Here is a writer whose name you might not know. But you know one of his characters. On January 22, 1906, Robert E. Howard was born in Peaster, Texas. Writing from an early age, he submitted many stories and amassed a drawer full of rejections. In 1924, he sold a piece titled “Spear and Fang” to Weird Tales for $16. Weird Tales was an American fantasy and horror pulp fiction magazine. At twenty-three, he dropped out of college to write full time. He was a pulp fiction writer.

Through his writings for Weird Tales, he began corresponding with H. P. Lovecraft. As a result, he became a member of the Lovecraft Circle. The group, who communicated by letters, included Robert Bloch, August Derleth, Henry Kuttner, Clark Ashton Smith, Donald Wandrei, and Frank Belknap Long. The writers supported, critiqued, and collaborated. While no genre was off-limits, the main genres of the group were horror, science fiction, and epic fantasy. Many subgenres originated in this group. Howard developed the sword and sorcery subgenre. Oh, and the character you might have heard of — Conan the Barbarian.

Did you write yesterday? Are you writing today?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer