Monthly Archives: September 2011

“Fistful of Reefer” (Reeferpunk) by David Mark Brown

September 12, 2011 By in Review Tags: , , 1 Comment

Not exactly steampunk, but certainly western…

I got turned onto Brown’s “Fistful of Reefer” by the author himself having bumped into him in the Wild West Steampunk Saloon on S.W.A.G.  We kicked a couple of comments back and forth and he let on that he just released a novel in eBook format.  Intrigued, I downloaded a copy and gave it a shot.  Sorry to say, I had relatively low expectations.  Enough time looking at print-and-play boardgames and unpublished prototypes has left me a little jaded towards anything that has not come from a major publisher.

Well partner, I happy to say I was wrong.  Brown has spun a fun action adventure tale with interesting, believable and diverse characters.  I won’t belabor a full synopsis, but suffice to say it is a story about friendship, good guys, bad guys, lost races, orphans, contraband, hypocrisy, forgiveness and redemption set against a backdrop of a Saturday morning western.  The only thing missing is the Morricone soundtrack.

Reeferpunk?  Sure, why not.  I think the “*punk” breed of fiction lends itself to an ever expanding definition led by imaginative authors finding new ways to mashup the traditional with the unusual.   This is what indie press should be about, authors taking chances and pushing the boundaries.  Sure, there were some technical editing errors here, but the story was interesting enough that I really stopped caring and just focused on enjoying.

I am looking forward to David’s next effort and wish him all the best in his corner of the punk mashup genres.

¡Viva la Revolución!

“The West Wind” Status Update…

September 11, 2011 By in The West Wind, Writing Process, Writing Projects Tags: Leave a comment

With a sudden surge of participation of Facebook pages, Blogs, and Forums I realized I had not posted to my own blog.  Nuts.

So special shout outs to all my new friends at S.W.A.G. and the BlackSails and Steampunk Authors FB pages!

So… Progress update lest I lead you fair reader astray.  In short, no progress.  And I am doing a regrettably poor job of taking time off to get caught up on my steampunk reading.  I have literally stacks of books begging to be read and blogged about.

What am I doing instead?  I started a horror short story set in the world of “The West Wind.”  It involves Rachel and her half brother Clarence but is told from the perspective of the sheriff of a small town into which they wander following a truly loathsome crime committed upon their persons nearby.  This is a scene from “The West Wind” with all the same characters, action, and conflict– just told from a different perspective.  The fun in it has been having to stick to the core of the storyline but given the opportunity to embellish and take the story in truly a different direction.  It is over 10k words right now but I do plan on chopping it down in length to fit submission guidelines of a couple of markets where it may fit.

So, you may ask, what are your plans dear writer for “The West Wind?”  Well… I want to get a first revision done before November so I can get copies out to a few close friends who have graciously agreed to be alpha readers.  Why November?  Another good question, but I would propose that the more perceptive among you know that November is National Novel Writing Month and, of course, I am already kicking around ideas for a sequel.  I know there is a lot of territory out there to be covered and I am burning daylight.