Who is that Masked Man?
In this case it is not Batman or the Lone Ranger, though I love them both. It is Zorro! The first masked hero of them all. At least in the United States, we will not count the Scarlet Pimpernel, since he’s an Englishman. I have grown up my whole life watching Zorro, first on the Disney TV series, then the Tyrone Powers movie. After that led the way to Antonio Banderas as “El Zorro.” He had the best voice. Now currently on Amazon, an original series filmed in the Carnary islands, part of Spain.
The best was yet to come, upon having dinner at the Chicago Windy City Pulp and Paperback convention, one of my dinner companions turned out to be “the” Pete Poplaski. The number one Zorro fan in the world. He told me he had donated his collectables and paraphilia to a museum in Chillicothe, Illinois. Had I ever heard of the town?
Wow! I used to live by Chillicothe and still live in the Peoria area. The next week I visited the Museum and wait! It still gets better. The hundred year of Zorro anniversary was that year, 2019. My family attended the event and I have the pictures to prove it!
A dream come true. Pete also attended, and we got to hang out, what a fantastic time.
Flash forward, I met Audrey Parente and Rich Harvey at another Windy City Pulp Con and I just had my first book published, “A Man of Stihl.” We talked and I submitted a short story, and it was published in their magazine, Pulp Adventures. A year later Bold Venture Press published my second Nick Stihl book. “Peoria Nights.” Success!
Then I got the Call. Or was it an email? Maybe a text? Audrey asked me to submit an outline for a Zorro story in the upcoming book, “Swordplay and Romance.” She played it coy, “You do know the Editor.” I sat down Saturday morning and “Outfoxed by A Woman” was create and outlined. I emailed it Monday morning and here we are!
A lifelong thrilling ride to get here and a bucket list I did not know I had, to be an author in an anthology of Zorro stories.
I write about two heroes, Nick Stihl, Private Investigator set in the past. The days of Burlesque and gangster’s in 1930’s Peoria, Illinois, the Whiskey capitol of the World. The other series is, Scott Lund, Border Patrol Agent, the Hero of Tomorrow, and the near future of the 2030’s. Now add Zorro set in the 1830’s. I write about a hero every 100 years. I couldn’t feel more privileged or honored to be part of this mighty endeavor of the latest Zorro book and hopefully many more to come.
Thank you, Audrey, Rich, and Bold Venture Press!
“Wait! I see the letter Z, I must go.”
“Meal mush and goat’s milk!” Swore Sargent Gonzales.
