"Dead Reckoning" Character Interview

     As with the "Kaishaku" character interview on Monday, this interview was only previously posted on the Musa Publishing blog.  And for those just tuning in, today and tomorrow are the only remaining days to purchase both "Dead Reckoning" and "Kaishaku," for the foreseeable future, as Musa Publishing is closing.

      Character Interview—Kurt Minnifield from “Dead Reckoning”

Q: Why do you think Paul Stansfield chose you to represent “Dead Reckoning?”

A:  Because I was one of the ones in the thick of everything, I guess.  I was both victim and victimizer, you could say.  Plus my dashing good looks and charm don’t hurt either! (Laughs).

Q:  Tell us a little about yourself.

A:  I come from a small town in western New York state, called Warsaw.  Graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a degree in communications—meaning I was prepared for nothing, basically! (Laughs)  Took a job at a local theater building sets, and filled in for a sick actor once, and got hooked.  I was never one of those Method types, though—they often take things too far.  At the end of the day, you’re still pretending, no matter how much preparation you’ve done.

Q:  Where do you live?

A:  After the events of the story I relocated to the Pacific Northwest.  I won’t say where, because I’m sick of talking to reporters (this one interview excepted).  I really like it—it’s beautiful, and the people are laid back, cool, and tolerant, even to fictitious people.  Although the time zone is a bit of a bitch.  NFL games starting at 10 A.M?  Outrageous!

Q:  What do you wish people would know about you?

A: Mainly, no matter what I and some of the others did--and some of it, let’s face it, was dreadful—we had good reasons.  I think anyone would have responded in a similar way.

Q:  Is there anything that you wish Paul Stansfield had kept his mouth shut about?

A:  Looking back on it, I’m aware of how much I criticized other characters, was kind of negative at times.  But I did say, and think these things, so I can only blame myself.  But otherwise I thought it was fair—it gave every side a chance to explain themselves, in a way.

Q:  When were you born

A:  1986.  And my parents looked the part in the photos of me as a wee kid.  Big hair, parachute pants, I tease them a lot about it.

Q:  What music do you listen to?

A:  Classic rock, some punk and hardcore, old school rap, and as a guilty pleasure—a little disco.  So bandwise, my favorites are The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Run DMC, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, The Sex Pistols, The Misfits, GWAR, and The Village People.

Q:  Where have we seen you before?

A:  Nowhere, unless you took in New Paltz theater productions.  Or a foot fungus commercial.  Or a video for the worst hair band I ever had the misfortune to hear.  Wolf Blade?  Wolf Sword?  Something awful and ridiculously cliché like that.  Even with the idiotic “umlauts for decoration, not actual pronunciation” crap.  Because we can all agree that punctuation makes you a badass, right?

Q:  What is your perfect evening?

A:  An abandoned roller rink, a case of Mad Dog 20/20, and a giraffe!  No, just kidding.  A small gathering of close friends, a barbeque, and later, a Wes Anderson movie.

Q:  What is your favorite sports team?

A:  The Buffalo Bills, baby!  Alas, I was too young to see them much during their sort of heyday in the early 90’s.  Although my parents said I cried for weeks after fucking Norwood missed that field goal…

Q:  What are your biggest fears?

A:  Clowns, velvet, and commitment! (Laughs).  No, probably it’s that I ever have to go through something like the “Dead Reckoning” events again.

Q:  Why should readers be interested in your story?

A:  Because it’s the most comprehensive account of a really fucked up situation.  And maybe as a warning, to show how tiny mistakes can mushroom into disaster.

Q:  What are your turn ons?  Turn offs?

A:  Jeez, what is this, a Playboy Centerfold interview?  Next question.

Q:  What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

A:  Mint chocolate chip.  I’m green all the way!

Q:  Will we be seeing more of you, or are you stepping out of the limelight?

A:  Emphatically stepping out of the limelight.  My five minutes of fame felt like a century.  More than enough for me, thanks.

Blurb and Excerpt for "Dead Reckoning"

     Continuing my review of my Musa Publishing ebooks, here are the blurb and excerpt for "Dead Reckoning."       

 Dead Reckoning blurb:

      Kurt Minnifield is a fledging actor playing a zombie in a low budget horror movie.  The director and crew decide to move their shooting to lovely and isolated Watkins State Park… only they don’t get proper permission.

