From the co-authored Shepherd Moons, this is all his stuff:
“But you’re starting off here? Thinking some telepath’s out there, turning people into lemmings?”
The Doctor thought about this for a moment. “Interesting creature, the lemming,” he said. “Terribly misunderstood. The lemming population goes through regular cycles in its natural habitat, and in the periods of overpopulation they become so numerous that in some colonies they crowd each other over the edges of cliffs. Human beings, being somewhat more adept at leaping, especially to conclusions, witnessed this behaviour and created the myth of mass lemming suicide.”
He placed his hands on the table and spread out his fingers. “And then, in the 1950s, the Walt Disney company visited Scandinavia to film one of its nature documentaries. The cameramen set up their equipment on the beaches, expecting crowds of lemmings to plunge to their photogenic doom. The lemmings of course did no such thing. And since the reality was far less memorable than the myth, the filmmakers tightened their shots, and sent men up the cliffs. And the cameras rolled, and the wranglers stood outside the frame, and pushed the lemmings over the edge, to their deaths.”
Ace’s face twisted. “You’re joking.”
The Doctor tapped his fingers on the table. “Lemmings don’t jump,” he said. “They were pushed.”
“So…” Ace concluded, “you don’t think the people out there are behaving like lemmings.”
Finally, the Doctor looked up at her. “On the contrary…” he murmured. “That’s exactly what I think is happening.”
I’m pleased to reintroduce my good friend Cameron to the blogosphere. Cameron Dixon is one of the best writers I know who is, as yet, unpublished. Such is the way he, Erin and I have clicked, I don’t really recall when and how we met — other than the fact that, suddenly he was there, and we were getting on like he was there forever.
Cameron has helped me put numerous ideas together for Rosemary and Time and its sequels, he’s’ helping me with The Night Girl and he and I even collaborated on the Doctor Who fan fiction story Shepherd Moons. He’s extremely quick-witted, as befits a Theatre major who has studied improv.
He had a blog before, through DearDiary. His wry and funny anecdotes were required reading, but sadly his blog faded from the radar. Now I’m pleased to say that his blog is back, complete with its own domain name. Already, he’s getting back to his usual self, expressing the frustration we all feel with companies giving us inadequate information.
So, feel free to pay him a visit. Pay him regular visits, in fact. You’ll be glad you did.
No Change to Comment Policy, For Now
Well, after six days or so, the results are in:
I’d stop commenting: 37.5%
I already have Typepad: 37.5%
I’d sign up for Typepad but comment less: 16.7%
I’d stop reading: 8.3%
I was looking for a “stop commenting” result of 20% or lower, so I’ll drop the plan to have you all sign up for TypePad, for now and in the foreseeable future. I reserve the right to change my mind if the spam problem gets suddenly and substantially worse, though.