My attempts to get twelve things in print this year continues with ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON - BOOK 2, the second and final part of, well, a story about a Roman knight and a bloody big dragon. With complications, of course. This one went out via Chillwater Press, which I generally use for works I think would baffle or challenge "normal" editors, for writing where I use my natural style. That may reveal all you really need to know about the volume. Meanwhile, the blurb says: ST GEORGE AND THE DRAGON - Book Two An unstoppable creature of legend wakes to claim the world. To save her people, Princess Sabra volunteers to go to the dragon. But the wyrm Astorat knows that when he devours her he can overthrow the empires of man. Only one outcast knight threatens the horror's rise, a reluctant self-proclaimed dragon-slayer who hates to be called Saint George. As civilisation crumbles, while men and monsters run wild, a dragon, a damsel, and a tarnished hero face a final, fateful appointment. Award-winning fantasy author I.A. WATSON concludes the epic adventure of sword versus serpent, passion versus dragonfire, for the future of humanity. "St George and the Dragon - Book Two" ISBN-10: 1505808588 ISBN-13:978-1505808582 Published by Chillwater Press Release date: April 2015 Retail Price: $13.50 from here (and from elsewhere) Kindle Edition: $3.50 from here. Also due out as their publishers get round to it will be: BYZANTIUM: REBEL'S RUN (now missed third publication date) OCCULT DETECTIVE MONSTER HUNTER - A Vinnie de Soth story in a multi-author anthology BLACKTHORN: SPIRES OF MARS, an SF novel and about half a dozen other things that are still embargoed Next up in June from Chillwater [problem] Press is: Full list of publications et. al. at I.A. Watson's Homepage HH

THE NEW ADVENTERS OF SEMI DUAL features the return of pulp fiction's first occult detective. From his enthouse sanctum, the reclusive mystic known only as Semi Dual consults on cases where the bizarre and the impossible defy nayural solutions. Adventurous crime reporter Bryce finds the strange occultist an invaluable and dangerous asset in uncovering the darkest and deadliest mysteries of the big ity..

In this anthology collection for the Pulp Obscura imprint I.A. Watson contributes “The Curse of Urania” – where a millionire's suicide is complicated when the millionaire's long dead wife seems to appeal to Semi Dual for help in uncovering the truth.

"The New Adventures of Semi Dual"
ISBN 10: 1511433353
ISBN 13: 978-1511433358
Published by Pro Se Press
Release date: April 2015
Retail Price: $9.00 from here
Kindle version available here

***

Now this is an interesting one. Semi Dual had quite a long publishing history ranging from the start to the end of the classic pulp era. The stories in this volume come from that very early period when his chronicler Bryce is a reporter at the city newspaper. Unlike Dr Watson, Bryce rarely accompanies his odd acquaintance on cases. Instead, Bryce is sent to investigate and Semi Dual remains in his skyscraper penthouse until the moment comes for him to act. For this reason the stories tend to be two acts of two-fisted reporter investigator assembling the clues and a final act of mystic payoff. It's an odd and oddly compelling format.

In the early Semi Dual stories, often the only really occult element was the man himself. Other supernatural content was subdued or actually turns out to be mundane (c.f. Scooby-Doo). Indeed, Semi Dual's own exotic background and power set was not immediately revealed. Think of how the first six years of Doctor Who, 1963-69, went without ever mentioning Time Lords or Gallifrey or twin pulmonary systems. The Doctor remained an entirely unexplained man of mystery. So it was with Semi Dual until an unusual mission to Persia revealed some of his origin. My story, "The Curse of Urania", and I think the others in the new volume, are all set in that pre-revelation period of the mythology where Semi Dual was a complete enigma to his chronicler Bryce as well as to readers.

Its interesting to look back on those original stories and see how they have influenced what has come after. Bryce could have happily sat down at a bar to drink whisky with Sam Spade, but I doubt that was a determining influence on Marlowe. On the other hand, Semi Dual's imprint is implicit on properties like the 1960s Lee-Ditko Dr Strange. Eastern-trained occultist? Weird ethnic manservant? Sanctum base in modern US city? Home filled with Eastern trappings? Consulting occultist? Adversary trained alongside him? Check, check, check. The inspiration may not have, probably did not, come direct, but the thread starts with Semi Dual.