     Victor Newsome is a thirteen year old trying to both shed his nerdy image and learn outdoor skills at a special survival camp.  After teaching the boys how to make shelter and kill their own food, the counselors decide to take a day trip to the neighboring state park—Watkins.

     A series of ethical lapses, poor decisions, and bad luck lead to a colossal misunderstanding.  Violence erupts as both sides fight desperately against a dangerous set of foes.  Who will be more savage—the literal “monsters,” or the boys equipped with deadly weapons, and the knowledge of how to use them?

Dead Reckoning excerpt:

     Kurt struggled to catch up as the unknown actor continued to track the other zombies.  Now he saw that the other actors must have seen or heard the guy—they’d turned around and were advancing on him.  The guy wasn’t Chris, or Rickey, or Gene, either, this was definitely some new actor.  So what happens now?  No one had any special effects things on that he could see, so unless this man ran away the unscripted, natural shooting was over.

     The actor wasn’t fleeing.  He raised his gun and aimed it at the zombie in front, Will.  His hand shook for a second, and then he fired.

     The crack of the shot was loud, and Kurt nearly fell over in shock.  That was no blank!  That sounded real!  What the fuck?  And then he turned his head to look at Will.  Blood was running from a hole in his chest.  Kurt gasped.  Will had been the last zombie to be made up before Kurt—he was positive that T.J. hadn’t put any squibs on him.

     Will had stopped, and his zombie claws went to the wound, and he stared at the hole wonderingly.  The zombies nearest him—Tabby, Henry, and Ed, all dropped their arms down and were staring at Will too, and then back at the mystery man with astonished expressions on their faces.

     The guy hesitated, and then raised his gun a little, and fired again.  There was a second boom, and then Will’s eye broke up, followed almost immediately by the back of his head.  Blood, and pieces of whitish skull and grayish brains splattered out, onto the forest floor, and even slightly on Tabby’s arm.  Will fell on his side with a strange gurgling sound.

     Holy Shit! thought Kurt.  That was no squib either.  This was real!  This guy is psycho!  He watched as Tabby took off, into the bushes to the side of the clearing.  Henry and Ed crouched by Will’s body, and struggled to communicate with the alien assassin.  They waved their arms wildly, trying to signal “Stop” with their palms held up.  Their grunting was noticeably louder, but still inarticulate.  Kurt started to walk across the clearing to join the group.

     The armed man paused a moment more, and then aimed once again.  The two zombies tried to duck behind Will’s slumped corpse.  Two shots whined past, and then a third hit Henry in the shoulder.  Just then he whirled in Kurt’s direction and fired again, just as Kurt threw up his hands.  As soon as the gunman turned, Ed and Henry were in the bushes right behind Tabby.

     Fire rushed through Kurt’s left hand, just above the wrist.  He groaned as he saw blood, and tendons, and even bone through the hole in his mangled hand.  He dove to the ground, just as another bullet hit a tree right where his head had been.  And then he was gone, tearing through the bushes and trees almost without looking.

     The man trotted up to Will’s body, and kicked at it curiously.  He looked briefly at the spot where the hand-shot zombie had disappeared, and then he turned back and went after the first three zombies.

     It hadn’t been thirty seconds when the first fly landed on Will’s destroyed head, took off, and then landed again.  Soon a large crowd of them was jockeying for a prime position.

     

    

   

  

                                                  

      

    

   

Kaishaku Character Interview

    As I mentioned in Saturdays's post, my ebook publisher, Musa Publishing, is closing soon, on February 28th.  Therefore, I'm posting all week about those two ebooks.  Musa is having a sale on all books, too--everything is 80% off.  So "Dead Reckoning" is down to 60 cents, and "Kaishaku" is now 40 cents to buy.           

Character Interview—Dustin Dempster from Kaishaku

Q: Why do you think Paul Stansfield chose you to represent Kaishaku?

A:  Because he had no other choice.  There are two major characters in the story, and Levon sure the hell wouldn’t agree to talk.

Q:  Tell us a little about yourself.

A:  I’ve lived in Oregon all of my life, and went to school here, too.  I’m a junior executive at a software company.  My girlfriend’s name is Jenny, and she manages a bar/restaurant.

Q:  What drew you to the area?

