Anatomy of a Poem



Recently I was asked to select a poem to be read for a podcast called ‘Whispers in the Dark’. The narrator and producer for the show is Viktor Aurelius. The poem is titled ‘Reflections Upon Life At The Point Of Death’.

Background and thought behind the poem:

The key to the meaning of this poem is in the title. It is essentially a meditative hypothetical poem that questions what it is to be alive – in particular, from the viewpoint of a poet in the midst of an existential crisis. The romantic imaginings of the poet reference slices of motifs from his favourite literature, e.g. Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Billy Budd, Pilgrim’s Progress, Leaves of Grass, The Inferno etc. The poet’s life in death reflects the art to which he has devoted his life and by which he has been guided. The existential poet’s concluding stanza reveals the hopelessness of art and the futility of mortal existence, as he realizes that ‘life’ is nothing more than an experience to be lived. Nothing more, nothing less.  The poem is written self-consciously and with the reader in mind – the verse intends to leave the astute reader with as many questions as impressions. Make of it what you will.

The poem was originally titled 'To Traverse This Time'

 




Reflections Upon Life At The Point Of Death


Am I awake or in a dream?
Wandering in hopeless night
a huge hole in the black peat
of some lonely mist-bitten moor
I fall into its depths to land
on a hard slab of worm-ridden Norwegian wood.

Through a crack in the lid I see
a million gleaming skulls – between
there and now I recognize . . .
a cracked cranium, a gold filling
a glass eye, a captain’s cap
all in various stages of decay.

Now, standing on the lip of the mouth
I ask myself, Am I a memory
an ancient form, a word, a clown
a fool, a reptile, or an embryo . . ?

I begin to walk away, to wander more
to search for signs, a light in dark
blood on the stones, evidence
of my life in all life . . . something.

Am I an infant, a bird, an energy
an aardvark, a cracking bone, a stretch of skin . . ? 

I reach the point, the line, where worlds
become one – where one ceases to exist
as they have before, but yet as they always have . . .

Am I a moment in time and place, a feeling
of pain or joy, a breath, a reflection,
a youth, an aged dying being, someone
aware of their limits and capacities . . ?

I go beyond that place to the land of ghosts
and Prophets; to nature’s time, to the unknown
but the imagined, to the stars and the core
of the earth, to my heart and to a line that is
not to be traversed, but traced . . .

Am I a dream, an old being, a state of mind
a veil of blood floating on a mirrored lake . . ?

When I get there I have many questions
that will remain forever unanswered,
yet glimpses will avail themselves, only
to be discovered on another plane;
another sphere of experience, far from finite . . .

Am I a sick thing, a dead one, a chain-link
a tree, a grain of sand, a construction of chaos
a dissolution of matter . . ?

I am here now. I have gone and returned.
I have ceased to breathe, in order to live . . .
Here I truly am alive, in death and dreams
unburdened of the physical realm,
now just another fading memory.



New Release from William Cook + #FREE #Book Promotion

Hi everyone  - hope all is well with you and life is going swimmingly. I have some exciting news to share today. Finally, the redux version of my debut novel, Blood Related, is available in both print and EBook exclusively through Amazon (U.S. & U.K. links below). After getting the rights back from my previous publisher I decided to self-publish through my imprint, King Billy Publications. With much research and debate I decided to go for it! I had it professionally edited and formatted, I cut and trimmed and shaped it, into a more fast-paced, tension-filled, thriller novel. I am very happy with the results and hope you guys will like it too. If you're uncertain, check out the free preview on Amazon to get a taste for the novel. Hopefully you'll enjoy it enough to leave a review which would be a great help (wink, wink). I have set the price low for the first month on Amazon ($2.99 - Kindle, $12.99 - Amazon print) so get in quick before it goes up at the end of August.




I have had the good fortune to receive some fantastic blurbs/reviews from some of the leading authors in the Horror and Thriller genres. This is what Graham Masterton, best-selling author of The Manitou and The House That Jack Built, says about Blood Related: "William Cook tells a gruesome story with a sense of authenticity that makes you question with considerable unease if it really is fiction, after all." Joe McKinney is another best-selling author who read Blood Related and offered this fantastic blurb: "This man is simply scary. There is both a clinical thoroughness and a heartfelt emotional thoroughness to his writing. He manages to shock as well as empathize, to scare as well as acclimatize, yet beneath it all is a well read intelligence that demands to be engaged. I loved Blood Related. Ordinarily I hate serial killer stories, but William Cook won me over. He is a unique and innovative talent." 

