Pleased to announce I’m running a Pulp Cthulhu scenario on Discord for the Blasphemous Tomes/Good Friends of Jackson Elias online convention. Slot 1, March 1st.

Live on Kickstarter Tuesday the 9th of January, 2024

OK, so what is Black Gauntlet: The Last Heist?

Black Gauntlet: The Last Heist is an action thriller novella meets the Cthulhu Mythos. It’s the type of story I’d love to read (so I wrote it) and it’s something that would translate well to cinema. Take the action movie like Die Hard or Extraction II and add Mythos elements. Die Hard because the action is tied to one building and Extraction II because it had me with its non-stop action from the very start. My thoughts were, “this is great. I love this. But I want to see more of it in a modern Mythos world.” Or, as people who are familiar with the Lovecraftian stories like to say, more “Yog-Sothothery.”

There’s action, a bit of humor, but make no bones about it, it is a horror story.

Horror–in its most true and classic sense–is the function of FEAR and ISOLATION. When it comes to the Yog-Sothothery that is known as the Lovecraftian tale I dare add a third aspect–INSANITY. Yes, the fear and isolation often leads the protagonists to question their world, their minds, and reality itself.

Black Gauntlet: The Last Heist will be available on Kindle and Smashwords in both the fiction novella form and the annotated version which delves into the writing process, the writing life, going from conception to edit, the Mythos world, and the aspects of what makes for an engaging action thriller.

Thanks to my backers the launch of Darkhold Nocturne on Kickstarter was a success. I’m currently putting the finishing touches on the novella and the annotated version.

You rock!

It’s been a long time in coming to get to this point. Numerous setbacks, delays, adversities, and obstacles. This is not a negative thing. Anyone who attempts to write will encounter these things. So let this stand as an inspiration. Writing, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, is filled with Ps and Ds, That’s procrastination, perfectionism, and ultimately positive thought and positive outcome. The D’s are more diverse: despondence, depression, drugs, delays, desperation, divorce, disappointment. There are more, but the point is that in spite of these things people have endured and emerged victorious with stories that made us smile, cry, and that–most importantly–incited us to action. Creativity begets creativity.

So with that in mind I bore into this world (Creativity is like being pregnant, you can’t force it.)the type of sword and sorcery that I love to read. But it’s not just sword and sorcery per se, it’s adventure fiction with elements of fantasy and those awful but awesome tentacled and fanged alien monsters from Lovecraftian fiction.

Why did I do this? A good answer would be, “I love to write.” But the real answer is more complex. There are those of us–and you know who you are–that don’t necessarily enjoy writing you just do it. Like Yoda says, “there is no try, do or not do.” That means I am compelled to do it regardless of financial incentive or reward.

Why sword and sorcery? Why not!? It’s an escape, a fantasy, a place where one can explore an imaginary world. It’s an act of creation, a thought experiment, if you will. Whether it has themes that are pertinent to the current time you live in may have an impact. But personally, I enjoy sword and sorcery because it isn’t about politics, or modern times. By Crom, Conan the Barbarian spilt skulls. He wasn’t big on bullshit.

What about you? I’ve been writing all my life in some capacity. Yes, I am a real person with half of century of experience. This novella is the first in a long line of novels that incorporate Lovecraftian elements. I also love film noir and noir fiction as well as sword and sorcery so you will find that type of theme, tone, and mood in my fiction as well.

Thanks for stopping by and good reading.

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