How Noir Saved My Life

WHY NOIR IS IMPORTANT

I just finished writing what has to be the darkest DAN FOWLER G-MAN story ever, and I got to thinking…

Back in the twentieth century I pretty much lost everything. Career, money, health, hope, sanity—all those were behind me. Seriously, I learned about how low the human soul can sink, the lengths to which some people will go and the power that some wield unthinkingly—until some miserable bastard who just doesn’t care anymore comes along and throws a wrench in the works, or at somebody’s head.

Yup, clinically depressed and alcoholic, I resided in a fleabag hotel, and waited for the world to end. I was at the stage normal people call NO HOPE. And a man who’s got nothing has nothing to lose. I was the guy with the wrench, and I laughingly chucked it into the wheels of your favorite machine, hoping I could see the jaws drop before the explosion. The only thing that hurt was caring.

Well, pain is growth, and eventually I decided to grow because, well, the universe just wasn’t ending the way I’d planned. Now, in the past I’d always been a reading fool, but somewhere in my vodka-is-a-food-group-lifestyle I’d forgotten about that. So I started reading again. A lot.

Except a lot of the stuff I’d read before didn’t do it for me. I’d pick up the books where the heroes were bigger than life, and I’d still realize they wouldn’t last ten minutes in my city. They couldn’t survive here, because they didn’t have to. They had money, fast cars boats, women…hope. Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammet were but appetizers, along with a healthy helping of other detectives… So I started searching…

I started reading Donald Westlake’s PARKER books again and actually coped, using that character’s emotional disassociation to deal with the world. I’d get up, do my job like a machine, then go home and write. It even worked for a little while. And sent me searching for something more…

Now, I’m the first to admit that Jim Thompson and David Goodis may not be the best reading for a guy trying to sober up, but I was at the library and, somehow, a copy of Lawrence Block’s A Dance at the Slaughterhouse wound up in my hand. And Matt Scudder was a recovering alcoholic, who went to AA meetings and had seen more than I ever hope NOT to.

And while I know and care next to nothing about “the beautiful people” and the sexual affairs of suburban housewives that the literary world was shoving at me—noir touched my heart. The losers that lived there, lived outside the regular world; and whether forced there knowingly or unknowingly, by fate or by choice—if they did not change, they were doomed. And I felt that. The random private-eyes had already been blessed with the gift of a perspective outside the norm—most likely by a life that pushed them there. They knew when things were too good to be true, and they knew the foibles of man. And, their version of justice seemed a lot more right than the system I’d seen, where promotions are based on how many people you can put in corporate, for-profit jails.

Sure they didn’t all have happy endings; that just made it more real. Plus, if you go into a story thinking there’s no way it’s going to have a happy ending, and it actually has a one? Well, damn. There’s hope.

So in a horribly lonely, isolated, not-talking-to-anybody-on-the-street-for-days sort of way, noir spoke to me. Me, the person nobody and nothing spoke to.

And damned if I didn’t find a little more hope.

***

Ravenwood Interview on The Book Cave!

RAVENWOOD, STEPSON OF MYSTERY: Want to hear me get kicked out of The Chicago Library right in the middle of an interview? Listen to this podcast on THE BOOK CAVE.
See how fellow authors FRANK SCHILDINER and BOBBY NASH handle it. Also join us as we discuss Rex Stout, research in period pieces, the characters relation to DOCTOR STRANGE, SUN KOH--the German DOC SAVAGE, H.P. LOVECRAFT... Oh, and try to guess who's doing the podcast naked!

More Fun in the New World!

Big plans for 2011, Gang!
I'm currently working on another Dan Fowler: G-Man story. Just coming up with a big "sock finish." If you haven't already read my DFG-Man tale "Harvest of Crime" in Vol 1, shame on you! Click that Airship 27 link (should be just right over here-->)and pick up a copy.

I've been working on a licensed character's short-story for a project with Moonstone you might be familiar with; more will be revealed!

