the deli counter of justice

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Listen to Episode 447 – “Eric Sipple: The Return”

Cover art for Eric Sipple’s Mimesis (2021) by Kring Demetrio

Gobbledygeek episode 447, “Eric Sipple: The Return,” is available for listening or download right here, on Spotify, and on Apple Podcasts.

That Sipple you like is going to come back in style. It’s been a long while–we’re talking pre-pandemic here–but Eric Sipple is finally making their return to this humble little podcast. Author of Broken Magic and one-third of the Deli Counter of Justice braintrust, Eric tells Paul and Arlo all about their new YA fantasy novel Mimesis–including the loaded, sometimes confusing connotations inferred by the term “YA.” The gang discusses the gorgeous cover art by Kring Demetrio, what inspired Mimesis, and Eric’s upcoming gig at the MileHiCon in Denver, CO. Plus, assorted and often tangential thoughts on the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer.

NEXT: TBD.

LINKS

MUSIC

  • “What the Water Gave Me” by Florence and the Machine, Ceremonials (2011)
  • “Cold Cold Water” by Mirah, Advisory Committee (2002)

GOBBLEDYCARES

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Listen to Gobbledygeek Episode 383 – “Salty Spiders”

Gobbledygeek episode 383, “Salty Spiders,” is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

The Amazon is burning and all anyone cares about is Spider-Man. Yay! Welcome to another exciting episode of Gobbledygeek! After nixing a fash-bashing Geek Challenge because Paul absolutely could not sit through three hours of The Sound of Music, he and Arlo decide to freestyle it and, well, all is not well! The world’s on fire, the government is imploding, and Spider-Man might not get to be an Avenger anymore! As for that last one, the boys have deeply conflicted feelings about their love for the character and the Marvel movies with their disdain for Disney the Evil Empire. Plus, Arlo still won’t watch all the things Paul says he should watch, and Marc Maron chimes in.

Next: for even more lighthearted family fun, the boys have asked their The Deli Counter of Justice co-editor Eric Sipple to join them for a discussion of Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, extremely depressing yet extremely essential, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale.

(Show notes for “Salty Spiders.”)

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Listen to ‘Gobbledygeek’ Episode 221, “Sipple Wears Short Shorts (feat. Eric Sipple)”

Shortstory

Gobbledygeek episode 221, “Sipple Wears Short Shorts (feat. Eric Sipple),” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

#LifeChange is in the air! That’s right, this week, the boys have a lot on their minds. As Paul embarks on a new chapter of his life, AJ deals with the major hang-ups of being a homeowner by proxy. None other than frenemy of the show and The Deli Counter of Justice co-editor Eric Sipple is on hand to listen to their whinging; after which, the gang gets down to some serious writing talk. The boys discuss the perils of writing flash fiction (AKA extremely short stories), what you can learn from such constrictions, and what’s next for the Deli-verse, plus plenty more.

Next: this year’s Four-Color Flashback continues with a look at Bone: Vol. II – The Great Cow Race, potentially featuring The Debatable Podcast host Greg Sahadachny.

(Show notes for “Sipple Wears Short Shorts.”)

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‘The Deli Counter of Justice’ $0.99 Sale Continues with a New Story by Arlo J. Wiley

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For the week of St. Patrick’s Day, The Deli Counter of Justice will only be $0.99 for the Kindle! Click here to get the book. We’ll also be releasing three FREE short (very short) stories set in New Caliburn, all of them St. Paddy’s-themed. Eric Sipple already got you wasted with“St. Paddy’s Day,”  then Paul Smith taught you to fly with “Whiskey Magic.”

Now, for the last of our three stories, “Fear the Clurichaun,” Arlo J. Wiley invites you inside Cook’s Deli as proprietor Carl Cook AKA the retired superhero Piecemaker endures his least favorite day of the year into the wee hours. This may be our final story (for now!), but the sale continues for the rest of the week.

To distract himself from the remaining St. Paddy’s revelers crowding his deli, Carl silently cursed the shamrock hanging above the counter. Tabitha had bought the dumb thing at an antiques shop, teasing her dad about his newfound hatred for St. Patrick’s Day (discovered when he opened an eatery subject to late-night drunks on the Row) as she nailed it up.

