Hi everyone,

I am a new and aspiring writer. My name is Charles D. O'Connor III and I am twenty five years of age. I must say it was H.P. Lovecraft and CAS who were the influences in getting me into the writing field. I do this as a hobby only, darn it. Means I have to get a real job, lol.

Any way for a good while I have been intrigued by this site and the things posted. Now I want to join and add to the interesting conversations. Below is a poem I have just finished and wish for constructive in put or comments. Also anyone is free to visit my myspace account (A temporary holding for my writing before my first anthology comes out). The address is www.myspace.com/derangedreamer. Feel free to look at my tales, comment, join as friends. All my life I've been looking for a group of intelligent people sort of like The Kalem club or something. LOL. well now that the invitation to join and peruse my myspace account has been give, on to my poem.

The Evening Song:
A Prelude To Night.
Written by
Charles D. O'Connor III


The suns' orange and yellow glow begins to fade;
Dropping lifelessly behind a mass of black clouds,
No more will it shine on a lively scene,
But become simply a weak and passing dream.

The flower scented air now grows rancid and stale;
Capturing evil from a thousand demons sickly gleams,
And passing it down to us in a torrent of ghastly screams.

People hear them and dash franticly away,
Hoping to escape thoughts protruding from their slime ridden pasts',
These thoughts continually shake around death stars,
Praying to awaken pain,
Creating a feast eating sanity from the brain.

And finally when the night has been announced,
Sharp organs pulse madly some distance away,
An old man now stands fearlessly outside;
A coffin by his side,
He drags his body inside and buries himself in earths cold hard clay,
Never again to witness the passing of another day.

Thanks guys and will be looking forward to adding intelligent insight to the forum.

Charles D. O'Connor III

Hi there. I like your poem and encourage you to write more.

I wish I could write poetry. I annoys me that I can't. Poetry is sort of the string theory of language. I can do simple math, but...

Thank you very much Gavin. It has taken me many years to perfect the art of the short story or poem. I say perfect but no artist actually masters their art. Your words have meant a lot and though I do not know if you write, I, however, do know the fear and hesitancy with the new writer.

But rest assured I will be posting more on here to share with all of my new friends. I also just opened an account at The Temple Of Dagon. My pen name is Thegravehill.

Thanks again Gavin,

Charles.

My dear young man,
You are quite brave to essay into this field - I have written far more than I have published, but I offer a couple of thoughts for you to ponder. 1)purely technical -- try "extruding" instead of "protruding" in the second line of the third stanza. You might also check your use or lack thereof of the apostrophe as a contracted possessive - remember it always means something is left out, and is not really a possessive indicator (we used to say John his book, before it became John's book).

Next: take your first serious look into Robert Graves' "The White Goddess" - I say first because it usually takes several readings before the gate it gaurds swings open fully, but it is well worth the effort -

As Gavin suggests, we are glad to have you aboard and eagerly wait to hear more from you -- I shall print your work so I can ponder it and read it aloud away from the computer - "how" the poem means is as important to me as the meaning and I have to "hear" it -- I encourage you to continue, and above write when the spirit (muse) moves you - strike when the iron is hot - in a life necessarily divided with work, it is often easy to miss those moments of creativity due to the exigencies of life itself - carry a notebook - you, and that which you are given to say, are important to us -- Let me know how you fare with Dr. Graves - I once had the privelege and the life altering joy of doing a Master Class with him while he was visiting Syracuse U. (my BA alma mater) to receive an honorary doctorate (along with Robert Frost, then 85, whom I was introduced to, but had no opportunity to spend time.
Can you tell us what part of the world you inhabit? I am so delighted you have come to know CAS!

Dr. Farmer,

Thank you very much for your helpful input. My grammar has not always been the best and I don't usually write poetry. I am more of a short story writer but this idea that crossed my mind one evening while sitting outside in my garden could not take any other form but a poem, at least for me. I hope to one day publish many things and though odds are I shall not be remembered, it is refreshing to know I could change many hearts while I am alive. But, oh how to break through those big publishing houses to write what you really feel; art for arts sake.

I am impressed to hear that you met Robert Frost. Man, that was something special. Did the two of you talk or merely pass each other by like "Like two ships in the night"?

I inhabit Virginia Beach, VA in the United States. I love it here but hope to one day travel. I have already been to Providence RI and saw the whole Lovecraft tour but by myself with a video camera and had a blast. Especially the "Piece de resistance" the family plot at Swan Point Cemetery. Next I hope to visit the sites for CAS and REH. I can relate more to these gentlemen than any in todays world.

