Well, it appears that’s that. Just a scant week ago, I was astonished to discover it had been exactly one year since my debut on The Cimmerian, and now it appears my first year will be my last on the site.

Working at TC has been the time of my life. I followed the blog for years, always hoping that someday I might be able to make an impact comparable to it: maybe even join the elite ranks of TC itself. I was astonished to see Steve Tompkins post my silly little story, and for it to result in a great throwdown between Leo & Steve on the merits of Conan the Barbarian and Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. To be invited as a regular (after all that) in 2009 was, at the risk of being terribly trite, a dream come true.

Since coming on the site, I’m utterly amazed by the things that have happened to me over the course of a year. I exchanged emails with professional authors, artists, game designers, journalists and some of the veteran Howard authorities. I’ve been name-dropped in a newspaper. My posts were being linked and discussed all over the internet. Most surprising of all, my blogging was well-regarded enough that they were enough to qualify me for a Venarium Award nomination alongside Barbara – and she had her essays published, and even wrote a book! It all seems so unreal to me, who’d been a Howard fan since a young age, but only began seriously exploring his work on a critical level for a scant five years. I never thought I would make it this far, this soon, but I still have a lot to do, and a lot to prove.

My service on The Cimmerian was not free of controversy. I don’t doubt some of my posts may have ruffled some feathers, and certainly I didn’t hold my tongue in criticisms of Solomon Kane, “Conan,” Arvid Nelson’s Thulsa Doom, … And Their Memory Was A Bitter Tree, even Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. I also picked a few fights with authors, critics, journalists and others who spread the old myths and misconceptions of Howard and Conan. Being a Howard newcomer, I’m sure I’ve made mistakes, or covered old ground, or made some neophyte errors: such is the nature of the learning process, and I’m ever hoping to avoid such mistakes in the future.

Truth be told, I’m frustrated at the way events have conspired. Since 2010 started, The Cimmerian’s been more successful than ever. Site hits rose from 10,000 views a month in 2008 to double that in 2009, and skyrocketed to almost 100,000 as of May. Miguel’s Conan the Momoan scoop has been cited all across the internet, the site has been name-dropped in the Los Angeles Times, and we spearheaded the tributes for Frank Frazetta. Even without the incomparable voices of Leo Grin, Mark Finn, Rob Roehm, the much missed Steve Tompkins and others, The Cimmerian had been going strength to strength.

So ending The Cimmerian at such a point is immensely frustrating to me. What will fill the void? The community of bloggers at The Cimmerian will likely always be part of Howardom in some fashion, but we’ll be spread throughout the Howard army, instead of being side-by-side in one battalion. Barbara is a well-established REHupan. Brian still has his fantastic blog The Silver Key, and Bill has Seti Says. Deuce and Miguel are moderators at the Official Robert E. Howard Forums. I don’t think Keith, Jeff or Jim will be wanting for a place at one of the many other fine Howard & fantasy blogs out there like the REH:Two Gun Raconteur blog and The Black Gate.

What about me? My personal domain, The Blog That Time Forgot, is a boatload less formal than The Cimmerian, but with TC’s passing and my own small but loyal band of followers, it looks like it’ll be my new base of operations. TBTTF is thus far rather spartan, with only a personal photograph and some colour: at this point I was concentrating more on the writing content than the visual. Without TC, TBTTF will probably be spruced up to a more professional level, with graphics, better organization and original artwork. I’ll also have more time to spend at the Official Robert E. Howard Forums, and enjoy the conversations and arguments more fully.

Those concerned that my series on Barbarians of Middle-earth, Hyborian Age Gazetteer, Almuric, Accept No Imitations, and the recently embarked-upon Art of Frank Frazetta & Robert E. Howard will be cut short need not fear: I will endeavour to continue those series to their conclusions, and make them freely available online. While I may pursue printed avenues, I believe that Howard criticism and discussion deserves a strong presence on the internet as well as in print. I’ll also be starting a few new series that I’d planned on introducing on TC in the future. Sure, there’ll still be non-Howard stuff like discussion of Tolkien, history, mythology, dinosaurs, comics, Star Trek and Transformers, but hopefully it’ll have a touch more class.

Working on TC posts for every week, keeping an eye out for formatting, diction & grammar, has given me the discipline necessary to maintain a presence on the internet, without falling victim to stagnation. After leaving university, I had a terrible inability to stick things out. I’d often work on something non-stop for a few months, then lose interest completely, and procrastination, lethargy and writer’s block would kill it. Though I couldn’t turn out a worthy post every week, with a few being little more than a link to another site, I took immense pride in the fact that I never missed a single week.

Well, it’s been swell, folks. I had a fantastic time on The Cimmerian, and I’m truly appreciative for everyone’s comments and mail, and of course their readership. I’m immensely thankful to Leo for allowing me to board his ship in the final stretch of its five-year mission, and equally grateful for Deuce’s vote of confidence. His steering of the ship over the past year has led it into uncharted waters. There are still a few ports of call to make before the good ship Cimmerian docks for the last time. I hope you’ll join us on this final stage in the voyage of The Cimmerian.

Into the west, unknown of man,
Ships have sailed since the world began.
Read, if you dare, what Skelos wrote,
With dead hands fumbling his silken coat;
And follow the ships through the wind-blown wrack–
Follow the ships that come not back.