Tabletop RPG publisher, Goodman Games, is home to a prose sword-and-sorcery magazine, Tales From The Magician’s Skull. Since they’re expanding into publishing licensed characters and offering open submissions, I wanted to learn more about this magazine, and the editor, Howard Andrew Jones, was kind enough to answer my questions.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): Howard, thanks for answering my questions about Tales From The Magician’s Skull (TftMS). I’m glad it’s you handling the responses since, I once interviewed Grimtooth and I only *just* survived the experience. I’m still picking pickled piercer parts from the soft palate of my mouth (it was a heck of a lunch trap Grimtooth sprung on me). I doubt my pedestrian questions would be worth the Skull’s time, so I appreciate you taking on the odious task of pressing this conference.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask this: When they inevitably announce a new Dresden Files movie or TV series, has Skull instructed their agent to get them an audition for the role of Bob, the Skull? I believe Skull could bring no life to the role!
HOWARD ANDREW JONES (HOWARD): Hah! I’m afraid he wouldn’t much like being a supporting character. The Skull might be willing to audition to star in a spin-off series featuring Bob, though.
SKULL (SKULL): The mortals think I cannot hear them. Fools.
EGG: Ack, Skull is listening! New subject! New subject! For those that don’t know, what is TftMS?
HOWARD: We’re a twice yearly print and PDF magazine dedicated to sword-and-sorcery fiction. In case there’s any confusion about the difference between sword-and-sorcery and other kinds of fantasy, there’s a definition on our website. We’re published by Goodman Games, and edited by yours truly. We’ve published some of the best known modern practitioners of sword-and-sorcery in our first five issues, including William King, James Enge, Milton Davis, Clint Werner, Dave Gross, Violette Malan, and many others.
EGG: Fiction-centric magazines are a challenging field to create in as many magazines can’t afford to pay per word rates. However, this magazine came about from a Kickstarter in 2017, is published through Goodman Games, and pays per word rates; it’s a rare beast. What’s the response from the fans been like?
HOWARD: They seem pretty pleased! We were thrilled that we easily exceeded the goals of the initial Kickstarter (for our first two issues) and then the second, for the four follow-ups. The first two issues were really just to see if we could pull it off, entertain readers, and have fun working together. Since the answer to all three of those concerns was yes, we mean to keep at it.
EGG: You just announced a major agreement in conjunctions with the estate of Fritz Leiber. What can you share about this project?
HOWARD: Publisher Joseph Goodman and I are both big fans of the Lankhmar stories of Fritz Leiber. In my case, they were my first real introduction to sword-and-sorcery, as a young reader, and they blew the doors off of my imagination. Joseph came to them later in life as he was researching Appendix N for DCC RPG and was thrilled to have the opportunity to publish an entire line of exciting Lankhmar adventures for DCC RPG.
Joseph had forged a good working relationship with the estate, and he and I got to talking about dream goals for the magazine. He suggested we approach the estate about publishing some new adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, but we both thought it would be best to do so with a finished story.
We think any new Lankhmar fiction should be held to high standards. We want to ensure that the world and characters, of foundational importance to fantasy fiction, are handled with the care and appreciation — honestly, a kind of reverence — that they deserve. That means they have to be drafted by someone who’s not just a skilled writer, and not just someone who is intimately familiar with Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, but who loves and understands the world of Nehwon and the entire aesthetic.
Fortunately, I knew just the guy, and he was delighted to be asked. And then he wrote a terrific story.
EGG: Who will author the new Fafhrd and the Gray Mouse stories? Will they follow a specific time period in the duo’s careers? Will these be presented as a single short story per issue or in another format?
HOWARD: We spoke first and last to the talented Nathan Long, veteran Warhammer author, who’s penned novels of Gotrek and Felix, Ulrika, and one of my favorite set of fantasy adventure novels (the Blackhearts), as well as his own Jane Carver novels, and written a lot for TV, movies, and computer games.
Here’s what he said when we asked him to pen a statement about the project:
“More than any other writer, more than Tolkien, more than Howard, more than Moorcock, Fritz Leiber instilled in me my love of fantasy, and sword-and-sorcery in particular. His delight in wordplay, whimsy, and wit shape my writing to this day, and I consider him one of the true immortals of the field. Thus, it was a great and terrifying honor when Howard Andrew Jones and Joseph Goodman asked me to try my hand at a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser pastiche, and I feel presumptuous even to have accepted. I can only hope that my story is received in the spirit it was written, not as an addition to the canon, but as a tribute to it – a love letter to my first and fondest inspiration, Fritz Leiber.”
