Howard Days S&S Workshop

HOWARD DAYS SWORD AND SORCERY WORKSHOP

We are go!  Repeat, we are go!

Robert E. Howard was inarguably one of the most influential authors of the 20th century and he continues to inspire to this very day as new generations discover his work and are transformed by it. Over the years, Cross Plains, Texas, has hosted a variety of authors and writers from near and far, all of whom made the pilgrimage to Robert E. Howard’s hometown during Robert E. Howard Days.

In celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the first Robert E. Howard Days gathering, we are adding something a bit different as a fundraiser for the current necessary repairs to the Howard House. The 2026 Emerging Writers Workshop is a one-day event designed to help provide advice, answers, and encouragement to new and upcoming writers of Howard’s genres — from historical fiction to weird Westerns to sword and sorcery. Sorry, no poetry this year, but we hope this is only the first of a regular new component of our annual Howard Days, and perhaps we’ll be able to include verse in later years.

The Emerging Writers Workshop will include, lectures and Q& A about S&S, from your instructors, though the bulk of the workshop time will be spent in critiquing submissions by breaking into smaller groups for in-depth discussion of your manuscripts.

This year, we’re donating the bulk of the proceeds to the Howard House Preservation Project.  If you’re already planning on attending this year, adding a day to your trip is easy to do! If you’re on the fence about attending, maybe getting a top down critique of your work from working editors and authors who understand the genres of Robert E. Howard will be the tipping point for you!

Meet the Instructors:

Mark Finn – Mark is an author, an editor, and a pop culture critic. His writing can be found in various books, anthologies, comics, and elsewhere. When he’s not waxing passionate about popular culture or Robert E. Howard, Finn writes stories, publishes RPG zines, and sporadically appears on various podcasts.

Adrian Simmons – Adrian is a founding member and primary editor of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly ezine (heroicfantasyquarterly.com), he has produced 67 issues and four best of anthologies.  He’s had fiction published at Tales from the Magician’s Skull, Savage Realms, and Swords and Larceny.  His non-fiction and reviews pop up periodically at Blackgate.com.

Jason M. Waltz – Long-time reader, writer, publisher, facilitator and promoter of the heroic. THE MAIN ROGUE of Rogue Blades Entertainment (published popular heroic anthologies such as Return of the Sword and Neither Beg Nor Yield) & Rogue Blades Foundation (published award-winning REH titles Hither Came Conan and Robert E. Howard Changed My Life). Host of author interviews @ ’24 in 42.’ Connect via https://linktr.ee/jasonmwaltz

 

 

Seats are limited, so we can provide you with a more personalized experience, so don’t delay!

Critical Information:

When:             Thursday June 11^th, 2026

Time:              10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Where:            Cottonwood Downtown Café,

  240 N Main St, Cross Plains, TX

Cost:               $50 for workshop, discussion, and written critique

Paid in advance through Square at this link.

 

Deadline to Submit:    Sunday May 10, 12:00 midnight CST, 2026

Manuscript Submission Guidelines:

• Submit:
  • Only one submission per workshop participant,
  • Only your own original work,
  • Only non-published work,
  • Only REH genre fiction (sword & sorcery, weird western, heroic fantasy, historical fiction, boxing tales, horror, westerns, detective, and comedic versions of the previous).
• Fiction submissions
  • MAXIMUM LENGTH IS 5,000 WORDS. MINIMUM LENGTH IS 1,500 WORDS. The word count limits are FIRM. No exceptions. Manuscripts longer or shorter than the stated lengths will be returned unread.  You may send either a complete short story at or under 5,000 words, the first 5,000 words of a short or the first 5,000 words of a novel.   A complete short story is preferred as they generally yield a more productive discussion of your abilities as a writer in this type of workshop setting.
  • If you are submitting a complete short story, make sure you write “The End” on the last page; otherwise place “End of Submission” to indicate that the story continues after the first 5,000 words.

Submit your manuscript to rehemergingauthors@gmail.com

• • Use the subject line: Submission 2026 Emerging Writers Workshop – Last Name, First Initial
  • Submit your electronic manuscript in WORD DOCUMENT or RICH TEXT (.doc, .docx, .rtf) only in proper manuscript format.
  • Name your file in the following format: REH 2026 – Last Name, First Initial – title
  • By submitting your work with your request to join the Emerging Writers Workshop you understand that you are granting us permission to distribute your story to the facilitators and other workshop participants for the purpose of this workshop.
  • Please do not use pen names for workshop submissions, as it causes confusion.
  • Please include a statement that you have submitted payment
• PLEASE NOTE: Workshop facilitators will only read your manuscript after you have paid for the workshop.