Miles to Lost Dog Creek by Ron Scheer

Ron Scheer completed “Miles to Lost Dog Creek” in 2012. Unfortunately, I was top heavy at the time with Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles stories, so I set it to the side with the intent of publishing it much sooner than this. In the interim Ron approached me about publishing his How the West Was Written series, and I jumped at the chance.

Sadly Ron passed away in April, and after releasing the last in the How the West Was Written books, I turned my attention, once again, to “Miles to Lost Dog Creek.” However there were several developments in the Miles character over the past three years that needed the writer’s touch, but I didn’t have my friend Ron to turn to. So I went to two mutual friends of ours and fellow Western authors, Chuck Tyrell, aka Charlie T. Whipple (who’s worked with me from time to time on this series) and Richard Prosch. I sent it their way for their skilled eyes to run through the pages … thank you, both!

Knowing that “Miles to Lost Dog Creek” may very well be Ron’s final published work, I wanted the cover art to be special. I asked Chuck Regan, whose talents have been previously on display with another BTAP cover, and he turned in this exceptional piece. Many thanks, Chuck.

"Miles to Lost Dog Creek” is available as an ebook and later this week in print. Because it’s a long short story I’m pricing the ebook at the affordable $1.49. But if you are a fan of the series and of Ron’s work, I really recommend the print copy which is a beauty.

How the West Was Written: Frontier Fiction, Vol. 2, 1907-1915 by Ron Scheer

During the years 1907–1915, frontier fiction boomed with new writers, and the success of Owen Wister’s The Virginian (1902) began to make itself felt in their work. That novel had made the bestseller lists for two years running. With the continued popularity of Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show, and the appearance of one-reeler westerns on movie screens, many featuring the adventures of Bronco Billy Anderson, the cowboy hero was becoming an established mythic figure in the public imagination.

For writers of popular fiction, the frontier was also a subject for exploring ideas drawn from current public discourse—ideas about character and villainy, women’s rights, romance and marriage, democracy and government, capitalism, race and social boundaries, and the West itself. With each new publication, they participated as well in an ongoing forum for how to write about the West and how to tell western stories. Taken together, the chapters of this book describe for modern-day readers and writers the origins of frontier fiction and the rich legacy it has left us as a genre. It is also a portal into the past, for it offers a history of ideas as preserved in popular culture of a century ago that continues to claim an audience today.

How the West Was Written: Frontier Fiction, Vol. 2, 1907-1915 by Ron Scheer is now available in print and Kindle formats.

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Praise for How the West Was Written: Vol. 1

“This is a splendid study of early western fiction, most of it written contemporaneously with the settlement of the American West. A surprising number of women authors are included among the sixty-some novels reviewed by the author. The book offers penetrating, rich, and lucid examinations of these early novels, and gives us a good understanding of where western fiction came from and how it has evolved. Highly recommended.”

—Richard S. Wheeler

Spur Award-winning author

“[Ron Scheer’s] scholarship is meticulous and the book is an enlightening contribution to American literature with this study of the Western, its roots and its themes. I’m proud to have it on my bookshelf. It’s unique in the canon, as far as I know.”

—Carol Buchanan

Spur Award-winning author

Clare's Debutante Ball

Clare Toohey's stories appear in the Murder New York Style crime anthologies Fresh Slices and Family Matters, as well as Feeding Kate, which she co-edited. She also edited the digital anthology Deadly Debut and the award-winning e-collection The Malfeasance Occasional: Girl Trouble. I'm thrilled to have Clare Toohey at BEAT to a PULP this week with "The Debutante Ball."

Chris F. Holm's The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform

"The Lizard’s Ardent Uniform" by Chris F. Holm is online at Cole Montegue's The Fall Creek Review. This short story is from Veridical Dreams, Vol. I that I had the pleasure to edit.

Three for Bukowski

I'm not sure what initially sparked my interest in reading Charles Bukowski, but once that tap opened, I went on a steady diet of Buk's work for quite some time. I became such a fan, that I got Kyle Knapp hooked on the candid writer when Kyle was searching for some inspiration of his own. I had lent him Women and several others (Post Office, Notes from a Dirty Old Man), and we had lengthy discussions on the raw material.

