Laurie's Wild West

One Less Catalog To Arrive in Your Mailbox

2012-01-25T19:50:00.001-08:00

While a lot of the catalogs that I get in the mail are unwanted and end up in the recycling bin (how many Macy's catalogs does one person need?), I always enjoyed getting the Bud's Art Books catalog, issued by Bud Plant. Now I find out that Bud's Art Books just issued their last catalog. What's worse, eventually they'll be shutting down the entire business: website and all.

A lot of you who have been either pulp and cartoon art enthusiasts, photography lovers, and just plain lovers of beautiful books have known about Bud's for a while. Some of you publishers have used Bud's to showcase some of your best pulp reprints.

I guess I missed the memo when Bud announced this in his December catalog. December was a blur for me. I just noticed the announcement on the cover of the current "Farewell" issue. Besides the nails in the coffins that places like amazon and ABEbooks.com have put in the coffin of most mail-order businesses, Bud writes in his farewell letter:

I know that a great many of you are not buying online and depend on us for your books. I've been getting many letters and phone messages from customers about this. But there are not enough of you to support the catalogs we produce.

Bud says he was hoping to find a buyer for his online store. Sadly, that has not come to pass, so he will be shutting down the online business as well. That is not going to happen immediately, and I noticed that there are a lot of books on the website that are not offered in the catalog.

Go to BudsArtBooks.com to see their current offerings online. I couldn't find any information about the closing of the business on the website, but if you go to Bud's Blog (on the bar at the top) there is a post there from last year announcing the sale of the company.

For now, the Farewell Issue of the catalog has some steep discounts on a lot of books, which must be his liquidation inventory. In any event, if you want to buy some books at deep discounts, get a hold of the last issue of this great tradition (Bud's Art Books has been in business for 42 years), and take part in something that is quickly disappearing from our lives: the book catalog.

When an Old TV Series is New to You

2012-01-23T19:15:00.000-08:00

Question for today: Have you ever "discovered" a television series, but not until it's in reruns? Maybe when it was in it's original run on TV, for some reason you ignored it while it was running, or thought it sounded stupid, or just could never get around to watching it, or you had class the night it originally ran?

So? What show was it?

You won't believe what mine is. SEINFELD. For some reason I only watched it sporadically in the 90s. Now I'm digging it.

And there is an advantage to discovering a series now: it's all new to me, and I get to watch it every day if I want, not just once a week.

I confess there are ALOT of shows I missed, especially in the 90s, because I was in school half the decade.

A Short Movie Survey - When Your Tastes Don't Jive With Everyone Else's

2012-01-19T20:47:00.000-08:00

1. Has there been a movie lately that you looked forward to seeing for months, only to find that it was a total dud? Perhaps a movie that was really touted in reviews or "top ten" lists, and you see it and go "huh"?

What was it? For me, the latest one was THE TREE OF LIFE. Fifteen minutes into it, I had totally lost all patience in it and turned it off.

2. What about really popular movies that everyone tells you is great, best thing ever, and you go and find it less so? For me, everyone told me that CRAZY STUPID LOVE was wonderful and better than the average romance movie. If that's the case, the average romance movie much be really bad.

3. What do you do when after the movie, everyone's going, "oh, that was SO good" and you're gritting your teeth? Do you say something or, for fear of being viewed as negative, a snob, or a wet blanket you say nothing?

4. And finally, when was the last time you went to a movie with someone and it's their turn to pick the movie and they pick something that you expect to be either a crashing bore or ridiculous, but you end up loving it? For me, that was BRIDESMAIDS.

What About the Great War?

2012-01-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

Watching "Downton Abbey" this season has resulted in me wanting to learn more about the Great War, aka World War I. Here's some questions for you all to ponder and/or comment.

Does anyone have recommendations for good history books on the Great War?

What about fiction? What good fiction is out there that is centered around the war?

And what about the pulps? What magazines had fiction stories with the Great War as a backdrop? Obviously there were the BATTLE ACES and other air-flight magazines that, up until the mid-1930s, were focused on WWI. But what of other magazines?

And as an aside, is it my imagination or is there a current trend towards producing movies and television about the war? Other than "Downton Abbey," there's also "War Horse" released this season. Well, I guess that's only two examples. But it still feels like a trend. We are coming up on the 100th anniversary within the next few years of the war starting.

More Tributes to Howard

2012-01-16T09:35:00.000-08:00

Here are some tributes to Howard across the Internet today.

Dispatches (with a full obituary)

Matthew Mayo's website.
Western Fiction Review

Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine

The Education of a Pulp Writer
Black Horse Express
Moonstone
All Pulp

There has been discussion on Facebook between his friends and family of an effort to continue Howard's work and his many contributions to the writing community. Stay tuned to these blogs and web sites to find out more.

Rest in Peace, Howard

2012-01-15T17:45:00.001-08:00

A lof of you who read this blog are in the same circles as I am, so you probably already know of this terrible news. I learned a few hours ago that Howard Hopkins has passed away. Howard had just turned 50 and apparently died of heart failure.

I loved reading Howard's Westerns. Anyone who loves modern day Westerns, pulp fiction, horror has probably read a Howard Hopkins book.

It's going to take a while to get over this one. Rest in peace, Howard.

Probably Never Heard of This One Before

2012-01-14T17:44:00.001-08:00

I took Annie to one of the parks in this town this morning. This park has a contingent of people who bring their dogs every single morning to gather and let the dogs play. I've taken Annie there a few times before, but it's been infrequent because I work. So everytime we've gone, Annie has to get used to being around these dogs again.

At first I think she was actually scared of all the dogs. But she eventually began to socialize with the Labs, Australian Shepherds, Labradoodles, beagles,hounds and mutts and even chased one yellow Lab around for a while.

Anyway, about the time we got ready to go, I put Annie's leash on. I turned to talk to someone, and Annie was behind me. Suddenly she lurched at another dog - and pulled me straight off my feet - backwards. I landed ON Annie. She let out a yelp, got up and wouldn't put weight on one of her hind legs. (Hey, I don't weigh THAT much.) As for me, it seemed like a soft landing, and nothing hurt.

Everybody at the park came over in a panic. We massaged Annie's hip for a few minutes and she eventually put weight on it and we walked slowly back to the car. I felt bad for her - she is almost 9 now and has a hard time getting over injuries. Having her mom fall on her probably was scary as hell too.

It's about 9 hours later. Annie is totally fine. As for me, I'm sore as hell and can barely walk. I guess that's what you call karmic justice.

Take a Tour of the Real Downton Abbey: Highclere Castle

2012-01-11T19:34:00.000-08:00

My sister sent this video to me today - it's a simply marvelous four-minute tour of Highclere Castle with it's current resident, Lady Carnarvon. A must see for anyone wrapped up in Downton Abbey.

big Big BIG NEWS!

2012-01-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

RIDING THE PULP TRAIL is now available as an eBook for the Nook, the iPad, the iPhone, the iPhoneTouch, and the Kindle!!! At the price of $4.99, you get 340 pages of some of the BEST pulp Western stories around! (Not that I'm biased or anything.)

Here are the links to the various formats:

Buy it at Barnes & Noble for the Nook ($4.99)

Buy it at the Apple store for iPad, iPhone and iPhoneTouch($4.99)

Buy it at Amazon for the Kindle ($4.99)

Here's what one reviewer has said about RIDING THE PULP TRAIL:

Laurie Powers has been gathering, preserving, researching, and publishing the pulp work of her late grandfather, Paul S. Powers. Here, she has gathered six of his stories that have seen print and six that were previously unpublished in a handsome trade paperback edition. The first story is a reprint, the second unpublished, and so on in that order. There is one Sonny Tabor story. The stories are a delicious mix of action, humor, and colorful characters. All are infused with simple morality and the need for justice in a land where the law is sparse and sometimes suborned by evil. What struck me most about the stories were their seeming freshness, as though they'd been written this year and not 60 or so years ago. Their most pulpish attributes are the titles, which glow purple and proud. A few favorites: "Guns at Jailbird Ranch;" "Buzzards Hate Bullets;" "Judgment Day on Whiskey Trail."
A huge vote of thanks goes to Laurie Powers for discovering the lost manuscripts, resurrecting the old stories, and making them available in a handsome package. She also contributes an informative introduction detailing her discovery of Paul S. Powers' career, previously unknown to her, and how she came to gather the stories for this volume. Let's hope it's the first of many.

Book Review: IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS

2012-01-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
Erik Larson
Crown Publishing Group, 2011

Erik Larson made a name for himself as a first-rate historical writer with ISAAC'S STORM, an then with the bestselling THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY. Now he tackles 1930s Berlin, with an astonishing story of William E. Dodd who becomes America’s ambassador to Germany just as Adolph Hitler is close to completing his climb to Absolute Ruler.

Being the US ambassador in Berlin in 1933 was a job that was very hard to fill. It seemed as if nobody wanted the job, with good reason. It was at at time when Hitler was first chancellor and when the Storm Troopers were starting to flex their muscles and Jews were being harassed and stripped of their rights. William E Dodd was not Roosevelt's first choice, in fact, he was at the end of a line of people that Roosevelt asked to take the job. A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd was the last person some people wanted in the position. He was earnest, idealistic and not the country club type that had filled the shoes before him.

But Dodd took the job, and sailed to Germany with his wife, son, and daughter, Martha. The history of Dodd's amabassadorship during this tense period in Europe is enough to make this book a page turner in itself, even though each page brings a growing sense of dread because, of course, we all know in a general sense what is going to happen. As evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, Dodd telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. Almost exactly a year after Dodd arrived in Germany, "The Night of the Long Knives" occurred, the first of many purges in Nazi Germany in which many of Hitler's so-called "foes" -whether real or imagined - were butchered.

But it's Martha's story that conjures up the saying "truth is stranger than fiction." Martha, who was twenty-four and had already been married and separated, was a woman who was flamboyant and, for lack of a better word, "wild." While in Berlin, she would end up having several suitors, two of which would end up being serious relationships. One of them was with Rudolph Diels, who was head of the Gestapo and actually a man of curious integrity in Hitler's brutal regime. He would be head until he was usurped by a power struggle between Goring and Himmler. Another lover, Boris Winogradov, would end up being a deep love of Martha. Unbeknownst to her, at least in the beginning, Boris was a Russian who was suspected of being an operative for Soviet intelligence, the NKVD, precursor to the KGB.

Martha was so popular and so well known around circles in Berlin that her reputation as a party girl sometimes put her in situations that embarrassed her father and other times threatened to put her in bizarre situations. At one point, before relations between American and Germany broke completely apart, Martha was even set up to meet none other than Hitler himself to see if she had the potential to be his "girlfriend." Like I said, nobody could make this stuff up.

Larson is an extremely gifted writer who, I think, is one of the best of modern history writers. This book is an absolute must for anyone who is interested in this time period and for anyone who appreciates a polished, well-written and thoroughly researched historical account. I just finished it two days ago, and I already want to read it again.

Dodger Buying 101

2012-01-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

I didn't write much about the Dodgers last season - nothing worth writin' about there. But the sports world is a'buzzin with the news yesterday that Joe Torre has quit his executive job with MLB to pursue ownership, with Rick Caruso, of the Dodgers.

Bill Shaikin has an excellent article in the LA Times this morning on the status and hard facts of the ownership process. It begins:

The Dodgers ownership derby is fast becoming the most intriguing reality show in Los Angeles with athletic legends, civic icons and assorted billionares jockeying for control of a team mired in bankruptcy proceedings.

As of today, according to the Times, the following groups have expressed interest in buying the Dodgers:

Joe Torre, with developer Rick Caruso
Magic Johnson
Mark Cuban
Steven Cohen ("billionarie eight times over")
Dennis Gilbert ("onetime agent for Barry Bonds and champion of amateur baseball in LA)
Ron Burkle and Tom Golisano
Peter O'Malley*
Orel Hershiser*
Fred Claire*

*while these three men are connected by the fact that they were all involved with the Dodgers during the last World Series won (1988), they are bidding as part of separate groups.

