Victor Gischler's Blogpocalypse

FINCH by Jeff VanderMeer

2009-12-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

As usual I'm a day late and a dollar short. Lots of people have already heaped all kinds of praise of Jeff VanderMeer's excellent novel FINCH. Still, I felt the need to chime in too. This won't be anything like a full, professional review. Just me saying how much I liked the book.

Finch is sort of like Raymond Chandler meets Philip K. Dick meets ... well, I'm not sure. The action of this fantasy novel (can we call it fantasy?) takes place in a world that seems fully realized and completely original to me. A fungal, squishy world where something gross waits around every corner. This is the landscape in which our hero Finch must solve a double murder in the style of a good police procedural or private detective novel. Often Finch reminds me of the character Deckerd in Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) as he pushes forward in his investigation, in over his head, and often getting the crap knocked out of him.

Jeff VanderMeer's prose is razor sharp with no fat on the bones yet at the same time wonderfully descriptive and vivid. When I can get out from under all these dealines, I'll be eagerly picking up more work by VanderMeer.

More coolness ...

2009-11-16T12:19:00.001-08:00

Trying to decide ...

2009-10-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

So, I've given myself a deadline of January 1 to make a decision. What will my new novel project be? Why Jan. 1? Well, let's just say that by the beginning of 2010 my schedule will be radically different than it is now. I'll have a lot more time to go full steam ahead on a novel. Why will me schedule suddenly open up like this? Well, more about that later.

The point is that I have a handful of novel ideas, and I like all of them. Some days, I want to go in a more sci-fi direction. Other days, I feel I'd love to follow up THE DEPUTY (coming in April from Tyrus) with another short, sharp crime novel. There are some things I've been wanting to try for a long time, but I've always had other obligations, contracts to fulfill, whatever. Here's what I want: I want to feel 100% awesome about whatever I'm writing. Like my body and soul are perfectly confident in the knowledge that I have absolutely made the right decision.

So I've got November and December to try to get into that frame of mind. Wish me luck.

Cool

2009-10-29T15:54:00.001-07:00

Cool things are happening in Deadpool land. (Rob Liefeld did this great picture of Lady Deadpool.)

Some times I ask you guys these things ...

2009-10-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

Finishing up reading a great novel called FINCH which I will post more about later. The book has put me in the mood for more innovative novels that cross genres, mixes things up a bit. I love "hard to categorize" books. Stuff like that. Let's hear some suggestions.

Thanks, Crimespree

2009-10-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

In his review of VAMPIRE A GO-GO:

"I laughed till coffee came out of my nose, seriously."
-- Jon Jordan, CRIMESPREE MAGAZINE

On my way to Indy

2009-10-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

The 10 year career

2009-09-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

So after twenty seconds of careful thought, I've decided that 2009 marks the 10th year of my writing career. A question: When does such a career "start"? I mean, as a young man in high school, I wrote stories to amuse my friends. Hardly professional writing, but I knew even then I liked to write and that I would attempt to get serious about it in one form or another. What about my first cash sale? I remember how thrilled I was to get a check for the handsome sum of twenty-five dollars for a story about a family of mad scientists called "Conquering the Andersons" which appeared in a magazine called Alternate Hilarities. But it's hard for me to see that as the event which kicked off my career. My science-fiction, fantasy, horror stories weren't making regular inroads. Acceptance letters were few and far between.

So when did I hear the starting gun? Some history: In 1998 (or was it late 1997?), I was working hard toward my master's degree in English at the University of West Florida. In a graduate fiction workshop, I wrote a short story called "Hitting Rufus" which I sold to a small journal called Lynx Eye. I was pleased. At that time, I wanted anyone to publish me. I just wanted to get the work out there. But it was later, after the story had been published, that I got an e-mail that was ... well ... a surprise. I'd moved on to the University of Southern Mississippi to work on my Ph.D. when I got word the story "Hitting Rufus" had been selected for the 1999 edition of Otto Penzler's Best American Mystery Stories. The editor that year was the late, great Ed McBain. I mark that as the official starting point of my career because not only was I in a bigger profile publication than I'd ever appeared in before but the story's protagonist was Charlie Swift, the mob gunman who went on to star in my fist novel, the Edgar-nominated GUN MONKEYS. I had a direction now: Crime writer.

