasis on humor serves several roles: it diffuses tension, it showcases the close relationship between members of the crew, and it gives further evidence of that all-important “cleverness.” It also underscores the underdog and “loveable rogue” nature of protagonists.

Why Do We Love Caper Stories (And Why Do I)? The Details

One of the reasons we all love Caper/Heist stories is that we know them, their tropes, their characters. But that doesn’t mean that every one of those aspects resonates with each personal equally.

For me, the most exciting part of caper stories is assembling the crew, with its rich spiderweb different and sometimes conflicting experiences, backstories, and assumptions somehow all coming together to pull off “the job.” In terms of my personal enjoyment of caper stories, the completion of crew feels like the climax of the story. Everything else is just denouement.

Another joy for me are the social interactions between the caper crew and the forces of law (order, the establishment, whatever you want to call them). That’s one reason I tend to favor caper stories with heavy social engineering/con aspect to them.

But we’re talking specifically about Capers/Heists in science fiction and fantasy. In those genres, on a meta-level, I enjoy seeing how exposition is handled (and sometimes mishandled).

When a caper/heist is set in the mundane present day, or even a well understood historical period, a lot of exposition can be omitted. Readers/viewers already understand the technology, the traps, the weapons, law enforcement, and the social and economic relationships well enough to fill in the gaps. But when the caper is sci-fi or fantasy, all those axiomatic elements are now up in the air. What does magic allow? What does new technology allow? How do law enforcement and the legal system work? What are the social and economic relationships informing the caper?

This is a challenging tightrope for authors to walk. We have to explain how all the caper tropes apply to the world in question so that the plot points feel earned and twists believable … without throwing up giant “Chekov’s Gun” red flags while doing so.

To illustrate that point by going a little ad absurdum, if an author informs us that “the three-headed hounds of Gnarr are the realm’s most fearsome guard animals but, when both moons are full in twain, the hounds are afraid of flying shrews,” the reader can safely assume that’s going to come up later. The challenge is seeding that information so that, when the crew uses the musk of flying shrews to bypass the evil Duke’s three-headed hound, it was not obvious ahead of time but still feels earned when it occurs.

On Gadgets

Gadgets are not only a major trope of caper/heist stories, they are huge part of their fun. Unless a caper story is very strong in other areas, the lack of any sort of gadgetry, technical wizardry, or Rube Goldberg-esque silliness is going to be keenly felt. However, for science fiction and fantasy capers, the challenges of exposition go double for gadgets.

More broadly, creators need to balance the sense of wonder gadgets create in a reader/viewer without leaning on them to heavily for support. I would hesitate to utilize more than one major gadget or two or three minor ones in the course of a story. The more heavily a story features gadgets, the more important it becomes to balance the narrative scales a bit. Perhaps the forces of the establishment have gadgets of their own to throw at the crew. Or maybe one of the crew’s gadgets fails, possibly in a spectacular fashion.

So … you need a gadget?

Thoughts on Writing Capers

First, to support the genre’s tropes and conventions, a certain level of social complexity and technological development in the world is required – say at least equivalent to earth’s Bronze Age. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there’s no way to write a Neolithic heist or a caper story involving egalitarian hunter-gatherers, but I’d love to read it, because I don’t know how you’d do it. (As I’m typing this, I’m realizing that Quest for Fire is basically a fantasy Neolithic heist story, with fire as the heist object. So maybe treat my preceding statement as a loose guideline).

As with any form of genre fiction, don’t bust your ass trying to come up with something nobody’s ever seen before, because its an almost impossible task. Rather, spend that time thinking about combining the elements you love in fresh and exciting ways. Don’t be afraid of tropes, they’re not necessarily your enemy. After all, those tropes are at the heart of the comforting feel that people seem to like about capers/heists. We know these stories and that’s a big part of why we love them.

With advanced technology and other areas of niche expertise playing such a strong role in caper stories, many authors anguish over the appropriate level of detail, research, and accuracy needed. These are valid questions but, as with so many aspects of writing, don’t let the perfect become the enemy of the good. Write to the level you’re comfortable with. If you’re already published, you know the level your audience will enjoy. If you are not yet published, write to the level of the audience you want.

