Spring Fever (or is That Hay Fever?)

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Just a quick update.

Things are in bloom.  I don’t usually have trouble with the pollen in the spring here, but with all the rain, I’m having a few minor issues.

My wife was having issues with her hand going numb before the cancer diagnosis put that put on hold.  Now that she’s essentially done with all but a few followup visits, she’ll be having surgery later this month to move a nerve from one side of her elbow to the other.  They’ll also do a carpal tunnel procedure at the same time.  It will be an outpatient treatment.

Things are starting to wrap up as far as my semester is concerned.  I’m looking forward to a break.  It’s been a hectic semester.  I had an interview at a different university a few weeks ago.  I’m not looking for a different job, but a friend/former student pushed me to apply for this one.  I ultimately applied because it would put me just over an hour away from my parents.  They are still in good health, but they are getting on up there in years.  This would have involved a slight change of direction, including running a planetarium, something I’ve not done before.  After all the interviews were done, the administration there made a decision to split the position into two lower level positions to be fill a year from now and just have a visiting instructor for the coming year, which meant I was out.  I’m under no pressure to leave where I am, and the change in the job made it a bad move on my end.

I’m hoping to get some reading and writing done and up my blogging over the next few weeks.  That’s how things stand here.  How are ya’ll?

A Visit to the Jack Williamson Lectureship

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Jack Williamson and Your Intrepid Blogger gazing into the future.

Last Friday I made a trek to the Jack Williamson Lectureship at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.  Even though the GoH wasn’t someone I was familiar with (film maker Alex Rivera), I wanted to make sure I went this year.  I’d had an interview at a different university the previous week and felt I had a good shot at the position.  (I learned a few days ago the dean and the provost decided not to fill the position but to split it into two positions next year.Oh, well.  I’m under no pressure to leave where I’m at.  The other position would have put me closer to family, which was the main reason I applied.) Continue reading →

Kuttner at Longer Lengths

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Henry Kuttner was on born on this date, April 7, in 1915.  Anyone who has spent any time around this blog knows that Kuttner is one of my favorite authors.  It’s been one of those weeks where I haven’t had much time to read, so I don’t have a review of anything he wrote ready to go.  (I did manage to make it to the Jack Williamson lectureship again, so there will be a report on that within a few days.)

Much of Kuttner’s work in the middle to late 1940s was at what was considered novel length at the time, but most of these stories would be considered novellas today.  Thrilling Wonder and Startling Stories were the two most common magazines for Kuttner’s longer works.  And most of them have never been reprinted.  There are some exceptions.  I’ve read most of Kuttner’s short stories that I can get my hands on.  The longer works are next on my agenda. Continue reading →

Lost Robert E. Howard Manuscript Found

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Workers doing repairs at the Robert E. Howard House in Cross Plains made a startling discovery last week.  While replacing a portion of an outer wall damaged in a  thunderstorm, they found an envelope containing an unknown manuscript.

The manuscript is a rough draft of a Conan story, making it the second novel length Conan yarn.  According to those who have read the manuscript, Conan is robbing a tomb in Stygia when he runs into the sorcerer Thoth-Amon.  They are both after an amulet sacred to the snake god Set.  During the ensuing battle, Thoth-amon casts a spell on Conan that hurls him millennia into the future.  The spell causes Conan to lose his memory.  He wanders Africa, having various adventures, until he runs into Solomon Kane.  With Kane’s help, he returns to the Hyborian Age and defeats Thoth-Amon.

Reaction among Robert E. Howard scholars has been varied.  Rusty Burke says this is the best thing by Howard he has ever read.  Bill “Indy” Cavalier says the discovery will be a game-changer in Robert E. Howard studies.  Mark Finn was speechless.  Speaking by phone from France, Patrice Louinet could only babble excitedly in French.  Jeff Shanks began writing a grant proposal for further archaeological work at the Howard House.  Dave Hardy, on the other hand, is convinced the manuscript is a forgery and has hired retired ADA John Bullard to investigate.  A special edition of The Cromcast will be devoted to the manuscript in the near future.

