Pulp Factory Award Nomination - "Knights of the Silver Cross"

Yes, last year's "Knights of the Silver Cross" for ProSe Productions' 1950s Western Roundup has been nominated for a Pulp Factory Award!

You'll find the full press release via this Patreon post).

The public can vote for nominees until March 15th via this link. 

You'll find my "writer's commentary" via this link.

Thanks!

Check Out My Recent Interview With ProSe Productions

(Earlier this month, I was fortunate enough to participate in a Facebook interview for ProSe Productions. For those who aren't on Facebook but follow my fiction writing, you might find this...interesting, to say the least. And don't forget to spread the word about the August 2nd bellydancing/fire spinning fundraiser at Uptown Underground)

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THREE WITH A BULLET - PRO SE INTERVIEWS!

Author - Gordon Dymowski

What have you written for Pro Se, either published or to be published?

I’ve been very lucky to have several short stories published by Pro Se Productions, including “Crossing McCausland” in Tall Pulp and “Cowboy of the Dakotas” in Pulpternative (both nominated for Pulp Factory Awards); Other writings like “Blank Page”, an essay in the benefit anthology When the Shadow Sees the Sun; “All Roads Lead to Rome” in The Adventures of Moose & Skwirl, and the Pro Se Thriller of the Week novella AKA THE SINNER: Cover of Night. 

More recently, I’ve seen “In the Frame” (featuring the crime-busting duo of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd) published in Hollywood Mystery and “Knights of the Silver Cross” appear in the recent 1950s Western Roundup.

But I’m really excited about what’s coming out from Pro Se later this year – in fact, I’m proud to announce that my novel, The Black Bat – The Politics of Murder will be released in late September. Think of it as “two-gun avenger has a Leverage-style backup team” and you have a great idea of what to expect. 

Yes, it’s the classic character done in modern times. Yes, it stays true to the spirit of the original pulps. But its plot – focusing on how a racial incident leads to the revelation of political corruption – has its roots in the 21st century. I’m proud to take the lead on such a character, and yes, we will see Tony Quinn and his aides take on more adventures!

I’m also eagerly anticipating my short story, “The Adventure of the Master Logician” in the Madness of Dr. Nikola anthology. If you know your Victorian literature, Doctor Nikola is the proto-supervillain creation of Guy Boothby. My story relates of his final battle with Roderick Sharpe of the Vermillion Branch of Her Majesty’s Government. One of the combatants has a plan to prevent world war; the other wants to build a global empire. But which person is the hero, and which one’s the villain?

Pick up to three of the titles you've written and tell the story behind it. Influences, inspirations, etc.

When I’m writing stories, I include various influences by a variety of sources. For example, AKA THE SINNER: Cover of Night has a slight Leslie Charteris/The Saint vibe, but it was also influenced by last year’s events at Charlottesville as well as various Twitter threads about the lack of Asian actors and representation in media. (Two of my friends had posted articles that definitely influenced this novella, and yes, I owe them both a debt of gratitude. And baked goods.). “Cowboy of the Dakotas” came from a little-known event in Theodore Roosevelt’s life that, in my tale, took a slightly darker turn. Even “Crossing McCausland” was as much influenced by memories of my grandparents’ life (they were first-generation immigrants from Eastern Europe) as it was from television shows like The Fugitive or The Incredible Hulk.

Why Pro Se? Why write for them?

Pro Se’s flexibility and openness around stories and genres are why I love writing for the company. Much of classic pulp literature has often had a wildness of spirit from Norvell Page’s feverish prose for The Spider to the flat-out apocalyptic tone of Operator 5’s Purple Invasion. Pro Se Productions has a great philosophy of encouraging the “out-there” idea while staying grounded in traditional storytelling techniques, and it has provided an exceptional canvas for me to work

Where Stories Come From: COVER OF NIGHT (AKA THE SINNER)

(Revised 03/04/2024)

Sometimes, writing can be therapeutic. And AKA The Sinner: Cover Of Night, which serves as the debut of Nathaniel Brigand in Pro Se Productions' Thriller of the Week series, is a great example.

Events and themes were percolating in my head: recent arguments in "support" of white supremacy groups in Charlottesville, a hashtag reacting to a news item about casting Asian actors, and some nostalgia for my "good old days..."

