Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

Dance, sing, enjoy! But keep yer butt in that chair and get The Work done. Yer bEastie is proud of you (and happy for you), Bro! !!

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

I just had my first dream about Tom Ligotti. It was very strange. At first I mistook a young blond woman for him, but it turned out that she was his lover, and that Tom was a lovely dark-haired woman who looked remarkably like Harriet Walter in her role as Harriet Vane in The Lord Peter Whimsey series. For some reason I had an obsession about touching the nape of Tom's throat, and so she let me as we three reclined on a very spacious bed. Tom was very concerned about the mental state of his friend, Fred, who was pining to sit on a horse so as to more easily touch the colors in the sky. I could not help but begin to preach about Tom's inability to write, at which point Tom turned into a middle-age geezer with scraggly patches of beard on his worn and weathered face. Our conversation went something like this:

Tom: "It hurts to write. It's torment."
Wilum: "Wah wah wah, how boring. I'd give anything to really suffer for my art. It's art, it ain't supposed to be easy."
"You don't understand the intensity of torment."
"You're just a little wimp. People like you and Jessica [Salmonson] drive me nuts. Such talent, such pure genius, and you just sit around and moan about how miserable you are. Pathetic."

This conversation repeated itself, over and over again, without making any dent in Tom's armor, until I awakened. Then I felt guilty for being such a yob. I have no idea what prompted this dream, but I take it as a sign to return to one of his book's tonight, once I've completed my day's writing.

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

My new book is completed and submitted to David at Mythos Books. It is called THE STRANGE DARK ONE -- TALES OF NYARLATHOTEP. The title novelette, a new Sesqua tale, came to 14,000 thousand words, the longest single work I have yet penned. I slaved on ye bloody thing and felt utterly exhausted (yet marvelous, darlings!) when it was completed.

So I told myself, okay, enough of the Cthulhu Mythos already. Time to return to writing my wee decadent prose poems for the next Hippocampus book. So, in order to get in a decadent mood, I picked up Tom's TEATRO GROTTESCO and perus'd "Sideshow, and Other Stories" once again -- basking in its brilliance of style, its unity, its delicious strangeness.

But Lovecraft won't let go. I'm such a Mythos fan boy. I had written my longest piece, a 14,000 word novelette. I wanted to do it again!! A pox on these wee things, I want LENGTH!!! I'm like a glutton who gets so much and aches for so much more. It's like a form of intoxicated lunacy. "More, I tell you -- more wordage!!! Make it longer!!!! Don't stop!!!!" Well, I began a thread at another forum on "The Dunwich Horror," and ye comments have prov'd so enticing that I suddenly told myself, "Hey! Let's write a twenty-thousand word sequel to Lovecraft's tale of Dunwich!" My gawd, Pug-wug, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??? Apparently aye. I now have a number of notes, some of which I have posted in a new blog at A VIEW FROM SESQUA VALLEY, my blog-spot or whatever ye call it.

Now I have taken S. T. Joshi to task for calling "The Dunwich Horror" one of Lovecraft's "artistic failures." I am delving into ye tale now and find it quite wonderful, so suggestive, and its characters amaze me! So packed with nameless hints. I am going to set the first half of the novelette in Sesqua Valley and ye second in Dunwich. I am going to create my own Wilbur Whateley, who has a psychic (rather than physical) tie to Yog-Sothoth. The young man is newly graduated from Miskatonic and visiting relatives in Sesqua. As he explains to Simon Gregory Williams, "We have faint incestuous ties to the Whateley clan."

My wicked Imp of ye Perverse loves the idea of sending this completed work to S. T., who is my editor on ye new book for Hippocampus, along with a wee note whut says, "Here is my 20,000 word sequel to Lovecraft's artistic failure -- enjoy!" Oh, what a wanker I is.

But I will not work on the new thing until nightfall. For now, I am going to sit here and read Tom's "The Clown Puppet," and then I am going to write a wee macabre clown prose poem (or two or three-- or maybe a clown sequence of three-thousand words!!!! [oh, the girl is ambitious!]) inspir'd by my Other Master and Muse, Ligotti!

Yog-Sothoth!

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

I confess it feels weird that the last time I wrote on this thread, in June, was to announce having completed and turned in a new book -- because, my darlings -- I've just completed work on my newest book last week. I'm beginning to feel like a flipping machine of productivity. And I cannot stop. I told myself, okay, that's it, take a break for the rest of the year. Then I had another publisher, Miskatonic River Press, ask if I wou'd write yem a wee collection of Mythos fiction, & already my fingers ITCH and ACHE to be working once more.

Anyway, I completed work on UNCOMMON PLACES--A COLLECTION OF EXQUISITES last week and turned it in to S. T., who is my editor for Hippocampus Press. It will probably see print late next year. I approached S. T. with the idea of a book of mostly prose poems, because I knew he loved the form, and I wanted to do something totally different. The three new prose-poem/vignette sequences that will see their first publication next month in my Centipede Press book, THE TANGLED MUSE, will be reprinted in ye Hippocampus trade pb; as ye Centipede book will be super-expensive and is limited to 150 copies, & I wanted all of the new stuff I wrote for it to be available next year in a less-expensive pb collection.

