So enjoy this story, Troy! I like the more relaxed tone in this one (not to take away from last couple weeks, just a nice contrast). Sorry took me ages to catch up.
Skewered by aloe, what a way to go..?! Dear sweet Lamb, coming to the rescue... I would have like to visit Violent Void had they got that off the ground...
There is something so awesome about coming up with a good name for something — it’s oddly satisfying. You captured that well.
Also, I’ve always wondered why we laugh when we escape close calls but it’s definitely something I’ve experienced, and so I loved that you end it that way.
Pump House, hehe. Good one. Loved feeling the easy friendship of this one, just two young men figuring out life together, sometimes those most formative bonding moments aren’t the big ones, but the killing time banter and the doing nothing together. You made me all nostalgic!
You're so right, those peacefully abiding moments (minus the near death experiences) contain an ease and understanding that's so important in friendship. Part of why Substack has become such an important community for us? 💛
The quality you deliver in every single one of these episodes is inviable, Troy. These characters have taken up rent in my head. How far ahead of your publishing schedule are you writing?
Oh! Thank you Ben, I really appreciate that. Writing as I go, literally - I try to start it no less than two weeks ahead, and then revise umpteen times before publication date. But it's a whole different animal than other serials because each is self-contained, this approach would not work for a traditional narrative structure, at least not for me - I'd be a nervous wreck!
Yes, you were very clever in how you conceived this serial. If only were as a clever. The one I’m working on right now will be quite the hat trick to pull off, so I will indeed be a nervous wreck before it’s all done.
I’m recovered except for this annoying cough that’s taking forever to go away. I have resumed the flow I was in before at least as much as such a thing is possible given the other stressors in my life right now. I finished chapter 17 yesterday so more than a third of the book is complete - at least the first draft.
This is lovely! Thank you, Troy. That thought of cigarette when ‘I’ fell was a nice detail. I knew someone who had died and he told me seconds before his heart completely stopped he knew it, but his first thought was: ‘I don’t have time for this’. He had work to finish that day, you see. And when he collapsed, he didn’t have that whole-life-flashing thing either. He just died. But very luckily for him, a doctor happened to pass by, which was why he could live to tell the tale.
That's crazy, poor guy - sounds like he got very lucky indeed! And what a reaction, like something a high-powered character in a book or show would say. ;) Thanks Zibow!
"They even bought a disco ball for the living room, and a fog machine..." Such delights! What about mirrors and a lighted dance floor? I bet that's when you learned how to cut a rug.
Magical and intense, Troy. One can only assume that act by Lamb solidified the relationship between them further.
Love the thought processes behind the club names. Brennavaccaro, hehe. Jo and I once tried to come up with names for what we'd call a cafe if we ever owned one. We never came up with anything good, sadly. Perhaps we need to go perch on the edge of something precariously...
Oh, man, the whisper-wince. Some people’s parents! Sheesh.
I love picturing the two of them in the sage.
And I love the intensity and hilarity in the almost falling moment and the things king of the cigarette and the way this is yet another deepening of the relationship between these two.
Troy, I love your brain, my friend, and this world you’ve created!
Down with the whisper-winces! God it's been many years, but cigarettes really did play such a central part in the 80s/90s - remember that movie 200 Cigarettes? Classic! Thanks Holly, so glad you're enjoying. xo
I almost fell off my seat reading the last paragraphs. So intense! "All that life flashing in front of your eyes stuff? Bullshit. When you’re flipping over the railing at the top of a hundred foot cliff, your only thought is, “My cigarette!” Stupid, but that’s what ran through my head." - Bahaha. Scary but also funny. I almost died once as a kid, choking on shish kebab, but I didn't have any thoughts whatsoever lol. Too busy trying to get that dang meat out! XD
Oh no! Little Nadia was almost one of the Gashlycrumb Tinies! 😬 N is for Nadia choked on a kebab. (Not as cute in real life as a Edward Gorey poem ;) 👻
This was a great shift in the story line.
So enjoy this story, Troy! I like the more relaxed tone in this one (not to take away from last couple weeks, just a nice contrast). Sorry took me ages to catch up.
No worries, you've got a lot on your plate - thanks Kate!
I would love to be saved by a bloke like Lamb....
I'm sure he would appreciate your gratitude... ;)
Skewered by aloe, what a way to go..?! Dear sweet Lamb, coming to the rescue... I would have like to visit Violent Void had they got that off the ground...
I know, right? No thank you! Not that the meloning would be any more pleasant, so I guess none of the above? 😅💛
There is something so awesome about coming up with a good name for something — it’s oddly satisfying. You captured that well.
Also, I’ve always wondered why we laugh when we escape close calls but it’s definitely something I’ve experienced, and so I loved that you end it that way.
Another great chapter, Troy :)
Great names and great near death experiences can be electrifying! ;) Thanks Michael!
