Tony Curtis

I enjoyed many of his films and this particular TV show with Roger Moore was a favorite. R.I.P.

Ed Gorman's Stranglehold

It has been a crazy couple of weeks with the traveling, jet lag, hotel food, etc. Thankfully, one of the books that helped make the journey a little easier was Ed Gorman's latest titled Stranglehold. I haven't been able to sit down and type a proper review but luckily three of my friends have here, here and here.

Don't miss this one, folks, a real fine read.

BTAP #93: Icarus of the Cliffs by Katharine Russell

Skootch's airborne pal veered seaward and the dog turned with him, bouncing along in the undulating shadow cast by the wing.

"Look where you are going!" I headed for the dog whose trajectory was aimed at the ledge. He might be too involved in the chase to remember where he is. "Skootch, stop!"

Glider pal, who was well over the lip, heard me and pivoted landward.

Snap.

Read more of Ms. Russell's gripping "Icarus of the Cliffs."

Next week: Anthony Neil Smith introduces "The King of Mardi Gras"

Soon: Jodi MacArthur's "Pillow Talk"

BEAT to a PULP: Round One Review

Randy Johnson reviews BEAT to a PULP: Round One.

Some last minute proofing but the beast is near release. Oh, you don't believe me? Here you go.

And to the right is our new BTAP logo courtesy of John Bergin who also worked on the anthology cover.

Chaos Review

Alec Cizak on "The Sweetest Kind of Chaos."

All These Things That I've Done

Is there room for one more son?

Review: A RIP THROUGH TIME:THE DAME, THE DOCTOR, AND THE DEVICE

Chris Rhatigan over at the top Death by Killing has a review of the first installment of BEAT to a PULP's Simon Rip saga.

BTAP #92: The Sweetest Kind of Chaos by Copper Smith

The love of my life—let's call her Alice—is a liar. She tells me she loves me and only me. She doesn't just say it, she sings it, she bellows it, filling the room with these lies like smoke from a spent cigarette.

"There is nobody else in the world for me. Nobody else," she coos. She is a liar.

Read more of Mr. Smith's hard-hitting, uncompromising The Sweetest Kind of Chaos.

Next in BEAT to a PULP: "Icarus of the Cliffs" by Katherine A. Russell

Soon: Anthony Neil Smith's "The King of Mardi Gras"

And More Reviews

Cullen Gallagher reviews "Kid Eddie" and "The Great Whydini" at Pulp Serenade.

Cash Laramie Review

A very nice short story review from Evan Lewis on "Kid Eddie."

My Latest

If you get a chance I think my latest Cash Laramie story titled "Kid Eddie" turned out pretty darn good. But you be the judge and let me know. Thanks.

Artwork by Michael T. Pizzolato.

BTAP # 91: The Wanted Man by Matthew Pizzolato -- plus a Western Online/BEAT to a PULP crossover

We have a quick-draw western crossover happening today. Editor Matthew Pizzolato of The Western Online has our Weekly Punch with a sharp mystery of a story titled "The Wanted Man." After you finish, please click over to The Western Online for my tale called "Kid Eddie" which has the return of my character Cash Laramie. (Right: Artwork of Cash Laramie by Michael T. Pizzolato.)

Next week in BTAP: Copper Smith has "The Sweetest Kind of Chaos"

And Soon: Keith Rawson with "Life on the Mesa"

The Message Was Clear

The courier pigeon landed on the sill with the straight to the point message: 'Mr. Cranmer. We need you.' I looked around. Not even a Mrs. Peel waiting in a Lotus Elan. Just time to leave, son. So, I have scheduled some BTAP-related posts but it may be a week or two before I'm back in the swing of commenting faithfully again.

Mr. Holm's Simon Rip is a Smash Hit!

