I hope you’ve had a chance to listen to the pseudopod production of my story "Hometown Horrible" and also read my explanatory blog entry.
A common response to "Hometown Horrible" is: "I wish I could actually read the fictional stories you mention here." Personally, I have little inclination to make those stories real. But that’s not to say that other people shouldn’t be allowed to do so.
I’ve just announced on the Pseudopod forum a public invitation to other authors (and ordinary civilians for that matter) to write within the Helmut Finch mythos.
That’s right, you have my OFFICIAL permission to use the concepts, characters, or names therein free of charge or restriction. In the spirit of Lovecraft, it’s the least I can do. (It would be nice if you gave some sort of props to Helmut Finch somehow, but that’s hardly necessary.)
If you do write a Helmut Finch story, or a sequel to one, or just a Helmut Finch-inspired story, you should try to get it published in a prestigious and lucrative market (such as Pseudopod). If you can’t do that, I happen to be the editor of two short story markets, Space Squid and Revolutionsf.com, and I would be happy to help you out.
And either way, you should let me know about it so I can link to it from this blog. Happy writing, should you be so inclined!
