Amos Tatum

Arnold Ratchett Lindblum (October 7, 1960 - January 9, 2003), better known by his Pseudonym Amos Tatum was a British Author and Poet, who was a master of several Genres and was a prolific Writer. He wrote more than 19 Novels and 50 Short Story Collections, also being the editor of his magazine, Lindblum Magazine, till his death in 2003.

He was born in London to a very poor family and was sent into foster care at an early age until his family got him back. He was sent to live with an Aunt in Scotland who incouraged his reading and writing skills. He is a Graduate of the Hampton University which he went to attend in the United States for a while. He then moved back to the British Isles and began his career there.

He then permanently moved to Continental Europe where he lived in Five Different Houses with one in Paris, One in Zurich, one in Hamburg, One in Vienna, One in Venice and one in Madrid. He was a traveler and never stayed in one place, but he said, "Life! Such beauty is life! If I can't explore the world during this beauty, then may this beauty cease. I seek all pleasures of life, and I won't sway!"

1960 - 1967: London
Arnold Ratchett Lindblum was born on October 7, 1960 to Author R.H. Lindblum and to Political Activist Anna Lindblum in the Borough of Hackney. He is the eldest of Five Siblings, Three Boys and Two Girls. His father, who once lived in Banbury before Three Years back, was broke from the move to London that costed him everything he had. He couldn't afford a decent home, so he sent his son into Foster Care to prevent his death of starvation.

At the age of three years old, Lindblum was then taken out of Foster Care and brought back to live with his family which he stayed with at the time. He attended church daily at the time and joined the Angelican Church, dispite his father's wishes for the Catholic Church. He was enrolled into a public school and given proper education where he advanced in his studies of several subjects, including Geography, History, Science, and English. He wrote a poem at the age of six entitled, The End of an Era which was written due to the culture arising in the British Underground.

The Next year, his mother suffered some health complications and it was decided that the children would be sent to relatives. Along with his brother, Peter and sister Katharine, he went to his aunt in Scotland.

1967 - 1978: Mid Calder, Scotland
At his aunt's home, Lindblum read many books and continued to enjoy literature, exploring the world in words. She gave him inspiration to write a story and submit it to a magazine in Scotland. When he submitted the story A Scarlet Wonder to Helsing Magazine, he was noticed by several editors who wanted to know who he was. He continued publishing some stories in his youth until his Uncle's death where he switched to writing poetry yet again.

During this time, he was uncomfortable to go outdoors and he felt that the world was new. He didn't go to public school anymore as he dropped and was tutored by his Aunt in many subject, with Literature at the foot of everything.

After his departure from his aunt's home at the age of 17, he went to the United States For Two Years and came back to the United Kingdoms to live in West Calder.

1980 - 1984: Scotland
He stayed in West Calder for several Years as he wrote to the Local Helsing Magazine, where he continued to gain more fame. During this time, he wrote a very familiar short story in Scotland called Whosoever Done It. He then started to read more of the Genres he could. He got very in depth with American Literature, some IRish Literature. He began reading James Joyce, John Steinbeck, and several others.

After gaining some more money, he then went north to the highlands and spent times on the Loch Ness. He then took a small interest in painting, but it dwindled down and did not paint again. He was greeted by the Catholic Priests in the Area with scorn as he never attended Church around there and didn't have any reputation with the church.

Receiving scorn from the church, he couldn't take the name he had anymore. He then thought up of a name and began calling himself Amos Tatum. Soon afterwards, he didn't live as Lindblum for a while and calmed the Church.

He left Scotland after a while and departed for Ireland to live in Dublin. He wrote a poem entitled Farewell to Nightly Highland Winds which was an homage to Scotland.

1984 - 1990: Ireland
He lived in Dublin where he began writing his first novel, entitled Far Over The Sea which earned him some fame as he began publishing more short stories. After leaving Dublin, he departed for a place called Grenich Village just south of Wurloch. There he met his wife, Yolenda Lindblum who supported him in his writing.

He continued writing short stories and published his next novel, Pluribus Unum and received more notice for it as well. Here, he received a letter from Placido Montoya who wanted him to come to Spain, however he declined saying, "Too much work to be done in Ireland. I've spent a many years here, so I'm not giving up yet."

He then started writing another Novel, but planned to do a serial in a magazine called Newstimer Magazine. He started publishing the serial and named it The Cast of Monroe which reflected the life of Marilyn Monroe, which gave him even more respect among many different communities. He finally was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, but instead won the Booker Prize in the year 1989. He prepared to leave Ireland to go back to Britain, but decided to move to Continental Europe.

1991 - 1995: At his Heights
After leaving the United Kingdoms, he came to Zurich, Germany to buy a home on Leider Street. There he began working on his most famous novel, Scarlet Waters, which began as a small project and turned into a passion. He won several awards such as the Booker Prize, the Pulitzer and Goethe Prize. It was also received as a very deticating novel in the United States and won the Newbury Award, the Literary Award for Excellence and the Bogart Award.

He began his tour around the European Countries with his wife who was suffering health complications after giving birth to several children. He finally took her back to Germany where they stayed until 1995 when his wife died of Lung Cancer.

He began to get more gloomy in his writings and started writing horror fictions that Stephen King calls "If Chilling were personified, Tatum is it."

After writing what is called the "Dark Series", he began writing his last stories that became his most famous. It was during 1994 that he wrote his Three Last Manuscripts for Novels and had already written a large half of one.

1996 - 2003: Last Years and Death
He then spent the rest of his life in seclusion. It was reported that he never left the house for three years and barely got a glimpse of daylight in the home. During this time, he wrote nothing and said nothing to anybody. After the 90's were over, he began writing again, but only several letters to people. The last letter he sent, the Resignation of Tatum became his most famous letter, describing what had happened during his seclusion. He also wrote the will in the letter as well, designating writer A. S. Whirly to the novels.

He died January 9, 2003 and was given a small funeral in London. He was later given a memorial in Mid Calder which immortalized his finals words in stone.

Influences
Tatum claimed some of his influence from the vast majority of authors he read in his aunt's library ranging from "Nathaniel Hawthorne to J. R. R. Tolkien."

His biggest influence was Charles Dickens, demonstrating his story structures and some of his Ideas that he had devised. It was especially demonstrated in Watermark, where it showed a shrewd character who showed more resemblence to Ebeneezer Scrooge than any other character he had created.

Influencing
Tatum influenced some of the most prestiegous writers that have lived longer than him. Author P. Terry wrote, "If anybody was named an influence on my most ingenious creations, it would be Tatum."

Deryl Locke said that, "Though I'm not a writer, I capture the emotion and the intrigue in his novels. It's almost unbelievable at how in depth the novels are!"

Novels

 * Far Over The Seas
 * Pluribus Unum
 * The Cast of Monroe
 * Scarlet Waters
 * The Tears of Heaven
 * Letter to France
 * Letter to Spain
 * Golden Fleece of America
 * The Placid Truth
 * Watermark
 * The Black Pig
 * A Nightmare to Believe
 * The Stones Were Tossed
 * Pond of Death
 * Azazel and Death
 * Lady of Guards - With A. S. Whirly
 * Let There Be Light - With A. S. Whirly
 * Guardia - With A. S. Whirly

Short Story Collections
See Main Page: Amos Tatum Short Stories