I want to congratulate Chris F. Holm on our biggest success to date at BEAT to a PULP. I'm not one to normally eye statistics very closely. The reason being it is quality that matters and I would continue BTAP even if one trusty reader showed up because, well, that's just me. However, it is hard to ignore the number of unique visitors from around the world that are continuing to read A RIP THROUGH TIME: THE DAME, THE DOCTOR, AND THE DEVICE.

Thanks, Chris for delivering a top read. And thanks to BTAP fans from:

US, UK, Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Austria, Poland, India, Netherlands, Russia, Vietnam, Sweden, France, Ukraine, Singapore, Spain, New Zealand, Italy, Romania, Israel, Argentina, South Korea, Belize, Montenegro, Togo, Cameroon, Portugal, Egypt, Taiwan, and Turkey.

Current TBR Pile (and in progress)

*The Trailsman #280: Texas Tart Ed Gorman
Helldorado Peter Brandvold
Unaccustomed As I Am To Public Dying & Other Humorous And Ironic Mystery Stories Larry Maddock
*Hemingway Cutthroat: A Mystery Michael Atkinson
Fast Lane Dave Zeltserman
*Wolf: The Lives Of Jack London James L. Haley
Nick of Time Ted Bell
*The Savage Tales Of Solomon Kane
Super-Detective - The Pin-Up Girl Murders Laurence Donovan
Spies Of The Balkans Alan Furst
Edge the Loner George G. Gilman
*Spanish Eye Nik Morton
The Trailsman #313: Texas Timber War James Reasoner
Manifesto Destination Alec Cizak
Quarry In The Middle Max Allan Collins
The Secret Agent x Omnibus Brant House
*Justified Sins Brian Drake
Stranglehold Ed Gorman

*Reading

What are you enjoying?

A Legend Rides

I’m not sure how many western writings start on a ship off the African coast but “Kid Eddie” did. To pass the time in the confined space, I was watching on dvd the strange pairing of Californication and Wanted Dead or Alive. Nearly a year later and after several polishes, Marshal Cash Laramie finds himself escorting Eddie Morash, aka Kid Eddie, from a small jail in Vermillion back to Cheyenne to stand trial. But something is unsettling about Kid Eddie, something that, well, you'll have to read for yourself.

Cash Laramie returns in "Kid Eddie" at The Western Online September 12th.

Artwork by Michael T. Pizzolato.

The Return of the Fisherman

Back in March, I blogged about a painting my charmer had bought for me that I dubbed The Fisherman. I mentioned in the post that artist Hazel Carter had painted it in the 1970s according to information on the back. Lo and behold, thanks to the internet Hazel came across my post on The Fisherman! She emailed me telling me how happy she was that the painting had found a good home and how nice it was to see the "Old Man" again since she hadn't seen him since 1975. Well, I knew what I wanted to do next.


Yesterday, Denise and I along with her parents had a nice drive up to Harrington, Maine, where we were graciously received by the artist at her Blue Heron Art Gallery. Hazel's talent since The Fisherman has grown to celestial heights with her beautiful watercolors. Hazel was so touched by the return of the Fisherman, she generously offered us any painting from her collection and we chose a stunning silohouetted scene of a couple of moored boats in Jonesport.

Hazel is full of life and just a wonderful person to talk to. If you ever find yourself in Downeast Maine looking for a painting and a great conversation, drop by the Blue Heron Art Gallery. You'll have a magical time. I know we did.

Links, Links

My buddy Keith Rawson has some really awesome things to say about A RIP THROUGH TIME ... Likewise my amigo, David Barber, on the other side of the pond offers his own thoughts on Simon Rip ... And Chris Rhatigan over at Death By Killing reviews my short story "The Sins of Maynard Shipley" that appears in the current issue of NEEDLE.

More A RIP THROUGH TIME

Gary Dobbs at The Tainted Archive talks about A RIP THROUGH TIME here.

Also, a few folks have mentioned having a problem leaving a comment. If you are having trouble, please e-mail me your response at paladin-1@hotmail.com and I will post it.

