The Weekend Mailbag

The Podcast

Julie writes:

Ka-wow!  Keep up the good work, Pete and Kate!  You guys should never doubt your obvious talent.  This is an excellent step in your viral marketing campaign.

Now hurry up and sell some damned stories!

Geez…you’d think the woman was my agent or something. 

Tony P. writes:

Exceptional job on the podcast, Pete.  Please pass along my warmest compliments to your compadre.  (Also, don’t worry about the way your voice sounds.  Once you guys make enough dough to get a professional setup, your producer will make your voice sound like marmelade on toast.)

Thanks for the compliment!  I’m not sure what marmelade on toast sounds like, but if you mean that she’ll deepen my voice a little bit and make it more believeable, then I’m on board.

Terrace Hopper the Brown Frog of Doom writes:

Pete, Kate saves a mediocre story by her dramatic reading.  You did better with either straight action or dialogue with a philosophical undertone.  You might try returning to that to further develop your craft.

Fair enough.  Stories in which the plot occurs during information exchange between characters has always been my weakness. I think most of my readers would agree that I handle moral/philosophical themes well.  I don’t usually get complaints about my “action” sequences, either, unless you’re talking about sex scenes, which I generally don’t write well.

Turtle Bluff

Arthur of the Mice writes:

What’s with the camping stories?  How does that fit in with Sci-fi, video games, or politics?

Uh…they don’t? 

Samantha G. writes:

I’m not sure what the point of all the camping stories are.  Perhaps you should move them to a seperate tab and maintain your normal pace of reviews and political commentary?  The occasional random update is fine, but a week’s worth of personal anecdotes wears a little thin.

*smack*  That stings a little.  Back to our regularly scheduled programming next week.

It 

SgtWebb writes:

That’s a slick little carbine bro.  I think you’ll really enjoy shooting it on the range and in personal defense situations.  My only recommendation is to get a high quality red dot site to put on it for easier target acquisition.  My experience is that it is easier to double tap targets with something like an eotech or a burris.

Thanks.  I oscillated back and forth for a while before deciding to purchase that particular weapon.  I wanted something that would enable me to competition shoot as well as providing something manageable and lethal for home defense.  (Webb is referring to a holographic sight when he says “eotech” or “burris.”)

Nina H. writes:

Nice.  If I ever needed to see that you were a complete conservative mouthpiece, it’s the tongue-in-cheek acquisition of your death machine.  I hope you’re happy that you’re supporting an industry that snuffs out thousands of lives across the globe.

Johnathan Y. writes:

I thought you were a fairly intelligent conservative (with a lean toward libertarianism).  I had guessed that you would be a voter who would get behind Giuliani, but I’m disappointed to see you’re not. 

…The acquisition of your “toy,” since that is what you seem to think it is, just illustrates that you’re not ready to join the ranks of civilized society.  If you’re in a position to shape political thought, Pete, you’d better carefully consider how you’re shaping it.

In Nina’s world, no one would be able to cut meat or open boxes because knives are dangerous.  Let’s get this absolutely straight:  There are no dangerous guns, there are only dangerous people.  This has been repeated so often that it’s almost a cliche, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t true.  An object is neither good nor evil; the use to which that object is put is good or evil.  As long as there are wolves in this world, there will be sheepdogs.  It is unfortunate that the flock is less enthusiastic about the protection the receive than they should be.

As to Johnathan’s comments, I don’t think anyone would be surprised at my support of our constituionally guaranteed rights.  While I am excited about ownership of a new tool that performs double duty by allowing me to practice a sport I enjoy and defending my home, my posting of it is by no means glib. 

And you’re right, I’m tacitly endorsing gun ownership. 

Thanks for an interesting week, folks.