Tuesday, September 30, 2014

INTERVIEW: Max Booth III

While the verdict is still out on Max Booth III's success in Pulp Survivor, he managed to answer a few questions while waiting for his potential doom. I have decided it would be best to share his answers with you since this may be the last anyone hears of poor Mr. Booth...

1) What the hell did you do?

I accidentally wrote the greatest novel of the last ten years. It’s called The Mind is a Razorblade, and already people are jumping off bridges after reading it because it’s just that goddamn good. At least, that’s what I’m choosing to believe.

2) Why the hell did you do it?

It was completely unintentional. One day, to kill time, I started cutting out letters from newspapers and randomly gluing them to my wall. Eventually, the letters formed a novel.

3) What criticisms do you have of the pulp scene today? How do you feel about "pulp" as a descriptor of your work?

I don’t have many criticisms, to be honest, mostly because I’m not that deep into the pulp scene, I don’t think. I try not to put any labels on my own work. That’s up for the audience to decide. If my readers think my writing is more pulp than anything, then maybe they’re right. As long as they keep buying my books and reading them, I don’t care what you call my writing. Pulp is good, though, because [deleted orange juice joke].

4) You recently wrote a supposedly humorous but potentially insulting piece about the works of Stephen King? What the hell is wrong with you? That man's a fucking icon.

All I did was pen an accurate summarization of each one of King’s novels. Then people got pissed off because they thought Dean Koontz wrote The Stand. I don’t know why they think that. King obviously wrote The Stand. What I’m really surprised is the lack of people calling me out for forgetting to include King’s magnum opus: Rosemary’s Baby.

5) I bet you're pretty happy with yourself, aren't you?

Well, yes.

6) What is next for Max Booth III?

I’m currently working on a new article titled “50 Reasons Tyler Perry’s House of Payne is better than Doctor Who”.

Monday, September 29, 2014

GUEST BLOG: Pulp Survivor with Max Booth III

Greetings everyone,

Welcome back to The Pulp Chronicler. I took a brief hiatus in order to edit, format and publish the first issue of my new pulp magazine. That being done, its time to introduce you to a new ongoing feature here at The Chronicler.

It is called The Pulp Survivor and will act as a kind of pulp fiction game show in which a writer that I have reviewed here will do a guest blog based on a scenario that I give them. The scenario will be related in some small way to their work and will be a situation that they have to survive. They'll write up a guest blog detailing how they plan to live. First up, The Mind is a Razorblade author Max Booth III.

The scenario:

You awake after having mysteriously fallen unconscious in a hotel room. There is a letter and a briefcase on the bed. The letter informs you that twenty years in the future you will become the leader of a rebellion that will save mankind from an eternity of enslavement by murderous cyborgs. In order to prevent you from becoming the savior of mankind, the cyborgs have sent a warrior back in time to destroy you. He looks like Charles Bronson. He sounds like Bobcat Goldthwait. He is staying AT THE HOTEL! You find the briefcase is filled with bunny slippers. Each slipper is stuffed with all the one dollar bills that it can hold. What do you do?

What say you, Mr. Booth?? What's it gonna be?

Max runs into the bathroom to take a leak. This lasts many minutes. He wonders how long he’s been unconscious. His head is killing him and his stomach feels like an empty pit. He needs food. He needs cake.

Max returns to the bed and collects the cash, then puts on the funny bunny slippers. Adjusting his clothing in the mirror, he leaves the hotel room and ventures down to the lobby. He approaches the front desk guy, who is busy typing away on a laptop.

“Excuse me,” Max says, interrupting the front desk guy’s porn session, “but I really want some cake. Direct me to the closest cake place.”

The front desk guy groans and points in a random direction. Max follows.

Eighteen minutes later, Max arrives to a shop called LET THEM EAT CAKE. He enters the store. There is cake everywhere. Max throws all of his cash at the cashier and demands “all the cake”. He is given a small slice of something fruity and delicious. Max takes his cake and finds a booth at the end of the shop. He does not think about cyborgs. He does not think about time traveling assassins. That shit’s all in the future. Right now he has cake, and that’s all he cares about. Sure, someone is trying to kill him, but cake shops are safe grounds. Nobody would ever spill blood in the presence of motherfucking cake. That would be a sin, and Cyborg Jesus would not approve.

Well played, sir. Or is it?? You decide. I leave his fate in your hands, Pulpsville. Is Booth going to make it out alive with his delicious diversion or will the cyborg be Maxed out on Booth Cake? Leave a comment here or on Facebook and let me know what you think.

Til next time, friends and fiends. Stay classy!

Friday, September 5, 2014

REVIEW: The Mind is a Razorblade by Max Booth III

One of the most exciting things about indie authors and small presses in the scene today is that their fiction is allowed to be more original, more bold, more unique than anything being released by the big guys. As evidence, I present to you Mr. Max Booth III...



I'm a little late to the party when it comes to Booth's fiction. No matter, though, as I shall christen this month Max Booth III Month. What does that mean? Well, nothing, I just like making stuff up. However, a few cool things will be happening here at The Chronicler because of it. I'll review his novel Toxicity, I'll interview him, and the man himself will be stepping through our door to begin a series of guest blogs I am calling Pulp Survivor. Today, however, is all about Razorblade, his newest book. Let's have a look...


The Mind is a Razorblade will recall sci-fi neo-noir films like Dark City. If you like that sort of thing, you should go right now and buy this book. However, don't feel that you are going to be prepared for what is in store for you because of that comparison. You are not going to read another book in 2014 like this one.

Max Booth III takes you on a journey built with the stuff of your nightmares and injected with a triple dose of noir, sci-fi and the deepest, darkest comedy. From the first page — hell, the first sentence — Booth assaults your senses with paranoia, action, and terror and he never lets up. The Mind is a Razorblade is a novel about love, identity, spiders and demons — and it will kick your ass.

You will want to follow the main character to see what happens next to him. You'll feel sorry for the poor bastard as things just get wilder and wilder. Booth is a genre-blender, not content to be pigeonholed. This novel comes very highly recommended. If you like your fiction bold, different and fun, Max Booth III is your man and The Mind is a Razorblade is your book.

Go get it. Tell 'em I sent you.