Flash Gordon. Han Solo. Buck Rogers. John Carter. Indiana Jones.

Chris F. Holm Talks About Simon Rip.

BTAP #90: A Rip Through Time: The Dame, The Doctor, and the Device by Chris F. Holm

I'm super thrilled about this week's offering at BEAT to a PULP that requires a little back story revolving around TIME TRAVELERS NEVER DIE. Thanks to reviews by Randy Johnson and James Reasoner, I picked up Time Travelers and fell under the spell once again with the concept of jumping through centuries. It got the gears in my tiny brain whirling and Simon Rip was born.

Rip is a time cop who is sent back through the realms in search of the world's first time voyager, Dr. Berlin. I wanted straightforward pulp. Fun adventure not weighed down in The Grandfather Paradox and I wanted plot ideas born not of my limited noodle. Enter Chris F. Holm, Charles Gramlich and Matthew P. Mayo. Each one of these talented writers brought so much more to the table than I could have hoped for. Mr. Gramlich and Mr. Mayo's concluding pieces will be coming up later this year in BTAP's first ever eBook. (With a sharp essay on time travel by Ron Scheer.)

For the opening installment, Mr. Holm has done a phenomenal job in setting up the story especially since I handicapped him in a big way confining him to a lower word count for online readers. But because he is such a gifted storyteller he pulled it off more than admirably. What am I talking about? Well, folks, here it is, A Rip through Time: The Dame, the Doctor, and the Device. Please leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Friday Forgotten Book Follow-up: The Sun Smasher

James Reasoner reviewed Edmond Hamilton's The Sun Smasher back in May. A couple of items in James's post jumped out at me: 1) Sun Smasher has a Cornell Woolrich-esque beginning and then completely goes in its own direction, and 2) the phrase "master of space opera."

I snagged a copy and can now say I'm a fan of Mr. Hamilton's sci-fi prose which in this book is light on the technical jargon (just the way I like it) and has maximun adventure output. The tale follows protagonist Neal Banning as he discovers everything he thought about his upbringing is a lie and his destiny awaits among the stars.

Loads of fun. I recommend reading Mr. Reasoner's post first and then finding a copy of Edmond Hamilton's The Sun Smasher.

For more FFB's click over to this week's host, George Kelley.

Justice Served

I hadn't planned on finishing another Cash Laramie western so quickly but an editor asked if I had a dark tale waiting in the stable. I did -- titled "Justice Served" -- yet I'm not sure that I'm ready to release it because the hero isn't cast in the best of light. Mind you, I wrote this western with the intention that heroes often fail in our eyes, don't they? Still, since I'm fond of Cash, I've decided to hold his reputation in my keyboard for the time being. And then after a few weeks of sitting on it, which I always do to see how a story ages, who knows, maybe I'll be anxious to let it go.

The Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles canon thus far: "Cash Laramie and the Masked Devil" in A Fistful of Legends | "Miles to Go" | "Kid Eddie" ( at The Western Online in two weeks) | "The Bone Orchard Mystery" (out for submission) | "The Wind Scorpion" in the Round One anthology | and "Justice Served."

What is everyone else working on?

Open Roads and Freebirds and Other Links

Alec Cizak on the latest offering at All Due Respect:

For issue number three of ALL DUE RESPECT, JJ Kinni puts together a road story that fuses the wandering prose of Jack Kerouac with some nice elements of all-American debauchery we would expect to find in a Jim Thompson or James Ellroy novel. The result is "Open Roads and Freebirds," a story that moves from post-World War II alienation to the dawn of the free love movement in San Francisco.

Other links in my cyber travels: An interview with Sara Paretsky where Chandler is brought up in an unfavorable light | The Novelist Wars | Car crashes into Stephen King's Gate | and That Nameless Stranger, Half a Century Later.

Wanted Dead or Alive

"Three hard mother-grabbin' years, but I learned my trade and it gave me discipline." —Steve McQueen, The King of Cool, commenting about his experience on the series