If you haven't already, those who favor this site should read Wilum H. Pugmire's outstanding book SOME UNKNOWN GULF OF NIGHT...of course it is a lovely volume of poetic prose following in the CAS tradition...however, Smith actually shows up in serval of Pugmire's pieces such as XXII (in which you can discover what really finally happened to CAS and his existence), XXIII, XXXI (which is actually a tale about Smith with the main character being named "Ashton") and XXXII (which touches upon The Book of Eibon and more)!

Frederick J. Mayer

I'm with you there. As I find myself at that point of fandom where I'm concentrating on a small set of authors' titles, rather than reading as gluttonously as I did whilst a teen or in my twenties, in much the same way Brennan ossified his reading of French poetry in his thirties (and there's nothing wrong with that, being a natural side effect of the ageing process for many people), I am glad that Frater Wilum is a part of my reading list, and part of the circle of my colleagues I hold most dear to my heart.

I recommend hunting down what you can of his work, and supporting him where and when possible. If we don't support our peers, who will?

I appreciate this so much, and thank you. I cannot express deeply enough my LOVE for this weird writer existence that I have been blessed with. Thanks to the specialty presses, I can remain a creature of ye Lovecraft Underground and still be published regularly. Being Lovecraftian means more to me now than ever before, my passion for his Work deepens every day. I've just finish'd reading an amazing anthology of essays, LOVECRAFT AND INFLUENCE--HIS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS, edited by Robert H. Waugh, and it has expanded my appreciate for Lovecraft's genius, for his brilliant work. Lovecraft scholarship inspires my fiction just as profoundly as studying Lovecraft's texts on my own. I can't get enough of such books. I am nearly finish'd with another re-reading of Peter Cannon's H. P. LOVECRAFT in the Twayne series; and I am carefully studying Peter's anthology from Arkham House, LOVECRAFT REMEMBERED, searching for ANY reference in this book of 486 pages where Lovecraft's racism is mention'd (the current emphasis on Lovecraft's racism bores me more and more, and seems a very modern obsession). I wish I could be at World Horror Convention to-day, to drink in the Lovecraft panel that will take place there. But I will drink my fill in Providence this August.

Writing, or rather being able to concentrate on any specific project, is difficult at the moment. At times I feel like giving up and just sitting in my recliner and reading. But I have made two strict vows. One is to remain Lovecraftian to the core as an author, to be audaciously Lovecraftian in most of what I create. I want to prove, to myself and to others, that writing Lovecraftian horror need not be a phase that one passes through on the way to individual voice and vision--it CAN BE who one is as a writer, and that one can write such works and still retain a personal aesthetic identity. My other rule is to never give up. I understand better why writers I love, such as Poppy Brite and Tom Ligotti, and CAS and HPL, gave up or nearly gave up on writing. But I will never stop, until I go gaga. I still cannot comprehend how CAS could be so lethargic toward his writing when he had this wonderful publisher, Arkham House, devoted to bringing out handsome hardcover editions of his work. Scott and others have try'd to help me understand the reasons for Smith's attitude and actions, but the idea of it gives me an almost physical sense of woe and frustration. I've just had such a handsome new hardcover publish'd, from Arcane Wisdom, and the magick thrill of holding a new book of mine own never dims or grows old. Lovecraft never got to know this wondrous experience of his own handsome collection, and how he yearned for it; Smith was blessed to experience it, but it could not affect him so that he produced new work for such editions or revise his older works as definitive texts (as far as I know).

To have readers who admire my work means the world to me, and it is for them that I continue. I cannot puppet Lovecraft's pose of caring if he has any readers or not, that he wrote mainly for himself. I write to be published and read. That is one of the ritualistic requirements of the act. Without it, I would get my aesthetic need from posing in front of my webcam for YouTube and nothing else.

Thank you, again. Mine eldritch kiss upon thy eyes.

"I'm a little girl."
--H. P. Lovecraft, Esq.

Thank you, Frater Wilum. May thine dreams remain eldritch fancies of beauty immixed with terror!