Some other factoids and calendar dates:

1. Initial bids are due January 23. MLB has agreed to approve up to 10 bids. BUT, the new owner will be selected by Frank McCourt, NOT Bud Selig.
2. The sale is expected to command $1 billion for the team.
3. McCourt has agreed to complete the sale by April 30.
4. While the team is one of the jewels of baseball and revenue at the park was $289 million in 2008 alone, the real nugget are the television rights. The Dodgers' contract with Fox Sports expires after this year.

For the complete article, go here.

The Electronic Pulp Trail is Coming!

2012-01-04T19:48:00.000-08:00

Great news today from Altus Press, the publisher of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL. We are very close to having the e-book versions of RTPT out, both in e-book and in Kindle. Can't wait to get this all out for those of you who have been waiting.

I'll let you know when they're officially released!

Fever Hits Downton Abbey

2012-01-01T08:24:00.001-08:00

Seven days and 12 hours from now, on January 8, an event will occur on television that I suspect will be of historic proportions: the second season of Downton Abbey will premiere. The reason I think it will be historic is because, for the past year, anyone who watched the first season of Downton Abbey has been impatiently, fervently, obsessively waiting for the next season to start. 2011 was a very long year. The premiere of the second season promises to draw a record number of viewers for Masterpiece Classic shows, and maybe for PBS shows altogether.

What made this show so popular during its first season, a parse four episodes that seemed to end before it really event started, episodes that have been re-run over and over on PBS stations over the last year? Of course, there's the obvious - that English costume dramas have, since the beginning of time, highly popular with Americans. It's also based on the time-honored paradox of how the upstairs family lives their lives compared to the downstairs staff, and how they mix on a daily basis. But really, how many times can they create television series on these types of characters? The Brits must think Americans are daft for continually being suckers for these class-warfare themed shows.

But the Brits are crazy about this show too, to the point that the production has been plagued with people trying to find out what happens in the upcoming year. It's also because it is so well written with intriguing plots and subplots. It's not adapted from any British novels, television shows, or movies - it's truly original (written by Julian Fellows). It's also blessed with excellent acting, and with costume and setting quality that, I think, is unsurpassed. (It's the most expensive television drama in British history.) The show is very easy on the eyes - I for one can't take my eyes off of it, and I've watched it...well, I won't tell you how many times.

It also is centered around a historical phenomenon that I for one find fascinating. During the latter part of the 19th century, a good number of Englishmen that were titled but cash-poor and blessed (some might say saddled) with enormous estates, traveled to the United States to find young single women to marry who could bring huge dowries to the marriage. In a perfect world these wives, newly settled in England, would bear sons that would inherit these fortunes and keep everything, including 200-room estates, in the family.

But in Downton Abbey, there were no sons borne to Lord and Lady Grantham - they had three girls. Because of that, the inheritance was due to pass to Lord Grantham's cousin and his son, who was engaged to Lady Mary Grantham, the eldest daugheter. This would have safely kept the Abbey in the immediate family. But then there was this thing called the Titanic that created a horrible kink into that plan. Now Downton Abbey has to be passed to a very distant relative, Matthew Crawley, who really is not all that keen on the idea.

But what am I doing...you've probably all watched the first season ad nauseam like I have. You know all this.

Now fever has hit Downton Abbey in 21st century media. The second season is centered around World War I and how it affects Downton Abbey, the upstairs family and downstairs staff. Since yesterday, I've read three articles in Entertainment Weekly and the Los Angeles Times Magazine about the upcoming series. I'm sure that there will be dozens more articles and television entertainment show installments in the upcoming week. Dozens of Blogs and Facebook pages are also cropping up. (I found one on Facebook, "Addicted to Downton Abbey" that looks great - lots of bahind the scenes videos posted every day.)

In the meantime, until next Sunday, I for one will be impatiently drinking my tea and watching the first year yet again (recorded on DVR, never to be deleted), and waiting and wondering what will happens to my favorites: to Lady Mary now that she's spurned Matthew, to Bates and Anna, to childlike little Daisy the scullery maid, and to poor Lady Edith, cursed with being the middle child and homely at that. And then there's the Dowager Countess, played by Maggie Smith. She is worth the price of admission herself.

My Highs and Lows for 2011

2011-12-31T09:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you for supporting Laurie's Wild West this year, even when I couldn't be here all the time.

If there were two words that would sum up 2011 for me, it would be Hope and Health. Here's a summary of my highs and lows from this year.

High: The release of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL. Matt Moring's (Altus Press) fantastic design made this book beautiful and a collector's item. I am so proud of this book and can't wait until the next release of Paul Powers' stories.

High: Doing book signings this year, both for PULP WRITER and WRITING THE PULP TRAIL, at the invitation of Bobbi Jean and Jim Bell of OutWest. Participating in a panel discussion at the Cowboy Festival on the popularity of the movie TRUE GRIT, and another panel at OutWest with other authors in the fall. I'm continually amazed by Bobbi's and Jim's support of both the Western community and the local artists in our area. They are true champions of the West.

High: Speaking of the movie TRUE GRIT (the 2010 version), having it be such an enormous success in 2011 and nominated for so many Academy Awards.

High: Pulp Fest 2011, in which I was asked to be on a panel again and was nominated for a Munsey Award. Best of all, I was able to hang with some good friends that I only get to see once a year - never enough - and made some new ones. Oh, and picked up plenty of good pulps.

Low: My health took a dive this year. Finding out I have significant scoliosis which is starting to make my back unstable. After 50+ years of being healthy as a horse, I now deal with pain on a daily basis, and have spent significants sums of money on medical expenses, even with insurance. The only good thing is that I'll have a healthy tax write off this year.

Low: The economy this year, which many of my friends and relatives suffered greatly. I was lucky enough to stay employed this year, although the workload increased significantly this year and the stress contributes to be a factor in my health issues.

Low: Not being able to go to London this year. Wait until next year.

High: Being able to spend time with my goddaughter and develop a closer relationship. She will be going off to college this year, which I still can't believe.

High: traveling to the East Coast in October to do research on my new project. More on that in 2012.

High: Going to Phoenix twice: to see my cousins Claudia and Carole (who I never knew until I was researching my grandfather' life) and then again to see my great-uncle George, my grandfather's half brother, who is now 90 and still as sharp as a tack and a joy to be around.

High and Low: The Dodgers this year. Lows because of the obvious: (1) Frank McCourt. (2) Bryan Stow being beat almost to death after the Opening Day game and his struggle all year long to live; and (3) abysmal win-loss record. Highs: (1) because of the abysmal season, being able to buy tickets at record-low prices; (2) being able to buy tickets right behind home plate for a steal AND seeing Clayton Kershaw pitch that night; (3) Clayton winning the Cy Young; (4)Matt Kemp becoming a major star and runner up for MVP and (5), seeing Bryan Stow sit up and carry on a conversation a few weeks ago on television. Let's hope he continues to improve.

Low: Losing Xena, who was an angel both in life and now on the Rainbow Bridge.

High: Adopting Chloe. At first it was an extreme low, because of her disasterous health issues, but now I've got a cat that is affectionate and beautiful, and I can't imagine my life without her. Even if she does yowl in the early morning hours making me want to kill her.

High: Annie is still Annie.

What about all of you? What were your highs and lows?

Happy New Year to all. "Twenty Twelve" has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

2011 Top Ten: Westerns Viewed in 2011

2011-12-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

The top ten lists are starting to pile in. Here is Ron Scheer's Buddies in the Saddle top ten Westerns he viewed in 2011.

Free for the Next Five Days: One of the Best Selling e-Westerns on Amazon!

2011-12-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

FREE for five days!! I know, I couldn't believe it either when I read it. For the next five days you can get the e-book Adventures of Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles Vol. IIfree from Amazon. If you don't believhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife me, go to The Education of a Pulp Writer and check it out.

Good Bye Rusty

2011-12-28T19:47:00.001-08:00

The pulp fiction community lost a piece of its foundation yesterday when James "Rusty" Hevelin passed away. I didn't know Rusty that well; in fact, I just met him last summer at PulpFest. But I feel it's important to acknowledge someone like Rusty who contributed so much to the community, especially for fans of science fiction. It's also distressing to see someone with such a wealth of knowledge leave us.

If you want to read a nice tribute to Rusty, go to PulpFest's website.

Dr. Kildare Movies on TCM right now

2011-12-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

It's a little late to post this, but maybe some of you will be able to jump on Turner Classic Movies right now and catch the series of Dr. Kildare movies they're running right now. For those of you new to the pulp world, Dr. Kildare (who later made a very handsome Richard Chamberlain a TV star) was created by none other than the very prolific pulp writer Frederick Faust under his pen name Max Brand. These movies, from the late 30s and early 40s, starred Lew Ayres.

I need to work right now, but I'm recording them to watch later.

Any of you historians want to expand on the Dr. Kildare story?

Happy Holidays from Daisy Bacon

2011-12-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

During some recent research, I came across this charming and slightly odd holiday card from Daisy Bacon.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Daisy, she was the editor of LOVE STORY MAGAZINE, which was the biggest selling pulp magazine of its day. During this period of 1930 it was selling a staggering 600,000 copies a week. She was also the editor of ROMANTIC RANGE, and during the war years, edited Street & Smith's DETECTIVE STORY. In the final years of the pulps, Daisy was also given the responsibility of being editor of the last years of DOC SAVAGE and THE SHADOW. Not only was she one of the few female editors, she was also, by some accounts, the highest paid editor, male or female, in New York City during the 1930s. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

To read more about Daisy, see my posts The Queen of the Pulps, Part One and Part Two.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Here are some LOVE STORY covers from the same period. Modest Stein was the artist for all but one of these covers, and was signature artist for LOVE STORY for many, many years. To read more about Stein, read my post here.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday. Be safe and be happy.

Love, me, Chloe and Annie.

My Favorite Christmas Covers: FAR WEST ILLUSTRATED, January 1928

2011-12-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

This issue is dated January 1928, but it's still a holiday cover and a dandy one at that.

My Favorite Christmas Covers: WESTERN STORY, Dec. 24, 1921

2011-12-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

Since the Kid Wolf cover went over SO WELL, here's an alternate for today.

My Favorite Christmas Covers: WILD WEST WEEKLY, 12/22/34

2011-12-21T07:10:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not, I don't have that many WILD WEST WEEKLYs featuring Christmas on the covers. This is one of the few that I have.

W

My Favorite Christmas Covers: WESTERN STORY, Dec 26, 1936

2011-12-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

If you haven't gone to the post office yet to mail your packages, you might end up having to hire this guy to deliver your presents.

My Favorite Christmas Covers: EVERYBODY'S; December 1908

2011-12-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

EVERYBODY'S MAGAZINE, December 1908

My Favorite Christmas Covers: THE BLACK CAT, Dec. 1912

2011-12-16T17:02:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the delay today folks. Duty calls.

Anyway, I think this one's a real treat, only because THE BLACK CAT doesn't necessarily pop up when one thinks of pulp magazines.

Galactic Central's summary: "A very off-trail magazine which liked to publish unusual stories and featured a large amount of fantasy in its early years. Authors include Jack London, Octavus Roy Cohen, Ellis Parker Butler, Cleveland Moffett, Harry Stephen Keeler, Frank Lillie Pollock."

BLACK CAT, December 1912.

My Favorite Christmas Covers: ADVENTURE, December 1933

2011-12-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

This cover comes to us courtesy of ADVENTURE. The Captain is getting ready to eat a plum pudding. Has anyone had plum pudding? Just wondering - sounds pretty good to me.

ADVENTURE, December 1933

Tour of Melody Ranch This Saturday

2011-12-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

This is a great opportunity to see one of the most famous of movie sets - especially if you're a Western buff. Melody Ranch is normally not open to the public, but they are offering a tour this Saturday for the Newhallywood onhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Location Film/TV History class. The details are below.

If you want to read up on the Melody Ranch, I wrote a post about it two years ago (can't believe it's already been two years). Go here to read it.

Description

Greetings film and television fans:

Have you ever wanted to take a peek inside Gene Autry’s movie ranch that was once the home of Gunsmoke and Deadwood?

