Friday, March 25, 2016

Why I wrote Then Tommy Came Home

Why I wrote Then Tommy Came Home
Stories have to come from somewhere, am I right? Whether it be a current event in the nightly news or an idea spawned from a random conversation between friends. Never being one to leave well enough alone, my mind starts to wander and the process begins. I won't speak for every writer, but that's how it starts with me. Equal parts reality and flight of fancy. Like a well-conceived lie, I then wrap these half-truths in a blanket of what if's and see what direction it takes me. That is my modus operandi, and it seems to work for me. So I'm sticking with it.
Writing Then Tommy Came Home for the Paladins project was no exception. When Aidan Thorn first approached me with the idea of putting the thing together, I had to dig deep into that mental Rolodex of fledgling ideas for one that would hopefully do the project the justice it deserved. After all, Paladins anthology promised to feature some of the best indie authors across the globe. Combine that with the fact that the proceeds are earmarked to benefit the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation in honor of my lovely wife, Henrietta, who has battled this disease for going on four years now. Needless to say I felt the pressure to produce a story that would shine.
First and foremost, my story is dedicated to Henri. She is my constant source of my inspiration, as is anyone who has stood toe to toe with the dreaded monster that is cancer. The foreward that she has written for the collection pretty much says it all. She did not pick this fight, it picked her. We are truly blessed to have such an awesome group of friends and family that have supported us along the way. Among those are the generous folks who have contributed their time and talents to bring this project to fruition. Each of the amazing stories that made their way into the book serve as a reminder that the world is truly full of heroes... or Paladins if you will.
The subject matter for Tommy is another story altogether. Without giving up any spoilers, I'd like to shed a bit of insight on where I was coming from when I wrote it. You'd have to go way back to September 5, 1982. I was growing up on a small farm on the outskirts of an equally small Iowa town. I didn't know it at the time, but by the time I'd crawled out of bed on that otherwise typical Sunday morning a young man by the name of Johnny Gosch had already been missing for several hours. Now I didn't know Johnny. We had pretty much nothing in common. He lived halfway across the state near the big city of Des Moines. I lived five miles from the closest town, so small that even most Iowans couldn't point it out on a map. Johnny delivered newspapers around his suburban neighborhood for spending money. My closest thing to a job was shoveling pig shit for... well, just because it needed done. The one thing we shared was our closeness in age. We were both 12 years old the day Johnny up and vanished.
Like the title character in my story, Johnny really was one of the first missing children to ever appear on the front of a milk carton. The face of that boy, the one I never had actually met in real life, stared back at me during breakfast for the better part of the winter of '82-83. We became “friends” for a lack of a better word. Anything problem that I had at school or at home, the stuff I couldn't bring myself to share with anyone else, I could always tell Johnny. That smiling grin frozen in time never judged or ridiculed. He just stared back across the breakfast table and listened.
In time our elite little clique grew in number. Eugene Martin, another paperboy from the Des Moines area had disappeared under the same mysterious circumstances as Johnny. Another face on the front of a milk carton to join me for my morning ritual of breakfast cereal and one-sided conversation. I was now a teenager and less than a month from beginning high school. I had football practices and all of the other social outlets that being a young teenager had to offer. But I never stopped wondering what really happened to my two pseudo friends. Even to this day, not a day goes by that they don't cross my mind as least for a moment or two.
To this day the whereabouts of my faithful breakfast club pals has ever been solved. A Google search of their names will generate a hundred different theories as to what happened to them after they seemingly vanished without a trace. Some are ridiculous. The more plausible ones are so fucked up that they will probably give you reoccurring nightmares. I'm just thankful that the internet wasn't at my disposal when I was younger. The world may be full of heroes and paladins, but it is also filled with some truly evil people.
So if you are so kind as to take a gander at my contribution to the Paladins anthology do me a favor. Leave your porch light as you settle into your warm and safe bed at night. You never know when someone who has lost their way might need a bit of light to find their way home.
Good night Johnny and Eugene. Wherever you are.
Your pal ~ Craig Furchtenicht


Friday, February 26, 2016




The release date for the Paladins anthology is set for March 11. You can now pre-order your copy on Amazon. All proceeds will go to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation to aid in developing new treatments and finding a cure. Please consider grabbing a copy of this collection of stories from some of the best authors the indie scene has to offer. Feel free to share, reblog, tweet or shout it from the rooftops.
US link: http://www.amazon.com/Paladins-Keith-Nixon-ebook/dp/B01C8B7E7K
UK link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Paladins-Keith-Nixon-ebook/dp/B01C8B7E7K


Saturday, February 6, 2016

Trailer for the upcoming Paladins anthology coming out later this month. A special thanks to Mark Wilson for this wicked video as well as the book cover for the project.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

I am pleased to announce the upcoming release of the anthology, Paladins. The project is headed by Aidan Thorn with editorial support by the guys at Near To The Knuckle. It is a collection of hard-hitting stories by some of the top indie writers in the game, who have donated their time and talents to support my wife Henrietta in her battle with cancer. It will be available in late February and is a must read. All profits will go to the Mutliple Myeloma Research Foundation.
The lineup is :
Table of Contents
Foreword – Henrietta Furchtenicht
Heir to the Throne – Keith Nixon
Jabs and Uppercuts – Jason Beech
Free Fall – Bill Baber
Strangers in Vegas – Aidan Thorn
Regarding Henri – Darren Sant
Uncle Jim – Ryan Bracha
The Caller – Cal Marcius
Deathsmell – Linda Angel
Pass the Parcel – Robert Cowan
Then Tommy Came Home – Craig Furchtenicht
The Burned Earth – Gareth Spark
Take My Pain – Matt Mattila
Inevitable – Graham Wynd (Kate Laity)
Low and Outside – Christopher Davis
Balancing the Scales – Dave Jaggers
Back in the Day – Gabriel Valjan
Cover Art by Mark Wilson
Edit and formatting by Craig Douglas