I really really really enjoyed the first three episodes of the Elder Sign podcast. Beside Lovecraft my bookcase contains Poe, Ligotti and M.R. James, so I can read parallel to the episodes (but it contains not enough; Algernon Blackwood is missing among many others).
Here, in the Netherlands, (new) weird tales are not as popular as they are in the US, I guess. So, I'm a bit lonely here.
At this moment I'm writing tales (a mixture of (new) weird, horror and absurdist - think Kafka and Camus meeting Clive Barker, Ligotti and Lovecraft) and to my surprise I quickly found a publisher that wants to publish it when I'm ready. I can't think of anyone who wants to read my (Dutch) weird stuff, but that's ok - they probably are out there...
I like the combination of literature (genre literature and classics), philosophy and horror/weird, so this podcast is more than just interesting to me. Haha, I even take notes like I'm a student again :-) (I studied Dutch language and literature.) But for me as a writer it is also very very inspiring. I like to find out what styles and modes of writing fit me as a writer, and there is so much wideness in the narrow-looking field of the weird.
So, thank you for the great podcast. I'll follow you the rest of your broadcasting life...
(p.s. My apologies for my English if it's not very good. My Dutch is better.)
Hello! I'm so glad you're listening along with us. It's great to hear that our podcast is giving you food for thought with regards to your writing. Breaking down short stories is something that has helped me a great deal when it comes to writing fiction. And thank you for the encouraging words. It means a lot to us to hear from our listeners!
A minute ago I found Blackwood (free) on gutenberg.org, I almost forgot that site (some time ago I also got some tales by Dunsany there).
About your second remark: my English fails me a bit here. Do you mean I can send you my tales? If it is so, there is one problem, I guess - namely the fact that I write my tales in Dutch. Furthermore I'm not allowed to publish the book at another place (maybe pieces of it, though). I have to write some more tales to fill the book, so I don't know when it will be out - but I'll let you know. And thanks for your congratulations :-)
Welcome to the forum! Algernon Blackwood is so good and hugely influential ... yet somehow forgotten compared to Lovecraft and Poe and James. Fortunately, most of his work is available for free around the internet, and I think you can acquire ebook or PDF versions of most of his work for free or a very small sum via online book sellers such as Amazon. This will be true for most of the early writers, which is great.
I'm excited to hear that you are also writing in this genre. I hope you will take us up on our writing prompts, which is something we love to suggest every few episodes. We'd be thrilled to read them here ... but also to wait to see them in print! Congratulations on your success with the book. When will it be out?