Nice Work if You Can Get It and Dirty Little Lies Week Day 7

Today’s Winner of the Dirty Little Lies Giveaway is Dragonfly_in_NC! Congratulations, Dragonfly. Please email me with your address and I’ll get you your prize.

Everyone else, leave a comment here to be entered into the final drawing of the giveaway. Tomorrow, I’ll also be doing the drawings for the old SSG Giveaway final prizes (including hoodie) that I flaked about last month. Oops, oops and double oops. Sorry. Deadline brain.

Last night, I went to a bookclub meeting about my book. This is the second such event I’ve attended. The first was my mom’s bookclub, which was great, but they were all friends of my mom and usually parents of kids I grew up with, so I felt a little more comfortable around them. Last night was my first event with total strangers. It was lovely. I was fascinated to hear what people thought of my book, and how they interpreted various choices I’d made in the novel.

I think I might have frustrated them a little because so many times I responded to questions like, “What did you mean when you wrote…” with “What did you think I meant?” Finally, someone started joking that I sounded like a shrink, when what I really sounded like was a Lit major from Yale. I think the true meaning of books falls somewhere between the author’s intention and the reader’s interpretation. (For instance, Upton Sinclair wrote a book aimed at uncovering the sins against the poor immigrant workers in the meat factories and instead everyone got up in arms about the quality of their food!) Which is not to say that people shouldn’t pay attention to what authors are trying to say in their books, nor that I’m not tryign to say something. But if you see something else, which maybe I didn’t, or maybe isn’t as well-developed in my brain, but filtered through your reading experiences it spoke to you in a particularly strong manner, then that’s perfectly valid. I’ve had people pick up copies of my book, read the cover flap and say, “You put a lesbian in your book!” and get really excited. I feel weird, because, well, the lesbian is actually a minor character and I wouldn’t want them buying it and getting disappointed at all the het stuff, but if they identify with Demetria more than Amy, that’s fine too.

So I wanted to know what they thought. I wanted to know if they thought the patriarchs were really capable of accomplishing all the things they threatened to do. I wanted to know if they thought Brandon was correct in the choices he made about Amy. I wanted to know if they thought Malcolm’s actions were valid or hysterical. I have my ideas. I know how I interpret them. (No, yes, and a little bit of both, for the record.) But it was interesting to see what other people thought. And I can’t say if I’m right or not. I can say that Malcolm thinks he’s being perfectly rational. But whether or not he is is an opinion. I can say that Brandon thinks he’s making the right choice in regards to Amy, but whether or not it is correct depends on how much of a romantic you are. So I ended up answering a lot of questions like that. I know what the characters were thinking, and so I could provide clarity on those issues (see below), but I can’t make absolute statements about whether or not the character’s beliefs are right or wrong. That’s where the discussion part comes in.

Once again, I witnessed the “Brandon is weak”/”Brandon is the man I want to marry” dichotomy, though, interestingly, there didn’t seem to be any George fans in the group. Usually, the people who dislike Brandon are totally into George. I also heard the following FAQs: “Is Poe getting together with Amy this summer?” and “Is Poe gay?” I’d like to take this opportunity to answer in the negative to both. Non. Nyet. Negatory. Uh-uh. And no way, Jose.

I gotta tell you, I *love* meeting with bookclubs. It’s so fascinating to hear how different people interpret the story I wrote. It usually sparks a debate about feminism and women’s issues and sexism, etc, but the fascinating thing about this discussion was how almost all the women there (who were in their late twenties to their late fifties) agreed that women of Amy’s generation were being lulled into a false sense of security about equal rights, and were going to get slapped in the face when they got into the corporate world. I think that women of my generation (or my seven-years-older) had a similar experience. We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about sexism in college. After we graduated, we talked about it plenty. They seemed to interpret some of the plot points through the lens of a group of women who were experiencing this for the first time. They even interpreted Brandon’s role in the story as a sort of role-reversal of sexual positions, which is a very interesting way to view it, and one that I hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about before, but I think might be quite valid.

It was especially interesting to hear them talk about this first book from the perspective of having just finished the second. How do thse issues manifest itself in the second book? What am I trying to say with how the relationship develops between the various characters, with how the feminism plotline develops? A few times tonight, I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, “Oh, what a good point! You know, that’s a major issues in book two!” No spoilers, right?

It’s days like this where I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work in my dream job. I can’t believe how lucky I am to spend every day doing something I love so much. I only hope I can continue doing it.

It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Steve Irwin on Monday. When Sailor Boy and I were in Australia, we visited his zoo in Beerwah. Irwin was not as popular in Australia as he was over the rest of the world. Apparently, his family had had their little croc showcase for several generations before Irwin’s savvy business sense turned it from a local tourist attraction to a major media industry. As far as the locals were concerned, it was just their little local zoo and the guy was rumored to have a TV show. SB and I were there a few days after the world began censuring Irwin for bringing his infant into the croc pool with him. Because of that, we didn’t see Irwin at the zoo. (He was hiding out from the media.) What we did see was a marvelous, well-kept animal sanctuary full of fascinating info about the animals and staffed by intelligent, well-trained people who loved their work, were passionate about conservation in all its forms, respected and feared the dangerous animals they worked alongside, and truly wanted to teach everyone who came into the zoo to feel the same way. I’ve never seen employees love their boss so much. I’ve never seen such a large and successful business so honestly pay tribute to their humble beginnings. It’s not lip service there. Did you know the Irwins cut out every newspaper article they find about their work and tack them up — with pushpins — on the wall of the original barn that housed the croc show? It’s great.

One of the best things about Irwin’s message is that just because an animal is dangerous or completely uncuddly is no reason that it doesn’t deserve protection and conservation any less than the cute otters or dolphins or etc. The ugly and dangerous endangered species are every bit as valuable to the ecosystem of the world, can teach us every bit as much about nature, and are every bit as worthy.

Of course, at the zoo, they only let you pet the cuddly ones. Here are pictures of Sailor Boy and me with the more cuddly of the creatures in Beerwah (Yes, it’s a picture of SB. Gasp away! I think I can squeak in under the No Pics of SB rule because you don’t actually see his face. It’s like those reality shows where they blur out faces of the people who don’t sign release waivers.)

Steve Irwin was a man who lived his life doing what he loved more than anything in the world, and through his work, he made us love it too. It’s not often you get to say something like that.