Everybody thinks they know what a western is. Frank Gruber, a long time pulp author with a flair for self-promotion, categorized the western into seven categories: In my reading I’ve come across these plots frequently, but such categorization does disservice to writers who stayed away from these tropes. Like Roe Richmond. That may come as… Continue reading Roe Richmond – Western Writer, Professional athlete, Cowboy
Tag: Pulp
2022 End of Year Link Clearance (part 1)
Come the holidays, it’s time for me to post all the links I collected through the year. Bring the popcorn and settle down on the couch. Paperback Writer Gunshots in Another Room: The Forgotten Life of Dan J. Marlowe” (2012) by Charles Kelly The profession of “paperback writer” is as romanticized, mythological, and distorted as… Continue reading 2022 End of Year Link Clearance (part 1)
One writer looks at the evolution of the western story
John A. Saxon (1886-1947) wrote mostly western and detective stories in a writing career that spanned more than twenty five years. Working as a law clerk, he wrote stories on the side and was part of a California writing circle that included Robert Leslie Bellem, the author of the Dan Turner stories. ABOUT THE AUTHOR… Continue reading One writer looks at the evolution of the western story
Wm Clayton and his magazines
The Clayton pulps offered a range of genres to the casual reader – western, detective and science-fiction. In this article, he lays out the policies of his magazines. The President of This Group of Magazines Gives You in This Article Instructions He Has Outlined to His Various Editors Concerning the Manuscripts They are to Buy… Continue reading Wm Clayton and his magazines
Ralph S. Kendall on becoming a writer
Ralph S. Kendall was an Englishman who became a member of the RCMP, a Mountie as they were called then. After a long career, he wrote two novels partly based on his experiences: Benton of the Royal Mounted and its sequel, The Luck of the Mounted. His hero, Benton, was the younger son of a… Continue reading Ralph S. Kendall on becoming a writer
The case of the unknown artists, or Who did the early covers for Blue Book?
A couple of weeks ago, as I was going through the May 1907 issue of Blue Book, I realized that the cover was signed but unidentified. Indeed, the FictionMags Index did not have artists attributed for the first few years of the magazine’s existence. From 1912 onwards, the magazine credited the cover artist in the… Continue reading The case of the unknown artists, or Who did the early covers for Blue Book?
Interview with Johnston McCulley (creator of Zorro)
[This interview with Johnston McCulley originally appeared in the Oakland Tribune, May 20, 1923] Johnston McCulley, Alias Seth Bailey If you have ever read stories written by Harrington Strong, John Mack Stone, Walter Pierson or Camden Stuart, you have read works by the author about whom this article is written – Johnston McCulley. But few… Continue reading Interview with Johnston McCulley (creator of Zorro)