About Mythik Imagination

So, what is Mythik Imagination, anyway?  Well I'm glad you asked.

Mythik Imagination is a nexus for astounding tales beyond belief, from distant dimensions to the far out future and everything in between.

Ha ha.  What is it, really?

I define "Mythik" as a new way for new stories to cross genres.  It's sort of an overall designation of the types of Speculative Fiction that have a pulpy core mixed with other ingredients such as:

Weird West - Steampunk - Cyberpunk - Slipstream - Scientifiction etc.

And "Imagination" is, well, creating something out of something else, I guess.  So, combine the two and there ya go...  Oh, and of course, Mythik Imagination is the main place where I can talk to YOU.

Originally, I wanted to write some Wild West stories, but with a twist.  I wanted to stay away from the typical Hollywood Mythic Wild West, and yet didn't want to be too tied to historical accuracy, either.  So I came up with the idea of a new "Mythik" Wild West universe where I could pick and choose the cool stuff I wanted.  Then I realized this kind of concept was already known as Weird West.  So I thought, OK, then Mythik will be my version of the Weird West.  Then I thought of how that applied to some other stories I was working on.  And then...

Aha!  All my stuff was pretty much Mythik, and often crossed genres anyway, and most of it has some kind of twist to the story.  Sort of like Twilight Zone meets Pulp Fiction.  I've always loved the spirit of those Pulp magazines from the 30's & 40's, so why not make a modern version as a showcase for my stories in the Mythik style?  All my stories (or a lot of them, anyway) would fit this type of Mythik Fiction.  You could call it a Mythik Universe.

In this Mythik Universe, you could have hard boiled, time traveling, husband and wife detectives who tangle with a not-so-mad doctor who tricks them into fighting zombies in the old west, for example.  Or maybe a naive look at the "city of the future" from a 19th century perspective - until the bombs of WWII alter the protagonist's viewpoint.  Or an elven princess could discover that magic isn't all it's cracked up to be (and why) and that she can't really trust anybody in a fairy tale world...  The possibilities are as endless as the cliches are dangerous.  But it could be fun.

So Mythik Imagination was born.  It is both a concept and a modern pseudo-pulp Mythik short story anthology series.  That's a mouthful.

Coming soon:  Mythik Imagination #1:

Soon to be published as a Kindle e-book, it will have at least three Mythikal short stories in each issue.  The whole concept is in the spirit of those amazing and thrilling pulp magazines of the past.  All the stories are original.  It's only the spirit (and artwork, for now) that is borrowed.  I see the Mythik world as a thrilling combination of retro-future and our own crazy connected high tech world.  Future issues will even have a Readers' Corner, where readers can write letters about what they like and don't like etc.

The debut issue has a cover using public domain artwork by H.W. Wessolowski, who did artwork for many pulps of the 30's.  This artwork originally appeared on the cover of Astounding Stories in March, 1930.

The cover and stories are still subject to change, but so far we will have:

"Yesterday's Eyes" - A so-called "criminal" is sent to a prison moon where the ultimate punishment is interaction with beings from another world.

"The Figment of Doom" - A man wakes in a strange city where he encounters a mysterious stranger who holds the key to his existence.

"The Tiger & The Hawk" - A galactic fable that pits two warriors against each other for the ultimate prize.

"80 Years" - A lab assistant for Nikola Tesla accidently travels 80 years into the future.  His strange tales of iPhones, Blu-Ray discs and Facebook are beyond belief.

*  *  * 

The Mythik Universe also has a lot of other tales in development:

- 10 Guns Against The West - A novel of the Mythik Wild West.

- A bunch of Mythik short stories.

- Special Editions of Mythik Imagination, each with a unique theme.
- A Mythik heroic fantasy series for the 21st century.
- Some "in between" stuff that doesn't really fit a category, but is still Mythik.
- And, my favorite in-development project at the moment:  "A Vampire, A Werewolf, And A Zombie Walk Into A Bar..."

- Comic books and short films and more.

More info (and other cool stuff) can be found at the Jon Mac website:  www.jonmac.com

Jon Mac doesn't talk in the third-person.  Really.

This blog (and the Mythik Imagination Readers' Forum) is my subspace communications line to you.

And you, Dear Reader, are the key.  I have a hunch a lot of people would like to see these kinds of stories.  What do you think?

One more update before I hit the big button -- A pre-publication version of the short story "Yesterday's Eyes" is on the web for free.  See which ending you think is best.  You can find the story on Pandamian.

Thanks, get Mythik, and stay tuned.