It’s called new pulp – stories by modern writers who recreate the style of fiction that appeared in the pulp magazines of yore. Back then, the authors who labored for the rough paper industry liked to call themselves scribes, word-slingers, penny-a-worders, and, perhaps the most favored term of all, fictioneers. Join PulpFest as we celebrate today’s fictioneers — the authors writing the new pulp fiction! On Friday and Saturday, we’ll feature ten authors reading from their works and answering a few questions from the audience.
Reading from their works on Friday, July 27
12:30 – 1:05 PM — Gary Rabuzzi was born in Sebring, Ohio. He moved to Las Vegas at age 24, where he attended the film studies program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Gary tells us, “Guys like Jim Thompson, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett are my main influence, but I also really like guys like Lovecraft and Poe. So I’ve done a few horror stories as well.” Gary will be reading from his first collection of short stories and screenplays, VIOLENCE IN BLOOM, released in 2017 and available via Amazon. His second collection of screenplays, FOUR FOR FLINCHING, will be appearing this summer. Gary resides in Ohio where he is working on a collection of detective fiction stories featuring his character, John Destry.
1:10- 1:45 PM — Wayne Carey grew up reading such authors as Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard, Talbot Mundy, and Robert E. Howard, providing the desire to write from an early age. He has worked as a pharmaceutical research scientist and a science teacher. He is the author of THE NANON FACTOR — a young adult contemporary science fiction thriller from Leo Publishing — and has appeared in a variety of anthologies including LEGENDS OF NEW PULP FICTION. For Airship 27, Wayne has written two adventures featuring Haggard’s hero from KING SOLOMON’S MINES: ALLAN QUATERMAIN AND THE BEAST MEN — from which he will be reading — and the soon-to-be released ALLAN QUATERMAIN AND THE LIGHTNING BIRD. His books are available via Amazon. Wayne and his wife Brenda live in the wilds of Central Pennsylvania with their three children, who provide a great deal of inspiration for his work.
1:50- 2:25 PM — Peter McGarvey has been a magazine columnist, radio journalist, advertising copywriter, marketing and sales executive, and filmmaker. He grew up in the Ontario towns of Orillia and Chatham and has made Toronto his home for most of his adult life. Peter’s novels include two series set in Michigan — MOLLY PARSONS MYSTERIES and RIP & WILMA HITS, the adventures of a pair of improbable contract killers. Don Hutchison — author of THE GREAT PULP HEROES — has suggested that McGarvey’s Rip could “. . . well be a successor to Donald E. Westlake’s wonderfully amoral super crook, Parker.” Peter will be reading from FOGGY SUNSET, the newest Molly Parsons novel. He is currently working on a third series of mysteries which will take place in a small Canadian town. Follow Peter on Facebook, and for more about Peter and his books, please visit PeterMcGarvey.com.
3:10 – 3:50 PM — Christopher Paul Carey is the coauthor with Philip José Farmer of THE SONG OF KWASIN, and the author of EXILES OF KHO; HADON, KING OF OPAR; and BLOOD OF ANCIENT OPAR, all works set in Farmer’s Khokarsa series. His novel SWORDS AGAINST THE MOON MEN — from which he will be reading — is an authorized sequel to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ THE MOON MAID. He has edited four collections of Philip José Farmer’s work — UP FROM THE BOTTOMLESS PIT AND OTHER STORIES, VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL AND OTHERS, THE OTHER IN THE MIRROR, and (with Win Scott Eckert) TALES OF THE WOLD NEWTON UNIVERSE. He was the coeditor of FARMERPHILE: THE MAGAZINE OF PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER from 2005–2007. His latest book, THE GRANDEST ADVENTURE: WRITINGS ON PHILIP JOSÉ FARMER, debuts in July 2018 in commemoration of the Philip José Farmer centennial. For more about Christopher and his books, please visit cpcarey.com.
3:55 – 4:30 PM — Sara Light-Waller is an author and illustrator living in southwestern Washington state. An avid reader of pulp science fiction stories, space opera is a particular favorite. She chose to write in the old pulp style as she feels that it offers an enjoyable respite from the stresses of the modern world. Her recent illustrated novelette, LANDSCAPE OF DARKNESS — from which she be will reading — is a pulp story in the tradition of Henry Kuttner and Edmond Hamilton and has been compared favorably to a Captain Future tale. Sara attended the prestigious Scientific Illustration program at the University of Arizona and has worked for large publishers such as McGraw-Hill and Lippincott and many small presses and independent authors. Her work has appeared in art collections, mainstream magazines, newspapers, trade and science journals and in educational materials, in print and online. Light-Waller has been a professional writer since 1985, working for magazines, science and education journals, newspapers, blogs, and for businesses as a content creator and copy writer. She’s written extensively for the children’s market, producing several books in her own name as well as a ghost writer. Her imprint is Lucina Press. She can be found online at lucinapress.com, saralightwaller.com and flyingponystudios.com.
Reading from their works on Saturday, July 28
1:55 – 2:50 PM — We’re calling this our Flinch Books Fest! Join Flinch Books co-founders Jim Beard and John Bruening as they discuss pulp, publishing and other pertinent pursuits through a combination of readings, discussions and audience Q&A. They’ll make you Flinch!
Jim Beard became a published writer when he sold a story to DC Comics in 2002. Since that time he’s written official Star Wars and Ghostbusters comic stories and contributed articles and essays to several volumes of comic book history. His prose work includes co-editing and contributing a story to PLANET OF THE APES: TALES FROM THE FORBIDDEN ZONE; a story for X-FILES: SECRET AGENDAS; GOTHAM CITY 14 MILES, a book of essays on the 1966 Batman TV series; SGT. JANUS, SPIRIT-BREAKER, a collection of pulp ghost stories featuring an Edwardian occult detective; MONSTER EARTH, a shared-world giant monster anthology; and CAPTAIN ACTION: RIDDLE OF THE GLOWING MEN, the first pulp prose novel based on the classic 1960s action figure. He co-edited and contributed to QUEST FOR THE SPACE GODS: THE CHRONICLES OF CONRAD VON HONIG. Jim currently provides regular content for Marvel.com, the official Marvel Comics website.
John Bruening has been writing professionally for more than 30 years, first as a newspaper reporter and magazine editor and later as a marketing copywriter. As far back as he can remember, he’s been a fan of comics, pulps, adventure fiction, vintage movies and serials, old-time radio and any other form of heroic storytelling. His 2016 debut novel, THE MIDNIGHT GUARDIAN: HOUR OF DARKNESS, has been called “a Republic serial set to prose (Ron Fortier) and “the creative construct of a first-rate storyteller” (William Patrick Maynard, blackgate.com). His most recent published work is “The Warrior and the Stone,” a short story appearing in RESTLESS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF MUMMY HORROR. He also co-edited QUEST FOR THE SPACE GODS: THE CHRONICLES OF CONRAD VON HONIG. John is currently working on the next adventure in the MIDNIGHT GUARDIAN saga, which is scheduled for release in late 2018. He lives in a suburb of Cleveland with his wife and two teenage children.
2:55 – 3:50 PM — Another pair of writers will be appearing together for our next reading and panel. Join Win Scott Eckert and Frank Schildiner for our FarmerCon 100 Reading Duet!
Win Scott Eckert is the coauthor with Philip José Farmer of the Wold Newton novel THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE and the author of THE SCARLET JAGUAR, both featuring Patricia Wildman, daughter of the pulp hero Doc Wildman, the bronze champion of justice. He coedited and contributed stories to three Green Hornet anthologies, and his short fiction tales of Zorro, The Avenger, The Phantom, The Lone Ranger, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Hareton Ironcastle, Captain Midnight, The Green Ghost, Sexton Blake, The Domino Lady, Doc Ardan, and Sherlock Holmes can be found in various anthologies. A Honey West/T.H.E Cat crossover novel, A GIRL AND HER CAT (coauthored with Matthew Baugh), came out in 2014. He is currently working on: the third Pat Wildman adventure; a new novel of one of the preeminent pulp heroes of the ’40s, The Avenger; and completing Philip José Farmer’s manuscript of THE MONSTER ON HOLD, the fourth novel in the Secrets of the Nine series.
Frank Schildiner is a martial arts instructor at Amorosi’s Mixed Martial Arts in New Jersey. He is the writer of the novels, THE QUEST OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE TRIUMPH OF FRANKENSTEIN, NAPOLEON’S VAMPIRE HUNTERS, THE DEVIL PLAGUE OF NAPLES, and the forthcoming SATANIC GANGS OF NEW YORK. He is a regular contributor to the fictional series TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN and has been published in THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THUNDER JIM WADE, Airship 27’s SECRET AGENT X series, THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO: FRONTIER JUSTICE, THE AVENGER: THE JUSTICE FILES, and other anthologies. He resides in New Jersey with his wife Gail, who is his top supporter and two cats who are indifferent on the subject.
3:55 – 4:30 PM — Roger Alford will close out our New Fictioneers readings for 2018. Many thanks to all of the writers who volunteered to present their work at PulpFest 2018. Roger grew up on a steady diet of STAR WARS and Jim Henson. After discovering old time radio and movie serials in college, he realized he’d been born in the wrong decade. His Internet videos, which include the popular mash-ups THE TWILIGHT ZONE: PLANET OF THE APES AND RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE SERIAL, have been featured on ABC News, CNN, Inside Edition, and in multiple books and newspapers. An independent author and writer under the imprint of Black Hood Press, Roger gets his inspiration from the pulp novels, radio dramas, and movie serials of the 30s and 40s. He has written five novels about The Black Spectre and also writes the Veronica Mars FBI series for Kindle Worlds. Additionally, Roger is the webmaster for The Forbidden Zone, one of the oldest and most complete PLANET OF THE APES sites on the Internet and recently served as a panelist at the USC School of Cinematic Arts PLANET OF THE APES 50th Anniversary exhibit. Roger will be reading from the second Black Spectre book, NO VICTORY WITHOUT SCARS.
PulpFest 2018 will also be celebrating the 100th birthday of Philip José Farmer with FarmerCon 100. We’ll be welcoming Joe Lansdale — the author of over forty novels, numerous short stories, and more — as our Guest of Honor and hosting a rare gallery showing of original art by acclaimed writer-illustrator Mark Wheatley. In addition to our author readings, there will be a great programming line-up, two auctions featuring unique collectibles, and a dealers’ room filled with pulps, digests, and men’s adventure magazines, collectible paintings and illustrations, rare first editions, vintage paperbacks and comic books, unique films and more.
PulpFest 2018 begins on Thursday, July 26, and runs through Sunday, July 29 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. You can join both PulpFest and FarmerCon by clicking the Register for 2018 button on the PulpFest home page. And don’t forget to book a room at the DoubleTree while you’re visiting the PulpFest site. They’re going fast!
(Our featured image for this post is from the jacket art to Christopher Paul Carey’s SWORDS AGAINST THE MOON MEN. The artist is Chris Peuler, a genre illustrator based in Chicago, working primarily in fantasy and science fiction. A traditionally trained digital painter, Chris has created vivid imagery for various gaming and book publications.)