We’re excited to announce that the Newhallywood on Location: Film/TV History of the SCV class will be touring Newhall’s Melody Ranch on Saturday, December 17 at 1 PM.

The tour will begin at the historic Saugus Train Station inside Heritage Junction, 24101 Newhall Avenue, Newhall, and hosted by Santa Clarita Valley film historian E.J. Stephens. It will begin with a brief lecture on the history of Westerns in the SCV and a visit to William S. Hart’s ranch house before we caravan to Melody Ranch. Please wear comfortable walking shoes.

The cost is $40.

Please email deadwrite@yahoo.com, or call 626-483-1205 to sign up, or for more information.

E.J. Stephens, Vice President
Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society

My Favorite Christmas Covers: POPULAR MAGAZINE, 12/20/24

2011-12-14T06:57:00.000-08:00

My Favorite Christmas Covers: BLUE BOOK, December 1944

2011-12-13T07:09:00.000-08:00

Day two of our Christmas series, and a real gem today. BLUE BOOK was noted for its strong support of the troops with its covers during World War II, and I think this one is one of the best. It also is a great one to use today to celebrate that our troops in Iraq are COMING HOME and will be able to celebrate the holidays with their families this year.

BLUE BOOK, December 1944

My Favorite Christmas Covers: WESTERN STORY, Dec 27. 1941

2011-12-12T07:12:00.000-08:00

To get myself in the Christmas spirit, I'm going to post some of my favorite Christmas pulp covers - one a day until Christmas day.

This one has to be one of my all-time favorites. What child wouldn't want a pony for Christmas?

Kinda wish the scan was a little better, but maybe some day I'll be lucky enough to get an original copy.

WESTERN STORY: December 27, 1941

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Frustration, Part Two

2011-12-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

Part Two of Heidi's adventures with holiday lighting!

After the harrowing day yesterday, I got up early this morning resolved to have festive Christmas lights up on our house by the end of the day today.

Knowing that I’d have to brave the Christmas shoppers, I fortified myself with a good, stiff (OK….where are your minds going? Sheesh) BOWL OF OATMEAL and a big Americano. After measuring again and making my list (checking it twice) I started to head out the door. I realize something after my 2-day Christmas light calculations: the Christmas light companies hire all the best and brightest MIT graduates to calculate the probability that you’ll need exactly 3 more feet of lights than the boxes sell, FORCING you to have to buy one more box for that 3’ of space. They’ve somehow figured out the average home’s roof measurements, and calculated all the permutations so that you’ll never be able to buy the exact amount of lights you need for your roof. Either you’ll be too short, or you’ll have to get creative for the extra feet of lights you have.

I stopped myself just as I was heading out the door and thought I’d better be just a little more fortified, so I dug around in the back of the cupboard and found my emergency stash of Trader Joe’s Chocolate-covered Mint Espresso Beans. Yeah. That’s the ticket. I down a few of those (OK, a whole handful) and head out the door.

Now, I had researched online which stores in my area still had the clear icicle lights. That would be Home Depot, Target, and Wal-Mart. I head to Target first. Of course, I remember from yesterday that the Christmas section is all the way to the back of the store, and to the farthest corner available to man. I’m no dummy. I know they just want you to lollygag on the way, see things you don’t need, and buy them. I’m not falling for that. OK, I did buy a couple of Greek Yogurts and a bag of lettuce, but I needed those anyway. Really.

Target is already packed with people. Knowing I have to get to the back of the store (and fast) before all the Christmas stuff goes, I grab a cart (for those extra items I don’t need) and head out at a good clip. Halfway back, the espresso beans kick in and I’m really flying. From the right, another lady zooms out from the home goods. I know (from the look in her beady eyes) she is also headed for the Christmas section. She may have had some chemical enhancements, and I’m just armed with a good coffee buzz. Hardly fair competition. For a few minutes we are like a scene from Ben-Hur (but with shopping carts, rather than chariots). Luckily, I have the advantage of having been to this section the day before, so I know a few shortcuts and beat her back there. When I get to the Christmas section, they have lights of all sorts known to man and beast…..except white icicle lights. Blue ones? Yes. Green ones? Yes. White ones? No. After corralling some poor Target worker, they scan all the labels and tell me that there are no icicle lights to be found anywhere in their stockroom. Maybe I should try Home Depot. OK, I can do that.

Now Home Depot must have a different philosophy, because the helpful person at the door tells me they are right over there: to my right…handy to the door. In and out…quick like a bunny. Again, I don’t see white icicle lights. Again, I corral a worker. This dude said they are all out and proceeds to show me the LED white icicle lights at only 300 times the cost of the “old style” lights. I tell him, of course these are the only ones left..who would pay that much? He tells me how cost effective they’ll be, and how they’ll last years and years and I’ll be able to pass them on to my kids. Seriously…he really said that. Now, the fact that I might still be able to have kids is shocking enough news (pretty sure that ship has sailed), but the fact that he thinks I’m buying this line of salesman crap…well. I told him that the lights I’m replacing are only a year old, so I doubt these will last generations. Then he again pushes the cost effectiveness over time. Again, I’ve done my homework. I inform him that the regular lights cost 9 cents an hour to run and LED Christmas lights cost 1.5 cents an hour to run. That’s a big difference but still not much money overall. Assuming I have 6 strands of lights and I run those lights 5 hours a day for about 30 days in December. The result:

LED Christmas Lights: $.00152 x 6 strands x 5 hours x 30 days = $1.37

Regular Christmas Lights: $.00912 x 6 strands x 5 hours x 30 days = $8.21

So it costs $6.84 cents more during the holiday season to run regular lights. But remember regular Christmas lights cost $78 less to buy. If everything were to magically stay the same that means I’d have to use the same Christmas lights for about TWELVE years (12 x $6.84 = $82.08) to actually make up the money in energy costs that I laid out in my initial purchase.

The Home Depot guy is happy to see my patootie head out to Wal-Mart.

Lo and behold…..as I enter the Wal-Mart there are BOXES of WHITE ICICLE LIGHTS……right there by the front door! Unable to believe my eyes (I feel like Ralphie from “A Christmas Story” when he finally gets his Red Ryder BB Gun). Can it be? Yes…..I grab 3 boxes and fly to the cash register. Wait…where are the open registers? Why are all these people lining up down the aisles? They are there because there are (literally) only THREE registers open, and NONE for 12 items or less. I settle in for the wait, happy that at least I found my lights. Where are the “people of Wal-Mart” when you need them? No 400 pound thong-wearing transvestites, no sheepdogs with less hair than their owners, no one playing the banjo. To amuse myself while I wait I borrow a few magazines from the racks and read how Kourtney Kardashian is expecting another child, how Brad Pitt is really an alien, etc. Finally, it is my turn. I pay for my lights and hightail it out of there.

I get home, test the lights, put them up, and I’m so pleased with myself. I’m on such a high (maybe those coffee beans were too much) that I decide to do the entryway as well, and seriously thought about the courtyard also. OK. Must calm down. I accomplished my task. Tomorrow is another day. I’ll think about the courtyard when I’ve come down from the caffeine and can think more reasonably.

Here's a picture of the new lights.

I KNOW that they look like demented, drunk icicles. I truly straightened (by hand) EVERY stinking one of those strands. Still they kink. I can only hope that the electricity running madly through the wires tonight will warm them enough to straighten them out. Maybe years from now my grandkids will finally have straight icicles.

Mission accomplished.

Ho, ho, ho.

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Frustration, Part One

2011-12-09T07:08:00.000-08:00

Does putting up Christmas lights fill you with dread? Read this email sent to me by Heidi, a childhood friend with whom I reunited on Facebook. This is one of the reasons I would be willing to pay someone to put up my Christmas lights.

Hi Laurie,

Since you are a writer, and seem to be of a similar mindset to me, I thought I would make your day a little cheerier by sending the following seasonal email. I might point out that we JUST moved to this house…after 24 years of living in our other home. 24 years of stuff. A whole other email. Still...that is the background for the boxes mentioned here. (I’ve only just cleared out enough that I don’t have to worry about the TV show, “Hoarders” knocking on my door.)

I see that a lot of our neighbors have already begun to get into the Christmas spirit and are joyfully decorating their homes with an array of festive lights. It seems like we just had Thanksgiving, but today I decide that I’ll start with the outdoor lights. Here’s how that goes:

Go into garage. Squeeze into the driver’s side of the truck by getting in the passenger side door. Garage is so full of boxes that I can only get into one side of each car. Back truck out. Crawl under truck with aluminum pan filled with sand because truck leaks oil like a Texas oil well gone awry. Hope I put pan where the leaks are. Climb over more boxes to get to cabinets where we stored the Christmas decorations last year. I’ll cut out about an hour here of my going through the boxes trying to find the lights…OK…found the lights. Plug in lights. All is good. They are those “icicle” lights. Stand outside the garage calculating the number of feet of lights, the number of feet of roofline, allowing for roof slopes, roof cutouts, wind shear, etc. By this time I’ve used the laws of exponents, quadratic formulae, binomial theorem and the rules of zero.

Satisfied that I have enough lights, and they fit around everything and still have enough to plug into the extension cord, I start at one end of the house. I extend the ladder (another hassle trying to get the ladder out from behind the boxes) and put it over the bushes, resting (only slightly crookedly) on the gutter. As I start up the ladder, I notice the bushes are FULL of bees. Being a smart person, I went back into the house, powered up my cell phone, and put it in my pocket. I feel smug because if a bee stings me and I fall of the ladder, I can call 911. Somehow, in the Christmas spirit, I’ve forgotten that if I fall off the ladder, I’ll end up IN the bushes, more bees will sting me. Since ONE bee sting caused my heart to stop in 8 minutes, probably I won’t have time to dial 911. When they find my dead body they’ll know I was smart enough to at least have that phone in my (now cold) little hand.

Back up the ladder (staying to the right side to counterbalance the fact that the right foot isn’t ACTUALLY on the ground), I fasten the little light holders onto the gutters (I’ll bet somebody made a FORTUNE from inventing those things and can now pay for someone else to put up the bloody lights). Listening to Christmas music, I happily start stringing away. Down the ladder, move the ladder to a new bee bush, up the ladder. Repeat a hundred times. Did I mention these were icicle lights? I get halfway around the house and I see that my icicles are either trying to reproduce, or I’ve forgotten to untangle them from each other. They were untangled when I started, but now they aren’t. Now, I don’t want to go back on that ladder, because that is the bee area. I root around the garage again and I find the extend-a-pole that I used in Modesto to clean the second storey windows. I poke it around the lights, pull them apart and all is good. Continuing on around the house……all the lights are up, tangle-free and look just lovely. That wasn’t too bad…only took about 3 hours.

I find the extension cord (more moving of boxes). I unroll it, cleverly hide it in the gutter, plug it in and……………………….WTF???!!!! How is it that two strands have about 4’ in the MIDDLE of the strand where the lights are now not working? They are, of course, on the farthest sides of the house from each other. Both ends of the strands are fine, it is just a few feet of icicles in the middle that are dead as a doornail. I drag the ladder back to the bee bushes. I push in ALL the lights on each icicle that is out. I find a couple broken lights and think, well, that must be the problem. Back to the Christmas cupboards to find replacement bulbs. Can’t find any at all, but I do have a set of fun, festive lights that have those white bulbs in them. I take apart the bulbs, straighten those little wires, shove them into the icicle fixtures, put the fixture back into the strand and……they work, and then they don’t. Each time I replace a light, it quickly blows out.

Well, I think, I’ll just have to go BACK into town, stop at the Ace Hardware store, and get some strands to replace these. Clearly, some part of the strand has died, and I’ll just keep blowing bulbs. I don’t want to burn the house down before I’ve even unpacked, so in I go. I grab the last couple of icicle lights (they are sold out of replacement bulbs) that they have and speed home. I’ve given up on the stinking Christmas music and now I’m onto Spa music trying to calm down. I pull the truck into the driveway and see I didn’t get the sandbox under the oil drip. I back out and park in the street.

