Paul Gadzikowski
scarfman@iglou.com

The Return of Archy the Cockroach

Stick With What Works

boss i hear that people who think 
don marquis invented me are telling 
you that you should give me up and invent 
your own characters or you ll never 
amount to anything needless to say i 
disagree

i have been keeping an eye on the 
film industry for sixty years people 
like speilberg and lucas got where 
they are by inventing over and over 
again the same characters as did 
homer and the grimm boys

the hot ticket in science fiction 
publishing these days is the shared 
universe this is how it works a big 
name author creates a new world or 
tosses away one he s done milking 
and everyone else starts writing 
in it do you remember when this new 
trend took off question mark i do 
exclamation point it was at about 
the same time that the entire 
publishing industry learned that a 
paperback novel with leonard 
nimoy s pointed ears on the cover 
will sell a jillion copies

these so called friends of yours 
remind me of something pete 
the parrot said of the late nights 
at the mermaid tavern marlowe and 
johnson were always telling bill 
shakespeare that his plays would 
never amount to anything unless he 
gave up the mythology and the 
history and invented his own plots 
and characters

besides boss i ve seen stuff 
with characters you invented 
stick with what works is what i say

     archy

Email Paul

Back to Archy index

Back to Paul's main index