Hello, all:
As an opening thought, the other night we were reading Dr. Suess’s The Butter Battle Book as a bedtime story for our youngling, and it occurred to me: the Zooks kept up awfully fast with the Yooks’ technological advances, didn’t they? I mean, the Yooks develop the Kick-a-Poo Kid, the Zooks break out the Elephant-Toted Boom Blitz. The Yooks unleash the goo-flinging Utterly Sputter, and no sooner than they get one to the wall and the Zooks have one too. And of course (I’m presuming familiarity with the story, but if not, spoilers), the Yooks develop the Bitsy Big Boy Boomaroo, and are instantly met with the Zook version, whereupon the whole thing ends in a dramatic Lady-and-the-Tiger cliffhanger. “Who’s going to drop it? Will you? Will he?” There’s a film version, if you want to watch it, available on YouTube.
I’m clearly overthinking this, but since we’re running with the Cold War analogy, does it seem plausible to you that the Zooks would just happen to develop their own Bitsy Big-Boy Boomaroo immediately after the Yooks do? (Not to mention all the other weaponry advances). My theory: they had a man on the inside. Maybe one of the Bright Boys in the back room was getting paid off. Maybe the Chief Yookeroo was talking too much when he went home at night. Maybe there were bugs in the Yookeries. I mean, who knows? You have to wonder. I do, anyway.
Writing Update
This week I reached 7256 words on the Evinrude and Eulalie sequel and introduced a talking sword with a love of puns. (I figured I needed something to distinguish from the talking sword in Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker. Nightblood wasn’t too keen on the puns, as I recall.
Also, I released new episodes of The Adventures of Tabitha, Angel of Death and The Mad Scientist, the Superhero and the Duck, Vol. 2: The Wrath of Thrud! on Kindle Vella. You can find those stories on my Amazon author page.
Closing Time
Something I learned this week was that the idiom for being a fugitive from the law is not “on the lamb”, but “on the lam”. Sheep are in no way involved. Mea maxima culpa. I was reminded of a moment some years earlier when I learned that the phrase was “therein lies”, not “there enlies”. These things happen when one listens to a lot of audiobooks. Also I finished Harry Turtledove’s Joe Steele this week, which imagines what would’ve happened if Stalin had grown up and taken power in the United States instead. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything to say it doesn’t go well for anyone. The last lines:
"No matter what, you never thought it would happen to you. When the knock came, it was actually closer to one in the morning than to midnight. "
Chills.
Until next time,
Michael