Here's a preview of the opening of SINBAD AND THE SAPPHIRE OF THE DJINN, my story in the anthology Sinbad: The New Adventures, now available at all good etc.

    Sinbad ducked low, so the house-guard’s scimitar shattered only a man-high wine jar. The sailor hooked the man’s feet out from under him, sending him toppling down the staircase onto the other soldiers that followed after. To add to the confusion, Sinbad shouldered the other liquor containers down the steps too, toppling guards down into the courtyard beyond, setting the wine merchant screaming as his wares were wasted.

    Sinbad sprinted along the balcony and leapt onto the roof. The varnished tiles were slippery but his bare feet found purchase enough to scramble to the apex. An arrow whirred past him. He made a deep elaborate bow at the archer before sliding down the other side and tumbling across to the adjacent flat roof.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That way!” someone below shouted. “He’s on the spice vendor’s house!”

    Sinbad grinned and leaped the ten feet onto the carpet-seller’s mansion, and from there vaulted over to the jeweler’s roof. He heard a yelp from behind as the first soldier to try and follow him misjudged the distance. He turned and saw the hapless guard clinging to the ledge above the precarious drop by one hand.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You need to be more careful,” the sailor warned the man as he hauled him back onto the balcony. A roundhouse left felled the guard before he could think of thanks or belligerence. “It’s really not your day, is it?”

    More arrows rattled across the distance between the buildings – and a pitchfork, for some reason. Sinbad waved at his pursuers and hauled the rope off a flagpole so he could loop it onto a crenulation of the next dwelling. By the time the soldiers had forced their way into the jeweler’s house, the sailor was already hauling himself onto the tower of the armoire’s guild.

    Someone had been clever. A couple of guards were already waiting there for him.

    Sinbad rolled, slid between the legs of the nearest soldier, and hauled hard at the man’s sash. The guard spun round, dizzied. Sinbad claimed the red cloth and used it to leap onto the washing line between the armoires’ roof and the courtesan house next door. He suspected it was a regular route.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Sinbad!” one of the lovely young women in the compound below recognized him. She rose from her bathing pool to wave.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hello, ladies!” he called back as he balanced along the high wall around their seraglio. “I’m afraid I can’t stop and chat just now. People trying to kill me.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“People are always trying to kill you,” one perfumed beauty complained with a pout.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What can I say? I have that kind of life!”

    The sailor reached the far corner of the perimeter wall, from whence he could hook his way across to the silk merchant’s apartment. That had a helpful decorative ridge running all the way around it and from there it was only one long jump onto the pan-tiles of the domed temple.

    A trio of hopeful guards had come that way too, hoping to cut him off. Sinbad avoided a crude amateur spear-thrust and relieved the youngster of his weapon to fend off the fat older guard with the scimitar. It was easy to tangle both men with the polearm and leave them caught in the net in which they’d hoped to snare him.

    That left only the archer. Sinbad downed the man with a precise belly-punch and borrowed his bow and quiver.

    Sinbad fired arrows into the high palace wall twenty feet away from the temple’s edge. The glazed blue bricks formed the newest part of the Caliph’s fortress. Sinbad embedded a dozen shafts in what he hoped might be secure strongpoints between the stones, clenched the archer’s twin belt knives in his teeth, and leaped for the distant wall.

    The first arrow he caught snapped, and so did the second. For a moment it looked like the agile sailor would plunge down to the crowded marketplace below and end his adventures in a bone-shattering splat. But the third shaft held long enough for him to snatch a fourth and fifth. Before they too could splinter, Sinbad had the knives dug into the mortar between the blue bricks.

    A shout from the temple roof warned him that the guards were up again. He was glad he’d removed the bow.

    He began to climb, upwards and round the curve of the blue tower, out of sight of the men on the temple. He plunged the daggers into the gaps between stones, hoping that the cheap metal was sufficient to sustain his weight. Even his limber arms were beginning to ache when he reached the keyhole-shaped window beneath the topping minaret.

    He climbed into a silk-swathed room and looked around.

