"When I discovered
a handful of my dad's old, unused, green-cover composition books in my
basement as a kid, I guess I was just compelled to fill those blank, lined
pages with words.
That's how
it began. It became compulsory after my brother and a handful of
my peers, who
weren't exactly
friends, found one of these journals and read it aloud, with full intent
of making
fun of what
they read. The fact that they didn't, and actually liked what I wrote,
was the hook.
It was a
story featuring a couple of my own characters, but set in the universe
of that "little pulp
science-fiction
movie" that came out that summer of 1977. I think you know the one.
I've been
writing,
or at least attempting to, ever since. Even got a couple of college
degrees along the
way.
My influences
are wide and ranging. Comic books (especially the work of Alan Moore,
Frank
Miller and
pioneer Stan "the Man" Lee), movies such as the one above and far too many
role-playing
games all factor in. However, my biggest influences in the world
of fiction are
Edgar Rice
Burroughs (especially his John Carter of Mars series); Robert E. Howard
(Conan,
his many
pulp adventure stories); Fritz Leiber (Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, some
of his horror
work); Michael
Moorcock (Elric series, and the rest of his huge canon of fiction, particularly
Eternal Champion
stories); and of course, mythologist, world-builder and linguist J.R.R.
Tolkien.
Of late, pulp detective fiction writers such as Dashiell Hammet, Raymond
Chandler
and Rex Stout
have filled my reading hours. Of course, I've had a major taste of
literary "haute
couture"
such as Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dante, and many others, during the course
of my
education.
Pulp fiction
is an art form, too. One of entertainment, first, but also of concise prose,
exotic
adventure,
striking visuals and pulse-pounding action. I'm proud and flattered
to have my story
appear on
this site, which keeps this rich tradition alive. I hope to be able
to see more of my
stories appear
here in the near future. Thanks for reading."
Michael can be reached at MrvlsMK94@aol.com