Hello, everyone! I've been a fan of Mr. Smith for a while now, but this is the first time I've ventured into his fandom community. To introduce myself, I'm a student (about to enter college this year) and I'm also a great fan of authors such as H.P. Lovecraft (of course!), Robert Bloch, and Robert E. Howard.

Out of curiosity, are there any other fangirls of Clark Ashton Smith on this site? That is, any other female fans who find him handsome as well as a talented author and poet?

We have seen the darkness
Where charnel things decay,
Where atom moves with atom
In shining swift array,
Like ordered constellations
On some sidereal way.
--from Nyctalops

Welcome to the board, ArkhamMaid and congratulations on your soon-to-be entrance into the world of academics. What school are your planning on going to?

I am not sure I would characterize myself as a fangirl, as that brings to mind something of a rabid creature; however, I am a femme and I am certainly a passionate admirer of CAS' work, particularly his poetry.

Best wishes to you and enjoy the board!

~Alycia

I love his poetry as well, though I have to admit that I have a difficult time deciding which is better: his poetry or his short stories. Bah -- they're both excellent! ;)

At any rate, I'm still deciding between schools. Hopefully, there will be fellow lovers of Mr. Smith wherever I go as well!

We have seen the darkness
Where charnel things decay,
Where atom moves with atom
In shining swift array,
Like ordered constellations
On some sidereal way.
--from Nyctalops



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 13 Jan 20 | 09:22PM by ArkhamMaid.

And if there is not, you can certainly introduce them to his wonders. ;)

Exactly! Now all I have to decide is which picture to use as a poster in my dorm...this one:
[www.eldritchdark.com]

Or this one:
[www.eldritchdark.com]

We have seen the darkness
Where charnel things decay,
Where atom moves with atom
In shining swift array,
Like ordered constellations
On some sidereal way.
--from Nyctalops

Welcome dear ladies - I have a brief offering for you that may prove useful in the hallowed hall of academe: www.lexfiles.com, click on "basics", then click on "The 14 Words" - mastery of the thrust of meaning in the prefix and root of these words will give you access to 140,000 plus english words - useful in reading Smith, passing exams, sounding erudite, etc.
Much success to you all.
Dr. Farmer

PS my second daughter (age 36) has been accepted to Oxford Univ. to pursue yet another degree - daddy's little darling

Thanks for the link, Dr. Farmer -- I checked it out and it looks as though it will help me in writing my short fiction as well as in my studies. By the way, am I right in thinking that you were a close friend of Mr. Smith when he was alive?

We have seen the darkness
Where charnel things decay,
Where atom moves with atom
In shining swift array,
Like ordered constellations
On some sidereal way.
--from Nyctalops

**Sigh**where were you ladies when I was in college?

Scott (feeling old and lonely...)

ArkhamMaid Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm also a great fan of authors such as
> H.P. Lovecraft (of course!), Robert Bloch, and
> Robert E. Howard.
>
> Out of curiosity, are there any other fangirls of
> Clark Ashton Smith on this site? That is, any
> other female fans who find him handsome as well as
> a talented author and poet?

Great stuff - you will also be able to make an interesting contribution to this thread on conan.com - it's been getting a bit male-dominated of late. I wonder whether you find CAS a more "feminine" oriented writer than REH? Just a thought.

PS My partner has recently (on my recommendation) been getting into CAS, REH and HPL. She had a few snobbish reservations about reading "genre" fiction - but basically she seems to love it.

Hey, Mikey, I'll check that thread out. Hmmm...Clark Ashton Smith might be more female-oriented than Robert E. Howard, given the fact that his stories often possess the kind of Gothic romantic flavour that female readers appreciate. Of course, the handsome pictures of him in his younger years make something of a difference as well! ;) However, Robert E. Howard is great fun to read; I'm meaning to read his Conan stories (I've only watched the movie, which I enjoyed; especially the soundtrack), but I've read a great number of his Mythos tales and his epic Solomon Kane stories. Any writer who can come up with a sword-wielding Puritan is definitely worth some admiration!

