Howard Andrew Jones's Blog, page 18

Anthologies vs. Novels vs. Magazines

Last week, at the bottom of a post announcing a Kickstarter (which you should totally back if you like sword-and-sorcery and especially if you dig my stories)  a number of us started chatting about the strange problem with short stories vs. novels in today’s market place.

Novels simply sell better. Anthologies, even if they’re all about a popular character from, say, a series of novels (like Harry Dresden) don’t sell as well. I’ve often thought that strange; busy as we are these days, with so many distractions, it seems counterintuitive that people aren’t more interested in sitting down with a short story right before bed.

My old friend Paul McNamee pointed out that people have to do more “heavy lifting” with a series of short stories than a single book, especially in a collection full of different writers and different settings. You sort of do it once for the novel, and then you have the characters and sense of setting. It might change and more characters may be added in (or killed off) but it’s still different than having the ground shift under you every time you start a new tale.

Then we can also look at the way magazine sales have fallen off in the last decades, for further evidence.

And yet I don’t think the short story or novella is QUITE dead. Certainly some are still being sold and published. The TOR novella line, online, seems to be doing well, thank you, and some magazines and e-zines have managed to stay in print. If not exactly thriving, they’re alive and seemingly healthy.

What do all of you think is the explanation? And I speak not just as someone who loves short stories, but as someone who has devoted an awful lot of time to getting a new magazine full of them together for the reading public. What do you think I need to watch out for?

Calgaich

Have any of you read this book? I’ve been hearing about it for years, but never owned a copy until Morgan Holmes sent me one last week. I’ve since bumped it ALMOST to the top of my TBR stack. It would have gone higher, but I have some library books and some novels by friends on the top row, and I need to get to them first.

Calgaich is historical fiction, and it’s supposed to be great old-fashioned swashbuckling with a real Howardian (as in Robert E.) flair. Shirreffs is much better known for his westerns, but in the late ’70s he drafted this for the short lived Playboy fiction press (it was printed in 1980).

The back reads:

EXILED 

Son of a barbarian chieftain and a Roman noblewoman, Calgaich mac Lellan is exiled from his beloved country after slaying his cousin in a sword duel over the beautiful but vain Morar, “The Golden One.”

BETRAYED

When his father is betrayed into the hands of the Romans, Calgaich vows to overthrow his treacherous uncle and to take his rightful place as chief of the Novantae.

CONDEMNED

“The gods do not mean to let you return home.” Recalling the prophecy of Cairenn, the betwitching slave woman, Calgaich is captured and condemned to the arena in Rome, from which few gladiators emerge alive.

The Battle of Castle Itter

Hey, remember that time when a bunch of high ranking French prisoners of war allied with their friend, the SS officer, and asked for help from a Wehrmacht officer in command of a handful of men and the local Austrian Resistance? They knew THEY didn’t have enough manpower to hold off a couple hundred Waffen-SS troops, so they joined forces with 14 American GIs, and holed up in an old castle to keep the prisoners safe.

It’s the damnedest thing. And it actually happened. I can’t believe no one’s turned it into a film. Even the little details make for great reading, like the French tennis star who sneaked through enemy lines to get word to the Americans.

If you’ve never heard of it, you should check it out. And even if you HAVE heard of it, short of a book on the battle, this is the most in-depth account of it I’ve seen. You should read it.

I like tales about heroes, and this is a good one.

Magician’s Skull Table of Contents

So here’s a rough copy of the table of contents for issue 1. It’s going to have some additional art, and we’ll proof it a few more times, but above you’ll find a taste of the tales and who wrote them.

I don’t intend to be a regular writer for the magazine. As I mentioned in the sneak peek of the editorial, my story was submitted before this WAS a magazine.

Later this week I’ll answer some frequently asked questions.

Oh, and it looks as though the table of contents is settled for issue 2 — at least, I’ve received a reply from most of the people I’ve invited now.

In other news, Bill Ward and I have started our re-read of Michael Moorcock’s first Corum trilogy, so if you’re interested in joining in, I hope you’ve tracked down the books. We’ll begin posting in a few more weeks.