I’m confident that if I just replace those two strands, all will be good. The other 2 strands of lights are just fine. Plug in lights to test. All is good. These are new icicle lights, so I have to spend time un-kinking the “icicles” so they hang somewhat straight and match the other 2 strands that are older. I get back up on the ladder, hook them up to the strand that works. All good so far. Down the ladder, move the ladder to a new bee bush, up the ladder. Repeat fifty times (only replacing the strands, don’t have to re-hang ALL the lights). I get to the end and……the original strand is about 3’ longer than the one I’m replacing it with.

All 10’ icicle strands are not made the same. Some are only about 8’. Some are 11’. Now, I have to replace the whole stinking light setup. Trying not to lose my temper and fall off the ladder into the bee bushes, I carefully removed the lights I had just hung, re-folded each icicle to fit back into the packaging (who packages this stuff anyway?) and sealed it all back up to take back to the store tomorrow. I’m going to have to just buy all new strands of lights to go around the whole house. At least I’ll have two entire strands of lights for spare bulbs. I don’t know what my neighbors are going to think. Half my house has artfully draped icicles, the other part looks like they have melted. (By the way…the “melted” strands hung crazily like that for two days. I’m not sure what my neighbors think...probably some crazy person moved into this house.)

Here is the result of the festive spirit that hit me today. Right now, I’m getting festive and hitting the spirits.

Merry, merry, joy, joy and all that stuff.

Heidi

TO BE CONTINUED....

Gifts for the Pulp Fan at Pulps1st

2011-12-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

Needing to find something for the pulp fan on your list? Look no further than the Mark Halegua's Pulps1st website, which embosses a wide variety of pulp fiction art on mugs, t-shirts, posters, CDs, and now even US postage stamps. (Why use boring Christmas stamps for your Christmas cards? Use stamps with pulp covers - no one will forget those )This PUBLIC ENEMY cover is one of those you can find on shirts, mugs, etc.

Mark is also working on a new product which should be available by the end of the week, Pulp Image Calendars. First up will be a western cover, followed by a Detective, Hero, and SF. Each month on the calendar is represented by a pulp cover from that month.

So go over to Pulps1st and finish your holiday shopping.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter P

2011-12-06T20:30:00.000-08:00

Some of these are well known - like POPULAR and PETE RICE - but I thought I'd throw them in with samples of some of their better covers. I especially like the POPULAR cover.

PRISON LIFE STORIES, September 1935

POPULAR BASEBALL, Spring 1951

PRIZE AIR PILOT STORIES, March 1930

PIRATE STORIES, November 1934

PETE RICE, September 1934

PEOPLES, April 1907

PECOS KID WESTERN, July 1950

POPULAR, June 7, 1917

WILD WEST WEEKLY - United Kingdom Issues

2011-11-30T20:05:00.000-08:00

At PulpFest last summer, Walker Martin found a copy of WILD WEST WEEKLY that was issued in the United Kingdom. We'd always known that the magazine had an English counterpart, but I for one had never seen one. One of the ads in this issue advertises a future issue in which Sonny Tabor, one of my grandfather's heroes, would appear. Walker, being the generous person he is, gave me this copy as a gift.

Then, last weekend my aunt showed me a box full of WILD WEST magazines that were issued in the United Kingdom in the late 1930s - most of them 1938-39.

There are many distinct differences between the US version and the US. The magazine was called WILD WEST instead of WILD WEST WEEKLY, was bedsheet size and the exterior cover art is totally different than the US counterparts. The contents appear to be an average of 8 to 10 stories, but none of the issues have a Table of Contents. None of the stories have a byline; so no authors are given credit for their stories. Zero.

The most interesting difference to me was that Sonny Tabor ends up as "Sonny Taylor" in the UK version (even though they advertised it as Sonny Tabor earlier.)

For those of you who are interested, the publisher, as indicated on the back, was The Amalgamated Press, Ltd., and the printer was The Sun Engraving Company.

Here are more scans of just a fraction of the collection. Unfortunately my scanner isn't big enough to capture the entire cover, but you get the idea. The art work ranges from quite striking to bizarre.

So the WILD WEST WEEKLY adventure continues.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter O

2011-11-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

You'd think that the letter "O" would be another problematic letter with few titles, and even fewer titles that would be considered interesting. You would be wrong. The Letter "O" gives us a cavalcade of titles that were either obscure, rare, or famous, or sometimes a combination of all three.

OVER THE TOP, April 1929

ORIENTAL STORIES, February 1931

OPERATOR #5, December 1934

THE OCTOPUS, Feb/March 1939

THE OCEAN, April 1907, Vol. 1, No. 2

OUTDOOR STORIES, August 1928

Western Stories to Read by the Fire

2011-11-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

There is a new collection of Western stories out, just in time for Christmas. Titled THE CHRISTMAS CAMPFIRE COLLECTION, it contains stories by James Reasoner, his wife Livia, Troy D. Smith, Frank Roderus, Tim Champlin, Larry D. Sweazy, Robert Vaughan, Douglas Hirt, Dusty Richards, Kerry Newcomb, Matthew P. Mayo, Robert J. Randisi, Rod Miller, and Terry Burns.

It's very reasonably priced over at Amazon. I may have to get a copy for myself for Christmas.

It's a Wild West Day Over at James Reasoner's Blog

2011-11-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

James Reasoner, one of the best Western writers around, if not THE best, has a weekly post every Saturday morning, "Saturday Morninghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Western Pulp." Today his post is on the February 11, 1939 WILD WEST WEEKLY, featuring a Johnny Forty-five story by my grandfather, written under the pen name Andrew Griffin. Go on over and check it out - the cover is one of my favorite WWW covers.

My Thanksgiving List

2011-11-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

What I'm grateful for this Thanksgiving:

1. A job that kept a roof over my head this year.

2. Friends that supported me this year through some tough losses and nagging health issues.

3. My family that continues to support me and this crazy pulp fiction hobby I have.

4. My grandfather's talent and his inability to throw anything away, including unpublished manuscripts.

5. New friends on the east coast who have helped me jump with both feet into a pretty exciting new project and opened up their homes to me, even though I was practically a complete stranger. Elaine, Nikki, Bill and Nora - I'm talking about you.

6. A 75 pound dog who is always at the front door, without fail, every time I come home and who wiggles with happiness to see me, even if I've only been gone for 20 minutes.

7. A cat that hung in there and didn't die, even though she had several opportunities to do so earlier this year. She is now a beautiful creature and grows more affectionate every day. She has helped me get over the pain of losing Xena (although that grieving process is nowhere near finished).

8. I am grateful for those in uniform who continue to put their lives on the line for us every day. I wish them all a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving.

9. I am grateful for the many groups out there who are tireless in their battle to fight animal abuse, child abuse, poverty, domestic violence, injustice - in other words, the people who work tirelessly to make the world a better place.

10. That, even though it's been a very tough year, almost all of my friends are still hanging in there. That includes all of you who continue to check in here - I'm grateful that you're still around, even though I've been AWOL a good portion of the year because of the job and other issues.

Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the day with your loved ones.

Another Great Review of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL

2011-11-21T07:00:00.000-08:00

I was very pleased to see a great review of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL over at Amazon.com. It's always gratifying to see thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhat people are enjoying the stories. It seems that all of the reviews I've read have one common theme: everyone is impressed by the freshenss of the stories and that they don't seem dated at all.

Here's an excerpt of the review on Amazon:

The stories are a delicious mix of action, humor, and colorful characterhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs. All are infused with simple morality and the need for justice in a land where the law is sparse and sometimes suborned by evil. What struck me most about the stories were their seeming freshness, as though they'd been written this year and not 60 or so years ago.

Thanks to the "Deadly Inkster" for taking the time to post a review. And of course, more reviews are always welcome from those of you who have read it! I know my grandfather would have been tickled pink.

Go here for RIDING THE PULP TRAIL's page on Amazon.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter N

2011-11-20T20:02:00.000-08:00

The Letter N provides some nice eclectic titles, some of which only lasted two issues, like NEWSPAPER ADVENTURE STORIES. I don't know why that didn't last - I would've bought them.

Nickel Western January 1933

North West Romances, Spring 1947

Newspaper Adventure Stories, Vol 1, No. 2, 1934

New Mystery Adventures, March 1935

New Fiction Library, 1932

Navy Stories, February 1929

Nick Carter, June 1933

Pulps A-Z: The Letter M

2011-11-15T06:10:00.000-08:00

Okay! Sorry I've been away. Rest assured, it's been for a good cause.

This week's letter is M, and finally we have a letter that has more than a few pulp titles to its credit. In fact, the letter M brings us three words that seem to fit perfectly together: Murder, Mystery, and Marriage.

MYSTERY ADVENTURES, December 1936

MURDER MYSTERIES, February 1935

MIDNIGHT MYSTERY STORIES, December 9, 1922

MARRIAGE STORIES, September 1927

MYSTERY NOVELS, July 1935

MYSTERY LEAGUE, October 1933

MAVERICKS, September 1934

MAN STORIES, June 1931

The History of DIME NOVEL ROUND-UP

2011-11-08T20:40:00.000-08:00

Some of you might know the periodical DIME NOVEL ROUND-UP, either because you are subscribers or you've seen it referenced in other places such as web sites, bibliographies or scholarly periodicalS. The DIME NOVEL ROUND-UP is a highly respected monthly collection of articles on dime novels, and pulp magazines are also covered frequently in articles and book reviews. If I'm not mistaken, the DNRU, which was formed in 1931, is the oldest periodical of its kind. The Reference Shelf features a book reviehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifw every month, and a summary of the newest books received.

This summer at PulpFest I had the pleasure of meeting Randy Cox, the editor of the DIME NOVEL ROUND-UP, who is the gentleman on the right in the photo below. Randy was kind enough to send me a history of Dime Novel Round Up recently and here it is.

I know I have always enjoyed receiving the monthly issues. If you're interesting in subscribing, Randy's information is at the bottom of this post. If you're doing any research on dime novels and/or pulp magazines, go to this Index, which lists all articles back to 1970

History of Dime Novel Round-Up
by Randy Cox

Once upon a time there was a group of men, collectors of dime novels, who met on occasion to share their enthusiasm for the little books. From time to time they would also show off their collections, especially when they were meeting at the home of one of the collectors who had something new to brag about. Since most of the collectors lived in New England they frequently met at the home of collector and dealer Ralph F. Cummings of Grafton, Mass.

One day one of them suggested they form a club to solidify their efforts. That was the beginning of what came to be known as the Happy Hours Brotherhood since all of them could remember spending happy hours as boys reading and swapping dime novels, five-cent weeklies and issues of story papers. Once that was settled, someone decided they ought to publish a magazine as a forum for the collectors to exchange lists of wants and offers. And thus, in January 1931, the first issue of Dime Novel Round-Up was printed and mailed to the members of the Brotherhood. Ralph Cummings, who called himself “Reckless Ralph” after a pseudonym used on a story paper serial, was appointed editor.

Those first issues were slim, sometimes only four pages in length, with an article on the front page and the rest of the pages devoted to ads placed by collectors. As time went on, the issues began to attract more and longer articles devoted to authors, series characters, collecting and other subjects of interest. When fewer and fewer readers came from the rank of those who remembered the dime novels they had bought and read as boys the magazine started publishing articles about cloth bound series books and pulp magazines.

After 20 years as editor, Ralph Cummings turned the magazine over to Eddie LeBlanc who edited it for about 40 years. It was Eddie who introduced the feature called “Dime Novel Sketches” that described various series in detail such as the number of issues and the names of authors who appeared in its issues. He also published lists of the titles that made up each series: Boys of New York, Wide Awake Library, Diamond Dick Library, and so forth. To this day the December issue is devoted to a bibliography, sometimes a list of the contents of a specific series, sometimes lists of stories by specific writers or about specific heroes. Occasional articles are written by academics, but most of them are still by collectors and fans that want to share their enthusiasms.

