Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, with more than 30 million books sold, writer Dean Wesley Smith published far more than a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds of short stories across many genres.

At the moment he produces novels in several major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the Old West, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, a superhero series starring Poker Boy, a mystery series featuring the retired detectives of the Cold Poker Gang, and the Mary Jo Assassin series.

His monthly magazine, Smith's Monthly, which consists of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and offers readers more than 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.

During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, he wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.

He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.

Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing, where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as series editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series.

For more information about Dean's books and ongoing projects, please visit his website at www.deanwesleysmith.com.

Run!! Creatures, Critters, and Pulphousers… edited by Dean Wesley Smith

Take your wildest imagination, and you might just come up with a Pulphouser: a rare creature only found on the pages of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine.

Add in some more strange creatures and critters, and you might just find yourself running—straight to your favorite chair to dive into the ten stories in this wacky volume!

So, welcome to the Pulphouse Zone, with an abundance of creatures and critters that only exist in Pulphouse.

Includes:
"Blackbeard's Aliens" by Robert Jeschonek
"Vamp until Doomsday" by Stefon Mears
"The Injustice Collector" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
"Dog Steps" by Rob Vagle
"For the Love of Killer" by Mary Jo Rabe
"Dog People" by Robert J. McCarter
"The Poodles of Panama" by Kent Patterson
"The True Story of Stanley and Stella" by Johanna Rothman
"Starlings" by Jerry Oltion
"Brick Houses" by Annie Reed

CURATOR'S NOTE

I've mentioned throughout these introductions that the writers here have skewed or unusual perspectives. But nothing compares to the strangeness you'll find in this anthology from Pulphouse: Fiction Magazine. Even the creature on the cover is slightly off. Maybe it's the Pulphouser mentioned in the title. Or maybe it's just one of those tiny critters with big jagged pointy teeth… – Kristine Kathryn Rusch

 
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

Blackbeard's Aliens

ROBERT JESCHONEK

Robert Jeschonek's stories just shout Pulphouse in so many ways. In this original story, he proves just that by combining Blackbeard and aliens. Enjoy.

—

Fire!" I have been called a Gentleman Pirate, and oft enough, the name suits. But on a day like this, Stede Bonnet is all pirate and no gentleman.

No sooner has the order to fire left my lips than the port side guns of the Adventure blast out their loads in clouds of roiling black smoke. Five iron balls leap through the air, heading straight for their target—a huge silver disk hovering thirty feet above the water.

Twin beams of red light flash out from the rim of the disk, burning two of the cannonballs into wisps of steam. But the other three make it through. They don't penetrate the hull of the silver disk as I had hoped, but they do make it rock in midair.

Take that, you hellspawn. "Reload!" I shout, though I know the men have already done just that. We are united in perfect rhythm after all our many battles as part of this fearsome flotilla. Our leader, much as I despise him, has taught us that.

Even now, not half a league away, I hear the guns of his personal flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, pound away at a larger target—another hovering object, this one triangular in shape. I don't have to look to know his banner yet flies from the mainmast, rippling in the Caribbean breeze.

There is no other flag like it: a field of black, with a skeletal, horned demon raising a toast to Satan whilst piercing a heart with a spear. All this time, I thought it was merely a symbol of evil designed to strike fear in the hearts of seagoing foes. And, for me, a personal symbol of a man I loathed, a pirate who'd taken everything from me and pressed me into service in his infamous fleet.

Little did I know it was a declaration of war on an unearthly enemy. Little did I dream, until recently, that Blackbeard had much more on his mind than wealth and power.

"Fire!" This time, the booms of the cannon begin before I cry out the word. It's not insubordination; the men know we must press the attack hard and fast.

But not one single ball connects with the target. This is because our one target has become many. The disk has split into twenty silver wedges, each leaping out of range of our guns.

And then streaking toward us like arrows from a brace of archers.

Raising the spyglass to my eye, I see spots of glowing light flare to life on the point of each wedge. The light is red, like the deadly beams that shot forth from the undivided disk a moment ago.

Their purpose is clear to me.

"Fight for your lives!" I pocket the spyglass and swing up my saber and pistol as I call out over the noise on deck. "Send 'em back to hell before they do the same to you!"