I cannot stress this enough: Unless you are a world-class expert in cryptography, information security, digital intrusion, etc., no matter how much legwork you do, you are not going to be write to a level that will satisfy every reader. If you try, you’re going to lose a lot of the people you really want, so steel yourself and ignore the handful who will never be satisfied.

Where are Capers Going?

In moderating the panel, Lauren Taffeau made there interesting observation that:

We’re going through a period in history right now where it feels like espionage and other crimes are happening right out in the open instead of all the cloak and dagger from an earlier age.

In light of those developments, Tafffeau posed the question

How have current events changed expectations for writing capers?

This is an interesting and important question, and one where I admit to not having much in the way of concrete answers. We may very well see that kind of open, smarmy malfeasance reflected in the kinds of targets caper crews go up against, using classic caper skills to hit those targets on the back end. On the other hand, it’s possible we may see crews engaging more openly as well. We could see the emergency of the “spin doctor” as a variation on the traditional “face” archetype in crews (for a rather prescient foretaste of what this could look like, check out the antihero crew of the 1997 dark comedy Wag the Dog).

Metaphorical Potentialities: Interviewing Author A.A. Rubin on the “Cadavre Exquis” Project 

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“‘With the Exquisite Corpse we had at our disposal – at last – an infallible means of sending the mind’s critical mechanism away on vacation and fully releasing its metaphorical potentialities“

— Andre Breton

NOTE FROM JB: The Parisian avant-garde, notably Dada and Surrealism, are long standing enthusiasms of mine. Occasionally this fascination finds its way into my historical fiction and on those rare occasions when I indulge in making art other than prose, it leans heavily on those two movements. When I discovered author/creator A.A. Rubin’s Cadavre Exquis project, reviving the classic surrealist concept of Cadavre Exquis (French for “Exquisite Corpse”) , I wanted in. It was a delight to be able to participate in an actual Cadavre Exquis exercise, and it is even more of a delight to have A.A. here to talk about the project.

(TL;DR: Check out the results of A.A. Rubin’s contemporary revival of the Cadavre Exquis, a classical Surrealists’ collaborative artistic exercise, here)

Q: Can you explain the concept of Cadavre Exquis and how did you come to fall in love with it?

A.A. Rubin

A: The Cadavre Exquis is a surrealist exercise wherein an artist would fold a piece of paper, like a letter, and draw only in the top section. They would then send the project to another artist who would continue the piece by drawing on the next section, with no knowledge of what the previous artist drew save for the ends of their lines which are visible at the fold. The process would continue until the paper (sometimes multiple papers stuck together) was filled and the piece was complete.

I had learned about the practice a while ago, but was reminded of it during a recent trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibition. The show had an extensive collection of surrealist cadavres, and a large portion of the initial gallery was devoted to the practice. Reading the excellent gallery cards made me think about how the practice might be adapted to writing, which is my main creative medium. 

Visual Exquisite Corpse (Joan Miro, Max Morise, Man Ray, Yves Tanguy, 1926/27). Museum of Modern Art.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your Cadavre Exquis project and what motivated you to undertake the exercise? 

A: When I saw the Surrealism exhibit, I immediately began to think about how it might be adapted to writing. In a way, it reminded me of the old John Gardner collaborative writing exercise where one person begins a story and then passes the story to the next person in the group, and so on, the obvious difference being that in the surrealist cadavre, the second (and subsequent) artists had little-to-no knowledge of what the previous artist has done. The other, less obvious difference is that in the Surrealist exercise, the composition is done in private, where the creator is alone with their subconscious.

I wrote a blog post on my website detailing my encounter with the surrealist at the Met, and put out a call for other writers to undertake it with me as well. 

The basic idea was to adapt the Surrealist Cadavre for writers. I came up with the idea to have each writer compose a paragraph continuing from the last line of the previous writer. Writers would only have knowledge of that last line, and would send only their last line to the next writer. 

When the surrealists did their cadavres, they mailed their physical drawings to each other. For this project, I decided to use modern technology like email and google docs. Each writer emailed their final line to the next, and pasted their paragraph into a group google doc where the full story was compiled. The writers were instructed not to peek at the google doc with the previous paragraphs until after they had completed their own. This required the writers to be honest to experience the true effect of the exercise, but it is really no different than the original cadavre project, where the surrealists relied on the honor of fellow participants not to unfold the paper and peek at the previous drawing.

