I hope to see a few like-minded fans of good old escapist literature in Chicago at the Windy City Pulp and Paperback Convention, which runs from April 25th through the 27th. It’s a terrific convention full of, well, people who read, and tons of great reading material for sale, along with art (both for sale and on exhibit) and a film room run by Blood and Thunder publisher Ed Hulse who stocks it with pulp-related movies, many of them wonderfully obscure. (A year or two ago, for instance, I took in PRC’s Lady in the Death House there; an hour and change well-spent.)
On Saturday, Windy City’s head mukluk, Doug Ellis, has me moderating a panel on the legendary Black Mask pulp that features pulp scholars and writers like Robert Weinberg, Digges LaTouche, and the aforementioned Ed Hulse. Like Minnie Pearl used to say, I’m just proud to be there.
Plus, I’ll have a few copies of Hard Boiled Christmas Stories, now headed for a third printing, that I’ll be happy to part with for the cover price of 15 frogskins, in the autographed or rare un-autographed versions. Get ’em while they last.