 
Here is the blurb and the new links for the book. Remember if you get in quickly you can get the book now at the discounted cost before it goes up end of August:

For over two decades, Detective Ray Truman has been searching for the killer or killers who have terrorized Portvale. Headless corpses, their bodies mutilated and posed, have been turning up all over the industrial district near the docks. The remains of young female prostitutes have been the killer’s victims of choice, but now other districts are reporting the gruesome discovery of decapitated bodies. It seems the killer has expanded his territory as more ‘nice girls’ feel the wrath of his terrible rage. This horrifically disturbing tale of a family tree of evil will embed itself in the mind of the reader, long after the last page has been turned. A crime thriller in the vein of other power-packed thrillers like Thomas Harris's 'Silence of the Lambs' and James Ellroy's 'Killer on the Road.'

Meet the Cunninghams . . .
A family bound by evil and the blood they have spilled. The large lodging-house they live in and operate on Artaud Avenue reeks of death and the sins that remain trapped beneath the floorboards.

Meet Caleb Cunningham . . .
Caleb is a disturbed young man whose violent father is a suspected serial killer and mother, an insane alcoholic. After his Father’s suicide, Cunningham’s disturbing fantasy-life becomes reality as he begins his killing spree in earnest. His identical twin brother Charlie is to be released from an asylum and all hell is about to break loose when the brothers combine their psychopathic talents. Eventually stepping out from the shadows of his murderous forebears, Caleb puts in motion his own diabolical plan to reveal himself and his ‘art’ to the world. He’s a true aesthete. An artist of death. His various ‘installations’ have not received the status he feels they deserve, so Caleb is expanding his ‘canvas.’

Meet Ray Truman . . .
A tragic cop whose personal demons won’t let him rest. Overworked and underpaid, Truman is tenacious as a pit-bull. He won’t rest ‘til he’s brought to justice Portvale’s infamous serial killer. His battle with his own demons gives him the strength to chase the shadows and to cut corners when necessary, as he embarks on the hunt of his life. His search leads him to the Cunningham’s house of horrors. What he finds there will ultimately lead him to regret ever meeting Caleb Cunningham and the deviant family that spawned him. The hunter becomes the hunted as Truman digs deeper into the abyss that is the horrifying mind of the most dangerous psychopath he has ever met.
Warning: R18+ contains adult content + graphic violence & psychological horror.




Did you grab your copy? Great (and thank you).


Anyway, in other news, I have just lined up the next mob of authors for my popular interview series - 'Secrets of Best-Selling Self-Published Authors.'* The first series, including authors: Matt Shaw, April M Reign, Mark Edward Hall, Russell Blake, William Malmborg, Matt Drabble and Michaelbrent Collings, was such a hit that I will continue it for as long as there are best-selling self-published authors out there (long may it last). As a result of the success of the first series I have edited and compiled the interviews into a book that will be released early August. Along with the original interviews, there is a significant essay written by myself and in-depth analysis of each author's tips and their individual success stories. This book is essential reading for any author who is thinking about venturing into self-publishing and for self-published authors who are looking to lift their game and increase their sales and online presence. It will also be of interest to fans of these authors and anyone interested in the process of writing and/or self-publishing. Check out the interviews here and stay tuned for the opportunity to pre-order on Amazon. The new line-up of best-selling self-published interviews, includes the following fantastic writers: David Moody, Iain Rob Wright, Armand Rosamilia, Michale Bunker, J Thorn, Jeremy Bates, Michael Bray and Michael Thomas. The next run (yes, there will be more) I hope to bring you more successful female self-published authors. 

*Personal invitation: if you are a best-selling (paid, not free rankings) self-published author and would like to be part of this project, please leave a comment below or email me here.



Thanks again for reading my blog/website and I hope you take advantage of the various things on offer today. If you haven't subscribed already to this site, please do so now and receive a FREE copy of my popular collection of macabre tales, 'Dreams of Thanatos.' Just click on the image below or click this link here.

Grab Your FREE Copy Now!

 As a final bonus, here's another freebie for you. Have a great week. 

Until next time.





PERMA-FREE - GRAB A COPY NOW! 

