The Golden Age Of Pulp Fiction & The New Pulp Movement
The influence and inspiration of the Golden Age of Fiction of the 1930s and 1940s
, where literary giants like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Walter B. Gibson and L. Ron Hubbard headlined the popular pulp fiction magazines of the day can still be felt today. While we have movie franchises like Indiana Jones, and Disney bringing John Carter to life on the silver screen, we also have a new literary movement, called "new Pulp Fiction" which is rapidly garnering fame.
To give us the story behind New Pulp Fiction and what the future holds for it, The Golden Gazette News recently interviewed Tommy Hancock, who in addition to being the publisher for Pro Se Productions, is a "new Pulp" writer himself and an editor at Moonstone books.
GGN: Please briefly describe for our readers what "new Pulp" is and how it is influenced by the pulp fiction from 1930s and 1940s.
TH: The answer to the first part of this question can get complicated. Basically any story that is clearly based on characters or archetypes made popular or created within the Pulps during their heyday or written plainly the style of the classic stories can be considered new Pulp. There's a growing number of writers and publishers, however, who discuss and debate this topic on a fairly regular basis. Some of them, myself included, have even united under a banner of sorts-The New Pulp Movement. Many of us that promote New Pulp look at New Pulp as essentially being plot focused storytelling with rich, clearly defined characters and fast pacing. That's a short answer and of course there are always exceptions, but that's the general thumbnail description I use.
The second part of the question is quite easy to answer. Not only is Pulp written today influenced by the legendary stories, characters, and Pulp creators of the early 20th Century, a lot of it is inspired, either directly or indirectly by that wealth of wonderful, fantastic fiction produced in that period. Many of the modern artists and writers trying their hand at Pulp today grew up reading the adventures of Doc Savage, being haunted at night by Lovecraft's nightmares, finding their own barbarian courage thanks to Robert E. Howard and Conan, and so much more. As we got older, we discovered the world beyond the characters and found how fascinating the people who wrote the stories and the history of Pulp itself was. All of that tangled together has given the world today a whole crop of creators who recognize the roots of what they now aspire to do. Not only are writers today writing classic characters like Doc Savage and The Spider and breathing new life into them, many creators are bringing original creations into existence, but many of these new heroes and villains have their feet planted firmly in the inspirations Classic Pulp has provided.
Tommy Hancock and his new pulp story, "Yesteryear".
GGN: You mention that Pulp Fiction is experiencing a resurgence-how did this affect the formation of Pro Se Productions?
TH: A couple of things contributed both to the resurgence or renaissance of Pulp as many have called it and to Pro Se as well. First, Pulp never really went away. It sort of graduated out of being just a medium and became in many ways a style or method of storytelling all its own. It transcended from the printed page to radio and even to films while Pulps were still popular and then on to Television beyond that.
What has happened, though, to cause the resurgence has to do with the simplicity of modern Publishing now. Thanks to Print on Demand companies as well as the development of eBooks and the general proliferation of the internet, writers, artists, and publishers interested in creating what has often been considered a niche fiction or even ignored by many can now get their Pulp stories out to a larger audience. People never stopped writing Pulp, even after the magazines passed on. Stories were printed in Fanzines and mailed even back and forth between fans. Today we have the facilities and technology to go to the next level and put out books and function as real publishers. That's where Pro Se stepped into the revolution.
I have aspired to be a Pulp writer as long as I wanted to write. That combined with the modern ways of publishing leading to several companies popping up looking for New Pulp tales led to my partner and I turning Pro Se toward New Pulp and making our name in the resurgence.
GGN: What formats are you releasing the new Pulp fiction in? Magazine format? eBook format?
TH: We are producing a monthly magazine in digest (5x8) format. Pro Se Presents contains usually 2-5 stories and runs around 80 pages a month. It's a mixed genre magazine, but all Pulp! You'll see mysteries, horror, fantasy, and straight up adventure.
Pro Se got into New Pulp originally as a magazine producer, but then stopped that for awhile before returning to it with Pro Se Presents 8 months ago. When we stopped that first run of magazines, we began producing novels and anthologies (6x9). Like our magazines, our books cover a wide variety of New Pulp, so much so that we now have two Author Imprints (Reese Unlimited and Hansen's Way) as well as a really cool line called Pulp Obscura. All of our print books and magazines are formatted and designed by Sean Ali, one of the best and most dynamic designers in New Pulp today.
As for eBooks, I am glad to say, thanks to the diligent and awesome work of our eBook Designer, Russ Anderson, Pro Se also has many titles available in eBook format. All of our new titles now as they come out are put out as eBooks within days usually of their print version debuting. We're also nearly caught up with our existing catalog as well. The titles we have available as eBbooks are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.
GGN: For anyone new to pulp fiction, what resources would you recommend they go to in order to get steeped in the general history of the subject?
Believe it or not, a major part of the Pulp Renaissance has more to do with Classic Pulp than it does New Pulp. So many publishers, like Altus Press, are producing reprints of the classic stories from Pulp's Golden Age. In addition to what Galaxy Press is doing with the L. Ron Hubbard reprints, and the work of Adventure House, there are a ton of companies I could list, but a great resource is Bill Thom's Pulp news site, Coming Attractions at www.pulpcomingattractions.com.
Even companies you wouldn't associate directly with Pulp upon hearing their names are getting into the Pulp game. Radio Archives (www.radioarchives.com) , known for years as a producer of quality collections of restored old time radio shows, has made major moves in the last year to become a provider of Pulp reprints, Classic Pulp tales in eBook format, and Audiobooks of Classic Pulp stories.
by: Lee Barwood
Some Of You May Be Wondering If The Energy Crisis Actually Exists Using Pr To Win New Business In The Recession Android Mobile Phone Accessories Making A New Era In The Mobile World Soap Nuts: A New Innovation Using A Business Loan To Fund A New Marketing Campaign Soccer, The New Religion China Welcome Your Investing New-energy Sector Nimbus Palm Village : The New Variety Of Villages Energy Band - To Transform Your Body And Mind Do Up Your Old Home With New Cables Latest Bollywood Movies - Creating New Waves And Themes For Audiences Air Tickets To New Zealand For Joyous Beach Holidays Futuristic School: Meeting New Age Educational Needs