We have published articles about Old Sleuth, the first series detective in dime novels, about the Buffalo Bill stories written by Ned Buntline (there weren’t as many as you may think), about Laura Jean Libbey, a prolific romance writer who knew how to advertise to market her stories, about John Paul Jones, hero of the American Revolution, about Nick Carter longest-lived detective next to Sherlock Holmes, and many more.

Go to www.readseries.com/dnru.html for the tables of contents of issues back to 1970. At the bottom of that page is information on how to subscribe to the longest running publication devoted to a specific topic in popular culture.

Randy Cox
Editor

PULPS A-Z: Letters K and L

2011-11-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

For the first time, I'm combining two letters, K and L. I could only find one worthy in the K category (except for KA-ZAR, but then everyone knows about that one.) Surprisingly, I couldn't find too many L's either. When oh when will we be able to get out of this abyss of bad letters?!

I like this KNOCKOUT cover because of the cover story on Joe Louis. And HEY, I know that KNOCKOUT might not be considered officially a pulp because it has true stories, but give me a break, will ya?

KNOCKOUT, May-June, 1937

LEADING WESTERN, August 1948

LIFE'S ROMANCES, June 1941

LIVE GIRL STORIES, November 1928

And I know LOVE STORY is not even close to being an obscure pulp, but I thought this cover to be very significant, as this is an issue after Street & Smith sold the magazine to Popular and is one of the very last issues of this most popular of all pulps.

LOVE STORY, February 1954

A Very Special "Rendevous" with Four Western Authors

2011-11-02T20:05:00.001-07:00

If you're hankering for some Western literature and you'll be in the Los Angeles area on November 13, come to the OutWest Western Boutique and Cultural Center at 2 PM. Bobbi Jean and Jim Bell are hosting a Rendevous with a Writer in which four western authors, including yours truly, will be discussing the state of Western fiction today and also reading from their books.

Here's the lineup:

Laurie Powers: Riding the Pulp Trail

C. Courtney Joyner: Law of the Gun

Troy Andrew Smith: Cactus Country Anthology Volume Iand From Across the Campfire.

Jim Christina: Contraband Cowboys

It's free and open to the public. You do need to make reservations, though, so call 661-255-7087.

This is a rare opportunity to chat with all four of us in one cozy venue, with lots of time to socialize with us and our wonderful hosts Bobbi Jean and Jim (and buy books, too, if you're so inclined!).

OutWest is located at 24265 Main Street, Newhall, California. 91321

Another Review of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL

2011-11-01T16:54:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to tell you that the DIME NOVEL ROUNDUP, the scholarly journal of dime novel and pulp fiction history, has a review of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL in the October 2011. Here's a short excerpt:

"There's a thrill a minute and the sort of action that made the western pulps the favorite reading of thousands back in the last century. You may even find them to be a bit better than many other westerns out there."

I'm thrilled that the DIME NOVEL ROUNDUP has paid such attention to RTPT. DIME NOVEL ROUNDUP was one of the first, if not the first, regular periodical that I discovered when I was beginning the research on my grandfather's career.

There's also a great report of PulpFest 2011 in the October 2011 issue. If you're interested in subscribing to DNR, contact J. Randolph Cox at cox@rconnect.com.

An Appreciation of Pulp Historian John Locke

2011-11-01T16:29:00.001-07:00

Nicky Wheeler Nicholson, granddaughter of Major Malcolm Wheeler Nicholson, pulp writer and founder of DC comics, has a world class blog here. I'm a little late with this post, but better late than never. Nicky wrote a great Halloween essay yesterday with reviews of THE BOY WHO LOVED BATMAN, and a delightful summary of John Locke's books and John's GHOST STORIES: The Magazine and Its Makers.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:57:00.000-07:00

It didn't occur to me until a few moments ago that Annie's ears look just like bat wings.

For Halloween - a Video of Weird Tales Covers

2011-10-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

One of my friends on Facebook tipped me off on this great video on YouTube of Weird Tales covers - and the music is very fitting. Perfect for getting in the mood for Halloween!

Book Review: The Traditional West

2011-10-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

The Traditional West: A Western Fictioneers Anthology
Western Fictioneers, 2011

I've been so busy this past year getting my grandfather's anthology of short stories out that I've been behind in reading up on other western fiction short story collections are coming out. I'm really glad that someone tipped me off on this new book, THE TRADITIONAL WEST, a collection of brand-new stories written by members of the Western Fictioneers group.

Western Fictioneers is an online group that was founded in 2010 to promote the oldest genuine American art form, the Western story. This anthology is their first and contains 24 stories by Steven Clark, Phil Dunlap, Edward A. Grainger, James J. Griffin, Jerry Guin, C. Courtney Joyner, Jackson Lowry, Larry Jay Martin, Matthew P. Mayo, Rod Miller, Clay More, Ross Morton, Kerry Newcomb, Scott D. Parker, Pete Peterson, Cheryl Pierson, Kit Prate, Robert J. Randisi, James Reasoner, Dusty Richards, Troy D. Smith, Larry D. Sweazy, Chuck Tyrell, and L.J. Washburn. With original cover artwork by acclaimed artist Pete Peterson, THE TRADITIONAL WEST is more than 100,000 words of classic Western fiction.

I particularly enjoyed stories by C. Courtney Joyner, Matthew Mayo and L.J. Washburn, Chuck Tyrell and Edward Grainger’s stories. But with two dozen stories, there is something for everyone.

Jackson Lowry’s “The Silver Noose” is the mystery of why a man is hanged after he was already dead. In Larry Sweazy’s “Lost Mountain Pass,” Hank Snowden wants to get out of town but ends up being an escort to a woman whose three brothers were just hanged and who now fears for her own life. Scott D. Parker’s “The Poker Payout” takes place over a poker game in which Calvin Carter is on the prowl of a robber, with the entire story played out during a card game. With Robert Randisi’s “Blood Trail to Dodge,” we are treated to the beginning chapters of a new series featuring Talbot Roper, a private investigator. James Reasoner’s Rattler is a quick but unforgettable tale about a man caught in a hole with a rattlesnake and an armed enemy bearing down on him. And what I think is my top favorite is Troy D. Smith’s “The Sin of Eli,” a beautifully written story about a father trying to get to his son before he is executed, but it’s not because of reasons you may think.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this collection for readers who have been hungry for fine new western fiction short stories. In THE TRADITIONAL WEST, you’ll get this and more: these stories are written by some of the finest writers in the business today.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter J (And some notes on doing research.)

2011-10-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Back from my trip to the east coast. Spent most of today just trying to catch up. How good was the trip? Let's just say I didn't think about the blog once. Not that I don't love doing the blog, but my mind was elsewhere. In addition, the fall colors were glorious but I didn't take any pictures, even though I brought my Canon SLR with me. I was so busy driving from one place to the next - there were days when I literally had to stop and think for a minute because I couldn't keep my locations and people straight.

But my camera did come in handy in a strange way. One of my stops was at Syracuse University, where I went with Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson to do research in the Street & Smith collection for my new project. Some of you have already gone to Syracuse in the past and know that in the past you could have the staff photocopy many of the documents in the archives from the Street & Smith archives, including copies of pulp stories from the bound volumes they have. I had many WILD WEST WEEKLY stories written by my grandfather copied back in 1999.

Not anymore. The University will not guarantee that they will photocopy any of the pulp stories, because the pulps are getting so fragile. It's strictly on a case by case basis. And both Nicky and I struck out with ALL of the pulp stories we wanted copied. Which is where my digital camera really came in handy. I spent quite a few hours copying page after page of stories (and praying that I'd be able to read the text later once I uploaded the pics to my camera). I will say that all of the stories I wanted copied were pre-1928, so they were quite old. Some of you wanting to research post 1930 pulps might have better luck. But take a digital camera just in case.

I had a fantastic time, and met some terrific people who were extremely generous with their time and the paperwork they had that I need for my project. I spent over $300 to ship materials back to my house. I wish I could tell you more about my project, but experience has shown me that some things need to be kept under wraps, at least for now.

Anyway, on to the Pulps A-Z. This week the letter is J. And man, I thought "I" was hard. I must be in the drought of letters right now. But I did find three that were somewhat unusual. Here they are. This 1931 Jungle Stories is a earlier version of the magazine that featured Ki-Gor, which was launched 7 years after this version folded (after only three issues.)

JACK LONDON'S ADVENTURE, October 1958

JACK DEMPSEY'S FIGHT MAGAZINE, May 1934

JUNGLE STORIES, December 1931.

Upcoming Trip

2011-10-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

I'm going to the east coast on Saturday and will be gone for a week. It's going to be a very busy and interesting trip and I'll be meeting new people as well as reuniting with old friends. I'll be going to my alma mater Smith College one day and meeting with professor Dan Horowitz, who was my advisor while I was working on the initial honors thesis that turned into PULP WRITER. And I'll also be meeting with the president of the college, who sent me a nice note after RIDING THE PULP TRAIL was published. I'll be giving her signed copies of both PULP WRITER and RIDING THE PULP TRAIL.

I'm also going to be meeting up with Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, who was one of the panelists at PulpFest and the granddaughter of pulp writer Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. Together we are going to be driving to Syracuse University so I can do some research in the Street & Smith archives there on a project yet to be announced. With Nicky there with me, it should be a LOT of fun - I hope we don't get kicked out of the place.

I'll be posting when I can up to when I depart and during the trip.

Chloe's Tribute to Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Chloe here, deciding that she likes Annie's ball. My goddaughter took this photo with an iPhone. Just one tiny example of how iPhones have changed the world.

Kid Wolf Rides Again Over at Meridian Bridge

2011-10-07T08:46:00.001-07:00

Richard Prosch over at Meridian Bridge wrote a wonderful essay today on a Kid Wolf story in the July 3, 1939 WILD WEST WEEKLY. Rich mentioned a few weeks ago that he had found this issue at an antique store. He writes about the story, "Kid Wolf's Long Shot," and if you're not familiar with this popular Paul Powers hero, it's well worth reading.

To read the essay on Meridian Bridge and check out the cover, go here.

The Lone Ranger is Back!

2011-10-06T19:30:00.001-07:00

Lovers of the Lone Ranger! Look alive! There's a new Lone Ranger adventure, called VENDETTA, that is going to be released soon, and it was written by the one and only Howard Hopkins.

If anyone is qualified to write a Lone Ranger novel, it's Howard, who is the author of 40+ horror, western & kid's horror novels/comic books, numerous published short stories, including stories in The Spider Chronicles, The Green Hornet Chronicles, Sherlock Holmes & Captain Midnight, and co-editor of The Avenger Chronicles 1-3. Howard is the author of 32 Black Horse westerns in hardcover and trade paperback under the name Lance Howard, the most recent being Coyote Deadly.

So congrats to Howard. Here's the link to the amazon page. You can pre-order your copies now.

"There is no reason not to follow your heart."

2011-10-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

To reflect on the passing of Steve Jobs, this excerpt is from his commencement address at Stanford University in 2005. This was about 6 months after he had been diagnosed with cancer, making this speech hugely inspiring and yet sobering at the same time.

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'no' ...for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

Rest in Peace, Steve Jobs. Thank you for inspiring so many people.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter "I"

2011-10-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

This truly was a hard one. There seemed to be a few with the word "Intimate," usually paired up with something like "Love" or "Confessions." Of course there had to be a few detective pulps that are shown below. I was hoping that I would find a title like INTIMATE DETECTIVE, but no such luck.

I CONFESS, Feb 25, 1927

ILLUSTRATED DETECTIVE, December 1931

INTERNATIONAL DETECTIVE July 1933

INTIMATE CONFESSIONS, September 1937

INDIAN STORIES, Summer 1950

I'm Turning to a Life of Crime

2011-10-03T09:18:00.001-07:00

I'm sure some of you have already heard this, but I can't help myself. I'm so excited that my story MOVING DAY, which appeared Friday over at A Twist of Noir, has won an award. The Bullet Awards, which honors crime fiction on the web, gave MOVING DAY a third place in the best crime fiction on the web for the month of September. Woot!

Winning something like this is dangerous - it may persuade me to try more crime fiction. Lord knows I like writing it, for better or for worse.