Sword-and-Sorcery Kickstarter

So here’s a cool thing. This probably isn’t the Kickstarter you expected me to announce (that one’s still a couple of weeks out) but it’s good news nonetheless. Earlier in the year I was asked if I wanted to write a story for a new sword-and-sorcery anthology from Zombies Need Brains. I said yes, and now the Kickstarter is live, which means sooner or later my story will be in print along with those written by some other fine folks. You can find all the details in the official press release below. And here’s the link.

Begin hereafter the press release:

The latest Kickstarter from Zombies Need Brains is now live! We have three new anthologies–THE RAZOR’S EDGE, GUILDS & GLAIVES, and SECOND ROUND: A RETURN TO THE UR-BAR–with some stunning anchor authors, special reward level, stellar early backer and high backer incentives, and a bunch of stretch goals that we’d really like to reach ASAP. Keep in mind that as soon as the Kickstarter funds, we’ll do an open call for submissions to all three of the anthologies for all of you writers out there! Check it out, choose a reward level that works for you, and then BACK THE PROJECT! Featuring Troy Bucher, SC Butler, Patricia Bray, Gerald Brandt, William C. Dietz, Db Jackson, Chris Kennedy, Kay Kenyon, Sharon Lee, Steve Miller, Steve Perry, Seanan McGuire, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Jacey Bedford, Gini Koch, Juliet E McKenna, C.E. Murphy, Kristine Smith, Kari Sperring, David Farland, David B. Coe, James Enge, Esther Friesnerr, Howard Andrew Jones, and Violette Malan.

 

Editorial Sneak Peek

Today I thought I’d provide a sneak peek at the editorial I’m drafting for the first issue of Tales From The Magician’s Skull, which is a behind-the-scenes look at how it came together and what it’s all about.

First, though, is a video of all the cool stuff Joseph Goodman had at the Goodman Games GenCon booth. There were treasures galore, and not just for gamers. You should have seen all those old fantasy paperbacks! Joseph’s love for Appendix N fiction was behind Dungeon Crawl Classics from the start, and he’s trying to get that fiction much easier to find for all interested parties… and, as this magazine shows, devoted to trying to get more fiction in print inspired by similar sources.

Now, the editorial.

Strange but true: this project didn’t begin life as a magazine, and I didn’t plan to be its editor. It happened like this. In 2015 Joseph asked if I’d be interested in contributing some fiction to the 2016 Goodman Games GenCon Program Guide. I naturally said yes, just as I said yes when he asked last year if I wanted to write a story for the 2017 Program Guide.

After I turned it over he wondered if I knew any other authors who wrote in a similar vein, because he’d decided to add more stories. Once again I naturally told him yes. I’ve been published with a lot of writers over the years who like to craft the same sort of fiction, so it was actually harder to narrow down their numbers rather than to hunt them up.

Once Joseph had more stories it wasn’t long before he proposed publishing them all in a separate magazine, along with a final few to round things out. When he mentioned he’d need an editor I don’t think he realized just how hard he was about to be lobbied.

You see, I’ve long had two editorial daydreams. The first was to travel back in time and become a story editor for the original Star Trek. The second, and slightly more plausible, was to edit a magazine publishing great adventure and horror stories that wouldn’t have been out of place in some of the grand old magazines of the past.

I’ve briefly had an opportunity to do that before, first with a little e-zine titled Flashing Swords, and later when John O’Neill brought me aboard to help with the final issues of Black Gate.

This time, though, if I could convince Joseph to let me aboard, I’d be helping to shape the voice of a print magazine from the very first issue! It was an amazing opportunity, and I didn’t just throw my hat in the ring, I somersaulted into the center myself. I must have been convincing, because here I am.

As for what we’re publishing here and going forward, it has a lot to do with Appendix N, the recommended reading list near the back of the original Dungeon Master’s Guide. It wasn’t just a list, it was a touchstone for a lot of young fantasy readers back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, me included. Some time late in the 1970s I copied down that appendix and rode my bicycle to the library, the bookstore, and the used bookstore (and for the bookshelves of friends) and discovered a world of adventure.

I’d be lying if I said Appendix N fired my desire to write, because I’d already dreamed of becoming a professional writer and even scribbled some fiction. But Appendix N changed the kinds of stories I wanted to tell. Before it, I was pastiching Star Wars and Star Trek. The first books I found from the list blew the doors off my imagination, starting with Leiber’s Swords Against Death (which I still consider the best collection of Lankhmar stories) and Zelazny’s original Chronicles of Amber.

