Here's a little treat for all of you Gritgut fans out there. When the Wandering Men were in the very early stages of planning the short stories that would eventually morph into the novel as we know it today, we met at Talladega National Forest in Anniston, Alabama for what we called a "Writer's Retreat". A day full of hiking the steep, dusty trails, swimming in the icy-cold lake, climbing sheer granite cliffs, and exploring little known corners of the wilderness soon had all of our creative juices flowing and our synapses firing like tommy guns in The Untouchables.
As we gathered back into the hotel room (yes, we actually got a hotel room for the Writer's Retreat and NO, we do not normally use hotel rooms on our outings...) and began to talk about Corey's story concept: that of an anchor-wielding oltreggan who would basically cause random chaos and destruction throughout the story, Davis began cackling wildly - almost uncontrollably... Now, for those of you that do not know him personally, this is not Davis' modus operandi - so we all knew that something big was up.
Davis kept telling us that Corey's story summary sounded just like a Jonathan Winter's scene from an old Movie - It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - something he kept calling the "Demolition" scene. The rest of us were stunned to silence - we'd never seen this movie before and had no idea what Davis was going on about. Regardless, we pressed forward with Davis gibbering to himself in the corner like the only guy at the party who got his own joke.
Sometime later, Davis sends us all a link to the "Demolition" scene, and then, it was OUR turn to laugh! Sure enough, the scene typified Gritgut in every way; so much so that if the Skein of Shadows movie is ever made, you can be assured that we'll be talking to Jonathan Winters for the Gritgut role!
Here's that scene, for all you Gritgut fans out there; if you've read The Bonds That Bind Us, we think that you, too, will see the similarity! If so, please sound off in our forums and let us know what you think about the clip!
Needless to say, NOW we KNOW why Davis was gibbering... I laugh myself to tears every time I see this...
PLEASE NOTE! WHAT FOLLOWS BELOW IS SPOILER-LADEN!! IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ SKEIN OF SHADOWS AND WISH TO BE SURPRISED AT THE OCCURRENCES IN THE BOOK (OR IN THE NOVELLAS) DO NOT READ WHAT FOLLOWS BELOW!!
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Sometime after this video was seen by the Wandering Men, Davis posted this message in our Synergy section of our Plotstorming.com forums:
Gritgut, the God of Chaos reincarnated...
As I sit here and ponder, I realize the sheer extent of screwing things up that Gritgut does. The depths of the destruction are truly breath-taking. In the end, GG is the entire reason why everyone ends up in the hospital! He screws up hero and villain alike!
To begin with, we all know that GG screws up Szeethe's plans. He crashes through the Valor, which upsets the assassination attempt on Na'akiros, which forces him into plan "B". He then screws up plan "B" on the ship by inadvertently knocking Szeethe away from his spell and into FFF's clutches where he gets his head lopped off. SO, GG screws up Szeethe (but puts him in the morgue, not the hospital).
GG screws up Arastin by interrupting the assassination attempt at the Valor and so forcing him to chase Na'Akiros to the ship. There, Arastin starts the fire which eventually blows up the ship. Were it not for the interruption at the Valor, Arastin would never have been on the Claw, would not have been blasted by ice, and would not have caused the fire which blew up the ship. So, GG screws up Arastin and sends him to the hospital.
But wait, that's not all. GG double screws FFF. First, by causing the trouble at the Valor, he causes Szeethe to flee the building before FFF can climb upstairs and lop his head off in the bar. So, FFF has to chase Szeethe all the way to the ship, where he finally gets a chance to kill Szeethe, but then gets caught in the sinking ship. So, GG screws FFF twice and sends him to the hospital.
AND, GG screws up Kal by crashing through the Valor and interrupting both the assassinations of Szeethe AND Na'akiros. Na'akiros returns to the ship and directs the battle and Szeethe shows up to lead his were-rats. With neither captain nor demon rat present, the battle would have quickly tipped in the alonns' favor. AND, while we are at it, Arastin shows up and causes the ship to explode, sending Kal crashing into the wharf. So, GG screws up Kal and sends him to the hospital.
But wait, there's more! By causing Arastin to show up at the ship and the big explosion on board, GG causes Tenet to be caught up in the explosion. So, GG screws up Tenet and sends him to the hospital.
And, GG screws himself up, after being screwed up by so many other folks, when he causes Arastin to go to the ship and cause it to explode. So, GG screws himself up and sends him to the hospital.
But before you think it's over, GG screws up the poor fruit vendor, who has his cart destroyed by various folks chasing other folks to the ship because he screwed up the various assassinations in the Valor, causes the ship to explode, and causes Kal to destroy what's left of his goods when the alonn smashes through the wall and into his cart. So, GG screws up the vendor and gets him arrested by the Crown Watch.
So my friends, the depths of total chaos and anarchy brought on by GG are vast and almost unimaginable...
