Things have been crazy this past month, and I’ve been too busy with other projects and/or just wiped out to get this up sooner.
COVID killed the lectureship in 2020. Last year’s was all online. That was better than nothing, but everyone agreed it was less than satisfactory. Fortunately, this year’s event was held in person. It was good to be back in Portales again. I’d attended in 2018 and 2019 and had a fantastic time. Continue reading
One of the things Henry Kuttner excelled at was the dark, sardonic twist at the end of many of his stories. Another thing he excelled at was time travel stories. Often in the same story. We’ll look at one of these today that he wrote in collaboration with his wife C. L. Moore that was published under their pen name Lewis Padgett.
Speaking of today, it’s Kuttner’s birthday, April 7, as this post goes live. I wasn’t able to read something for the birthday of Kuttner’s friend Robert Bloch. I wasn’t going to make that mistake for Kuttner.
“Line to Tomorrow” begins with Jerry Fletcher answering the phone way too early in the morning. He can only hear one voice. It seems to be a call between two people, but much of what they’re talking about doesn’t make sense. Continue reading
…not exactly. I’ve been swamped with other things.
Robert Bloch, one of the best short fiction writers of the weird and fantastic was born today, April 5, 1917. Hey, it’s still the 5th where and when I’m writing this.
I’ve not read any of his work in observance of his birthday yet, but I’ll try to fit something in over the next few days. Sadly, much of his work is currently out of print. There are a few things up on Amazon, but they look sketchy.
What short story of Bloch’s would you suggest I read (or reread)?
We’ve got about six weeks left in the semester. Then things should lighten up a bit. I’m going to try to be a little more active here.
I’ve been busy writing, and I’ve finished about a story a week for the last month. One thing I need to do is write an article about Robert E. Howard within the next week. I’m drawing a blank. Any suggestions? Once the article is published, I’ll reprint it here.
That’s about all for tonight. I’m going to read for a few minutes, and then go to bed.
“St. Patrick’s Day at the Dancing Leprechaun” is available for purchase. My collaborator, G. Addison Blaine, and I so much fun writing “Christmas Eve at the Dancing Leprechaun” that we decided to write another story. Like before, Gayle wrote the romance parts, and I handled the fantasy.
This isn’t a direct sequel to the previous story, but there will be a couple of familiar characters. We’d hoped to have it out sooner, but Real Life got in the way. At least it’s out before St. Patrick’s’ Day.
Depending on the reception this story receives, we might write more holiday-themed fantasy romances.
Anybody had a similar experience to this recently?
You order a book from Amazon, specifically a trade paperback. It arrives in a bubble envelope with bubbles that are pretty flat. You open the envelope to find the book damaged.
The damages can vary. Corners are usually bent no matter what other damage there is. The cover and some or all of the pages have a crease running the length of the book. The crease may or may not be noticeable at a casual glance.
I’ve had all of these happen in the last several orders. The one that takes the cake, though, is the issue of Occult Detective Magazine that arrived with a broken spine. I don’t mean the spine was cracked along its length because someone opened it too wide. The crack was across the spine. In other words, the spine had a bend in it of about fifteen to twenty degrees. The pages were torn on the inside; they were layered like a partially shuffled deck of cards.
I wish I had taken a picture before I sent it back.
The replacement copy was creased across the lower right corner. The copy of Renegade Swords III that arrived yesterday had a crease down the right hand side, cover and some interior pages. Neither of these were worth the aggravation of trying to get a replacement copy.
It didn’t use to be this way. There was a time where the worst thing about the ‘Zon’s packaging was your book might arrive in a flimsy cardboard box with no packaging.
So, I’m going to start actively looking for alternatives to Amazon, at least for paperbacks. Trade published books I can order from B&N, which has its own set of problems, but I can have the books delivered to the store.
Any ideas about indie and small press print books, such as where I might be able to get them without going through Amazon? I know Lulu is an option for some products, but not all. Suggestions would be appreciated.
I’m not dead. And I haven’t killed anybody (whose body has been discovered, at least).
I am swamped with a couple of things.
First of all, work. This semester is keeping me busy. Both my classes started at capacity, including my 8:00 AM section.I just gave the first exam and have barely made a dent int he grading. My department head seems to have a new hobby. Thinking up more things for me to do.
I also have a new hobby. No, it’s not thinking up more things for me to do. Although it might resemble such to the untrained eye.
I’ve been taking some online writing workshops. So far they have been worth the time. I’ve learned a lot. There was a sale on them last week, and I signed up for two more. They are six week workshops, and they, along with a three week workshop that was a Kickstarter exclusive, start over the next two days.
So most of the writing I’m going to be doing will be either for these workshops or other fiction projects I’ve got in the works. More on those when they are ready to hatch.
Most of my reading has been short fiction, although there’s one novel I want to review. I will try to fit it in later this week. I read the hardcover and the paper edition comes out soon.
I will try to do a better job on birthday posts. (Ignores the dirty look from Theodore Sturgeon’s ghost.)
If you will excuse me, I’ve got fiction to get started on.
The list of nominees for the 2022 Robert E. Howard Awards has been finalized by the Awards Committee. The Committee would like to thank everyone who sent in nominations for the various awards. We have worked our way through all of them, and have listed the most nominated works in each category. We congratulate everyone who was nominated whether you made the final cut or not, and wish good luck to the nominees.
Only current members of the Robert E. Howard Foundation can vote on the winners, and if you are a current member, you will be receiving an email with the link to the page where you can vote on the nominees. If you haven’t received an email with the link by Feb. 20, 2022, please send an email to rehawardsjbATgmailDOTcom (replace the at and dot with their symbols) so we can check your status and send you an email link. Voting by Foundation members ends at 11:59 PM, CST, March 1, 2022.
Here are the finalists for this year’s awards: Continue reading
While I made my deadline for submitting to the anthology I was trying for, I still haven’t had a chance to read anything by the birthday girl for today (Jan. 24), C. L. Moore (1911-1987). I blame labs starting today and another writing assignment I had due.
She’s no stranger to regular readers of this blog. I fell in love with her writing way back in middle school, and she’s been a favorite ever since.
I’ve read pretty much all of her solo work, and most of what she wrote in collaboration with her husband Henry Kuttner. But it’s been a while since I’ve read some of it.
Maybe I’ll revisit some of those stories.
If you’ve not read her, give her work a try. You’ll be glad you did.
January 22 is the birthday of one of the greatest writers of the 20th Century, Robert E. Howard. Not only did he pen some of the best horror and fantasy stories of all time, he excelled in other genres as well, such as boxing, adventure and both humorous and serious westerns. And let’s not forget two literary categories, poetry and corresponding with H. P. Lovecraft.
I’m still trying to get a piece of fiction finished before a deadline, so I haven’t had a chance to read anything of Howard’s. I’d hoped to, but then one of our for-legged family members died suddenly. That’s thrown everything off.
But one thing that’s been at the back of my mind about Bob while I’ve been writing is what I mentioned in the first paragraph. He was a versatile writer. And he was not afraid to stretch himself and grow, to take chances. This can be seen in the works of a number of writers. That’s the example I’m trying to follow.