Fast Train To Hell . . .
From the belly of the swamp issues forth a visit in the middle of the night from a force as dark and unimaginable as hell itself. Poor pig-farmer Abel Laroux, must battle the demons of his past as well as the nightmarish reality of the present, as he confronts a devilish visitor who has come to collect on an outstanding debt, inherited by Abel from his forefathers.

Bonus Features: Includes an excerpt from the author's novel, 'Blood Related' + the long poem 'The Temper of The Tide', in its entirety.

Warning: contains adult content + themes of supernatural & psychological horror.



AMAZON U.K.







#Amazon #FREEKINDLE  #Horror  #Kindle  #mystery  #novel #psychologicalthriller  #thriller  #ThrillerNovel  @Amazon, Amazon, Blood Related, Secrets of Best-Selling Self-Published Authors, 


Secrets of Best-Selling Self-Published Authors #1 - Mark Edward Hall

Hi everyone - hope you are all well and enjoying life as much as possible. For those of you readers who sometimes wonder what all the hullabaloo is about self-publishing vs traditional publishing, this is the first in a series of exclusive interviews with best-selling self-published authors. The interviews will pretty much reveal all you need to know (plus more!) about why some authors choose to publish their work independently (as opposed to traditionally). For authors (and prospective authors) thinking of self-publishing, or wondering similar questions, I hope that this series of interviews will offer you some valuable tips and advice from these best-selling self-published authors that you can use to navigate and hone your own adventures in today's exciting digital publishing world. Without further ado, let's kick it all off with this fantastic interview with best-selling author Mark Edward Hall.




Where do you get your inspiration from for your writing and for the way you brand yourself as an author?



As a writer my inspiration comes from the world around me. I’m a news junkie and I like to use current events as inspiration. I’ve also done a lot of reading in my life and use historical events in the mix.

My unique author branding comes from a mix of genres. For the most part my novels are hard to categorize. They’re a mix of crime, scifi, horror, fantasy and apocalyptic. Some say this is the kiss of death but it’s been very successful for me.

There’s always a little romance (and sex) in there as well, because to me it can’t be real without the tensions of love, the single most important driving force in human history. You have to remember that love and sex were here long before money and greed.

I do write some straight horror, and I love it, but the supernatural thriller is where I’m most at home.





Did you try to get publishing contracts for your books early on with traditional book publishers? If so, did you have any success there or if not what was it that made you decide to self-publish the majority of your work?



My first novel, The Lost Village, was completed in the late nineties. At the time the Scott Meredith agency in New York had something called the Discovery Program. You send them four hundred bucks and they promised to put your book at the top of the slush pile and get back to you within a few months. They were a major agency with a great reputation, so I said, why the hell not and sent it along. They were true to their word. Within sixty days I heard from a kind editor who told me the book was amazing, that I had a promising future as a writer, but The Lost Village was too long and therefore unpublishable. He said there wasn’t a publisher on the planet who would publish a 258,000 word novel from an unknown. He said if I was King or Patterson, no problem. But I wasn’t King or Patterson. Please send something else along that’s at a more appropriate length, say 90 to 110 thousand words.

This was in 2002 and I said screw it and published it myself. Back then, there weren’t any kindles or nooks so I went with one of those vanity presses. The book came out quite well. It was in hardcover and paperback and I was happy with it. I joined the New England Horror writers, did some group signings and actually sold quite a lot of books.  To the chagrin of some of the other members who were all traditionally published authors. I was the only outlier.

I did a tremendous amount of self- promo and soon I was receiving fan mail, some from as far away as Australia and the UK. By 2004 I had written two more books, The Haunting of Sam Cabot and The Holocaust Opera, both horror stories. I self-published them both. In 2009 I got an email from a new small press publisher called Damnation Books who wanted to publish my work. They subsequently republished all three of my novels. I signed away my rights for five years. I wish I never had. The royalty rate was a little higher than most traditional publishers but still terrible. That was about the time kindle exploded on the scene. Damnation did very little for me other than put my books out there and let them go stagnant. I was sorry I’d given my rights away.

In the meantime, I wrote three more novels and several novellas. These I self-published. No way was I ever going to let another publisher have my books. Apocalypse Island came out in 2012 and has done amazingly well. Soul Thief, its sequel, came out the following year and is doing very well also. I’m publishing the third in the series (Song of Ariel) as a serial novel simply because my readers are demanding more now.