So what is this blog post about? I suppose it's half self-reflection and half state of the union address. I've come full circle now back to science fiction and fantasy. I hope everyone reading this has ten or twelve copies of Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse and Vampire A Go-Go. Please remember that they make excellent birthday, Christmas and Arbor Day gifts. And yet my eager leap into these new genres in no way means I've given up crime writing. The cool folks at the shiny new Tyrus Books will publish my crime novel The Deputy in April of 2010. And since I'm keen on stories in all forms, I've been trying my hand at screenwriting and having a hell of a lot of fun with Punisher and Deadpool at Marvel Comics. Great writers like Lee Goldberg and Matthew Bright have worked (or are working) hard on excellent adaptations of my books. Lee's masterful adaptation of Gun Monkeys earned respect all over Hollywood, and we now have stylish director Ryuhei Kitamura attached to the project. I know once Matt's adaptation of G0-Go Girls begins making the rounds, people will be impressed too. And I have great faith in the talented young man currently humping it hard on the Shotgun Opera adaptation. More about that when the time is right. I'm hoping to dazzle you guys with some cool announcements very soon. So much happening!

And yet ... most days, I still feel like a rookie at this. So many things I'll probably never get to do, but I can dream. I'd love to write for Adult Swim. I'd love to write one of those thick-ass, horse-choking epic fantasy novels.

So that's where I am and where I've been. Now to figure where I'm going.

Vampire A Go-Go Update

2009-09-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

Folks, I'm getting one hell of a warm-n-fuzzy feeling. Thanks so much for all the messages telling me how much you're enjoying Vampire A Go-Go. My readers are the best. Obviously, the first couple of weeks after a book debuts can be a nervous time for an author. Will readers dig it? Will the reviews be kind? So thanks. Those of you who go the extra step to mention the book on your blog or elsewhere get a double helping of thanks.

(note: Christopher Lee is NOT in Vampire A Go-Go.)

Labor Day Writing Grill-a-thon

2009-09-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

So ... the wife and boy are off to see grandma and grandpa, leaving me to catch up on a lot of writing here at Club Gischler. But that doesn't mean I can't also enjoy myself. Upon completion of this blog post, I will be again erecting the man pavilion outside by the grill. Yes, much scripting this weekend will take place grillside. I am back from purchasing a ginormous rack of ribs and a steak the size of a whale's ass. I am well-stocked with appropriate libations.

Wish me luck.

The New Book

2009-09-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

Folks, today is the official release date of VAMPIRE A GO-GO. A tale of the vampire, werewolf, sorceror, alchemist, zombie, witch, grad student variety. I hope you guys will all stom your local book store and buy up every copy there is. Seriously, for us non-James Patterson type authors, word-o-mouth is crucial to a book's success. So if you happen to read it, and happen to like it, I hope you'll take the time to talk it up. Thanks.

Website A Go-Go

2009-08-30T11:42:00.001-07:00

Hey, people! My new novel Vampire A Go-Go hits stores September 1, and we all know how important good word of mouth is for the success of a book. I'm hoping you'll help me by talking it up. Another way to help is to spread around this promotional website: www.vampireagogo.com The site is a bit minimal at the moment, but I'm hoping to add more content later. As always, I want to thank you gluttons for punishment who keep coming back for my next book. I luvs ya!

Sell out!

2009-08-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Issue #2 of Deadpool: Merc With A Mouth has sold out and is on its way to a 2nd prinintg. Sweet. Super, turbo-thanks to all the cool readers who've been buying copies and passing along such nice comments. (And hey ... if I could just get ten percent of you guys to buy the new book ...)

Ha. Coolness

2009-08-20T09:28:00.001-07:00

Coming soon.

Former Roller Derby Star Pushes THE DEPUTY

2009-08-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

Ckick here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQCZW1HCz0Y

At home with Tyrus Books

2009-08-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

Many of you know this already, but I thought I would make it official here at Blogpocalypse. My new crime novel THE DEPUTY will not be published with Bleak House books this August as planned. You may have heard that the main cool types at Bleak House (Ben and Alison) have run off to start another publishing enterprise called Tyrus Books. I'm pleased to report that Ben was able to sneak me out in a steamer trunk, and THE DEPUTY will be a Tyrus title in April 2010.

