Author Interview: Dan Gainor

Martinus Publishing’s latest anthology, VFW: Veterans of the Future Wars, is now available!  Throughout the month of February, I’ll be interviewing some of the authors who have stories featured in this collection. Today, I'm interviewing Dan Gainor, the skilled author who contributed “Flight Deck.”  Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed, Dan.

MTI:  Starting off, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

DAN GAINOR: I’m a career editor and writer, but I’ve only recently started to pursue my passion of writing fiction. I’ve read sci-fi since I was a kid and was a science fiction/fantasy/horror critic for about two years. I’m proud to say this story is my first fiction published anywhere. And I really want to thank you and all the readers for making that happen.

MTI:  Now, getting down to business; what first compelled you to weave fiction, and what's your favorite type of story to write?

DG:  As a little boy, I remember having a bad recurring nightmare. It dawned on me that if I thought hard enough what to do, I might alter the story. It worked. I’ve been weaving stories in my head ever since. I think my favorite stories to read are those that take people from our conventional world and expose them to the fantastic – either going somewhere else or having it come here. I want to write of heroes and heroines. Of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  I’m still figuring out what my favorite stories are to write.

MTI:  Tell me, if you had to pick just one author who has influenced or inspired you, who would it be?

DG:  Like many authors, I could list dozens, especially ones from my youth. (Thank you, Andre Norton.) But I’ll stick to William Forstchen whose writing is so inspiring that friends of mine started calling his “Lost Regiment” books, “The Books” with a kind of reverence we’d hold for “Lord of the Rings.”

MTI:  “Flight Deck” appears in VFW, an anthology of military science fiction that honors soldiers and veterans.  Was there any particular inspiration for this story?

DG:  A couple years ago, I was fortunate enough to fly out to the USS George H.W. Bush and catapult off. It was an incredible experience through the Naval Institute. It was a VIP tour and there we met a ton of admirals. I expected them to be impressive and they were. But this is the most powerful weapon in the world and it’s manned by men and women who are an average age of 19. Through guts, hard work and the efforts of the officers and master chief, they had become an amazing crew that protects our freedom. I am proud of every single one of them. God bless them for being on the pointy end defending us every day.

MTI:  If you could go back to any point in history, when would you visit?

DG:  That’s hard to decide. Part of me wants to be there for the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But I would rather be in the time of Jesus and seek some of the answers all of us carry around in our hearts.

MTI:  Definitely two of the most fundamental times in human history!  During your impressive career, you’ve no doubt met some fascinating people.  What are a few of your most memorable encounters?

DG:  Working in D.C., you meet a lot of congressmen and senators. But when I was an editor working on a paper in Baltimore, I met several Holocaust survivors. To have lived through what they had to endure and moved on and had lives is incredibly inspiring.

For famous people, I have to give a shout out to the late G. Gordon Liddy. I met him at a society ball when I first came to Washington. I was there because of my newspaper work, but I didn’t fit in. Gordon was kind of enough to strike up a conversation with me in the line to the bar. He was the first D.C. celeb to ever treat me as a human. Years later, I was on his radio show many times. But I never forgot that kindness.

MTI:  Shifting back to your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?

DG:  I’m in the midst of the Martinus writing competition and that’s keeping me busy. When that’s done, there’s a book idea that has been languishing but that I love. It’s not really my genre, more of a thriller, but I think it’s bubbling up out of my soul. Time to finish it. I also have a sci-fi novel that I’ve finished but want to re-edit some. Time for that too.

MTI:  Other than your contribution to VFW, you have another short story, “We the People” being published in the forthcoming Martinus Publishing anthology Altered America.  Tell our readers a little about that fascinating piece.

DG:  This is probably as close as I can come to merging my political life with my fiction. I was having dinner with one of my friends one night and he said something about what the Founders would say about our society now. Political people make that argument all the time. I decided to think it through and imagine someone trying to bring back the greatest minds of our past. And why.

MTI:  On a lighter note, have you watched any good tv lately?

DG:  I watch TV for a living. But that makes TV work sometimes. Most of the shows I watch disappoint me, especially “Revolution.” But I watched an episode of “Blue Bloods” recently, with Tom Selleck. It was excellent, inspiring, faithful, heart-felt and patriotic. If I can write my fiction encompassing those elements, I’ll consider myself a success.

MTI:  I’ve heard a lot of good things about Blue Bloods, and Tom Selleck is a fantastic actor.  I’ll have to check it out.  Anyway, what sort of music do you prefer?

DG:  I love lyrics and I listen to a lot of Irish music – Dropkick Murphy’s, the Pogues and Saw Doctors. But my favorite band is Black 47 out of New York. Larry Kirwan is a great writer and his songs really tell a story. He’s also a damn nice guy. Our politics are completely different, yet I really respect and admire him. They are on their farewell tour this year after an incredible run. Check them out. You won’t be disappointed. If you want to hear one song, try “Mychal,” a tribute to Father Mychal Judge who died on 9-11. It’s incredible and reminds me of those we lost that day, including two of my MBA classmates who died in the Pentagon. If that song doesn’t make you want to hear another, you have no soul.

MTI:  You have the attention of potential readers.  Are there any great words of wisdom you’d like to share with them?

DG:  I have been reading since I was very little. It’s one of God’s greatest gifts to us. It can anger or inspire, entice or amuse. And it’s something that is in every one of us. Write – a blog, a short story, a poem, a song or a book. You aren’t just writing for your readers, you are writing for yourself. And, if you build your world well enough, you are writing to give those characters the life they deserve. Share them with others and they might live forever. Maybe that sounds a little crazy, but once you create a character, you give that character life like the golem. Some of the greatest in history, Shakespeare’s Henry V or the Three Musketeers – live on hundreds of years later. That’s more than any author can ask.

MTI:  Readers love free samples.  Is there anything you’d like to share with us today, perhaps something new or recent that you’ve written?

