The Secret Lair Episode 0010: What makes a good…ohh, shiny!
This episode of The Secret Lair was recorded in an unnamed coffeeshop somewhere in an eastern suburb of the largest city in northeastern Ohio. No baristas were harmed during the recording of this episode, but Kris did some serious damage to a blueberry muffin.
Your Overlords are Old Men or “Infirmateam Assemble!”
- Decaffeinated coffee? Non-dairy creamer? Artificial sweetener? Who wants to rule a world where such things exist?
- We do.
Turning Pages
- Chris has high praise for The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which was recently nominated for the Compton Crook Award.
- Kris is reading Elric of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock.
- We are still reading The Sky People by S.M. Stirling for The Secret Library. Kris is very nearly finished. Are you?
What Makes a Good Novel?
- Chris wants to be engrossed and transported.
- Chris likes the poetic style of the 1960′s. Poetic style doesn’t necessarily require the ingestion of psychotropic pharmaceuticals…but it can’t hurt.
- Chris would like Patrick Rothfuss to rewrite Robert Jordan’s entire Wheel of Time series. Bring on the hate mail.
- Chris prefers dialog to description.
- Chris says, “Tolkien was a hack.” I’m paraphrasing.
- Kris likes lighter fare; what he calls “beach novels” (see James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series).
- Kris also wants good description, something he feels is lacking in Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series.
- Chris wants a good mystery novel. The last one he read was by Ellis Peters (Brother Cadfael Mysteries).
Promo!
- Max Quick: Book Two – The Two Travellers by Mark Jeffrey premieres 01 May 2008 on Podiobooks.com. You can subscribe to Max Quick: Book One – The Pocket and The Pendant at Podiobooks.com, and you should: it’s the first podiobook selection for The Secret Library. More information on the series is available on the official web site.
Books Into Movies
- Chris doesn’t think The Name of the Wind should be made into a movie; there’s simply too much that would not survive the translation.
- Kris thinks that translating Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind to film was ill-advised.
- Kris also hopes that there are no plans to adapt Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides to film.
- Chris wanders off into Touchy-Feely Land for a few minutes. Someone give that man a hug.
- …aaaand we’re back. Kris is glad Jurassic Park made the jump from pulp and ink to celluloid.
Evil Experiments
- The overlords will be meeting each morning at a local coffeeshop for more decaf, powdered non-milk and aspartame.
- And writing.
- Chris wants to write flash fiction.
- Kris wants to write a horror story based on his exposure to countless hours of children’s television. There’s an animal in trouble somewhere.
- During our daily writing experiments, we will likely make use of resources like Plotstorming.com.
Miscellanea
- Batman & Robin: Clooney had rigidity issues.
- Kris ruins The Empire Strikes Back for everyone.
- Wesley Clifford: not human? You decide.
Lairkeeping
- Thank you to Zach from the Geek Survival Guide for beta-testing our new feedback e-mail address. We welcome your feedback. At The Secret Lair. Dot Com.
- Be sure to visit our official community and The Secret Library.
- Our theme music is still provided by the extremely talented and well-bearded gentleman, Jonathan Coulton.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:41 — 48.2MB)
Episode 0048: The Great Old Pumpkin
You guys made me very happy when you mentioned Zelazny. The Amber stories are my favorite books.
You guys have a great podcast.
Thanks for your comment, Adam. I guess we’ll have to record some more episodes, after all. So much for my plan to retire to a tropical island and send constant “enjoying an umbrella drink” and “applying more sunscreen” updates to Twitter, Facebook and the like.
Amen, Adam. Zelazny is THE MAN. Gone too soon.
And thanks for the kind words on the podcast. We strive for a level of excellence that surpasses…um…other things.