Like everywhere else in the U.S., Cross Plains, Texas is no stranger to the weird weather this winter is bringing us. Last Thursday (1-28-10), Arlene Stephenson of Project Pride let us know that a “mini-tornado” blew through town; while the Howard Museum escaped unscathed (other than the sign out front blowing down), it appears the 36 West Motel did not.

I don’t have any “official” damage reports other than what Arlene and Era Lee Hanke have related to us, (nobody in town was injured, Praise Crom!) but they tell us the 36 West was seriously trashed, sustaining major roof damge. As this motel is one block away from the Howard Museum, this will be quite a blow to those of us who come to Cross Plains in June for Howard Days if this place is not in operation.

I’m not going to try calling the 36 West for awhile – Crom, they’ve certainly got bigger fish to fry than someone wanting to know if they’ll have rooms for Howard Days. It might be difficult to call anyways, so I would ask the rest of you not to bother them right now either. We can hope for the best.

Last year at Howard Days, the 36 West owners asked Howard Days attendees to delay reserving rooms for 2010 until March 1st. That might be the time to see if the 36 West is still with us.

And if I hear more news and info, I’ll be sure and insert it here. Likewise, if anyone out there learns more info, let me know and we’ll keep you posted.

Charles Saunders recently posted an entry at his blog about the writing of his new Imaro book The Naama War, as well the history of the series, post-DAW. This fourth volume in the series the first entirely new Imaro book published since the 1980’s. The recent publication of the first three Imaro books were rewritten versions of the original DAW editions. Charles also states volume five is already written.

Also like many of us, Charles was a fan of Steve Tompkins and he even dedicated The Naama War to him. Steve in turn, was a huge Imaro fan and wrote a detailed review of Imaro’s return with the publication of the 2006 Night Shade edition of the first book in the series, along with some general analysis of the Imaro stories and novels as only he could. The review/essay titled “Imaro Redux” appeared in the 10th issue of REH: Two-Gun Raconteur.

Charles says in the post and his book dedication that he wishes Steve were still around to read it. I do as well.

Here we are to January 22 already. What better reason to have a little celebration in the middle of winter than celebrating Robert E. Howard’s birthday.

One would like to think that Howard’s birth was accompanied by swirling winds, black clouds, thunder, and lightning. He has gone on to be a world wide icon. I am looking at my Webster’s New World Dictionary and one of the meanings for literature is “those of an imaginative or critical character valued for excellence of form and expression.” I think we can apply that to Robert E. Howard. Writers are still trying to figure out that magic formula that he had for combining atmosphere, action, and background all into one.

I find it amazing that this Texan writer is popular in the British Isles, France, Germany, and even Russia. There is a quintessence that appeals around the world. Robert E. Howard was totally unique at the time. He has become a standard that others aspire to reach.  I am here with an open bottle of Guinness on the desk and remembering all the hours of pleasure this man has given to me.

Happy Birthday in that Tir Na Og, Valhalla, Almuric, or undiscovered country  your spirit has gone.

January 22nd, 2010 marks the 104th birthday of Robert E. Howard, so wherever you are in your Friday revels, stop for a second (or more) and give him a Happy Birthday thought. Hoist a glass in his immediate direction, read some of the words he left us, and share his importance in our lives with some of the living.

Two (or more) fingers of Maker’s Mark plus a perusal of my Lulu-fied Jenkins’ GENT FROM BEAR CREEK will be part of my day on Friday. Hope yours goes equally as well.

Happy Birthday, Robert E. Howard!

On this day in 1952, Jerome Lester Horwitz aka Curly Howard died from a stroke at age 48. A good portion of Howard fans are probably also Three Stooges fans. Curly is my favorite Stooge.

Curly- you were taken much too young.

Here is a 1965 Paperback Library edition of A. Merritt’s Dwellers in the Mirage. The battling warriors with horned helmets presages the big sword and sorcery boom that would begin in 1966 with the first Conan Lancer paperback.

You don’t see this particular edition too often. Paperback Library editions have a tendency to fall apart due to the cheap glue (like Lancer). There are some Gardner Fox historicals from Paperback Library written under pseudonyms that are almost impossible to find from this era.