A Question for Pulp Collectors...

2011-10-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

How many of you out there go to estate sales to look for collections? I'm curious, as it would seem that they would be good places to find pulps. If you go, have you had any success finding pulps? What about collectible books? I love going to estate sales myself, not just for pulps but for pretty much anything, but especially books.

I recently found this site, Estate Sales.org, which lists upcoming estate sales. It looks like they have a good inventory, and I really like the format.

The link to EstateSales.org will be going up in my Favorite Web Sites list on the right if you want to find it at a later date.

Off to the Huntington

2011-10-01T06:36:00.001-07:00

My mother and sister are here this weekend and we're going to the Huntington, one of my favorite places in southern California. Books, gardens, art, and a great tea room - what's not to like?

The tea room is amazing. It's rather pricey now - $27.99 a person - but it's an all you can eat buffet of an amazing array of sandwiches, salads, pastries, deserts, even caviar.

Here's the history of the Huntington.

And here are some photos I took a few years ago. I hope to take some more today.

My Short Story MOVING DAY Over at A Twist of Noir

2011-09-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

My short short story MOVING DAY is over at A Twist of Noir. This is part of a long-running series in which the story has to be the exact number of words as its order in the series. For example, my story is #686, so it had to be 686 words.

What I didn't mention is that my story is partly based on a true story (NOT autobiographical, but pretty amazing nonetheless.)

A Twist of Noir is one of the most popular of sites that publishes noir and crime stories. With that, you should know that there is adult language and content. I love writing these!

Would love to read your comments, so feel free to write them.

Historic Magazine Collection, Including Pulps, For Sale

2011-09-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

Steven Lomazov, owner of the Magazine History: A Collector's Blog, announced today that he is selling his collection. They are entertaining serious offers only and expect it to sell in the seven figures.

Description of the collection from the blog:

The collection contains virtually every major magazine highlight ever published from the eighteenth century to the present and covers virtually every topic- literature, politics, technology (TV, Radio, Movies, Aviation etc). It also includes by far the largest collection of first issue pulp magazines (over 850) in existence. Any institution or individual that acquires it will immediately become one of the leading repositories of American popular culture.

Interested? Just won the lottery? Go here for more details.

Western Fiction Review Likes RIDING THE PULP TRAIL

2011-09-28T17:05:00.001-07:00

Western Fiction Review posted a nice review of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL today - I'm so pleased that WFR liked the book - this blog is considered one of the top blogs when it comes to reviewing current Western fiction around. If you want to read the review, go here.

Here's just one excerpt:

I found the book very easy to read, and as I finished one story I found myself jumping straight into the next. I can honestly say there isn’t one tale in this collection that I didn’t enjoy.

Thanks, Western Fiction!!!

Wednesday's Forgotten Pulp: ARTISTS AND MODELS STORIES

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

They probably thought it was a good idea at the time.

These are the only two issues I could find on Galactic Central. From 1929, it was a bedsheet published by Ramer Reviews out of Illinois.

Review of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL at The Tainted Archive

2011-09-27T06:24:00.001-07:00

The reviews for RIDING THE PULP TRAIL are starting to come in. Here's one over at THE TAINTED ARCHIVE.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter H

2011-09-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

The letter "H" has to be the most difficult of all the letter so far. I always try to find the less-famous titles for this series, but there aren't a lot of titles with that letter. Out of frustration I ended up picking a HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE, even though it was also known as DAN TURNER HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE and wasn't exactly an obscure title. In addition, HIGH SEAS ADVENTURES was a magazine that shared billing with PIRATE STORIES. By the way, I would love to read some of the HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE stories; what are they like and have there been any reprints?

As for the rest of these titles, I think the HOW7 looks the most intriguing.

HUSH, June 1930

HOW7, April 1928

HONEYMOON STORIES, December 1933

HOLLYWOOD DETECTIVE, February 1946

HIGH SEAS ADVENTURES, February, 1935.

New Review of PULP WRITER

2011-09-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

I was so pleased to see this review on PULP WRITER over at the Writing For the Brand blog. PULP WRITER has been out for four years now, and it's nice to hear that people are still enjoying it and talking about it. I know my grandfather would be tickled to death.

We Have a Winner for Week Two...

2011-09-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

And the winner is Kris Feldman! She won this Serendipity Jack Daniels whiskey bottle:

If you're interested in seeing more of these Serendipity bottles, go here on the OutWest site.

Book Review: THE DESERT DEMONS

2011-09-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

THE DESERT DEMONS
The All-New Wild Adventures of Doc Savage
by Will Murray & Lester Dent, writing as Kenneth Robeson
Altus Press, 2011

With apologies to Will Murray - my typing abilities are still limited so this review is shorter than I normally would write.

I have a confession. Until now, I had never read a Doc Savage story: None of the 1930s, nor any of the later publications and reprints. So did I do a good thing by picking THE DESERT DEMONS, the newly published collaboration between Will Murray and the late Lester Dent, as my first Doc Savage novel? The answer is yes, because reading this one makes me want to read more stories about the Man of Bronze.

The first new Doc Savage novel in 20 years is about a bizarre swarm of red "things" that drop down from the sky in 1930s Hollywood and devour anything in its path. It's choice of prey seems random at first as it destroys everything it descends upon, even the HOLLYWOODLAND sign. It's up to Doc Savage and his band of eccentric but talented and fiercely loyal crew members to figure it out. There's a twist though: somehow Doc's cousin Pat has disappeared during the initial chaos.

This story has everything a pulp fiction lover could want: a fast moving story with nonstop action with twists and turns that send Doc and his gang all over Los Angeles, to the desert, San Diego, up to Bakersfield, and back. What I particularly loved were the bizarre gadgets and the emphasis on science, whether factual or far-fetched: I think steampunkers will love this story.

At the end of the book is a short biography of Lester Dent, another of Will Murray, and one of the cover artist Joe DeVito. These summaries helped me understand the chain of events that led to Will becoming the literary agent for the estate of Lester Dent and the person lucky enough to have the opportunity to take Dent's unfinished works and piece them together into fantastic pulp fiction like THE DESERT DEMONS. I understand the deluxe hardcover edition (available through Altus Press website) also has an extensive Afterword that goes into detail as to how Murray pieced together parts of Dent's unifinished writings to come up with THE DESERT DEMONS.

I understand there are a total of 7 novels that Murray will be writing in collaboration with the unfinished works of Dent. The next due out is HORROR IN GOLD. Like every kid during the Depression who was a loyal fan of the DOC SAVAGE magazine, I'll be waiting impatiently for it.

Don't forget about the Contest!

2011-09-23T17:05:00.001-07:00

Don't forget about the RIDING THE PULP TRAIL contest - you have a little over 24 hours from now to get your entry in!

Here's a recap of what to do:

Look for a clue in this story title: "Judgement Day on Whisky Trail."

Go over to the OutWest web site and go to their Gourmet Food & Gifts page OR their Home Decor page. Look for a gift that contains the word "W...." woops - I almost gave the prize away.....

Then send an email to Powerspulpwriter@gmail.com with your name, address, and the name and number of the item. There will be a drawing Sunday to pick a winner.

The prize is the item you found on OutWest!

So come on, join in on the fun. You have a pretty good chance of winning!

Week #2 of the RIDING THE PULP TRAIL contest

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here is Entry #2 in the RIDING THE PULP TRAIL contest.

The title of the story is "Judgement Day on Whisky Trail."

So go on over to the OutWest Boutique and Cultural Center website and look for an item in the GOURMET FOOD & GIFTS page. You can also find it on the HOME DECOR page. While you're there, you can check out all the great gifts they have - remember Christmas is right around the corner!

This week, the item is the prize you will win.

Once you know what the item is, send your name, address, the name of the item and the item # to Powerspulpwriter@gmail.com. You have until Saturday at midnight, Pacific time, to get your entry in.

This story, "Judgement Day on Whisky Trail," is one of my favorites. It originally appeared in the October 1947 issue of THRILLING WESTERN. Here's the cover of that issue and below is the beginning of the story.

IT WAS a yellow buckboard with bright green wheels! The three riders in the cedar thicket had been prepared for almost anything but that, and for the better part of a minute they sat frozen in their saddles, staring in open-mouthed astonishment.

Finally, at a snarled, word from their leader, they rode their horses out on the trail just as the amazing vehicle came abreast of them. The wagon was being pulled by a sleek black and white pinto, and one of the men seized the animal by the head while the others yanked out guns and covered the driver.

"Where do you think you're goin'? This here's a private road, and you're trespassin'--know that?" The oldest of the trio, the one in authority, was a man in his middle forties, metallic of eye and with a long, equine face. The others wore nondescript and shabby range clothes, but he was better dressed, and the cayuse he straddled was a magnificent sorrel.

While waiting for the lone occupant of the buckboard to make some kind of reply, the men took a closer look at this remarkable rainbow on wheels. The back, which was covered with a tarpaulin, bore two enameled, vividly blue panels, one on each side, lettered in gilt and crimson:

Indian Emperor Salves And Remedies For Horses, Cattle & Sheep
Doctor David Dana
-Veterinarian-
The Horse's Friend

"What are you doin' on this trail?" the bleak-featured man on the sorrel demanded again.

The driver, presumably Dr. Dana, wrapped his lines around the whip-socket, stood up and doffed his wide, flat-crowned hat, making a sweeping bow.

Don't forget that you can buy RIDING THE PULP TRAIL here at the OutWest site.

You can also buy it at Altus Press and on Amazon.

Thumbs Down For This One

2011-09-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

It figures that Yours Truly would be diagnosed with something called Trigger Finger.

Or, in my case, Trigger Thumb.

About 10 days ago I started to have this very uncomfortable situation in which every time I bent my left thumb, or then straightened it, there was a popping sensation. It's worse in the morning, gets better, then gets bad again at night.

Here's the definition by Wikipedia: "Trigger finger, trigger thumb, or trigger digit, is a common disorder of later adulthood characterized by catching, snapping or locking of the involved finger flexor tendon, associated with dysfunction and pain.[1] A disparity in size between the flexor tendon and the surrounding retinacular pulley system, most commonly at the level of the first annular (A1) pulley, results in difficulty flexing or extending the finger and the “triggering” phenomenon.[1] The label of trigger finger is used because when the finger unlocks, it pops back suddenly, as if releasing a trigger on a gun."

Got that? The simple explanation is that a tendon nodule in my thumb has become inflamed and then every time I try to bend my thumb, the nodule "catches" on the sheath. Ouch.

I can imagine all of you squirming in your chairs now. Or maybe some of you have experienced this. Note that it says "later adulthood." Double Ouch.

Causes are unknown, but apparently there is plenty of anectodal evidence showing that manual repetitive stressful manual motion as a cause. Which doesn't surprise me at all. I know that some of you were suggesting it was from texting, but I rarely text. I do know that I'm on the computer a good 8 hours of the day. At least it's not arthiritis, which I feared.

All this is the reason why I'm not writing much lately. I'll be taking it easy until this eases up, and taking anti-inflammatory meds.

Dont' forget the contest is coming up again, Entry #2, sometime tomorrow.

Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson's PulpFest Report

2011-09-19T17:05:00.000-07:00

I'm limited in time tonight, but I want to point you to one specific blog. Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, my pal from PulpFest, has posted a fantastic report on PulpFest 2011 over at her blog dedicated to her grandfather Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. Highly recommended.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter G

2011-09-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

This letter was fun. There aren't a lot of magazines with the letter G, so when I started I expected a lack of choices. I was surprised to find such interesting and obscure titles and covers.

GANG MAGAZINE, July 1935. One of three issues.

GIRL RACKETS, Vol 1, No. 1, 1932. Only issue.

GHOST SUPER DETECTIVE, January 1940. Vol 1, No. 1. One of seven issues.

GOLDEN FLEECE, December 1938. One of nine issues.

GOLDEN WEST, January 1928. This title lasted five years, but still one of the lesser known Western pulps.

Week #1 - We Have a Winner

2011-09-18T14:51:00.000-07:00

The winner of this week's RIDING THE PULP TRAIL contest is none other than Cap'n Bob Napier. He'll be getting a signed copy of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL.