Pump House, hehe. Good one. Loved feeling the easy friendship of this one, just two young men figuring out life together, sometimes those most formative bonding moments aren’t the big ones, but the killing time banter and the doing nothing together. You made me all nostalgic!
You're so right, those peacefully abiding moments (minus the near death experiences) contain an ease and understanding that's so important in friendship. Part of why Substack has become such an important community for us? 💛
The quality you deliver in every single one of these episodes is inviable, Troy. These characters have taken up rent in my head. How far ahead of your publishing schedule are you writing?
Oh! Thank you Ben, I really appreciate that. Writing as I go, literally - I try to start it no less than two weeks ahead, and then revise umpteen times before publication date. But it's a whole different animal than other serials because each is self-contained, this approach would not work for a traditional narrative structure, at least not for me - I'd be a nervous wreck!
Yes, you were very clever in how you conceived this serial. If only were as a clever. The one I’m working on right now will be quite the hat trick to pull off, so I will indeed be a nervous wreck before it’s all done.
Are you back on your roll, at least - recovered from Covid?
I’m recovered except for this annoying cough that’s taking forever to go away. I have resumed the flow I was in before at least as much as such a thing is possible given the other stressors in my life right now. I finished chapter 17 yesterday so more than a third of the book is complete - at least the first draft.
Doing a little rain dance for your flow, brother. 💃
This is lovely! Thank you, Troy. That thought of cigarette when ‘I’ fell was a nice detail. I knew someone who had died and he told me seconds before his heart completely stopped he knew it, but his first thought was: ‘I don’t have time for this’. He had work to finish that day, you see. And when he collapsed, he didn’t have that whole-life-flashing thing either. He just died. But very luckily for him, a doctor happened to pass by, which was why he could live to tell the tale.
That's crazy, poor guy - sounds like he got very lucky indeed! And what a reaction, like something a high-powered character in a book or show would say. ;) Thanks Zibow!
Love love this, Troy. I must catch up on more serials.
Thanks Sharon!! There are so many to choose from - https://thelinklibrary.substack.com/ is a good place to shop.
I meant more of yours, you special soul.
Oh! 🤣
A beautifully narrated episode, Troy.
Thanks Jeffrey - felt like it was (past) time to give the narrator's family a little looksee.
"They even bought a disco ball for the living room, and a fog machine..." Such delights! What about mirrors and a lighted dance floor? I bet that's when you learned how to cut a rug.
Oh no, not at our house - no dancing, no thank you! ;) I got my dancing chops at the clubs in San Francisco... Thanks DC :)
Magical and intense, Troy. One can only assume that act by Lamb solidified the relationship between them further.
Love the thought processes behind the club names. Brennavaccaro, hehe. Jo and I once tried to come up with names for what we'd call a cafe if we ever owned one. We never came up with anything good, sadly. Perhaps we need to go perch on the edge of something precariously...
Saving someone's life would give you a certain intimacy - haven't had the pleasure (yet!)
I think the Tightrope Walkers Association would want a stern word with you about that idea, Nathan ;)
🤣🤣
PS thank you for your very generous shout out at the start. I was so wrapped up in Lamb that I forgot to say that before!
You're very welcome my friend.
Oh, man, the whisper-wince. Some people’s parents! Sheesh.
I love picturing the two of them in the sage.
And I love the intensity and hilarity in the almost falling moment and the things king of the cigarette and the way this is yet another deepening of the relationship between these two.
Troy, I love your brain, my friend, and this world you’ve created!
Down with the whisper-winces! God it's been many years, but cigarettes really did play such a central part in the 80s/90s - remember that movie 200 Cigarettes? Classic! Thanks Holly, so glad you're enjoying. xo
I do remember that movie—vaguely. It was a time for forming memories vaguely. 🤪 And cigarettes did play a bigger role than I care to admit.
I almost fell off my seat reading the last paragraphs. So intense! "All that life flashing in front of your eyes stuff? Bullshit. When you’re flipping over the railing at the top of a hundred foot cliff, your only thought is, “My cigarette!” Stupid, but that’s what ran through my head." - Bahaha. Scary but also funny. I almost died once as a kid, choking on shish kebab, but I didn't have any thoughts whatsoever lol. Too busy trying to get that dang meat out! XD
Oh no! Little Nadia was almost one of the Gashlycrumb Tinies! 😬 N is for Nadia choked on a kebab. (Not as cute in real life as a Edward Gorey poem ;) 👻
Bahahah. Yes. My mama saved me. I’m grateful.
I had this wheezy, Schmedly (a Hannah-Barbera cartoon dog) reaction to the golden words:
“kooky as fuck”
🥲😅
Love it, I know that wheezy snicker :)
Oh! Back to you: this was such a lovely piece...it’s as of you said it for me—for all the times my dad made “kooky as fuck” design choices.
This is a gorg 📖 read!
Thank you, I'm glad! 🤗
The crush is very much reciprocated.