I know this is a long answer to your short question. The simple answer is, this is my publishing history. I never sent out queries to hundreds of publishers like so many other writers did. I’m independent and love going it alone. Damnation Books was my one fall down and I’ll never let that happen again. By the way, I received the rights back to The Haunting of Sam Cabot last September, and have sold more copies in five months than I did in five years with a publisher. I get the other two books back this year. That’s it, unless I am offered millions of dollars from a major publisher, I will never ever consider signing with one again. And I will never sign away my digital rights for any price. This is the future and any author who doesn’t retain his or her digital rights is a fool.





Once you have decided that self-publishing might be your route, what financial and artistic considerations should you keep in mind before you begin?



Keep in mind that it’s all on you. You hire an editor. You hire a book cover artist. You either learn how to do the formatting and uploading yourself or you hire someone to do it. If you’re willing to do the work the rewards can be tremendous, if you’re not willing to do the work, keep sending those queries out and hope someday some publisher will shine his light down on you. You’ll earn 17.5% of the retail price of the book. If you publish yourself you’ll earn 70%. To me it’s no contest. You can hire a lot of editor and cover artist for the difference.





What do you see as your most innovative promotional strategy?



Freedom. Freedom to play with the price point, freedom to change the cover art if the old one isn’t working, freedom to change the product description. Freedom to promote at will and reap all the benefits. There are many.





What kind of marketing did you do to establish your author brand and what do you think is the most successful type of marketing for self-published authors?



It’s different for everybody. A mailing list is essential. You can set one up at Mailchimp. It’s easy. Put the link in the beginning and at the end of each book. If they like your work they’ll sign up. When you put something new out send them a notification. These are almost guaranteed sales.

Play with price points. Use paid ads. Book Bub is a good one if you can get accepted. Trust me, it’s well worth the cost.

Social networks don’t really work well for me. I rarely advertise my books on social. Getting around and being friendly without always trying to sell your work will get you more brownie points than hawking your wares like an insurance salesman. Try promoting your friend’s books, it’ll come back to you in spades.

By the way, when you’re on social networks, don’t be a jerk and don’t get political. You want people of all political bents to buy your books.  





Is there any one thing that you have determined has helped you sell more books – i.e. could you outline your path to establishing your brand and your most successful sales method/s as?



I’ve given away more than a million books. That’s my secret. And in doing so I’ve sold tens of thousands.

‘Oh, but Mark, if you give them away you’re losing valuable sales.’ I don’t know how many times I’ve heard this, and it’s simply not true. Those are people who would never have bought your book to begin with. They never would have heard of you. What you’ve done is put your books in the hands of readers who might never heard of you, and if they like your book, will tell a friend or family member and they’ll buy your book. I know, it’s happened to me hundreds of times. Exposure is the name of the game, and you will get no exposure if you wait around for them to find your book on Amazon and then agonize over whether they should buy it or not.

The first time I did a bookbub promo I gave away more than fifty thousand books. Getting to #1 Free on Amazon sets off all sorts of algorithms and gives you tons of exposure. Immediately following the promo, I sold six thousand books. The book was Apocalypse Island and at 3.99 a book, I make 2.70 each. You do the math. BookBub will only consider a book once every six months so the more books you have out the better chance you have of doing this on a regular basis. 





How important are ‘series’ books to your success as a self-published author?



Extremely important. Essential. My Blue Light Series has made me an Amazon bestseller. I’m on the third book now with a fourth scheduled. After this series I have another one planned. Readers love series.





Do you design your own covers? How important do you think cover design is to a potential reader and how big a part do you think it has played in your success to date? 



I’ve designed about half my covers. I think covers are very important. If a cover works I leave it alone, if it doesn’t I play around with it until it starts to work. Like I said before, it’s one of the great things about being independent.





In your opinion, is traditional publishing on the way out? Do you think that traditional publishing can continue to keep up with the rise of self-publishing?



I don’t think traditional publishing will ever go away. There are those who will hold out for a traditional deal forever, even if it means starving to death. Good luck to them. I think traditional publishers need to retool. Strangely enough, I don’t think they foresaw the rise of ebooks, and if they did, they ignored it, hoping it would go away. They need to start treating their authors better. I’m not talking about celebrity authors who have the power to negotiate huge book deals, I’m talking about the midlist authors who barely make a living. These are the majority and they’re getting screwed. There’s an exodus going on right now and if publishers aren’t careful the only authors they’ll have are the top one hundred you see at the airport book store.





Do you feel there’s a good sense of community within the self-publishing industry?



