James Beach

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Nonfiction and More

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A Eulogy for Steve Ditko

I recently had the privilege of attending an interview with George R. R. Martin. Near the end of the interview session, Martin discussed the great and recently deceased comic book artist Steve Ditko. Just like  the late great Jack Kirby, his fantastic visions shaped characters and gave us amazing vistas to consider. His Dr. Strange was pure psychedelic wonder. A man with a truly unique vision, even down to functional details like creating the corner box.

As his career advanced, he appeared to come under the influence of an ideological disease: objectivism, the formalized ideology of Ayn Rand. Whatever one’s take on objectivism, Ditko’s interpretation did not seem to serve him well. It apparently led him to increasing difficulties in compromising, which made him less able to actively collaborate with others. This seriously affected him and his career, causing him to leave very successful characters that he created behind and making new opportunities for work increasingly scarce.

I think it’s fair to consider this a lesson for all artists, about being able to bend. No one likes to compromise, but to a certain point it is not only important for careers. One cannot win all points, one is not always right. Creative battles can be fought passionately and then lost by one side or the other. Being able to do this without grudges mean more opportunities for good work.

Regardless of what lessons may or not come from his life his talent was immense, and his amazing work commands respect.

Wherever fantastic worlds you may now visit, Mr. Ditko, may you fare well there in joy.

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2018 August Newsletter #1

Real News of Fictional Worlds, August 1st 2018

Hello there, and welcome to August: ) It’s bringing enough sci-fi for several newsletters.

Seen on Earth
The most science fiction thing that happened to me recently was having my mind blown live by the band My Bloody Valentine. They played sonic sci-fi mayhem with a surrealist bent; big, bludgeoning walls of tonal magic. The show was both absurdly loud and superb. (Abspurb?). Their closest song to a hit so far – “Only Shallow” – sounded entirely different at a commanding volume.

Here are the number of amps and guitars for just their lead guitarist.

(If you can’t see any of these images, select “Display images below” or similar in your email viewer.)

The whole experience was strong enough to find its way into a novella I’m currently writing. If there is an artist whose music you enjoy, then I heartily recommend you see them whenever possible. Good art in the moment is a powerful and beautiful gift.

In the near Earth future
Two weeks from now in consensus reality, I’ll be attending an evening interview with George R. R. Martin the creator and writer of Game of Thrones. Just a couple of days after that is Worldcon 76, one of the largest and most prestigious Science Fiction conferences in the world. And I expect other interesting things will happen by then as well.

Strange worlds for sale
Throughout August I have a number of different works available for the low price of free. These giveaways also feature many other excellent works by other authors, each also for fifty barrels of nothing – without the barrels.

If you enjoy one of my tales below, please do leave a review on Amazon via the handy linked book titles. It helps keep me in electrons and multidimensional glitter.

Just try and run out of books to read with  Limitless Sci-Fi and Fantasy, featuring my own full-length novel Two-Fisted Jesus Tales, Book 1: The Book of the Job.

You can also just Read Funny Books, including my short story collection Hyperspace Radio.
Experience the Summer of Sorcery with my novella Ghost Magnet, the first in my series Crime and Magic in the New Russia.

And just relax and beat whatever the temperatures are around you, with the August Sc-Fi Takeover – starring the second novella in my “Crime and Magic” series, The Luck Thieves.

Upcoming new worlds
Watch this space for new novellas in the coming weeks.Thanks for reading! As always, I’d love to hear your feedback on any of my work.

Keep on imagining,
~ j : )

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2018 July Newsletter

It’s been a busy and productive month for me, as I hope it’s been for you. It’s also been a fun past thirty days, including both the 4th of July and Pride.

Both celebrate independence, and Pride celebrates an independence both personal and public that I find inspiring and fantastic. Amazing levels of creativity and heart-warming amounts of acceptance were on display in parades around the world – just fabulous in all of the best definitions.

In the past 30 days I also was able to take a side trip over to a store known as Paxton Gate. They specialize in strange exhibits and exotic gardening, to educate our youth on both the natural sciences and the unnatural ones.