    A beautiful woman in gauze veils noticed a man had climbed through into her boudoir. “Well now,” she said, “This is unexpected.”

    Sinbad gave a courtly bow. “I apologies for the intrusion. I was just passing and decided to pay a visit.”

    The woman advanced boldly. She had oiled skin the color of creamed coffee and long raven hair filleted with pearls. Her yashmak was translucent, offering a glimpse of full red lips curved into an intrigued smile. “Did you forget something?” she suggested, gesturing to the sailor’s current attire.

    Sinbad was naked. His only clothing was a silver sapphire amulet around his neck.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Alas, I had to leave my things behind when I needed to make a hasty departure,” the sailor admitted. “I doubt the wine merchant will return them to me now. Shame, because I had that tunic from Byzantium.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do you know the penalty for intruding on a princess’ bedchamber?” the woman enquired.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Do I have to eat sherbet and drink a cup of cool wine with her while I tell her my story?” Sinbad ventured. He grinned a winning smile. “Why not let me tell you? As you see, I have nothing to hide.”

    The princess’ own smile broadened. “Who are you?” she demanded. She examined the dark-skinned intruder carefully, noting his handsome, mischievous face, his tight-muscled body, his white-toothed smile, his confident pose.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“O fair moon of desire, they call me Sinbad the Sailor. I hope you might call me friend and darling. And what might I call you?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You are Sinbad? I have heard of a rogue and adventurer who sails on voyages of discovery and trade, then returns to Baghdad with fabulous riches only to squander them and vanish again in search of more.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Squander is a strong word. Say rather that I have lots of friends who need my support. And I happen to like sailing strange seas and discovering things. I have a knack for it.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Many in the city think you a liar, a mere pirate who loots other ships and spins fantastic stories of how he came by his wealth to hide his crimes.”

    Sinbad shook his head. “I never lie except when I need to. I might boast occasionally, but only to impress the fairest of ladies. Did I mention that my father was a Nubian prince and my mother a Moorish princess?”

    The beautiful maiden decided that she wouldn’t summon the guard yet. She tossed her visitor a linen burnoose to cover himself and poured him a goblet of chilled white wine. “I am Ayisha, a daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad. It is death for a man to speak with me alone.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’d better make the most of it, then,” Sinbad grinned. “Why are you locked in a tower, beautiful Ayisha?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“My father is dying. My suitors are persistent.” She glanced at the window. “Not usually that persistent, I admit.”

    Sinbad sipped his drink, wrapped himself in his gown, and settled on the princess’ bed. “If I were your suitor, no wall or tower would stay me from your side.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I imagine not. So why are you here, Sinbad the Sailor?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Ah, you do want the story! Excellent. I love telling stories.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I will hear your tale, in payment for your intrusion.”

    Sinbad shook his head. “I’m a merchant as well as a sailor, great lady. I know a bad bargain when I hear it. My stories are especially fine, guaranteed to enthrall and enchant, to make your heart pound and your skin tingle. They’re worth far more than just the use of a convenient window.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Are they now?” The princess tilted her head. “What are they worth, then?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Well, I think they deserve an attentive audience. Come and sit here on these cushions with me, dawn of all desire, where you can be comfortable as I talk. And if you think the tale worth it at the end, pay me the surplus in sweet kisses.”

    Ayisha raised one perfect painted eyebrow. “Does that work on ladies of your acquaintance?” she wondered.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Almost always,” Sinbad confessed. “Please don’t spoil my average.”

    The princess glided over and folded her legs under her at the far edge of her bed. “Proceed, Sinbad the Sailor,” she commanded.

    Sinbad nodded and spoke: “Praise be to Allah, the beneficent king, creator of the universe, who set up the firmament without pillars and who stretched out the earth below. Know, O princess, that there was once a humble sailor who journeyed far from home and returned with fabulous treasures and wondrous companions. And lo, one day, once such companion spake unto Sinbad and said…”

Details of other things I've written are at I.A. Watson's Writer Page.

