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COMING SOON!
FIGHT CARD: THE IRON FISTS OF NED KELLY!
DAVID FOSTER (FIGHT CARD: KING OF THE OUTBACK / FIGHT CARD: RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE) WRITING AS JACK TUNNEY...
COVER BY MIKE FYLES...
A TALE OF THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK LIKE YOU'VE NEVER READ BEFORE...THE NOTORIOUS AUSTRALIAN OUTLAW NED KELLY IN A TRUE-LIFE FIGHT TO THE FINISH...
FIGHT CARD AND
HISTORY
JOSEPH GRANT
I was drawn to write Guns of November by the opportunity to
look at the JFK Assassination from a historical fiction viewpoint. Facts keep
the story rooted in reality, with an occasional observation snuck in for the
author.
Fiction allows the writer and the reader (it is hoped) to
dust off the history of an incident, shake it up, and in so doing become a part
of history through the characters – experiencing the emotions and tumult of the
time. The writer of historical fiction uses a broader brush and more colorful
palette to paint his canvas, giving a different light to staid black and white
facts while still coloring inside the lines of history. The experience of
bringing facts to life from a different perspective is what makes historical
fiction so exciting for me – telling a story as it happened, but using poetic
license to do so.
By using fictional characters to tell a factual story, I
believe the author can give the reader a wider understanding of the factual personage
and their motives. In the case of the JFK assassination, an event that still
resonates today, I was forced to address many issues…Did Oswald act alone? Did
Oswald even fire a rifle? Where did Jack Ruby suddenly come into being from
waiting the wings of obscurity? Was Ruby a concerned citizen or a Mafia pawn?
Why did Ruby take the actions he did – to Jackie Kennedy from testifying as
he'd said, or were there other, more sinister motives at hand?
Even when someone writes what is accepted historical fact,
there is always a basis of opinion behind it. In writing historical fiction, a
la Gore Vidal's, Lincoln, we are able
to understand Lincoln in a clearer sense behind the dusty, one-dimensional
figure of the history text books we read in school. Fiction, rather than fact,
brings a person to life. Non-fiction, newspaper, and TV news are questionably accurate
because, in the end, they are basically approved objective opinion that goes
from copy to print.
Historical fiction works because it brings the reader into
the character's lives through a broader respect. Characters in fiction do
things factual characters do, but without the real world context. A person
reading a news story probably isn’t concerned if a real-life figure had
breakfast or not unless it mattered to the timeline of the news article.
Conversely, in fiction, breakfast may lead readers around the corner to a whole
slew of clues.
Through historical fiction, a reader can find closure on the
gaping holes of an historical event – why Oswald left his wedding ring at home,
or why he left the School Book Depository after the shooting. In reality, we
are never truly able to sort through the conflicting suppositions of approved
opinion. In fiction, we find closure as the author moves the story forward
fitting the pieces to give us a whole new slant on the puzzle – one in which
the pieces actually fit.
In telling Guns of November, there may be readers who
disagree with the avenues to which I've directed the story. It is up to them to
base their conclusions on who, what, where and why. It is my job to write a
story. While this story is not the truth, it has been based on truths and I've
done my best to tell it. I would wager to say it’s closer to the truth than the final fiction we've
been told is truth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Pushcart Prize nominee, Joseph Grant is also the author of Fight Card: The Last Round of Archie Mannis.
His short stories have been published in over 235 literary reviews such as Byline, New Authors Journal, Underground
Voices, Midwest Literary Magazine,
Inwood Indiana Literary Review, Hack Writers, Six Sentences, Literary Mary,
NexGenPulp, Is This Reality Zine, Darkest
Before Dawn, strangeroad.com, FarAway Journal, Full of Crow, Heroin Love
Songs, Bewildering Stories, Writing Raw, Unheard Magazine, and Absent
Willow Literary Review.
FIGHT CARD: THE GUNS
OF NOVEMBER
November, 1963...Sent
to Dallas by Attorney General Robert Kennedy to investigate the disappearance
of a boxer connected to a major Civil Rights violation, FBI Special Agent Jim
Gregory finds himself desperately trading punches with those plotting to change
the course of history.
Kidnapped, beaten,
tied up, and blindfolded, young boxer Jimmy Lee Williams knows his situation is
dire. Nicknamed Guns for the relentless firing power of his fists, Williams
isn’t going to go down without a fight. However, this is no typical
15-rounder...and the clock is ticking toward disaster.