The first page of “Standing Watch:”

The alarm bell clanged obnoxiously at 5:45 and John rolled over and resisted the temptation to throw the clock across the room. Like its owner, the wind-up alarm clock was a little out of date, very functional and at times very annoying.

            John liked to think of those things as some of his good qualities. In any case, they went well with being a cop. That was all John ever wanted to be growing up in South Baltimore. Dad had worked on the docks and expected his oldest to follow in those footsteps. But Uncle Willie had been a police officer and told wild tales of cops and robbers – some of them even true. By the time he was 5, little Johnny was hooked. By 10, he was reading the crime log in the newspaper.

            Dad gave up fighting it and decided to help. When John got out of high school and applied, his application landed deep in a pile of also-rans. The physical tests and lie detector has been easy. John had never excelled at academics and the entrance exam was no exception.

            Dad intervened. He took him to see City Councilman Anthony Bonanno, allegedly a distant relative to mafia don Joe Bonanno. In Baltimore’s Little Italy, that actually was a vote-getting bonus and Bonanno played it up as a don of local politics.

            John still remembered the look on the councilman’s face as his father spoke. When Bonanno seemed confused why he should help, dad reminded him he was a shift foreman. “It’s for the union,” he said. That meant votes. Bonanno just smiled and replied with a straight face: “Wisnieski, eh? Good Italian name.”

            Like any bureaucracy, the city police operated on favors. Bonanno made a quick phone call and John’s mediocre test scores were ignored. One name was added to the recruit list. Another subtracted. The scales of justice went back into balance – Baltimore style.

            John was determined to never need that kind of help again. He became a damn good cop.

MTI:  Excellent stuff.  It’s always a pleasure.  Thanks for an exceptional interview.  Those who want to check out more of Dan Gainor’s stuff can pick up a copy of VFW: Veterans of the Future Wars today, and Altered America around the first of April.

Postcards of the Week: Asakusa Park, Tokyo, Japan

Today I’ve got a couple of postcards from Asakusa Park in Tokyo, taken over 100 years ago:

And as a bonus, here is one of the original postcard wrappers.  I only have a few of these, as most were thrown away when the cards were purchased.  I expect that these envelopes are probably rarer than the cards, themselves.

Amazon Pilots

So, last week Amazon released a new batch of television show pilots.  The idea behind this is to give viewers the chance to rate the shows to help determine which one(s) become continuing series.  Last year, they only did comedies & kid shows, but this time they’ve thrown in a couple of dramas.  I haven’t watched the kid programming (despite the fact that I have 4 kids, it’s not my thing), but I will give my analysis of the adult shows.

First of all, they’re all rated “mature,” and each one has foul language.  Several have brief nudity, as well.  Why?  Just because they can, it seems.  Most of it isn’t too offensive, though I’ll mention the instances where it is.

Let’s start with the best first.  "Bosch" is a gritty detective series based on the books of Michael Connelly (which I’ve never read).  It is very well acted, with intelligent storylines and enjoyable characters.  I think the F-word is thrown around a little too often here, but other than that it is an excellent show. I would recommend it, and I really hope Amazon chooses to continue this series.

The other “drama” series is “The After,” created by Chris Carter, best known as the creator of the X-Files.  This series is much like his other work, dark, enigmatic, and suspenseful.  While I liked the idea of the world reaching some kind of apocalypse, I found the characters a bit unlikeable.  The main character is a wannabe French actress from New York who is in LA for a job she doesn’t get when the world falls apart.  She ends up with a group of people, most of whom are assholes (pardon the expression, but they are).  There’s the sleazy lawyer played by Adrian Pasdar, a drunken foul-mouthed Brit, a gay clown (literally, a party clown who is homosexual), a high class hooker who starts talking about the bible and divine justice (because we all know every prostitute is a bible thumper at heart, pffff), an uber-rich old lady, a black escaped convict who was “wrongly accused,” and a lady cop.  Overall, I thought the acting was good, but the writing needs a little refinement, so the characters are a little more appealing.  It’s worth watching, but not as good as Bosch.

Now, for the comedies, none of which is stellar.

"The Rebels" is probably the best of the comedy attempts, with Natalie Zea of Justified fame in the role of a rich widow who inherits her husband’s floundering NFL team.  There are some humorous moments, but overall the show seemed a bit too low brow in some respects.  Example, they have a cocaine snorting monkey that starts shooting people.  The players also act stupidly, and sometimes it is funny, sometimes not.  Overall, it has potential, but it needs refinement.

"Mozart in the Jungle" is a very dry comedy about classical musicians in NYC, who are apparently a bunch of horny, dope smoking, alcoholic party kids.  They have one older lady (maybe mid-thirties) who has flashbacks of getting screwed, as she’s apparently “tried out” every kind of male musician there is.  This could be a good show if they tried to do more of a “Frasier” thing with it, but at present it’s too sleazy and dull.  I would not recommend it.

Last and very least is “Transparent,” which I found utterly boring.  The whole premise of the show is summed up in the title; the elderly father in this show discovers he wants to be a woman (transsexual+parent=Trans-parent, get it?).  But beyond that, this show has nothing of interest.  The characters are very unpleasant.  The son is a music producer who likes to sleep around with teenagers, one of the daughters is a gold digger who used to be a lesbian in college, and the other daughter is depressed and out of work, relying on daddy’s money to get by.  Overall, I would never want to see these characters again.  I think this is the worst of the Amazon pilots, which of course means there’s a good chance that it will be the one they pick up.

Well, there you have my off the cuff analysis of the shows.  Bosch is the only one I would definitely enjoy on a regular basis in its current form, and at present it has very good reviews from Amazon customers, but so do all of the shows, oddly enough.

Now, how the hell do I get the West of the Warlock pilot made for this contest?  Maybe someday...

