I came across Robert E. Howard’s writings during my early adolescence. Probably like many other readers, the barbarian with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth was first, but thanks to a public library shelving NéO books translated in French by François Truchaud (some Clark Ashton Smith volumes from the same collection were on the shelves too); I found out early that Howard had written in other genres. I read these books voraciously and was hooked. JRR Tolkien came next –The Silmarillion being my introduction to the professor’s œuvre. Also, like Howard, I ‘m fond of historical adventures. His vivid stories probably were a part in my early interest in history, which I studied later.

I realized back then that some ‘Conan’ stories were not as good as the others. Young and naive, I believed Lyon Sprague de Camp‘s words when he blathered about the coherence of his chronology and how he polished Howard’s material in my translations of the Lancers. I found out that there was REH scholarship which disagreed with de Camp only at the turn of the century when I read Don Herron‘s essay “Conan vs. Conantics” online. It was an eye-opener to me. Financial and personal problems as well as lack of time kept me away from delving further into Howardian scholarship until the end of 2006. Then I joined discussion boards at Conan.com and Les Chroniques Némédiennes, where some Howardian scholars frequently contributed. I read almost every single word on Frank Coffman’s REH-e-APA, REHupa, TGR, The Barbarian Keep, Dale Rippke’s website and Les Chroniques Némédiennes. And of course, on the Cimmerian blog.

I was now reading books, magazines and websites not only by Howard, but also on the author and his creations. Deuce Richardson contacted me and we exchanged some thoughts on Howard’s pseudo-history. These discussions were stimulating. I also met in person and befriended French Howardheads such as Patrice Louinet, Simon Sanahujas and Fabrice Tortey –who have all edited and/or written books by or about the Man of Cross Plains or his creations.

Later, Deuce asked me to join the Cimmerian blog. Writing under the shadow of a giant of fantasy criticism like Steve Tompkins and on a site which had hosted renowned Howardian scholars such as Mark Finn wasn’t an easy endeavor. With such a legacy… how could I not disappoint?

Thankfully, I was warmly welcomed by most of my fellow bloggers.  I was proud to work with all of them. I hope that my translation wasn’t too bad. It has been an honor and a privilege to write on this blog with all those talented people.

So the 74^th anniversary of Robert E. Howard’s sad demise coincides with the retirement from fandom of my friend, Deuce Richardson and the final day of this blog, the “House that Leo built” as Rob Roehm –another former TC blogger– put it.

Adieu, Cimmerian.

Thank you Leo Grin for your outstanding contributions to Howardian fandom and for allowing me to write here. Thanks to all the other bloggers for their friendship and keen insights. Deuce, thanks for your dedication and all your deeds these last few years, my friend. Have a good life. It was great to stand in the shield wall with you, guys –and dear Barbara.

But most of all, thank you Robert E. Howard (January 22, 1906 — June 11, 1936), whose life and writings will be celebrated at Howard Days concomitantly with the publishing of this piece; thank you for your wonderful stories. They are not only fine literature, they also permitted me to meet fine people.

Damon C. Sasser just picked up the latest issue of the Robert E. Howard: Two-Gun Raconteur journal from the printer. It will be available at Howard Days 2010 on June 11.

Since the announcement of the fourteenth issue of the TGR journal on TC last April, Damon has posted some updates on its contents, which will be detailed below.

Above, you can see Michael L. Peters’ cover featuring El Borak. Two of his drawings from a four-plate Solomon Kane portfolio based on “The Hills of the Dead” are also illustrating this blog entry.

Damon has written a blog on the portfolio and the magical staff once owned by Atlantean priests, Moses and King Solomon on TGR.

Here is the full table of contents:

El Borak Cover by Michael L. Peters
Inside Front and Back Covers: Scenes from “Nekht Semerkeht” by Terry Pavlet
Back Cover: Terence Vulmea by Robert Sankner
“The Curly Wolf of Sawtooth” by Robert E. Howard, illustrated by Richard Pace
“The Hills of the Dead: A Solomon Kane Portfolio” by Michael L. Peters
“The Old Time Radio Adventures of Sailor Steve Costigan” by Mark Finn, illustrated by John Lucas
“It Really Wasn’t a Game: El Borak and the Victorian Cold War” by Brian Leno
“From Bran Mak Morn to Beyond the Black River: The Evolution of the Picts in Robert E. Howard’s Fiction by Simon Sanahujas, illustrated by Bob Covington
“The Monster in the Jungle: “Red Nails” and the Return of the Repressed” by David Hardy, illustrated by Didier Normand
“Unmasking “The Shadow Kingdom:” Kull and Howard as Outsiders” by Brian Murphy, illustrated by Bill Cavalier
Plus additional artwork, reviews and features.