...and then Tommy had proposed a new series of novellas: a "Thriller of the Week" series of Kindle-only novellas based on the old NBC Mystery Movie series...and I had a way to channel some of these issues into my writing.

At this time, the #ExpressiveAsians hashtag popped up on my Twitter feed thanks to two of my friends' efforts. (They know who they are, and I don't need to call them out). When thinking of an entry-point character, I realized that I could write about the impact of racism without falling into the usual tropes by making her a third-generation Japanese-American female. (Of course, I ended up falling into a trap that a fellow writer to lived in Japan once made about limiting my stories to three areas of interest). If I needed background info, I knew many lawyers, and one of my female friends trained as a boxer. Rather than use AKA The Sinner's suggested setting, I used Rogers Park on Chicago's Northside since I knew the area, and I prefer writing fish-out-of-water stories.

Photo by Gordon Dymowski

And if you were to look at my search history for research...hoo, boy. Reading first-person accounts of families dealing with the implications of growing up in American internment camps during World War Two; female heads of white supremacist groups...and I even did fieldwork. One scene took place in the same meeting room where the Chicago Doctor Who Meetup holds its Third Coast Comics meetups. And yes, Terry gave me a strange look....but hey, I do the damn research).

Cover of Night was also a story that went through several changes from the initial outline to the final draft. Unable to formulate a compelling (non-cliche) antagonist, I realized that the "big bad" wasn't a man...it was a woman. One particular scene in chapter five went through several rewrites. And the reason for all this...

I wanted to get it right. Yes, I'm one of many authors who believe that representation matters, and my past writing (especially female characters) has been weak. Or worse, that I've had the "token" woman. Granted, it was a short story with a shorter turnaround time, but I had to back my advocacy with action.

Did I get it right? Probably not. But what matters is that I made the effort. No "just-use-generic-insert-types-here" strategies that other writers have advocated. Writing diverse characters means putting in the effort and making the characters real enough. If I want more than the usual pulp-reading crowd to read my work, I have to make the effort to attract them.

But all in all, AKA The Sinner: Cover of Night should read like a heady mix of Law & Order and Leslie Charteris' The Saint. (And yes, I am planning on checking those books out, why do you ask?) But it's not just a great read (although it's Kindle-only, you can use Amazon's online Kindle reader) at a great price...it's also, in a small way, a huge accomplishment on my part.

And you can find it - with other written works - via my Amazon author page. 

I've Been Published: AKA THE SINNER - COVER OF NIGHT

Last month, I was working on a novella....and now, it's a Kindle-only release via Pro Se Productions. Don't worry - there will be an installment of Where Stories Come From on this shortly....

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRO SE THRILLER OF THE WEEK THIRD SERIES DEBUTS! ‘AKA THE SINNER: COVER OF NIGHT’ AVAILABLE FOR $1.49

Pro Se Productions presents the debut of its third series in the Future of Digital Storytelling-THE PRO SE THRILLER OF THE WEEK.

Each week, a new 'episode' of one of four rotating series will be released as a digital ebook for your reading pleasure. From Espionage to Supernatural, From Crime To Suspense, each week readers can find what they need in the PRO SE THRILLER OF THE WEEK.

AKA THE SINNER: Episode One - COVER OF NIGHT BY GORDON DYMOWSKI

Nathaniel (Never Nathan, that gets you a polite warning. Never Nate, that gets your life threatened. Never ever Nat, that gets you injured in some noticeable fashion) Brigand, his actual true surname, cursed from birth it would seem, is a man out to save the world after doing all he could to destroy it.

There isn’t a crime that Brigand hasn’t committed, save anything sexual or any crimes directly against children. There are reasons for that particular line not being crossed that are buried in his past, one that not even the best of detectives or even those highest in the ranks of espionage can uncover beyond his criminal history. This Brigand wears as a badge of honor, even though he is no longer a career criminal. Now he only commits crimes for the betterment of others when necessary. And he often finds it necessary.

It started when someone spray-painted swastikas and slurs on Amy Hirado’s door. She learned enough about those symbols from her grandfather, who was interred during World War II. As a defense attorney, she works in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood – she even lives across the street from a synagogue. Given the increased violence, she takes the advice of one of her (now deceased) clients and asks Nathaniel Brigand – aka the Sinner – for help! Little did Amy know...that sometimes the cure for a social ill is worse than the disease itself...especially when The Sinner is that cure.