West of the Warlock TV Project Update

Well, it’s been a couple of years since I first put together the pilot script for “West of the Warlock,” and in that time I’ve gotten some nibbles, but not enough to get me anywhere near production.  It is incredibly hard to find anyone who'll bother to look at a script, it would seem.  Unless you’re connected (or actually in Hollywood knocking on the doors of industry professionals) it is hard to catch a break.

A couple of things have happened, though, and I feel it’s important to post this update, so people don’t forget that I’m still here.  Maybe someone "in the biz" will actually stumble upon this blog and take an interest in my Fantasy Western.

I did have a production company ask about seeing the script.  It was through a TV pitch marketing website, and the company, Cross Genre Entertainment, never got back to me.  They were supposed to contact me to arrange delivery of the script, but they went silent after requesting my contact info.  That was a big let-down, as the biggest hurtle with this project is getting anyone to actually read the thing.

Since that initial let-down, I have shown the script to some independent reviewers and to a certain pseudo-professional who wasn’t in a position to do more than comment.  Most of the comments were positive all around, and the only major point that was made is that I should have a shorter pilot.

The initial script I had put together was a “double length” version, basically the first and second episodes merged as one.  I did this because Joella Talus didn’t appear in the first episode (it being an adaptation of “A Dwarf at High Noon,” which pre-dated Joella).  For this reason, I added the second episode to the pilot, to introduce all of the main characters, Dwarven gunslinger Ron Grimes, Warlock sheriff James Doliber, and Elvish widow Joella Talus.  This might work in production someday, but at the initial pitch stage I've realized I need a scaled-down version.

With this in mind, I had an epiphany last night.  I realized how I could incorporate Joella in the very end of the first normal-length episode, and so I rewrote the ending toward that end.  I now have a 48 page pilot script (I know, still a few pages long, but there is a scene or two that can be trimmed if needed), and all 3 principal characters appear, culminating in a complete setup for the series.

So, what’s my next move with this project?  I really can’t say at the moment.  I’m hoping to find someone in the film business who would like to take a look at the script, but it’s hard in a flooded marketplace, and even harder where a lot of studios are only looking to rehash old material.  I am not a filmmaker, either, so I don't have any connections. I’m a writer with some franchises that could be very marketable if anyone would only give them a chance.  I write a damn fine script, too.  If there’s anyone out there who wants to make a Western series with Fantasy elements placed in the historical setting of 1880’s America, then drop me a line.  Industry professionals can contact me at mtiediting (at) inbox.com 

For those who want to know what this television script is based upon, pick up a copy of West of the Warlock.  The pilot is an expansion on “A Dwarf at High Noon” which is the prologue of the book (2nd Edition), and the second episode is based on the “Unintended Consequences/Marriage of Inconvenience” storyline in Episodes 2 & 3.  I also have part of the subsequent episode scripted, which will basically be “Into the Thick of It & Vendetta Ride.”

I could easily write the entire first season of this show by myself, but there’s plenty of room for other writers to join the team if we ever get that far.  Come on, somebody give this show a chance!

Author Interview: Pete Aldin

VFW Author Interview:

Martinus Publishing’s latest anthology, VFW: Veterans of the Future Wars, is now available!  Throughout the month of February, I’ll be interviewing some of the authors who have stories featured in this collection. Today, I'm interviewing Pete Aldin, the excellent author who contributed “The Bridge.”  Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed.

PETE ALDIN:  Hey, it’s always fun to chat. Thanks for the opportunity.

MTI:  Starting off, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

PA:  I’m Australian, but don’t hold that against me. I’ve been writing scifi/fantasy/horror/thriller stories since he was a kid, but I never finished any until I turned 40 and figured, I’m not getting any further away from death. So I actually took writing seriously (= making it a discipline and humbling myself to learn the art) and HEY, I started actually finishing the damn things. So now I have about a dozen short stories published out there plus a publisher looking at a couple of my novels.

For a day job, I run training programs for long term unemployed people, helping them get their mojo back. I love my job.

MTI:  Now, getting down to business; what first compelled you to weave fiction, and what's your favorite type of story to write?

PA:  It’s interesting you used the word “compelled”, because that’s exactly my experience. Stories and ideas have always bubbled up out of my psyche since I was a boy. I can’t pin it down to anything other than disposition …

As far as my favourite type of story (noticed I used the Aussie spelling there, lol): I seem to get drawn more and more to monster stories (where sometimes the monsters are the human variety) or pure life-in-danger adventure. The settings I most often lean toward are either dystopian near future sci-fi or mediaeval fantasy.

MTI:  Tell me, if you had to pick just one author who has influenced or inspired you, who would it be?

PA:  I could talk about Grisham or Asimov or Graham Greene, but actually I’d have to say Joseph D’Lacey (whose horror I greatly admire) was the first professional author to say “Hell, you’re writing’s great, Pete”. That means a lot.

 

MTI:  “The Bridge” appears in VFW, an anthology of military science fiction that honors soldiers and veterans.  Was there any particular inspiration for this story?

PA:  I was kind of riffing on the idea of “Old soldiers never die”… then I thought “What if the only soldiers left in the world were elderly citizens” … and the foundations were laid.

I think the older I get also, the less I see people who are “Different” as people who are “Wrong”. Maybe that thought crept in there too.

MTI:  If you could go back to any point in history, when would you visit?

PA:  The Sermon on the Mount.

MTI:  A popular choice for many, no doubt.  If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

PA:  Jesus. He fascinates me. (If he wasn’t available, I wouldn’t mind taking a writing master class from Stephen King).

MTI:  Shifting back to your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?

PA:  I’m working on three projects: a werewolf novel, a short story about love between modified and non-modified humans, and a collaboration novel/novella with another author set on an asteroid.

MTI:  Other than your contribution to VFW, do you have any other stories coming out in the near future?

PA:  Yes, I do. I have a horror story set in 1900 coming out in a Kindle collection and a horror-sci-fi tale in a post-apocalyptic anthology.