Now it was 2:30 a.m., only another half-hour before Carl could wash the smell of corned beef and sauerkraut from his clothes. He made his way behind the counter, where he was bombarded with orders for two more Reubens. Heading to the kitchen to boil another slab of beef, Carl decided the overflowing bags of trash needed taken care of first. He went out the backdoor, propping it open with an old packing crate.

The lid to the dumpster was already open, and he noticed a dog sitting in the alley. It was fitted with a little saddle.

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Read a New ‘Deli Counter of Justice’ Story by Paul Smith

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For the week of St. Patrick’s Day, The Deli Counter of Justice will only be $0.99 for the Kindle! Click here to get the book. We’ll also be releasing three FREE short (very short) stories set in New Caliburn, all of them St. Paddy’s-themed. Eric Sipple already got you wasted with “St. Paddy’s Day.”

Now we have a new story by Paul Smith, featuring Aegis, whom you may remember as Piecemaker’s former sidekick Crashtest from Paul’s anthology contribution “…A Hero Only One.” Enjoy!

Apparently, magic whiskey smells like mud and Froot Loops. Robbie hadn’t tasted it yet. His older brother claimed he’d bartered with an old wizard up in Harren Mast for the whiskey, implying he’d paid some terrible mystical price for it. Robbie suspected he’d actually gotten it on the Internet. In any case, Dean said it would give them powers. Dean had always wanted to be a superhero. So, magic whiskey.

For his part, Robbie had always wanted to be Dean. So…magic whiskey.

At fourteen, eight years younger than his brother, he was always eager to tag along with him and his friends whenever they’d let him. He was the butt of their jokes, subject to endless pranks. But he knew he could prove to them that he was more than just the sidekick.

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Get ‘The Deli Counter of Justice’ for $0.99 and Read a New Short Story by Eric Sipple!

delibanner

For the week of St. Patrick’s Day, The Deli Counter of Justice will only be $0.99 for the Kindle! Click here to get the book. We’ll also be releasing three FREE short (very short) stories set in New Caliburn, all of them St. Paddy’s-themed.

Up first is “St. Paddy’s Day” by Eric Sipple, featuring his creation Tabitha Cook AKA The Pixel, whom you can read more about in his contribution to the anthology, “Pixelated.” Enjoy!

It was Tabitha’s third beer in less than an hour, and she still wasn’t buzzed. Why had she ordered beer, anyway? Anything would’ve been a better choice. Vodka. Whiskey. That gross-looking bacon moonshine in a mason jar the bartender kept forcing people to smell. But no, she had to go with green pissbeer because most of her paycheck got eaten by rent, and green pissbeer was on special. Tabitha was the queen of bad decisions.

She reached for her wallet to see if she had enough for another drink, resting her left elbow on the bar for support as she did, and choked back a wail of pain. Right. Still not healed. She couldn’t even be angry at the nanoscopic jerks in her bloodstream for not getting her fixed up yet, not after the night they’d had. More victims of Tabitha’s shitty choices. She just had to get St. Patrick’s Day off to patrol the Row, unable to resist the opportunity to pummel a few sloshed frat boys looking for trouble. Only tonight turned into one of those “more than she bargained for” deals and now she was doing something she’d sworn she never would: spending St. Paddy’s Day in a bar that served green fucking beer.

The night wasn’t looking up. Her wallet was empty save for a years-old losing raffle ticket. Tabitha was out of cash, nursing a shattered-into-dozens-of-bone-fragments arm, and was stone cold sober. All because what she thought was a simple gang of thieves knocking over an armored car was her crew. The one people’d been whispering fearfully about for weeks. Cadence, they called her.

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Listen to the ‘Gobbledygeek’ Season 6 Premiere / ‘The Deli Counter of Justice’ Reading

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Gobbledygeek episode 212, “Justice Will Be Read,” is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

To kick off Gobbledygeek season 6, we have for you what we promised at the end of last season: a (nearly) full audio recording of The Deli Counter of Justice reading at Rickert & Beagle Books in Pittsburgh, PA on December 13, 2014. Paul, AJ, and Eric Sipple round out the Deli brain trust, with contributors Thomas Dorton and Alyssa Herron also on hand to read from their stories. In addition, there a few Qs & As before the audio cuts out. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did reading. Plus, Paul and AJ tease some highlights from the forthcoming season of the show.

