Lucynka

…And the issue's cover from a couple days ago, in case you missed it. 🎃

@toffph.bsky.social, another poem for you! 👆

HALLOWE'EN While ghosts and goblins haunt the wind-blown night, While witches dance fantastic rigadoons, Or ride their broomsticks in the eerie light That mystically veils the stars and moons, Where yellow jack-o'-lanterns softly gleam Across the darkness of the noisy room, Forgotten by the crowd, we find our dream, As we lean close within the joy-filled gloom, As breathless, awed by living's loveliness, We swoon in Eden's age-old mystery. And heaven lingers in our fingertips As we cling to each other's yielding lips. —Edgar Daniel Kramer (The surrounding art depicts a white woman and white man snuggling and holding hands at the bottom left, while the rest is stereotypical Halloween imagery: bats are on bare branches to the right of the couple, and on top is a collage of jack o' lanterns, goblins, a black cat, an owl, and a witch riding a broom, against a big full moon.)

Anyway, here's a seasonally appropriate poem ("Hallowe'en," by Edgar Daniel Kramer) from ALL-STORY LOVE, October 18, 1930. Surrounding art by Casper Emerson. #pulp #romance #halloween #poetry

In case you missed it: Paperback layout (effectively) complete! Almost 140K words and ~400 pages. I'm hoping I can put the finishing touches on it this week and get a proof copy ordered by Friday. 🤞 (Then it's ebook layout time, oh no. 🙃) #pulp #romance

A white man in evening dress sits next to and holds the hand of a white woman in evening dress. They're in a garden. The composition starts as a rectangle up top, but then tapers down to a center point.

3rd place/honorable mention: Benjamin Goodwin Seielstad for Walter Marquiss's "Twenty-Minute Princess." The comp. of this one was only mildly irritating, but shout-out to the speck of noise I missed that was throwing off my text chain and driving me CRAZY 'til I zoomed in and saw what was going on.

The hero (a white man in evening clothes) holds the heroine (a white woman) back as she tries to throw the engagement ring he gave her into the fireplace. Emerson doesn't have to spend a day in hell for this one, but I do wish his a string of inconveniences upon him in the afterlife.

2nd place: Casper Emerson for Ethel M. Dell's "The Love Master." Another irritatingly diagonal composition, but at least that white space in the bottom corner makes for a good, obvious place to put a caption.

The heroine (a white woman in evening dress) sits at a dressing table, haughtily applying make-up, while the hero (a white man, also in evening dress) leans over her shoulder, his hand held out entreatingly. Objectively speaking, it's a nice illustration and I really like it in the abstract—but in terms of design/layout, I hope John V. Ranck spent a day in hell for this one.

ALL-STORY LOVE anthology update: PAPERBACK LAYOUT DONE (sans author/artist bios, that is)! To celebrate, my most hated illustrations:

1st place: John V. Ranck for Du Vernet Rabell's "The Road Back Home." Diagonal composition AND all the white space is either too big or too small for a caption.

ALL-STORY LOVE anthology update (paperback layout edition): Done with "Remembered Rapture" and now onto "Wooing Wings," the second novella and the last story.

My Scribus document is…large.

Ooh, what a neat poem! And yeah, Halloween, as a holiday, used to have a LOT of romantic overtones. Like, in many ways it was as much about finding a significant other as it was spooks and scares.

A young white woman with black hair looks into a long-handled hand mirror as it reflects an image of a young white man. She wears a billowy gown (nightgown?) with red roses decorating it, and behind her looms a huge jack o' lantern. Two bats and a black owl are perched on the top of it, and a third bat flies in the foreground, near her. The overall background is white. (The vibe is more whimsical than spooky, if we're being honest.) The stories "True Lovers' Night" ("A Thrilling Hallowe'en Love Story") and Madeleine Sharps Buchanan's "The Love Island" are advertised in the bottom right corner.

It's now October, so time to share this ~spooky~(?) cover. I believe it's referencing the legend that if a gal looks into a mirror at midnight on Halloween, she'll see an image of her future love. 🪞🎃🦇

ALL-STORY LOVE (STORIES OF THE AMERICAN GIRL), Oct. 18, 1930. Art by Madge Geyer. #pulp #romance

THIIIS. 😭 #yougetit

Thankfully the majority of them ARE pretty easy to fit into a layout. That said, Helpfully Shaped™ for Maximum Layout Fun™ are such delightfully sarcastic phrases, omg. 😂

You know, on the one hand I'm frustrated the layout isn't going faster, but then on the other hand I have to remind myself that—not only am I including illustrations here—but that the word count is literally TWICE AS LONG as my other collections.

So, like, I'm probably doing fine, tbh. 🙃

Probably not. Male beauty standards of the time ('20s-'30s) mean that the men in the romance pulps tend to be REAL pretty, if not downright glam, by today's standards—particularly when drawn by female artists, I've noticed.

