Well said BlackIce, It is a personal experience. I'm that person who goes on a walk and picks wild flowers then stops at the cadaver of a big old crow that I found to check on the progress of its decomposition.

With regard to Stephen King, I tend to lose interest in authors if they become what I consider to be 'too commercial'. Once Hollywood gets it's paws on them, it's quite often too late. I think this happened with King. By the time 'IT" came along while I was in high school, I had well and truly moved on. My other problem with King was that, as a person, he was so 'ordinary' - I feel this way about Quentin Tarantino too. I got the impression that he was just in it for the money, producing work that he knew would sell. But then I've always put the 'struggling, starving artist' archetype up as a hero - someone who produces their art with no regard for what the public want.

By way of contrast I love the work of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman and I don't think that they have 'sold out' even though they are both now well known through their films and books.

Yeah, I suppose there's that element of "catering to an audience" that can really water-down an artist's work. If used right, it creates a really tight relationship between the artist and their audience, but if used only as a tool for success, it can turn the work into a parody of itself - what was once creative, genuine and revolutionary may become stale, worn-out and mainstream in that conformist careerist way which you mentioned - for the cash and the fame.

Once you've read a Stephen King book, you've really read them all - from then on it's just a different story under the same theme, so it gets boring unless you really enjoy his way of writing. I suppose, to some extent at least, that's why he's so successful - he has a very distinct identity which translates into his work, so his name has become like a brand such as Apple or Microsoft. When you think about it, it's really like that for pretty much all well-known figures of any professional background. After they make a name for themselves, people take them much more seriously, regardless of how good their current work is compared to their magnum opus - it still ends up selling much better than if they were to write from under an unknown pseudonym, since people get hooked on their identity, and not just their work.

When it comes to King, I read his books because I like his writing style and his humour - otherwise, his stories are often either very ordinary, or very exaggerated, and the only thing that stands out ends up being this sort of ambivalent morality - he puts characters in very grey areas in a lot of his books, rather than having a straightforward "good" and "bad". And every once in a while, like any other artist, he strikes another great idea, another masterpiece, and people eat it up like freshly baked bread.

I think, on the same note of that "personal" connection we make, I end up becoming emotionally attached to what I like, to what I relate to, and that drives my inner-world. "Lisey's Story" is deemed one of Stephen King's lesser works, but for me, it's the best because I've found so much of myself in that book, that it felt just like intense, passionate, and even obsessive... love.

That, to me is what art and literature can give to a person - a meaning to life, a reason to live.

There is much to love in King, as I said reading Christine way back, was a revelation to me. I found it very subversive - good old Arnie! I have never read, nor do I intend to read: The Da Vinci Code, or anything else by Dan Brown, 50 Shades, Twilight etc The fact that a lot of these books turn up in piles at thrift stores kind of tells me that I might not be alone in thinking that they are souless, commercial pulp.

Also don't forget that, compared to you, I'm an old coot. So feel free to explore the wide and wonderful world of literature free from the prejudices and opinions of others.

Well, like I said, I pretty much go by my own judgement, to whatever extent that's possible. I hear about an artist from someone or somewhere, so I look at their work. If I like it, I look at their work more, if I don't - not as much or none at all. (unless I'm looking at them from a purely analytical point of view, for the sake of my own research)

It doesn't really matter to me how famous something is or how good it's reviews are, in the end, I either like it or I don't - it either feels right or not quite.

That's because you are an intelligent person, a man of taste and above all an individual.
Again, back in the 80s, I remember reading an article (in Australian Playboy of all places), called 'The Bullshit Detector'. It introduced me to concepts like 'spin doctoring', ' media hype' - a new concept back then, and niche marketing. The point of the article was to remind us that not everything we are told is true and that we must always question why we are told certain things. What the ancient Greeks called 'skepsis' (literally, thought) It's where we get scepticism. The basis of which is thinking for yourself.

I'm not familiar with Lisey's Story but I'll look it up. It's wonderful when you find that you can connect personally with an author or a particular work. I tend to feel that way about some of my favourite poems and music. I have intense emotional reactions to certain pieces, heck I am even brought to tears. One such is Beethoven's 9th symphony and there are others to which, like you, I'm so deeply attached that without them, my inner world, my psyche, just would not be the same.

I used to attend 'open mike' poetry readings where we could read our own work and that of any poet. There were a few poems that I would have loved to perform but I just couldn't because I was afraid that my emotions would get in the way. So I agree with you that art in all it's forms gives meaning to our lives and holds a mirror to our soul.