MTI:  On a lighter note, have you watched any good tv lately?

PA:  I’ve just discovered Modern Family. It’s growing on me. Also, I truly enjoyed the Dr Who 50^th Anniversary special back in November. But over here in Australia, we’re in the Summer Non-Ratings period, so most TV is abject crap at present. Looking forward to the return of Black List over here.

MTI:  What sort of music do you enjoy?

PA:  Oh, man. I’ve a broad taste in music. When I’m writing, I tend to listen to dark or emotive movie soundtracks (the soundtracks to Trance and Cosmopolis  are doing it for me at present). The rest of my playlist includes metal/hard rock bands like Demon Hunter and Stone Sour, and an eclectic mix of other artists including Gary Numan, Johnny Cash, Devo and Smashing Pumpkins).

MTI:  You note in your bio that you have an affinity for alcoholic ciders.  Are there any particular vintages that you especially prefer?

PA:  Hah! Not really vintages, but there’s a Swedish brand that make a killer Apple & Guava one. I could drink that every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.

MTI:  You have the attention of potential readers.  Are there any great words of wisdom you’d like to share with them?

PA:  I saw someone post recently something like this: I don’t read because I have no life; I read because I want to experience many lives. It was a little more finessed than that, but I truly loved the sentiment. Reading is not good for us; it’s great for us.

MTI:  Readers love free samples.  Is there anything you’d like to share with us today, perhaps something new or recent that you’ve written?

PA:  If you’d like to read full stories in their entirety for free: a dark fantasy story is available at Niteblade.com, and a vicious little crime pulp piece is to be found at Bareknuckles Pulp.

Alternatively, the following is the intro to a piece I’ve been tinkering with for a while now…

High Priestess Philyu’s chest tightened as she stepped over the twin trails of blood. As her eyes adjusted to the crypt torchlight, the source became apparent. The soldier impaled on the spikes of the booby trap had probably lived a dozen seconds after triggering the device – just long enough to realize his mistake, long enough certainly to regret it.

“One does not summon the dead without serious repercussions,” she murmured, quiet enough that those watching from behind her would think it an incantation.

The young man said nothing in reply. He was either unwilling to compromise himself or too rapt watching the machinations of Junior Priest Achimu beneath the torchsconce ahead. The dark haired priest from a wealthy family was busy scratching symbols on the wall.

Philyu stepped a little closer and murmured, “Careful where you’re writing. Don’t want to trigger another one of those.”

Achimu’s scratching faltered a little. He swallowed with an audible click. But to his credit, he kept carving away at the tunnel walls with his trowel without so much as a glance at the soldier’s body nearby.

Behind them at the tunnel entrance, the Queen shifted, a noise like rats in a wall. She was nervous. Who wouldn’t be with necromancy at work? If Achimu messed up his symbols, he might raise something far worse than a dead theif.

He stole a glance at her, masking his curiosity with a bow of obeisance. No, not nervous – impatient, hungry. She wanted what the thief could bring her.

Oh, Timaeus. You may yet rue your death for more reasons than the obvious one.

MTI:  Great stuff.  Thanks for the interview, Pete.  It was another great one.  For those who want to read even more of Pete Aldin’s stuff, pick up a copy of VFW: Veterans of the Future Wars today!

Postcards of the week: Nunobiki Waterfall, Kobe, Japan

Here’s something from my Japan card collection.  It’s the Nunobiki Waterfall circa 1910.

I actually have two versions of this card, the above hand-painted photograph, and this black and white original:

They aren’t the exact same photograph, but they’re taken from a similar vantage point, likely minutes apart.  Whoever was shooting the photo took a few steps forward, allowing for a slight alteration in the perspective.

Additionally, I also have two different views of the waterfall, both colorized:

Author Interview: Joseph Conat

Martinus Publishing’s latest anthology, VFW: Veterans of theFuture Wars, is now available!  To kick off this new book release, I’ll be interviewing some of the authors who have stories featured in this collection. Today, I'm interviewing Joseph Conat, the entertaining author who contributed “Conversations with Monsters.”    Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed.

MTI:  Starting off, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Joseph Conat:  Well, let's see. I have a gorgeous and tolerant wife, a beautiful and wonderfully insane daughter... two dogs, one of whom is affable and well-trained and the other is a loudmouth lunatic... two cats, one of whom is affable and invisible while being the approximate size and weight of a Ford F-150, and the other is a frustrated evil genius who I'm pretty sure has been building either a death-ray or a plasma can opener in the basement for the past fifteen years.

I've gotten brave enough with my writing to begin showing it to people other than my family and friends. I'm happy to have "Conversations with Monsters" in VFW.

MTI:  Now, getting down to business; what first compelled you to weave fiction, and what's your favorite type of story to write?

JC:  I've written since I was small. When I was four or five I wrote a six page book involving King Kong and... something. Lasers? Anyway, it was illustrated.

I tend to write science fiction. I'm a big fan of futurism and how technology changes society and the human condition. A lot of my stuff lately has had a strong "what if" sense. Alternate histories and whatnot.

MTI:  Tell me, if you had to pick just one author who has influenced or inspired you, who would it be?

JC:  Neal Stephenson. The man is a genius. The cyberpunk satire Snow Crash, the World War II/1990s cryptographic "history" Cryptonomicon and its epic follow-up/prequel The Baroque Cycle... they're all massive tomes, but worth the effort.

MTI:  “Conversations with Monsters” appears in VFW, an anthology of military science fiction that honors soldiers and veterans.  Was there any particular inspiration for this story?

JC:  I actually started writing a different story for this anthology, but found I'd painted myself into a corner. This one just came to me in one of those rare, but miraculous flashes of "what the hell am I gonna wri—ooh! OOH!"

I may still use some of the ideas for the original story somewhere.

MTI:  If you could go back to any point in history, when would you visit?

JC:  World War II, Bletchley Park. Turing and Colossus. That would be cool.

