The Good Fight returns... to the past!

I've proudly been a member of the Pen and Cape Society for several years now as the group of superhero fiction writers have put together four great anthologies and worked together in all kinds of unique and fun ways. Now the fine folks at Local Hero Press have prepped the fifth edition of our shared anthology series The Good Fight and this one takes us back a few years. Previous themes have wrapped around villains, "the homefront" (supporting cast) and sidekicks. This time around, the series goes back a few years as the focus turns to "The Golden Age."

Twelve writers answered the call for new stories of World War II superheroes, pulp age adventurers and everything in between. For those that have followed my previous The Good Fight contributions, you know that I like to make my focus a new tale in my "The Second Life of D.B. Cooper" series of short stories.

How do I place a story about the later life of a 70s era plane hijackers into a thirties era setting? I will reveal that in a couple more weeks, but be reassured that the story's title does start with "The Second Life of."

And I'm not alone. I have a mega-talented eleven other creators in this book with me: Leonard Apa, Stephen T. Brophy, David Court, Jeff Deischer, Adrienne Dellwo, Psychopomp Gecko, Ian Thomas Healy, James Hudnall, T. Mike McCurley, Scott A. Story, and Tom Warin! If you're interested in supporting great new fiction, be sure to head over to Amazon or Smashwords and pre-order your copy! The book launches on April 30!

Great Art Extra: Greg Horn's Thanos

You can check out some great art posts everyday over at the Super Powered Fiction Tumblr, but sometimes I like featuring some of the great prints and art I have picked up over my time as a fan.

I first came across Greg Horn as the artist of James Hudnall’s ESPers, an amazing comic that delved into super powered beings in a world built on conspiracy theories. (And as mentioned before, an inspiration behind my own Second Life of D.B. Cooper stories) Horn drew the last two volumes of the book at Halloween Comics and Image Comics. While sadly none of his work on them are in print, I highly recommend anyone pick them up if you find them. They feature a great combination of story and art.

I met Greg at Wizard World Des Moines earlier this year. He seems to have tons of fun at his booth, aided by a couple other folks to keep the long lines constantly moving. While some of his art gets a bit too far into cheesecake territory for me, I could not resist a couple great pieces of cosmic Marvel by Mr. Horn.

Thanos combines the great visual style of Horn with a bit of the sex appeal, albeit it with Death of all folks. For more great work by Horn, go check out his official website.

New at Pen & Cape Society: Helping Hud

The trades are out of print now, but I
highly recommend hunting down ESPers
second-hand.

I make no secret of my membership to the wonderful collection of writers known as the Pen & Cape Society. However I have not always been the best at regularly posting to their site.

Read about The Good Fight 2
& its charitable purpose at the
Pen & Cape Society.

That changes today as I talk a bit more about The Good Fight 2: Villains there as well as the importance to me of helping James Hudnall in his time of need. James Hudnall’s comic work inspired a lot of my outlook on super-writing, and I talk about that a bit more as well.

Read the whole Helping Hud post at Pen & Cape Society.

Kickstart the Week 10: Support James Hudnall

Usually I use this section to promote a new project I think needs more visibility or support on Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, but this time around I am going to hit you with two things you can do to help out one man.

James Hudnall is the former writer of Alpha Flight, Hardcase, The Psycho, ESPers and a bunch of other great comics. He recently lost a foot and in turn, a job and a home, to diabetic complications. Now he is back in the hospital again with another surgery necessary to take more of the already damaged leg. This means more expenses for an already strapped budget.

The fine folks at the Pen & Cape Society including yours truly have gathered together along with the legendary Mike Baron to produce The Good Fight 2: Villains as a charity anthology for James Hudnall. The book is currently available at Amazon and Smashwords for just under a dollar and every penny of profit goes straight to James.

But a dollar is only a dollar even if it comes with a great book. If you can afford more than just that dollar, please consider heading over to his Go Fund Me page and help James out. While he is currently unable to post updates due to a lack of internet access from the hospital, he is keeping folks apprised through Facebook.

So if you want to help, buy a book then donate whatever extra you can to a writer that desperately needs your support in these trying times.

Thanks all.

The Good Fight 2: Villains now available for pre-order!

As I mentioned earlier this week, I have a story appearing in the upcoming Pen & Cape Society anthology The Good Fight 2: Villains. I am more than happy to announce the book is now available for pre-order with a March 30 release date. You can easily pick it up right now at Amazon or Smashwords for just 99 cents.

As a reminder, the new anthology is a benefit for James Hudnall, a truly talented comic and prose writer that has recently fallen on hard times due to diabetic complications.

The team rallied to make a great book for him and the illustrious Mr. Mike Baron of Nexus and Badger fame (and now a great prose writer in his own right) was kind enough to deliver a story for our collection as well. Plus a gaggle of other true talents like Scott Bachmann, Ian Thomas Healy, Drew Hayes, T. Mike McCurley, Cheyenne Young and a whole lot of other folks! My own story takes a bit of inspiration from James Hudnall’s ESPers as I introduce my own psychic corner of the Quadrant Universe in the first installment of The Second Life of D.B. Cooper.

So, please go out and pre-order a copy today. We are proud to bring you some great writing and encourage you to help support Mr. Hudnall in his time of need.

Writer's Update for March 17, 2015

It has been a weird couple of weeks, both writing and editing.

My next story release will see publication at the end of the month as part of a new anthology from my friends and colleagues at the Pen & Cape Society. I helped determine the book would be for the aid of one Mr. James Hudnall, the long time comic creator left without a home and job due to the recent loss of a foot from diabetic complications. I provided the introduction for the book and the first of my stories in “The Second Life of D.B. Cooper” series. In the spirit of Mr. Hudnall’s years writing ESPers, I thought writing my own psychic antihero would be perfect for this book. Coop will definitely resurface again in the near future.

My writing has been split between slowly putting Lightweight 11 together while also working on a new anthology project tentatively titled Punchline, that will follow a super-villain through multiple stories. I am hoping to take some time to get them both wrapped up in early April so that I can get everything set for them by the end of May, but we will see how time falls.

I am also editing the first story in a new anthology project with Jim Beard, whose G.I. JOE: Adventure Team: MYSTERY OF THE SUNKEN TOMB you should go buy right now! The first tale is in the can now that sets up that one, so I will probably be sending out some feelers to folks to get that one set-up in full soon.

Today’s image is the classic FBI drawing of Dan Cooper.