Holy Cow It’s a New Decade?
Where have I been?
I guess I’m a little overtaxed these days what with a new baby, a much-abused novel deadline, moving, and various other pursuits. But the internets have recently informed me that the present decade (the noughties? the zeroes? What did we end up calling it?) is coming to an end, and a shiny new one is about to begin.
A lot has happened to me personally in this decade but apparently the rest of you were out there doing stuff too, and since I am the Mistress of Meta, it falls upon me to deliver some insightful conclusions about what you were up to.
So….
1) You permitted the internet to insinuate itself into your personal life in ways you never would have dreamed possible. You became dependent on Google, MapQuest, Facebook, and email. You are currently experimenting with Twitter and feel that, although it appears to be quite silly, you find it difficult to stay away. You rarely print photographs any more, choosing instead to share them with strangers, acquaintances, friends, co-workers, and fellow high school and college alumnae. You are considering starting your own youTube channel in order to share even more of your private life with said peeps who constitute your web-based fame circle. You are beginning to wonder why no one has written a Wikipedia article about you. By contrast, in the last decade, you got cable TV. That was about it.
2) You earned a bucketful of strictly theoretical money in the stock market and/or real estate market, bought metric tons worth of shiny stuff on credit, and now, through no malfeasance on your own part, find yourself in debt, underwater, and/or unable to retire. On the plus side, bankers (whom you suspect–rightly–of being the palm-rubbing conspirators behind this frantic reversal of fortune) are still getting bonuses. You have begun reading up on the French Revolution.
3) You discovered that approximately one half of the United States population is comprised of people so morally, philosophically, and culturally different from you that you can’t believe we manage to share one interstate highway system–never mind one federal government. You think those people are completely insane and responsible for the impending downfall of the nation and probably western civilization as a whole if your own lot don’t hurry up and do something about it.
4) You almost never wear a belt any more. Your personal style has evolved to a degree of casual so laid back your great grandparents would have called it “wearing pajamas outside.” This does not concern you in the least and you consider people who dress otherwise to be silly.
5) You witnessed another war. No more comprehensible than any other war.
I think that about covers it. Let me know if I’ve left anything out.
Hi Lauren!
You forgot #6….
Finally got the Cycler and (Re) Cycler books you’ve been wanting since you got an e-mail about them on August 31, 2008 from “Sister Ink.” You read them both in practically no time after Christmas. Then you were disappointed to learn that Mrs. McLaughlin’s next book is irrelevant to Jack and Jill and that you will have to wait a while to learn about Jill’s reaction to Tommy’s arrival and Jack’s new friendship with him….
Just wondering, why have you decided to stop writing about them for now? I wish you good success with your movie adaptation and will be on the edge of my seat waiting for it =-)
Hi Alisha. You’ve asked a really difficult question and I’ll do my best to answer it. When I wrote Cycler, I only ever envisioned it as a single book. While I was in the process of shopping it, I began writing another unrelated book called Steal the Future. By the time I finished a first draft of that second book, Random House bought Cycler with the caveat that I write a sequel. At that point, Steal the Future went on hold and I began writing (Re)Cycler. Then, as soon as (Re)Cycler was finished, I returned to Steal the Future.
I had no idea that so many people would be clamoring for me to continue the story of Jack and Jill and it pains me to know that readers are left wanting more. I’m not one for neat tidy endings (obviously) but I thought I’d at least completed the thought with (Re)Cycler. At eighteen years old, I don’t think it would be realistic for Jack and Jill to have anything like closure on their adventures. They are at the very beginning of their adult lives. Things will only get stranger for them. My aim was to leave them knowing that, at the very least, they would be okay–so long as they made peace with each other.
Hi. Lauren! Thanks for answering my question! It’s so great that your are down-to-earth enough to be able to take time out of your busy day to reply to questions like these.
I”m sorry that I left you with the impression that I didn’t think it was ended well. I loved the ending, with the exception of Ramie and Jack being a little on the rocks. I especially love that Jill gets Tommy back, instead of going back to that Larson punk.I’d rather it be ended the way it was than how the Twilight Saga was ended. It seems like she was just tired of writing about them and smushed all the big stuff happening into the last book.
It just always makes me sad to have to part with the characters. You would think I’d be used to it by now with how much I read, but that’s just me for you.
But, I look forward to reading more of the books you write and would love to eventually get to see Cycler and (Re) Cycler on the big screen. Any idea of when that may be? Sorry, I’m a little impatient
Thanks Again!
P.S. Thanks for accepting my friend request on facebook!
Wow, I find this list SO funny. Like number 4- in high school, it was a huge trend to wear pj pants to school. And I think that we all know how I am with number one… 2 facebooks, twitter, youtube videos, a blog… you have a point, why hasn’t anyone made a wikipedia page about me! (just kidding!)
That’s funny, Genevieve. I remember being pretty tidy in High School then turning into a complete slob in college. But then it was the era of grunge and I embraced it fully. I’m sure someone will write your wikipedia entry before long!