Going Native
J. Manfred Weichsel
DimensionBucket Media
Paperback $11.99
ebook $2.99
What happens when you go native? Any number of things, usually not something you would want to happen.
Weichsel has been quietly making a name for himself in the small press, and this is his first collection. It contains six stories of varying length. They range from science fiction to fantasy to odd mixes of both. I’d like to thank the author for providing me with a review copy. Continue reading
Robert E. Howard Days has come and gone for another year. This one was a little different, but it was very good.
I got there early. Jason M. Waltz and I shared a room in Eastland, which is about half an hour from Cross Plains. (Most people don’t stay in Cross Plains. There simply aren’t enough rooms.) We got there Wednesday afternoon. Those who arrived on Wednesday were invite to a fajita dinner at the home of Jack and Barbara Baum. It was a great evening of food and fellowship, and I’d like to thank the Baums for their hospitality.
(r. to l.) James McGlothlin, Jason M. Waltz, Your Intrepid Blogger
Thursday morning we helped set up for the banquet on Friday then headed for the Pavilion to help set up there. That was where I met Black Gate blogger James McGlothlin for the first time. He and I and James Reasoner went to the local Mexican food restaurant for lunch and ended up talking for a couple of hours (in the air conditioning). That evening a large number of us skipped the fish fry and the parade and went to Cisco for drinks and dinner.
Friday I went on the first part of the tour, but I jumped ship when the second part, to the nearby towns of Burkett and Crosscut, where the Howards lived before moving to Cross Plains. I had an opportunity to join a group hitting a used book store in Abilene. I came back with a grocery sack of paperbacks for $15. Sadly, the owner of the store died last month, and her husband is trying to sell the store.
Baseball signed by Babe Ruth.
After we got back, I skipped the panels and went to the Post Office to get this year’s cancellation. There is a new museum in Cross Plains that has a number of classic cars and baseball memorabilia. Also good air conditioning. I joined friends over there, then went back to the Pavilion and hung out with friends.
The Guest of Honor was David C. Smith, who spoke at the banquet. As usual The Staghorn Cafe catered the meal (chicken fired steak), and as usual it was delicious.
Saturday morning John Bullard joined me in Eastland for an excursion to the local cemetery. Doc Scurlock rode with Billy the Kid during the Lincoln County War. After it was over, he decided he was tired of being shot at and moved to Eastland to open a candy store. He died there in 1929. John wanted to see the grave, and since I had visited it a few years ago, I showed him where it was.
John and I hit the morning panel (which character of Howard’s was the first sword and sorcery hero), then joined his sister, her husband, and James McGlothlin for lunch. Mexican food again. Good chili rellenos are hard to find, and I eat them every chance I get.
(l. to r.) Shanks, Louinet, Gruber
There were two afternoon panels. The first was a celebration of Sailor Steve Costigan, hero of a series of boxing stories. Jeff Shanks, Patrice Louinet, and Chris Gruber led the discussion. Chris presented a championship belt to the Howard house to put on display.
The second panel was what is coming in Howardiana. The Dark Man journal is being revived. The Foundation Press will be republishing some OOP titles, starting with the poetry and letters, then moving on to some of the collected fiction, such as the weird menace and spicies. These will be POD trade paperbacks. The first will be available sometime during the next year. A representative from the company that owns the rights (the name has changed and I don’t recall what it is now) talked about the comics. (Conan a part of the regular Marvel universe and a member of the Avengers? Shoot me now.) He wouldn’t say much about any film projects.
The day ended with the barbeque at the Pavilion followed by poetry reading on the steps of the Howard House, including the poem “Cimmeria” in eight languages.
My father had had a kidney stone flair-up while I was there, so I skipped the informal breakfast Sunday morning and went and had breakfast with my parents.
I enjoyed the weekend a lot, and I think that was more because I was reconnecting with friends more than anything. There were some good books there. Jason M. Waltz, publisher of Rogue Blades, had a number of his books available, including his latest, Crossbones and Crosses. David C. Smith signed my copies of his Red Sonja novels as well as copies of some of his other books. The Robert E. Howard Foundation Press had their collection of Howard’s autobiographical writings, Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, for sale. I picked up a copy for me. I also bought a few items for friends, which I will be getting in the mail later this week.