MTI:  If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

JC:  Can I say Neal Stephenson again? Eh, overdone. Batman.

No, that's ridiculous. Arthur Conan Doyle, though. Yeah. Or, Joseph Bell, the man from whom Doyle drew inspiration for Sherlock Holmes.

You know, let's just have an "all of history" party and I'll mingle.

MTI:  Shifting back to your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?

JC:  I've been writing, on and off, a kind of alternate history novel exploring if superheroes had shown up during WWII. What would the world be like today if we had really had those tropes around for seventy plus years? It's fun.

MTI:  Other than your contribution to VFW, do you have any other stories being published in the near future?

JC:  Not yet, but here's hopin'.

MTI:  Your bio places you in Ypsilanti, Michigan.   I’m something of a car guy, and whenever I hear of Ypsilanti, I’m reminded of automotive innovator Preston Tucker, who lived there and created a very nice car after WWII.  I was just wondering if you’d ever taken an interest in the man.

JC:  Tucker was the man. They have one of his cars at the Henry Ford Museum and I always rush to find it when we take our daughter there. There used to be one in the old Hudson museum down on Cross St., but I'm not sure if it's still there.

I loved his innovation. The turning headlight sticks with me, an innovation that they now tout on newer cars like they just thought of it. I saw a commercial recently showcasing this "new feature" and yelled "Stolen from Tucker!"

My wife rolled her eyes and turned up the volume.

MTI:  On a lighter note, have you watched any good tv lately?

JC:  Almost Human. Doesn't go quite as deep into robot/human relations issues as, say, Asimov or Philip K. Dick, but the interplay between Karl Urban and Michael Ealy is priceless. Plus, good Blade Runner-esque production values.

MTI:  What sort of music do you enjoy?

JC:  Movie scores. I'm such a nerd.

Hans Zimmer RAWKS!!

MTI:  And if you would, name three movies that you could watch over and over again and not be bored.

JC:  Kick-Ass, Dredd (the new one, not the Stallone) and Serenity.

MTI:  You have the attention of potential readers.  Are there any great words of wisdom you’d like to share with them?  Perhaps something that would persuade them to purchase your work?

JC: Argh. Wisdom? Um. Purchase my work. Um.

Look, I tell stories. I think they're pretty good, the ones I let people see. The others are being re-tooled and will see the light of day if I can get 'em right. Like any other writer, I hope folk like my stories, like my ideas, like my characters...

If you do, buy them. So I can write more.

And do the same thing for any other writer you like. Throw 'em some bones and they can do more of that stuff you like.

MTI:  Readers love free samples.  Is there anything you’d like to share with us today, perhaps something new or recent that you’ve written?

            Grim was on Mars when that office building in New Jersey exploded.

            Sitting at the conference table, he stifled a yawn. Bad form; as a Captain in the Protectorate of District 6 (Americas Northeast), he should have been presenting an image of alert seriousness, ever vigilant for potential security gaps through which Threats Against the Crown might slip, wreaking havoc on the Royal Personages and rocking the foundations of the world government. But there were no serious Threats Against the Crown, and anyway the Crown was, to everyone's knowledge, completely invulnerable.

             Besides, Lord Windrunner, Vice Commissioner of His Royal Majesty's Global Constabulary Protectorate, had veered wildly from the agenda (Security Preparations for the Convocation of Petitioners at the Vatican Ruins) into an impromptu treatise on the motivations of now-extinct terrorist threats and how they might be relevant to new, but still undiscovered (and thus, to Grim's mind, probably the fevered imaginings of Windrunner himself) terrorist threats.

            "For instance," Windrunner was saying as he gestured at a holographic enlargement of Europe, "despite laws specifically criminalizing the depiction of Todesengel, Death's head imagery has been found defacing buildings in Bonn..."

            "Imagery that is not specifically referencing Todesengel." Windrunner was interrupted by Lord Thursday.  Thursday claimed to be the earthly incarnation of the Norse god of thunder, but declined to call himself Thor in deference to the Church of Asatru and His Imperial Majesty's unspoken but ironclad edict against supers allowing themselves to be worshipped as individuals. Thursday was Regional Commissioner of Europe Southwest 2, which included the former Germany.  "It lacks the peaked cap and SS insignia...it is, in fact, just a common skull motif. We believe it to be referencing that band...what's it called?"

            "'Ende der Zeiten,'" supplied Thursday's aide de camp, a weaselly little spastic that went by the name of Sparks.  "It means 'End of Times.'"

            "Yes." Thursday stroked his magnificent golden beard and fingered the rough and beaten hammer at his waist. "Cape-thrash, if I recall. All the members have minor Gifts.  Anyway," the not-a-god shook his flowing mane. "Why is Lord Wyrm not running this meeting?"

            Lord Windrunner flushed. "His Majesty's Royal Protector has more pressing business," he admitted.

            "More pressing than assuring nothing scuffs His Royal Majesty's indestructible rump?" Thursday guffawed. "It must be important indeed!"

            In truth, this level meeting was well below Wyrm's status. As Viceroy of the Empire, Wyrm was head of the Privy Council and his duties spanned the Solar system and beyond. Windrunner was a minor official in the Global Protectorate, Wyrm's particular sphere of influence. He was embarrassed that he'd been relegated to a mere functionary, running meetings instead of making policy.

            Grim could empathize, though he was coming at it from the opposite way. As a mere Captain, this meeting was not only well above his pay-grade, but outside his purview. He had nothing to do with Rome, or Southern Europe District 2, the zone in which it lay. He was acting as an amanuensis for *his* boss, who was scheduled to be there, but had decided to do something, or someone else.

            He was, in fact, pretty upset about it all. He'd been up for close on twenty-four hours catching his mettings, then filling in for the Duchess Shockfront at hers. He was tired, wired and thinking about how to get fired.

            And that's when Grim's artie buzzed at him.

