I have the vodka thing mostly done. Switching the site to a new server on short notice, however, pushed things back a bit. So did the need to do a marketing push for the new paperback. But it should be up soon. The interviewer was a great guy. Incredibly patient. He had to re-edit once because of all the bleeps, and frankly, he should have cut me off several times. But I think he found it amusing, so he just let it roll. Smart dude. Really did his homework.
Rob's the shit. Great guy to work with. Balances the "insight" side with the jokes perfectly. And he says he's just learning to write, but I think that's unnecessary self-depreaction. He's got native skill there.
I just wanted to add that your piece with The Evil Conservative on the current healthcare system was one of the most intelligent, informative articles I've ever read on the subject. There is so much bullshit that is saturating the MSM that it is very hard to find a balanced impartial discussion. For any of you on this board, this is obviously not the place to discuss it, but I highly recommend that you read it once it gets back up, if its not already. I would love to see something like it become a regular occurrence. Best of luck with the new site, and I look forward to reading your book.
Glad to see you here. Obviously, I love the books, but I enjoyed the little tangent you wrote about the Porsche 911. Reminded me a little of P.J. O'Rourke's Car and Driver stuff. My little brother's been doing well in his high school Law class and is thinking of law school in the future. He's going to be getting a copy of your book.
Glad to see you’re getting the new site going. As you noted, you do write incredible dialog which I suspect will translate quite well to the screen. Though I might suggest taking your screenplay to Hollywood via the traditional ways and means. I hear that deciding to take down Hollywood and create the Bold New Paradigm on how creative content will be done doesn’t always work out so well. Cheers, Ghost
The stuff you did after the book was the best. Commencement was the first piece where I really thought, holy shit, this guy is a genius. After that I read through the whole archive. It's like you really seriously learned from the editing process of the book. Please don't end your screenplay with getting the job with Rudius and writing the book though. I know that's what happened but I really felt like it was a downer. I think the writer as a main character in a film has been done to death. Secret Window and Misery come to mind straight away. I'm sure others could help me out. Fuck it though, everybody's a writer here so I don't know how many people would agree with me. EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:F ... ut_writers
Can someone link me to the Commencement piece? I tried searching the new site but I couldn't find it. Has it not made it over yet from the old site?
I haven't the energy to attempt re-inventing the wheel. But I also won't fault anyone for trying. But I think it would be unique to do it in something approaching real time online.
The original ending was to leave me just sitting in the office, the eternal cynic. Could that have worked? Yes. But living that last year as I did, I thought its description needed to be written. I am not one to write about my emotions. I loathe the garish exhibitionism where authors talk about how emotionally wrenching things were for them and how they reached some grand catharsis. It's tawdry melodrama, as far as I'm concerned (the better course is to attack what bothers you - mock, insult and degrade it). However, that last year very much tested my wits, and mine and my wife's sanity. And I assure you, pulling that coup off, managing all of its moving parts, the failure to execute any of which could have blown the whole plan in my face, was not as easy as it may have seemed in the plain language of the book. On top of all that, we had a load of earnest money riding on the R/E transaction that was part of it. If the thing went to shit, that was up in smoke - forfeited. And on the meta angle, the ending was a natural conclusion.
I'm rereading your book and I googled scat and well yea I don't even know what to say. Your warning was inadequate.
The picture of the chick with the goggles on in the bathtub is insane. I am not a man of science, but I think I know gravity, and the ability to project what she's projecting that high into the air confounds me.
I'm thrilled that the site is surviving the transition from Rudius. Your writing kept me through three years of law school tedium, and helped me avoid punching any of the gunners and other game players in every class. In fact my class rank probably would have been a hell of a lot lower if you hadn't alerted me to the Lawstitute; I never took a single page of notes after I found the three in my year. Thank god I had a scholarship and didn't have to pay for law school. You're also part of the reason I'm sitting in sunny Cairns Australia working as a dive instructor after graduating, instead of drinking myself to death working in a commercial firm somewhere godforsaken like Charlotte or Providence. I tell everyone who asks me anything about lawschool to get your book, and I'm pretty sure every ten percenter at my school at least read a borrowed copy, if not bought it. Thank you, and keep up the writing.
Thanks for posting one of those messages that reminds me why I write. And don't come back here. Two reasons. The Australian banking system is much better than ours. Stayed conservative in their lending, which allowed them to remain fairly unscathed in the recent mess. They're also nearer to China, the Pacific Rim nations and India, which will be the growth centers for the next decade or so. No oil, of course, but they've got enough of everything else to profit nicely as China races toward its inevitable crash (God help us if we haven't hedged to address that when it occurs). We're a flattened, silly society going through a long term economic and social correction, and we've wicked overcapacity in your professional degree's tier of the service sector. Stay where you are as long as you can.