AKA THE SINNER: COVER OF NIGHT by Gordon Dymowski. Concept created by Tommy Hancock.

Featuring an atmospheric cover, logo design, and digital formatting by Antonino Lo Iacono and Marzia Marina, AKA THE SINNER: COVER OF NIGHT is available now for the Kindle at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077NLSV27/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511305976&sr=8-1&keywords=aka+the+sinner for only $1.49. This ebook is also available for free via Kindle Unlimited for members.

For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies to review this book, contact Pro Se Productions’ Director of Corporate Operations, Kristi King-Morgan at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.

To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

I Know Cool People: SINGULARITY - RISE OF THE POSTHUMANS

One of the great advantages of being a writer is that, when other writers do well, you feel proud to share in their glory. It's even more wonderful to read their work and realize...it's actually more than just good....it's really special.

Singularity: Rise of the Posthumans is more than just another great Pro Se Productions anthology (and full disclosure - I've contributed to several Pro Se Anthologies myself), it's a Pulp Factory-Award winning work that not only has some great ideas but also reflects the hard work of several of my friends.

Jamie Ramos, who edited the anthology (and whom I've had the pleasure of meeting through Windy City Pulp and Paper) has engaged a number of really good writers focused on a half-steampunk, half-superheroic world. The fact that this world is told in fragments (rather than crossovers) really helps Singularity: Rise of the Posthumans establish some solid world building, making a Volume 2 inevitable.

(So Jamie, if you're reading this....put a bug in Tommy's ear, will you? And yes, you can send me the guidelines when it's announced. If I have a good enough idea, I'll pitch).

Several stories really stand out, including David Micheline's “Lord Pemberton’s Adjustment Service” kicks off Singularity with establishing the primary event where things change in this world....but other highlights include Jennie Wood's "Charada" (one of the best LGBTQ-themed stories I've read), Jamies "The Bride of Dr. Bravo", and Brant Fowler's "The Eye of the Mind".

Yes, that Brant Fowler. A fellow host of the Zone 4 podcast. Fellow Comics Related alumnus (and technically, he's a co-founder of that site). And now, pulp writer.

(And a slight correction from the most recent episode of Zone 4 - Brant had actually been commissioned for this story sometime before I was writing, so I have had no influence on him whatsoever. But his story is that good).

So if you're looking for some great reading this summer...check out Singularity: Rise of the Posthumans. It's more than just another great anthology...it's put together by some really good people.

I've Been Published: HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GOLDEN AGE ACTORS GO SLEUTH! ‘HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY’ DEBUTS FROM PRO SE PRODUCTIONS

Hollywood, a land of imagination and dreams, where anyone’s star can rise and fall…and where the best actors and actresses ever portrayed characters of all kinds, including private eyes, cops, and other mystery solvers… But what if the stars from the Golden Age of Celluloid actually ended up investigating real crimes, finding themselves in the crosshairs of danger while pursuing murderers and criminals through the studios and back alleys of America’s Dream Factory?

HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY is a collection of stories written by Mark Squirek, James Hopwood, Christofer Nigro, Wayne Carey, and Gordon Dymowski turning beloved Hollywood icons into detectives, looking under every rock and following every blood trail, hunting for the truth and hoping not to end up on the cutting room floor! HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY. From Pro Se Productions. 

With an evocative cover and logo design by Adam Shaw and print formatting by Marzia Marina and Antonino Lo Iacono, HOLLYWOOD MYSTERY is available now at Amazon in softcover and Pro Se’s own store at www.prose-press.com for 15.00. 

This unique mystery collection is also available as an Ebook, designed and formatted by Iacono and Marina for only $2.99 for the Kindle  and for most digital formats via Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/722841

For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies to review this book, contact Pro Se Productions’ Director of Corporate Operations, Kristi King-Morgan at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com. To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com. 

Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Where Stories Come From: "WHEN THE SHADOW SEES THE SUN: Blank Page"

(Revised 03/09/2024)

When Tommy Hancock of Pro Se Productions announced that he was doing a benefit book for creatives and depression, I eagerly jumped on board. Sadly, like me, Tommy lost a good friend to depression, and I've documented my own struggles.

The friend was a gentleman named Logan Masterson, a fellow writer whom I only knew casually via Facebook. Even though it was easy for me to jump on board because of his passing (as well as my friend Vincent's passing), this was an easy, yet difficult, personal essay that I've ever had to write.Yet my essay for When the Shadow Sees the Sun: Creatives Surviving Depression is one of the most revealing pieces I've ever written.