Sadly their prize piece, a lovely stuffed unicorn, is no longer on display. Some naysayers claimed it was naught but a horse with a narwhal tusk. As a pure coincidence, it turns out it’s no longer legal to display items with narwhal tusks. I’m sure this has nothing to do with the unicorn’s disappearance. Perhaps instead the unicorn was seen by too many non-virgins and has elected to disappear.

There were still many other fantastical beasts on display, including a lovely example of a jackalope.

Perhaps an ancestor to the modern unicorn? A Unisaur? A magnificent beast, fearsome in herds with dangerous horns, great speed and  near lethal amounts of adorability. The most unbelievable of all these strange creatures – the so-called “moose”.

In fiction news, I have new stories in the (non-cryptozoological bunny) hopper and many current tales in bundles.

Strange worlds for sale
For the next few months, I have a number of different works available for the low price of cheap or free. If you end up enjoying one, please leave a review on Amazon. Reviewing can be as easy as selecting the right number of stars and entering a single sentence into your magical keyboard machines.

My novel “Two-Fisted Jesus Tales, Book 1” is part of the great Amazing Fantasy giveaway through July 20. Many other fine books from other authors are also available here.

My short story collection  “Hyperspace Radio” is available through the excellent SciFi Book Bonanzafrom July 16th through July 22nd. After that it will be available for $.99 for another week, from July 23 toJuly 29.
My novella “The Luck Thieves”, the second installment in my “Crime and Magic” series, is available through the Judge a Book by its Cover! Giveaway through July31, and the Paranormal Reads giveaway through August 3rd.

And my novella “Ghost Magnet”, which kicked off my “Crime and Magic” series, will be available from Sept 1 through Sept 30th in the Discover Your New Favorite Series giveaway.

Finally, “Wishful Thinking” is available as part of the Summer Reading List until September 2nd. It concerns an innovative solution to the “Genie of the Lamp” dilemma – creating a startup company to sell the magic wish.

Upcoming new worlds
You can expect a third installment in my “Crime and Magic” series some time in the next couple of months. It’s titled “Blood and Hope”, and will open new possibilities for our plucky heroes Aurelian and Lyita.I will also have a new story regarding an Artificial Intelligence takeover of society, with quite unexpected results for the typically most prosperous class – everyone in their middle age. It’s titled “Underclass”.For later this year I’m planning on releasing a sequel to “Two-Fisted Jesus Tales, Book 1: The Book of  the Job”. The title will be “Double-Crossed”.Among many other tales, the first book in a heroic fantasy series is also in the works.

I’m also throughly enjoying the world-building for a sequel to my novella “Wishful Thinking”, about a troubleshooter for magical startup companies. It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it.

Upcoming new authors
On a separate note, my good friend Lillian Dish has just joined our publishing company Mind Fu Media. She writes in the “Cozy Mystery” vein, with an interesting twist that’s all her own. More on her releases soon.

Another new author is the enigmatic Connor McCloud. He’s been described as “Tom Clancy on dirt weed.” I’ve seen what he’s got coming, it’s strong and will surprise you.

And music!
I celebrated this recent 4th of July by taking a rare 12 hour block of free time to post years of my accumulated electronica albums to Bandcamp, complete with stylish fractal images what I also made myself. And I was still fully able to enjoy hot dogs and fireworks as our foreparents intended.

It’s interesting to consider how this music fits in with the rest of my artistic output. It seems I enjoy creating music that feels like strange worlds, and then creating instrumental narratives that fit within them.

Check ’em out, and let me know what you think.

Podcast
With all of the above works, I was glad to catch up on the podcast with a new audiobook too. Also the podcast is now available on iTunes and Spotify. Do check them out as well.iTunes
Stitcher
Buzzsprout

All that and I found a new pizza place too.

Once again, thanks for checking out my work! As always, I’d love to hear your feedback on any of my work.

Keep on imagining,
~ j : )

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A salute to a great and difficult man

Harlan Ellison, RIP.

What else is there to say of a fantastic writer and a legendarily irascible persona?

