Hi there, I'm from Belgium, Europe. Gothicism in its broadest sense is a way of life to me. I first read Bradbury at age 10 when I picked up Dutch translations of Dark Carnival and The Martian Chronicles and haven't stopped reading & re-reading him. Other favourite authors: H.P. Lovecraft, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Matheson and John Wyndham. But I also dip into the mainstream: latest finds include JT Leroy and Paul Watkins. Glad to have found this Message Board!

Do you speak Dutch, then? You need to greet douglasSP!

Yep, I speak Dutch as well as French and a smattering of German. Is this Douglas a poster here?

My username comes from the novel of the same name by American author Frank Norris.
If not my favorite book, it is definitely in the upper echelon. Mcteague is an uneducated dentist whose base instincts bring him to ruin. I can identify. Not with the dentist part, you understand, but with the rest.

Gothic, if you like all the authors you mentioned, you should definitely try to find whatever you can by Bradbury's writing student, Charles Beaumont.

Between the two of them, Beaumont and Matheson wrote a very high percentage of the "Twilight Zone" episodes that were not written by Serling himself. Beaumont's work was among the finest.

Haven't seen much from Douglas lately, but he's around.

Charles Beaumont - yes, the name is familiar. "Miss Gentilbelle" comes immediately to mind, a beautiful if sad story. Is all Beaumont's work in the same vein? Stefan Dziemianowicz did a substantial piece on him in Studies in Weird Fiction #13. I see the bulk of his work was published in the late fifties - early sixties, that VERY interesting period . . .

Hello everyone...im a newby...but anyway mine is obviously from "The Lake" which is one of my favorites. i think about Tally everyday...I think that it's Bradbury at his saddest...I was going to pick "waiting" as my screen name, after "The Fog Horn" because i often feel like an alien creature who is waiting for my spaceship. but please don't think im insane.

"Who-who, who-who, I really wanna know..."
-The Who

Hi all,
I'm back after a lengthy hiatus. I've been very busy between school and directing my first feature length film, still in production, but my school schedule this semester leaves me more free time in the Library. I'm sure there are lots of new people I don't know, so I'll just say hello for now. Feel free to say a little about yourself here.

Welcome back, groon. Good to "see" you again. Hope all's been well with you.

Best,

Pete

Groon,

Nice to hear from you again. The sad thing about this board is that topics sometimes gravitate to the back of the room and get lost. For example, I read through all seven pages of your thread about people's names and what they mean, etc. I knew that I posted here but somehow did not read your reply about having had a ride in a biplane. What a thrill!

I only hope that you will have an opportunity again. I grew up in Ottumwa, Iowa (home fo Radar O'Reilly and Tom Arnold the actor) which was home to the Antique Airplane Association and every Labor Day week end they had a huge fly-in that I would attend. Over the years I have the fun of riding in several biplanes and an ultralight.

It is interesting to note that Ray never flew but when he had to realized that his desire not to was unfounded. It is unfortunate that, due to his current health situation, he doesn't fly much anymore.

Can you tell us something about your first feature film?

Cool, it's been a while since I've been in any plane. As for the movie, I have a website, it's kind of limited at the time, I'm planning to update it, I'll let you all know when I do. If you want to check it out for now, its http://www.deadlinemovie.com
I think the trailer may still be having some trouble playing,if anyone knows the ins and outs of hosting streaming video, I'd love to know!

groon,

Very interesting. The trailer played fine for me. I think that perhaps you had posted some information on the film before if I am not mistaken. At least it seems that I have seen the actors faces before.

Do keep us posted as I am sure that other Ray Bradburians will be interested in the success of your endeavors.

I don't know if any of you out there are writers, authors, freelancers, or just like to put pen to paper occasionally.
However, if you do...I strongly urge you not to post with a username.

Use your own name. Why?

Because that is the only way any stories you post or comments you make on forums on the internet ever make it to Google.

Robert,

You are quite right about that, but I have to admit that I am a sad failure in regard to writing. I was fortunate to have been a neighbor of Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Nothing By Chance, and about ten other books) and got to know him fairly well. He always told me to write thoughts and ideas down, on anything as he would often use matchbook covers, napkins, etc.

As he was writing Nothing By Chance (in which I was mentioned) he would hand a sheet straight from his typewriter to me and would allow me to edit any extraneuous words that I saw. How many people get that opportunity?

As I was preparing to head for Viet Nam he gave me the same suggestion about keeping notes.

Well I went off to Vietnam and I did record my thoughts and ideas in the form of letters to family and friends back home. I still have those letters (having reclaimed them) and actually wrote a chapter called "Have You Ever Taken a Bucket to The Bathroom?" This was to be a book about the lighter side of Vietnam, if there could be a lighter side.

And then, through Richard, got to meet and know Ray some 38 years ago. You would think that with having been influenced by these two great writers that I would have done something with writing, but who is to say that it is too late.