“How long did it take to undo one’s algorithming? Was it even possible?”

Hi. I’m Lucas Mangum and this is the fifth issue of Less Than Pulp, a newsletter for fans of my work. You can check out previous issues right here.

The quote from this week’s newsletter is mine. It’s from DIGITAL DARKNESS, a book I’m no longer calling an omnibus but a complete novel. While it compiles three previously released novellas (RUSTED BLOOD, RESTLESS VOID, and RETRO DEAD), those titles had one arc and ended on cliffhangers. It’s one book, one novel. 95,000 words, to be exact.

I’ve never written anything so long before. Usually, I write novellas. My longest release so far is almost 70,000 words, but that was a collaboration (PANDEMONIUM, co-written with Ryan Harding). I feel a strong sense of accomplishment with the completion of this book, but also a little sad and exhausted.

Now, for those of you who say this doesn’t count as a novel because it’s a compilation of pre-existing works, I’d point you to the pulpsters of old. They did this all the time. They compiled novels from published short stories with similar themes or recurring characters and called them “fix-ups." If you want to call DIGITAL DARKNESS a fixup, I won’t get offended.

It has also been significantly edited. I don’t want to bad-mouth anyone, but the publisher of the novellas didn’t do a whole lot of that. In addition to being a more complete text, this volume will also be a lot cleaner. Look for it in the next couple months in hardcover, paperback, and ebook.

In the most recent episode of MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN PODCAST, Jeff and I discussed the new and controversial splatter film THE SADNESS. You can check out the episode here or by watching the video below.

Lastly, I mentioned a giveaway a few weeks ago. Once I reach 100 subscribers on this newsletter, I will give away a copy of FEVERISH FICTION, ISSUE # 2, a zine from January of 2017 featuring pulp flash fiction and underground art, including a piece by me called “Canvases.” The zine is long out of print and has a cool aesthetic. It can be yours if you subscribe OR if you’re already a subscriber and you refer some new subscribers. I’ll choose the winner, at random, from the 100 subs, regardless of when they subscribed.

Here’s a photo of the zine so you know what you’re competing for.

That’s it for now. Have a great week, gang.