Why “Exquisite Corpse?”

The first time the surrealists engaged in an exercise intended, by its collaborative nature, to remove the rational mind from the creative process and liberate the subconscious, it resulted in the sentence “Le cadavre exquis boira le vin nouveau.” (The Exquisite Corpse Shall Drink the New Wine). In time, the Surrealists came to refer to all such verbal or visual exercise as “Exquisite Corpses.”

Q: How were the participants in the project selected?

A:  As mentioned above, I put out a call on my website and promoted it on through my social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook). I asked writers for a statement of interest and bio. There ended up being enough interest for three groups. I had originally conceived the project as a prose writing project, but I got some interest from poets as well. We ended up with two prose groups and one poetry group.

Participants in the first “official” Exquisite Corpse exercise in 1925: (clockwise from left) Andre Breton, Jacques Prévert, Benjamin Péret, Marcel Duhamel, Yves Tanguy.

I divided the writers into teams randomly, and then selected each team’s “batting order” randomly as well. I also decided to participate in each group myself. I was hoping to experience the exercise from each position, and while I got to be in the middle and at the end, I never got to lead off (and I didn’t adjust the random order in my favor).

Q: What are your thoughts on the completed exercises? Were there any things which surprised you? Any things that precisely met your expectations?

A: I think the exercise went well. People seemed to enjoy participating, and everyone completed their work in a timely manner. I was a bit worried about it becoming unwieldy, but it was surprisingly cohesive, at least in process. I think the pieces came out well, too. The various paragraphs are divergent in style, as one would expect, but there’s still a coherence to them, and they read well. 

I am pleasantly surprised by the talented writers who chose to join me for this project. When I put out the call, I did not know who would respond, but, considering this was basically a shot-in-the-dark, it’s amazing to me how many really strong writers chose to join me in this endeavor. I am grateful to them all.

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself, when you’re not invoking the serious games of the surrealists, and about your past and future writing projects?

 A: I write everything from serious literary fiction to comics, formal poetry to science fiction and fantasy and almost everything in between. My first published work was a short story back in 2002, and I’ve been publishing pretty consistently ever since. I’ve had recent pieces in Ahoy Comics, Love Letters to Poe, and Flying Ketchup Press, among others, and I am currently working on two novels as well.

I am a teacher by profession, but I am currently on a childcare leave. I am also an experienced martial artist with a blackbelt-level rank in multiple styles.

You can find out more about me by visiting my flowpage.

Q: Do you have any plans for future surrealist activities?  

 A: You know, when I first chose my social media moniker, @TheSurrealAri, it was a bit of a joke. At the time, twitter was relatively new, and there were many fake celebrity accounts. “Real” celebrities would often choose handles that began with @TheReal before their name to differentiate themselves from the fake accounts that were taken (and held unless the celeb paid an exorbitant price). I came into that environment and said, I’m not going to be “The Real Ari,” I’m going to be “The Surreal Ari.”

Over time, however, I’ve come to embrace the surreal moniker. The surrealist project, which involves accessing the subconscious mind through art, meshing the real and dream worlds, and a heavy use of symbolism actually meshes with much of what I do pretty well. Some of my recent writing has had a decidedly surrealist bent.

Q: Has your experience with the Cadavre Exquis project catalyzed broader realizations or observations?

A: Only that there is a great value to working on art for art’s sake. Not everything has to be commercial and/or marketable. This was a weird project, one no one got paid for, and one that was definitely unconventional and weird, and yet each of the the writers who participated got something out of it, had fun doing it, and connected with like-minded artists whom they may not have known before. There is a value in the strange and the uncomfortable (a very surrealist thought) and it is fun to try something new. Too often today, art is treated as a business, but there is a value to making art that goes beyond the commercial. Make art; get messy; be weird. You’ll grow in ways you couldn’t possibly have imagined. 

Q: How can my readers find the completed Cadavre Exquis pieces from the project?

Prose #1

Prose #2

Poetry

Q: How can people engage with you on social media?

