The following is a post from Nicky’s public npacione Facebook page:
You want to do well with reading my work; get the feel for other urban writers because this is also my style to some extent. Horns and Fatima Stephens this is something why I tend to appeal more to large city readers than small towner type because they don’t understand urban terminology.
My new anthology I am working on or almost done with. The forefather of this style is Robert Bloch as he gave Chicago a tone very distinct a style that’s born in Maywood, Illinois. Lloyd Phillip Campbell grew up in Maywood as the author bio was arranged.
I am more urban than Mary SanGiovanni (she doesn’t get city literature or street lit.) She’s a small towner and thinks like a small town writer.
Urban fiction – Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaUrban fiction, also known as street lit is a literary genre set, as the name implies, in a city landscape; however, the genre is as much defined by the socio-economic realities and culture of its characters as the urban setting. The tone for urban fiction is usually dark, focusing on the underside o…en.wikipedia.org
Now I get it! We’re all too stupid to understand his fiction because we’re not from Chicago. Most of us are suburbanites. Several of us are from suburban NYC, which, of course, is as hick as it gets. Mayberry RFD’s got nothing on us when it comes to being out in the sticks. Northern NJ, several counties in NY state on the mainland, Fairfield county, CT, and all of Long Island out to Montauk, are in the NY DMA. White Plains, Forest Hills, and Fort Lee are all in the middle of nowhere, dontcha know! Southern NJ is considered a giant suburb of Philly.
Last time I checked, Glendale Heights and Lombard were — GASP! — suburbs. So is Maywood. Is Nicky’s argument leaking?
Check out the Nielsen DMA rankings for this television season. The top markets never change, except for population. It’s at the bottom end where counties can change from one market to another, and markets can jockey for position, or disappear and reappear over the years. Chicago is number three, at less than half the size of NYC, and barely bigger than Philly.
Disclaimer: I used to work for Nielsen. All that really means is that I know where to look for documents like this one; I no longer have access to overnights, or local station ratings.
But, the reason we don’t understand his work has nothing to do with his poor spelling, grammar, punctuation, or storytelling. It’s because we’re all from bumfuck nowhere! We’re not darkity dark enough to understand the brilliant nuances of his stories drivel, because we’re not from downtown Chicago. We earn some money on our own without begging from the internet, so we’re not poor enough. Or something.
Just for shits and giggles, since Lloyd Phillip Campbell grew up in Maywood, I’m going to run with “Rusty grew up in Lawrenceville, with two cats in the yard. Life used to be so hard.” (blatant ripoff of Crosby, Stills, and Nash)
so why aren’t city folk buying his crap if they understand it, but we don’t? If they ‘get him’ wouldn’t they be buying his stuff and demanding more?
At least Lombard is on the Metra rail to get you into Chicago. Morris is over an hour away from Chicago with no rail line….but keep pretending Nicky. He’s lived in Morris what over a decade?
There was his brief stint in Justice, which lasted not quite a year. He got kicked out by his roomies when he stopped chipping in for rent, groceries, and utilities. On his way out, he stole Michelle’s camera, and a computer. Part of Granny Shirley’s deal was that he spend two weeks a month in Morris, and two weeks in Justice. Obviously, that experiment did not end well.
The only place Nicky can claim is his grandparent’s basement. To claim to be from any location normally involves being out and about, working, or going to school…something other than living in a hole in the ground far removed from the location “claimed”. And even then, he can’t claim something he does not contribute to, like rent, taxes, or even volunteer work. No, Nicky is a leech on his family, his community, and the public in general.
But……his public persona has a PO BOX in Joliet. I’m sure he doesn’t check with no license and no one to drive his smelly ass over there. Not like he’s getting any fan mail or anything LOL
He doesn’t write stories, he foams at the mouth. Then throws a temper tantrum when nobody “gets” it. Somebody needs to put him away for his own good.
You know, I could have sworn it was Fritz Leiber who revealed the uncanny aspects of Chicago, not Bob Bloch (though he came from there).
I think Bloch’s American Gothic was pretty good at “uncanny Chicago.”
Can’t imagine our Peaches reading Leiber.
Nicky used to LOVE Bloch…always mispronounced his last name of course.
Sorry – I meant Fritz was first.
Ah, yes, I see what you meant now. Coffee before I post next time.
I have a thing for old Rex Stout stuff, and anything by P.D. James. I don’t really care where the setting is, as long as the story’s good. Yes, I read more than mysteries, but those are my faves. This is all irrelevant. Oh, well.
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