A:  I’ve stayed in the Portland area because all of my friends and family are here, and I was able to find a good job, too.  Why leave?

Q:  What do you wish people would know about you?

A: I’ve taken a lot of heat about the DUI.  I wish people would understand that while I admit to being at fault ultimately, I was also a victim of a string of coincidences and bad luck.  Plus I did my time, so to speak—lots of trash picked up, grunt work done at the hospital, and with the counseling detailed in the book.

Q:  Is there anything that you wish Paul Stansfield had kept his mouth shut about?

A:  Yeah, like the whole book!  He paints me as being…obsessive and weird.  Which I’m not—I’m a normal guy.  And I’m worried about the last part of the story, from a possible legal and ethical standpoint.

Q:  When were you born?

A:  April 22, 1978.  Gen X, I guess.  Not that I buy into all the generational crap.

Q:  Since your story deals with a killer, tell us about some killers who you think most people don’t know about.

A:  Well, there’s Richard Kuklinski, “The Iceman.”  He was a free lance killer for several NY mob families, as well as on his own, and he very well may have slaughtered over 100 people.  His specialty was tying up victims in a cave, where they’d be devoured by rats, while being filmed.  Or the Gonzalez sisters—Maria de Jesus, Delfina, Maria Louise, and Carmen.  They ran a brothel in San Francisco del Rincon, Guanajuato, Mexico, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and killed over 90 people, mostly prostitutes who got sick or old.  Or there’s noted rapist killer Carl Panzram—the unrepentant killer.  His last words to the executioner were, “Hurry it up, you Hoosier bastard!  I could kill ten men while you’re fooling around.”  I guess he had an important appointment in hell!

Q:  Where have we seen you before?

A:  You haven’t.  This is my first appearance.

Q:  What is your perfect evening?

A:  Probably a night out with friends, bowling or at a bar, then some Q.T. with the lady at home.

Q:  What is your favorite sports team?

A:  I don’t follow other people playing sports.  So my favorite teams were ones I was on—baseball as a kid, and basketball and track in high school.

Q:  What are your biggest fears?

A:  You’re baiting me—you want me to say the obvious, that Levon’s story affected me.  Well, it didn’t!  I’m fine.  So I’ll say my fear are…clowns and having my apartment broken into.

Q:  Why should readers be interested in your story?

A:  It’s entertaining, I suppose, and disturbing, even if Stansfield didn’t always get his facts straight.

Q:  What are your turn ons?  Turn offs?

A:  Turn ons…Jenny, reading, and exercising.  Turn offs… liars and blabbermouths.

Q:  What is the most effective movie about a killer you’ve seen?

A:  Probably Henry:  Portrait of a Serial Killer.  Even if the real life basis for the story, Henry Lee Lucas, had his exploits wildly exaggerated.  Talk about showing the banality of evil—it seems like you’re watching a documentary.  Much more effective than most of the glitzy, big budget movies.  The Silence of the Lambs was also excellent.

Q:  Will we be seeing more of you, or are you stepping out of the limelight?

A:  You might, but I think next time I’ll write about myself.  I’ll have control about what’s written, not slant it so that people get the wrong idea.

Sad News and Kaishaku Blurb/Excerpt

     I have an unfortunate announcement to make today.  The publisher of my two ebooks, Musa Publishing, is closing soon. Their last day of operations is a week from now, Februrary 28th, 2015.
     Therefore, until then my blog will be a farewell tour for all things Musa, and in particular, information about my ebooks with them.  I plan to market my Musa ebooks with other publishers, but because they would then be reprints this lowers the chances of them being accepted again.  And, even if they are, it might be some time before they are (possibly) re-edited, have a new cover chosen, and are available for sale once more.  So, in effect, if you have any interest in reading either "Dead Reckoning" or "Kaishaku" in the foreseeable future, you have until February 28th to buy them.  They can be found at the Musa website (www.musapublishing.com) or on Amazon (www.amazon.com).
     I'll start today with the blurb and excerpt for "Kaishaku."  Over the next few days I'll be reposting the blurb/excerpt for "Dead Reckoning," as well as posting the character interviews for both books.  These character interviews were previously only up on the Musa blog, and were a fun writing exercise.  It was neat to do an interview as a fictional character, even for "people" who are disturbing and rather unpleasant.  As usual, the book covers for both ebooks are visible on the right side of this blog.