Normally, when I write something long-form, I plot and plan out the scope. (I rarely do so for blog posts, and....well, you can insert your own joke here). This time, I merely did what many writers do: open up LibreOffice (or any appropriate word-processing program) and begin typing away. Something like this should be easy, yet.....it wasn't.

I crack wise in real life and in print. Part of it is the usual I-want-to-keep-people-at-arm's-length dynamic that's kept me safe in certain situations. Here, I needed to treat this like a longer blog post, a way for me to share who I was in a way that was too public, too open...yet somehow could reach someone who was hurting.

It meant opening up parts of my life that, as a writer, I probably should keep hidden. It also meant possibly embarrassing myself, sabotaging my future efforts as effectively as posting inappropriate pictures on Facebook. Yet in all my time in the helping profession, as an advocate for mental health/chemical dependency services, it never dawned on me that I had a story to tell in this regard....

Writing's always been an escape, the same way alcohol, drugs, and other activities help others escape theirs. The only difference is that, if I write well, the only damage I'm doing is to fictional characters. I'll even cop to starting drama in my earlier years as a way of "fuelling" creativity.

It doesn't work.

But I'm especially proud of this piece because it not only allowed me to open up about my own struggles but also help someone across the void. My only real challenge was coming up with a clever title.

Ultimately, the title came to me in a flash and had a multitude of meanings: Blank Page.

So if you're inspired by this post, please purchase When the Shadow Sees the Sun: Creatives Surviving Depression...but more importantly, please share this book with others. Buy a copy for someone who's struggling. 

Because like Legends of New Pulp, it's a benefit book...but more importantly, it could save someone's life.

I know writing part of it saved mine, and that's the best testimonial I can give. 

I've Been Published: WHEN THE SHADOW SEES THE SUN: CREATIVES SURVIVING DEPRESSION

(Yes, I have a short piece in this book. And it's another benefit book. For more information, visit Pro Se Productions)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOOK TO BENEFIT CREATIVES DEALING WITH DEPRESSION-
‘WHEN THE SHADOW SEES THE SUN’ DEBUTS

Pro Se Productions proudly presents WHEN THE SHADOW SEES THE SUN: CREATIVES SURVIVING DEPRESSION, the realization of a concept of a brilliant, creative mind, Logan L. Masterson. Masterson conceived this idea in late 2015, partly in jest, but more in earnest desire. A book focused on creative souls who experience depression and struggle with horrors that they exorcise by putting them to paper, but just can’t always let go of that way. He wanted there to be a book out there for creatives (and others who might benefit) by creatives to address the struggles so many endure and to offer ways to cope, to deal, and to move on. To overcome.

Logan L. Masterson lost his battle with what plagued him on March 29, 2016. And this book, his idea, is now a reality, to help bring to light the issues creative souls do endure, many similar to anyone else. All proceeds from WHEN THE SHADOW SEES THE SUN will go to a variety of charities to promote suicide intervention and prevention as well as to assist with working through and surviving depression, with a focus being on those who are artists, writers, performers, etc. affected by this.

In these pages, authors John G. Hartness, Tim Byrd, Ernest Russell, Phillip Drayer Duncan, Mark Bousquet, Thomas R. Skidmore, Nikki Nelson-Hicks, Andrea Judy, Scott Hancock, Joe Hilliard, Herika R. Raymer, Melinda LaFevers, Alexander S. Brown, Joseph Lamere, Lee Houston Junior, Ethan Nahte, Kristi King-Morgan, Jason Holmes, Lou Mougin, Judy Wall Crump, Mark Steinwachs, Nancy Hansen, Chuck Miller, Aaron Smith, I. A. Watson, Neth Williams, Ellie Raine, Lisa Collins, Tommy B. Smith, H. C. Playa, Sean Taylor, M. B. Weston, JC Crumpton, Gordon Dymowski, J. H. Fleming, Jeff Hewitt, and Jim D. Gillentine tear open their souls, sharing their own personal struggles and paths through them.

Featuring a fantastic introduction by Julianna Robinson, an evocative cover by Adam and cover design and print formatting by Antonino Lo Iacono, WHEN THE SHADOW SEES THE SUN: CREATIVES SURVIVING DEPRESSION is available now at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/When-Shadow-Sees-Sun-D…/…/ref=sr_1_2…and Pro Se’s own store at www.prose-press.com for 15.99.