There's still a twice-weekly ongoing serial novel from me at Blackthorn: Spires of Mars and another novel out in print and kindle in the same series, Blackthorn: Dynasty of Mars (with a spectacular Adam Diller cover). I'm pretty pleased with how "Dynasty" turned out, but so far it's my least best-selling novel, so that, um, makes it more collectable, right?

Here's what the publishers have put out about SINBAD:

SET SAIL FOR ADVENTURE

Airship 27 Productions announces the release of their newest pulp anthology title, SINBAD – The New Voyages.

The greatest seafaring adventurer of all times returns to the high seas, Sinbad the Sailor!

Born of countless legends and myths, this fearless rogue sets sail across the seven seas aboard his ship, the Blue Nymph, accompanied by an international crew of colorful, larger-than-life characters. Chief among these are the irascible Omar, a veteran seamen and trusted first mate, the blond Viking giant, Ralf Gunarson, the sophisticated archer from Gaul, Henri Delacrois and the mysterious, lovely and deadly female samurai, Tishimi Osara. All of them banded together to follow their famous captain on perilous new voyages across the world’s oceans.

“This was another opportunity for us to explore another classic pulp genre,” Managing Editor Ron Fortier explained. “Fantasy high adventure was a popular setting in many of the more exotic themed pulp titles of the 1930s. Doing one starring Sinbad seemed a natural choice for us.”

Writers Nancy Hansen, I.A. Watson and Derrick Ferguson offer up three classic Sinbad tales to rival those of legend while adding a familiar sensibility from the cult favorite Sinbad movies of FX master, Ray Harryhausen. SINBAD – The New Voyages will enthrall and entertain all lovers of fantasy adventure in a brand new way; featuring cover art by Bryan Fowler and twelve black and white illustrations by Ralf van der Hoeven.

“From inception to realization, this was one of the fastest titles we’ve ever put together,” Fortier added. “In fact we received so many submissions that we had enough to fill two books. You can expect volume two to sail over the horizon soon. And we couldn’t be happier.”

So pack up your you traveling bags, bid ado to your loved ones and get ready to sail with the tide as Sinbad El Ari takes the tiller and the Blue Nymph sets sails once more; its destination worlds of wonder, mystery and high adventure.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS – Pulp Fiction For A New Generation!

Now available as $3 PDF download.
(http://robmdavis.com/Airship27Hangar/index.airshipHangar.html)

From Create Space
(https://www.createspace.com/3988204)

Later from Indy Planet.com POD.
(http://indyplanet.com/store/)

And finally Amazon & Kindle.