  Kaishaku Blurb:

     After receiving a DUI, Dustin Dempster is working off some community service hours at a hospital.  While there he’s asked to do some amateur counseling of sometimes difficult patients.  He thinks this a waste of time, but he reluctantly agrees.

     One of these difficult patients is Levon Howard, a man paralyzed from the neck down because of a car accident.  He’s initially uncooperative, but after being charmed by Dustin’s brutal honesty and willingness to break some small hospital rules, he agrees to participate.  Soon he’s revealing his biggest secrets to Dustin…

     For Levon is an obsessed and unrepentant killer of the worst sort, only with a personal quirk.  Despite his revulsion, Dustin finds himself intrigued by Levon’s story.  Soon he finds himself doing what was once unthinkable, and realizes that he’s being affected by what he’s learned.  Will Howard’s madness claim yet another victim, or even another perpetuator?

Kaishaku Excerpt:

     Dustin pulled up his chair, and listened intently.

     “For starters, my name is Levon, so call me that.  Not big on ‘Mr. Howard.’  Fort is right in a way—I do want to talk.  Just not to someone like him, or his flunkies, or a nurse.  What I’m going to tell you I’ve never told anyone—but I figure, why not?  My life—my real life—is over.

     “You never told anyone?  Why not?”

     “Shut up and listen!  You’ll see.  But anyway, the most important thing in my life is that I’m obsessed with killing.  With a catch—I’m not a murderer.  I’ve never been arrested, never went to jail, and never even broke the law.”

     Levon paused to catch his breath, and Dustin just stared at him, and resisted the urge to laugh.  Come on!  This guy’s gotta be fucking with me!  Or was he?  He looked pretty sincere—could he be serious?  Maybe he would have been better off not talking to him.  But, on the other hand, Levon could hardly attack him even if he wanted to, and besides, Dustin was a little curious.  So he waited for the paralyzed man to resume.

   

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Sapota, With an Aside About Aphrodisiacs

     Sapota is a fruit originally native to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.  In more recent times, its cultivation has expanded into other tropical areas, including Southern Florida.  The can I bought noted it was a product of Thailand, so obviously it’s also grown in parts of Southeast Asia.

     It’s eaten in many formats.  Raw, or processed into ice cream, fruit bars, shakes, smoothies, jellies, and marmalades.  Sapota is quite nutritious, too—it is a significant source of riboflavin, niacin, Vitamins E, C, and B6, manganese, fiber, and potassium.

     As the title of this post suggests, sapota is also allegedly an aphrodisiac, or a substance that, after being consumed, causes a marked increase in a person’s libido.  Some of these are also reported to help with impotence, and not just sexual desire—the distinction is sometimes blurred.  Sapota has a lot of company in this category.  The following is a list of food items reported to also have this stimulating effect; oysters, chocolate, watermelon, ambergris, tiger penis, deer penis/antler, rhino horn, salamander brandy and Spanish Fly.  Also the following plants/herbs:  Epimedium grandiflorum (aka horny goat weed(!)), Labissa pumila, ginseng, ginkgo biloba,  Lepidium meyenii (Peruvian ginseng), Mucuna pruiens, Socratea exorrhiza, Tribulus terrestris, Turnera diffusa, and Eurycoma longifolia.

     Ambergris is a waxy substance produced in sperm whale’s digestive tracts, believed to be the coating around irritating giant squid beaks.  It’s either vomited, or defecated out of the whale.  It’s an incredibly valuable substance, long used in incense and perfumes.  (And now illegal to possess/harvest in many countries given the sperm whale’s endangered status.)  Labissa pumila is slightly unusual, in that it’s believed to increase the libido of women—most of these other foods, in our male-centric world, are thought to only work for the guys.  The harvesting of the deer penis is particularly horrifying, in that proponents sometimes contend that to work the removal has to happen while the deer is still alive.  Clearly, as even casual readers of this blog could figure out, I’m not in PETA or the like, but dismembering an animal while it’s still alive seems unforgivably cruel.  (Even more so, when you factor in that it doesn’t actually do what they claim.)  The infamous Spanish Fly is a misnomer, as it’s actually from a type of blister beetle.  A chemical in the beetle, cantharidin, can produce an irritation in the genitals, which can mimic sexual excitement.  But since this is usually painful and uncomfortable, this seems rather dubious.  Also, it’s easy to overdose on it, as the Marquis de Sade found out, when force feeding it to a prostitute resulted in her vomiting black gunk for a while, and nearly dying.  The salamander brandy is potentially disturbing as well.  This Slovenian drink uses actual salamanders, which are thrown in and boiled to death, causing their excretions to infuse the brandy.  Reported effects include hallucinations and extreme increase in libido.  With a weird twist—allegedly drinkers maybe be uncontrollably attracted to random people, or even animals, plants, or trees, and/or may develop/reveal various other odd fetishes.