Now, I need to beg a bit of patience from some of you nice people. The move to Tyrus means a new ISBN# and some other paperwork. This means all you fine folks who awesomely pre-ordered it on Amazon or elsewhere might have to order it again once Tyrus gets it all straight. I hope you'll all stick with me as we make the transition. I've also had some helpful people say they're going to review it or mention it on blogs since they've read (and approved of) advance copies. Coolness. Just hang on a few more months. Thanks.

Again, I'm excited. I'm very happy so many of you enjoyed Go-Go Girs of the Apocalypse, and I'm grateful that so many of you have told me how much you're looking forward to Vampire A Go-Go. But I'm very eager about THE DEPUTY. You know .... to show I haven't called it quits with crime writing. No way.

Stay tuned.

Some random coolness ....

2009-07-20T05:49:00.001-07:00

Neato: http://www.flickr.com/photos/larajade/3733214273/

Greetings from Maine

2009-07-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

I'm having a great time as a guest at the Stonecoast MFA writing program. A great location, cool people, some talented students -- just a very positive experience so far. More as developments unfold ...

Thank You, Publisher's Weekly

2009-07-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

From PW:

Vampire a Go-Go Victor Gischler. Touchstone, $14.99 paper (288p) ISBN978-1-4165-5227-7

Gischler (Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse) populates a world of intriguewith supernatural creatures in this highly entertaining novel. AllenCabbot is saved from flunking out of graduate school by the extremelydifficult Prof. Evergreen, who invites him to join a research projectin Prague. Almost immediately, Allen finds himself tangling with Battle Jesuits, a Society of Witches and a vampire, and he learns that Evergreen’s real goal may be the philosopher’s stone. The feisty ghostof 16th-century alchemist Edward Kelley serves as narrator,complaining about the picture on his Wikipedia entry while explainingthe history behind Allen’s adventure. While the characters lack depth,even the villains are approachable and likable. Dan Brown fans whodon’t mind a little humor and magic mixed into their thrillers willenjoy this charming tale. (Sept.)

Cool!

Deadpool

2009-07-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all you cool types who sent such nice comments about the debut issue of Merc with the Mouth. You rock and/or roll.

Much obliged.

Coming soon ...

2009-06-30T20:46:00.001-07:00

Publisher's Weekly on THE DEPUTY

2009-06-15T03:29:00.000-07:00

The Deputy Victor Gischler. Bleak House (http://www.bleakhousebooks.com/), $24.95 (256p) ISBN 978-1-60648-046-5; $14.95 paper ISBN 978-1-60648-047-2

At the start of this solid noir from Gischler (Suicide Squeeze), the police chief of Coyote Crossing, Okla., asks Toby Sawyer, a part-time deputy, to keep an eye on the bullet-ridden body of redneck Luke Jordan, found late one night lying half-in and half-out of an old pickup truck. Since a 17-year-old girl Toby's fond of lives nearby, he can't resist the temptation to take a break from his vigil. On returning to the truck and discovering the corpse gone, Toby fears his dereliction of duty will end his job with the sheriff's office. In the course of his desperate search for the cadaver, Toby encounters a truckload of illegal Mexican aliens as well as corrupt colleagues. Meanwhile, as the body count rises, Toby's wife, with whom he has a loveless marriage, leaves town. The ending may be a bit upbeat for true noir devotees, but it leaves the door open for a sequel, which would be a welcome prospect, given Toby's appeal as a protagonist.

-- Publisher's Weekly

GET PUNISHED

2009-06-09T11:34:00.001-07:00

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/060909-Punisher-Gischler.html

Rally Time, Mofos

2009-05-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

Anthony Neil Smith has written a kick-ass follow up to his novel Yellow Medicine and it's called Hogdoggin'. In support o that, he's whipped up a virtual motorcycle rally. Cath up with the action below as guest-blogger Neil brings you up to speed. Pay attention or I'll smack you in the mouth. I'm Neil Diamond!