After those, the way was opened and I’ve never really looked back. I still enjoy some good space opera, but I fell in love with heroic adventure and I’ve been writing in some related flavor of it ever since.

What Joseph and I hope to do with Tales from the Magician’s Skull is blow the doors off of someone else’s imagination by publishing stories rooted in that same rich fictive soil that produce different and delicious flavors of thrill. Tales with the drive and color and vivid originality from days of yore that feel familiar without being derivative, and new without breaking with the past. We fervently hope to provide these tales for many issues to come, and we sincerely hope you’ll join us for the ride.

Swords Together!

Appendix N and Fantasy Exploration

While I’d been introduced to fantasy fiction when my mom read me The Hobbit, it was Dungeons & Dragons that sent me exploring for more of it. Appendix N lay at the very back of The Dungeon Master’s Guide, and there were treasures within. The problem was that the library didn’t HAVE most of those treasures. I’ve sometimes wondered how my writing and reading life would have differed if the library had actually held any Robert E. Howard books, not to mention a whole bunch of other things Appendix N said were must reads. The library DID have the Amber series, but the first few books were checked out for months.

Fortunately there were used bookstores in town. And even more fortunately I found a great copy of Swords Against Death by some guy that Appendix N recommended highly, Fritz Leiber. The first story wasn’t much of a thing, kind of an intro. But from there… wow. I knew I’d found something really good. It remains one of the finest sword-and-sorcery collections I’ve ever read, and my favorite of all the Lankhmar books. Sure, there are other great Lankhmar stories, but I don’t think any other Lankhmar book is as consistently excellent.

The same bookstore had the Corum books by Michael Moorcock – both trilogies – and some more Lankhmar, and friends had the Elric novels and, thankfully, the Amber books. After devouring those I knew that I was a fantasy fan, but I didn’t realize it was sword-and-sorcery that particularly ticked my clock until years later.

In my late twenties I decided that if I was really serious about writing fantasy it would be wise to understand the roots of the genre. At that point in time I was living in Topeka Kansas, which had three excellent used book stores, and was only twenty minutes from a very fine used book store in Lawrence Kansas. Between those four stores and some internet searches I was able to track down a whole slew of older, out of print books and explore the grandfathers and grandmothers of fantasy. The famed Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was a huge help. Helmed by Lin Carter and Betty Ballantine in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series showcased a whole bunch of lost classics and influential fantasy writers.

It was interesting reading, even when I discovered I wasn’t that fond of the writer. For instance, William Morris was really important… but his characters were pretty wooden. Lord Dunsany, though, was a revelation, and E.R. Eddison was a marvel. I enjoyed various other greats and near greats, but none of them thrilled me nearly as much as Robert E. Howard and Leigh Brackett.

After two or three years of exploration I’d discovered that while I liked fantasy in general, it was sword-and-sorcery (and sword-and-planet, particularly Leigh Bracket!) that I liked the most. And so I’ve been a proponent of the sub-genre ever since. Surely, there is bad s and s, but there is also good, and in recent years there has been a steadily rising supply of it after a dearth of many years. Some of the best fiction has been from Warhammer authors like Nathan Long, Clint Werner, and some guy named William King, and I’m always puzzled that sword-and-sorcery fans in the wider world haven’t heard of Gotrek and Felix, Brunner, or Ulrika and the Blackhearts (sounds like a line-up of hard rock bands, doesn’t it?)

Back in the early ‘90s the lone sword-and-sorcery author seemed to be the late, great, David Gemmell, but the door has widened. Writers like Joe Abercrombie, Matthew Stover, and Scott Lynch pushed it open and more and more sword-and-sorcery writers have come through after them, me along with them.

What do I like about sword-and-sorcery? There are protagonists who must live by their wit and weapons skills in deadly lands, beset by schemers and intriguers. There is treasure to be found, and ancient secrets. There are loyal comrades, implacable foes, powerful but foolish kings, secret societies, fabulous kingdoms, and dark wizards and forbidden secrets. There is world building, surely, but there is forward momentum and a distinct lack of navel gazing. In the hands of the best sword-and-sorcery practitioners, story comes first – and it may be that it’s this craftsmanship that appeals to me most strongly. I like a good slice-of-life tale or literary experiment sometimes, but what I prefer is a tale where interesting people go off to interesting places and do interesting things.

