An Introduction

Hi, and Welcome.

My name is Rick Hipps, and I am a writer. Yes, I know, there are a lot of us writers out here; droning on about things that seem important to us... Sometimes to others.  I hope to make this blog helpful, informative, but most of all interesting and entertaining.

Your comments are welcome, and appreciated.

As I said, I am a writer.  From an early age, fantasy, science fiction and adventure stories have been an important part of my life. Among my favorite authors: Robert E. Howard, my mentor and guide in absentia to the world of high adventure. Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose Tarzan and John Carter took me to new worlds and breath-taking exploits. Lester Dent's Doc Savage, The Man of Bronze and his loyal companions kept me enthralled with each new and dangerous endeavor. H. Rider Haggard's Alan Quartermain took me to the dark continent where exploration and thrills were one and the same. And Ray Bradbury's hometown stories of summer wonders and Martian landscapes fueled my own imagination and instilled in me the two greatest words a writer can ever learn - "What if."

Of course, I can't forget the poor man's literary heroes: The Phantom, The Shadow, Dick Tracy and oh so many others from the Sunday Comics that helped shape (although I didn't realize it at the time) my own storytelling skills.

Though, I suppose of all my literary companions from younger years has to be, and will always remain Conan The Cimmerian. Strong, silent, deadly and one hell of a good read.

Robert E. Howard's Conan stories have done more to shape my writing style than any other. Let me be clear, it's not about the violence, the thieving, the drinking or the wenching. It's about the STYLE.  Bob Howard could say more in a single paragraph, than most writers can in an entire page or more. His descriptive style was incredible. Let me share a sample with you:

From Howard's The Hour of the Dragon:

The long tapers flickered, sending the black shadows wavering along the walls, and the velvet tapestries rippled. Yet there was no wind in the chamber. Four men stood about the ebony table on which lay the green sarcophagus that gleamed like carven jade. In the upraised hand of each man a curious black candle burned with a weird greenish light. Outside was night and a lost wind moaning among the black trees.

Does that brief description of four mysterious men with an unknown and likely sinister purpose make you want to read more?  Me too!

It is my hope to one day approach the Master. To write stories with the passion, life and fire that drove Bob Howard to be "The Greatest Pulp Novelist in the Whole Wide World."

It's a dream... An ongoing adventure.

Hopefully, you'll check back from time to time to see how I'm faring.

Until next time!