January 16, 2013. Kyle sent an email with the header 'ode to Bukowski' and attached was a poem titled Women in Acrostics with a note, "Do you remember this scene in "Women?" It was very funny." -Kyle

So, on this 20th anniversary on Bukowski's death, I thought we'd honor his remembrance with not just Kyle's poem but two other amazing tributes from Gerald So and Adrian Manning (via Silver Birch Press) in the appropriately titled "Another Round for Bukowski" (thanks, Gerald!).

Free: Beetner's The Year I Died Seven Times Book #2

It will take more than dying to keep him from finding the truth. Book #2 is now available.

Watch for book #3 in April.

BEAT to a PULP: Hardboiled 3

BEAT to a PULP: HARDBOILED 3 is now available at Createspace, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. Kobo, and iBooks to follow soon.

Description: The third time's a blood-splattered charm as BEAT to a PULP and nine of today's hard-hitting, top writers stalk the depraved streets where no good deed goes unpunished, vengeance is the norm, and lady luck is a cold-hearted bitch that just left you for dead in a back alley. Raw-nerved, pure virtuosity seeps from the grunge-tainted keyboards of Patti Abbott, Fred Blosser, Hilary Davidson, Chris F. Holm, Sophie Littlefield, Andrew Nette, Keith Rawson, Kieran Shea, and Josh Stallings.

Co-edited by David Cranmer, who brought you the 2012 winner of Spinetingler's Anthology of the Year, this bold and riveting collection is a worthy continuation in the best-selling BTAP "Hardboiled" series.

The Little Book That Did

Back in January 2012 when we released MANHUNTER'S MOUNTAIN I had no plans to offer any of the Cash Laramie novels as print books. Ebooks were cresting on the newest of waves, and it seemed like the perfect medium to launch the outlaw marshal character who came up through the webzines. All the Cash & Miles stories have been popular but Manhunter's Mountain is clearly a hands-down favorite. Not a month goes by without someone asking if the series is available in print. One fan from North Dakota even asked if I could print just one copy for his collection, and I wrote back saying it would cost $500! Crickets chirping.

So, from now on most BEAT to a PULP works over 15k will be in both print and electronic formats, and we will work on updating our back catalog.

Thank you Wayne D. Dundee for writing such an exceptional book that perfectly infused the western, noir, and hardboiled elements.

Angel Bitch

It's ages since he had his last attack.
These days she knows when one's about to strike
and sends an urgent warning to the phone
he keeps in readiness next to his heart—
reverberations that he daren't ignore.
Though kneeling at the altar rails, at work
or sleeping in his bed, he'll rise and go.

Sound-proofed, with padded doors and dimly lit,
her basement is her place for therapy—
A basement for abasement, she will jest.

Now raised above him on a golden plinth, a light behind, its halo round her head, from breast to ankles she is dressed in white. The dress gives off a slightly golden glow.

Our second David King story, "Angel Bitch," first appeared in 2011.

Hilary's Fair Warning

It's always a pleasure when Hilary Davidson, one of the first-string players at BEAT to a PULP, stops by with a new story. Her first tale for BTAP, "Insatiable," won a Spinetingler Award, and her contribution to ROUND TWO, "A Special Kind of Hell," was a finalist for a Derringer. She makes us look damn good. Thanks, Hilary. Here's her latest, "Fair Warning."

The Follow-Through

I'd be amiss if I didn't acknowledge Chris F. Holm at BEAT to a PULP last week with "The Follow-Through." It seems like Chris and I have been friends for forty years and he's been contributing to BTAP just as long with the most original, sharp tales. His current story is so good that I've held it over for another week. Thanks, Chris, always a pleasure.

Photo-Finish Friday -- Reflection in a Jeep Window

I took the pic through the Jeep window and if you look closely you can see my baby girl being strapped into her car seat for a ride to get some groceries. I still haven't found Denise in the shot, but she was in there.

 Leah J. Utas is the force behind Photo-Finish Friday.

