about me

I try to be an open book, but a little ridicule goes a long way toward causing me to withdraw like a snail in into its shell. For now, here's my e-mail address: probill43@att.net. Letters to this address will be quickly acknowledged, especially if you message me here on Autho, which I usually look at several times a day.

As a child, I lived in the country about thirty miles southwest of Chicago. On clear nights I looked northeast and saw its glow above the tree lined horizon and wondered what was happening in that huge, corrupt city, where the best museums could be explored and where my father had once been attacked and robbed by an unknown assailant..

During the day I was alone outdoors a great deal, wandering the woods and fields near home. My pets included wild-caught snakes, mice, and birds of prey, and I spent much time turning over large rocks and other objects to see and sometimes take home whatever creatures lurked beneath them. I read extensively, favoring books containing information about the animals I found. Only occasionally did I read fiction, but when I did I tended to read the same books over and over especially if the authors were E.B. White, Lewis Carroll, or Edgar Allan Poe.

Now I'm a retired English professor. Undergraduate work included lots of literature and biological science--the latter a logical followup to my youthful fascination with wild things.. Postgraduate work included lots of philosophy, theology, literature, and linguistics, always going with my inclinations rather than looking for a career. Fortunately, I entered the workforce just when English teachers were in high demand, and I landed a full-time universitiy teaching post immediately. I have published several college textbooks, a number of articles, and some poetry.

Sometimes, if you have a question on any subject, I have an answer.

My watchlist is full, and I'm a S-L-O-W reader, savoring phrases and words. My shelf changes VERY slowly. If you want me to read your book, it helps to be both patient and persisent! Also, it's helpful if you've read enough of one of mine to know if it is to your taste (Faust's is a paranormal crime thriller and Stony Path is a poetry/ flash fiction/drama collection).

Don't worry about offending me if your taste in books tends toward the highly popular. Look at some of my faves.

I like scary books, children's books, SF, crime thrillers, all sorts of books.

My novel Faust's Butterfly has already made the ED; the other isn't even close, and I have no hope of its ever getting there. See the trailer below for the ED book. I have a Facebook page there too, but I don't go there often.

COVER OF NOVEL BY BRADLEY WIND, ONE OF AUTHONOMY'S BRIGHTEST STARS.

favourite books

The usual classics, ancient and modern
Loren Eiseley, The Star Thrower, The Immense Journey, The Unexpected Universe, The Night Country, etc.
Archie Carr, The Windward Road
E.B. White: Stuart Little
Philip Wylie: Finnley Wren, Opus 21,
Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows
C.S. Lewis: Till We Have Faces, That Hideous Strength, The Magician's Nephew
Dr. Seuss: Horton Hatches the Egg
J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings
Raymond Chandler: everything
Lee Child: Jack Reacher novels
Stephen King: The Shining, Pet Sematery, Hearts in Atlantis, From a Buick Eight, On Writing
Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five, Cat's Cradle

my websites

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=594331642     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg6FH_uz7D0