Monthly Archives: January 2024

RIP, Brian Lumley (1937-2024)

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I’m starting to see reports that Brian Lumley has died. There’s nothing on the Locus or Blackgate websites yet, but Twitter/X, the ISFDB and other sources are confirming the news.

Lumley has written Lovecraftiain horror in both long and short forms. He was also the author of  the Necroscope series.

I’ve not read much of his work, just a few short stories, although I’ve picked up several of his non-Necrsoscope titles, including Titus Crow. I’ve liked what little I’ve read by him. I just haven’t gotten a lot of his work.

I’ll raise a glass tonight in  his memory and read something of his.

From Dangerous Visions to Safe Spaces

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Let’s take a trip back in time, shall we?

Back in the 1950s and early 1960s, the digests magazines, successors to the pulps, might have had racy covers (although not generally as racy as the pulps), but their content was pretty tame.

Along comes a young man named Harlan Ellison. Ellison was something of a troublemaker. I’m not trying to be disparaging by thay statement. He himself said as much on numverous occasions.

Ellison, along with some other writers, Silverberg comes to mind, felt that there were too many taboos in science fiction. This was before fantasy became the publishing juggernaut it is today. So in 1967, Ellison edited an anthology entitled Dangerous Visions. In it, Ellison published stories that were supposed to break the taboos of the day. Dangerous stories. Visionary stories.

Hence the title. Continue reading →

Neither Beg Nor Yield Up For Sale

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I mentioned the Kickstarter for Neither Beg Nor Yield  a while back. If you missed it, here’s your chance to own a copy of the book. It goes on sale today. This is the ebook.

In his State of RBE post earlier today, Jason M. Waltz said there have been delays at the printer, so we’re going to have to wait a while on the hardcovers. Hopefully, those books will be ready next month.

I’ve been looking forward to this anthology for a while now. Most of my reading over the last couple of years has been mysteries and thrillers. It will be good to get back to some old fashioned sword and sorcery.

If you didn’t pledge the Kickstarter, now is your chance to get some brand new S&S by some name authors, both established and up and coming.

C. L. Moore, Pioneer of Fantasy and Science Fiction

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Catherine Lucille (C. L.) Moore (1911-1987) was born in Indianapolis on this date, January 24. She is the third of three major fantasy writers whose birthdays are every other day in January. The first was A. Merritt, and the second was Robert E. Howard.  She is someone whose work should not be forgotten. If you haven’t read her work, or if it’s been a while, do yourself a favor and do so.

Like Howard, I’ve written about Moore so many times over the years that it’s becoming a challenge to come up with something  new. Work and some travel have kept me from doing much reading for the last week, so there won’t be a review of any particular story.  Forgive me if I rehash things from older posts. Continue reading →

Robert E. Howard, Second of Three

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Born Januarry 22, 1906, Robert E. Howard is the second of three birthdays that fall every other day here in late Janaury. The first is A. Merritt, whom I wrote about two days ago.

I’ve been writing about Howard and doing birthday posts for him for years, so I’m not sure what else I could say. I’d better think of something, though, because I have a REHUPA article due by the end of the month, and it needs to be four pages.

I’ve got time. (Famous Last Words.)

So, today I want to talk about Howard’s work ethic as a writer. Writing practices have been on my mind lately, so I thought I would examine a few of Howard’s. Continue reading →

Quick Writng Update: Three Out of Four Ain’t Bad

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So for the last eight days, I’ve had four short story deadlines. I made three out of four, including the last about half an hour ago.

The first was for a mystery sf workshop. So were the next two, although the setting had to be the same in both and different from the first. These were for a study along I was doing since I couldn’t attend the in-person session. I’d had some lead time on the first one since it had to be written before the workshop started. The other two I got during the workshop and had only two days on each one to finish. I didn’t  make the second one because I was driviing the day the prompt was given and spent half of the second day dealing with insurance and roofers. By the time I got to it, the day was nearly over, and I was falling asleep over the keyboard.

I also think this story would have ended up too long for the length requirement. I’ll finish it since I like the setup, and I got good feedback on the setting in the first story of this pair.

The fourth story is for a holiday project that will be published at the end of the year. I would love to be published in this project and the anthology that goes with it. We’ll have to see. I got started on it yesterday, and today I scrapped what I’d done. I’ll still go back and finish the story, but the fantasy element, which is one of the things the editor will be looking at, was weak. The story I wrote this afternoon is, I think, a much better fit for the project.

On the 2024 words per day in 2024, I’m about a day behind, alhtough I’ve made a lot of progress catching up today. There have been, and will continue to be, some days when I won’t be able to get much writing done due to having to be on the road. Some of those days I won’t get much notice on since they are job-related, and the nature of the travel is such that it happens when it happens.

Now, back to the keyboard.

Abraham Merritt, First of Three

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Abraham Merritt (1884-1943) was born today, January 20. His birthday is the first  of three giants of the fantasy field who birthdays fall every other day. The next two are Robert E. Howard and C. L. Moore. Posts on their birthdays to follow over the next couple of days.

There’s been something of a theme running through this year’s posts, and that is authors who have either never really received the recognition they deserve and are still writing, or they were once major figures who have been forgotten or nearly so. Continue reading →

Coming to Poe by Way of Bradbury

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Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was born on this date, January 19. He was one of the greatest writers of the strange and macabre. Depending on how you split hairs when defining your terms, he has been credited with creating the detective story and science fiction. And while some might say that’s a stretch, there’s no denying that he was an early practitioner of those genres as well as a writer of some truly gothic tales. H. P. Lovecraft, himself no slouch in the weird fiction department, was greatly influenced by him.

I don’t recall when I first became aware of Poe. I have vague memories of someone talking about “The Pit and the Pendulum” when I was very young, like about five or so.

I was certainly aware of him and his work when I first read The Martian Chronicles. This would have been in fifth grade, I believe. You might be wondering what The Martian Chronicles has to do with Poe. So let me explain. Continue reading →

Remembering Howard Waldrop

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Howard Waldrop reading at Armadillocon 2016

It is with great sadness that I write these words. Locus Online is reporting that Howard Waldrop died today, January 15, 2024. The ISFDB has his date of death listed as the 14th. Either way, a legend has passed. Howard was one of my favorite people in science fiction and fantasy. He had a unique voice, both in writing and in speaking, and he will be sorely missed.

Howard Waldrop was born in Houston, Mississippi on September 15, 1946. He lived most of his life in Texas, although he did live int he Pacific Northwest for a few years before returning to Austin. He was an avid fisherman, and that showed in a few of his stoires. Continue reading →