I just signed on to do the story I was born to write, for the good people over at Pro Se Productions. This one features a Black Mask-style gangster tale, heavily-influenced by the works of pulp great Paul Cain, author of Fast One  and Seven Slayers. This should prove to be both challenging, and more fun than I'm probably allowed to have. Of course if I had written the above P. Cain's style it would read: "Signed on for a story, for some Pro Se mugs. A gangster yarn." And that would be it. Regardless, it's going to be great. Like freakin' Shakespeare with machine guns!

And, finally, the big news: I'm working on a full length BAGMAN novel even as you read this. I've had a few people ask, and I've been plotting this thing out in my head for a year. This one has Mac, Crankshaft, Coco, Hunts, and a whole new cast of deep city denizens. Not to mention The Chicago World's Fair, Belly Dancers, John Dillinger, The Real King of the Theives, a team of Gypsy pickpockets, and, The Bagman's first super villain--even as Mac begins to learn more about his strange new powers and propensity for prediction! .

Yes, 2011 is going to be one big, wild ride! Let's have fun with it!

Just Released: Ravenwood--Stepson of Mystery

Airship 27 Productions & Cornerstone Book Publishers bring back another classic pulp hero from the 1930s in an all new collection of fast paced, macabre adventures of the supernatural.  Meet Ravenwood – Stepson of Mystery!

He is an orphan raised by a Tibetan mystic known only as the Nameless One.  As an Occult Detective he has no equal and is called upon by the authorities when they are challenged by supernatural mysteries.  One of the more obscure pulp characters, Ravenwood – The Stepson of Mystery appeared as a back-up feature in the pages of Secret Agent X magazine.  There were only five Ravenwood  stories ever written, all by his creator, the prolific pulp veteran, Frederick C. Davis.

Now he returns in this brand new series of weird adventures, beginning with this volume in which he combats Sun Koh, a lost prince of Atlantis, battles with monstrous Yetis in Manhattan and deals with murderous ghosts and zombie assassins.  Four of today’s finest pulp storytellers Frank Schildiner, B.C. Bell, Bill Gladman and Bobby Nash offer up a quartet of fast paced, bizarre thrillers that rekindle the excitement and wonder that were the pulps.

With a stunning cover by Bryan Fowler and dramatic interior illustrations by Charles Fetherolf, Ravenwood – Stepson of Mystery was designed by Rob Davis and edited by Ron Fortier.  Once again Airship 27 Productions presents pulp fans with another one-of-kind quality pulp reading experience like no other on the market today. 

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulp fiction for a new generation!

ISBN:  1-934935-82-4

ISBN 13:  978-1-934935-82-8

Produced by Airship 27

Published by Cornerstone Book Publishers

Release date: 31 Dec. 2010

The Bagman is in Mystery Men (and Women)

Wow! Would you believe there's already another Bagman adventure out? So, without any further ado (whatever that is) here's the official press release. DAWN
Of The
MYSTERY MEN
(& Women)

Airship 27 Productions & Cornerstone Book Publishers are thrilled to present the next wave in all out action pulp avengers as created by today’s finest pulp writers. During the golden days of American pulps hundreds of masked avengers were created to battle evildoers around the globe. The Black Bat, Moon Man, Domino Lady, and the Purple Scar to name only a few of these amazing pulp heroes. Now Airship 27 Productions introduces pulp readers to brand new pulp heroes cast in the mold of their 1930s counterparts. Get ready for high octane thrills and adventure with…

THE BAGMAN by B.C. Bell - A former street thug, Frank “Mac” MaCullough now fights the very gang bosses her grew up admiring in defense of the poor and helpless in his Chicago neighborhood. RED VEIL by Aaron Smith - When her beloved cop husband is gunned down and the police refuse to investigate, Irish immigrant Alice Carter downs red widow’s garb and dishes out her own brand of justice. GRIDIRON by David Boop - Crippled by the mob for not throwing a game, star football player Gordon “Gory” Burrell is tragically transformed into a bizarre metal man. Accepting his fate, he vows to destroy those who prey on the weak. DUSK by Barry Reese - Haunted by a brutal past, Sue Timlin dons a mask and becomes judge, jury and executioner to those villains the law cannot touch, all the while maintaining a unique secret that gives her the upper hand in her war on crime.