Howard Days 2019 might be over, but I had a great time and am looking forward to next year. Attendance was down a bit, and some of the regulars weren’t able to make it. Guys, you were missed. Hopefully, I’ll see you next year, along with some others who have been trying to make it for a while.
Crossbones and Crosses
Jason M Waltz, ed.
Rogue Blades Entertainment
trade paper $17.00
ebook $5.00
Jason M. Waltz, publisher of Rogue Blades Entertainment, has just published a new anthology, and it’s one you’re going to want to get. The hardcopy has been available for a few days now, and the electronic version has just gone live in time for Howard Days. Crossbones and Crosses harkens back to the days of Raphael Sabatini, Talbot Mundy, Robert E. Howard, and Harold Lamb. These are the adventure stories we’ve needed. When too many anthologies are full of message fiction, RBE has given us something different. Adventure, Excitement, and most importantly, fun. Make that Fun with a capital “F”. Continue reading
We lost Ray Bradbury seven years ago today (June 5, 2012). It’s hard to believe he’s been gone that long. If you get a chance, read something of his today and raise a glass in his memory.
I’ve been busy and burned out the last couple of months, but things should start picking up around here starting this weekend or early next week.
Howard Days is this weekend. I’m going down a day or so early for some of the informal stuff that may go on. Also, just to get the heck outta Dodge for a few days. Things should settle into a routine next week, meaning I’ll be getting some writing done.
Dennis Etchison passed away yesterday, May 28, in his sleep. He had been battling cancer.
Etchison was a giant in the field of horror. He wrote screenplays, novels, and edited anthologies. But his major contribution was as a writer of short fiction. Some of his collections include The Dark Country, The Death Artist, and Got to Kill Them All.
I’ll honor his memory later this evening by reading some of his fiction.
This came across my Twitter feed earlier today, and it was too good not to pass along. David Eyck at pulprev.com is launching the Pulp Classics Reading Club. It’s free, and each Friday you’ll get a pulp story in your inbox. You can read the details and sign up here.
It’s been a while since I posted anything, and so I was going to do an update. The I realized it was Manly Wade Wellman’s birthday (b. May 21, 1903) and instead could write about something that would be of interest to people.
“The Finger of Halugra” is vintage Wellman, but it may not be familiar to many of you. It was originally written in the early 70s for a small press publication that folded before the story could see print. The story languished in Wellman’s files and wasn’t rediscovered until some years after the author’s death, when Karl Edward Wagner came across it. The story first saw print in another small press publication, Deathrealm, in the spring 1995 issue. It was reprinted in The Best New Horror Volume 7 (AKA The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 7). Sin’s Doorway is the only collection of Wellman’s in which “The Finger of Halugra” has appeared. And that collection is out of print and never had an electronic edition, although copies can be had on the secondary market. Continue reading
We lost Gene Wolfe recently. Today would have been his 88th birthday. I’ve got jury duty and lab grades due, but if I can squeeze in a few minutes, I’m going to read one of his short stories.
I was going to post about E. E. “Doc” Smith today, but I was just scolded by a shrew about something on the bulletin board outside my office. So instead I’m going to vent. Continue reading
Jack Williamson
There are a number of birthdays today that I could write about, but I want to focus on three, in no other order than their importance to me.
Legendary science fiction and fantasy author Jack Williamson was born 111 years ago today. That would be April 29, 1908. He passed away in 2006.
Williamson got his start in the pulps in the late 1920s with his first story, “The Metal Man”, being published in Amazing Stories. His final novel, The Stonehenge Gate, was published in 2005.
My project to read and compare the magazine and book versions of Darker Than You Think got sidetracked last year. I’ll try to get it restarted in the summer.
I’ve written about Williamson’s impact on me several times before, so I’ll keep my comments short. I came across a stripped copy of The Best of Jack Williamson for a quarter at the flea market in Wichita Falls, Texas, when I was in the seventh grade. (Stripped means the cover had been stripped off and the book had been reported to the publisher as having been pulped. It was stolen, IOW, although I didn’t know that then.) My favorite story in the collection at the time, and still a favorite today, is “With Folded Hands”. It’s a chilling story about robots who protect us from ourselves, whether we want them to or not. If you haven’t read it, it’s worth tracking down a copy. Continue reading