...Specifically the Byzantium and Vinnie de Soth stories, when they come out.

How many re-adapted PV characters is that now, anyway?

I'm still struggling to get 3 full-length things written between job searching and developing a 3D adventure game (which takes way more writing than you'd ever imagine it would).

I'll advertise the new book when they actually send me a cover image.




Well, there was Mumphrey, but he was re-adapted for the Parodyverse from earlier writing, and from role-playing before that. There are refurbished versions of characters I introduced or substantially developed like 3/4 o of the EEE team as the Transdimensional Transport Co. There's Vinnie and a fair bit of his supporting cast (the ones I created). There's a cowled crime czar who wasn't supposed to be in there but is anyway. There are a couple of other characters I was "bequeathed" who might get a spin sometime too; I'm still not sure whether to include the waitress.

It's not so strange really. I once worked out that I'd either created or developed over half the shared cast of the PVB at one point. It was a natural consequence of 300+ Untold Tales episodes and a few other series. Omitting the material that comes from other creators and the characters that are really just copies of mainstream comics properties, there's still a fair bit of stuff in there I'd like to polish up and use in a different setting.




I imagine developing an adventure game takes quite a lot of writing.

The publisher of the "monthly" Byzantium series has been having some "Kindle problems". It's the downside of small publishing houses. The upside is the flexibility and enthusiasm of the people, which I do find refreshing. Byzantium has really slipped, though, and it's past its third scheduled release date now!

I have much more control over Vinnie's scheduling. That volume will be out first week of June assuming I'm still alive at that point. Then around August will be a story anthology (all by me) called "Women of Myth". Then I have to decide whether to write Mumphrey 2 or Transdimensional Transport Co. 2 next for a Hallowe'en release. The Christmas release will probably by "Labours of Hercules", which I withdrew from the publisher I originally gave it to when there were complications and I got twitchy.

OCCULT DETECTIVE MONSTER HUNTER: A GRIMOIRE OF ELDRICH INQUESTS

Literary history is rich with great Occult Detectives. This volume seeks to honor and add to them as many of today's most talented Occult Detective authors offer their original tales. Steeped in tradition but with a modern edge, the first of two volumes presents 22 tales of monsters, magic and mystery investigated by those that book their trade by it.

"Vinnie De Soth and the Vampire Definition" introduces the down-on-his-luck jobbing occultist hero of I.A. Watson's forthcoming book and sets him against a new breed of undead that do not respect the traditions of their forebears. This is their error. Vinnie knows things. Splatter ensues.

"Occult Detective Monster Hunter: A Grimoire of Eldrich Inquests"
ASIN: B00VH3B6QQ
Published by Emby Press
Release date: March 2015
Price: $4.00 Kindle Edition only

