Monday, December 31, 2007

The Obligatory Year-End Self-Reflection Post

It's been quite a year at GishclerCorp.

I've published some well-received short stories, and I completed the writing of a short crime novel over the summer. Shotgun Opera was nominated for an Anthony Award. I learned how to cook PERFECT ribs on my awesome charcoal grill. Many, many important accomplishments.

Emerson LaSalle passed away. The full ramifications of this remain to be seen.

The most important thing to happen (career-wise) was that I signed a two-book contract with the Touchstone imprint of Simon & Schuster. The first book Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse has already garnered great blurbs from authors I respect like Joe Lansdale, Ken Bruen, Mike Resnick, Sean Doolittle and James Rollins. I'm hard at work on the second book in the contract, Bad Alchemy. So I go into 2008 with a lot of high-octane optimism. I have some good promotional ideas for Go-Go and I'm eager to work on other projects.

Still ... I feel I could have done more. At the moment, I need to keep my fat yap shut, but I have a number of things on the very edge of falling into place ... all the result of a combination of hard work, luck and the machinations of Team Gischler. More as doings develop.

What about you folks? What were the hi-lites of 2007?

Friday, December 28, 2007

Pop Culture Anthropology ... Assignment #2

While watching a children's cartoon (something with bunnies for the under 9 crowd) I noticed that the show used the Bionic Man sound effect when one of the bunnies attempted some sort of giant leap. It occurred to me that the vast majority of children would not get this reference. My sister-in-law's husband and I concluded that these references were inserted to amuse long-suffering parental units.

But the incident got me to a-wondering.

How are pop culture references passed along?

Example: There are two obvious groups watching the bunny cartoon. 1. Older folks who have seen The Six-Million Dollar Man and understand the reference, and 2. Younger kiddies who haven't and don't. But I postulate a 3rd group. A middle group who haven't seen (and don't particularly want to see the show) the show but understand the reference nevertheless. I think many of these references have become part of a common mythos and live on independently of their source material.

Thoughts?

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Pop Culture Anthropology ... Assignment #1

Instead of looking at dusty pottery shards, our artifacts are various bits of pop culture crap.

Why did the Scooby Doo cartoon abandon its popular original format in favor of guest stars like Sonny and Cher and the Harlem Globe Trotters?

Discuss.

Friday, December 7, 2007

I like this mini-keg better ....




Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm and also Ahhhhhhhhh.