It doesn't faze me now, but I'll admit it took some getting used to!

A young white woman with black hair looks into a long-handled hand mirror as it reflects an image of a young white man. She wears a billowy gown (nightgown?) with red roses decorating it, and behind her looms a huge jack o' lantern. Two bats and a black owl are perched on the top of it, and a third bat flies in the foreground, near her. The overall background is white. (The vibe is more whimsical than spooky, if we're being honest.) The stories "True Lovers' Night" ("A Thrilling Hallowe'en Love Story") and Madeleine Sharps Buchanan's "The Love Island" are advertised in the bottom right corner.

It's now October, so time to share this ~spooky~(?) cover. I believe it's referencing the legend that if a gal looks into a mirror at midnight on Halloween, she'll see an image of her future love. 🪞🎃🦇

ALL-STORY LOVE (STORIES OF THE AMERICAN GIRL), Oct. 18, 1930. Art by Madge Geyer. #pulp #romance

ALL-STORY LOVE anthology update (paperback layout edition): Officially on to the novellas, and about halfway through "Remembered Rapture." 💪

The heroine (a white woman in evening dress) sits at a dressing table, haughtily applying make-up, while the hero (a white man, also in evening dress) leans over her shoulder, his hand held out entreatingly. The composition is—again—diagonal overall, with even more frustrating contours.

For the curious, THIS is now my most-hated illustration. We'll see if it retains that title or gets beaten out by another by the end!

(By John V. Ranck, for Du Vernet Rabell's "The Road Back Home.")

Put together a pulp anthology w/ the original magazine illustrations, they* said. It'll be fun, they said.

*me, in my stupidity

Anyway, I have 3 short stories, 1 novelette, and the 2 novellas left to lay out! I'd hoped to get it all done this week, but it looks like it'll have to run into next.

The magazine layout in question. Due to the tall, rather diagonal shape of the illustration, the text has multiple "steps" around it. Like, this thing doesn't even work well in the larger, two-column pulp format. Wtf were you thinking, Casper Emerson?

It's even awkward in the original magazine layout!

Thanks. 🫠 I never thought this project would give me grudges against long-dead artists, but here I am, swearing at Casper Emerson as if he personally wronged me.

The hero (a white man in evening clothes) holds the heroine (a white woman) back as she tries to throw the engagement ring he gave her into the fireplace.

ALL-STORY LOVE anthology update: So far, this is my most-hated image, because of its AWKWARD-AS-FUCK contour. I finally managed something I'm happy with, but jfc it took a long time. 😤

(By Casper Emerson, for Ethel M. Dell's "The Love Master.") #pulp #romance

This broke containment, to the point where I simply couldn't respond to every comment, but let it be known that I have enjoyed (am STILL enjoying) all the stories and photos of everyone's silly, clingy beasts. 😺

"New Year and New Love," why are your section breaks in such inconvenient places??? 😭

I case you missed it, yesterday was pulp romance author Hortense McRaven's birthday, and I compiled a short thread of the three story reviews I've done for her. There's "The Love Pawn," "Stowaway Kiss," and "Kissless Honeymoon"! #pulp #romance #romancelandia

"He's the Boss." - Well, what else would you expect from such a majestic beast?? 😹

“Kissless Honeymoon”: The horniest Love Story story I’ve read yet. (With a bonus lesbian?) She picked up the folds of her ivory satin wedding dress and ran through the outer door of the anteroom of the church, across the stone porch to the sidewalk.  If she could only get to her car, par…

Neither of those up you alley? There's still 1935's "Kissless Honeymoon," with a runaway bride, a touch of enemies-to-lovers, actual horniness???—and a lady doctor side-character (the hero's cousin) who's coded as a lesbian.

Happy Birthday, Hortense McRaven! #pulp #romance #romancelandia

3/3

The real generational divide is people who refuse to watch a video if it could be an article versus people who refuse to read an article if it could be a video

“Stowaway Kiss”: Not nearly as much boat action as I was expecting from the title, but don’t let that stop you. “Bully!  Caveman!  Girl beater!” she exploded, shaking a fist at the disappearing ship.  “It was you I had a date with, only you didn’t know it!  To think I ever imagined myself in love with you, j…

Uptight-loves-wild more your style? Try 1937's "Stowaway Kiss," where a tomboyish gal concocts a scheme to get back at a stern, upper-class naval officer, but then ends up falling for him FOR REAL. 😱 Has the heroine as the romantic aggressor, & she's also a crack plane pilot. ✈️ #pulp #romance

2/3

Yes, this!

Mine will become alert and eagle-eyed if one of us makes a move toward the couch, because she senses an Incoming Lap and needs to claim that shit, ASAP.

I mentioned it elsewhere, but yes, mine does this too!