BTAP #157: Friction Ridge by David James Keaton

BEAT to a PULP returns for our fourth year. Here's Friction Ridge (or beguiling the bard in three acts) by David James Keaton.

BEAT to a PULP #156: The Stain Carrier by Sophie Littlefield

Special thanks to Sophie Littlefield for closing out our third year in grand fashion with a sharp little gem called, "The Stain Carrier." Ms. Littlefield has also been kind enough to write the foreword to our forthcoming ROUND TWO.

In other news: You may have noticed that story links and the archive page are currently not working. This is because ColdFusion is no longer supported by our service provider. These pages will remain down until we resume February 1, 2012. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Available: A RIP THROUGH TIME

Dr. Robert Berlin has created The Baryon Core, a powerful device with the ability to predict the future and retrodict the past by tracking the position and vector of every particle in the universe. Berlin swipes his own creation from The Company and disappears into history. The Company's time-cop Simon Rip and the sexy, brilliant Dr. Serena Ludwig join together to track Berlin and return the device. Their pursuit will take them back to the ice age and forward to the end of time.

A Rip through Time follows the time-cop's travels in a series of five short stories written by several of today's top pulp writers. Chris F. Holm opens the collection with the fast-paced "The Dame, the Doctor and the Device." Charles A. Gramlich's "Battles, Broadswords, and Bad Girls" and Garnett Elliott's "Chaos in the Stream" breath new life into the time travel story. Bringing the saga to a gripping conclusion in "Darkling in the Eternal Space" is Chad Eagleton, who then takes it a step further with a mesmerizing coda, "The Final Painting of Hawley Exton." And for all the time-traveling enthusiasts, Ron Scheer provides an insightful essay, "Are We Then Yet," which explores the mechanics of time travel in popular fiction.

A RIP THROUGH TIME is now available at Smashwords for $0.99.

BEAT to a PULP #154: Papercut Pete's Blood-Stained MacGuffin by Cameron Ashley

Cameron Ashley is the chief editor of Crime Factory and a regular contributor to Criminal Complex. His most recent fiction can be found in the Noir at the Bar, D*cked and Crime Factory: The First Shift anthologies. He's upcoming in The One That Got Away and is currently working on several shorts, a comic book and a really messed-up novel set in the world of Japanese porn.

And I'm proud to say, Cameron Ashley is at BEAT to a PULP with (I love this title!) Papercut Pete's Blood-Stained MacGuffin.

BEAT to a PULP #153: Stalker by Ed Gorman

The legendary Ed Gorman is at BEAT to a PULP with "Stalker."

BEAT to a PULP #152: In the Hard Nowhere by Chris Rhatigan

Chris Rhatigan is the co-editor, along with Nigel Bird, of the crime anthology Pulp Ink. He has a story in Pulp Metal Magazine's Laughing at the Death Grin, and will have a piece in Luca Veste's collection, Off the Record.

Mr. Rhatigan has our Weekly Punch with "In the Hard Nowhere."

BEAT to a PULP #151: A Rip through Time: Darkling in the Eternal Space by Chad Eagleton

Chris F. Holm, Charles A. Gramlich, and Garnett Elliott have all gone a round with the BTAP Simon Rip saga, and all three have done an amazing job fleshing out
the worlds and characters I had imagined with breathtaking elements I never would have dreamed of creating.

Now, Chad Eagleton takes us to the next stop beyond. To reveal even a small part of this beautiful piece would be a crime, so I won’t, though I will tell you this latest Simon Rip adventure brings the story thread--that began over a year ago--to a conclusion.

However, Mr. Eagleton is just brimming over with ideas, so much that he has written another Rip story in a novella! More on that another day. For now, here is the return of the time cop hero in "Darkling in the Eternal Space".

BEAT to a PULP #150: Free Mercury by Jodi MacArthur

Jodi MacArthur believes lava and quick silver should be guarded by puppeteers in separate galaxies. Her fiction has been featured in pulp, bizarro, and horror magazines throughout the web and in print.

Jodi MacArthur is at BEAT to a PULP with "Free Mercury."