As to your other questions, right now we have one story, for our next issue. And it’s complete. Nathan’s writing another. Whether we’ll have one for each issue remains to be seen. The Skull is never completely predictable.
EGG: Will the fiction tie-in with the Dungeon Crawl Classics: Lankhmar setting?
HOWARD: Adventures might eventually be based around some of the characters and situations Nathan invents, but we aren’t asking Nathan to base his work around any of the adventures. Most of our authors aren’t gamers, and we certainly don’t tell them what characters, challenges, and situations to write about.
EGG: That’s beyond fair. In 2021, TftMS is throwing open the floodgates and accepting open submissions. Up to this point you’ve worked with known professionals. What inspired the move to open submissions?
HOWARD: It’s something we’ve been interested in doing from the start, but we wanted to make sure we had our process down pat before we tried it. Let’s face it, reading submissions is a huge time commitment, and we decided that we wanted just to focus on getting the magazine right before we put our energy into anything else. At this point we feel like we have the processes in place, so it was time to stretch our wings.
EGG: Among the stories you receive, what are you hoping to find?
HOWARD: Well, this link will take you to the guidelines, but in short form we dream of finding tales of heroic fiction that have interesting characters doing interesting things in fascinating places for compelling reasons. We want to see fiction drafted by people drawing from the same inspirations that inspired the grandfathers and grandmothers of the genre and then doing brand new things with them.
EGG: There’s a definition of the sword-and-sorcery genre with a variety of guidelines on the Goodman Games website. For those looking for a story to be their guidepost for the genre, what are some of the best sword-and-sorcery stories out there?
HOWARD: If you want a quick grab bag of foundational fiction and important follow-ups, then Robert E. Howard’s “Tower of the Elephant,” Fritz Leiber’s “Seven Black Priests,” C.L. Moore’s “Black God’s Kiss,” Michael Moorcock’s “The Dreaming City,” and Charles Saunders’ “Mawanzo.” That ought to get you there. Of course another great guidepost is to pick up our most recent issue! Our writers are doing some great things, and we clearly like what they’re doing, so emulating something similar wouldn’t be a terrible idea.
EGG: For any accepted story, you’re offering a rate of four cents a word, correct? For those accepted tales, what rights does the Skull require before publishing the tale?
HOWARD: Yes, four cents a word is correct. The story has to be the original creation of the writer, of course. The rights we purchase are pretty typical, and I won’t bore you with the legalese, but they are retained by the creator. We receive publication rights for one year, so that for that year the one place you can get the story is in the Skull’s favorite magazine.
EGG: Switching from content to publishing, I want to ask about a recent challenge you encountered. The fifth issue of the magazine is delayed due to a paper shortage. Is the shortage a result of COVID or just the hazards of being a publisher?
HOWARD: That is a COVID hazard, plain and simple. There aren’t as many people making things in places that require working in closer proximity, which means some things are just harder to find. That wonderful quality print paper was a stretch goal we hit on the first Kickstarter, and we loved it so much we’re determined to use it for all of our issues.
EGG: Beyond Tales From The Magician’s Skull, is there anything you or Skull are working on?
HOWARD: I dare not reveal the Skull’s other activities, lest knowledge of those doings blast your reason and jeopardize your very soul! As for me, I’m always writing. St. Martins’ is marketing my new trilogy as epic fantasy but trust me, it’s sword-and-sorcery. The first two books are out (starting with For the Killing of Kings) and I’ll be turning the third and final volume back to my editor in just a few more weeks. I’ve been getting some good reviews of my sword-and-sorcery short stories of Hanuvar, so I’m drafting more of those, as well as continuing my swashbuckling Arabian fantasy adventures of Dabir and Asim.
You can find out about all the fiction and check in for a whole parcel of articles on writing advice, gaming, and assorted nerdery at my website.
EGG: Thanks for talking with me. Where can fans learn more about Goodman Games and this magazine?
HOWARD: It was a pleasure. You can keep up with us on the Skull’s official page here, or follow him on Facetweet, [or] at Goodman Games itself – live long and prosper!
SKULL: The haruspex has read the entrails and he tells me that issue #6 will be extraordinary. That is well. I shall allow the editor minion and publisher minion to serve another quarter. Intern! INTERN! Bring me another goat before this one goes cold. And tell the printing wizards to act with alacrity or I shall smite them!
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