Is Conan the Barbarian Texas' greatest hero?

Hey, y'all -- it's time for REH Days, the annual tribute of fans of Texas writer Robert E. Howard, in his hometown of Cross Plains, Texas. This year the festival runs from Thursday through Saturday (June 11-13). It's mostly free, so drop by if you get a chance. In REH's honor, I'm re-running some of my previous about him and his stories -- including some you may  not expect!

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People of the Black Circle

by Robert E. Howard 

Conan-creator Robert E. Howard a specialist in spunky heroines? Possibly, it's not the first characteristic that leaps to mind in considering the king of 1930's pulp fiction. But I dare you to find a single spiritless, or even resigned woman in Howard's stories. Especially not in one of his best, People of the Black Circle, whose heroine Yasmina defies protocol, not to mention loss of life and sanity, to rescue the soul of her beloved brother from wizardry.

Image by Hansuan for pixabay

And despite the racy cover of the September 1934 Weird Tales, which serialized the novella, Yasmina, in typical Howardian fashion, wins without stooping to the exploitation of her sexuality. Not even to gain the aid of the warrior Conan, turning up in a surprisingly non-Hyborian context.

Briefly, as Bunda Chand, king of Vendhya, lies dying, he reveals to his beloved sister, the Devi Yasmina, that he has been “ensorcelled by the wizards of the Himelians,” who are intent on imprisoning his soul in the body of a demon. The distraught Yasmina determines to free her brother’s soul. To do so, she travels incognito to the borders of Himelian territory, determined to find the famous Conan and force him to aid her in penetrating the wizards’ fastness.

The Devi finds the tables turned on her more than once in a typically twisty Howard plot, but she and Conan will eventually acknowledge each other as the best of enemies.

“. . . of all the Conan-girls, I have a special fondness for Yasmina,” writes the reviewer at http://www.pulpanddagger.com/conan/people.html/. “Somehow, Howard combines in her a perfect blending of imperious strength and fetching vulnerability that makes her stand out from all the rest.”

Conan thought so, too.

As the story ends (spoiler alert!) he tells Yasmina, now queen of her own country, “‘I will collect your ransom in my own way, at my own time. . . And I will come with fifty thousand men to see that the scales are fair.’”

“She laughed, gathering her reins into her hands. ‘And I will meet you on the shores of the Jhumda with a hundred thousand!’”

Where did Howard (not to mention Conan) get this appreciation for strong women? In spite of the disapprobation heaped on Howard’s mother, Hester Ervin Howard, who added her surname to the name of her only son, I suspect he appreciated her strength, both as she and his father argued famously and as she endured an agonizing death from tuberculosis.

But not surprisingly, Howard never married. And although Conan sometimes appears about to take the plunge, I can’t remember one of his stories that ended with a wedding, either.

(Want more Howard? Listen to a free audio trial of People of the Black Circle at www.audiobooks.com or stay tuned here for more!)

A whirlwind windup for 2020 writing conferences

 As disturbing as the writing conference scene may seem for 2020, I’ve found myself attending more conferences than I ever dreamed of – as long as they’re virtual. High ticket prices? Hotel and travel expenses? Plenteous supplies of face masks? I can laugh at such problems from the security of my own home screen. So far this year, I’ve been to the North Texas area WORDfest (virtually, speaking); the Writers League of Texas conference, and Thrillerfest. And already signed up for Bouchercon and World Fantasy Convention. And maybe a few others from the following list – many courtesy of Erica Verrillo’s Publishing and Other Forms of Insanity -- check Verrillo’s blog for a complete list and updates.)

 

September 21-27: Imaginarium, with emphasis on creative writing in books, movies, gaming, music, and comics/graphic novels. Registration: $125.

 

September 24-27: The PNWA Conference, sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Writers association, with seminars, and attending agents and editors. Registration: for nonmembers $475 for full conference or see the site for single-day options.

 

October 2-4, 16-18: The Pacific Coast Children’s Novel Workshop & Retreat , features editor or agent feedback on selected whole-novel manuscripts. Basic fee for each of two workshops: $110. Critique fees: $2.50 per page (from 15 pages to full novel).

 

Image by Peter Fischer from Pixabay

October 9-11: James River Writing Conference features pitch sessions with agents and panel discussions for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in a variety of genres. It also offers pre-conference master classes October 9. Conference cost, which includes a virtual one-on-one meeting with an agent is $295. Single-day tickets start at $145. Master class is an additional $65.

 

October 16-17: Bouchercon, the annual convention of the mystery and crime fiction community. Cost: $55. Since it’s virtual, there will be no refunds until the virtual event itself is cancelled. I haven’t seen a schedule yet but am hoping for access to interviews with guests of honor, who include Scott Turow, Walter Mosley, Anne Perry, and Anthony Horowitz, as well as access to mystery panels.

 

October 16-18: Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, is normally held each summer in the North Texas city of Grapevine, and is another of those wow, I wish I could attend events that’s usually out of my price range. This the Mayborn is virtual, and at only $99, may make my must-see list. With a focus on journalism and nonfiction writing, this year’s keynote speakers are Sarah Broom, Major Garret, and Gene Weingarten. Deadline for submitting to the Ten Spurs writing contest and the manuscript competition has been extended to September 15.

