Happy Birthday, Robert E. Howard

Today (or, arguably, Tuesday) would have been the 100th birthday of Robert E. Howard. As the creator of Conan, King Kull, and Solomon Kane, he invented the sword-and-sorcery fantasy and wrote in more than a half-dozen other genres for pulp magazines of all types. He cut his own life short at the age of 30. We can only guess what other works of genius he would have wrought had he held on with us a little longer.

I’m honored to be able to work on the Age of Conan novels for Ace Books. Recently Del Rey released The Conquering Sword of Conan, the third and final volume collecting Howard’s Conan work. This completes the Howard canon that we go by when working on the new novels. Be sure to check it out, and raise a glass toward Cross Plains, Texas, when you can.