Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 07:16:32 -0500 From: David Thompson Subject: Introduction Since I am new to this list, I feel compelled to introduce myself and explain my love of writing, so, here is a look into why I write, how I write, and who I look to for inspiration, and who I am as a person and a writer... As far as "hobbies" go, i've always held a fond affinity for writing. Whether that writing took me to a galaxy far away to fight hostile aliens, a cemetery to do battle with the forces of evil, a romantic interlude with the woman I adore, or a trek through the darkest recesses of my memory, writing has always been an escape for me. A sort of therapy, if you will. My earliest recollections of writing come about the age of seven. Stories of a brave fighter pilot who was pulled through a rip in the time/space continuum, then is called on to save the universe from a force of powermad aliens. As of recent, my writing has taken me to places only seen by those who have been through life's tougher times; drug addiction, mental and physical abuse, abandonment, and several other personal issues. You see, my writing is very close and personal to me, and means everything. Whether I am composing a novel, short story, screenplay (for theatre or film), or a poem, I dive headfirst into the unknown, and let me inner voice transport and guide me. I give in to that voice I have named "Creativity." I listen to that voice. If it says, "David, get up and write a poem," I do it. Even if it is 6:00am. Some of my favorite authors are Anne Rice (who is my favorite, being that her characters are very personal to her, and she uses her writing to exorcise certain demons, as do I), Stephen King (I enjoy his books under his penname, Richard Bachman as well), Dean Koontz, Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelly, Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clive Barker. Some of my favorite poets include Dante Aligheri, Walt Whitman, Shel Silverstein, Gertrude Stein, Robert Frost, William Butler Yeates, Allen Ginsberg, Henry David Thoreau, Oscar Wilde, T.S. Eliot, John Milton, Dylan Thomas, Maya Angelou, Stan Rice, John Keats, and a plethora of others. I greatly enjoy the poetry by William Shakespear as well as those by Edgar Allen Poe. As for playwrights, I have really but two favorites; Clive Barker (I feel his play, "History of the Devil," is a masterpiece), and William Shakespear. I cannot explain how my ideas come to fruition. Sometimes, an idea or sentence will spark an entire poem or story. Other times, an idea will float to me in a dream, as if carried by demons disguised as angels. I am FAR from religious, and do not offer suggestions as to where my gift for writing came from, but whoever gave me the gift, I am forever indebted to them.