MTI:  That one looks promising.  Thank you for sharing that snippet, and thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable interview.  Readers who want more of Joseph Conat’s work can pick up VFW: Veterans of the FutureWars, in either Print or Kindle format.

Author Interview: Dave D'Alessio

Martinus Publishing’s latest anthology, VFW: Veteransof the Future Wars, is now officially released!  At present, it can be purchased from the publisher, or at Amazon.com in print or Kindle form.  To kick off this new book release, I’ll be interviewing some of the authors who have stories featured in this collection. Today, I'm interviewing Dave D’Alessio, the talented author who contributed “The Prince Who Went up a Hill.”  Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed, Dave.

DAVE D’ALESSIO:  You're welcome. Thank YOU!

MTI:  Starting off, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

DD:  Well, my bio sort of implies it. I've butterflied about... apart from chemistry, TV, animation and social science, I've also been in the PR racket, played bass (badly) in a blues band, and worked on assembly lines. If your car has an Aamco transmission from the 1970's, I know why it's broken. There's a chance I worked on it.

MTI:  Now, getting down to business; what first compelled you to weave fiction, and what's your favorite type of story to write?

DD:  I've been writing stories… not necessarily fiction… since second grade. Seriously. My report card said, "David has a vivid imagination. Unfortunately, he sometimes disturbs the other children."

My stories are influenced by the kinds of stories I like, of course. If you don't like what you're writing, why should you have any expectation that anyone else should like them? So, I like speculative fiction and fantasy that focuses on people and how they deal with their situations, and that's what I generally try to write, unless I'm making an experiment of some kind.

MTI:  Tell me, if you had to pick just one author who has influenced or inspired you, who would it be?

DD:  Nope. Can't pick just one.

I'd love to write with the elegance and power of Robert Heinlein. I read a book like Starship Troopers, or Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and I say, "Whoa! That's killer!" Then I say, "Dude, I will NEVER be able to write like that!"

I write a lot of space opera, so I, like anyone who writes in that genre, owe a lot to E. E. "Doc" Smith for inventing it. I also love and respect H. Beam Piper… he wrote a lot, and his writing was close enough to mediocre for someone like me to aspire to. Then there's John Carr, who loves Piper more than I do, and has kept Piper's universes going. Plus the collaboration of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, who said, "Here's a trope… Let's write the quintessential work in it."

Then there are pulp writers of all sorts, guys (most of them guys, at least) who were pounding out words because they needed the three cents each. That includes Piper, but also guys like Dash Hammett and Raymond Chandler and Bob Howard and Horatio Alger and… this list could go on forever.

MTI:  “The Prince Who Went up a Hill” appears in VFW, an anthology of military science fiction that honors soldiers and veterans.  Was there any particular inspiration for this story?

DD:  "Prince" is about a prince. It's about someone who has to grow up if he plans to be king someday. That's an old story.

Buried in that are the race memories of Western Civilization. One of those is the horrors of The War to End All Wars…No one thought it could get worse than the trenches of World War I, and it turned out everyone was wrong. But that sense of trench warfare was what I had in mind, and I think that shows in one of the parts of the story I'm fondest of, the section where we get into the minds of the members of a machine gun crew. The machine gunners are always the steadiest, because they control life and death, at least as long as they live. That's a very World War I perspective; nowadays a B-2 would drop a smart bomb on them from 40,000 feet; they'd never hear it coming.

MTI:  If you could go back to any point in history, when would you visit?

DD:  I don't believe in memories of previous lives or past life regression, but at one point I had a VERY vivid dream of dying at Gallipoli. There's a place I would like to see, if I could see it without living there at that time. Dysentery and machine gun fire do not mix.

I'd also like to go back to the late '50's or early '60's and go out to California or Colorado (depending on the exact date) and shake Bob Heinlein's hand. 

MTI:  I’m sure there are a million other people who would do the same with Heinlein, but if they could, the timeline would be destroyed, as he’d be too busy shaking hands to write!  Moving on, if you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

DD:  There's no one answer to this. Washington. Nathanial Greene. (I killed both of them off in an alternative history story once.) Janis Joplin. Jesus Christ. Heinlein. Marilyn Monroe. They're all fascinating people, and there are a hundred more just as fascinating.

The most famous living person I ever met was the folk singer Pete Seeger, who died last night. He was pretty cool, a very nice man.

MTI:  Shifting back to your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?

DD:  I've got a number of projects underway. I'm in the early stages of a story I'd like to show you for "Yarr! A SpacePirate Anthology," but it's not ready for prime time yet. I'm also trying to hack my favorite novel (a space opera) into shape for publication, and working on a fantasy story about a unicorn hunter… as everyone knows, you need a virgin to hunt unicorns, so what do you do when your virgin gets lucky?

MTI:  Sounds intriguing.  Other than your contribution to VFW, do you have any other stories coming out in the near future?

DD:  I don't know. Got about a half dozen out there with various editors. Ask me again in six months!

MTI:  On a lighter note, have you watched any good tv lately?

DD:  I love Mythbusters, and they've started a new season. Then there's Gold Rush. I find the mechanics of finding gold fascinating. I just got an HDTV, and it's really cool when they get the close ups of the wash plants working.

MTI:  What sort of music do you prefer?

DD:  Punk/new wave. I was in a punk band before I was in a blues band. I strongly recommend the New York Dolls and the Velvet Underground. I was thrilled on the day I got my acceptance for VFW, but two hours later I was bummed because Lou Reed had died.

John Lee Hooker. Bow ow ow ow. Hey hey. Of people not dead or on social security, I'm fond of Jack White. He may be the last great guitar hero.

MTI:  You have the attention of potential readers.  Are there any great words of wisdom you’d like to share with them?

DD:  Please keep reading. Read and read and read. "There are more worlds in heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Wm. Shakespeare. Reading expands your mind. It's good for you!

