L. G. Merrick

A mind full of scorpions, a gut full of golden oreos. I write horror, mainly, even when I try not to.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

In Varna, Bulgaria, reviewing items from 5000 BC, thinking at every case, "Yeah. Conan used that pot. That pot too. That bracelet? Conan knew the lady who wore it. Conan killed that guy."

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

I replied to a commenter in a newspaper comment section "don't be assy" and the newspaper blocked it for violating policy but evidently policy lets you be assy.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@IneluctableQuak Ah rats, I meant question #3. Do you think you mighta scared em off by answering #3 unprofessionally? "Why read contemporaries, I'm in dialog with the King James Bible. Let a reviewer decide what 'tradition' I'm in, that's not a writer's job."

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@Gabino_Iglesias I can't get around how "hey let's wear masks to help people survive" was a fascist blow to the nation but "we're sending masked militiamen to round up your neighbors" means finally someone is saving the nation

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@IneluctableQuak @humanfranklin Smart! But also that seems like an answer from someone with instincts to navigate a highly professionalized world. Did you worry they might get less interested in your book if you did not answer #4 properly?

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

Stumbled into a reddit of people complaining that Pet Sematary is a boring book. It's all dialog, nothing happens, they should put out an abridged version. "SK is always a slow burn, Pet Sematary is boring af."
Yes, true fact: the guy sold 50 jaxillion books by boring everyone!

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@realbriankemple @Grimezsz I suppose a lot of very disparate things get filed under "AI." Interesting discussion here, I'll check out the book.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

Statistically, based on my neighborhood, it is real easy to go clinically insane. Even just based on my apartment building: About 6% of the population is seeing gnomes. That's a lot.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@realbriankemple @Grimezsz Respectfully I think this sounds utopian, not realistic. I think rather than using AI to achieve higher levels of development, too many people will use it (deepfakes, etc) to damage social trust and cohesion, to increase alienation and division.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@realbriankemple @Grimezsz Who is meant by "our" in that sentence? Do the builders of AI have a responsibility to help habituate millions of minds to the radical changes they are instituting? Do they have a responsibility to slow down if the habituating is not going well?

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@trueruffgin @CoreyRForrester Weird that so many stellar movies from 1998-2001 didn't leave crater-sized cultural footprints. A weird black hole. Memento, The Matrix, Session 9, Ginger Snaps, Cherry Falls. Memento was huge at the time and I never hear about it now.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

Trying to find a copy of the story Dreamseed by Carolyn Ives Gilman and I know I had that issue of F&SF here but it has gone down the same black hole as my Tales of the Dying Earth
They lie nestled in a far pocket of the universe on a bed of socks

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

LA is huge. 4 million people. 40 miles across. Are there 80 guys throwing rocks? Literally the saying "Let's not make a federal case out of it" applies. People yelling "send in the marines!" must think a 1-min video of a riot is citywide. It's not. It's like, an intersection.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

Texts from other states asking how I'm handling LA, the "war zone." Here's what I saw on today's walk:
Crowd lined up for the brunch place
Guys & gals in fun costumes walking to the pride parade
Ppl checking out a good Little Library
Mexican girl helping a friend parallel park

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@Limeylizzie Maybe not now, but soon we're getting a Meow Wolf. That'll be a plus.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@SweatieAngle If you go 30 years without committing a crime, they show you the UFO

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@teachrobotslove Me with video games. I start to sense how my brain reshaped itself to play. After 2-3 days of playing, even after I stop I'm not good at other kinds of thoughts, I process information in a game style, I itch to resume play and I hate myself for it. This lasts 2-4 days more.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@esotouric Gray floors make my teeth hurt, I can't understand the longevity of this fashion. The avocado fridge had like a 5-year run and we are on year 16 or 17 of gray floors.

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@movieclubmp4 44 cuts in a 63-second clip?

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

The number of people who will immediately post their idea about why a tallship crashed into a bridge instead of waiting to hear why, even though they don't know anything about ships or bridges or the world, is truly startling

[L. G. Merrick @LGMerrick1]

@Gabino_Iglesias Ha! My favorite demon line: "You know how the faucets for every hotel shower are totally different? That was me!"
(Credit: A self-published book ~15 years ago by Theresa Couchman. She seems to have removed it from the amazons, but I think of that line in every hotel shower.)