Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill : Hippocampus Press : 9781614982999 : 1614982996 : 14 Jul 2020 : In this second volume of the correspondence of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, we find the two authors in the prime of their careers. Smith was publishing frequently in the weird and science fiction pulps of the day, compelled to earn money to take care of his ailing parents. Lovecraft had suffered some painful setbacks--the rejection of his work by Putnam's, Knopf, and other book publishers--but he was continuing to develop his Cthulhu Mythos, and Smith was making distinctive contributions to it. And yet, dark clouds were on the horizon. Smith's parents died in 1935 and 1937, and as a result his output of fiction declined significantly. Lovecraft kept his own ailment--cancer of the intestine--a secret from Smith and most other colleagues, so that his California friend was stunned to hear of his passing on March 15, 1937. Smith and Lovecraft shared many mutual acquaintances--Don