I also need to find an open mike place, because although I don't read that much poetry, I write quite a lot, and so I've accumulated about 100-200 pages worth of poems over the past year, plus about 60-70 pages of a novel and some short stories.

Ah my friend, nothing beats bringing your words, feelings and thoughts to life and sharing them with others. Surely there is an alchemy involved. I think all of us want to be remembered after we are gone but how much better is it that people can literally live again through their writing. Whenever I read anything by an author lond dead I feel he or she is in the room with me, speaking just to me. At the end of Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 he says,

"Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Our work will always give us life. I belong to a literary erotica site and I've written lots of poems and four novels. It was a phase but I'm very proud that I did it. I would write a lot more but lack of time restricts me.

Surely in the great metropolis of London there must be many oportunities for literary gatherings and poetry groups, more so than in a big country town like the one I'm in.

You do realise you can post poems here.

Yes, I do realize that. I've already posted some poems in Allpoetry.com, but something about posting my stuff around the internet bugs me... not that it really matters that much, but for some reason I feel like I'm throwing away my work, or at least devaluing it. I'll probably post some bits of writing, as well as photography and art here... after I figure out what I actually want to post, though, of course.

I know that London has pretty much everything a person might want from a city, but I'm so nervous and socially on-edge, that I can barely enjoy anything that has to do with other people. Even from an early age I haven't been able to make casual conversation without getting stressed, and at this point I'm completely closed-off from other people, due to it. Everything I do feels so intensely important, because it's really the only thing that keeps my psyche from breaking down. So I end up spending way too much time just thinking and worrying over anything I write or say, to the point where I often just delete everything, due to it not sounding right enough. And then, after I've pressed "send" or "post", I immediately hate it and regret it. The same goes for talking to people in real life, except worse. If they talk to me first, I can be fine with it, but if I have to reach out, I often feel like I'd rather just die instead.

Ok, I understand. What you describe I suffer from too, but to a far lesser extent. Please feel free to talk to me at any time about anything. I promise you I'll listen and try to help if I can.

With regard to posting on the internet, I've had many of my stories pirated. It is just like being robbed or, as you said, throwing your work away. I used to get quite annoyed by this but now I haven't done a seach for pirate copies for ages. Posting your work here will at least give it a sympathetic and appreciative audience. I'll look forward to it.

I am the same way! I think it's anxiety. It's extreme and quite awful. I feel it has really held me back.

What is the What - Dave Eggers

Fucking incredible. Recently realized how much time I wasted trying to understand and mimic worthless Gothic literature. Good writing goes beyond spooky dogma.

"The Replacement", Brenna Yovannoff. I think it may be YA - but gore, changelings and revenants. Nice.

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (1936).

Blood, gore, strangulation, serial murder, beautiful femme-fatales, lies, deception and the irreststilbly charming Monsieur Hercule Poirot. All of Christie's novels are beautifully written and contain quite a bit of humour and irony as well as her cleverly crafted plots. This one is a little unusual and feels very modern as the case involves a serial killer. Just the thing to read whilst sipping a glass of dry sherry on a rainy afternoon before the butler calls you down for tea.

I'm currently reading Gothic Charm School by Jillian Venters.

Excellent book. Without a doubt a 'must have' for all goths. I have read it several times. Jillian if you read this - WRITE MORE BOOKS - we'll buy them I swear !

Reading Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett. It's Versus's favourite book so I feel just a *little* pressured to love it XD but it's actually pretty good so far. Such grimdark, much gothic horror. Wow.

I quite liked that series. Too bad the last trilogy of it staring Bequin seems to be have had some very long delays.

Oh, I didn't now that! Bummer, so far Bequin hasn't had much to do but I'm pleased to hear she gets her own series. When she first showed up I turned to Versus and said "the sex worker lives, right? RIGHT?!"

Night and Day by Virginia Woolf.

The Girl Who Lept Through Time - TsuTsui

Just finished the last of the Dark Tower series.

I need something else to read. Hopefully adult books. Even if they're decent subject matter I'm old and cranky, therefore getting sick of the YA tropes.

ANCILLARY JUSTICE ANCILLARY JUSTICE ANCILLARY JUSTICE.

Ahem. You should read Ancillary Justice.

Just finished Anno Dracula and it was...eeeeeh.

If my reader charges I'll be reading Northanger Abbey next.

My friend likes that book I think. Looking into it.