I don’t know if I can adequately answer that question. Like I said, I don’t do much with social, I don’t do Kindle boards. I find it too hard to navigate and there are too many jerks over there. They can have it.

I’m on goodreads although I don’t do much with it. I find that goodreads reviewers are much more brutal than Amazon reviewers. I read a lot of complaints from authors about it.





What would you say is the single biggest advantage of deciding to self-publish?



Freedom!





Are there things you feel as though you missed out on by not going down the traditional publishing route (working alongside an editor, for example)?



Not at all.





Would you recommend other aspiring self-publishing authors pay for particular services? Editing or cover design, for example?



Absolutely. You want to be a writer? Take charge of your own career. The days of nurturing are over.





Are you in regular contact with other self-published authors and how important was any input you may have received early on in your career?  Do you have a mentor in terms of your self-publishing success – someone who may have inspired you to ‘give it a go’?



I gave it a go, all on my own, as I stated earlier in this interview, but yes there are several people who have inspired me and helped me along the way:



Joe Konrath, Hugh Howey and David Gaughran. If you’re a self -published writer and you don’t know who these people are, you’d better look them up. There’s a wealth of information on their blogs.





Where to from here? Are you currently represented by an agent and are you working with any publishers on future projects?



I don’t have an agent and I’m not working with any publishers at the moment. That could change. I would like to enter the foreign language market and you really do need an agent to handle the details. I’m working on it.





Can you offer any advice to fellow writers if you could go back in time and “do it all over?” What’s your top tip for other indie authors?



If I could go back in time I don’t think I’d change a thing. Everyone has his or her own individual journey, and no two are alike. Mine has been bumpy but rewarding.

My top tip for other indie authors is to hang in there. Don’t get discouraged. If you really want to be a writer, sit your ass in the seat and write the best book you can.








You’re very welcome, Will. I’ve enjoyed it. The best place to find my books is my Amazon author page here.





Mark Edward Hall Bio

Mark Edward Hall writes fast-paced thrillers with strong, relatable characters. His books have gained a steady following with readers who enjoy his blend of scifi, paranormal, occult, and suspense. His first book, "The Lost Village," became popular enough for Mark to focus entirely on writing. Since that book, Mark's popularity has grown, with "Apocalypse Island", the first book in the "Blue Light Series" becoming his most-read book to date and an Amazon Bestseller. "Soul Thief", the second book in the "Blue Light Series" is quickly gaining ground. Mark takes on big subjects with his books, dealing with government conspiracies, matters of faith and the heart. With his most recent book, "The Haunting of Sam Cabot" Mark presents a story that focuses on a small family, a haunted house and the father's slow decent into madness. Mark draws compelling characters whom readers are sad to leave behind when the book is finished.

Visit his blog at: http://www.markedwardhall.blogspot.com where you can sign up for e-mail updates and be the first to hear about new releases.

Connect with Mark on Facebook. He loves to chat with readers.

Follow him on Twitter.
 
What others are saying about Mark's books:

"Apocalypse Island is a major achievement." ~Kiana Davenport, internationally bestselling author of SHARK DIALOGUES, and THE SPY LOVER

"...an ambitious thriller..." ~New York Times Bestselling Author, Allan Leverone

"...eerily seductive ..." ~Midwest Book review


This interview was originally posted here on www.williamcookwriter.com

Mark Edward Hall, Secrets of Best-Selling Self-Published Authors, Self-Publishing, #selfpub, Writing, Amazon Best-sellers, Selfpublishing vs traditional publishing, Mark Edward Hall, William Cook, Joe Konrath, Hugh Howey, David Gaughran

Lovecraft's incarnations


Reblogged from here

From Arkham House to Sauk City via H P Lovecraft







In June 2010 we drove into Sauk City in rural Wisconsin; not a big place, but typical of many American small towns and well looked after by its residents.

This was in the way of a pilgrimage. As a teenager I had devoured the stories of H P Lovecraft and was aware that most of these first saw publication in book form in a volume called "The Outsider and Others", published by Arkham House at Sauk City, Wisconsin. For a long time this remained a name of legend, more imagined than real; another creation, if you like, of Lovecraft's dreams and nightmares.

I had never imagined that one day I would actually see an Arkham House book, let alone own one. But then, at Ilkley Book Fair in the late 1970s, a copy of an early Arkham House book was displayed on one of the stands. This was "The House on the Borderland" by the British writer William Hope Hodgson, another favorite author.