If you read a lot and feel you have something to say, WRITE! Reading your writing expands OUR minds! But if you write, remember: "If you want to write, write. If you want to be read, rewrite." The Prince Who Went Up a Hill is a fourth or fifth draft.

MTI:  Readers love free samples.  Is there anything you’d like to share with us today, perhaps something new or recent that you’ve written?

DD:  Here are the first three 'graphs from, "The Arizona Republic." Anyone who wants to see the rest of it can let me know. It's a flash piece, less than a thousand words.

Fires were still smoldering in downtown Tucson, and the smoke stung General Montcalm’s eyes and carried the too-familiar stench of death to him. Off to his left, a couple hundred yards away, an M-2 pounded away in bursts of three. Sounded like the Rangers had flushed out another sniper.

“Sure this is a good idea, sir?” Sergeant LeRoi asked. He was driving the combat car carefully and his eyes kept scanning the windows of the buildings they passed, ready to throw the car into reverse at the first sign of some fanatic wanting to take another damned Yankee with him.

The general was watching as carefully. It looked like the rebels were honoring the white flag flying from the car. “We’ve got to get this ended, Mal,” he told the sergeant.

MTI:  Thanks you for that thrilling sample, and thank you for the interview.  It has been a real pleasure.  Readers who want to see more of Dave’s work along with some other exciting military sci-fi can pick up Veterans of the Future Wars today!

Postcard of the Week: Hawaiian Style

Here is one of many Hawaiian postcards 100+ years old in my collection.  It is in very nice condition, and lives inside a translucent paper sleeve.  It is hand-painted, as most of the color postcards in this collection are.

The reverse to this card is different than any of the others in my possession.  It is a bit fancier than the others, as many just have lines and a box for the postage stamp.  This back has some style, as well.

Author Interview: Mary Pletsch

Martinus Publishing’s latest anthology, VFW: Veterans of theFuture Wars, is coming out in February 2014.  To kick off this new book release, I’ll be doing interviews with some of the authors who have stories featured in this collection. Today, I'm interviewing Mary Pletsch, an exceptional author who contributed the story “The Last and the Least.”    Thank you for taking the time to be interviewed, Mary.

MTI:  Starting off, could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Mary Pletsch: I joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets when I was 14 and got my glider pilot’s license at 16 and my private pilot’s license at 17.  I love video games like Halo and Mass Effect, and I collect 80’s toys.  I don’t collect cats; we just happen to have four of them.

MTI: I know how cats are, more like they collect us.  Now, getting down to business; what first compelled you to weave fiction, and what's your favorite type of story to write?

MP:  I don’t remember when I first wove fiction, but I know that I was too young to make letters.  I’d grab a pen and fill pages and pages with up-and-down zig-zag lines.  When asked what I was doing, I said I was writing a story.  When asked to read what I’d written, I promptly recited an original story.  My ability to read the same story every time improved immensely when I learned to print.

As for what’s my favourite type of story to write, I’d say a story that lets me experience the way the world looks through a character’s eyes.  That’s why I write tight third person point of view– the story is told from the character’s point of view, and everything in the descriptions, the events, what’s noticed and what isn’t, is affected by the way that character perceives the world.  I don’t want to write characters who think and act just like I do.  I want to explore how it feels to live someone else’s experiences.

MTI:  Tell me, if you had to pick just one author who has influenced or inspired you, who would it be?

MP:  Karen Traviss, author of “City of Pearl.”

MTI:  “The Last and the Least” appears in VFW, an anthology of military science fiction stories that honor soldiers and veterans.  Was there any particular inspiration for this story?

MP:  I was visiting the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour, standing in front of the shrine where the names of all those killed on the Arizona are inscribed, and I saw a plaque off to the side.  The plaque holds the names of Arizona survivors and veterans who’ve chosen to have their ashes interred within the ship (or in the cases of veterans who served on the Arizona but were not posted to her on the day she sank, their ashes are scattered on the water over the ship).  I thought about those survivors who went on to fight through the war, lived for decades after the war, and then chose to come back to the ship in death, to join their shipmates.  And I hoped those men were able to find something good in those decades, that they didn’t spend their whole lives waiting to go back.  “The Last and the Least” ended up being about when your unit becomes your family, and survivor’s guilt, and how heroism sometimes doesn’t feel heroic from the inside, and why veterans need society’s support and understanding.

MTI:  Quite profound.  Now, if you could go back to any point in history, when would you visit?

MP:  I’ve always loved First World War air combat stories.  I adored Captain W.E. Johns’ “Biggles” books as a teenager.  To get the chance to fly an Albatros D.V. or Sopwith Camel for myself... I couldn’t turn that down.

MTI:  If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

MP:  Probably Captain W.E. Johns. 

MTI:  Shifting back to your writing, can you tell us a little about what you're working on right now?

MP:  2014 is going to be my novel year.  I’ve written a lot of short stories and novellas, and this year my main goal is to complete a longer work.  That being said, there are a few short story calls for submissions that are very enticing...

MTI:  Other than “The Last and the Least”, appearing in VFW, do you have any other stories being published in the near future?

MP:  I’ve got a horror story called “Mishipishu:  The Ghost Story of Penny Jaye Prufrock” that came out in January 2014, in a collection called “Fossil Lake:  An Anthology of the Aberrant” by Daverana Press.

MTI:  Your biography says you are a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada.  Would you be able to elaborate a little about that experience?

MP:  Sure.  Mine wasn’t the usual experience, going in as a recruit.  I did my undergraduate elsewhere and went to RMC for a master’s degree in War Studies as a civilian student.  My thesis was about the ground crew of 6 Group during the Second World War; there’s been a lot of research about the flight crews, but very little about the ground crew, who played such an essential role. 

MTI:  On a lighter note, have you watched any good tv lately?