 

October 16-18: Emerald City Writers’ Conference, is sponsored by the Bellevue, Washington -area RWA, and features film and television scouts taking pitches along with agents and editors. Cost: $125.

 

October 29-November 1: World Fantasy Convention has long been on my wish list but I had trouble justifying the travel expenses. Now I can be there for $125. Information is still skimpy, but presumably will include access to interviews with guest, who include David Cherry, Stephen Gallagher, Anne Groel, Cindy Pon, C.J. Cherryh, and more.

 

November 5-7: Writer’s Digest Annual Conference, also now virtual. Registration now-November 5: $349. Two pre-conference workshops are available as add-ons for $149 each or as standalones for $199. Keynote speakers are Chuck Wendig, Maaza Mengiste, and Viet Thanh Nguyen more than two dozen OMG-amazing other speakers.

 

November 9-15: Breakout Novel Intensive 2.0, agent Donald Maass’s killer seminar will be held online, with new or revised units on strong voice, compelling story works, beautiful writing and more. This one will cost you – new student registration is $1,095. Normally limited to 40 students, but I’m not sure how that will play out in a virtual setting – obviously, meals and lodging won’t be included. See the site for details.

 

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What’s missing? For the most part, agents and the chance to pitch to them. Although I’m amazed that some conferences are offering virtual agent pitches – why not do those regularly, whether the conference is virtual or in-person? Also, missing is one of my North Texas homeground’s favorite events, Writers in the Field , although previously-purchased tickets can be carried over to the 2021 event. Or see the site for refunds or donations.

 

In the meantime, keep writing, and most of all, stay safe! 

Oops -- I nearly forgot the Kathryn McClatchy Flash Fiction Contest, sponsored by the Writers Guild of Texas is open now through October 27. Cost of first entry: $35 for nonmembers (includes WGT membership, free for members. Additional entries are $15 for both members and nonmembers, to a maximum of three entries. Cash prizes. See the site for complete details.  

Wordcraft -- What an editor wants to read

Recently, Lou Anders conducted what he says on his blog was his first ever writing workshop at FenCon VIII in Addison, Texas. Few workshop leaders would be better equipped to tell us what an editor wants to see in the first pages of a novel. He’s this year’s winner of the Hugo Award for editing, long form, and the editorial director for Pyr books. He hears twelve to fifteen pitches for books daily, and he and his assistant at Pyr look at, by his calculation, a thousand manuscripts annually. Of those, Pyr publishes thirty.

After talking through a few of the nineteen workshop submissions, he tactfully formulated “the no prologue, no multiple POV (point of view), no unlikable protagonists rule” of things that turn off readers within the first few pages. Our starting goal as writers is to “give people as few reasons as possible to drop out” of reading a story.

What else turns him off? Perhaps surprisingly for a hard-boiled looking guy -- profanity. “I like to save profanity for the moments that count,” he said.

That’s partly because, he said, for all the emphasis on action in science fiction and fantasy, women and girls constitute the overwhelming majority of readers -- 75 to 90 percent. For YA (young adult), the reader demographic is even stricter -- teen girls and their mothers. Writers must master the art of “getting it past the mothers -- and getting the mothers to read it.”

So what does Lou Anders like? Contemporary sounding language, for one thing. Telling details, for another. He commended a writer for a passage in which a character flipped her long hair from under the handle of her bag, although admitting he might forget to add something like that because “I don’t have hair. . . (but) little tiny details that are realistic prepare people for the nonsense to follow.”

He also likes humor. “Find a way to be upbeat even when you’re downbeat. . .Even dark books have moments of humor, and the darker they are, the more humorous.”

And how to get those sympathetic protagonists? Not by making them pathetic or overwhelmed. But for a struggling character, “If we see what she’s given up and what she’s juggling, we’ll sympathize with her.”


Want more of Lou’s writing advice? See his blog, “bowing to the future,”
http://louanders.blogspot.com And check back here next Wednesday for his discussion of novel structure from a former screenwriter’s point of view and ways to break into writing.

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Looking for markets? Don’t get tricked into forgetting these small publishers’ deadlines timed to coincide with Halloween:

CLIFFHANGER BOOKS -- Submissions window for its second anthology of Paramourtal romances closes October 31. See www.cliffhangerbooks.com
DARK TALES OF LOST CIVILIZATIONS -- Also closing October 31. See
http://ericjguignard.blogspot.com

NAKED READER PRESS -- Quarterly open reading period ends October 31. See www.nakedreader.com

Other deadlines at www.duotrope.com/ although Naked Reader wasn’t there when I last checked.

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Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, North Central/Northeast Texas, holds its annual conference this Friday and Saturday, October 7-8, at Fielder Road Baptist Church, 2011 S. Fielder Road, in Arlington. Authors, editors and agents will be there. See
www.scbwi.org for registration and details.