To the darkness I pledge my soul,
The great darkness which completes me,
and makes me whole,
The darkness,
Primal essence of great destruction and horror,
Bearer of the macabre and the obscure,
I pledge myself to you forever more,
Master of nightmares and shadows,
Hold me tightly in your grasp,
Fill my heart up completely,
With that which makes men gasp,
Darkness,
My leader and my lord,
It is you who I adore,
Only you understand my pains and my sorrows,
You are the key to my tommorrow,
You never judge me,
and you never quarrel,
Your loyalty is for keeps,
Never borrowed,
When I fall,
You are there to catch me,
When I hurt,
You are there to heal me,
When I am lost,
You reveal the way,
When my enemies attack,
You make them pay,
Darkness oh darkness,
I am forever loyal to you,

When I first opened the envelope I was taken completely aback by the physical construction of this book.  From the inset hard-cover to the luxuriant quality of the paper this is a book you almost want to leave on display as a piece of art.

The physical beauty of this book is no mistake: author Lorin Morgan Richards hand-made it.

Simon Snootle and Other Small Stories is a collection of short works, which all together make what seems like a Gothic storybook.  The overall effect is darkly charming and rather romantic, an effect brought together by the pen-and-ink illustrations and choice of typography, which has a slightly rough quality.  The stories are economical (some no longer than a page), and all have a literary feel to them, something that makes one think this book heralds from a different era.

It is obviously quite rare to come across a hand-made book, so I decided to ask the author to elaborate on the influences behind this very creative work.

Disdeinen.Net: The feel of the paper and the cover design really enhance the illustrations -- did you have a specific aesthetic in mind when choosing the materials?
Lorin Morgan Richards: In choosing my materials I wanted to keep an organic feel to the book. Some might consider this an art book, but I was really just trying to give it some life. Having seen what is being printed by majors these days with poor quality paper, I wanted to provide the reader with a book that carries more value near the same price and that can last for generations. Nothing would be more inspiring to me than to know my books are treasured like an heirloom.

DdN: Was there any particular inspiration for the book -- did you have a theme in mind that the stories were written for?
LMR: Inspiration has come from dreams and life experiences. For example, my first story 'Simon Snootle' about a boy that has fallen into a cistern with the neighborhood cats is inspired by my childhood when I always had like 20 cats around, and we did use a well and cistern, a type of holding tank, for our bath water instead of being hooked in to city water pipes. This meant that there were times we had to go down and clean the cistern out. There, I remember seeing all sorts of strange things like fish and frogs and could never figure out how they appeared. Over time I realized they must have either fell in, came from birds, or originally been bucketed from the well.

DdN: How long have you been making books?  What kind of time commitment is involved with producing this type of book?
LMR: This is my second book. The first of which has been shelved temporarily. I have been writing stories since I was a child, and my other muse is of course music. Each book takes approximately 1 and half hours to make by hand. Thankfully, bookbinding can be very therapuatic.

DdN: The illustrations have a distinctive look -- were they created using illustration software or "classical" techniques (ie: pen-and-ink), and what was the reason for using the technique you did?
LMR: I prefer the use of pencil, pen and ink. However I'm not opposed to use watercolor sparingly. My interests are in the Victorian and Edwardian era illustrators, and I have a deep fondness for the use of early woodcuts and old quilting patterns.

DdN: What would you consider the intended audience for these stories?
LMR: My audience mainly consists of those that enjoy satire and dark humor. People that take themselves too seriously probably would not get my jokes.

DdN: Name a few of your favorite writers, visual artists, or filmmakers -- what inspires you about their work?
LMR: Local to Los Angeles, I appreciate cartoonist Angus Oblong and Roman Dirge. I also find the old Victorian photo manipulation of Mark Mothersbough entertaining, as well as films by Crispin Hellion Glover. Outside of authors like Edward Gorey, Edward Lear, and Charles Addams, I find folktales and their origins very interesting. A few years back, I took a trip through Germany following the fairytale road, the path by which the Grimms Brothers collected their stories (they were actually first collected by Frau Viehmannin). It was fascinating to see how local customs affected the stories. For instance, in the story of little red riding hood the red cloak and outfit the child wore was traditional to that specific area [Schwalmstadt]. So I went on to study folklore in college, and focused on Native American cultures.

DdN: Do you have any new projects in the works?  If so, can you tell a bit about them?
LMR: I am currently writing a new novel about the caretakers of a funeral home, and I have another set of short stories I am finishing up for next year entitled 'A Boy Born from Mold'.

We've got a few reviews coming up... a couple of new albums, and a terrific little book.  Be patient... and check back next week for the latest posts!