Will's Wednesday Wallow

Happy Yuri Gagarin Day, comrades...

Last night was odd. Oure father goes to bed early and the girls were lights out by 10, leaving us in the family room watching TV, just like we did 30 years ago. Odd. And the ghosts visited last night too. Of course they did. [Why do you torture yourself? -Ed] Don't know. Exit question, is this worth a long excurses for the Thursday Downer. [You think people want to read about your 'issues'?-Ed] Get tossed, Ed, I write what I want. 

Today we shall return to the Stroock's New Jersey stronghold. 

Speaking of, NJ.com tells us there's a strike at Rutgers. 'The faculty strike at Rutgers University is set to stretch into its third day Wednesday, though both Gov. Phil Murphy and union leadership said Tuesday there were positive developments in the first two days of closed-door negotiations.' Good. There was a time when we'd have thought, hmmm an opportunity for a strike breaking adjunct. But we wouldn't set foot in a classroom today. Not on your life. 

Alissa Heinerscheid is the Bud Light VP for marketing who decided to attack Bud Light's core demo. Big mistake. But we're not sure that Alissa, or the woke execs at Anheuser-Busch care. Remember Gillette? By the way, there's a picture out there of Alissa drinking a Heineken, good for her actually. 

You know, over the last decade or so we've learned a thing or three about marketing. We've started from nothing to become a midlist author. Our books outsell 90% of the books in the English speaking world, not bad. We spend a lot of time thinking about how to expand our readership. The best we can come up with* is to write more. It never occurred to us to attack our readership. 

Bud Light is a brand. It appeals to the, shall we say, the non-decerning beer drinker. If one wants an inexpensive light beer that goes down easy, Bud Light is your brand. This makes Bud Light perfect for work-a-day guys and, just like Alissa says in the interview, fraternities.**

William Stroock is also a brand. When someone reads a William Stroock novel they know they're going to get conflict, detailed combat scenes, tense cabinet meetings in original settings. If we did what Alissa is trying to do with Bud Light, not only would we write something else, we'd write it while attacking our former core audience. And by the way, we have written a few novels that aren't part of our normal milieu (Blooms), it's just over there if anyone wants it. It's not like we've switched to contemporary adult fiction and then bashed the people who liked Israel Strikes. 

*Other than hopping in the car and doing book shows, etc. Essentially going on tour. We don't have the time to do that. 

**Heck, the preferred beer of the Nu Chi Phi chapter of Alpha Chi Rho at Wesley College was Natural Light. We can forgive 19 year olds for not knowing better.