Gemmell Awards Closing

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It is with a heavy heart I share with you the press release I received earlier today regarding the closing of the Gemmell Awards.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GEMMELL AWARDS TO CLOSE AFTER TEN YEARS

Over the last decade, the David Gemmell Awards For Fantasy have honoured the best in fantasy fiction and artwork as chosen by the readers.  With a roll of honour taking in current genre luminaries such as John Gwynne, Robin Hobb, Mark Lawrence, Peter Newman, Brandon Sanderson, Andrezj Sapkowski, Brent Weeks and many more, with all of these winners chosen by a public vote, the awards have brought focus to some of the most exciting books, authors and artists in recent times.

Unfortunately, after ten years, the Gemmell Awards will draw to a close with immediate effect.  With a lack of suitable volunteers to take on current committee roles, and insufficient manpower to deliver the wide range of tasks involved, the present team has been left with no choice but to wind up the awards.

The remaining members of the team would like to thank everyone who has supported the awards, including the publishers that have worked with us, our past committee members and volunteers, all the authors and artists who have offered their support, the events and venues who have hosted our ceremonies, everyone who has ever voted on the awards over the last decade and all the fans who have helped share and spread the word on the awards.

Departing Gemmell Awards Chair Stan Nicholls said: ‘This is a decision that has not been taken lightly, and indeed is one that myself and my committee members make with a heavy heart.   It was always important to us to do things to a high standard, and in the current situation I don’t think that we could deliver something befitting the reputation the Gemmell Awards has. I hope that the awards will be remembered for the good work they have done in supporting and championing the cause of fantasy fiction over the last ten years, and that we’ve left a legacy behind that people can look at fondly in years to come.’

An Important Message Regarding the Robert E. Howard Foundation and Amazon Smile

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The Amazon Smile program is a way to donate to your favorite charities when purchasing items from Amazon.  The Robert E. Howard Foundation is now one of the available charities to which you can contribute.  All you have to do is add it to you list of charities.  It only takes a couple of clicks.  You can access smile from your Amazon account.  I’ve added the Foundation to my account.

A Post on Representation in Which I’m Crankier Than Usual

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There was a post on a major genre blog a few days ago that rankled a bit when I read it.  I’m not going to link to it because I don’t want anyone to think I’m attacking the author.  I’m not.  I’d never heard of this person, although a search showed they had written some reviews I hadn’t bothered to read, mainly because the books they were reviewing were either not of interest to me or were in my TBR pile and I didn’t want to deal with spoilers.  To put it another way, I don’t know the author of the post, I bear the author no ill will, and I have no interest in personal attacks on the author.

Attacks on the author’s ideas, though, well, that’s another thing all together. Continue reading →

Remembering Steve Tompkins

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Steve Tompkins (b. 1960) passed away on this date, March 23, ten years ago, i.e., 2009. He was a leading scholar in Robert E. Howard studies, but his interests extended beyond Howard to fantasy in general.  He was Managing Editor of the now defunct The Cimmerian blog at the time of his death.  That being the case, I’m sure he influenced me, indirectly if not directly.  I was a regular reader of The Cimmerian in those days, although I didn’t always pay close attention to who wrote what.  It was the closure of The Cimmerian that motivated me to start blogging myself.  I simply couldn’t find anything similar on the web.

I don’t know if I ever met Mr. Tompkins.  I may have at either Howard Days or the 2006 World Fantasy Convention.  Steve was there.  Regardless, his writing lives on as does his memory.  Howard Andrew Jones and Scott Oden have both posted tributes today.

The following are links to some of Steve’s writings (thanks to Deuce Richardson for the links):

All of his TC posts:
 His REHeapa stuff. Scroll WAY down, links on the left:
This thread has transcriptions of several of his intros etc: