Ross E. Lockhart's Blog, page 72
July 6, 2011
Countdown to Cthulhu: H. P. Lovecraft's pen is?
Howard and Smith
were typewriter men.
But HPL preferred
a squid-ink fountain pen...
Shamelessly hotlinked artwork by Angryblue.
Lovecraftian bibliomania leads to all kinds of rampant speculation. Did HPL read this? Was he aware of that? What did he think of those people? And what kind of pen did he use?
Seriously. Readers want to know these kind of minute details. They debate this stuff on the Internet. Was HPL a Mabie Todd Blackbird kind of guy? Or did he prefer a more elegant (and messy) dip pen? Maybe a feathered quill.
Australian philosopher, author and commentator Damon Young appears to have found the answer. Here, Young presents an excerpt from Frank Belknap Long's Howard Philips Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside, in which HPL goes pen shopping...
"When I got back to the stationery store, there were at least fifty pens lying about on the counter and Howard was still having difficulty in finding one with just the right balance and smoothness of ink flow. The clerk looked a little haggard-eyed but he was still smiling, wanly.
"The careful choice of a fountain pen may sweem a minor matter and hardly one that merits dwelling on at considerable length. But to me it has always seemed a vitally important key to the basic personality of HPL in more than one respect. He liked small objects of great beauty, symmetrical in design and superbly crafted, and by the same token larger objects that exhibited a similar kind of artistic perfection. And the raven-black Waterman he finally selected was both somber and non-ornate, with not even a small gold band encircling it. That appealed to him in another way and was entirely in harmony with his choice of attire."
Mightier than the sword, sure. But mightier than Cthulhu? We're gonna need a bigger pen.
---
---
Happy Birthday to John Langan (House of Windows, Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters), whose heartwrenching tale "The Shallows" will be appearing in The Book of Cthulhu. John's a helluva writer. Do yourself a favor and go check out these recent interviews and maybe a short story or three:
The Secret to Writing Is Writing: A Conversation with John Langan
20 Questions with Mourning Goats: INTERVIEW TWELVE: John Langan
As for short stories, "Technicolor" (in Ellen Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year Volume 2) is a personal favorite, as are "City of the Dog" and "The Revel" (both in Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year Volume 3) but How the Day Runs Down (Our Town with zombies) is also a good one (and online to read for free).
were typewriter men.
But HPL preferred
a squid-ink fountain pen...
Shamelessly hotlinked artwork by Angryblue.
Lovecraftian bibliomania leads to all kinds of rampant speculation. Did HPL read this? Was he aware of that? What did he think of those people? And what kind of pen did he use?
Seriously. Readers want to know these kind of minute details. They debate this stuff on the Internet. Was HPL a Mabie Todd Blackbird kind of guy? Or did he prefer a more elegant (and messy) dip pen? Maybe a feathered quill.
Australian philosopher, author and commentator Damon Young appears to have found the answer. Here, Young presents an excerpt from Frank Belknap Long's Howard Philips Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside, in which HPL goes pen shopping...
"When I got back to the stationery store, there were at least fifty pens lying about on the counter and Howard was still having difficulty in finding one with just the right balance and smoothness of ink flow. The clerk looked a little haggard-eyed but he was still smiling, wanly.
"The careful choice of a fountain pen may sweem a minor matter and hardly one that merits dwelling on at considerable length. But to me it has always seemed a vitally important key to the basic personality of HPL in more than one respect. He liked small objects of great beauty, symmetrical in design and superbly crafted, and by the same token larger objects that exhibited a similar kind of artistic perfection. And the raven-black Waterman he finally selected was both somber and non-ornate, with not even a small gold band encircling it. That appealed to him in another way and was entirely in harmony with his choice of attire."
Mightier than the sword, sure. But mightier than Cthulhu? We're gonna need a bigger pen.
---
---
Happy Birthday to John Langan (House of Windows, Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters), whose heartwrenching tale "The Shallows" will be appearing in The Book of Cthulhu. John's a helluva writer. Do yourself a favor and go check out these recent interviews and maybe a short story or three:
The Secret to Writing Is Writing: A Conversation with John Langan
20 Questions with Mourning Goats: INTERVIEW TWELVE: John Langan
As for short stories, "Technicolor" (in Ellen Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year Volume 2) is a personal favorite, as are "City of the Dog" and "The Revel" (both in Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year Volume 3) but How the Day Runs Down (Our Town with zombies) is also a good one (and online to read for free).
My tweets
Tue, 14:16
: RT @bbeaulieu: Cover unveil for Seed, the next great eco-punk novel coming out from Night Shade Books in November. In a word: Awesome. h ...
Tue, 14:53
: RT @thexmedic: 3rd: No Hero is one of Barnes and Noble's Sci Fi Bookclub's books of the month. Join in the discussion at: http://t.co/DQ ...
Tue, 14:53
: RT @thexmedic: 2nd: Another 4/5 review of No Hero: "Maintains a consistent and actually increasingly interesting story throughout" http: ...
Wed, 02:36
: Countdown to Cthulhu: Is that a shoggoth in your sewer...? http://j.mp/nQgXuC
Countdown to Cthulhu: Is that a shoggoth in your sewer...?
Is that a shoggoth in your sewer...
...Or are you just happy to see me?
"But we were not on a station platform. We were on the track ahead as the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy speed and driving before it a spiral, rethickening cloud of the pallid abyss vapor. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any subway train—a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter. Still came that eldritch, mocking cry- "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" and at last we remembered that the demoniac Shoggoths—given life, thought, and plastic organ patterns solely by the Old Ones, and having no language save that which the dot groups expressed—had likewise no voice save the imitated accents of their bygone masters."
--At the Mountains of Madness, H. P. Lovecraft
About two years ago, a monster was recorded living in the sewers of Raleigh, North Carolina. This seething blob made the rounds of YouTube as a viral video, prompting viewers to make horrible guesses as to what it might actually be. Eventually, the pulsing mass was identified by "various experts" as either a colony of tubifex worms (AKA "sludge worms) or a colony of Bryozoans ("moss animalcules"), rarely-seen aquatic animals. Experts, ha! My money's on it being a shoggoth. "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"
---
March of the Centipede
Centipede Press, publisher of some of the best-looking books out there (seriously, these guys are a bibliomaniac's dream), has just launched an Opinions section on their website, featuring outstanding essays from two of The Book of Cthulhu's contributors: "Reflections on S. T. Joshi," by W. H. Pugmire (The Fungal Stain and Other Dreams, The Tangled Muse) and "The Tiger Stripe," by Laird Barron (The Imago Sequence, Occultation). Well worth a read.
---
H. P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book
Another contributor to The Book of Cthulhu, Bruce Sterling (editor of Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology, author of a personal favorite, The Artificial Kid, and self-admitted "fringe member of the Lovecraft Circle"), yesterday posted H. P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book to Wired.com. Ever wonder about the ideas, images, and sketches behind the stories? Wonder no more.
---
And Happy Birthday to author Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (Blood Will Have Its Season, SIN & Ashes), whose "To Live and Die in Arkham" will also be appearing in The Book of Cthulhu.
...Or are you just happy to see me?
"But we were not on a station platform. We were on the track ahead as the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy speed and driving before it a spiral, rethickening cloud of the pallid abyss vapor. It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any subway train—a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter. Still came that eldritch, mocking cry- "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!" and at last we remembered that the demoniac Shoggoths—given life, thought, and plastic organ patterns solely by the Old Ones, and having no language save that which the dot groups expressed—had likewise no voice save the imitated accents of their bygone masters."
--At the Mountains of Madness, H. P. Lovecraft
About two years ago, a monster was recorded living in the sewers of Raleigh, North Carolina. This seething blob made the rounds of YouTube as a viral video, prompting viewers to make horrible guesses as to what it might actually be. Eventually, the pulsing mass was identified by "various experts" as either a colony of tubifex worms (AKA "sludge worms) or a colony of Bryozoans ("moss animalcules"), rarely-seen aquatic animals. Experts, ha! My money's on it being a shoggoth. "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"
---
March of the Centipede
Centipede Press, publisher of some of the best-looking books out there (seriously, these guys are a bibliomaniac's dream), has just launched an Opinions section on their website, featuring outstanding essays from two of The Book of Cthulhu's contributors: "Reflections on S. T. Joshi," by W. H. Pugmire (The Fungal Stain and Other Dreams, The Tangled Muse) and "The Tiger Stripe," by Laird Barron (The Imago Sequence, Occultation). Well worth a read.
---
H. P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book
Another contributor to The Book of Cthulhu, Bruce Sterling (editor of Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology, author of a personal favorite, The Artificial Kid, and self-admitted "fringe member of the Lovecraft Circle"), yesterday posted H. P. Lovecraft's Commonplace Book to Wired.com. Ever wonder about the ideas, images, and sketches behind the stories? Wonder no more.
---
And Happy Birthday to author Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (Blood Will Have Its Season, SIN & Ashes), whose "To Live and Die in Arkham" will also be appearing in The Book of Cthulhu.
July 5, 2011
My tweets
Mon, 16:20
: RT @Richard_Kadrey: Happy birthday, America. Don't get drunk and invade anything, okay?
Mon, 16:42
: RT @TeresaFrohock: Win a copy of #MISERERE on my one Question Blog Tour: http://t.co/XqPNPEQ @brendadrake #fantasy
Mon, 16:42
: RT @TeresaFrohock: Kristin @mybookishways #Reviews MISERERE: AN AUTUMN TALE http://t.co/CxMI7js @NightShadeBooks #fantasy I like her #aw ...
Mon, 16:51
: RT @TeresaFrohock: Over at The Night Bazaar, @cischafer talks about writing the Whitefire's sequel http://t.co/TQV2SEj #fantasy
Mon, 16:51
: RT @KameronHurley: "...the best adventure fantasies are about more than hitting harder and moving faster...they have to mean every word. ...
Mon, 18:49
: Countdown to Cthulhu: Why Settle for the Lesser Evil? http://j.mp/lM8qka
Mon, 19:41
: RT @NSBposse: Laird Barron The Tiger Stripe: Jerad Walters at Centipede Press has revamped his site, including a new essay pag... http:/ ...
Tue, 01:44
: Hotter than hell outside. Time for some Godflesh: http://t.co/ytbU07i
Tue, 06:35
: Fireworks 2011 http://j.mp/iMXTQm
Fireworks 2011
The Fifth Street Militia is at it again. Independence Day calls for fireworks, and as always, we're happy to oblige. Here's a peek at our pyrotechnical extravaganza:
Adult Beverage: Brew Free or Die IPA
Hey, baby. It's the Fourth of July. And I love this country, in spite of a few ridiculously bad ideas (Prohibition, anyone?). After all, change is part of her Promise. So I figured a selection from 21st Amendment Brewing was in order. Rampaging Abe Lincoln on the label may have influenced that decision.
Brew Free or Die pours a startling piss-yellow, with a tightly-packed off-white head. Once you get past color shock, it's clean citrus hops on the nose, a little soapy, but very pleasant. Malt sugar on the tongue, but underplayed hop character.. Big and bitter, but feels like it's missing something quintessential to the achievement of the platonic ideal IPA. Very drinkable, nonetheless, with a nice, clean, bitter finish that invites another sip.
July 4, 2011
Countdown to Cthulhu: Why Settle for the Lesser Evil?
"Then a sharp report from the outer world broke through his stupor and roused him to the unutterable horror of his position. What it was, he never knew - perhaps it was some belated peal from the fireworks heard all summer on Federal Hill as the dwellers hail their various patron saints, or the saints of their native villages in Italy. In any event he shrieked aloud, dropped frantically from the ladder, and stumbled blindly across the obstructed floor of the almost lightless chamber that encompassed him."
--"The Haunter of the Dark," H. P. Lovecraft
Happy Independence Day from everybody's favorite independent publisher of SF, Fantasy, and Horror (including The Book of Cthulhu, available everywhere September 1, 2011).
Really, what could be more American than blowing stuff up? Oh, I know: a presidential election! Only sixteen months to go until Election Day. Vote early and often! And why settle for the lesser evil? Cthulhu's an ideal candidate. Just take a look at his (shamelessly hotlinked) campaign posters from the last election cycle:
Can Cthulhu count on your vote?
And, for a musical change of pace... mythos done electro-style: "Cthulhu Sleeps," by Deadmau5
--"The Haunter of the Dark," H. P. Lovecraft
Happy Independence Day from everybody's favorite independent publisher of SF, Fantasy, and Horror (including The Book of Cthulhu, available everywhere September 1, 2011).
Really, what could be more American than blowing stuff up? Oh, I know: a presidential election! Only sixteen months to go until Election Day. Vote early and often! And why settle for the lesser evil? Cthulhu's an ideal candidate. Just take a look at his (shamelessly hotlinked) campaign posters from the last election cycle:
Can Cthulhu count on your vote?
And, for a musical change of pace... mythos done electro-style: "Cthulhu Sleeps," by Deadmau5
My tweets
Sun, 14:59
: RT @thexmedic: No Hero is one of Barnes and Nobles' Sci-Fi Bookclub's books of the month. Join in the conversation at http://t.co/DQ3B70O
Sun, 19:43
: RT @LindsaySmithDC: Today's blog post: developing ideas with @TeresaFrohock, author of MISERERE: http://t.co/AbBb2Ex #miserere #storycraft
Mon, 04:15
: RT @philhester: King Kong is noir because the second he sees the blonde he's doomed.
July 3, 2011
My tweets
Sat, 15:12
: RT @TeresaFrohock: Handling #Religion in #Novels: I'm Down Under over at Megan Burke's blog, The Literary Life… http://goo.gl/fb/v8aSt
Sat, 18:08
: Countdown to Cthulhu: We've got Banners! / Lovecraftian 4:20?: http://t.co/VmN6eaL
Sat, 20:34
: RT @StaciaDecker: That's right -- I have finished copies of @johnhornor Jacobs's SOUTHERN GODS!
Sat, 20:42
: My old buddy Rob D just posted a banner for The Book of Cthulhu on his website, http://t.co/DTna9Ev - Drop on by if you're so inclined.
Sat, 22:34
: RT @StaciaDecker: Another sideways picture of @johnhornor Jacobs's Southern Gods! http://twitpic.com/5k75jc
Sun, 02:59
: RT @NSBposse: The Night Bazaar: Giveaway of Miserere: An Autumn Tale, by Teresa Frohock: This week at the Night Bazaar we're g... http:/ ...
Adult Beverage: Port Brewing Anniversary Ale
We just got back from Janine's house and a 2nd of July backyard barbecue, and are now settling in and watching the Giants and Tigers on TV. And I had a Shock Top earlier with my black bean burger, grilled zucchini, corn on the cob, salad, and assorted appetizers, which was a nice little summer session beer, but I wanted to wind down with something a little more aggressive. Good thing I had something from Port Brewing on hand.
Port Brewing's Anniversary Ale pours bright, deep copper with a massive mustache-inducing head. Sticky lacing forms crystalline lattices down the sides of the glass. Understated aroma of citrus hops that comes out as it warms. Hop-bomb bitter bites into your tongue, then tap-dances across the roof of your mouth before cannonball-diving down your throat. Hop oils, pine needles, and burnt-sugared malt. Prepare to pucker. Lasting warm alcohol burn from the back of the throat all the way down. Like a hi-test DIPA, but without the I. Very SoCal. Makes me want to sit on the roof and stare at the ocean. But instead... baseball.
