BYZANTIUM: DEAD MEN'S ROAD is now officially out.

Here's the blurb:

Award Winning Author I. A. Watson, one of the most prolific voices in New Pulp, takes readers into a world of history of fantasy, one marred with magic, monsters, and mystery in his exclusive original Pro Se Single Shot Signatures Series Byzantium.

In a world where Christianity never arose to sweep away the old magics, where sorcerer-guilds and necromancer-kings rule amidst the Roman ruins, Kirkgrim the Wanderer joins a caravan train across war-torn wasteland to the world's most corrupt city. The reluctant hero finds himself trapped with travelers, refugee orphans, deserter soldiers, a beautiful hunted sorceress, and one mad Viking, amidst civil war, religious zealots, brutal reavers, and a growing zombie army - guarding a secret that could bring the last vestiges of civilization crashing down in flames.

In Byzantium Book One: Dead Men’s Road, a beautiful woman tasked with delivering a sealed package to the Invisible College in Byzantium is pursued by merciless bandits, relentless undead, and a charming scoundrel who has nothing to lose.

And /blurb, what's interesting about this one is that it's volume 1 of a five-part reworking of a very old story I wrote many years ago, prior even to my time at the PVB (Shoggoth will remember the original). This version eliminates some of the overt D&D dervied elements and those based on other people's creations and delivers a story I'm happy to tell today. In style it's probably the closest to my "natural" writing that I've put in print - that is, the style I tended to use for Untold Tales, a mix of adventure and humour.

It's out first in kindle e-book format for $1, so it's not a big commercial risk for a reader to take. A collected print edition of the five novellas has been discussed, but it won't be for a good long time if ever.

Anyway, it's available at http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Mens-Road-Byzantium-Book-ebook/dp/B00LWGO9F8 and some other places.

There's also an interview about it all up at Bad Girls, Good Guys, & 2-Fisted Action, Sean Taylor's Blog at http://seanhtaylor.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/talking-byzantium-with-ia-watson.html

If anyone doesn't feel they've read enough of my rambling on this list, here are some other places I have evidently rambled:

Infinite House of Books - it appears I've written some stuff
http://www.house-of-books.com/2014/07/15/author-interview-i-a-watson/

Barry Reece's Blog - "Judging a Book By It's Cover" guest article
http://barryreese.net/2013/12/30/guest-blog-judging-a-book-by-its-cover-by-i-a-watson-2/

Fight Card - Bish's Beat - an essay on fight scenes
http://fightcardbooks.com/write-the-good-fight

Free Choice E-Zine - poor Lee had to call my interview two interviews. One of them is available at:
http://www.thefreechoice.info/2013/11/a-chat-with-author-i-watson-part-1-of-2.html
I don't know if volume 2 ever made it online.

Atomic Anxiety - Talking Ulysses King
http://atomicanxiety.com/2014/05/04/atomic-interview-20-talking-ulysses-king-with-i-a-watson/

And a couple of other publishing credits have slipped under the wire without me mentioning them here. I have stories in these two anthologies also:



Probably next up: my first non-fiction book, WHERE STORIES DWELL.

IW

That Byzantium cover is disturbing... Well done, mind you... just creepy as all get out.

Where Stories Dwell
Authored by I. A. Watson

Inside these covers, find not simply stories of daring do, of intrigue and espionage, of Kings and Murderers. No, within this tome are not tales, but maps. Maps that lead to the origins of some of our best known stories and folklore. And Keys. Keys to open doors to not only the past and the secret beginnings of such standards as Cinderella's Slipper, but to new ideas founded in history and mystery. Find things You only thought You knew and never imagined when You go

Starring:

The Duke of Marlborough, swashbuckler, soldier, adventurer, and ladies' man
Medea of Colchis, seductive sorceress and woman scorned
Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most powerful woman in Europe
Brutus Giantslayer, who overcame Gog and Magog to found a nation
William Paget, Earl of Uxbridge, and especially his right leg
Princess Enheduanna, High Priestess of the Moon Goddess Nanna
William the Conqueror, a bastard by name, birth, and nature
Sir Francis Dashwood, wicked master of the wicked Hell Fire Club
King Arthur Pendragon, rightwise born King of All Britain
Kings Henry II, IV, V, and VIII, who average to King Henry IV¾, plus a guest Edward
Rhodopis of the Stolen Slipper, a damsel in distress with familiar problems
Acting Major William Martin, a Royal Marine who died before he was ever born
Inspector-General James Barry MD, a military surgeon who never existed at all
Spring-Heeled Jack, fire-breathing iron-clawed terror of the night
The Lone Ranger and Tonto

With a full cast of gods, monarchs, smiths, Celts, Hussites, supervillains, sacrificial virgins, Londoners, knights, heretics, lighthouse-keepers, Methodists, spectral hounds, Loathly Ladies, pulp writers, revolutionaries, spies, and souvenir-vendors to match all tastes.

WHERE STORIES DWELL is unique volume in PULPSTUDIES, an imprint of Pro Se Productions. PULPSTUDIES focuses on the nonfiction of New Pulp. This includes volumes about sources for ideas as well as unique academic studies of New Pulp series and characters and other various types of reference books. Author I. A. Watson brings his enlightening and often humorous take on various legends and lores as he acts as our guide through WHERE STORIES DWELL. From PULPSTUDIES and Pro Se Productions.

Publication Date: Jul 27 2014
ISBN/EAN13: 1500666173 / 9781500666170
Page Count: 216
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Trim Size: 6" x 9"
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Related Categories: Reference / Research

***

So, this is my first non-fiction volume, collecting 35 essays into a Bill Baggs-style ramble on how stories work and where they come from. It was pitched to me about two years ago, and was the main project I wanted to get completed before I underwent brain surgery (no, really) last year.

I was assured putting this book together would be easier than writing fiction. It wasn't. By quite a bit. However, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, so if you like odd tales of odder people and a bit of ranting about what is wrong with comics then you might want to give it a look.

There's a preview of the first three chapters available here.

WHERE STORIES DWELL is available in print and on Kindle Other bizarre books on weird subjects are also available. But I didn't write them.

I created a bound copy of the original as an experiment in Japanese Bookbinding (for a first stab it wasn't too bad... The binding, I mean).

I remember the story very fondly, and am still annoyed that I lost my copy of the original. Still, an updated version should be good...

EDIT: Downloaded... Some holiday reading.

Pro Se Press chased me for something to launch their cheap-and-direct-to-Kindle line (based on the idea that's its better to sell 2000 copies at $1 than 200 copies at $6.99) and I thought this would be an easy conversion.

Wrong. It turned out to require a much more through redraft to de-D&D it, to alter some characters, and to correct some plot and pacing leaps. Then a number of new cast wanted in. Then I needed to restructure it so there were five stories in a series rather than one longer piece.

The end result converted a 28,000 short story into five linked short stories each with their own climax, coming in at about 80k words total. Since Pro Se also wanted more story after that I had to do a bit more world-mapping and backstory thinking in case I get tapped for another run of novellas.

How urgent another run is depends on (1) how well this run sells (I'm not a fan of e-book only product; I like to have a copy to put on my shelf), (2) how well "competing" product I've written sells in comparison, in particular the Mumphrey and Transdimensional Transport Company books (paper and electronic) coming out later this year, and (3) whether I can think of a good story.

Quote:
EDIT: Downloaded... Some holiday reading.

Hope it holds up to the previous nostaligia-flavoured version.

Held up quite nicely, as a matter of fact. The only tweak that I spotted was the Barbarian (which still works well for the character in question).

I'm looking forward to part 2.