A rare humorous western story by Robert E. Howard, “The Curly Wolf of Sawtooth,” will be included in the issue, back in print in its original version for the first time since 1936 (a rewritten version featuring Breck Elkins instead of Bearfield Elston was published since several times). Richard Pace did the artwork for the story. Here is one of his preliminary sketches:

Former Cimmerian-contributor Mark Finn “details the creative process involved adapting several of Howard’s “Sailor” Steve Costigan stories into radio plays by the Violet Crown Radio Players of Austin, Texas.  The group also presented Novalyne Price Ellis’ radio play, “Day of the Stranger” over the airwaves.” Fellow blogger Brian Murphy provides and essay on Kull and Howard.

Don Herron will be reviewing The Dark Man Vol. 5, No. 1. Deuce Richardson is reviewing J. Kahan’s ” ‘Marchers of Valhalla,’ Creation, and the Cult of Castration” article specifically. Blogger Jeffrey Shanks, in his own review here on the TC blog had few good things to say on said essay (as opposed to the other articles therein).

You can order TGR # 14 here. It will debut at Howard Days 2010 on June 11, with orders shipping next week. The print run is only two hundred copies, so get them while you can.

Last year, Bill Thom won the first Munsey Award, given “to a deserving person who has given of himself or herself for the betterment of the pulp community, be it through disseminating knowledge about the pulps or through publishing or other efforts to preserve and to foster interest in the pulp magazines we all love and enjoy” for his hard work on Coming Attractions, an indispensable resource on Pulp-related news that I peruse each week and where I found dozens of news items to announce on The Cimmerian these last six months. This year, essayist (and Cimmerian journal-contributor) Don Herron is nominated.  Don Herron authored several seminal pieces on Robert E. Howard –you can read Brian Murphy’s appreciation of Don’s “milestones in Howard studies” here on the Cimmerian blog.

Besides his literary criticism about the Bard of Cross Plains, Don Herron is also an authority on Dashiell Hammett, Charles Willeford, Philip K. Dick and the Emperor of Dreams, Clark Ashton Smith. He created the Dashiell Hammet Tour in 1977 and has lead Hammett aficionados through San Francisco every year since then.

He has written for or edited The Dark Barbarian: The Writings of Robert E. Howard (1984), the five-volume Selected Letters of Philip K. Dick (1991-1997), The Barbaric Triumph: A Critical Anthology on the Writings of Robert E. Howard (2004) and The Dashiell Hammett Tour: Thirtieth Anniversary Guidebook (2009).

On a more personal note: his 1976 essay “Conan vs Conantics” was a kind of revelation to me. Every Howard fan can — and, in this blogger’s opinion, should if it hasn’t already been done yet – read it thanks to the Web Archive link that I just provided. It opened my eyes in regards to Lyon Sprague de Camp‘s editorial shenaningans when I first stumbled upon it a decade ago.

Damon C. Sasser, REHupan and head of TGR, has recently written a blog on Don Herron’s nomination. Here are some of his kind words:

Much like Hammett’s Continental Op, he is always one step of everyone else and on the cutting edge of literary discoveries and criticism.

The winner of the Munsey Award will be announced next month, during Pulpfest 2010.

Since he seems to be too humble to mention it himself here, I will do it for him; our own Cimmerian blogger William Patrick Maynard has announced that he has fully-executed agreement from the Sax Rohmer Literary Estate to write a second novel featuring Rohmer’s evil doctor. It will be entitled The Destiny of Fu Manchu.

Bill’s The Terror of Fu Manchu, the first Fu Manchu thriller to be authorized by the Sax Rohmer Literary Estate in twenty-two years is still available from Black Coat Press. It brings back Sax Rohmer’s insidious criminal mastermind, Dr. Fu Manchu, along with Rohmer’s intrepid protagonists Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie. He teams them with Rohmer’s brilliant French detective, Gaston Max, in a new adventure set in London and Paris in 1913.