I'm glad to hear that you've been able to convince your friend to read those Great Old Ones. Try her on Robert Bloch as well -- he was a brilliant Weird Tales writer (as well as the author of "Psycho") who seems sadly neglected now by most readers and publishers.

We have seen the darkness
Where charnel things decay,
Where atom moves with atom
In shining swift array,
Like ordered constellations
On some sidereal way.
--from Nyctalops



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 13 Apr 07 | 04:15PM by ArkhamMaid.

Welcome aboard, ArkhamMaid!

I've been trying for years to get my best female friend to read Smith -- so far with limited success. I'll have to try the angle of his handsome appearance. Thanks! ;-)

Martin

Dear ArkhamMaid - re knowing Clark - yes, I am the last living intimate friend of Clark, and the stack of holographs of his earlist writing was edited by myself and published by Hippocampus in '04; some of the new additions mentioned on the home page here are from fragments in this book - the Sword of Zagan.
you may find my memoir enlightening and useful regarding the current conversation on Romantic Satanism (which I prefer not to discuss at this point);
You will learn far more about Clark from his poetry than from the Tales. The lexfiles site is indeed a lot of fun, and well worth the $30 a year John was charging last time I checked (John Robertson, retired English teacher to the on base schools for military children in Germany, and a highly respected wordsmith).
He and I correspond occasionally, and I have found him to highly insightful and thoughtful in his treatment of difficult or arcane vocabulary.
For fun, I suppose you know that Arkham House publishers was in Sauk City, Wisconsin. This is right near the border with Illinois, and I stopped by once on a cross country jaunt to see if Derleth was in, but, alas, no one was about. The town is just a bit south of Wisconsin Dells, one of the truly beautiful spots in the country. On another point, I would suggest a visit to Scott and Ron and let them show you (as no one else can today) Clark's childhood environment in Auburn.
As you contemplate Clark's home area devoid of population, night time lights, etc., perched on the rim of the American River Canyon, I believe I sense in the earnestness of your interest, the capacity to connect with him as the "Genius Locus" of the place, and what led him to so inhabit this world that its presence permeates the corpus of his work.

calonlan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As you contemplate Clark's home area devoid of
> population, night time lights, etc., perched on
> the rim of the American River Canyon, I believe I
> sense in the earnestness of your interest, the
> capacity to connect with him as the "Genius Locus"
> of the place, and what led him to so inhabit this
> world that its presence permeates the corpus of
> his work.

Sir, in that last sentence, I believe you gave me one of the very best compliments I have ever received. I would truly feel honoured if I was ever priviledged with the chance to visit Clark Ashton Smith's home town. And your visit to Arkham House would certainly be one that I would like to have the opportunity to try!

This past year, Clark Ashton Smith has been a powerful influence over my own writing, in both my prose and my poetry. I've written several stories that have consciously been inspired by him.

In fact, my interest has grown to such an extent that I am thinking of continuing my research on his works once I reach university. I am currently waiting to hear from Mr. Smith's estate regarding permission to publish the completion of a fragment of one of his works ("The House of Haon-Dor") and it is possible that if I am able to get this permission, I will be able to continue independent research from my university regarding the writings of Clark Ashton Smith -- and perhaps even visit Auburn with Scott and Ron as you suggested!

We have seen the darkness
Where charnel things decay,
Where atom moves with atom
In shining swift array,
Like ordered constellations
On some sidereal way.
--from Nyctalops



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 13 Jan 20 | 09:22PM by ArkhamMaid.

The sooner your trip to Auburn, ArkhamMaid, the better as the monsterous growth of housing developments are making their way up near the area (which is destroying the atmosphere and native beauty of the surroundings).

Albeit this fact, Auburn still has a wonderful old town feel to it and while you are there, you can visit CAS' memorial too. And just for fun, if you were to go to San Francisco, the Transamerica Building is now built on top of the famous Montgomery Block which used to be an artists' gathering place that rented studios and also housed the famous restaurant Coppas. Jack London, George Sterling, Nora May French and other notable people that CAS knew or at least knew of gathered there regularly. There are still things related to these writers surviving in our time, but the key is to see it before it dissapears.