Dwellers in the Mirage is probably my personal favorite by Merritt. It is a mix of sword and sorcery and lost race with a Lovecraftian beasty thrown in for good measure. It may be the tightest of the Merritt novels. Paperback Library had a 1962 printing with a generic cover and then this edition. You can tell something was brewing out there. Maybe the Frazetta covers for Ace editions of Edgar Rice Burroughs got things started. Avon would reprint Dwellers in 1967 with their artist, Douglas Rosa who was doing the Merritt and Talbot Mundy reprints at the time.  I like the 1965 Paperback Library cover. The artist is unknown.

A few weeks back, I was looking at Bill Thom’s Coming Attractions site. My six year old daughter saw the ad for Paizo’s reprint of The Ship of Ishtar and said “Ariel!” thinking it was the Little Mermaid.

The Ship of Ishtar was the first piece of A. Merritt fiction I ever read. I knew of him first as one of the writers of “The Challenge From Beyond.” The old Reader’s Guide to Fantasy (Avon, 1981) gave a good write up on A. Merritt. So when I came across a 1960s Avon reprint, I bought it and read it that magical summer of 1983.

A. Merritt (1884-1943) was probably the most popular writer of fantasy until the Burroughs’ boom of the early 1960s if not the Tolkien boom of the mid 1960s. He stood alongside of Edgar Rice Burroughs in the general fiction pulp magazines of the early 20^th Century as the premier writer of fantastic romances. There are only eight novels and a handful of stories to Merritt’s name but his influence was far beyond quantity. Merritt influenced a whole generation of science fiction writers of the 1930s, some of whom helped create modern science fiction– E. E. “Doc” Smith, Edmond Hamilton, Jack Williamson, P. Schuyler Miller, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach come to mind. H. P. Lovecraft liked some of Merritt’s output. What about Robert E. Howard? There are no books by Merritt that we know of in Howard’s library. That doesn’t mean that Howard did not read Merritt. Howard mentioned in the “Argonotes” section of an issue of Argosy, July 20 1929 that he had been reading the magazine before it merged with The All-Story Weekly.

Was A. Merritt an influence on Robert E. Howard? He didn’t mention Merritt in a list of favorite authors in his “On Reading­­­–and Writing” essay but neither was Edgar Rice Burroughs, though Howard owned twelve of Burroughs’ books. Howard did say about Merritt to Lovecraft – “Have you ever tried Argosy?…they gobble up Merritt’s stuff and you have him beat seven ways from the ace.  Not that Merritt isn’t good; he is.” (Feb. 1931).

There is a last tantalizing clue. Howard wrote two stories in 1927, “The Valley of the Golden Web,” and “Sanctuary of the Sun.” Both stories were submitted and rejected by Farnsworth Wright at Weird Tales and now lost.  These stories have very Merrittesque sounding titles. This is a period before the Lovecraft influence manifests itself. There might have been a period where Howard noticed the success of A. Merritt in Argosy-All Story Weekly and incorporated some elements of Merritt. We will never know.

Anyone who has an interest in the pulp magazines should read a few A. Merritt books. I consider The Face in the Abyss, The Ship of Ishtar, and The Dwellers in the Mirage as the essential Merritt.

The Ship of Ishtar was originally a novelette. Robert Davis, editor at Argosy All-Story returned it asking Merritt to expand the story into a novel. The story was serialized November 8, 1924 in six parts. A three thousand copy book edition by Putnam in 1926 sold poorly. The sheets for the last 300 copies were purchased by Munsey (publisher of Argosy All-Story), bound, and distributed to readers of the magazine. In 1938, The Ship of Ishtar won a poll as favorite story and was reprinted.

The book edition and magazine edition are different. There was a small press edition by Borden with Virgil Finlay illustrations in 1949 that used the magazine text. The paperback editions in the 60s and 70s used the Putnam text. The last reprint of The Ship of Ishtar was a Macmillan Collier mass market paperback in 1991 which was a photo-offset of the Borden Memorial edition including Finlay illos. The new Paizo reprint also uses the Borden Memorial text with illustrations with those from Famous Fantastic Mysteries.

Merritt’s style is lush by today’s standards. His novels are not slow though. The main character is a modern man magically thrown into that world. Telescoping of history is a device attributed to Robert E. Howard. A. Merritt also engaged in the practice with a parade of Assyrians, Egyptians, Minoans, Gauls, and Romans on Emakhtila, the Sorcerers’ Isle. Could Sharane, priestess of Ishtar, been a predecessor of Belit? Robert E. Howard probably read “The Metal Monster,” “The Face in the Abyss,” “The Ship of Ishtar,” and “Seven Footprints to Satan” in their magazine appearances. We know he read “The Snake Mother” as he sent it to Lovecraft.

So check your local bookstore and comic bookstore or order directly from Paizo, Amazon, or your favorite vendor. This is one of those key-note novels that should be in print periodically though it should be less than every 20 years between editions.

First, collect 16 Public Domain stories by some of the world’s most famous fantasy and horror authors, including Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft.

Second, mix in some of your own inferior fanboy fiction that Mommy helped you write.

Third, stir in insipid introductions, sprinkle on a ridiculous title (one from of your own stories, natch) and add an odd-looking cover illustration you found on the internet that has nothing to do with the book.

Fourth, half-bake content, print copies through a vanity publisher and serve up on a dung garnished dish to the public.

Fifth, pass yourself off as an equal to these great authors to gain instant credibility and get lots of hot chicks (you know, the sexy librarian and schoolgirl types).

One Barry “Who the Hell is He?” Gillis has successfully followed this recipe for disaster with his ghastly volume titled The Day They Hanged My Best Friend Jimmy… And 21 Other Weird Tales.  You can read the mind-numbing, jaw-dropping title story here.

Needless to say, all the authors who have been posthumously dragged into this nightmare are spinning in their graves. I’d hate to be this guy in the afterlife when he meets some or all of these writers because he is in for one heck of a buttkickin’.

It seems every wingnut in the world wants to get in on the literary action and modern technology makes all so very easy. First DiPietro, then Van Ostrand, and now Barry J. Gillis. I think my head is going to explode all over again.

REH to HPL, Dec. 1932: “Considering the Philippines – if we were allowed to fortify them, they would be a strength. As it is, they’re a weakness. Instead of being a rifle aimed at the heart of Japan ( as would be the case were they fortified and a goodly portion of our Pacific fleet stationed there), they tend to divide our forces, to scatter our lines, and to subject American citizens to danger, in case of war with Japan. I think it would be a point of strategy to abandon those islands entirely, and concentrate our forces about Hawaii. That Japan would gobble them is certain, but I scarcely think they would add much to her ultimate strength, increased as it is so enormously by her grabbing of Manchuria.”

Sixty eight years ago, the First Battle of Bataan was being fought on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The Japanese had landed in force on December 21st, 1941 after wiping out most American air power. MacArthur’s plans for fighting the Japanese on the beaches ended in a shambles when the untrained, un-equipped Philippine Army ran. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright managed one of the great retreats in history by bringing North Luzon force into the Bataan peninsula while buying time for South Luzon Force (under General Albert Jones) to escape into Bataan. One of the last horse cavalry charges in military history was performed by the 26th Cavalry during that retreat. Unfortunately, MacArthur ignored the accepted U.S. Army plan of stockpiling food and supplies when hostilities started. As it was, the Japanese got into a slug match. The American and Filipino defenders were forced to retreat to the reserve battle line but they hung on until April when disease and starvation forced their surrender. Raise a drink tonight to the 31st Infantry Regiment, the Filipino Scouts, the 59th, 60th, 200th Coast Artillery, the 192nd and 194th Tank Battalions, and the 4th Marine Regiment among others.  In the end, Japanese casualties were close to 30,000 killed, wounded, and diseased. Those 30,000 could have tipped the scales in New Guinea or Guadalcanal later in 1942. Sixty-eight years ago today was the beginning of one of the great last stands in history.

After the recent escapades of Mad Maggie Van Ostrand, I felt it was time to take my involvement in Howard fandom up a few notches, so I decided to start with my website. Instead of just giving it a refresh, I went back to the drawing board and started over, with an emphasis on putting Robert E. Howard out front and gearing it more toward Howard the man, his life and times. I’m still tweaking it and want to add more to it, but I believe I’m off to a good start.

As for Maggie, well she never apologized and I see Editor Jason of Fandomania has found his way over to the REH Forum where the boys are toying with him much like a cat does with a mouse. So if he wants to keep the controversy alive by defending her, that just inspires me all the more to spread the truth about REH via my website and TGR and keep stomping down the ugly untruths that still ferment out there.

I’m gonna need a bigger pair of boots.