S. T. Joshi: Novelist!

Had a great time last night at the Joshi's, where Leslie and S. T. entertain'd Greg Lowney and myself. Great food, wonderful discourse, and books books books (I came away with a sign'd copy of H. P. Lovecraft: A Comprehensive Bibliography (University of Tampa Press, 2009). Before we ate, S. T. was buzzing to tell Greg and I his Big Secret. He took out a trade pb novel, a hardboiled detective novel called The Removal Company by J. K. Maxwell, & then with dramatic tone of voice declaim'd: "I am J. K. Maxwell, and I want you to tell the World!" Nu, hello World -- Joshi is writing novels. He is delighted, at last, to be a fiction writer. This first novel has been published by Borgo Press (affiliated with Wildside Press), and there are two more novels completed. He had no extra copies, but I have order'd one and I'm looking forward to reading it! The first chapter and other portions may be read at Amazon.com, and his afterword, or notes on the book that inspir'd the novel, are so in the manner of S. T. Joshi scholar/critic that I don't think his secret wou'd have remain'd a secret for long. Greg, who has set up and is running S. T.'s updated website, has been commanded to create a new exclusive website for J. K. Maxwell! So spread the news, World!

We spoke of the news that James Cameron has been rumor'd to be working as producer of del Toro's film production of Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. S. T. has edited a selection of weird tales by Arthur Machen for Penguin Classics, for which del Toro has written a preface or Introduction; & while they were working on this del Toro hinted to S. T. that he wanted to hire Joshi as a consultant on the film. Whether this will actually happen will be interesting. I've suggested that S. T. appear in the film as Gedney, the bloke who is found dissected by the Great Old Ones -- very fitting for this scholar who has so dissected the life and mind of H. P. Lovecraft. We sat and ponder'd on the significance of a big budget movie based on this magnificent work by Lovecraft and how such a film could easily change entirely Lovecraft fandom as we know it. This could be the event that signals, absolutely -- the stars are right!

I have finally finish'd a new story, the first thing I've been able to complete in two month's time. It is called -- um, oh hell, I forgot the title and can't remember where I put my print-out. It is a story that I have been trying to write for about twenty-five years, a sort of sequel to Bho Bloch's "The Skull of the Marquis de Sade." I mention'd to Bho, in the late 1970's or early 80's, that I was planning on writing the thing, and he seemed amus'd. It just never came together, until last week. It's not a great story and may not be a good one, but oh babies it felt so good to finally write the dang thing and thus exorcise it from mine own skull, where it has been kicking for over two decades. I sent the semi-polish out to some few friends, but then I revised it one last time before I submitted it to Kevin Ross for Dead But Dreaming II. I had try'd to stress the point that the spirit of de Sade had debauched the narrator and had him use the phrase "your clammy cunt" to the woman he had just murder'd; I reconsider'd that and changed it to "your clammy vortex." There were some other stupid mistakes, like my different spellings of Marquis, both of which were erroneous, that had to be changed, and a few other points. If Kevin doesn't want to use the tale, it will see it's first publication in my forthcoming book from Hippocampus Press,Uncommon Places.

My illustrated hardcover omnibus from Centipede Press, The Tangled Muse, will be publish'd in late September. My publisher, Jerad, will be sharing a motel room with me in Portland, Oregon for this year's H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, where I will be shewing off this omnibus with as much excitement and wonder as S. T. shew'd last night when speaking of his secret life as Novelist!

Shalom.