Thanks to Robert E. Howard and Harold Lamb I was exposed to masterful historical adventure fiction, and because of a whole bunch of additional influences I fell in love with 8th century Arabia and the 1001 Nights. My own Dabir and Asim work is a marriage of that love for Arabian fantasy tales and all the things I like in sword-and-sorcery. I wouldn’t have written that kind of stuff if I wasn’t a fan, and it’s my sincerest wish that readers will find the same kind of thrill in my work that I’ve found in my own favorite writers.

This essay originally appeared in 2012 on Bill King’s web site.

Tales From The Magician’s Skull

A gong shivers…

The mists part to reveal a grisly object lying upon a mound of rubble, a browned and ancient head with one glowing, malefic eye…

It speaks, in a voice of cold command: “Silence, mortal dogs! It is time now for

TALES FROM THE MAGICIAN’S SKULL!

In just a few weeks, Goodman Games will launch the Kickstarter for the exciting new sword-and-sorcery magazine inspired by Appendix N. I am mightily pleased to be the magazine’s editor, and I’ve had a blast assembling it with Joseph Goodman. We’ve been working together for almost a year, and I’ve got to tell you that the result is GLORIOUS.  Just check out that Jim Pavalec cover.

I’ll provide details soon about the contents but if the cover excites you, believe me, the contents will as well. Issue 1 is full up and I have nearly everyone invited for issue 2.

GenCon was a blast. I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll go into detail, but I will share that one favorite moment took place Saturday night when I left with the oversized magazine cover from the Goodman Games/Dungeon Crawl Classics GenCon meeting and walked with it from two blocks south of the convention center to several blocks north, where the GenCon Writer’s Symposium farewell dinner was being hosted. I carried it boldly and proudly, and there were many walking the downtown streets, both GenCon goers and Indianapolis natives, who gawked, grinned, or did double-takes. I need to write Jim Pavalec and tell him about that.

Another great moment was when Joseph and I met over a ridiculously terrible breakfast to brainstorm about the future of the magazine and its upcoming Kickstarter.

I’ll provide more details soon, including a sneak peek at the cover to issue 2, and a glimpse at the table of contents. I think you’ll love the layout work of Lester Smolenski, responsible for the look of the magazine title.

GenCon 2017

Early this afternoon I’m driving off to GenCon 2017. I’ve been looking forward to it all year. I’ll get to connect with writer friends I rarely see, interact with fans, and bask in the glow of all of my favorite forms of nerdery. I’ll get to wander the great hall of treasure, examining scores of wonderful products. Even if I don’t actually intend to buy any but a tiny percentage of what I see, it’s fun to look it all over.

And then there’s the section of artists and writers, which I’ll be visiting as well, both to say hello to some writer friends and to check out the work of the professional and semi-professional artists. You can find some amazing things.

I haven’t decided yet if I’ll do a daily blog of my adventures, as I’ve sometimes done in the past. I’ve never been able to gauge how interested people actually are in hearing about conventions they themselves don’t attend. I’ll be busy on a number of panels each day. (You can see most of my schedule here.)

But I can say this — come Saturday night I’ll finally reveal the secret sword-and-sorcery project I’ve been working on. I can hardly wait to share the news, but I will hold on for just a little longer…

Vargr

For my birthday my friend Brad got me a copy of the newish James Bond graphic novel, Vargr, and it proved just as excellent as the mighty Hocking had led me to believe.

Every frame is made to count. There are numerous panels where there is no dialogue but plenty of story, and via them we can see exactly HOW Bond cleverly defeats a henchman or takes on a warehouse full of killers, or what have you (I hesitate to say more for fear of spoiling the excitement). Bond has time for a clever quip or aside, but he’s not hokey jokey. He’s quick on his feet, smart, and lethal, and just a delight to see in action. I should pause, as well, to praise the excellence of the dialogue, which just crackles with comments revealing of character without front loading a whole bunch of character exposition. It’s masterful, revealing much with minimal words.

I enjoyed the collection so much that the moment I finished, I actually went back through and read it again and took even more time over the art and re-savored the dialogue, noticing even more than I had the first time.

Two thumbs WAY up for this one. Looking forward to reading the next.