The Mañana Literary Society was an informal meeting of science fiction writers in Los Angeles, California. Hosted by Robert A. Heinlein and his second wife Leslyn at their Laurel Canyon home, the membership included authors such as Anthony Boucher,

Arthur K. Barnes Arthur Kelvin Barnes (6 December 1909 – 11 March 1969) was an American science fiction author. Barnes wrote mostly for pulp magazines in the 1930s and 1940s. Barnes was most noted for his vivid and believable portrayals of alien life. As suc ...

, Edmond Hamilton,

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianetic ...

Henry Kuttner Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Early life Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. Kuttner (1829–1903) and Amelia Bush (c. 1834–1911), the ...

C.L. Moore Catherine Lucille Moore (January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who first came to prominence in the 1930s writing as C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in the science fiction and ...

L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and non-fiction. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction, including biog ...

Cleve Cartmill Cleve Cartmill (June 21, 1908 in Platteville, Wisconsin – February 11, 1964 in Orange County, California) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy short stories. He is best remembered for what is sometimes referred to as "the Cle ...

, Leigh Brackett, Roby Wentz, and Jack Williamson. The young Ray Bradbury, who had not yet made his first story sale, was a guest at one or two meetings. The weekly meetings took place in 1940 and 1941, until the Pearl Harbor attack resulting in the U.S. entering World War II.Williamson, Jack ''Who Was Robert Heinlein?'' in ''Requiem : new collected works by Robert A. Heinlein and tributes to the grand master'' NY 1992 p.334

''Rocket to the Morgue''

The society and many of its members appear, thinly veiled, in Boucher's ''

Rocket to the Morgue ''Rocket to the Morgue'' is a 1942 American locked room mystery novel by Anthony Boucher (originally published as by " H. H. Holmes", Boucher's frequent pseudonym when writing mysteries or writing about mysteries, and the pseudonym of a 19th-cen ...

'', whose dedication (in the

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a b ...

, read "For The Mañana Literary Society and in particular for Robert Heinlein and Cleve Cartmill." ''Rocket to the Morgue'' is something of a '' roman à clef''. Many characters are thinly-veiled versions of personalities such as Robert A. Heinlein ("Austin Carter"),

("D. Vance Wimpole"), then-

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

Julius Schwartz ("M. Halstead Phynn") and rocket scientist/ occultist/fan

Jack Parsons John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer, chemist, and Thelema, Thelemite occultist. Associated with the California Institute of Technology ...

("Hugo Chantrelle"); or recognizable composites of two writers ("Matt Duncan" -

and

; "Joe Henderson" - Jack Williamson and Edmond Hamilton). Some writers' actual pseudonyms appear as minor characters, most prominently "Don Stuart, editor of ''Surprising''" (

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...

, editor of ''

Astounding Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

''); but also "Anson Macdonald", "Lyle Monroe" (both Heinlein pseudonyms)... and Anthony Boucher (whose real name was William Anthony Parker White).

References

The order of Martha of Bethany
Joe R. Christopher, '' Extrapolation'', December 2002. Science fiction organizations American writers' organizations Arts organizations based in California Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles Organizations based in Los Angeles Arts organizations established in 1940 Organizations disestablished in 1941 1940 establishments in California 1941 disestablishments in California {{US-arts-org-stub