Home of Brick Pickle Pulps
Enter the Jackal, the first book in a new pulp series by Jonathan W. Sweet, is now available at Amazon and other booksellers.
The Adventures of the Red Jackal tells the story of Blake Randolph, newspaper publisher and vigilante crimefighter, in the crime-ridden Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis in the 1930s. Enter the Jackal is the first of a planned series of adventures.
Find more and links to order here.
Brick Pickle Media has opened submissions for Minnesota Not-So-Nice 2: New Pulp Tales from the North Star State.
This is a follow up to our 2020 release, Minnesota Not-So-Nice. Proposals should feature stories set mostly or entirely in Minnesota. We are looking for varying lengths from short stories to novellas, including detective tales, adventures and suspense stories – tales with a twist! Stories can be new or reprints, as long as the author holds the ebook and print rights for the stories.
Proceeds from this book will benefit Second Harvest Heartland, so no royalties will be paid to authors. Every author will receive a copy of the book and will be able to purchase additional copies at cost. Authors will retain all rights to their stories.
Find more about our charity books here.
We anticipate publication in late 2021. To submit a proposal or for more information, contact Jonathan Sweet at jsweet@brickpickle.com.
January 7
Pulp writer George Bronson-Howard was born on today’s date in 1884. He is one of the many writers featured in The Beginner’s Guide to Pulp Fiction Volume 2.
Bronson-Howard lived only 38 years, but packed quite a bit of life into his less than four decades.
Born in 1884 in Maryland as one of five children, he apparently displayed a precocious knack for learning. He left school at the age of 14, though, to go to work when both of his parents died within weeks of each other. He worked for the U.S. Weather Bureau, in the office of the Secretary of the Navy, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and in numerous other civil service posts.
He served as a correspondent and reporter for newspapers including the London Daily Chronicle and New York Herald.
During his time in government service, Bronson-Howard began writing for the pulps, selling stories to Argosy, The Popular Magazine, All-Story and others. His most famous creation was Norroy, a diplomatic agent (spy), who first appeared in Popular in 1905. Those stories would appear through the 1920s and the character would also make the jump to film.
Beyond his pulp writing, Bronson-Howard published 10 books and wrote numerous plays. He also wrote and directed several silent films. Bronson-Howard committed suicide in 1922 at the age of 38.
January 5
Doctor Death writer Harold Ward was born on this date in 1879. He is one of the many writers featured in The Beginner’s Guide to Pulp Fiction Volume 2.
Ward wrote hundreds of stories for the pulps, but his most well-known creations today are the Doctor Death stories.
Ward was born in 1879 and worked as a journalist before getting his start in the pulps. His first pulp stories were in the late 1910s in outlets like Snappy Stories and Argosy. By the 1920s he was writing for Black Mask, under his own name and multiple pen names.
His story “The Skull” appeared in the first issue of Weird Tales (March 1923) and he continued to write for the magazine through the 1930s.
When Dell’s All Detective Magazine became Doctor Death with the February 1935 issue, Ward (writing under the pen name “Zorro”) wrote the adventures of Dr. Rance Mandarin, a former professor and master of the occult. The stories headlined that magazine for three issues before reverting back to its former name.
Ward’s pulp career appears to have been over by 1940. He died in 1950.
These were our top-selling items for the entire year of 2020. The year presented many challenges to our business and family, but we are also happy to report that 2020 was our best year since we started the business in 2014.
(As always, important to remember that we specialize in collectible items and niche categories, so it’s going to look a little different than your traditional best-seller list.)
Brick Pickle Media 