MP:  I actually don’t watch TV very much.  I saw the Doctor Who Christmas Special with my family... yes, I know that was a month ago.  I could talk about comic books?  I’m reading James Roberts and Alex Milne’s phenomenal Transformers: More than Meets the Eye series.  The characterization is absolutely delightful, and the storytelling is top-notch. 

MTI:  What sort of music do you enjoy?

MP:  My music collection’s a strange mix of metal – Sabaton, Iron Maiden; East Coast – Rawlins Cross, Great Big Sea; and 80s classic rock.

MTI:  And if you would, name three movies that you could watch over and over again and not be bored.

MP:  Top Gun, Memphis Belle and Stalag 17. 

MTI:  Three excellent choices.  Memphis Belle is an underrated classic.  You have the attention of potential readers.  Are there any great words of wisdom you’d like to share with them?  Perhaps something that would persuade them to purchase your work?

MP:  I think all I can do is go back to the themes in “The Last and the Least.”  If a country asks for volunteers to serve in its military, to fight in its name, I think that country and that society have an obligation to take care of their veterans.  Support for those who come home with mental as well as physical injuries has to be there.  It’s our responsibility as citizens to demand this of our policy makers. 

MTI:  Indeed.  Readers love free samples, so on that note here is the first paragraphs of “The Last and the Least.”

            If we had only known.  That’s what all the politicians’ speeches said, and all the calls to arms, and these decades later the holograph documentaries and the history books.  If we had only known what the colonials had been planning, we would have been ready.  If they’d had any honor, they would have declared war with digital signatures.  Instead, their proclamation was written in the wreckage of Her Eminence’s Starship Canada, in the sleepy quiet of a Saturday morning on the Milky Way Hub.

            If we had only known, I wouldn’t be lying here now, an old woman who can’t sleep through the night, watching my chronograph glowing softly in the dark and asking myself, what if.  It is the same question the holodioramas and webstreams ask, except they ask what might have been if various Terran heroes or key political figures had discovered the Colonial plan before their attack took us all by surprise.  I ask what if I—only I—had been granted precognition.

This has been a thoroughly enjoyable interview.  I’d like to thank Mary Pletsch for taking the time to answer these questions.  Those of you who want to check out some thrilling, insightful, and imaginative military sci-fi, check out VFW: Veterans of the Future Wars today!

Postcards: Noge Hill, Yokohama, Japan

To kick off the last week of January, here are a few fascinating specimens from my postcard collection.  These are of Noge Hill, Yokohama, Japan.  It’s hard to find any information on this little suburb of Yokohama, and the best I could dig up on short notice via the internet is here, which gives a brief footnote of its post-WWII history and current status.  It would be interesting to see more of what it looks like today, and know if the temple is still there.

So, going back to the turn of the 20th Century, here are four views, mostly of the “Temple” area at Noge Hill.  These cards date circa 1900-1910:

Cherry Blossom at Noge Hill, Yokohama

Stone steps, Noge Hill, Yokohama

Noge Hill, Yokohama

Temple at Noge Hill, Yokohama

You may notice the coloring on these postcards. They pre-date color photography, and each one of these was hand painted.  They would take the black & white cards and color in different parts of them for this unique look.  I have quite a few unpainted, as well, which will be displayed as time goes by.

Postcard of the week: GE Lampworks 1914

For the foreseeable future, each week I will be sharing a scan of an “antique” postcard.  I have hundreds of these old things, most of them over 100 years old, many from India, Japan, Indonesia, and all over the pacific.  A few, like today’s example, are from here in the United States.

The value of these postcards are unknown.  I’ve never sought to appraise them, and I am really not interested in making a fast buck that way.  Most of these came from my father, and they’re little pieces of history which I intend to cling to, and pass on to my posterity.  The rarity of these postcards is also unknown, but it’s quite possible that some of these are unique, or among a handful of examples still surviving.

Today’s example is probably more common than most of the others in this collection.  It’s the Lamp Works of General Electric in Fort Wayne, Indiana, circa 1914:

Martinus Books for Soldiers

In February, the VFW:Veterans of the Future Wars anthology will be released, becoming Martinus Publishing’s 4th short story collection and the first release of 2014.  This collection was first envisioned to be a tribute to the men and women of America’s armed forces (and allied soldiers worldwide).  The stories contained in this collection are respectful of the soldiers and veterans who serve.  Some are exciting and adventurous, others are insightful and introspective, examining the hearts and minds of future soldiers and veterans.

I’ve known many veterans over the years, and always held the greatest respect for those who have served in the armed forces.  That was the impetus for this collection; an anthology to both honor veterans and to showcase entertaining military science fiction.  I expect this will satisfy on both counts.

Now, I would like to go one step further in helping to get these stories, and other Martinus titles, into the hands of our soldiers and veterans.  To that end, I will need your help.  There is only so much a single man and a small press publisher can afford to do, but with your assistance we can spread the word.

There are many good groups out there who help to supply the wants and needs of active duty military personnel.  One in particular is www.booksforsoldiers.com, where military personnel post requests for various books and other items.  Some want specific titles, others ask for various genres or themed material.  There are many American soldiers across the globe who would enjoy reading VFW or other Martinus titles, if only someone would send those books.

If you’re involved in donating books to soldiers yourself (or decide you want to start doing it), you can purchase books from MartinusPublishing to send.  If you purchase multiple copies of any title, there will be a discount.  Just email info (at) martinus.us regarding bulk pricing.

If, on the other hand, you’d like to help but don’t want the hassle of packing and shipping books yourself, considering buying Martinus titles and asking that they be donated.  Any book purchased from our website can be “gifted” to the troops.  Just put a note in the comment box during the paypal checkout, saying you want your purchase to be a donation.  Any books purchased in this manner will be given to soldiers or veterans desiring the reading material.

Regardless of the number of sales/donations that come in from this request, I will personally be sending Martinus titles to soldiers.  They’re fighting for us, and they deserve every bit of support we can send them.  The momentary escape of a good book could make a world of difference in their lives.