Djibouti

On the horn of Africa, just at the mouth of the Red Sea, is a tiny little country called Djibouti (pronounced "ji-BOO-tee"). Due to its strategic position near such things as Somalia and the Persian Gulf, the U.S. has a strong military presence there. And, as over the years, I've come to know a fair number of militarily-associated folks, I find that on a fairly regular basis I hear about stuff going on in or around Djibouti.

But, my brain being what it is, I find myself stifling giggles whenever the topic is brought up, because I invariably spend the conversation hearing from the back of my head:

Choo-choo, choo-choo Djibouti!
Woo-woo, woo-woo Djibouti!
Choo-choo, choo-choo Djibouti!
Take me right back to the track, Jack!

It's a hard head to live in, sometimes.

-The Gneech

Fictionlet

"So, Isadora!" said Julia. "Brigid's finally landed herself a man, eh? You must be very proud."

"What do you mean, 'finally'?" said Isadora. "Brigid's landing herself men all the time. In fact, she's left an impressive array of male corpses strewn across the landscape."

"Um," said Julia, apparently trying to figure out which direction to go next. "Well," she finally said, "Greg seems very nice."

"Oh yes," said Isadora, "quite the lovable airhead. And very good at shifting furniture, which is the important thing of course."

"Um," said Julia again.

"There's something about him that brings out the maternal instinct. I tell him to call me his Auntie Isadora. He doesn't do it, of course; he insists on calling me 'Mrs. Franks' all the time, which makes me feel like a mascot for a hot dog stand. But I should have thought of that before marrying Brigid's father, shouldn't I?"

"Er, yes, no doubt," said Julia. "Oh, look! There's Aunt Edna! I really must ask her something. Pardon me, Isadora!"

Isadora smiled at her retreating form. They could make her come to these damn things, but they couldn't stop her from having a good time.

-The Gneech

<-- previous B&G
next B&G -->

Fictionlet

Originally published at gneech.com. You can comment here or there.

“So, Isadora!” said Julia. “Brigid’s finally landed herself a man, eh? You must be very proud.”

“What do you mean, ‘finally’?” said Isadora. “Brigid’s landing herself men all the time. In fact, she’s left an impressive array of male corpses strewn across the landscape.”

“Um,” said Julia, apparently trying to figure out which direction to go next. “Well,” she finally said, “Greg seems very nice.”

“Oh yes,” said Isadora, “quite the lovable airhead. And very good at shifting furniture, which is the important thing of course.”

“Um,” said Julia again.

“There’s something about him that brings out the maternal instinct. I tell him to call me his Auntie Isadora. He doesn’t do it, of course; he insists on calling me ‘Mrs. Franks’ all the time, which makes me feel like a mascot for a hot dog stand. But I should have thought of that before marrying Brigid’s father, shouldn’t I?”

“Er, yes, no doubt,” said Julia. “Oh, look! There’s Aunt Edna! I really must ask her something. Pardon me, Isadora!”

Isadora smiled at her retreating form. They could make her come to these damn things, but they couldn’t stop her from having a good time.

-The Gneech

<-- previous B&G
next B&G –>

• 

Beneficence

I love you all. Group hug! (((everybody)))

-The Gneech

Milestones

If you count the parts of the first Brigid and Greg novel that have already been written (in the form of Fictionlets), I've already got 8,000 words.

Not bad, actually. :) Of course, most of those will need some editing and revising to smooth them together (and at least one needs to be shifted to third person from first), so it's not like 8,000 "finished" words, but 8,000 words of rough draft.

Also, going through the Fictionlets, I am starting to see which ones are likely to be in the second novel, and some elements of its plot starting to take shape.

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be getting that Suburban Jungle treasury published. But dang it, it's been so long since I finished a novel! I'm jonesing for it in a big way. And while the other novel project I started last year simmers for a while, it's a good time to start cranking this one out.

The hardest part of writing a B&G novel, is going to be writing stuff and not posting it. After ten years of doing webcomics, I've gotten rather dependent on the instant feedback. I have a few beta readers, tho, so hopefully they'll have some useful things to say.

I admit it ... I'm excited!

-The Gneech