When BLACKTHORN: DYNASTY OF MARS was written, the publisher and I agreed that I'd write a short online serial to promote it: same cast in a tie-in story. It had worked with other things I'd done like Robin Hood so I agreed. And after years of doing mostly regular PVB serials it didn't seem to be that hard. Unfortunately I forgot that my PVB stories all turn out considerably longer than I intend. The 10,000 word short story in maybe six parts became the 78,000 word novel in thirty parts. It's still being posted twice weekly now, although after today's episode we're on to the final showdown at last. I mention this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I'd like folks here to read it. If you enjoy my PVB stories this one won't seem too unfamiliar. In fact it's probably the closest thing I've written in style and format to the PVB for publication so far. Secondly, the publisher has decided he wants to release this as a novel too, so sometime between now and the publication date it'll probably vanish off the website to make way for the paper and kindle versions. Get it now while it's free! You don't need to have read either the THUNDER ON MARS anthology or my DYNASTY OF MARS novel to follow this book. It's designed for newbies. The only major spoiler is that the hero survives till at least before the final chapter of the previous novel. Proceed. *** A young man desperate to save his sister from the raiders who kidnapped her to slavery – an ancient undead released after half a millennium – four sorcerous First Men who will kill half a world to keep their darkest secret – and three champions who will stand for Mars against horror and tyranny – or die trying! Blackthorn - Homepage BLACKTHORN: SPIRES OF MARS Chapter One: A Night in the Deadfields A desperate young man must cross the wasteland where everything dies – but nothing stays dead! Chapter Two: Hunters in a Blighted Land Who are General Blackthorn and his companions? What compels Tybald tan Throg on his dangerous adventure? And what lies in the depths of the Deadfields? Chapter Three: Guardians of the Shadow-Door Eight people dead in under a minute and a ninth one vanished into a long-sealed cellar! Call John Blackthorn! Chapter Four: The Tomb of Incantrus Veil A lethal undead knotted from the souls of twelve murdered wizards lies in wait for Blackthorn and his team. Chapter Five: Pit of the Damned Our sundered heroes struggle against overwhelming odds and Princess Aria discusses philosophy with the damned. Chapter Six: Gold Coins for the Virgin Blackthorn trails Ysilde nim Loret across Deadfields and desert to a wicked slaver city - and goes for a drink! Chapter Seven: The House of Abu Mansoor Princess Aria in the slaver's den! Oglok the Mock Man versus two golem-robots of war! John Blackthorn discovers a little prank from the Lord of Fatal Laughter! And Ysilde nim Loret's fate revealed! Chapter Eight: The Echo of the Bards Eight hundred years ago the Bards of Isidia were destroyed for their resistance against the First Men; but is that defiance gone, or will it take new life when our heroes visit the ruined Bard-Hall and fight for their lives? Chapter Nine: The Cloisters of Silence The Sisterhood of Silence prepare kindapped Ysilde nim Loret for the Sorcerer of Night's purposes. She has one hope left - but it's not Blackthorn, Aria,. Oglok or her brother! Chapter Ten: Domain of Night Blackthorn must enter the Hammer Horror-style land of the Sorcerer of Night, where the superstitious peasants hide after dark and it is a capital offence not to pay the Blood Tax! Chapter Eleven: Devotions of Death The plan hits a Serious Complication, Oglok tries to pilot a gargoyle, and there are worse things than three Brides of Night. Chapter Twelve: The War of Night and Day Aria and Tybald are outnumbered and outgunned! Ysilde is alone in the clutches of the Sorcerer if Night! Blackthorn facest his darkest moment - and dies! Chapter Thirteen: Pirates of the Amazonis Searching for a marauder stronghold on a storm-tossed sea, Blackthorn faces treachery from the ship's crew that transport him - and from one of his own! Chapter Fourteen: Lure of the Siren Blackthorn in the pirate stronghold of Tortugos! But he's not the scariest thing to visit the floating city... Chapter Fifteen: Tide of the Ghost Fleet The Sorcerer of Night's undead navy comes to Tortugos and eight thousand souls must die. Chapter Sixteen: Tortugos' Last Stand Blackthorn gives proper notice under the Articles of War and the Ghost Fleet invades anyway. Chapter Seventeen: Depths of the Kraken The Sorcerer of Night cheats and goes for overkill, and our heroes have to cheat back. Chapter Eighteen: Hunting Olssun Our regular cast take an episode off whilst we catch up with other characters' investigations half a world away. Chapter Nineteen: Welcome to Phoenix Landing Bad men wish that they'd never ambushed General Blackthorn and Colonel Morningstar makes his preparations for a much better trap. Chapter Twenty: The Trojan Goat Blackthorn goes after not one but two major crimelords - with nothing but a particularly strong cheese to help him! Chapter Twenty-One: The Last Testimony of Lars Ollsen The man behind Ysilde's kidnapping finally confesses everything, and then everyone wishes that he hadn't. Chapter Twenty-Two: Truth and Consequences Blackthorn faces Morningstar's death trap and Ysilde faces Morningstar. Chapter Twenty-Three: The Hall of Tatters Princess Aria visits her birthright, Blackthorn sees Mars, and the First Mens' greatest secret is revealed... Chapter Twenty-Four: Disrupted Harmony The villains of the piece gather and to declaim how they intend to win the day; but only one can be victorious! Place your bets!

Great to be reading some of your non-pvb work at last!

Makes for good airline lounge reading. Will email you some feedback in due course.

all the best.

Al B.