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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor CHICOPEE This time next year, Chicopee resident and author Mark Tarrant hopes horror and western fiction fans will be familiar with Ezekiel Carson. Carson is the hero of a series of book under the title "Blood and Spurs," which Tarrant is now starting to publicize. Tarrant explained to The Chicopee Herald that the series will begin coming out in May or June of next year. He is self-publishing them through I-Universe, an Internet publishing firm and they will be available on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com. Tarrant's press materials described the lead character as "The Blood Rider," who is "cursed to roam n an untamed west as a vampire." "Ezekiel Carson, once a devoted man of God, is haunted by his past. Feeding on bandits and spending his nights satisfying his endless lusts, he has found his life empty. William Hamilton is a schoolteacher from New York who is need of a guide and seeks out The Blood Rider. Their meeting is less than promising, but Ezekiel agrees to help after learning William is searching for his brother, a preacher who has disappeared from a mining town in New Mexico." Tarrant said that there have been only books and movies to feature a vampire character in the old West, but none as a hero. He said that several horror western and western horror comic books, such as "Jonah Hex," are returning to the newsstands and that he hopes this is the right time for his horror western series of novels. He is also working with artist Michael Graham, who has painted the cover art for the first book. Tarrant hopes there is a chance for his characters and concepts to cross into comic books, but he said he knows he has to get the books published first to build an audience. So far, he has outlines for 12 novels in the series. He has written for years, he said, although the novels are his first endeavor in that format. Formally, he has written for web sites and he developed an animated television series he tried to sell to Warner Bros. Animation. Tarrant works for a West Springfield pharmacy and had spent 12 years playing in the local rock band Pallet. Although he said the band was "doing quite well," the members decided to go their separate ways. "All good things must come to an end," he said. He hopes, however that "Blood and Spurs" will be the beginning of another good thing. For more information on his book, log onto www.BloodRider.com. |