Moe Lane's Blog, page 600
March 8, 2022
Pour one out for Charles Entenmann.
Damn. I grew up on Entenmann’s chocolate-covered donuts. It’s all I can do not to go right now and see if there’s any in the supermarket. Rest in peace.
(Via @foster_type)
Charles Entenmann, who helped franchise Long Island family bakery, dead at 92 https://t.co/ueGb3a2CJ8 pic.twitter.com/6Jdc4Q4ONe
— New York Post (@nypost) March 9, 2022
Forbidden Opinion: science fiction is bad at predicting the future.
It shouldn’t have to be bad or good, mind you. There’s a reason why an alternative name for the genre is speculative fiction: calling that is a reminder that people are using the genre to think about what the future might hold. And more than likely getting it completely wrong.
Case in point: THE LAWNMOWER MAN. Thirty years old this week! …And boy, but it shows.
Okay, that’s unfair. But apparently that’s also what people thought virtual reality was going to be. One wonders how mockable our science fiction movies will be in 2052…
#commissionearned (and via Fark)
The DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS trailer.
Directed by Sam Raimi, if that wasn’t immediately obvious in the first twenty seconds.
Bear in mind that I am absolutely pumped to see Sam Raimi do this flick. I think that SPIDER-MAN 2 was the best of the Tobey Maguire flicks, and not coincidentally that was the one that allowed Raimi the most freedom to be, well, himself. And DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS simply had to let him work in some horror aesthetic. I mean, ‘Madness’ is in the title. You don’t do that unless you’re ready to bring in the creepy.
Gonna be fun! And trippy. Can’t wait.
Moe Lane
#commissionearned
Tweet of the Day, 100% Correct, A+ edition.
We’ve avoided these. So far.
Good morning, Twitter
— Schadenfreudelish (@aggierican) March 8, 2022pic.twitter.com/KjY0CkLmhN
Via @hungarianfalcon
March 7, 2022
In the Mail: THE LAST GRADUATE (Hardcover).
Yeah, I know: I already had the digital version of THE LAST GRADUATE. That’s how it works: I buy the Kindle book in this series because then I can read it at 12:00:01 AM, the night it comes out. And then, at some point, I go and get the hardcover version so that I can have it in the family library for the rest of time. The Scholomance series is just that good. I begrudge sleep when it comes to wolfing those books down for the first time.
Moe Lane
#commissionearned
PS: Magical school where the survival rate is 25%, but teenaged mages sign up anyway because all the other options are all so, so much worse. Our heroine is El; and oh, but does she hate being called that. Not that anyone would dare. I would not let her join my adventuring party; I would, instead, humbly ask to join hers.
So, I tried a Facebook Ad for the Kickstarter.
I am… not convinced that it did a single blessed thing for me. Now, getting a link on Skin Horse on Sunday? That lit things up for the TINSEL RAIN Kickstarter. I am not sure if the problems I have with Facebook ads (or Amazon ads, for that matter) are because of the ads, or me – but I’m pretty sure that they are problems; and I don’t really know how to fix them. I’ve looked up possible solutions, but they invariably involve me buying some service that will magically make everything awesome. Yeah, I don’t believe that one either. And double yeah: I can see where the money’s being made there.
Ach, well, it could be worse. Plenty of self-published writers out there would love to have my situation, I know. I should be more grateful about it.
Interesting detail about SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME.
At least, I think this is interesting (SPOILERS for SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME):
When Zendaya’s MJ falls, Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man saves her. It’s an emotional moment for many reasons, harkening back to his character not being able to save Gwen (Emma Stone). Says [sound designer Tony] Lamberti, “It was scored with a giant choir, but when Tom Rothman, head of the studio saw the playback, he told the room and everyone involved that we were selling ourselves short by not making it a real catch-your-breath moment.”
…It’s almost as if Sony has people running it who like Spider-Man movies. Because Tom Rothman was right: slapping too much music onto that scene wouldn’t have worked properly. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that a movie head honcho might know what he’s doing about making movies, but… well. Have you seen some of the superhero movies the studios have put out, over the years? You can’t always rely on that level of love and dedication, is what I’m saying.
#commissionearned
Two weeks in on TINSEL RAIN: 40% of the way to the audiobook stretch goal!
This means, obviously, that the project has already funded – so the TINSEL RAIN Kickstarter is going really well right now. We’re chugging along on getting to the short story sampler stretch goal, too – that’s at 74% – and almost at 18% for the goal that will give BACKERS an EXTRA BOOK!
So, you know: tell all your friends. Heck, tell your rivals. They might be cool people, outside of that. I try not to get involved in fights I’ve got no business being in.
03/07/22 Snippet, THE DECALOGUE KILLER.
Moving along!
Patreon!Friday, 11 AM: It was a little late for breakfast, but the diner still had the morning paper. And my story was on the front: DECALOGUE KILLER SMITES AGAIN! I figured it would be — I had rushed to get the copy to the night editor before the print run started — but it’s always nice to see virtue rewarded.
DECALOGUE KILLER SMITES AGAIN!
By Joe Boyden
Last night, a seedy alley revealed the final resting place of a local businessman, new victim of the so-called “Decalogue Killer.” The victim, whose name is being withheld, was come across by a Bay City police patrol in the notorious Greenbay district. There were no witnesses, but a single gray feather — the infamous trademark of the Decalogue Killer — was pulled from the victim’s broken body. Bay City police refused to discuss the case, or any leads.
This is the seventh victim of the Decalogue Killer in three months…
I shook my head at the night editor. I had carefully put in a caveat or two, but tabloid sensitivities had won out over mine. Besides, the night editor was right. It was obviously the Killer, so why keep the lawyers happy?
