Everyone is a number in this dystopian near-future where cameras track your every move. Score above 90 and your set for life. Score below 75 and you’re on your own, kid.
The Cycler Series
The Cyler Series: What would you do if you woke up one day as a member of the opposite sex? For Jill McTeague, this is no hypothetical question. It’s real life!
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I don’t get stitch any more. But here’s some advice for when you do. Skip sideways until it goes away. I don’t know why this works, but it does. And it only looks a little bit silly. Also, here’s some advice that will be easy to follow if you’re thirteen or under and harder to follow if you’re older. But it’s worth it, really. And you just have to be a little bit strong to follow this advice. Consider putting some hits from High School Musical on your play list. I know what you’re thinking, but gosh darn it, whether it’s cleaning the kitchen at that snooty country club, or generally being “all in this together,” those kids are motivated. Besides, don’t you sort of feel like a kid when you run anyway? Signing off for the weekend. Big things afoot. More later. 9 Responses to “More Unsolicited Running Advice”Leave a Reply |
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I don’t have a play list, really. And I don’t run much anymore. I guess I could run about the property when I go home for the summer, but I have a strong dislike of the rattlesnake. It is an ongoing concern.
I’ve always been quite anti-music while running. But starting to get a little bored sometimes now. May purchase ipod. Not to listen to High School Musical mind.
Sorry, bookwormchris, I have no anti-rattlesnake measures up my sleeve.
Damo, I used to like running sans music for a bit too. It’s nice to hear birds and the wind in the trees. But I find that music not only keeps my pace up (I tend to run in rhythm to whatever song I’m listening to), but also keeps me focused. Part of the reason I like to run is to get completely out of my usual frame of mind. To shut of my writer-head. Music helps with that.
Hey, I just finished reading Cycler. I do have a question, though. With Tommy, Jill’s father, and Jack, the men in the book all seem to have some sort of “hinderance” or emasculation/are subservient to the women in their lives. Is there a particular reason for this? Just curious. Thanks.
Hi Trenton. Interesting question. I wouldn’t describe Tommy as hindered, emasculated, or subservient. But Jack and the Dad both suffer from the anti-male side of anti-feminism. That’s what I was trying to show with the parents’ relationship and with the repression of Jack. People often accuse feminists of being man-haters, but I’ve always found that the women most likely to say mean things about men, are, in fact anti-feminists. Jack and Jill’s Mom is sort of the embodiment of that. She believes men to be a kind of lower species. I think her exact words are “a baby step above chimps.” We’ve seen plenty of examples in literature of the ways in which women suffer from rigid gender boundaries and sexism. I wanted to show how men suffer from it too. Thanks for reading.
I also have a question about Cycler: when Tommy reveals his bisexuality, Jill’s reactions raises some questions about our ability to accept differences, but is there any significance behind Jack’s reaction of just shrugging it off? Is it because he’s not involved, or that he’s more accepting then Jill? Thanks!
Cycler raised many questions for me but there was one particular question that really interested me. Why does Jack seem to be gaining more and more control throughout the book?
Hey Greg. Great question. I think there are a couple of things going on with Jack’s reaction to Tommy’s bisexuality. One is that he genuinely has no problem with the *idea* of any kind of homosexuality. He’s pro gay rights. The other is the fact that he probably feels this news will keep Tommy out of contention for Jill’s affections, which is good news for him. Tommy only becomes a real problem for Jack when Jack has to wake up with memories of the ways in which he’s touched Jill. At that point, Tommy’s bisexuality is no longer an abstract concept about which Jack can be tolerant and magnanimous, but rather a physical (if remembered) sensation that threatens his own sexuality.
Jill’s reaction is somewhat similar. If you had asked her before she met Tommy what her attitude toward gays, lesbians, and bisexual people were, she’d say she totally accepts them. But once she’s presented with the possibility of an actual bisexual boyfriend, it’s no longer abstract. It crashes into all of her own anxieties about how feminine she is.
Notice that both Jack and Jill’s reactions have little to do with Tommy himself and everything to do with their own insecurities. Alas, this is the burden that the gay, lesbian and bisexual community have to deal with. My goal was to showcase the personal transformation from rejection to acceptance by having them (Jill especially) undergo it in a deeply personal way. Jill doesn’t have a change of heart on Tommy’s bisexuality simply because she realizes how wrong it is to be homophobic. She has a change of heart because she realizes, once the shock is over, that it doesn’t matter. She’s still attracted to him.
Jack, still has a way to go. But that’s Jack. And there is a sequel.
Hi Addie. There are a couple of ways to answer your question. First of all, if you introduce a premise whereby the protagonist wants X, your job as a writer is to make it almost impossible for her to have X. That’s the essence of dramatic tension. In Cycler, Jill’s principle desire is to bury Jack, therefore, I as the author must see to it that Jack, like a zombie, will not stay buried.
Secondly, I wanted to experiment with what happens when a core personality trait is repressed. Some people manage this repression brilliantly. But others only feed the trait with their repression. The forbidden aspect of it makes it somehow larger, less deniable. This is essentially a story about conformity and the damage it can cause.