Again I am very gracious to the warm embraces I have received since joining this site and hope to, like wise, learn more about the people I converse with. My email is always available in my information.

Take Care,

Ch.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 18 Nov 08 | 03:45AM by OConnor,CD.

I recommend you read my memoir of CAS in the little book, "The Sword of Zagan" - not because I need the $1.50, but because I think it will give you some insights you will find useful before going to Calif. - If you are coming to Tex. to REH locations, let Gavin and I know ahead and we might meet you someplace in Austin.

Don't worry about being remembered - just write - if you are an alum of some Univ. they may have a publication that includes graduates work - for starters --

Today, there is no such thing as a profession called Poetry - regrettably, you must write poetry only if you MUST. I have always advised young people to never be an actor, musician, artist, or poet unless you can't help it.

> Dr. Graves - I once had the privelege and the life
> altering joy of doing a Master Class with him
> while he was visiting Syracuse U. (my BA alma
> mater) to receive an honorary doctorate (along
> with Robert Frost, then 85, whom I was introduced
> to, but had no opportunity to spend time.
> Can you tell us what part of the world you
> inhabit? I am so delighted you have come to know
> CAS!

All hail Syracuse! I lived/grew up in Owego, NY, which was about 2 hours south of Syracuse. I miss upstate New York/the Southern Tier; Florida is heck, to coin a phrase.

I drove through New York on my way to Providence Gavin. Didn't look all that tremendous. I felt rather how Lovecraft may of felt when he was in the red hook district. Maybe I was looking at the wrong parts of NY?

I sent the poem out to Southern Literary magazine and the editor told me the language and imagery were basically good but if I can fix all of it up he would take another look at it. I hope this gets published but I do not want to count my chickens before they've hatched. I'm just fearful. I've never been good at grammar and to admit I need help shakes me up. Woner if good ol' CAS had any problems and if he asked for help or was ashamed. Guess it goes with the male species. Any way I will keep everyone posted and if I get in I will dedicate the poem to everyone here and maybe send out some copies.

And I also wonder what CAS would say to me personally if he were still alive. Dr. Farmer would know most of all since he met him.

OConnor,CD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I drove through New York on my way to Providence
> Gavin. Didn't look all that tremendous. I felt
> rather how Lovecraft may of felt when he was in
> the red hook district. Maybe I was looking at the
> wrong parts of NY?

It depends on if you were in NYC or rural NY. Rural NY is gorgeous if you love bleak industrial decay. Owego is tops for decayed brick buildings, gothic gargoyles on cornices, tottering chimneys, abandoned factories, weird 1800's and early 1900's architecture, and general genteel decay. Weird Tales artist Lee Brown Coye lived near Syracuse, and closely identified that section of NY with HPL's Arkham/Dunwich. To paraphrase Coye, "A meteor (like the one from "The Colour Out of Space") may not have hit this area, but something sure did." I'm sure August Derleth felt the same way about his particular area of Wisconsin, as well. America is full of Arkham's

Here's a link to a pic taken by some tourist in Owego; notice how all the retro buffs on Flickr are impressed- but it's just an everyday eyesore to the folks in Owego!

[flickr.com]

[flickr.com]

[flickr.com]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 20 Nov 08 | 04:49PM by Gavin Callaghan.

Wow Gavin. Looking at these abandoned buildings or just the picture gives me a bit of uneasiness. Its like something is inhabiting it or the buildings are actually looking at you. Thank you for sharing.

Charles.

As a quick, useless addendum, I attended school in Ithaca, NY. That place always gave me the creeps, as well, and not just me, it seems, as the large number of student suicides there also attest. There really is "something" about upstate New York!

He would tell you write, write, then write some more - read voluminously in the classics.
After writing something, have a friend read it to you aloud after letting it rest a few days - you will hear the grammatical quirks, if any, then re-work it if necessary - agonize over alternative phraseology, in time a style that can be truly called "O'Conner" will emerge.
You might also look at his letters where this subject comes up from time to time.

Kyberean Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As a quick, useless addendum, I attended school in
> Ithaca, NY. That place always gave me the creeps,
> as well, and not just me, it seems, as the large
> number of student suicides there also attest.
> There really is "something" about upstate New
> York!


Wow- small woild; I went to Ithaca College for 2 yrs., film program. Loved Ithaca. A lot of people liked jumping in the ravines.