We recently chatted with Derrick Ferguson -- modern Pulp writer and creator of the character Dillon. He discussed how and why he conceived Dillon and his involvement with Pulpwork Press.
Q: Could you tell us about how Pulpwork Press was established?
A; If I related the entire secret origin of Pulpwork Press it would me quite a bit of wordage. Not that it isn’t a fascinating story in it’s own right and worth the telling but this isn’t the place for it. Let’s go with the Reader’s Digest Version: a loose association of writers, editors and artists, all who had known each other either personally on online for a number of years decided to get together in those early days of self-publishing and informally form a self-publishing company to market their work. Over time, Joel Jenkins became more or less the publisher and creative vision behind Pulpwork Press. If there’s anything I want to publish on my own I do so through Pulpwork.
Q: What sort of stories does it offer?
A: What is now popularly known as “New Pulp” which includes horror, action/adventure, weird western, science fiction, planetary romance.
Q: Do you have any favorite pulp characters?
A; Doc Savage. The Shadow. The Spider. The Avenger. Buckaroo Banzai. Jim Anthony. The Pulptress. Lone Crow. The Domino Lady. Lazarus Gray.
Q: What in your estimation is the appeal of the genre?
A: The appeal it has for me as a reader is that when it’s well-written it’s just simply fun and thrilling stuff. Reality is grim stuff, especially these days. Which is why I think that this genre is always going to be popular because we all need to take a break for a couple of hours and escape into a world where men and women of extraordinary skills, strength and talent do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do. We take comfort in these fictional heroes and heroines to live up to be the best humanity has to offer and keep us safe from the darkness. As a writer I enjoy exercising my imagination and seeing how crazy I can get with my characters and plots and still make you get lost in the world I’m creating right before your eyes as you turn the page.
Q: Could you describe Dillon and his adventures? What makes him unique?
A: Dillon was born out of my frustration in not being able to find any African-American Classic Pulp Heroes worthy of standing alongside Doc Savage, The Shadow or The Avenger. Much as I love those characters I also have loved to have one that looked like me. So much of my writing is all about me creating characters and writing stories that I myself want to read. Nobody else is doing it so I guess I gotta. Dillon encounters evil masterminds, vicious death cults, sinister secret societies bent on taking over the world, technological terrorists (the politically correct term for “mad scientists”) rival intelligence agencies and all manner of villains. You know, the usual kind of villains pulp heroes take on. It’s just that we’ve never seen a black pulp hero in this genre of adventure fiction before. More information about Dillon, his universe and his adventures can be found here: https://derrickferguson1.wordpress.com/
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