The Terror of Fu Manchu is published by Black Coat Press and is available in both hardcover and trade paperback editions.

Also, Bill has recently written a piece for a French website dedicated to the noir/crime genre, k-libre. If you happen to read la belle langue, it is well worth reading. Therein, he explains his writer’s vocation and how the Evil Doctor Fu Manchu became important to him.

Beside The Destiny of Fu Manchu, he is currently working on two books: a collection of original stories, The Occult Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, and an original detective novel.

Bill has always been good-natured during our discussions; he is also talented. I was glad to work with him on The Cimmerian blog.

I announced REHupan Charles Allen Gramlich‘s upcoming Heroic Fantasy/Sword-and-Sorcery collection Bitter Steel last January here on The Cimmerian. It just came out this week and is now available through Amazon.

Here’s the back cover blurb for the book:

Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Achilles, Beowulf! Kull, Conan, Kane!

Heroes are born, but they never die. They become legends; they become myths. Bitter Steel is a collection of new myths, new heroic adventures told in the ancient tradition.

So come! Gather with me around the fire where the smoke stings our eyes. We’ll listen to the drums beat in time with our hearts. We’ll drink from the common bowl as it passes among us. The darkness whispers outside our camp, but we have no fear. There are heroes among us. Let us hear their tales.

This collection includes stories mostly published in the early ’90s (some were revised) and new tales, both serious and humorous S&S yarns, as well as fantasy poems. The same character, Thal Kyrin, features in a third of the stories. The introduction is centered on Robert E. Howard and the opening poem was written “on the same rhyme scheme and rhythm” as Robert E. Howard’s “Recompense.”

As a foretaste, here’s and excerpt of a Thal Kyrin yarn, “Coin and Steel”:

“They’ll call this place, Bloody Ground,” Thal Kyrin said, and his horsemen nodded and seated their lances for the charge. In another moment the battle-horns sounded and the men moved forward in answer, hawk pennons snapping silver and black, dirt rising under the hooves of their war-horses. Thal Kyrin led them from a walk, to a trot, to a gallop, and they were five hundred Iron Riders when they struck the enemy lines, bowed them in, and rolled them back. And like a tide behind, the Dayne phalanxes came. The left wing of the Evranoire army ceased to be.

Rogue Blades Entertainment, publisher of the excellent fantasy anthologies Rage of the Behemoth and Return of the Sword, has announced by way of editor Jason M. Waltz the first annual RBE Challenge! fundraising Writing Contest. The fifteen top stories will be printed in Discovery, the competition anthology.

The cover art featured above is by V. Shane.

A few words by Jason Waltz:

[Discovery] is a competition anthology open to anyone who writes heroic action adventure of ANY genre! Using V Shane’s above artwork and the title Discovery as inspiration, pen me mighty and mysterious tales of action and adventure. Speculative fiction is NOT required for Challenge! themes! Sword & Sorcery, Sword & Planet, Soul & Sandal, Western, Mystery, Dark Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Sci-Fi, even Horror and Romance! You name it, so long as it’s heroic fiction, you can submit it.

More details (including prizes, judges, submission guidelines, etc…) can be read on the official announcement page. Submissions will open on June 1st, 2010 and run till September 1st, 2010. Jason is expecting yarns between 3,000 and 9,000 words. The entry fee is a cheap $10, so if you’re an aspiring writer, this might be your chance to see your words printed in an anthology by a (good) professional publisher of heroic adventure.

Mythos Con, a new convention celebrating the life and works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, is scheduled for January 6 to 9, 2011, in Phoenix, Arizona. It will feature art, merchants, movies, panels and games. A large number of writers, artists and film makers will attend, including contributors to the Cimmerian print journal like Donald Sidney-Fryer and Chuck Hoffman.

You can find more details on the official website by clicking here.

Thanks to Grim Blogger for the heads-up.

Courtesy of the indispensable Coming Attractions website:

The shirt design above is by award winning artist David Burton. It is the art chosen by Project Pride –the Robert E. Howard Museum of Cross Plains, TX. — for the 2010 annual Robert E. Howard Days. Project Pride helps maintain the Robert E. Howard House and Museum.

