Adventure Rocks!
Rock music and sci-fi/fantasy go hand in hand. The big secret is that musicians are huge nerds. 60s icons like Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix were known fantasy, sci-fi, and comic book geeks. 70s prog titans like Rush, Yes, Blue Öyster Cult, and King Crimson were heavily inspired by the tales of adventure and exploration. No one can forget 80s and 90s power-metal groups like Iron Maiden, Dream Theater and Queensrÿche, or speed and death metal groups like Blind Illusion, Iced Earth, and Amon Amarth, whose imaginations were heavily fueled by written tales of adventure and excitement. Modern hard rock and metal is full of such influence as well; for example, every Coheed & Cambira album is a chapter in a larger sci-fi space opera. The spirit lives on!
Go back further, though. Richard Wagner wrote entire operas based on folk legend. Other notable composers like Gluck, Monteverdi, and Handel, among others, composed operas inspired by classical Greek and Roman mythology.
So it's only natural that this influence goes the other way. I'm proud to present to you Pulp Rock: Ten tales of adventure, danger, intrigue, horror and FUN inspired by bands, musicians, artists, and composers.
Some of these tales involve music. Others musicians. Some involve settings, scenes, and characters inspired by music. All are killer, and exclusive to this anthology.
The Roster
Pulp Rock will feature stories from ten luminaries in the independent fiction scene:
- Jon Del Arroz
- David J. West
- Alexandru Constantin
- JD Cowan
- Patrick Walts
- Ryan Williamson
- Alex Nader
- David V. Stewart
- Paul McKesley
- Alexander Hellene
Stories include:
"The Devil's Harp," by David J. West: Salt Lake City, 1861: A traveling diva is shot amidst her performance and her harp is stolen. Porter Rockwell hunts for the would-be assassin and stolen heirloom, but the trail is perplexing. Mark Twain offers clues to what may be an occult crime and even darker past indiscretion.
"Mad Wind," by JD Cowan: Noise pollution still kills, even in the future! What can one alien visitor do against the power of the Mad Wind? He must seek out a band with the ability to combat the invisible force, or face certain death.
"Bold as Color," by Alexander Nader: Have you ever wanted to see music? I’m not just talking some hip “the music comes alive for me” BS, I mean to literally SEE music. Listen, I came up with this formula…What? The metal show? Oh….You heard about that, huh? Listen those metal heads weren’t my fault. They took too much. The side effects? Minimal. What’s that? Exploding heads? Okay, that was a one off thing. Here, just sit down and I’ll tell you from the start.
"Princess of the Night," by Paul McKesley: The Hind's Heart was a relic of Old Earth and an heirloom of the extinct Freeland family that once ruled the sector. For Bron Freeland, it was his birthright, and he would do anything to get it back, even stealing it from a heavily guarded Royal escort aboard a luxury cruiser. Every diamond has a price, though, and sneaking onto the Princess of the Night would turn out to be much easier than leaving it.
"Altered Egos," by Patrick Walts: A long-forgotten 1980s hard rock juggernaut stages a triumphant return to the limelight with an unexpected hit record and stadium tour. Is it the same band that dominated the charts in the decade of excess, or did imposters steal their thunder . . . and their profits."
"Keep it Burning Bright," by Alexander Hellene: Explorer Gan Swift has seen all the hidden, unknown places the world has to offer . . . except one. When his wife and daughter die a few years into his retirement, Gan decides to strike out for that one corner of the globe that's remained untouched. With nothing left to live for, Gan and his band of pioneers take off for one final adventure to where the ancient texts say it all began . . .
The Need
I'm looking to raise $2,000 for this project. The breakdown is as follows:
- $900 to pay my writers (I'm not taking a paycheck for this one)
- $800 for cover art by Manuel Guzman (LolosArt.com), the super-talented cover artist of my Swordbringer series.
- $300 for formatting
The Stretch Goals
For every $200 raised beyond the initial $2,000, the amazing Jesse White will provide an illustration for the book. Jesse is a wonderful artist who painted the cover for my book Dreamers & Misfits: The Definitive Book About Rush Fans.
Risks & Challenges
The biggest risk of this campaign not succeeding is this anthology not happening. I really want to pay my writers for their hard work, and if the campaign does not raise the funds sought, they'll either have to be paid less, or not at all . . . or out of my pocket, which would delay things further. This is to say nothing about the cover.
But I want to produce a high-quality, professional package FOR YOU, the reader, and also for posterity. We need to make as many cultural artifacts we can of new, original, and fresh works that capture the zeitgeist of the times. And have some fun doing it.
So please contribute, and if you can't, please spread the word. This is going to ROCK.