If you recall, the clue was in the title of the RTPT story, "To Steal a Ranch." If you're curious as to what the winning item was over at the OutWest website, it was this beautiful book, GREAT RANCHES OF THE WEST.

If you're interested in this book, here's the page over at OutWest that describes it. Might be a nice Christmas present for someone.

Congrats to Bob - I know it wasn't that easy to find the winning item, based on all of the things for sale on the OutWest website. He has also entered many of the previous contests here without ever winning. Bob deserves to win, if only for his tenacity.

Stay tuned on Wednesday for the next clue - this time the prize will be something really unique offered on the OutWest store and on their website.

Friday Night At the Ranch Hamburger Heaven

2011-09-16T21:28:00.001-07:00

Only a little more than 24 hours left to get your entry in to win a copy of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL. And don't forget that it'll be a SIGNED copy by me, which will boost the resale value of your copy by about..oh.....25 cents.
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Go to Wednesday's post for the clue and instructions.

And if it helps, there's a clue in the title of this post as to what word to look for....

Other goings on...

The great Western website ROPE AND WIRE is having their second annual short story contest. ROPE AND WIRE is quickly becoming the Go To website for not only the best in new western fiction, but also as a Western online community. Go on over there for the rules for the contest. I've already asked if they would take stories from a) deceased authors and/or b) that have been published already. Unfortunately it's No for both, so you won't have to worry about competing against any of my grandfather's stories from RIDING THE PULP TRAIL.

Another web site I've been introduced to is CowboyPoetry.com, more formally known as Cowboy Poetry at the Bar-D Ranch. This is a terrific site for everything having to do with Western poetry, music, books, concerts, and events. The website was established in 2000 and it has a substantial following and a Facebook page.

More great news: David Cranmer announced that he is about a week away from releasing his Volume II of The Adventures of Cash Laramie & Gideon Miles (written under his pseudonym Edward A Grainger). You can read the introduction to Volume II at David's blog The Education of a Pulp Writer.

Everyone have a good weekend! I'll be checking in sporadically.

Riding the Pulp Trail Contest: Entry #1

2011-09-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

Before we get started, I want to make one change to the contest. Because I'm tardy in posting this, I'm going to extend the deadline to midnight, Pacific time, Saturday night.

So let's get started. Here's the first entry in the RIDING THE PULPhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif TRAIL CONTEST.

The title of the story is "To Steal a Ranch."

So with that title, go over to OutWest and see if you can find the item related to one of the words in that title.

Then send an email to: Powerspulpwriter@gmail.com and give me the name of the item, the item # and your name and address.

The prize this week is a copy of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL. I'll even sign it if you want. Note: the prize is NOT the item at the OutWest website (this week).

Good luck!

If you're interested in the story, "To Steal a Ranch" is one of the six stories in RTPT that was never published.

The story begins:

A BULLET to welcome him! A crazy kind of homecoming, thought Slim Troy as he rolled and twisted himself across the baking gravel. His lean body crashed through a clump of mesquite and flattened against a hollow in the ground as the Winchester crashed for the second time. A shovelful of red earth erupted on the slope behind and above him, but Slim knew that as long as he stayed put he was going to be mighty hard to get!

He had instinctively thrown himself from his saddle at the sound of the first screaming bullet, for he was armed only with a .45 which was no match at long range for a rifle. Slim's roan bronc, freed of its rider, was ambling eastward across the alkali flats, stirrups swinging emptily. Slim guessed that if he had stayed aboard, both he and the horse would have been cut down. That first .30-.30 slug had missed only by inches.

"What the blazes!" Slim Troy mumbled, spitting out a mouthful http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giff sand. "And right on my own spread, too!"

Anyhow, the ranch was half his. He wondered where his partner, Red Johnson, was, and he had a lot of other wonderments, too! Who was gunning for him? There was that cattle money he had on him--twelve hundred in cash; was that why he was being dry-gulched? It seemed likely. And yet, here he was, almost within sight of his ranch headquarters. If bandits had jumped him, why had they let him get all the way home?

You can buy RIDING THE PULP TRAIL at Amazon.com and at Altus Press.

You can buy SIGNED COPIES - by me, not my grandfather :) - at the OutWest website at this page.

Rules for RIDING THE PULP TRAIL Contest

2011-09-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

RIDING THE PULP TRAIL CONTEST

Here's the scoop.

1. We will have one contest a week for four weeks, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, September 14. Each Wednesday for four weeks, I am going to talk about one of the stories in RIDING THE PULP TRAIL. Your job is to, using the words in the story's title as a clue, go over to the OutWest Western Boutique and Cultural Center website and look for the item relating to the title.

For example, if the story was called "Cat From Over the Pass," you would go over to OutWest and look for products that are cat-related. You may also want to look for products with the word "pass" in them. (We don't want to make it TOO easy for you.) When you find the correct item, there will be a notation that you have found the correct item. Once you have found the item, go to Powerspulpwriter@gmail.com and submit your entry. Your entry should include:

1. The name of the item and number
2. Your name and mailing address

You will have until the Friday of that week, midnight Pacific time, to submit your entry. All names submitted will be put into a random drawing and a name picked over the weekend. The winner announced over the weekend.

Different prizes will be awarded each week. Some prizes will be copies of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL; others will be the item that you find on the OutWest website.

I'd like to thank Bobbi Jean and Jim Bell at OutWest (shown below in the doorway of OutWest, 24265 Main Street, in Historic Old Town Newhall, California) for their partnership in this contest. If you haven't been to the store and met them, you're missing out on a great opportunity to meet true fans of the West and supporters of the arts.

Good luck! The first installment starts tomorrow.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter F

2011-09-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

Other than the contest and the regular series like this one, the blog will be a little quiet this week. I've got what I think are some repetitive motion issues going on - anyone who works at a computer all day every day for years knows what I'm talking about - and I need to take it easy until I figure this all out. Don't worry - I've got my physical therapist and my doctor on the case.

There are some gems in the Fs when it comes to unusual titles.

FIFTH COLUMN STORIES, January 1941

FAMOUS SPY STORIES, Jan/Feb, 1940

FAR EAST ADVENTURE STORIES, November 1930

FLYING STORIES, December 1928

FLASH GORDON STRANGE ADVENTURES, December 1936

Stay Tuned for Another Great Contest

2011-09-10T21:13:00.001-07:00

Starting next week, we're teaming up with OutWest Boutique and Cultural Center and having another contest. There will be one contest per week for four weeks, just like the last one. All of the clues will be related to stories in RIDING THE PULP TRAIL. That doesn't mean that you need to have read the book (although that would be nice); I'll give you enough information to get you going.

As for prizes, I won't tell you what ALL of the prizes are, because that's part of the fun, but I can tell you that for two of the weeks, the prizes will be copies of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL.

The contest starts the first part of next week, so stay tuned!

Opportunity to read Introduction of RIDING THE PULP TRAIL

2011-09-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

David Cranmer over at The Education of a Pulp Writer has posted the introduction I wrote for RIDING THE PULP TRAIL. Some of you might remember that David got me started down the road of publishing this collection. I'll let you read the introduction to find out how. David (along with Elaine Ash) is also the owner of the very popular Beat To A Pulp web site and book that includes a Paul Powers story.

Thursday's Forgotten Pulp: THE WHISPERER

2011-09-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know this was originally going to be "Tuesday's Forgotten Pulp," but you know how it is.

I picked THE WHISPERER this week. Judging from the Galactic Central web site, this went on sporadically over a span from 1936 to 1942, which wouldn't make it technically a forgotten pulp. But in only one year, 1937, did it appear regularly every month. Then it stopped for three years, started up again the end of 1940, and then ran every other month in 1941. There were two issues in 1942. Poor Mr. Whisperer probably felt like a little confused with this erractic schedule.

THE BLOOD N THUNDER GUIDE TO COLLECTING PULPS has a few pages on THE WHISPERER:

"The Whisperer's eponymous hero got his name from the soft hissing sounds that issued from his lips when he spoke while wearing special dental plats to disguise his voice. The plates elongated his jaw, thus giving him a more resolute, fearsome countenance."

What an interesting - and original - premise.

Pulps A-Z: The Letter E

2011-09-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

The letter E!! How EXCITING is that?! Of course, that word seems makes up about 80% of pulp titles in the E category. I made a point this week of finding pulps that did not include that word, and I succeeded (with one slight derivation). But I have also attached one EXCITING title, strictly for SSP (shameless self-promotion). That one is the last entry.

Enjoy!

EMPIRE FRONTIER, December 1930

EXCITEMENT, July 1930

EAGLES OF THE AIR, December 1929

EERIE MYSTERIES, November 1938

EXPLORERS, September 1929

And here's my SSP entry: EXCITING WESTERN, November 1947. In this issue is "Buzzards Hate Bullets," by Paul S. Powers, which is now reprinted in the RIDING THE PULP TRAIL collection. Now on sale at Amazon and at Altus Press.

Fire Near Vasquez Rocks

2011-09-05T18:01:00.001-07:00

Just learned that a fire is burning near historic Vasquez Rocks in the Agua Dulce area. Right now, (6 PM Monday night) it's burned about 500 acres. The Fire Captain just said that things are looking better than they did a few hours ago because the wind has died down. But at this point it's only 30% contained.

Keep your fingers crossed that this fire, or any of the fires burning right now in the Los Angeles area, don't get any worse. While the rocks themselves probably wouldn't be threatened by a fire, there's plenty of natural brush around that could be in danger.

Vasquez Rocks is known world-wide as a movie location that has been used in probably hundreds of films and television shows. For my earlier posts on Vasquez Rocks, go here and here.

Paul Powers Author Page at Amazon Now

2011-09-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

I'm off to the City of Orange this morning with my aunt - I've been looking forward to this for weeks! It's been a very tough month at work and I need some time to recuperate. Going to Orange to go antiquing is one of my favorite things (but a little dangerous today because it's a day after pay day), and seeing my aunt, my grandfather's daughter, is always a treat and I haven't seen her in several months.

In the meantime, wanted to let you all know that I've created an author page at Amazon for my grandfather. You can check out the growing list of publications that have his work, including BEAT TO A PULP: ROUND ONE, as well as listings for some of his out of print books, like DOC DILLAHAY and DESERT JUSTICE. This is a great thing that Amazon has done, becaues it creates a central location where the world can shop for one author. If you're an author and you haven't done one yet, I recommend it highly.

There are some really old anthologies that have my grandfather's stories that are somewhat rare, like those that have reprinted his WEIRD TALES stories. If these are not for sale as used-books at Amazon, I'll have to figure out something else.

Here's the link to the author page for Paul S. Powers.

Everyone have a good weekend and I'll check in tomorrow.

OUT OF THIS WORLD: Review in the LA Times

2011-08-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

There is an excellent review today in the Los Angeles Times on a new book about science fiction, OUT OF THIS WORLD: SCIENCE FICTION BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT, by Mike Ashley.

The review begins with: "The purpose of science fiction, at least for legendary pulp editor Hugo Gernsback, who coined the phrase in 1929, was to show people how science might change our lives."

The book sounds good. And any review in a mainstream newspaper that calls a pulp editor "legendary" is worth checking out.

Pulps A-Z: The letter D

2011-08-30T20:29:00.000-07:00

I was bound and determined to post titles this week that didn't contain the word "Detective." That made the search really hard. But I did find one with that word that is really interesting in its irony: Called simply DETECTIVE, it was very short-lived (2 issues in 1933 and maybe just one more in 1934) and is now very rare.

Although DRAGNET eventually became a "Detective" title (Detective Dragnet, and then eventually TEN DETECTIVE ACES), the period in which it was called DRAGNET - from the end of 1928 to the beginning of 1930 - was short. I picked this cover because I think it's magnificent. This is the second issue.

The next entry, DIME MYSTERY BOOK MAGAZINE, was a conventional mystery magazine with a full length novel in each issue along with a couple of short stories. Eventually it changed its title to DIME MYSTERY MAGAZINE and the emphasis of the content turned to "weird menace" which was anything but conventional. While it only lasted 10 issues as a conventional mystery magazine, it lasted 144 issues as a weird menace. This is the December 1932 issue.