From Anthony Neil Smith:

In the Last Episode, Jedidiah Ayres spit in your soup at Hardboiled Wonderland.

It had been a strange few days for Steel God--the attempt on his private parts, the run-in with that strange guy at the Bibliothecary, and now being haunted by Emerson LaSalle. Or was it the pills and booze?

Even now, LaSalle’s plug of his bio-pic Pulp Boy--co-written by Anthony Neil Smith and Victor Gischler, being developed by Jake Dickey of Explosive Entertainment--echoed in his head like those song lyrics you just can’t remember, or like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle that vanished before you even opened the box.

Why would one of his heroes dis him like that? Especially if it was a figment of his own drug-addled, sleep-deprived imagination?

But Steel God was still sharp enough to realize he was being followed. Had been since the cemetery. It wasn’t a “blend in” sort of car. A convertible BMW. Whoever it was had been keeping about a half-mile back, obvious but not aggressive. He’d already figured out it wasn’t law--only one guy. That left jealous husbands (easy enough), vigilantes (easier), or one of the big fish from the drug trade (those were tough).

The follower would speed up when Steel God sped up, slow when he slowed. It took a truck stop outside of Sioux Falls to finally bring the guy out of the shadows.

Steel God went inside to grab some coffee and a slice of pie. It wasn’t ten minutes later when a disheveled man slid onto the stool beside him. Salt-and-pepper hair, usually very-well styled, sort of a hungover mess. Aviator shades, five o’clock shadow. Smelled like he’d worn the same clothes a week.

“Just a Sprite,” he told the waitress, stinking of bourbon.

Steel God just glanced at him, didn’t say a word.

Then the man asked, “What did he tell you?”

“Pardon?”

“LaSalle. Wh-what did he have to say?”

Steel God’s blood chilled in spite of the scalding black coffee. “The fuck are you talking about? Dude’s dead.”

“Then who were you talking to? What set you off?”

He’d been there watching the whole time. Waited out the blackout. And…he knew.

Steel God said, “Who are you, man?”

Ticked a grin, then nothing. He said, “I was rich. I was successful. I did it all in spite of LaSalle. But in the end, we became friends.”

“All right.”

“He was supposed to tell me the secret. He’d been working up to it, the secret of his prolificacy.” His voice cracked, and he lifted his fist, shook it at the sky. “But then that bear! That goddamned bear!”

Steel God took a bite of pie. It was nice pie. Chocolate.

“He did it on purpose. Let that bear get him. To foil me, I tell you. He had to have the last laugh over Stone Q. Mann.”

He glanced over. Steel God waited.

Mann said, “Ever heard of me?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“They made movies of my books.”

Steel God pulled a five from his pocket, laid it on the bar, and started to go. If this Mann fellow wasn’t hooked into the drug trade, then he was just some loon. Better ignore him.

Mann grabbed Steel God’s shoulder. “Wait. I can show you more. I can give you what it is you’re searching for.”

Any other man would’ve grabbed God that way, he’d have lost use of his arm. Immediately. But something about sad-sack Stone Q. Mann made him pause and give the guy a chance.

On their way out to the parking lot, Mann filled in some holes. “I met LaSalle at my first sci-fi convention when I was sixteen, seventeen, something like that. He was a hero! So I hoped he would read one of my stories. But when I approached him in the bar, he humiliated me. Handed my ass to me. So I vowed to top his success. And I did! I was the best-selling speculative novelist of the nineties.”

By then, they were at the trunk of Mann’s car. He opened it to reveal several boxes full of LaSalle’s books. Next to them was an electronic contraption that looked like something Q would give to Bond.

Mann went on, “When we buried the ax, I began learning so much more. I felt free as a writer, no longer tied to science or reason.” He spat those words like they were poison. “I mean, my sales plummeted, and I was handed off to smaller and smaller presses until, well…maybe they didn’t sell, but I was writing the best shit of my entire career! And just when I came to the point where LaSalle was ready to give me the final answer--”

“He croaked. Got it.”

“Yes! Croaked indeed. But I knew that his physical form could be transcended. I’ve been waiting for his ghost to return from the great beyond and deliver the final puzzle piece.”

Steel God grinned. Maybe Stone Q. Mann did understand.

