HOORAY FOR HOK

Next month sees the release of Battle In The Dawn: The Complete Hok the Mighty by Manly Wade Wellman.

Published by the very wonderful Planet Stories imprint of Piazo, this represents the first time that Wellman's prehistoric hero appears in a complete and authorized edition.

I've only read a couple of the Hok stories in the past and they are wonderful - stone age sword and sorcery (so to speak) stories that first appeared in the 1930's and which Wellman added to even up to the time of his death. In fact, one of the last incomplete fragments that Wellman left behind was the start of a new Hok story.

I'm really excited about this new edition, Planet Stories have done a great job of keeping pulp fiction alive, publishing collections and novels by such authors as CL Moore, Henry Kuttner, Michael Moorcock, Leigh Brackett and Robert E. Howard, most of which have been sadly out of print for many years (such as Kuttner's Elak of Atlantis stories which deserve a place on the shelves of any self-respecting sword and sorcery fanatic).

You can find out more about Hok, Battle In the Dawn and Planet Stories here:

http://paizo.com/store/paizo/planetStories

TUSSAGAROTH REVISITED

Some more nice words about my S&S Mythos tale The Song of Tussagaroth, which appeared in the October issue of Innsmouth Free Press, this time from Angela Spencer in the pages of Rise Reviews.

“The Song of Tussagaroth” by James Lecky proved to be an unexpected piece to find in the magazine. This lovely piece of dark fantasy was more closely related to Howard’s Hyborian Age or Lovecraft’s Dreamlands than the usual nods to Lovecraft’s work. As best I can tell it is the author’s own setting as well, as is the old god Tussagaroth that lends the story its name. It was a fun piece to read and an interesting break from the other stories."

Angela has good things to say about the magazine, too. You can read the full thing here:

http://risereviews.com/2011/01/15/innsmouth-free-press-issue-5-october-2010/

WITH MANY SHADES

A quick plug for my other blog, With Many Shades. As regular readers might know. With Many Shades is a listing of various online, and occasionally print, publications that fall into the category of science fiction and fantasy.

It's a hopefully decent enough resource for both reader and writers. if you haven't checked it out yet then please do (and maybe consider following the blog, too, it needs all the followers it can get)

And that's all I have to say about that.

http://withmanyshades.blogspot.com/

THIN BLOOD AT AURORA WOLF

My Celtic flavoured fantasy Thin Blood is currently available to read at Aurora Wolf.

It's the first of what I hope will be a new series of tales set in Orialla, which is my fantasy version of Ireland.

The stories (there are currently two of them) have a slightly more upbeat tempo than most of my other pieces - at least, I think they do, it's hard to tell sometimes.

This issue also contains a new story, Masks, by the excellent Megan Arkenberg.

You can find Thin Blood here: http://aurorawolf.com/2011/01/thin-blood/

GETTING INTO 2011

Well, the New Year has begun and I think a lot of resolutions have already been broken. Not by me, though, since I didn't make any.

One thing I did make my mind up to do, however, was to revisit a few of those stories that remain unfinished and see if the passing of time has helped with those tricky little plot turns that effectively painted them into corners.

What struck me first and foremost was exactly how many of these stories I have: two unfinished Tulun stories (one of which is currently hovering at the 8,000 word mark), Three that fall into my Shining Cities sequence and at least half a dozen others ranging from a new Mythos sword and sorcery story to a steampunkesque 'multiverse' tale to the odd foray in 'straightforward' sf.

Most of all, I realised that I have 14,000 words of a novella that I've been working at on-and-off for the last while (it's a sort of alternative world thing where the sorce of magic is dragon's blood and the dragons - or dreki - are hunted for them in much the same way that whales were hunted during the 19th century).

With no false modesty, most of these stories aren't bad (although a couple are right stinkers and I know why I gave up on them) and certainly deserve to be finished. After all, no one is going to read a story that still sitting on my hard drive or in my notebooks (this, by the way, applies to every writer and not just me).

So I have made up my mind to get these particular stories finished. Not a resolution, you understand, more of a duty to those characters who have remained in literary limbo for too long. Hopefully they'll forgive me for leaving them.

HEROIC FANTASY QUARTERLY ISSUE 7

The newest issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is live and unleashed for your reading pleasure.

Fiction Contents

LORD OF THE BRASS HOST, by Dariel Quiogue

Dare we call this beauty a tale of S&S steampunk upon the steppes? We dare!

THE LAST FREE BEAR, by J. S. Bangs

Hope drives them across the tundra, and revenge into a world of legend!

SHATTERING THE SPEAR, by P. Djeli Clark

When the forces of the Witch Priest threaten the Southlands, only the mighty Zhusa and their allies stand in the way. But are unbreakable spears enough to stop this ancient evil . . .

Poetry Contents

LAMENT FOR THE FATHERS, by Joshua Hampton

A poem seemingly straight from the middle ages! With this his second poem to grace our electronic pages, Mr. Hampton currently reigns as HFQ’s Poet Laureate. (You can check out the prior here, from the halcyon days of ’09.)

METTLE, by Scott Matthews

We couldn’t have asked for a better winter poem. Short but powerful, certain lines of this piece are sure to warm the hearts of heroic fans everywhere — you’ll know ‘em when you see ‘em!

Art

This quarter’s artwork is “Wizard’s Fire” by Simon Cowell. Mr Cowell is a freelance concept artist, Illustrator, and painter living in Sydney Australia.

http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/