Paul's Scribblings
It's been a hot minute. My latest short story, "Red Cold Front," will soon be available.
The setting for the story is Archangel, 1919. The story is fiction, the
setting is real. It isn't alternate history. It's a forgotten war. The
US and the Allies sent expeditionary forces into Russia, and yes, they
battled with the Reds.
The Kindle edition of Contact 3: War Is Hell is available for pre-order now. If you want the paperback, it should be going live at the end of the month.
In the DOCTOR WHO serial, "Destiny of the Daleks," the Daleks and their android enemies, the Movellans, are locked in a thousand-years war. They have reached a logic impasse. A stalemate. Both sides have enormous battle-fleets waiting to strike, while their computers calculate the precise moment to attack that will grant maximum potential for victory.
They've been waiting for centuries.
The Doctor knows how to break the stalemate.
One side needs to turn OFF their computers.
I think about that solution a lot lately.
Despite
Ellsworth’s warning that the middle might sag, I only felt drag towards
the end where Dumas focuses too long on Milady’s escape from England. Otherwise, the story had me solidly engaged throughout.
4/5 stars. Not too shabby as a book from the 1840s under the eyes of a modern reader.
I was never one to jump on any "ebooks are evil" bandwagon. I was also never one to insist a person choose between one format or the other (print vs. ebook.) I saw both as tools in the arsenal. eBooks had some value. Less expensive. Physical eReaders (not eReader apps on tablets or computers) are easy to carry around and hold. My tired eyes were thankful for font adjustment, or choosing an ebook because the print font was ridiculously small. And lots of out-of-print books coming back in eBook form.
But there was always that little voice that reminded me, "You don't own eBooks. You buy access to the eBook. It can be pulled at any time." So, really, what it means is you're renting the eBook. If you're lucky, in most cases, it's a one-time fee and an open-ended rental. I never really saw it as much of an issue.
Until last week.
Everyone thought it would be Amazon.
It was Dark Horse.
I had a period--when I first bought an iPad--where I binge purchased digital comics through various sales. I fell off that eventually, and my son bogarted the iPad. Flash-forward a few years, and my son hasn't been using the iPad as much. I had access the other night. Side quest: I was going to watch the new HELLBOY: The Crooked Man movie. I knew the film was based on a comic. I couldn't recall which digital HELLBOY issues I had acquired. I went to check.
And this greeted me;
But what does that mean now? It means, the Dark Horse no longer supports their app. Their library is no longer accessible. If you want to read your comics, you needed to download them all already. And just leave it all on your tablet.
They will also keep a website browser live--but that is also end-of-life, probably at the end of summer.
In their write-up, if you clicked over the FAQ (which I did) one of the prominent questions was;
"Don't I own my digital Dark Horse comics?"
"No, you don't. See Terms & Agreements."
So, there you have it. eBook access revoked. Digital Dark Horse personal library gone.
Now, I am far less eager to add anything else to my Kindle library--even $1 sales.
It might cost me a stamp on my Pulp card, but I must confess I have yet to 'get the hang' of Doc Savage. I find the original stories (I have read to date) to be too clunky. Yes, Dent pours on the action but it's obvious he's thinking action first, explanations later. And I never find the explanations satisfactory.
Though, I do find the concept and setup as having potential. The team. The Empire State building headquarters. The Fortress of Solitude.
Perhaps, if I'd read some of those tales (and saw those Bama 1960s covers!) as a boy, I might not be so critical. But coming in cold as an adult--they just don't work for me.
There are many Doc Savage pastiches out there. I do wonder if any of them might make things gel better.
Enter Craig McDonald's THE ADVENTURES OF ZANA O'SAVIN.
These are different. As much as they have all the pastiche characters, it's hard to refer to these as pastiche. McDonald has infused this series with a fantasy element that makes it all work. You see, Doc O'Savin is a tulpa--a being manifested from pure thought and will. Created by Lester Dent's own intensity and belief in his own fiction.
This gives McDonald the springboard to weave the team through historical events, provide pulpy action, and give it all depth. I just finished the third entry, THE DEATH KILLERS, and it's a doozy torn from today's headlines.
This is a neat series. Recommended.
My discovery of the week. A young Irish lass with fingers of fire.
If you only know "When The Levee Breaks" from Led Zeppelin's thunderous adaptation, Muireann Bradley's cover here is faithful to the original Memphis Minnie version--really, all Zeppelin used were the lyrics.
I watched THE FOG this weekend (the original - which surprises me to note. I'd forgotten there was a remake.) I had seen it once before, ages ago.
Then, I watched it again with Carpenter (and Debra Hill's) commentary track. (blu ray)
Fun movie! It reminded me how much fun a Carpenter movie can be. Easter egg references to "Whately Point" and "Arkham Reef." (though, this is a ghost story, not Lovecraftian.) SHOUT! Factory were in the middle of a Carpenter birthday sale, coincidentally. I bought a handful.
On my writer's bucket list, some day I'd like to write a horror/scifi. Put THE THING ("Who Goes There?",) Quatermass, "The Colour Out of Space," and a host of other tales through my personal mental blender and see what comes out.
