JournalFeb07

PUBLISHER'S JOURNAL
February 2007

New Blog at REHupa Website
Be sure and check out the new re-designed REHupa website, which now
includes a blog manned by Howard scholars Bill Cavalier, Morgan Holmes and
Rusty Burke. There is a wealth of information at the website and the addition of
this blog adds a whole new dimension to REHupa's place on the web.

Tenth Anniversary of The Whole Wide World
Even though it came and went with no notice or fanfare, it's worth mentioning
that 10 years ago this past Christmas, Dan Ireland's fine adaptation of Novalyne
Price Ellis' memoir of her time with Robert E. Howard premiered in theaters. The
screenplay was written by one of Novalyne's former students, Michael Scott
Myers, who is a frequent guest at Howard Days. If you haven't seen the movie
yet, you are in for a treat as it is readily available on DVD. You can also check
out the Sony Pictures website for background and production info on the film.

--Posted by Damon C. Sasser on February 28, 2007
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New McHaney Projects
Here is an update from Dennis McHaney on his upcoming publishing projects:

"There will be a new Howard Review in time for Howard Days in June, but
I've taken another of my famous changes in course. I'm going to do the thing
once a year, but it will no longer be a magazine. It will be a book. Each issue will
be a theme issue. The first will be the thing I announced last year as just a
regular issue, on Breck Elkins. Late in the year, I am going to do a best of
Howard Review book. That will like be in December. I'm waiting on a few
things for the Breck volume. I also have done most of the work on a
follow up book to World's Greatest Pulpster, a color book on collecting Howard in
the sixties, and in the small press. This was originally going to be a black and
white book, but I decided it needed to be in color, especially with all those
Lancer covers as full pagers. I finished up most of the work on these projects in
2006, and now I just have to spend a lot of time in photoshop."

Be sure and visit his Lulu storefront to view all his current publications.

New issue of The Dark Man Coming Soon!
Originally announced for last year, but superseded by the "Isle of Eons" issue in
December 2006, the contents for Vol. 3, No. 2 of The Dark Man are:

"The Influence of Joseph A. Altsheler's Young Trailers Series on
Howard's Pictish Wilderness Fiction" by Robert M. McIlvaine

A review of The Black Stranger and Other American Tales by Ian Nichols

"Mind-forg'd Manacles? Back to School with Robert E. Howard" by Steve
Tompkins

"Conan the Shakespearean/Hamlet the Barbarian" by Jeffrey Kahan

News: Contributions by Paul Herman and S. T. Joshi

The cover design is an amalgamation of mostly French NeO paperback covers,
designed by Scotty Henderson. The intent was to illustrate covers with most of
the major well-known Howard characters, with their creator, and his ghost.

--Posted by Damon C. Sasser on February 21, 2007
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Excursion to Fort McKavett before Howard Days
Plans are in the works for a group of Howard Heads to caravan down to Fort
McKavett and Enchanted Rock on June 7, the day before Howard Days kicks into
high gear. These two locales were visited by Howard on his many treks around
Texas and the Southwest. Thanks to Rob Roehm and his dad, we now know the
exact spot where this picture was taken, among the ruins of the Officers
Quarters in July of 1933. Now Howard fans who make the pilgrimage to the Fort
can have a similar picture taken of themselves (damn, I ought to look into
getting the concession on this!) standing on the very spot Two-Gun stood 74
years ago. Be sure and visit this website to get the lowdown on the history of
the Fort and its location. Even if you can't make it this June, you can visit any
time of the year and swing by Cross Plains while you are in the neighborhood.

Rusty v Don: A Big Decision
A battle is brewing between these two grizzled veterans of Howard fandom for a
Cimmerian Award. Both of them are nominees for a Black Circle Award for
lifetime achievement. Each has made huge contributions to Howard studies and
if you are like me, you are on the longhorns of a dilemma. I've yet to make my
pick, but time is running out -- the voting deadline is March 1st. If you haven't
voted yet, and are a reader of the journal, mosey on over to The Cimmerian
website, get a ballot and cast your vote for this award and the others. My
prediction: it's going to be a dead heat -- a 50/50 split.

The Neverending Hunt Coming this Summer from Wildside
Paul Herman's major bibliography of REH is the most comprehensive volume of
its kind to see print since Glenn Lord's The Last Celt In 1975. This volume has
double the amount of information that was In The Last Celt, adding all the REH
material published since 1973, the cut off date for Celt. Also included is a
previously unpublished complete REH story "Over the Rockies In a Ford,” as
well as a few "Best Of" lists by various REH scholars, This volume will be
published in both hardcover and softcover editions.

-- Posted by Damon C. Sasser on February 14, 2007
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REH Foundation Announces First Annual Cross Plains High School
Writing Competition
The Robert E. Howard Foundation is proud to announce the first annual Cross
Plains High School Writing Competition which will give the author of the best
paper related to Howard and/or Howard's stories a scholarship of $1,000.00
toward his or her college education this fall. The paper also has a chance of
being published in the scholarly journal The Dark Man.

The competition is open to papers related to Robert E. Howard and/or his works,
written by seniors of Cross Plains High School who are planning on attending
college in fall 2007. The 15- to 30-page paper must be written between February
1, 2007 and March 31, 2007, and submitted to the Foundation before April 7,
2007.

Complete details can be found at the foundation's website.

Blood & Thunder Nominated for a Locus Award!
Mark Finn's outstanding biography of Robert E. Howard has been nominated for
a Locus Award in the Best Non-Fiction category. Be sure and vote for
Mark early and often at the Locus website.

First Book from the Robert E. Howard Foundation Coming Soon!
“A Rhyme of Salem Town and Other Poems”, the first REH Foundation publishing
project, is soon coming from the printers and is now ready for pre-order. This
limited edition of the poetry collection has over one hundred poems not found
in any other collection. More information, including ordering instructions, can
be found at the foundation's website.

New Trade Paperback from Wildside
Wings in the Night collects Robert E. Howard's fiction and prose published in
Weird Tales Magazine from July 1932 to May 1933. These works represent
literary stepping-stones to Howard's famous Cthulhu mythos stories and his
most famous character of all - Conan the Cimmerian - and ably demonstrate that
each of Howard's stories improved and added to his formidable skills as a
master of fantasy and adventure. Order it through Amazon.com and get it at a
discount.

The Clock is Ticking
If you haven't ordered Dennis McHaney's excellent tribute to REH, your time is
running out. The book is available at Lulu.com until June 1st, then it's gone
forever. Don't miss out on this collection of Howard essays and the first pure-
text publication of "The Ghost with the Silk Hat."

--Posted by Damon C. Sasser on February 7, 2007