Neti Pot.

I thought it was funny. Although I think the writer got I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched confused. It deals with obsession which is a fairly common theme in Laymon's work. I liked the juxtapositiion of violence and humour and I thought some of the real-life observations were relatable which is also Laymon-like.

_________________
Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

Anybody else notice that nobody has commented on the stories except those of us who contributed?

Are we only doing this for our own amusement then? If we continue, should we take it somewhere else? Should we continue?

I'm sure Laurel will respond when she gets a chance. Hellolost as well. Maybe Nanci. The first short story thread was the best with a few published authors responding but they're probably too busy. I definitely want to continue. Even if it's only each other responding that's good enough for.

_________________
Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

I want to continue here. I'm not asking for Steve or Pic or Rob to comment on every story. It's nice to hear from them but folks like Laurel and Hello are going to look at these strictly from a reader's perspective, and that's what I'm mainly interested in hearing.

That's also why I didn't comment last month and might not this month. We're starting to recognize each other's work, and I think that may give us an unreasonable expectation of what we think someone else should do.

But that's just me. I'm usually wrong.

I really don't know who wrote which story. I could guess but I would probably be wrong.

_________________
Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

I loved the last line of The Little Man and thought it was the most Laymon like of all the stories. There was sex, a lake, gore, perversion, language and lots of humor. My personal favorite.

My second favorite would have to be The Fix. Very cleaver idea with a real Beast House type feel to it. The sexy Laymon humor was there as well as the rumps. Loved it.

Neti Pot. I thought this was a cleaver poke at a certain member of the board but not very Laymon like. The writing was solid and as flash fiction horror I think it worked but it really didn't fit in with this months subject.

The Runt. Liked it quite a bit. Solid writing but I wish it had been longer. I'd love to see this one worked as a longer piece. Definitely had that Laymon feel.

The Blue Ballad of Murder. This one threw me. I was confused and I felt the story bogged down at times. A little more editing may have helped. The story was there somewhere but I think it needed to be cleaned up some. Not my cup of tea.

_________________
Reading:

The Spartacus War - Barry Strauss
Slow Death - Jim Fielder
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon

_________________
Reading:

The Spartacus War - Barry Strauss
Slow Death - Jim Fielder
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon

Gosh, I missed that last one. I mean I read it, but for some reason it didn't stick out for me. Too engrossed in the story each time I read it I guess. The first one yelled RUMP to me! Ha!

Tt

You see...that's why I stopped gving my opinion on your statements...I'm always getting them wrong. From now on, when I see something you write that puzzels me, I'm just going to post the first random song lyric that comes to my mind.

Tt

Sorry to confuse you, Tt. I guess sometimes I'm a little too old school with my pop culture references.

My story was The Blue Ballad of Murder. And to be honest, it could've been a bit confusing when I look at it now. When I was thinking of writing a Laymon-like story, the same word I kept seeing over and over was, murder. I just wanted it to read like a dark dream fragment. No real deep meaning, other than murder is like a sad ballad that plays on and on.

The excrement part wasn't there to gross anyone out. It was just how I saw it in my mind. I wanted to throw something in that part that would suggest something more perverse and sinister was going on in the room. And for some reason, I've always thought the word excrement just sounds so weird.

The ghost-like tenor sax player got worked in because I was listening to John Coltrane when I was writing this. But other things like the mean woman at the desk, and I think someone asked how could Shaun talk on the phone to her if he was already dead, well, I just wanted that to contribute to the weirdness of the situation he was waking up in.

As far as if we should all keep writing if it's only us responding? I say, why not? If it makes each of us write an extra story each month, then great.

_________________
"There's no law, no law anymore - I wanna steal from the rich and give to the poor."
~The Ramones~

_________________
Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

Well, since other people are coming forward, I will say that I wrote The Fix.

Hhhmmmm, so we have Thad and Tony left to admit their sins....er, stories.

I'm curious to see who Thad guesses which of us authored those last two stories.

Tt

_________________
Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it

Removed.

_________________
Mike Styczen: As far as I can tell, all of Toronto is on the lookout for some sort of demented leprechaun. If Toronto didn't exist, we'd have to invent it