There is the memoriam from an excellent modern writer, Cory Doctorow. He salutes Ellison’s great talent and also addresses his prickly nature. Others have pointed out that Ellison as a teacher was, in a common human blindspot, exhibiting exactly t he same bullying behaviors he hated in early teachers of himself.  https://boingboing.net/2018/06/28/rip-harlan-ellison.html

There’s also Ellison’s own words on art and commerce, which really should be required listening for artists in our world, whether they agree or disagree.

Just Pay the Writer. 

But the most suitable words I’ve found yet are other words of Ellison’s own, which come from being asked his thoughts on the creative giant Philip K. Dick.

What you’re asking is really two questions: What I think of him as a writer and what I think of him as a human being. As a writer, he was one of the great innovators. He was sweet, man, an absolutely individual talent, and I admired at least 80% of what he wrote.

…As for the human being, it’s an entirely different answer. When he wanted to be charming, he could be. …

You know what? I’m not going to answer. It doesn’t matter what I think. He could do you a solid or be a very unpleasant person. Like Frank Sinatra. Or God…Phil, like God or Frank Sinatra — they’re all deities.

Mr. Ellison, wherever you are, you were a truly magnificent bastard. Thank you for the work.

 

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2018 June Newsletter

It’s been a lovely month so far, both creatively and climately. Our planet has had a distinct lack of world-rending apocalypses requiring the intervention of a rogue hero with a code of honor, or a plucky band of misfits, or an elite team of professionals coming back to save the world one last time.

As I write this, I just attended an actual Corgi convention. I don’t have dogs myself, but I was curious to see these ferocious animals of war. As you may know, in Welsh myth Corgis are the chosen battle mounts for faeries. I didn’t happen to see any fae war games featuring these cheerful, doughty compatriots. But there’s always next year.

Probably not a Corgi.

 

In fictional news, I am proud to release a new novella “The Luck Thieves”. As the second in the series “Crime and Magic in the New Russia, it continues the adventures of Aurelian the thief and his love Lyita. In the streets of St. Petersburg, a bullet can kill you just as dead as magic. it’s just the magic you don’t see coming.

 

I expect to release a third novella in this series very soon, perhaps even in the next month.

In other new production news, many readers have told me they also enjoy audiobooks so I’ve started making them. I’m going through the different short stories in my collection Hyperspace Radio. They’re available online in podcast form for few months, so if you’re curious give them a listen.

iTunes
Stitcher
Buzzsprout

 

Cheers, and thanks for checking out my writing.

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“The Luck Thieves” joins the bookshelf.

Psyched to release a new novella, and the second in a series. “The Luck Thieves” continues the adventures of Aurelian and Lyita in the strange world of crime and magic that is St. Petersburg.

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BayCon is delicious, and I look forward to my bite of it.

Baycon 2018 is an upcoming weekend with the stars and beyond the stars. Last year brought me many fascinating conversations and interactions. I also had some ideas come to me which have reached fruition in my most recent book. This year I’ll be selling that book – Hyperspace Radio – and enjoying new conversations with other fans of the fantastic.

The cycle of write.

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Hyperspace Radio short story collection to be released!

Proud to announce a new book! A collection of my many completed short stories to date.

Now available on pre-order, and fully released tomorrow May 15. Print edition available soon also.

And thanks to you all who keep inspiring me to keep on writing. : )

https://www.amazon.com/Hyperspace-Radio-Collected-Short-Stories-ebook/dp/B07BK9W2YZ/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

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Hyperspace Radio podcast

Proudly announcing that I’m a lead Earth correspondent for the intergalactic, interdimensional and multiversal Hyperspace Radio podcast!

[buzzsprout episode=’686706′ player=’true’]

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The Jung and the Restless

I enjoy Carl Jung, for all of his potential faults. He saw he deep into the Western psyche and the symbolism that tends to be beneath it, and brought forth many great truths from a restless, tireless and lifelong labour of outer and inner exploration.

Here’s an ebook with some great thoughts from him, that I wholeheartedly recommend.

Man and His Symbols

Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle

Memories, Dreams, Reflections