Here are four brand new action-packed pulp thrillers starring bizarre, original heroes to thrill and excite pulps fans everywhere. Features a cover by the amazing Ingrid Hardy, with interior illos and design by Rob Davis and edited by Ron Fortier. All brought to you by Airship 27 Productions – Pulps for a new generation!


ISBN: 1-934935-79-4
ISBN 13: 978-1-934935-79-8
Produced by Airship 27
Published by Cornerstone Book Publishers

Release date: 11-12-10
Retail Price: $21.95
Available at on-line store (http://www.airship27.com/)

Ten Reasons The Bagman is not Batman

Recently a reviewer (who missed a few details about the book to begin with) said Mac was "just like Batman." Needless to say we were worried about this, but luckily Mac couldn't purchase a time machine to exact his revenge. So, instead, I figured I'd let him answer that accusation.

TEN REASONS I AIN'T BATMAN
by Mac McCullough

1. "I shoot people."

2. "I commit crimes, and steal money from the mob."

3. "I'm not a millionaire, I work for a living."

4. "Batman has no sense of humor."

5. "I don't wear women's clothing.(1937, we're talking leotards here.)I don't play dress up, and capes are for the opera."

6. "In my neighborhood, Bruce Wayne would be killed and fed to the weak."

7. "Ten bucks says I have a better arm and batting average on the sandlot."

8. "Bats? Get real! Who's afraid of bats? You ever seen a fruit bat eat? They're like adorable little kids with skin under their arms, cute li'l fuzzy critters. Bullets, now that's something to be scared of."

9. "I must've missed that episode where Batman dropped 300 bucks betting on a horse."

10. "Costumes? C'mon... A mask, maybe. But
costumes...? I think it was Raymond Chandler, said something to the effect of, "Men don't worry about their looks, just pansies." Mind you, I'm paraphrasing there, but... Batman? Jeez! Did you even read the book?"

[And since #10 was a lot like #5, we leave you with:]
11. "Butler? A butler? Bwahahahahahaha..." [Mac exits, laughing.]

Who is The Bagman? or He Used to Steal for the Mob, Now He Steals FROM Them

The simplest answer is that he’s Frank “Mac” McCullough, a masked vigilante—but that’s like saying the sun is a likely source of heat. A vigilante is someone who takes it upon themselves, without authorization, to pursue criminals and offenders. In The Bagman’s case, make that simply offenders. Yes, his morals are as elastic as they come, but what offends him more than anything is those who would prey upon the weak and helpless. It’s 1933, times are tough and the law’s not always on their side, but Mac is. The Bagman is more about saving the neighborhood than the world, but things change. Anything can, and, just might happen. And the combination of action, suspense, plans that work, harebrained schemes that don’t, and the end results are all far from predictable—kind of like life.

All this, because Mac is simply not that predictable either. He’s the kind of guy that doesn’t root for the good guy or the bad guy, because he’s too busy rooting for everybody —except the really bad guys. Sound confusing? It could be except for one thing—a justice so simple that only a mind like Mac’s could come up with it—when people do well, that’s justice. And those who would rob that opportunity from them, those that would manipulate, scheme, and steal, those that would use power to hurt, willfully—or even worse, unthinkingly—will be subject to the same. From City Hall to Skid Row, from the back alley to the boardroom, evil will face the wrath of The Bagman.

So, take one part one part pulp detective, one part gentleman burglar, two parts hired muscle, an athlete, half a torpedo, a jigger of confidence man, a twist of armed robber, cross breed with the Lone Ranger and Mac’s favorite pulp heroes of 1933, and you’ve got the beginnings of THE BAGMAN.
“Sometimes weird is just genius wrapped too tight.”