Website

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Into “Pioneer House”: A Look at the Award-Winning Short Story

/ jonblackwrites / 1 Comment

I’m honored that my story “Pioneer House” has been voted Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Short Story of 2021 in the annual Critters Readers’ Choice Poll. My heartfelt thanks to all the fans and friends who made this possible.

Set in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, “Pioneer House” brings big Stranger Things energy to a classic weird-fiction tale inspired by Lovecraft’s “Strange High House in the Mist.” It is my third published story to be set in Junzt County, a fictional Texas Hill County country that is my answer to Lovecraft’s Arkham.

Told through the eyes of Essie Parr, an archetypical ‘80s small-town Texas girl who dreams of escaping the narrow confines of her small town and the life that seems foreordained for her there, “Pioneer House” is story of her closest friend, Gavin Sadler. One of those sublime creatures who is in the world but not of it, possessing an uncannily broad vision even as child, Gavin finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Pioneer House, a local landmark wrapped in mystery. The structure becomes Gavin’s true passion and obsession.

Gavin was an extraordinary person in an ordinary world. I think he felt connected to Pioneer House, with all its mystery, wonder, and terror. It was a window to something beyond the banality surrounding him. His nature wouldn’t let him choose otherwise. I doubt he even wanted to.

Essie Parr, Pioneer House

And what about Pioneer House, the ‘strange, high house’? In the 1830s, when the non-native settlers first arrived in what would become Junzt County, Pioneer House was already there. The Georgian-style mansion, two and half stories tall, with its steeply-sloped roof, wrap-around porch, and diamond-paned windows, sits empty atop Brockenburg, a lonely granite dome towering over the surrounding hills.

The Brockenberg Lights

As Gavin and Essie dig deeper into the riddle of Pioneer House, they discover a legacy of ghost lights, anomalous fog, strange electrical effects, and unexplained disappearances.  Along the way, they confront high school bullies, gatekeeping librarians, janitors with mysterious pasts, and an enigmatic man donning the attire of centuries past – building toward a climatic encounter with the ultimate threshold guardian, Pioneer House itself.

Behind the Story

Junzt County originated as the setting for a Call of Cthulhu campaign I ran in 2014. I wanted a fictional setting in a region I know well (in this case, the Texas Hill Country) that I could populate with people, places, and folklore that felt authentic in the same way Arkham feels authentic. While, over time, I found Junzt’s County’s own distinctive flavor and heartbeat, my earliest strokes of world-building following strongly in Lovecraft’s footsteps. Inspired by the eponymous dwelling in Strange High House in the Mist, Pioneer House became one of the first data points to appear in my mental map of Junzt County. But, other than a name and image, Pioneer House took years to flesh itself out in my mind – the details, the history, the enigmas.

Enchanted Rock, the inspiration
for Brockenberg.

Brockenburg, the granite dome that is home to Pioneer House, is based on Enchanted Rock, a real-world geological formation in Gillespie and Llano Counties, Texas. Of course, having the chance to remake it in accordance with genre conventions, I made it bigger, lonelier, weirder.

When I began writing fiction in 2016, I realized Junzt County made a very natural setting for a certain kind of story. To date, I have about ten Junzt County stories published, penned, or in progress. While the original Call of Cthulhu campaign that birthed the region was set in the ‘80s, the Junzt County stories’ settings range from post-Civil War to the present day.

The ‘80s also felt right for “Pioneer House,” contemporary enough that most of its elements of childhood and adolescence would feel familiar to readers, yet enough removed from the present to allow it a certain dreamlike or fairytale quality. On a more pragmatic level, technology available in the 80s and early 90s allowed some interesting narrative possibilities…but not so many possibilities as to make the protagonists’ task too easy.

Currently, Pioneer House is available in “Pizza Parties & Poltergeists,” an anthology of ‘80s-themed supernatural and horror stories from 18th Wall Productions. Later in 2022, it will be rereleased as part of a collection of Juznt County stories, also from 18th Wall (I’m very grateful for their ongoing support for my Junzt County endeavors). In addition to “Pioneer House,” the collection will contain two previously published stories: “Totmann’s Curve” (now expanded to novel-length) and “So Lonesome I Could Die.” It will also feature three new stories: “The Eyeteeth,” “Family Style,” and “Everybody Needs a Friend.”