Old Stuff II

Someone who saw my last post asked if I had ever actually met Manly Wade Wellman, to which I was proud to answer, “You bet.” As a matter of fact, I was the young writer referred to in the old Hellnotes essay, the one who received some words of encouragement during a brief break in an otherwise hectic World Fantasy Convention — New Haven, 1982, I think.

I was lucky enough to attend quite a few of the earlier WFCs, starting with the fifth, which was the first one to return to Providence, Rhode Island, the convention’s birthplace. One of the best things about those gatherings, besides the giddy enthusiasm they always instilled, the contact high that didn’t wear off for weeks afterwards, was the opportunity to rub shoulders, even just briefly, with some of the old pulp masters.

I remember chatting with Manly, getting autographs from the likes of Frank Belknap Long and J. Vernon Shea, and having a pleasant conversation with Robert Bloch while he patiently signed my inordinately large stack of books. I also had things signed by Hugh B. Cave, who years later subscribed to my magazine and years after that became a Hellnotes reader — how cool was that?

One day our group found itself in the buffet line with H. Warner Munn, who ended up sharing our table and regaling us with tales of writing “The Werewolf of Ponkert,” his memories of Lovecraft and his vast knowledge of the Roman Empire, the subject of his then-new historical novel, The Lost Legion.

One of the best memories of all was riding in an uncomfortable yellow school bus with 60 or 70 fans and one very special guest to the site of Poe’s grave, where the guest — the great Fritz Leiber — laid a wreath and provided a stunning, chill-inducing midnight reading of “The Conqueror Worm.” That trip was the subject of another early Hellnotes essay, which I would reprint here … except I can’t find it at the moment.

Those were good times, rare opportunities to meet a generation that even then was slipping away from us. For a few short moments, we actually got to mingle with the same giants whose shoulders we were trying so hard to stand upon.

They’re gone now, of course, but their ghosts linger and their books and stories remain a constant source of joy.

Tags: Frank Belknap Long, Fritz Leiber, H. Warner Munn, Hellnotes, Hugh B. Cave, J. Vernon Shea, Manly Wade Wellman, Pulp Masters, Robert Bloch, World Fantasy Convention, Writing

Old Stuff

You never know what you’re going to find when you’re clicking here and there, cruising around the Internet.

The other day, I stumbled across this old essay of mine — one of the first pieces I did for Hellnotes, back in the earliest days, when Dave and I were still trying to figure out exactly what the newsletter was going to be. I hadn’t yet started writing weekly editorials. Instead, I was putting together semi-regular pieces like “The Roots of Horror,” trying to say a lot in a very few words, which has never been especially easy for me.

I remember writing the piece on Wellman and giving permission for it to be reused. I even remember seeing it not long after it had been posted. But I was a little bit startled to discover that it’s still out there, all these years later.

Re-reading the piece now makes me wish I’d said a few more things, or at least said these particular things a little better. But Manly Wade Wellman was a nice guy and a great writer, and I suppose nothing you say about people like that is ever really enough.

As for the Wellman tribute site itself, it seems to be in a “lingering” phase, without any recent updates. I hope it sticks around. Manly deserves all the ink — virtual and real — that he can get.

Tags: Hellnotes, Manly Wade Wellman, Writing

A Top Tale

I’m usually fairly reluctant to recommend books.

Some of that must stem from my time working in bookstores, where I was called on to make 20 or 30 recommendations every day. As any bookstore clerk will tell you, that’s a painstaking, often unpleasant procedure that involves prompting the customer for clues as to what they like to read, authors they have enjoyed in the past, and so forth. The answers you receive are usually pretty vague and not very helpful, especially if the customer is shopping for a casual friend or distant family member.

“And what kinds of books does your Uncle Edgar like?”

“I’m not sure. I saw him reading something when I was over there at Christmas. I don’t remember the title, but I think it had a green cover.”

Part of it, too, is a general reluctance to tell someone else what they should be doing with their precious, probably far-too-short reading time. When I was younger I didn’t have a problem forcing my literary tastes on others. These days, it feels a bit presumptuous. In the end, I’m just glad to see people reading. I honestly don’t care what they read.

