Friday, July 02, 2010

Overheard in the Hallway:

RX: If H.P. Lovecraft had grown up in Detroit, he'd have written stories like The Unpleasant Voiding At The Bus Stop or The Muezzin In The Fog.

Me: If Lovecraft had grown up in Detroit, he wouldn't have become a horror writer. He wouldn't have had to imagine...

RX: Oh, he'd have been a horror writer, but we'd have called him a reporter.


This is what separates me from real writers, obviously. If Larry Correia had had this thought, he'd be two thousand words into a gothic tale of zombie gang bangers on 8 Mile by now, while I just laughed, made a blog post and drove on. I'm an idea person; it's what I do. I'm not so good at execution. Hey! Why don't we take live tuna fish, and feed 'em mayonnaise!

13 comments:

Larry Correia said...

That's why I basically surf blogs all day and then write it off as "research". Everybody wins. :)

Dwight Brown said...

"Why don't we take live tuna fish, and feed 'em mayonnaise!"

I loathe mayonnaise. But feed 'em wasabi, now you're on to something.

Bubblehead Les. said...

I'd say something about Detroit, but since I grew up in the Akron, Ohio area when the tire industries collapsed during the '70's, I already know what happens "8 million jobs aren't coming back". But I'm sure glad that unemployment isn't 15%, right BHO?

Anonymous said...

Idea to eliminate garbage: edible paper. You see, you eat it, it's gone. Eat it, it's out of there!

Scott said...

Feeding Tuna Fish Mayo would be OK if it was Tabasco Brand Mayo. I buy it by the case for Summertime Bacon and Tomato sandwiches. Nothing beats old-fashioned smoked-in-a smokehouse bacon and home-grown tomatoes on a sandwich for lunch, or even supper or a snack. It is my new hot-weather diet to help me get rid of my Winter spare tire.

Rabbit said...

Obvious Troll is obvious.

LabRat said...

Now you have me seriously pondering what Lovecraft would have made of the southwest. I suspect the eldritch horrors would be a great deal less damp.

verificatin: suppr. What I want now that you have me dwelling on tuna and calamari.

Atom Smasher said...

"Hey kid, you like music?"
"Yeah!"
"Good! Nah-nah, na-na-na na-na-na..."

Anonymous said...

"Writer" and "author" ain't the same thing; kinda like being a good "drawer" doesn't make you an "artist".

Both disciplines are three legged stools: ideas, execution, and marketing; each critical to the others.

Since I'm guessing Correia will be compensating his agent and publisher as to the third and is quite adept at the second, I'm sure he'll remember you as the source of the first when "Motown Monsters" hits the shelves.

And btw, self-deprecation notwithstanding, you are one of my favorite "authors".

AT

Joseph said...

After we feed mayonnaise to tuna, can we then teach salmon to smoke?

deadcenter said...

If Lovecraft had grown up in Detroit, his fiction would have to have been lethally frightening in order to compete with the "Nightly News". Think 'Death by Lovecraft' as the entry on the Coroner's Report.

mc said...

"I'm and idea person; it's what I do"

Nightshift reference?

That was a classic.

It's pushing 30 years now...ugh!

Anonymous said...

Speaking of authors, I was making a run for takeout for wifey and me just before 6 p.m. today (Sat. 7/3) and flipping to NPR for their version of the news, I caught the tail end of one of their most annoying little libfests, a show called "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" wherein several of their darlings are empanelled to answer leading questions about current events with some humorous commentary and generally hard-left editorializing.

As they sign off and say goodbye to their guests, I missed a few names but caught Paula Poundstone (no surprise), and P.J. O'Rourke (big surprise).

Anyway, if anyone caught it I would be interested to hear how P.J. did, what the topics were, and why exactly P.J. would choose this venue, as well as why they would choose him?

AT