THE DANGER TRAIL lasted for over two years under this title before it was changed to at least three more titles, the last being WIDE WORLD ADVENTURES, which was its last title in 1930. This is from October 1926.

DAN DUNN DETECTIVE was an attempt to capitalize on a certain comic book hero. It didn't work: It only lasted two issues. This is the second one, from November 1936.

Our Friends on the East Coast

2011-08-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

A number of followers of Laurie's Wild West live on the east coast, such as in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. Although Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene has passed, I understand many of you are still without power. I hope that losing electricity was the biggest problem you had and that your houses/cars/businesses didn't suffer any damage.

When you all get your lives back to normal, check in with us and let us know how you fared by commenting on this post.

Return to Harry Carey Ranch

2011-08-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I visited the Harry Carey Ranch (officially now called the Tesoro Adobe Historical Park) and wrote a blog post about it. I revisited the site this morning with some other members of the Santa Clarita Valley Photographer's Club, and what a treat it was. Jared Didier, a Recreation Services Supervisor with the County, offered to open up the home to us so we could take interior photos. While we wandred around the house, Jared (seen in the ranch office below) talked about the history of the ranch and the current status of the house. His enthusiasm about the ranch is infectious. It is so gratifying to see someone so interested and passionate about the history of this beloved site - a site that has been overlooked by so many people.

I was very encouraged to hear that there are now efforts (and it sounds like money) to make the house's furnishings more historically correct. Jared feels strongly that the house should be furnished in the spirit of the 1920s and 30s when Harry Carey built the house and lived there. Apparently some people are of the opinion that the house should be furnished more in the spirit of the family that lived there later in the 1960s and 70s (the family that owned the Farmer John Meat company). Obviously, I strongly agree with Jared and most of the other members of the club agreed. Nothing against the Farmer John company - I eat Dodger dogs all the time - but I tend to think that most people that visit the ranch are more interested in film history and not the history of the Farmer John family.

What's cool is that they are open to taking contributions of furnishings, decorations, and other items. I offered to donate some pulp Westerns from the 1930s, and we even talked about putting up a display. What would be very cool is to find a particular story in a pulp (I'm thinking maybe a WESTERN STORY) that was later adapted to a movie in which Harry Carey or his son starred. If any of you know of any in particular, let me know.

Anyway, here's some more photos. Info about visiting the ranch is at the bottom of the post.

Living room

Back of radio

Detail in door

Kitchen

Paw prints in kitchen tile; from wild animals

Bedroom

Mural in Bedroom

Looking down at the stable

Another view from wagons' resting place

If you're interested in visiting the ranch, go to the Tesoro Adobe web page on the County of Los Angeles' Parks and Recreation web site.

All photographs copyright 2011 by Laurie Powers. Please do not use without my persmission.

Wednesday's Web: By Ken Levine

2011-08-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today's web recommendation doesn't have anything to do with pulp fiction or westerns or anything that I usually write about. My blog of the week is BY KEN LEVINE (www.kenlevine.blogspot.com). Ken is a long time television writer, mainly comedy, who writes about anything and everything - sometimes it's about television, sometimes it's about baseball, sometimes it's about writing television scripts (he was one of the writers for M*A*S*H), or about movie reviews and or something just random, but it's always entertaining.

I know about Ken because he used to be one of the hosts of Dodger Talk on our local Dodger radio station - a program that would run after every Dodger game where people could call in and talk for hours and hours and hours about what they loved or hated about the Dodgers. Ken was terrific and I thought he was always spot on with his opinions. Then the sucker went away after last year's season. Maybe he looked at his crystal ball and saw what was coming down the pike for the team this year. He was also hired by the Seattle Mariners to do play by play. (Bob Napier, is he still there? Have you heard him?) But I was heartbroken when he left Dodger Talk and I think the show hasn't been the same.

Check into Ken's blog, especially if you're into anything having to do with television and/or writing for television. He must have a lot of followers because his posts get a lot of comments and his blog was named one of the top 25 blogs of 2011 by TIME MAGAZINE. So don't be offended if he doesn't comment back on your comments. If he did he'd never get anything else done.

Tuesday's Forgotten Pulp: SMITH'S MAGAZINE

2011-08-23T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sure some of you are going to object to my choice this week. But then a little controversy never hurt a blog. My choice this week, SMITH'S MAGAZINE, was a fiction magazine that started in 1905 and continued until February 1922, when it merged with LOVE STORY MAGAZINE. According to Galatic Central, SMITH'S MAGAZINE didn't officially become a pulp with the standard pulp paper forma until 1919. It also wasn't exactly a "small" pulp, because its circulation quickly grew to 200,000 and eventually grew to 300,000 per month.

But it seems to have that "forgotten" look to it. And because it ended up being the precuror to LOVE STORY, a magazine that I have a special interest in, it becomes my Forgotten Pulp of the Week.

SMITH'S was launched by Street & Smith as a magazine for the "John Smith's" of the country. The first issue had a statement that said "...SMITH'S MAGAZINE will not be a class magazine, nor will it build for itself a high pedestal of cleverness. It will be kept within the focus of the every-day reader who seeks entertainment."

Ironically, the most notable fact about SMITH'S that has passed down in history is not its covers nor the fiction that appeared in its pages, but its editor, Theodore Dreiser, author of AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY and SISTER CARRIE. In fact, THE FICTION FACTORY, the in-house history of publisher Street & Smith, devotes a great deal of page space to SMITH'S famous editor.

According to this book, Dreiser was having trouble finding a publisher for SISTER CARRIE, and was somewhat bitter about the rejection experience:

It was this bitter man, this powerfully molded man with piercing eyes, shaggy brows, and a mount that looked like a half-healed wound, who stalked heavily into the office assigned to the editor of SMITH'S MAGAZINE. He approached the task of editing the magazine on a stricly professional level and not as the tortured artist he was. He had a strong mother-fixation and a deep hatred for his father which manifested itself in an unquenchable rage against his father's religious faith. Yet not of this was ever evidenced in either the fiction or the articles he bough and editors for SMITH'S. With the exception of MacLean, Duffy and Ormond Smith, he had few friends in the firm.

Dreiser ended up leaving Street & Smith for Butterick Publications. Several years later, in 1928, Daisy Bacon took over the helm of LOVE STORY and inherited Dreiser's roll top desk as part of her new assignment, and the rest is history.

Meridian Bridge Interviews Me About RIDING THE PULP TRAIL

2011-08-23T20:16:00.001-07:00

Man, do I feel terrible. Due to my crazy work life, I totally missed Rich Prosch's posting of an interview of yours truly over at Meridian Bridge. This was originally posted on August 15 - I'm really sorry, Rich, I didn't see it before. And thanks for the great questions!

Rich asked me about the new collection, RIDING THE PULP TRAIL, and like I say in the interview, Matt Moring over at Altus Press is the one who deserves all the credit for making this such a beautiful collection. I think he really did the spirit of the Western justice with his design.

So go on over and check out the interview. And also keep checking back here - I have plans for some contests and giveaways!

You can buy RIDING THE PULP TRAIL over at Altus Press, or here at Amazon.

Pulps A-Z: C

2011-08-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

There are some good obscure titles in the C's. It would have been even easier if I had used a title that started with the word "Complete." But I thought that would be kinda cheating, because there are so many of them.

I really messed up my right eye this weekend. Too much close computer reading at work, and then I wore my contact lenses for the party Saturday night. I woke up Sunday with my eye almost swollen shut and unable to tolerate sunlight. Today wasn't much better. The vision in my left eye is very weak, so the botton line is that my reading has been cut back substantially the last two days. Things like this make you really appreciate how lucky we are to 1) have the ability to see and 2) have the ability to read.

So I really think there should have been a pulp magazine with the title CORNEA STORIES.

And yes, there's another baseball cover but it's special because of who's on the cover.

Enjoy.

CABARET STORIES, January 1929

COMET, December, 1940

COURTROOM STORIES, November, 1931

COLLEGE STORIES, May 1931. Believe it or not, COLLEGE STORIES was originally the beautiful and short-lived SEA STORIES.

CHAMPION SPORTS, July 1937. This was roughly a year after Lou Gehrig retired.

Birthday Bash, 1930s Style

2011-08-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is celebrating her 60th birthday this weekend. Which isn't that out of the ordinary, but the way she's marking the occasion is kind of fun. She's rented a great and rather famous house in the Santa Monica area for the evening and everyone who's invited is coming dressed in the spirit of 1930s glamour. So we all get to dress up and have some fun.

I'm lucky enough to know of a vintage clothing store called Threads of Time in San Pedro, and a few weekends ago I went down to try on a few dresses. Man, I don't think I ever really realized how beautiful clothes could be back then. I was so taken with the three dresses I was shown, and their prices were so good, that I bought all three of them. Something about 1930s fashion has definitely struck a chord with me.

Although I'm sure a lot of people will be dressed a la Jean Harlow, I've chosen to wear more of an everyday dress, like the dresses below, only because it fits me better than the other two. And my best friend is wearing one of the others, so they'll get some use.

It'll be interesting to see the dresses at the party. And a photographer will be there to take our pictures. This might be something I end up doing for one of my birthdays myself one day.

Anyway,

Wednesday's Web: The Way The Future Blogs

2011-08-18T06:45:00.000-07:00

Still running behind schedule this week....

Here's today's web recommendation: Fred Pohl's blog, The Way the Future Blogs, has an ongoing series about Popular Publications, one of the biggest of pulp publishers, and how the business ran on a day-to-day basis. Today's entry, Part 6, is about deadlines. This has been a terrific series, and there are links to the previous 5 installments at the bottom of the post.

Thanks, Barry...

Tuesday's Forgotten Pulp: SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE

2011-08-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

This weeks forgotten pulp, SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE, appeared only four times during 1931 and 1932. Published by Clayton Magazines, Harry Bates was the editor.

Some of the authors that appeared in the magazine include experienced adventure writers such as Charles A. Freeman; the extremely prolific Arthur J. Brooks; Victor Rousseau, who was not only prolific but also versatile and who must have written in every single genre that ever existed; poet Edgar Daniel Kramer; and Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, who was an extremely talented and knowledgeable writer, not only of fiction but also non-fiction as well (and the grandfather of one of my fellow panelists at PulpFest, Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson).

So here are the covers - all four of them. Why didn't this magazine last longer?

October 1931

December 1931

February 1932

May 1932

Pulps A-Z: "B"

2011-08-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in this post, which should have shown up yesterday. Problems with Blogger yesterday, even though I kept trying to check in all day.

Here are some pulps to honor our Pulps A-Z series with titles beginning with the letter B. As you will see, a specific color seems to have been a favorite among publishers when naming a pulp.

Comments, opinions, etc. are always welcome. I picked the first one because of the cover story.

Later today, after I catch my breath, I'll get caught up with the weekly series Tuesday's Forgotten Pulp.

BASEBALL STORIES, Spring 1941

BLACK BAT DETECTIVE MYSTERIES, October 1933

BLACK BOOK DETECTIVE, April 1934

BLACK CAT, February 1897
BEST STORIES, November 1927.

Wednesday's Web Recommendation: Jake Hinson at the Crime Element

2011-08-10T06:55:00.002-07:00

There's a great essay over at Crime Element today by Jake Hinson, who I consider to be one of the greatest film and noir essayists around today. Called Pulp Kafka: The Nightmares of Cornell Woolrich, it discusses how Kafka's literary themes influenced 20th century writers and in particular Woolrich, one of the most revered of mystery writers and a major influence himself on modern-day writers of crime and noir.

Woolrich was a major contributor to BLACK MASK, DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY, and DIME DETECTIVE, and according to Jake's essay, seventeen of his stories were translated into Hollywood films, including REAR WINDOW.

A list of Woolrich's contributions to pulp magazines is over at Fiction Mags Index.

Wednesday's

2011-08-10T06:55:00.001-07:00