MARK JUSTICE'S THE DEAD SHERIFF SAGA

 

ROB DAVIS TO ILLUSTRATE DEAD SHERIFF #4

Here's a sizzling scoop from Ron Fortier, regarding my upcoming, Airship 27 novel, "Mark Justice's The Dead Sheriff, Vol 4: Purity": The great Rob Davis will be rendering the illustrations!!! 

Davis has supplied artwork for the previous Dead Sheriff volumes, so I'm comforted that he'll continue the upstanding tradition for my contribution to Justice's weird and rambunctious mythology.  

This great news also further confirms "Dead Sheriff 4'"s ranking in the Airship 27 pipeline: i.e., it's bound to be released much sooner than later. Yippee Ki Yay!!! 

Keep checking "bizarrechats" for all "Dead Sheriff 4" updates.

MARK JUSTICE'S THE DEAD SHERIFF IV: INSPIRATIONS & INSINUATIONS

At this stage, I can't reveal much regarding my sequel to "Mark Justice's The Dead Sheriff", so as not to spoil it. (Incidentally, my contribution is the fourth in the series and subtitled, "Purity".)  I can only imagine what the illustrations and cover will look like; however, an art team will soon be assigned. (I added Boris Vallejo's creepy "Gunslinger" above, which I seized from a Ron Fortier update, just to give this entry extra pizzazz.) 

I can, however, reference my novel's inspirations at least, which include three movies.  

"Dead Sheriff 4'"s main movie inspiration is Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch", renown for its violent displays. However, I also tapped into Clint Eastwood's "High Plains Drifter" to raise the yarn's hellish quotient. 

My novel also includes some introspective, moral moments, which spring from William Wyler's Civil War/Quaker-life classic, "Friendly Persuasion".

Somewhere in this threefold mix, there even exists elements culled from the works of George A. Romero, John Russo, Sam Raimi and J.R.R. Tolkien, in addition to the obvious, established Dead Sheriff books. (One of my story's supporting characters is based on a fleeting, though memorable little girl from the monster-movie classic, "Them!", but more on her in a future post.)

Anyway, there's the warm-up gist of it. I promise to keep all in the loop with the novel's progression. Please do visit "bizarrechats" for updates. 

HOUSEL JOINS JUSTICE'S DEAD SHERIFF (VOL 4)

Well, folks, it's now official and set to hit print.  

Ron Fortier asked me to pen "Mark Justice's The Dead Sheriff, Vol IV" in August '19. I finished the first draft in January '20 and kept revising until May (on the last round, enlisting author, J. Dennis Papp), before submitting to Ron. Anyway, Ron has accepted my yarn, and now the novel will be given to Airship 27's production team. 

For those unaware, the Dead Sheriff is a cadaver animated through dark magic by an Indian named Sam, aka Cheveyo. The duo is accompanied by a Boston Globe journalist named Richard O'Malley, who documents the Dead Sheriff's exploits. The books are full of irreverent whimsy, creepy charm and flamboyant (though often dangerous) characters. 

I'm honored that Ron asked me to add to Justice's mythology. The task was daunting (in that I was afraid I might not do justice to Justice's characters, not to mention that Ron and Fred Adams' contributions to the saga are so damn good), but I'm happy that Ron is happy with the results. 

BTW: Vol IV is subtitled "Purity". (More on that later down the line.)

I'll be certain to keep readers updated on the publication's advancements. Stay tuned.