     But, to throw a metaphoric bucket of cold water on everything, all of these so called aphrodisiacs are probably bunk.  Some have shown some type of promise in scientific studies, but none has been conclusively shown to be an effective aphrodisiac for humans.  If there’s any noticeable result, it’s almost certainly only a placebo effect.  This isn’t such a big deal with say, eating watermelons, but since some of these involve extreme cruelty (the deer penis), or are of endangered animals (tigers, sperm whales, rhinos) the pursuit of aphrodisiacs is sometimes a tragic waste of time, lives, and effort.  Especially when there are medicines, like Viagra, that are proven to help out impotence in men.  There are real aphrodisiacs, but most of these are synthetic, or have serious drawbacks.  Testosterone can be effective for both men and women, but not always, and not without other possible health issues.  Melanotin II and Bremelanotide are two synthetic compounds which have shown promise in this way, too.  Various phenylethylamines may be aphrodisiacs, too, and some of these are found in plants and animals, or can be synthesized from them.  One of these, methamphetamine, of course has extreme health downsides, alas.  A chemical in crocuses and gardenias, crocin, has shown aphrodisiac qualities in male rats, in high doses.

     But back to the actual fruit.  As I mentioned, I had sapota in a can.  The fruit had a reddish-orange flesh, and each was about the size of a plum.  It had an apple-like texture, kind of mealy.  The flavor wasn’t very sweet.  At first, I was unimpressed, but it did kind of grow on me after a few more pieces.  Overall it was okay—neither great nor terrible.  I might have it again, if the price wasn’t too high.  And, to answer the question that probably no one is asking, I didn’t notice any particular aphrodisiac effects afterwards.

     On that note, I am sort of frightened by/intrigued by the Slovenian salamander brandy.  Don’t know if it’s even legal in this country—but I probably would give it a cautious try if I can locate it.  Although, to paraphrase a Dave Atell bit, I think if I did I’d be sure to drink it with “a friend who can keep a secret.”  Or maybe to hedge my bets even further, try it alone, in a room without plants, animals, or any inanimate objects in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Various Asian Soft Drinks

     I was originally going to call this post, “Various Korean Soft Drinks,” since I purchased them at a Korean grocery (the same one where I got the dandelion dish, see January 12, 2015 post).  But, once I got them back, and read the labels more carefully, I realized I couldn’t, as four out of five were from other Asian countries.  So here we are.  I’ll start with some info about some of the companies that put out the drinks, and include my reviews near the end.

     Calpico is a Japanese company.  Its name in Japan, and most non-English speaking countries, is Calpis, based on a mixing of the (English) word calcium, and the Sanskrit word for butter flavor (sarpis).  My American import bottle has the name change because the manufacturers figured a beverage which sounded like “cow piss” wouldn’t be that appetizing.  Their logo is rather new, too, as one of their older ones was considered to be an offensive racist caricature.  Their basic drink flavor is modeled after the Mongolian traditional cultured milk drink, called airag.

     Yeo, meanwhile, is a Malaysian company, which is super big.  They have licenses to produce all the Pepsi sodas, as well as Gatorade and Red Bull.  Additionally, the company makes a large chunk of its money from investment holdings, and housing construction.

     Ramune is another Japanese company.  Its drinks are mostly distinctive for their unusual bottle design.  It’s a Codd-neck bottle, which was developed by an Englishman, Hiram Codd, back in 1872.  It has a bizarre twisted top, which has a chamber with a glass marble in it.  Evidently, collectors find obtaining the bottles to be a challenge, as kids often break the bottles to get the marble.  Ramune has been available in over 30 flavors, including champagne, chocolate, corn potage (!), Disco Dance, octopus, wasabi, and “mystery.”