This thought provoking collection is also available as an Ebook, designed and formatted by Lo Iacono for only $2.99 for the Kindle at https://www.amazon.com/When-Shadow-Sees-Sun-D…/…/ref=sr_1_1…and for most digital formats via Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/682475.

For more information on this title, interviews with the author, or digital copies to review this book, contact Pro Se Productions’ Director of Corporate Operations, Kristi King-Morgan at directorofcorporateoperations@prose-press.com.
To learn more about Pro Se Productions, go to www.prose-press.com.Like Pro Se on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ProSeProductions.

Where Stories Come From: PULPTERNATIVE - Cowboy of the Dakotas

(Revised 03/05/2024)

I'm a sucker for alternative history stories - everything from Harry Turtledove's How Few Remain to What If? series. Maybe it's all the Doctor Who I watched throughout my life, so when the chance came to write my own alternative history story for Pro Se's Pulpternative anthology, well...

...this was during my dark night of the soul in 2013. Any effort I could make to escape my existence - even through writing - would be worth it. (It also helped that this was only the third story I pitched for Pro Se Productions - the first was for Moose & Skwirl and the second was for Tall Pulp - so I felt I had a little something to prove).

So my initial inspiration was to team up with Theodore Roosevelt (who had inspired me as a boy, so much that I was then rereading his collection of essays called The Strenuous Life) with Wyatt Earp (inspired by a recent viewing of BBC's Wild West miniseries) in a mystery set in 1892. However, something curious happened...

...in my research, I discovered that Theodore Roosevelt, after losing his wife and mother on Valentine's Day in 1885, decided to leave his political career and spent time in Medora, North Dakota as a cowboy.

No, I'm not making that up.

Abandoning the first Roosevelt/Earp idea (which is still mine, and which I'm planning to pitch to Airship 27, so don't get any ideas), I decided to go on a different path: what if Roosevelt lost his entire family in 1885, and decided to become a bounty hunter rather than a politician?

Taking a cue from That Wacky Redhead (an alternative history where Lucille Ball chooses not to sell Desilu to Paramount in 1996), I decided that this would "butterfly" Earp's history. Before the Tombstone Incident, Earp led a very....colorful life. (Much of his "heroic" image came from a highly sanitized biography in the 1930s). Earp's past included such activities as trying to enter the Army during the Civil War at age 16, as well as owning several casinos and brothels.

During this time, I was also reading Chris Kyle's American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms, which focused on firearms in American history. (You can read pal Ron's review here; suffice it to say, I agree with him and encourage everyone to read it). Reading about Civil War armaments, another idea occurred to me:

What if Wyatt Earp couldn't be a gunslinger? What kind of person would he be?

Given his colorful past, it made sense that a man like Wyatt Earp - living by his wits - might turn to a life of crime. Possibly....a con artist. And also became a great knife man.

So with those factors in play, I began writing my Pulpternative story in earnest.

There were a few glitches - I had to remove and revise some references to a character's native tribe because I used the wrong tribal designation. (Would anyone else notice? No, but I would. So changing it was a necessity). Working on a second draft, I realized that an ending "tag" was not only unnecessary....but despite sounding too good to be true, would be inadvertently based on real life.

Plus, the story's revised ending packed a wallop.

As I wrote and rewrote the story, something remarkable happened....as cliché as this sounds, I felt I had found my writer's "voice". If Moose and Skwirl provided me the opportunity to write in someone else's sandbox, and Tall Pulp allowed me to "create" a character, then Pulpternative allowed me to mix a little of both into a new creation. For the first time, writing felt more instinctive than intellectual...and it also went very smoothly.

So "Cowboy of the Dakotas" from Pulpternative is a very special story for me - it's not just the weaving together of speculation and fact, or even the willingness to indulge my interests....but it's the first story that made me feel the "flow" and pull of creative writing, perhaps for the first time in a long time.

And much like Dreamers Syndrome: New World Navigation, I'm more than happy - and want - to revisit the world of Theodore Roosevelt, Bounty Hunter.

(Trust me, it's Theodore - Roosevelt never liked being called "Teddy". And I won't argue with him)

Check out this and other works via my Amazon author page!