Dispatches from the silver key

Arcane Arts

This was a particularly grim New England winter. The heavy snowfall and intense cold are gone, but the bitter, clammy dampness hung on… and on. I’ve spent too many days inside, looking at my phone and a world on fire.

I’m in need of renewal, physical and spiritual. Grail shaped, if I can find it.

I took a recent draught from that cup: Joseph Campbell’s Romance of the Grail, which I recently finished. And wrote about here on the blog.​

I half composed this review while rambling through a wonderful rail trail running through the woods behind my home, which lends itself to introspection. I did not find the grail but I did find some relief.

I’m always happy for the coming of spring but this year it feels like salvation. If you know someone struggling, ask them, "what ails thee, friend?" You just might save them.

Note: My streak of 10 consecutive weekly issues of Arcane Arts may be coming to an end due to travel to Chicago next week. But who knows, maybe I can blow off a boring business dinner and bang out issue #11. If not, see you in two weeks.

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The darkest depths of Mordor

Speaking of rambling, I was taken by surprise with this: Robert Plant performing “Ramble On.” I thought he had moved on from old Led Zeppelin so this was a bit of found magic. Plant sounds great here. The high keening wail might be gone, but damn he sounds absolutely fantastic in mid-register, just like his old self. Worth your time. Video linked here in case this embedded version doesn't work.

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Follow me on Facebook (or not)

I recently launched an author page on Facebook. You’re welcome to follow me over there; here is the text of a recent post to give you some idea of what it’s all about:

So … what is this author page all about?

I’m nearing completion of a new book. A memoir, about my experiences growing up in the context of heavy metal music.

Wild, right?

Can I pull it off? Who knows. Readers will decide that. I think it rocks, and might be something you’d want to read.

The new book was in many ways far more challenging to write than Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery. It’s definitely NOT academic and heavily footnoted. What it is: Raw, personal, funny, ridiculous, real. Lots of things.

The research was a lot easier, but telling the story was not.

I can’t wait to share more, including the cover, which is in its final stages. It's pretty metal.

Until then thanks for following. Expect more heavy metal (and cowbell) around here soon.

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I’m starting to feel like I might be on one too many platforms, between the blog, Arcane Arts, and now an author page on Facebook. Butter scraped over too much bread etc. But, you have to find your readers where they live, and Facebook is one of those places.

The hard part about all of this isn’t the writing (though that’s hard enough), it’s the marketing. Publishing a book is like throwing a dry leaf into a late fall windstorm. Did you know that 250,000-300,000 new books are published on Amazon KDP every month? Books are lost immediately unless you continuously promote them.

The cover of my book is done and I love it. It’s suitably epic and garish and ridiculous, all things metal. I plan on doing a reveal here at some point but for now am keeping it under wraps.

The last word on De Camp?

Some internet arguments refuse to die.

​There’s a couple in heavy metal circles that really need to go away. Then there’s the sword-and-sorcery/Conan legacy of L. Sprague De Camp. Now that has legs.

To be fair De Camp is a complicated figure. No one can question the success of the Lancers, which sold at least 2M copies by most reckonings … but at the cost of De Camp’s backhanded “praise” and mixing of second-rate pastiche with original Howard. It takes a lot to explain, and for old hands like me it’s exhausting.

The next time anyone asks me my opinion I’m just going to send them this article by Blood and Thunder author Mark Finn: “The Saga of Conan’s Steward.” It covers De Camp’s checkered tenure as keeper of the Conan rights quite thoroughly.

I like Finn’s conclusion, that it’s largely in the past. The first of the three pure Howard editions from Wandering Star were published in 2003, followed by the mass market Del Rey trade paperbacks. The Howard canon has been set and remains readily available. The Lancers, and De Camp’s checkered influence, are rapidly fading into yesteryear.

Until someone brings it all up again, as they will.

Going a-(Last) Viking

After a couple of recent heavy reads (I tackled Crime and Punishment—not as difficult as I anticipated) I needed to change gears with some page-turning blood-and-thunder.

I found it in Poul Anderson’s The Last Viking: The Golden Horn.

I’m a little more than halfway through and it’s been a lot of fun so far. This is historical adventure covering the early life of King Harald Hadrada, who eventually served as King of Norway for 20 years (1046-1066) through the era-ending Battle of Stamford Bridge. Prior to becoming King Harald spent 15 years in exile including serving as a chief of the Varangian Guard in Constantinople, referred to as Miklagard by the Vikings.

If The Golden Horn falls a bit short of The Broken Sword and Hrolf Kraki’s Saga these are very high bars to clear. Anderson is always good. Lots of fighting and adventuring and Skaaling over ale. I love this bit:

And when they really fall to drinking ...

Until next issue… SKAAL!

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