January 12, today as I write this, is the birthday of Terry Bisson (1942-2024). We lost Terry last month.
He was a critically acclaimed writer. I hate to say that I’ve not read much of his work. Maybe a few short stories over the years.
If any of you have read much of his work, what would you suggest I read?
Frank Frazetta (1928-2010) was born on this date, February 9. He changed the fantasy art landscape. Here are a few of his paintings.
Today, February 3, is the birthday of Rick Hautala (1949-2013). I actually had some time today while sitting in the Husband Holding Area while my wife did some shopping, so I read a couple of his stories. Both of these stories can be found in Glimpses: The Best Short Stories of Rick Hautala.
I’ve read some of Hautala’s work before, but that was years ago. It was good to be reminded of why I like his stuff. Feel free to consider this post to be another in the informal series I’ve been doing of writers whose work shouldn’t be forgotten.
Before I get to the stories, let me say that Glimpses is a great collection. I’ve only read a little of it, and the stories I chose are in the middle of the book, but if you want to sample Hautala’s work, especially at shorter lengths, then this is a great place to start. Continue reading
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
In keeping with the theme of writers who were once prominent but have been to a large degree forgotten, or at least neglected, I’m goinmg to write about two writers whose namaes might be familiar to you: Wlater M. Miller, Jr., and Tom Reamy. Both were born on January 23. Continue reading
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
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
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
Kenneth Bulmer (1921-2005) was born on this day, January 14. A prolific science fiction adventure author, you probably know him better as Alan Burt Akers, author of the long-running Dray Prescott series of sword and planet adventures.
These are basically Burroughs pastiches in which the hero, Dray Prescott, is tranported to a planet orbiting the star Antares in the constellation Scorpio, where he falls in love with a princess, gets separated from her, and tries to return to her. There are fifty-two novels in the series, which is divided up into cycles. Continue reading
Today, as I’m writing this, it’s January 13. Or to put it another way, it’s the birthday of Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961). I’ve been on the road since I got off work this morning, and only got home about forty-five minutes ago, which is why I’m posting this so late. Most of you probably won’t see it until tomorrow.
I say all that to say that I’ve not had a chance to read anything by Smith today, so I’m going to do something different. I’m going to take a brief look at the four CAS collections Lin Carter put together for the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series. That’s the Ballantine I reference in the title of the post. I’m not going to put “Adult Fantasy” in the title.
As an aside, do you have any idea what comes up if youtype “Ballantine Adult Fantasy” into a search engine? Hint: Don’t try this at work.