The image is printed on a nice gray t-shirt and is now available. Shirts are eighteen dollars (this includes postage). They’ll ship the next day upon receiving payment. Shirts come in all ADULT sizes from S to 3X. Make the checks or money orders to: Project Pride and send to: PO Box 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443.

David Burton also did the wrap-around cover for A Word from the Outer Dark, a collection of 100 poems by Robert E. Howard put together by Paul Herman in 2009, with the assistance of Rob Roehm for the restored texts. This volume is available exclusively from the Robert E. Howard Museum, for the price of $15.00, with a $2.00 shipping/handling fee. For more than one, add $1.00 per book. You can buy them at the Gift Shop of the Howard House or order them via mail from Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, Texas 76443.

The contents of this collection, which covers a broad scope of the Texan’s outstanding poetic output, can be read here at Howardworks. As for the T-Shirts, your money would contribute directly to the preservation of the Legacy of Robert E. Howard.

Subterranean Press has just released the Science Fiction short stories collection The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition by Ray Bradbury.

With fiction stories, essays, introductions and two screenplays by Bradbury himself, it claims to be a definitive edition. Here is the table of contents and some additional information from SubPress:

A Few Things to Note:

This SubPress/PS Publishing project will differ from the other publisher’s intended edition in a few ways:

Added introductions
Five new, full-color plates by Edward Miller commissioned especially for our edition
A 7 by 10 inch trim size to make this not only a work of art, but a readable volume
Printed in two colors throughout
Limited: 500 signed numbered copies
Lettered: 26 signed, deluxe bound copies, housed in a custom traycase

Table of Contents:

Introduction by John Scalzi

The Martian Chronicles (Classic book)

Rocket Summer
Ylla
The Summer Night
The Earth Men
The Taxpayer
The Third Expedition
And the Moon Be Still as Bright
The Settlers
The Green Moming
The Locusts
Night Meeting
The Shore
The Fire Balloons
Interim
The Musicians
The Wilderness
The Naming of Names
Usher II
The Old Ones
The Martian
The Luggage Store
The Off Season
The Watchers
The Silent Towns
The Long Years
There Will Come Soft Rains
The Million-Year Picnic

The Other Martian Tales (uncollected/unpublished stories)

The Lonely Ones
The Exiles
The One Who Waits
The Disease (previously unpublished)
Dead of Summer (previously unpublished)
The Martian Ghosts (previously unpublished)
Jemima True (previously unpublished)
They All Had Grandfathers (previously unpublished)
The Strawberry Window
Way in the Middle of the Air
The Other Foot
The Wheel (previously unpublished)
The Love Affair
The Marriage (previously unpublished)
The Visitor
The Lost City of Mars
Holiday
Payment in Full
The Messiah
Night Call, Collect
The Blue Bottle
Dark They Were, and Golden Eyed

Screenplays

1964 version (previously unpublished)
1997 version (previously unpublished)

Essay

How I Wrote My Book

One Final Note:
When we took on The Martian Chronicles, Mr. Bradbury had already signed the signature plates, which do not bear the SubPress/PS logos, or the proper limitation, which is 500 numbered copies and 26 lettered copies. Rather than ask Mr. Bradbury to go to the great difficulty of signing this many sheets again, we decided to use the existing ones.

DEUCE ADDS: California bibliophile, Robert Barr (courtesy of the Official REH Forum), has some additional info to contribute.

This edition has quite a back story.

It was originally announced by HILL HOUSE, a limited edition genre publisher who’s done some really highly regarded books by Neil Gaiman and others….really high-end stuff.

Book was announced…advance orders taken at $300, and then….nothing. Emails began to go unanswered. People who knew the publisher (can’t remember his name) swore that he was a good guy and didn’t understand what was up, etc. Still….nothing. Eventually the website disappears and that was, as they say, THAT. A lot of angry folks lost some money on this one, and some of the other books as well that never materialized. I ordered the published Bradbury book CAT’S PAJAMAS but they never sent it. Didn’t charged my card either though. Lucky me.

