RAN'S LITERARY WORLDS
OTHER LITERARY INFORMATION
Publishing Record
The Trojan Sphynx |
Gretchen's Wood & Others
Gretchen�s Wood & Others is Ran�s debute Lovecraftian Horror collection published by Publish America. When Ran began writing Lovecraftian Horror, he followed the established conventions of the genre which included established settings. But with the mood and atmosphere to be found in the woods of southern Columbiana County and along the meandering path of Beaver Creek, it didn�t take Ran long to start writing �Columbiana County Lovecraftian Horror.� And that�s what this collection is � Lovecraftian Horror stories set in Columbiana County, Ohio.
The woods, rolling hills, and creek bottoms of Columbiana County have a breath taking natural beauty all their own. However, with local legends, ghost stories, or the early morning mist rising from the creeks, Ran says it doesn�t take much of a stretch of the imagination to see something more sinister. Especially when the sun starts to set.
Care to take a momentary stroll in Gretchen�s Wood? Here is one of the eleven stories...
Where it happens: Gretchen�s Wood & Others in Photos
Gretchen's Wood is currently available at:
Publish America (click on 'online bookstore')
LOVECRAFT'S DISCIPLES #1
The Adventures of Billy Space Boy & His Astro Dog, Zap!
In time The Revolving Nuclear Zoo expanded into Uncle Dave�s Revolving Nuclear Zoo Machine which was viewed as a humorous and offbeat Saturday Morning children�s television show. Since then, Billy Space Boy and other elements of The Revolving Nuclear Zoo have taken on a variety of different forms - a comedy television series (Ran wrote the first 24 page episode, including the hand drawn title page shown at left before Ran came to understand that hand drawn title pages were unacceptable), a planned collection of short stories, and a feature length motion picture screenplay.
Ran tells us that a little over a year ago he began plans to write a novelization of the Billy Space Boy screenplay. But Billy Space Boy would wait. Ran was in the middle of writing and rewriting Gretchen�s Wood. Now that Gretchen�s Wood is finished and in the hands of Publish America, The Adventures of Billy Space Boy and His Astro Dog, Zap! is again Ran�s # 1 priority. It�s been just over twenty years since Billy and The Revolving Nuclear Zoo were born. Perhaps soon they�ll explode upon the world stage in �a blazing glow of lethal radiation� (as Ran says).
Ran has provided us with three short sample chapters to include here and has emphasized that we understand these chapters are rough drafts and by no means the final versions.
Of Gods & Aliens
Ran tells us this collection is the intended companion volume to Gretchen�s Wood & Others. The stories contained in Of Gods & Aliens are Lovecraftian Horror, but none are set in Columbiana County. Two of the stories in this volume, �De Marigny�s Clock� and �Azathoth Awakening,� received Horror Writer�s Association (HWA) Bram Stoker Award recommendations.
Two thirds of the stories for this volume have been written. A few of them are rewritten versions of older stories that have previously been published online and/or in fan magazines. Some are newly written stories yet to be published, and a few are partially completed stories still to be finished.
The artwork at right was commissioned by Ran. It's entitled "Innsmouth Harvest" from the story of the same title, and was painted by Anita S Moore. The framed full size portrait measures 16x22 inches.
Here is one of them...
Tales of Darktowne
Tales of Darktowne is another of those incarnations with many variations. Ran said he started with an idea, about 15 years ago, involving crazy mutant people in a city who fed on people�s fears. Then it was feeding on people themselves. Originally it was meant to be a novel he called The Feeders.
Ran began to write individual stories for each of the main characters and found he�d amassed a small collection of short stories instead of a novel. The idea of a novel was shelved. Ran says he settled on a chapbook instead. Now it turns out it could be a series of chapbooks. There�s enough material (and more coming) for Tales of Darktowne, Tales of Darktowne II, and More Tales of Darktowne, for example. He says he also has a planned short story to introduce the entire series and a novella length story to bind it all together and bring it to a close.
For now, Ran has sent us these two sample stories �
A cover shot, and for those who wish to know the contents of Gretchen's Wood, the stories include:
THE HORROR OF ORGAN GRINDER ROAD
The Black Horror of Dungannon
Tommy�s Goat
The Horror of Organ Grinder Road
The House in the Woods
The Horror from the Sky
Dreaming in Darkness
The Calling of the Hounds
Summoning Tsathoggua
Gretchen�s Wood
The Highlandtown Lake Horror
Alder�s Rest
Amazon.com
Soon it will be popping up at Shocklines and elsewhere.
Rainfall Books has released the first in a serious of Lovecraftian chapbooks. LOVECRAFT'S DISCIPLES #1 was released in December 2005 and contains Ran�s story �A Fisherman�s Tale.�
Ran tells us that The Adventures of Billy Space Boy and His Astro Dog, Zap! was originally developed in the early 1980s while he was living and working in England. Billy Space Boy was a small part of a larger concept that Ran and co-workers referred to as "The Revolving Nuclear Zoo" � a collection of jokes and humorous ideas developed for the "fun" of it.
CHAPTER 1 - A Dastardly Kidnap Plot
CHAPTER 2 - Uncle Dave's Revolving Nuclear Zoo Machine
CHAPTER 4 - The Coolest Mutt in the Universe
Ran has planned 13 stories for this volume. They are:
The Dark One Comes
Azathoth Awakening
Arkham Shadows
A Fisherman�s Tale
Innsmouth Harvest
Y'ha-nthlei Rising
De Marigny�s Clock
The Scuttler in the Dark
Return to the Mountains of Madness
Inheritance
A Festival of Winds
The High Priest
Of Gods & Aliens
AZATHOTH AWAKENING
UPDATE: As noted on the intro page, three of Ran's Darktowne stories will be published in chapbook form by Naked Snake Press.
CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT
SEX, DRUGS, & SIREN'S SONGS