The version of "Uncommon Places" (some of which I have posted here) that will appear in ye hardcover omnibus is 15,000 words. Because it will be ye title piece of the Hippocampus book, I have added an additional 10,000 words that will see its first publication in ye pb edition. And that extra 10,000 words is Lovecraftian to ye max, being little more than my sequel to J. Vernon Shea's "The Haunter of the Graveyard," that was in Derleth's original edition of TALES OF THE CTHULHU MYTHOS. I've been wanting to write a wee sequel of Vernon's tale for decades, & suddenly found myself doing so, using entries in H. P. Lovecraft's commonplace book to inspire segments of my sequel. It's a fun wee tale, so it is, & I'll revise it as one smooth whole and use it in my book for Miskatonic River Press.

This year is the last year for the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland. That has been my favorite week-end of the year every year since I first attended. I shall miss it big-time.

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

Congrats, Wilum. What do you think future Mythos scholars will call this creative period of yours? Pugmire's Sesqua revival? I'm glad your muse is communicating with very little interference in the artistic aethers. Keep 'em coming!

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

How not to love Mr. Wilum?


The Buddha smashed!

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

O my beautiful Buddha! O woe, cruel existence!
I'm not here much these days, my darlings, because I have become utterly obsess'd with ye writing life. It keeps me off line and away from forums, even this, my favourite. Here's some news for ye who might be interested.

THE TANGLED MUSE is wretchedly delay'd. One of ye artists, an old & beloved if slightly deranged punk artist friend, complained that Jerad used art that she did not okay and demanded that ALL of her art be removed from the book -- & ye book was filled to overflowing with her art. This is a sad situation & has both Jerad and I extremely traumatized. So Jerad needs to reprint the book, publishing at a financial loss. I have no idea when ye book will be released -- that dear sweet Jerad wants to publish it at all after this incident seems miraculous.

To help heal the lunacy into which I plung'd from this nefarious situation with my Centipede Press book, I got the CRAZY idea in Novembyr that I was gonna write another book before I left for MythosCon. Larry Roberts of Arcane Wisdom Press asked me to write a wee chapbook for him two years ago, & I simply couldn't think what would be a good enough book for him, because Arcane Wisdom is so fabulous & theyr books so beautiful. Over the past two years I've realised many projects that have long been simmering on me wither'd brain, such as my definitive aesthetic response to Lovecraft's COMMONPLACE BOOK, a prose-poem/vignette sequence that I have titled "Uncommon Places." Another thing I wanted to write was my own response to HPL's sonnet sequence, Fungi from Yuggoth. So I was suddenly, this past Novembyr, obsess'd with writing such a book, a series of prose-poems & vignettes, one for each of Lovecraft's sonnets. I hoped it would be a work of around 40,000 words. I was also obsess'd with replicating the speed with which Grandpa penned his sonnets -- he wrote his sonnets in less than two weeks. I wrote SOME UNKNOWN GULF OF NIGHT in six weeks, a work of 37,000 words. It's a bleeding miracle, but I was totally possessed with the writing of the thing, couldn't pause to eat and sleep. I then SOLD the book the following week to Larry Roberts! That simply doesn't happen. Then, the wonderful Matthew Jaffe (he did the cover art for Laird Barron's second collection, OCCULTATION) agreed to do the art for the book. I thought that Larry meant to publish it as just a paperback, but he amazed me by saying that he plans to do 100 copies as limited edition hardcover! Sweet!

So, I may have four books publish'd this year, and that is crazy and may hurt the sales -- someone may have the $$$ to buy one book but not two of the others. Oh well. I've planned the books carefully. All of the new original work that will first be published in THE TANGLED MUSE will be reprinted in my next book from Hippocampus Press, UNCOMMON PLACES, which will probably be publish'd late this year -- thus they who cannot afford THE TANGLED MUSE at $125 per copy can read the brand new stuff in an inexpensive Hippocampus trade pb. My other book that may be publish'd this year is THE STRANGE DARK ONE--TALES OF NYARLATHOTEP, perhaps to be publish'd this year by Mythos Books, although they are often late with bringing out titles.

So, I've been busy, and this fever for writing is with me still. I am writing a book of traditional Mythos fiction, GATHERED DUST AND OTHERS, for Miskatonic River Press, and I am collaborating with Maryanne K. Snyder on a book of 100,000 words, all of which will be our aesthetic response to the poetry and weird fiction of Clark Ashton Smith. Maryanne and I are also writing a story to be submitted to the forthcoming Arkham House anthology, ARKHAM NIGHTMARES. Then I begin work on a collection of connecting stories concerning a Lovecraftian artist, a book I am writing with the marvelous Jeffrey Thomas. So, there's lots to do. I love this writing life so much. It keeps me away from here, but I often visit without logging in, just to see what's up. My love to all of ye.

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

Having heard Wilum read passages from SOME UNKNOWN GULF OF NIGHT at MythosCon two weekends ago, I can vouch to my fellow TLOers that it's a fairly delicious display of oneirism of the most exquisite sort.

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

Many thanks, Matt. I was mesmerized by your own reading, and have become a huge fan of your work. Have you thought of working with S. T. and Derrick of Hippocampus Press on future collections? I have found them both such a delight to work for. It was great to meet you at MythosCon, which was certainly the greatest convention I have ever attended!

Re: W. H. Pugmire
 

I concur with all of the above, from Wilum's character and prose, to Matt's, and to Matt speaking to Hippocampus about further collections.

And, of course, regarding how great it was to meet all at MythosCon.