Happy New Year 2026, space explorers!
January first already? It’s hard to believe. I’m not going to spend too much time on the usual 2025 wrap-up and stated intentions for the new year. If you’ve been following my Lucina Press blog or the weekly Rocketeer Podcast podcast you know what I’ve been up to. And as for 2026…I have many plans which will be both interesting and enlightening, I hope. These will unfold as the year progresses.
The Rocketeer Podcast this week
For today, I want to mention two things. The first is this week’s Rocketeer Podcast: Ogden’s Strange Story: Atavism, Epigenetics, and Evolutionary Fantasy in Edison Marshall’s 1934 Novel. In this New Year’s Eve episode I discuss Edison Marshall’s “Ogden’s Strange Story”—a pulp-era tale of atavism, survival, and identity—and examine where its fantasy collides with real concepts like epigenetics and phenotypic plasticity.
This last post of 2025 is a thoughtful look at vintage fantasy, biology, and the enduring appeal of the “Dawn Man.”
Language Usage in the Love Pulps
The other thing relates to vintage descriptions in 1920s and 30s era popular literature, especially in the love pulps. In contemporary literature we are instructed to be very select in our usage of adjectives and adverbs. We also limit ourselves in descriptions of clothing, for example. People either under do it, or they over-do it. In the latter case adding details important to the writer but of less value to the reader. During the 1920s and 30s the way a person was dressed required some space for description. Where we may consider it a waste of space to talk in detail about a lady’s evening gown and wrap, for example. This was never the case in those old stories. By highlighting details such as the way the gown’s colors enhance the overall look of the outfit, or how the furs created a peek-a-boo effect with the dress gave the reader something to imagine which helped them better imagine the scene.
Reading vintage romances you will see these kinds of details added regularly. How are we to create “new pulp” if we leave out these critically accurate details? We can’t. To write a truly vintage-style romance requires an author to investigate fashions and hairstyles, as well as other period details. These must be taken seriously or the effect of the story may be spoiled. You can get hints of how this was done in the Hollywood magazines of the day. Here is a YouTube video where the poster reads aloud some of these types of descriptions (with accompanying photographs) demonstrating these literary details. You can’t do it without adjectives. Writing too thin, as we are ask to today, neglects the imagination. And what is fiction without it? It’s something to remember.
Happy New Year!
At Lucina Press
Take a tour of the Lucina Press Exhibition Hall.