Smudge Has Questions About His Meal
Posted on September 11, 2023 Posted by John Scalzi 17 Comments
“Waiter, I ordered this steak rare. As you can see, it is clearly medium rare, and that is simply unacceptable. Send it back. Tell the chef to get it right this time. Your tip is riding on how quickly I get what I ordered.”
Smudge, a tough crowd at a restaurant.
(Oh, who are we kidding, he eats moths.)
Busy day around here. The good kind of busy. Lots of stuff to take care of before the tour starts a week from today, and the book comes out on the 19th. After more than a year of being far away, it’s coming up very fast indeed.
— JS
I think Smudge is contemplating whirled peas
May there be peas in our time.
so… that’s a mistake? not exactly the steak he was expecting? I really do not relish being his waiter
Smudge looks cross-eyed at the thought of how he can steal the steak (which is bigger than he is!) off the plate….
Cats tip with mouse heads, right?
I’ve never seen a car look so smug as when it drops a spit-soaked butterfly on your bare foot first thing in the morning
Medium rare still better than moths
John, will your local bookstore be selling signed copies?
I think you may have missed a real opportunity for the cover photo for Starter Villain. Smudge is plotting.
Also, it looks like he’s annoyed at part of it being missing…
Smudge is a good kitty who deserves all your steak!
If you turned your back, would he actually take that?
Ours, admittedly still kitten-aged (~1yo) hunt flies. They relish the hunt, tearing about leaping and climbing, and then eating them with gusto when they catch them.
I am sure he eats his moths rare, too…
Smudgely McDammitcat approves of his spiritual brother’s goals, and volunteers to assist in auditing the replacement steak for adequate rareness. Or for disposing of the medium-rare one, as he is always happy to help others in cleaning up food-like substances. Including flies and moths.
Mr. Scalzi, is there an updated city list for your Starter Villain tour? I saw that you are listed as appearing at the Wisconsin Book Festival on October 22 (https://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/events/starter-villain), but I don’t see that on the list over at Tor. Your “Scheduled Appearances” page is a tiny bit out of date, too. I’m wondering if tickets or sign-ups will be required for the Wisconsin Book Festival stop, as my spouse and I are hoping to attend.
Safe travels in any case, and good luck defending your supper from feline predators!
Can cats actually eat rare steak?
And would Smudge be happy with licking your dinner for science and then doing his bit to not let the food there go to waste?
I can’t wait to read your book but I have so many ARCs I’ve got to review.
My cat looks like smudge a bit (black and white asymmetrical) and has recently started bringing in moths in the house. We find moth wings on the floor in the morning.
Is it that there are more moths now?
Medium rare. Yuck. Cook it a little longer and smother it with ketchup like an 8 year old (or others who cannot be named)!
I’m somewhere between show it the fire (alternatively tell it about fire) and bloody as hell.
And @Peter You think lions and jaguars and cheetahs and any other feline animal actually starts a campfire and cooks their meat? You ever see a cat leave a pile of feathers after it catches a bird? So, yes, cats eat their steaks not only rare, but entirely uncooked.