Next: the boys discuss the odd, brilliant Cartoon Network mini-series Over the Garden Wall.

(Show notes for “Justice Will Be Read.”)

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‘The Deli Counter of Justice’ Is Now Available

'The Deli Counter of Justice' cover. Art by Blair J. Campbell. Logo/font design by Karen Wellenkamp.

‘The Deli Counter of Justice’ cover. Art by Blair J. Campbell. Logo/font design by Karen Wellenkamp.

The superhero short story anthology The Deli Counter of Justice is now available on Amazon in both physical and digital formats. The paperback is listing for $13.99, while the Kindle version runs $6.99. If you’re not familiar with the collection (you can check out all of our author interviews and posts here), here’s what it’s about:

For decades, Carl Cook fought crime in the city of New Caliburn as the superhero Piecemaker. With the power to disassemble most everything around him, Carl was very good at taking things apart; less so at putting them back together. One divorce and an alienated daughter later, he realized the toll heroing had taken. In an attempt to move on and take charge of his life, Carl hung up the cape and opened Cook’s Deli.

But things are never that simple in the superhero capital of the world. Cook’s Deli has a front-row seat to the city’s superpowered exploits, from the exciting to the bizarre. A former sidekick discovers just how hard life is without a hero, a psychic rat goes on the warpath for another slice of rye, a D-list villain plots his revenge…these are just some of the adventures going on right in front of the deli counter. Carl may change the world, even more than he did in costume. Only now he does it one cold cut at a time.

In THE DELI COUNTER OF JUSTICE, you’ll explore the world in and around Cook’s Deli with nine stories and poems written by Kitty Chandler, Thomas Dorton, Rahne Ehtar, Alyssa Herron, Amorak Huey, C. Gayle Seaman, Eric Sipple, Paul Smith, and Arlo J. Wiley. Featuring an introduction by Mere Smith (Angel, Rome).

The book was edited by our very own Gobbledygeek co-host Arlo J. (AJ) Wiley, alongside Paul Smith and Eric Sipple. We are very excited to finally bring it to the public. We hope you enjoy it.

For an alternative to Amazon, please feel free to purchase the book via Smashwords.

Continue after the jump for a new installment of The Deli Podcast of Justice.

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Listen to ‘The Deli Podcast of Justice’ Interview with Paul Smith (Plus Meet His Character!)

crashtest

The Deli Podcast of Justice interview with Paul Smith is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

The Deli Counter of Justice drops in less than a week, on Wednesday, November 5, and thus we have reached our final author interview. Paul Smith, part of the collection’s braintrust alongside AJ and Eric, talks about his story “…A Hero Only One,” which concerns Piecemaker’s former sidekick Crashtest. Paul discusses the fact that this is the first piece of writing he’s finished, which he claims led to plenty of self-flagellation, banging his head into hard surfaces, and lots of alcohol; the decades he’s spent reading comics, superheroic and otherwise; and his storytelling start as an RPG game master.

Next: no more interviews, but there will be one more podcast before the book’s release!

(Show notes for The Deli Podcast of Justice #11.)

Continue after the jump for an introduction to the main character from Paul’s story, which Eric challenged him to.

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Listen to ‘The Deli Podcast of Justice’ Interview with Alyssa Herron

bluehearts

The Deli Podcast of Justice interview with Alyssa Herron is available for listening or download right here, and on iTunes here.

Alyssa Herron doesn’t have a lot of experience with superheroes, which is exactly why The Deli Counter of Justice crew tapped her to contribute to the anthology. Paul and Eric talk to Alyssa about her story “Delilah by Proxy,” which she describes as a superhero story for people who would never read superhero stories. They discuss how Alyssa’s love affair with writing started with a poetry contest, her outline-heavy approach to this story, and how her acting experience informs her ability to take notes.

Next: for our final author interview, AJ and Eric turn to one of their own, Paul Smith, on Thursday, October 30.