Funny, then, that I find myself recommending books all over the place lately. Not long ago, over at the olsonandsilva site, I offered a rave for The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Today I’m going to recommend that you check out Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale.

I’ve seen some mixed reviews on this one, and I’ll admit that I had mixed feelings myself at first, partially because I was slow to warm to the main characters, partially because I was skeptical that Setterfield’s premise would be able to pay off in equal measure to the build-up she was giving it.

I can happily say that I was wrong all the way around.

Though I wanted to strangle the narrator on several occasions, she ultimately affected me quite deeply. Her power over me grew as the pages turned, as did the emotional impact of the book itself, which left me feeling just the way I want to feel when I finish a novel — a wreck in all the right ways, physically drained, mentally agitated, a bit teary-eyed and utterly satisfied.

Did Setterfield pay off? No question about it.

Looking back at my praise for Shadow of the Wind, I sense a theme. Like that book, The Thirteenth Tale is a dark sort of tribute to literature and the power of stories to enthrall, enrapture, carry you away, heal you, perhaps even keep you alive. In particular, it’s a salute to gothic literature, including well-loved classics such as Jane Eyre, a book that just happens to play a key role in Setterfield’s novel. It’s also got fog-swept moors, a once-great home fallen into decrepitude, unspeakable family secrets, truths kept hidden and truths unknown. And yes, it even has a ghost.

I don’t want to tell you what to read or anything, but …umm … you really ought to give this one a try.

Tags: Books, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Diane Setterfield, olsonandsilva, Recommended Reading, Shadow of the Wind, Thirteenth Tale

Feeling Better About the World

Here’s a question for you: How many blogs do you read?

And a more pertinent question: How many blogs do you miss when they’re not updated on a regular basis?

At the moment, I subscribe to – hold on, let me check. Okay, I’m back. According to Bloglines, I currently have 41 newsfeeds, scattered across categories that include “news” and “writing and literature” and “horror“ and “technology” and good old “miscellaneous,” among others. Is 41 feeds a lot? I’m not sure, but it sounds like a lot. It’s probably more than average, but I hope it’s not enough to make me seem like some kind of weirdly obsessive techno-nerd.

Anyway, of the 41 feeds, only seven or eight would qualify as blogs, and of those, only a few are updated on a regular or near-regular basis. And of those, the only one that I miss when I don’t get my daily fix is Neil Gaiman’s Journal.

I hope all of you are familiar with Neil Gaiman. If you’re not, stop right now, read no further, and get thee to Amazon or Borders or Barnes and Noble or Waldenbooks or The Little Shop Around the Corner and correct this deficiency immediately. You will not be sorry. Whether you’re talking about his novels, his young adult literature, his short stories, his comic book work or anything else he’s created in his eclectic and wildly productive career, Neil Gaiman is one of the best we’ve got – probably one of the best we’ve ever had.

His journal is just like the rest of his work: cozy, welcoming, diverse and quirky, chock full of fun stuff and interesting facts, serious, funny, caring and carefree, a bit strange at times, occasionally very strange, and always overflowing with the warmth of a generous spirit. On any given day he might be answering questions from readers, describing his latest reading or speaking engagement, giving a weather update from Minnesota or his current location on the road, praising the work of another writer or artist, posting a picture of his latest haircut, stressing the importance of protecting free speech, griping about deadlines, celebrating the birth of a new story, or pointing his readers to some odd but fascinating little corner of the Internet. He and his cohorts also make sure his site has plenty of entertaining attractions for readers/visitors, like this cloud comprised of words that appeared in his journal over the past six years or this bizarrely addictive little device – all of which are shared first with journal readers.

Neil is pretty good about posting something every day, sometimes more than once a day, but when he misses, I notice. I think, “Hey, there was no Neil Gaiman post today. Damn.” And that’s more than I can say about the other blogs I follow.

I think all of us should have something like Neil Gaiman’s Journal in our lives – a friend who drops in at odd hours to enlighten us, make us laugh, make us think, confound us, or just make us feel better about the world for a few minutes.

Neil Gaiman at DreamHaven Books

Neil Gaiman on Amazon

Tags: Bloglines, Daily Blog Fix, Neil Gaiman, Recommended Reading