If you’re a fan of fantasy adventure, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with the work of Richard C. White, author of Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, Star Trek SCE: Echoes of Coventry, and a growing number of SWC titles. Rich has a new book that just came out (I’ll get to that in a second), but this weekend is a special occasion because yesterday was the day that Rich turned 60! (Hey, a day late with the announcement, but it’s a heartfelt one.)
I’ve known Rich since 1992, back in the earliest, small-press-comics days of StarWarp Concepts—he’d originally been a customer who ordered one of my Lorelei digest comics, but then one day he pitched me an idea for a comic about a team of superheroes for hire who specialize in supernatural cases of villainy. He called it Troubleshooters, Incorporated, and I liked the concept so much that I wound up editing, lettering, and publishing the two completed issues—and I’ve been editorially beating up his manuscripts and comic scripts ever since! (He’s a glutton for punishment.)
If you’d like to celebrate Rich’s birthday in style, you should definitely buy yourself a present of one (or all) of his awesome SWC books:
Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase is Rich’s latest release. It’s a collection of fantasy-noir, pulp-detective tales starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!
The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special is a digital pirate-fantasy comic created and written by Rich, drawn by Bill Bryan (artist of Caliber Press’ Dark Oz and DC Comics’ House of Mystery), and features cover art and color by Eliseu Gouveia (SWC’s The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual). It’s 48 pages of high-seas adventure perfect for fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, as well as classics like The Crimson Pirate, Against All Flags, Captain Blood, and The Sea Hawk—and it’s available for download for just 99¢!
For a Few Gold Pieces More is a collection of ten critically acclaimed short stories that star a Rogue With No Name who travels a world of epic-fantasy adventure, looking for treasure—and revenge against the woman who sent him to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (but she did). Think Lord of the Rings meets the “spaghetti Westerns” of director Sergio Leone (A Fistful of Dollars; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), with a healthy dose of monsters, magic, and swordplay mixed in.
Harbinger of Darkness is Rich’s original fantasy novel in which a thief named Perrin steals an extremely valuable—and magical—gem from the evil king ruling her home country. With thugs and fellow thieves and the king’s assassins hot on her trail, Perrin finds just staying alive is becoming a full-time occupation, which directly conflict with her secret life—and identity—as a humble bookseller’s daughter. It’s sword-swinging adventure at its finest!
Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination is a reference book for writers. In it, Rich takes you through the step-by-step process of constructing a world for your characters, from societies and governments to currency and religion. Included is an interview with New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance) that discusses his methods of world building, as well as his creative experiences during his time as a designer for gaming company TSR, the original home of Dungeons & Dragons.
Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League of America—they’re more like superpowered Ghostbusters—but they get the job done. The graphic novel is written by Rich and his wife, Joni M. White, and illustrated by Reggie Golden and Randy Zimmerman.
Happy birthday, Rich!