INTERVIEWER: So, Vinnie, your business card calls you a “Jobbing Occultist”? VINNIE DE SOTH: Um, yes. I wanted it to say “Consulting Occultist”, because, you know, it sounds better than “Desperate guy working out of the back of a seedy Soho bookshop, please, please hire me because I need to pay my rent,” but the extra letters would have put the printing up a price bracket. INTERVIEWER (distracted): Ah. I was wondering whether the tiny broken desk in a cluttered new age store was a life choice. Maybe it has some mystical significance? VINNIE: I suppose I might still be working off a few karma curses from my mother. Or my brother. Or my sisters. Or my ex-fiancée. Or any of my other enemies. Mostly I’m just not that great about collecting fees for the work I do. INTERVIEWER: But you are an occultist? Who presumably jobs. VINNIE: Well, I’m also an alternative lifestyle consultant, feng shui advisor, astrology chart debugger, and emergency exorcist. Whatever brings the work in, really. My landlord can be pretty offensive otherwise. Well, his t-shirts are. INTERVIEWER: That’s an unusual career choice. What made you take up that kind of job? VINNIE: Honestly? When I sort of walked out on my family there wasn’t a lot else I knew how to do. House De Soth has been doing the weird for more centuries than you’d believe. When there was a bit of a falling out and I needed to leave I had to find some kind of paying gig. It was this or burgers. Actually, a fast-food chain would probably pay more. INTERVIEWER: This is a family business, then? VINNIE: Er, no. My family, my ex-family that is, is more on the cause-the-arcane-problems side usually. I suppose I’m the white sheep of the de Soths. The rest are… not so white. But I will say this for growing up in a clan of murderous evil mages, you really get to practice your arcane survival skills. INTERVIEWER: I can never tell when you’re being serious. VINNIE: I don’t know why you have to be called “Interviewer”. Honestly, Annette, talking like this is difficult enough. Why can’t I just call you by name? INTERVIEWER, WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE ANNETTE: It’s a professional thing. Like you not giving your hair and nail clippings to witches. Anyway, you owe me for nearly getting me killed by those punk vampires. VINNIE: I know. Who still goes punk? Even if you were sucked dry in the 70s or early 80s, it’s time to move on. INTERVIEWER: Can we just… not talk about the blood-drinking undead? Let’s try and keep this normal enough so I can sell the piece to one of those far-out alternate lifestyle online blogs. Nobody is going to believe you hunt vampires for a living. VINNIE: Good, because I don’t. Not just vampires, anyway. Ghosts. Poltergeists. Werewolves and other skinshifters. Brain-eating Ghouls – the evil ones anyhow. Saaiitaii manifestations if they’re not too big or gross. Fairies. INTERVIEWER: Vinnie…! VINNIE: What? There are fairies. You just have to know not to take their bribes. They always turn to piles of leaves by morning. Even the ones made by credit card. INTERVIEWER: Well apart from the, um, those things you just listed, what sort of services do you provide? More normal services. VINNIE: Mostly small stuff. Curse removal. Karma readings. Online tarot fantasies. The odd bit of editing for ghost writing. Wart charming if I have to. But sometimes something a little more serious comes along and I have to get a bit more proactive. INTERVIEWER: Like the thing with the vampires? VINNIE: Kind of, yeah. Look, you survived. That’s generally a plus in these kind of encounters. You even got a story out of it. INTERVIEWER: A story my editor dismissed as fiction. The only place I could get it in print was in a horror anthology. Look in a collection called “Occult Detective Monster Hunter: A Grimoire of Eldritch Inquests.” You’re in there. VINNIE: That’s sort of nice. Great-granddad was in Heinrich Kremer’s Malleus Maleficarum. My sister thinks she’s in the Book of Revelations. INTERVIEWER: There is one more thing I should maybe mention, Vinnie. And I’m really sorry about this. My editor wasn’t one hundred percent approving of your expense and fee vouchers for that vampire thing. VINNIE (WINCING): What percentage of approving was he, Annette? INTERVIEWER: Zero percent? I’m sorry, Vin. I mean, there you were saving the world and stuff, and you don’t even get to collect for the Tube fare. It’s not right. VINNIE: Hey, you wanted to know what Vinnie de Soth is about? Now you get it. INTERRUPTION FROM ALTO TUMOUR, OWNER OF THE OCCULT BOOKSHOP WHERE VINNIE WORKS: Hey, de Soth! There’s some guy out here says he needs help with a cursed dagger. Could you get it out of him before he bleeds on the carpet any more? VINNIE: Ah. Sounds like I have to go. Sorry Annette – I mean, Interviewer. Coming, Alto! Does the guy with the cursed blade also have a wallet…? Original concepts, characters, and situations copyright © 2015 reserved by Ian Watson. The right of Ian Watson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved.

I'm currently re-writing both World Class and the temporarily untitled story of Lara Night (but not *just* her, it's an entire slowly-build cast) in a kind of novel-like format. World Class, too, has quite a few changes in cast. I also changed Keiko herself a bit so she's just as smart and sneaky but you're left unsure if her violent reputation is just reputation until one pivotal point in the story.

Speaking of recycled characters, I also have a totally new story I haven't started writing yet, but it's sketched out. It starts out with a man who's retired, and spends his entire life savings on a salvaged trading spaceship that's not in the best condition (his wife is NOT happy, but secretly relishes the idea of traveling). After buying it, he finds a loyal but somewhat homicidal android in stasis on board who helps them fix the ship - you might be able to guess who it is. Both the android and the ship are magnets for trouble, which begins both an adventure and a mystery to solve on what about the history of that ship makes it so troublesome.








Imagine that, and then triple it. There's a lot of plot forking in an adventure game, and you have to keep track of each one of the forks, or merge it back into the main plot at some point.