Mixing with a
disparate group of Cuban exiles, the Mafia, the FBI, the CIA, and corrupt
Dallas Police, Gregory’s search for Williams takes him into the heart of the
JFK conspiracy. In the Carousel Club,
owner Jack Ruby – Gregory's old Chicago boxing opponent – introduces the
undercover FBI agent to his many shady contacts, including a young, ex-Marine
and Communist defector named Oswald…a man with unusual intelligence and
connections to both the FBI and the CIA.
With disaster looming,
the latest Fight Card novel, Guns of November, is a two-fisted take on the
tragic events you thought you knew, but never imagined...
FIGHT CARD UPDATE ~
OCTOBER 2014
Our October Fight Card title, Guns of November, with Joseph
Grant (Fight Card: The Last Round of Archie Mannis) behind the Jack Tunney
moniker, has slid into publication. It also sports a beautiful cover by Carl
Yonder, who continues to go the distance for Fight Card …
FIGHT CARD: THE GUNS
OF NOVEMBER
November, 1963...Sent to Dallas by Attorney General Robert
Kennedy to investigate the disappearance of a boxer connected to a major Civil
Rights violation, FBI Special Agent Jim Gregory finds himself desperately
trading punches with those plotting to change the course of history.
Kidnapped, beaten, tied up, and blindfolded, young boxer
Jimmy Lee Williams knows his situation is dire. Nicknamed Guns for the
relentless firing power of his fists, Williams isn’t going to go down without a
fight. However, this is no typical 15-rounder...and the clock is ticking toward
disaster.
Mixing with a disparate group of Cuban exiles, the Mafia,
the FBI, the CIA, and corrupt Dallas Police, Gregory’s search for Williams
takes him into the heart of the JFK conspiracy.
In the Carousel Club, owner Jack Ruby – Gregory's old Chicago boxing
opponent – introduces the undercover FBI agent to his many shady contacts,
including a young, ex-Marine and Communist defector named Oswald…a man with
unusual intelligence and connections to both the FBI and the CIA.
With disaster looming, the latest Fight Card novel, Guns of
November, is a two-fisted take on the tragic events you thought you knew, but
never imagined...
As always any mentions on blogs or social networking are
very much appreciated.
November will mark the return of Fight Card veteran David
Foster with a brilliant take on Australia’s most notorious outlaw. The Iron
Fists of Ned Kelly is rooted in fact, telling the tale of the legendary
bare-knuckle boxing match between Kelly and Wild Wright – the man Kelly held
responsible for his three year incarceration for horse stealing. Great stuff!
The Iron Fists of Ned Kelly will feature a fantastic cover
from the talented Mike Fyles, who also provides the cover for our second Fight
Card Sherlock Holmes title – Blood to the Bone – from Andrew Salmon…
Keep Punching…
AVAILABLE NOW ~ FIGHT
CARD: GUNS OF NOVEMBER
ANOTHER TWO-FISTED FIGHT CARD TALE...JOSEPH GRANT WRITING AS JACK TUNNEY...
FIGHT CARD: GUNS OF NOVEMBER
November, 1963...Sent to Dallas by Attorney General Robert
Kennedy to investigate the disappearance of a boxer connected to a major Civil
Rights violation, FBI Special Agent Jim Gregory finds himself desperately trading
punches with those plotting to change the course of history.
Kidnapped, beaten, tied up, and blindfolded, young boxer Jimmy
Lee Williams knows his situation is dire. Nicknamed Guns for the relentless
firing power of his fists, Williams isn’t going to go down without a fight. However,
this is no typical 15-rounder...and the clock is ticking toward disaster.
Mixing with a disparate group of Cuban exiles, the Mafia,
the FBI, the CIA, and corrupt Dallas Police, Gregory’s search for Williams
takes him into the heart of the JFK conspiracy.
In the Carousel Club, owner Jack Ruby – Gregory's old Chicago boxing
opponent – introduces the undercover FBI agent to his many shady contacts, including
a young, ex-Marine and Communist defector named Oswald…a man with unusual intelligence
and connections to both the FBI and the CIA.
With disaster looming, the latest Fight Card novel, Guns of
November, is a two-fisted take on the tragic events you thought you knew, but
never imagined...
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