Somewhere along the line Subterranean got involved via PS Publishing and took over the project, commissioning additional art from the original artist and expanding the scope of the book. They did their best to help those who lost money to Hill House via a pretty decent discount on the book, and a few buyers felt they deserved a free book from Subterranean. They were understandably angry about getting shafted but it really didn’t involve Subterranean. I was lucky in that I pre-ordered and secure my copy from Matt Schwartz who ran the now pretty much defunct SHOCKLINES online retail outlet and didn’t have to pay in advance. They were the best online genre seller by far and I miss them alot…..thanks for all the great books, Matt.

The book is done and the slipcases have arrived so they will be shipping VERY soon. It’s apparently a mammoth volume and practically a coffee table book. I can’t wait to see it.

Just one month until Howard Days 2010, REH fans. REHupa and the REH Foundation are working with Project Pride to prepare for the most important annual gathering of REH fans in Cross Plains, Texas. Since 1986, people have come from all around the world on the second weekend in June to render homage to the life and writings of Texan author Robert E. Howard.

Here’s a summary of the schedule:

FRIDAY JUNE 11

8:30 – 9 am: Coffee and donuts at the Pavilion, compliments of Project Pride

9 am – 4 pm: Robert E. Howard House Museum open to the public.

9 am – 4 pm: REH Postal Cancellation at Cross Plains Post Office

9 am – 11 am: Walking Tour of Cross Plains

9:30 am – 12 Noon: Bus Tour of Cross Plains area

10 am – 5 pm: Cross Plains Public Library open

Noon: Lunch hosted by Project Pride. Donations Welcome.

Noon to 4 pm: Pavilion available for REH items Swap Meet

1:00 pm: PANEL: The Illustrators of REH

3 pm: PANEL: The Evolutionary Heroes of Robert E. Howard

5:30 – 6:30: Silent Auction items available for viewing & bidding at Banquet site

6:30: Robert E. Howard Celebration Banquet at the Cross Plains Community Center, featuring Guests of Honor Jim & Ruth Keegan

Following the Banquet & Silent Auction: The First Annual Robert E. Howard Foundation Awards at the Cross Plains Community Center

SATURDAY JUNE 12

9 am – 4 pm: Robert E. Howard House Museum open to the public.

9 am – 4 pm: BARBARIAN FESTIVAL in the large lot North of the Dollar Store on Main St.

9 am – 11 am: Walking Tour of Cross Plains

9:30 am – 12 Noon: Bus Tour of Cross Plains area

10 am – 3 pm: Cross Plains Public Library open

10 am PANEL: The Jim & Ruth Keegan Hour

Noon to 4 pm: Pavilion available for REH items Swap Meet

Lunch & Festival Activities at your leisure during the day

1:00 pm PANEL: Paul Sammon: 51 Years in Cimmeria

3 pm PANEL: What’s Happening with REH

5 pm: Sunset BBQ at the Caddo Peak Ranch

Here’s a link to the REH Days 2010 Information Page, frequently updated by Bill “Indy” Cavalier, who recently asked Robert E. Howard fans to help out Howard Days by donating Howard and Howard-related items to the Silent Auction.

To my knowledge, at least two Cimmerian bloggers are supposed to attend, managing editor Deuce Richardson and the Venarium Award nominee Alexander Harron –whose rival in the category is none else than another Cimmerian contributor, our own Barbara Barrett.

Howard Days’ Guests of Honor will be the artists Jim and Ruth Keegan. Paul Sammon, author of Conan the Phenomenon will be there (he also attended in 2006), as well as Justin Everett and Deirdre Pettipiece, co-authors of the upcoming critical volume More Than Human: The Evolutionary Heroes of Robert E. Howard.

Also, there will be a presentation of the donations to Project Pride in the name of Dan “Painbrush” Goudey, late Robert E. Howard fan and artist. The goal was to reach $1,000 donated and we’re close. Please help if you can –even only a few bucks in these tough times– every bit counts and it is not too late. It would help to keep Howard’s legacy alive. Paypal donations can be made through the REH Foundation thanks to Paul Herman who will forward the money to Project Pride. You just need to make sure to make a notation on the payment that your donation is in the name of Dan Goudey. Here’s the link.

Since this year’s theme is “The Illustrators of Robert E. Howard,” the fine people in charge of organizing the event will also be doing something to honor the greatest of them –the best fantasy artist of the last century– the recently departed Frank Frazetta, with an appropriate tribute.

DEUCE ADDS: Our own Jeffrey Shanks just informed me that he will also be attending Howard Days this year.