Eerie Winston
Monday, February 19, 2007 at 09:44AM 
Dear Amazon.ca Customer,
We've noticed that customers who have expressed interest in Eerie Indiana: The Complete Series have also ordered Sir Winston Churchill: War Years on DVD.
Well, who freakin' knew? You cynics out there might think that Amazon is just doing there own bizarre form of marketing here... but maybe they are onto something. Taking two totally disparate items and placing them next to each other in some salesworthy juxtaposition, well isn't that what I try to do when I write fiction?
I take a character, normal guy doing normal things, and put him next to something that is not so normal. Like in the Amazon pitch - take Eerie Indiana, a short lived, but brilliant, TV series that could be described as a teen slanted Twilight Zone (I think it got canned simply because it was ahead of its time), and pair that up with the cigar chewing, top hat wearing, slim challenged and brilliant English leader and you can see the connection?
Can't you?
No, neither can I.
In my short story Prophet, first published in Thirst for Fire and re-printed in the South African Journal, Laugh It Off, I imagine a normal guy, a veteran maybe, sitting in his legion and spouting his bar prophecy.
"It’s gonna thunder, it’s gonna rain, we’re gonna get hit and the queen’s gonna talk."
I like playing with this odd juxtaposition. We are used to folks predicting the weather, but against this I throw in the prediction that the monarch might have something to say.
The way the words tumble out of the guy’s mouth, I can’t tell if he's drunk or some kind of barroom wizard. He holds up a shaky finger and points at the yellowed portrait of Elizabeth that hangs, tilted, against the dark paneled wall. I look up from my pool cue and give the guy a look.
I guess I am saying that it is this juxtaposition than give stories interest, a reason for reading them. We want strange things to happen, not necessarily mystical, but we do want something, anything, to happen.
Amazon has glommed onto this idea and I should send them a thank-you note for emailing me story ideas.
Complete text of Prophet at Thirst For Fire.
More about Eerie, Indiana - you're on your own with Churchill
I am guest blogger today over at the Canadian Writers Collective - they are waxing eloquent about LOVE this February.
Reader Comments (3)
that's a great idea, letting Amazon suggest story ideas. I picture Churchill being a watch maker/repairman. He runs a little shop. He's fascinated by gears, how they interact and produce outcomes.
I remember that tv show, by the way. 'Twas a good one. Have you seen Wonderfalls? Another short-lived series on Fox, but unforgettable.
You have the greatest story idea Mark. I have heard of Wonderfalls but never saw an episode.
I think Joe Dante was involved in Eerie, before he got big (and then small again - has he done anything recently?)
take care
I'm not positive, but I believe Dante filmed some work for the Showtime series, Masters of Horror.
Wonderfalls stars a Canadian actress, so it's your duty to check it out. The show was created by one of the writers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series is about a cynical young woman who works at a gift shop beside Niagra Falls. Various toys and knick-knacks talk to her, providing enigmatic advice. It's not overdone. Just enough to leave her wondering if she's crazy, hearing from God, aliens, who knows what. It's funny, provocative, clever, with a great theme song. I wonder if there's some Waterfalls on YouTube...