Reuters coverage of The Wobbit

Again, thanks to everyone at Forumshire for all your support (and patience with my self-promotion) through this project!

BANKER TURNS WAMU LAYOFF INTO HOBBIT PARODY
By Lou Carlozo
CHICAGO | Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:40am EDT
(Reuters) - Since T.S. Eliot's brief career at Lloyds Bank of London, the connections between banking and literature have remained tenuous at best - especially when you narrow the focus to the genre of "banking-related fantasy novel parodies."

But that did not stop Paul Erickson, a laid-off trainer of tellers and personal bankers for Washington Mutual, from taking an inspired crack at hilarity with "The Wobbit: A Parody." With the novel, the 52-year-old from Oak Park, Illinois, twists J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" in a financial funhouse mirror: the dwarves come courtesy of characters he met while training at a variety of financial institutions, including WaMu.

Read the rest here http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/20/us-yourmoney-hobbit-parody-idUSBRE83J11L20120420

Thanks! Thanks! We demand credit, free advertising all future dealings with the press and Odo is looking for a cut, but thats just him!
{{{Congrats Paul-great news}}}

There was a LOT of what I said that got cut, PT.

Of course I promote Forumshire at every opportunity. You will be in the dedication of the German Edition and all subsequent editions as well, in perpetuity. You guys are the best.

Good old Odo. Tell him I'm still waiting for the first half of my advance to clear the German tax people. So here's my calculation: €0.00 x 5% = £0.00 for Odo, leaving $0.00 for me.

Well, ok I will believe you, this time {{{{ }}}} And if you want my opinion I think you're paying Odo twice as much as he is worth.
And I have a feeling the German edition will just be the first of many languages it ends up in.

You're mentioned at theoneting.net !!!!!!

sorry, here's a link.
http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/04/20/55191-a-parody-of-the-hobbit-and-banking/

This thread makes me feel like a proud forumshirer resident x

Congratulations, Paul! That's fantastic news and I hope it helps sales of your book. I'm thrilled to hear about this.

Personally, I think anyone who sends up The Hobbit is kind of a schmuck... err.... ummm.... unless... ahh... oh alright then... Well done Paul!

{{{Now where did I put that derivative, vulgar, cheap, unedited, nasty version of mine....? Could capture the peurile market yet... now the banking sector's being fleeced... Damn good that... rippin' off the bankers... hee hee... gotta see the funny side of that.. .... where is that f*^%$#g manuscript?... .... maybe I put it beside my "Collected Insults, Farts and Naughty Words" - great idea, could sell heaps, if I could be bothered working a bit on it, and if I could even remember where I put that ... Sweet Eru, I hate people who write stuff, then edit it, then edit, then edit - bloody workaholics! - then follow up by advertising... and look for possible outlets, then keep soldiering on until somethings comes of it... Whatever happened to Lazy Writers like Me ever getting famous? These people give people like me a bad name! }}}

Dear Paul,

I congratulate you on your success and look forward to our future financial success,

Your devoted supporter and business partner through thick and thin,
Odo Banks, esquire.

You know, Odo, if Paul does make a killing, I think it only fair he share his wealth with you. Of all people here, you respect wealth the most.

To PT, Norc, Ally, Chris63, Eldo, Orwell, and (of course) Odo:

Thanks for all your well-wishings! It's fun to see the Reuters story make its way onto The Huffington Post (that name sounds like something from Winnie The Pooh) and even TheOneRing.net. Good eye, Norc!

Yesterday an actual review of The Wobbit was posted on TheHobbitMovie.co.uk. The editor there is the first person to review both my book and The Soddit. He's English, but still claims that he likes my references to The Three Stooges and Clint Eastwood more than the Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward references in The Soddit. I hope the rest of the UK agrees with him.

He'll be posting an interview with me later this week, where I conspicuously mention my friends at Forumshire. Imagine all the additional frozen-pizza-eating, buckie-swilling, fifty-ish blokes that will be stopping by to chat...

That's http://www.thehobbitmovie.co.uk/the-hobbit-movie-book-the-wobbit-a-parody.html

cool! I wanna read it now I'll keep my eyes open for the interview

Congratulations, Paul! I'm glad to see you're getting attention for your book, it is much deserved

Thanks, RD! A few more reviews like yours and I should be able to name my own price when I finally get an English language publisher. I hope school is going well.

But... what if.. you like Wilde and Coward humour...? You mean... it's NOT funny?

Well I like Wilde and Coward! "A haaaaandbag!"

http://thehobbitmovie.co.uk/the-hobbit-movie-book-the-wobbit-a-parody.html

That guy put it better than me - it's well worth a read for those who haven't yet

chris63 wrote:http://thehobbitmovie.co.uk/the-hobbit-movie-book-the-wobbit-a-parody.html

Our first famous Forumshiran in the Real World.. This is kind of exciting. We get to suck up some reflected glory, I hope?

Orwell wrote:

chris63 wrote:http://thehobbitmovie.co.uk/the-hobbit-movie-book-the-wobbit-a-parody.html

Our first famous Forumshiran in the Real World.. This is kind of exciting. We get to suck up some reflected glory, I hope?

Reflected glory? Think bigger! I am not overstating things when I give you this personal guarantee: stick with me, and Forumshire will be bigger than TheOneRing.net and Facebook combined. And everybody gets their own falcon.

Regarding Wilde and Coward, of course we all agree they're funny. Hilarious, in fact. I was a high school production of Coward's play Private Lives in 1976. And my wife and I just saw the latest film version of The Importance Of Being Earnest. Will The Wobbit stand the test of time as those two giants? At least in Germany?

As I've said before, am I destined to become the David Hasselhoff of Tolkein parodists?

An interview with our very own, Paul Erikson.

http://www.thehobbitmovie.co.uk/the-hobbit-movie-interview-paul-erickson-wobbit.html

Good on you Paul!