“So, please, Mr. Biker, sir. What did LaSalle have to say to you? What as it I’ve been waiting for?”

“Well, he was kind of a prick.”

Mann’s excitement fell. His face went blank. “Still?”

“You knew him better than I ever did. He called me a fool.”

Mann shrugged. “So…four hundred thousand thousand dollars and career down the drain over…a real jerk.”

“Sorry.”

Just then, a Toyota Prius pulled up alongside Mann’s BMW. Then another on the other side. And then another roaming the edges of the parking lot. Inside all of them were men in Roman collars and dark sunglasses.

Mann looked panicked. “They found me. Oh shit. I’ve said too much. You need to get out of here.”

“Dude, take it down a notch.”

“No, you down notch it, sir! These men…they are stone cold killers.”

“They’re priests.”

“Exactly. You’d better hurry.” Mann shoved a box of books into Steel God’s arms, slammed the trunk and hopped in his car. He spun out of the parking lot, followed by all three of the Priuses.

Steel God stood watching a few minutes…then dropped the box of books, mounted his bike, and throttled up.

But before he left, he reached in and grabbed a couple of LaSalles--Sheriff Dracula and Death Throes of the Serpentine Queen. Why the hell not? It got dull on the road sometimes, even for a biker badass like himself.

*

What haven’t I said about Victor Gischler on these pages? You know I went to grad school with the guy, and he was there in the beginning of Plots with Guns. We read each others’ first drafts. We try to hit a few cities together for tours, conferences or just a round of golf along with our buddy Sean Doolittle whenever we can.

Plus, he’s a “genre chameleon”, able to slip into and out of sc-fi, crime, fantasy, superheroes, and literary fiction without skipping a step--it’s about telling a good story, and whatever instrument helps tell that story, that’s the one he’ll play.

Then there’s Emerson LaSalle, Gischler’s pseudonym/alter ego, designed as a way to revel in the glories of a type of sci-fi we don’t see much anymore: cheap, indulgent, and full of imagination, thus the LaSalle Principal: “Technology ruined science fiction.

A typical LaSalle novel would theoretically blend a sci-fi landscape with a Western or Crime plot, dotted with bad science (even for its time!) and flagrantly sexist depictions of giant-breasted alien women. Plus, he would rail against Nazis and animals a lot. And supposedly, he wrote over 400 of them.

When we talk LaSalle, we’re talking about the tendency to let logic fly in favor of ol’ fashioned shoot ‘em up, Cinemascope, Technicolor wonder. It’s like a spice you add to a work that might not be quite doing it for you on the page while you write.

You can find some LaSalle leanings in Gischler’s Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse, and even more so in his forthcoming Vampire A Go Go--featuring alchemists, vampires, werewolves, crack squads of battle priests, and ancient treasure. And I’ve heard his plans for even more actually using the nom de plume.

But let’s get to the heart of it all: Gischler is a true pulp hero. He writes fast, he writes smart, and every book or story is going to grab you by the balls. In an age when it feels like we’ve lost the thrill of grabbing a cheap paperback off the newsstand and leaving it behind on the bus for others to read, the story spreading like wildfire, Gischler gives us that again every time out of the gate.

And man, he got to write a Wolverine! How fucking cool is that? Keep up the good work, buddy.

Another thing we’ve got in common--one of the best damned publishers in the country: Bleak House Books. Hogdoggin’ is hitting stores now (Buy it on June 1st, please! Hogdoggin’ Monday!), and The Deputy will be following right behind in August. It’s a great fucking book. Mine’s a road romp through the raw and rough Minnesota prairies, and his is a dusty scorpion-bite noir set in Oklahoma. Both well worth your time.

*

Tomorrow, Sophie Littlefield can’t stop, won’t stop whuppin’ ass.

On the Main Stage: William Shatner, “Common People”

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2009-05-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

wow. dullsville around Blogpocalypse these days. Why don't I post more? Hmmmm. I must suck. Yeah. That's almost certainly the answer. Although, I have been working rather hard on multiple projects at once. Comic books. Novels. Screenplays. I'll be a household name any day now. A very strange household in Madagascar. Full of drunk insane people. That sort of household.