     Lotte Chilsung is actually a South Korean company.  Back in the late 1980’s Hong Kong movie star Chow Yun-fat was in a famous commercial for their Milkis drink, saying, “Saranghaeyo, Milkis!” (“I love you, Milkis!”).

     As usual, I’m using the U.S. scholastic grading system, of “A” for excellent, “B” for good, “C” for average, “D” for unsatisfactory but passing, and “F” for failing, with pluses and minuses as needed.

Calpico, non-carbonated, original flavor:  D.  Weak, sort of lemon-y, not good.  Bland, not worth it.  Slogan is, “Refreshingly sweet and tangy,” but I didn’t find this to be so.

Yeo’s White Gourd Drink (with real white gourd juice) non-carbonated:  D+.  Weird.  Sweet, but thin.  Better than Calpico, but still not very good.

Ramune’s, carbonated, peach flavor:  Does taste like peach, but weak and bland again.  The bottle, though, is really cool—I’m going to save it as a souvenir.

Foco Sugar Cane Juice (non-carbonated, made in Thailand):  C-.  Oddly oily, sweet but not overwhelmingly so.  Alright, but not great.

Lotte Milkis, carbonated, milk and yogurt flavor:  B-.  Hard flavor to pin down—almost more lemon-y than yogurt or milk flavored.  Slightly sour.  Not bad.  Best of the bunch by far. 

Summing up then, I wasn’t impressed with Asian soft drinks in general.  I found most of them to be rather boring and weak tasting.  None were truly awful, but I think I’d only consider buying the Lotte Milkis again.  Granted, this may be a cultural difference.  Perhaps American palates, like mine, are used to the (evidently) sweeter soft drinks we commonly have here.  It wouldn’t surprise me to hear that Asian drinkers of American soft drinks find them to be unpleasant, and too sweet.  But, even recognizing this possible cultural difference doesn’t change my taste buds, of course, so these were my impressions.  And, clearly, I would try still try other Asian sodas if/when I get the chance.

     Speaking of cultural differences, I looked up the details on a story I’d first read in a Dave Barry column years ago.  He’d heard that the Pepsi slogan, “Come alive with the Pepsi generation,” was translated into, “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead,” in Chinese.  And that “Coca-Cola” was rendered, again in Chinese, into “Bite the wax tadpole.”  Alas, both are urban legends (as I guess any Chinese readers can attest).  Apparently, using Chinese characters to represent the sounds of these names or slogans could have resulted in these (mis)translations, but the companies did enough research and didn’t actually use these.  Some individual shop owners may have used these phonetic translations on signs (which also could have resulted in “Coca-Cola” being “female horse stuffed with wax,”) but the official company slogan was changed to characters which spelled out, “let your mouth rejoice.”  The full story kind of ruins the fun, doesn’t it?  But unfortunately we don’t have these morbid or oddly random, yet almost poetic slogans.  And no “cow piss,” even.

   

Creature Stew Now Available

     I'm happy to announce that "Creature Stew," the horror anthology from Papa Bear Press, is now available.  As I mentioned in previous posts, this contains one of my stories, "The Existence Mezzanine," which is a tale about some unusual, vicious zombies.  You can find it on Amazon (www.amazon.com, obviously).  The Kindle edition is 119 pages, and can be yours for $2.99.  A book blurb is below.

     Looking for a fresh dose of rampaging, brain-eating zombies to fill your night with terror?  Or how about a killer catfish the size of a Honda that can churn a man into mush?  If you're searching for a good scare, this selection of eighteen terrifying short stories from talented newcomers and seasoned veteran authors will keep you engrossed.  Dish out a portion of Creature Stew!  Authors include C.C. Adams, Kate Bowen, Shenoa Carroll-Bradd, Michael Clark, Dave Dormer, Marc Ferris, Tom Folske, Ken Goldman, Daniel Hale, Robert Hart, Tessa Hatheway, Calypso Kane, Matthew Smallwood, Chad Stroup, D.S.Ullery, Matthew Weber, and E.S. Wynn.


    I'd like to thank my talented co-authors, and of course the staff at Papa Bear Press--President/Managing Editor Michael S. Collins, and CEO Steve Erickson.