After initial hesitation on account of the price, the book returned home with us and was the first of a number of Arkham House volumes that now are housed in a separate bookcase.

It was the death of H P Lovecraft in 1937 that led to the founding of Arkham House. Up to that time Lovecraft's stories had been largely confined to pulp magazines such as 'Weird Tales'. However, two of his admirers, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, felt that his work deserved more solid recognition. After failing to find a mainstream publisher (Derleths's publishers Scribner's turning the idea down) they founded their own publishing house and in 1939 brought out "The Outsider and Others", a large volume containing the best of Lovecraft's work.




Since then Arkham House has continued to publish works of other authors and continues to this day, though under new ownership. Their catalog contains much of the best of what has been termed 'weird fiction', i.e. ghost and horror stories, science fiction and fantasy.

Arkham House, after a slow start, produced some 40 titles in its first decade. Some of the authors were previous pulp fiction regulars such as Robert E Howard and Clark Ashton Smith and further volumes of Lovecraft appeared regularly.






August Derleth also contributed some of his own copious work. However, they also published mainstream Gothic and ghost story writers such as J Sheridan Le Fanu, Algernon Blackwood, Lady Cynthia Asquith, L P Hartley, Walter de La Mare, Arthur Machen and H Russell Wakefield.






In 1947 one of Arkham House's most desirable (and hence now most expensive) books was published. This was the debut volume of science fiction stories by Ray Bradbury, "Dark Carnival", (published later in the UK as "The October Country"). This volume contains some of Bradbury's best and most anthologized stories such as 'Skeleton' and 'The Small Assassin' and is sadly not on our shelves. The 1950s, 1960s and 1970s saw more works by August Derleth, reprints and further compilations of Lovecraft, including his letters, published in 5 volumes by Arkham House.




Robert Bloch, author of 'Psycho' and admirer of Lovecraft, was also featured. Works by the British writers M P Shiel and William Hope Hodgson also appeared. The British fantasy author Ramsey Campbell saw his first appearance in print in 1964 when Arkham House brought out "The Inhabitants of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants", the result of correspondence between the teenage Campbell and August Derleth.




In 1999 a history and bibliography of the press was published, edited by Derleth's successor as Lovecraft's editor, S T Joshi as the 192nd Arkham House book.




Fittingly the next volume was a retrospective 60th anniversary anthology entitled "Arkham's Masters of Horror". It is nice to report that I obtained both these volumes new during holidays in the USA.





Nowadays, Arkham House books are found more often in the UK, but our own collection of Arkham House books is a constant reminder of exciting visits to bookstores in the USA. On our pilgrimages to Lovecraft's home town of Providence, we have browsed in bookstores old and new and it is good to find that he is remembered so well in the city he loved so much.




In a rather down at heel section of North Main Street we found the Other World's Bookstore and here was perhaps the most complete set of used Arkham House volumes I have encountered in a single bookstore. Fortunately, across the street was a 'Dunkin Donuts' where the family could regroup and gain confidence for the forthcoming purchases. Then in downtown Providence is the excellent Cellar Stories Bookstore where other volumes have been found.




Of the new bookstores the Brown University Bookstore on College Hill, near Lovecraft's home, were selling bookmarks with Lovecraft quotes on when we visited. And at one new bookstore, on our first visit to Providence I first saw the 3 volume Arkham House edition of Lovecraft's works and the 5 volumes of the letters, all new and gleaming in protected dust-wrappers. All were in our luggage on the journey home.




Other favorite USA bookstores, where I have bought Arkham House volumes are the Avenue Victor Hugo bookshop in Boston (now gone), Allen Scott in Portland, Maine (also gone), By the Book in Phoenix and, the late lamented Borders in Boston, which often had in print titles.

It is good to see that Sauk City remembers the writer who made the name a magnet for aficionados of weird fiction. In a prolific career, August Derleth produced many novels set in his native Wisconsin, volumes of poetry and pastiches of Sherlock Holmes. But, I suspect it is as the founder of Arkham House and protector of Lovecraft's legacy that he will be best remembered.




It is perhaps an irony that, for a writer once so ignored by the mainstream, publishers are now competing to bring out new editions of Lovecraft's stories. In recent years we have seen editions by Penguin Modern Classics, Vintage, Gollancz, Barnes and Noble and the prestigious Library of America, recognition, albeit belatedly, of August Derleth's judgement in launching the imprint that kept Lovecraft's name alive.
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