. . .okay, so i started this group as a way to shepherd my online readers into a discussion forum, where they might talk about lulu, or elicit my input, or whatever . . . i'm convinced that book culture needs more of this reader/writer interaction to thrive, because at the end of the day, it's a collaboration . . . so, if anybody has any questions, or wants to sound off on anything related to lulu, or the process of writing lulu, or anything else lulu-related please do not hesitate . . . please use spoiler warnings in your threads, though . . . i'm tentatively planning a group discussion in this forum among people who've yet to read all about lulu, for january 2, 2009 . . . i'll be too hungover on january 1 . . . but in the meantime, welcome . . . cheers, je

Jonathan, I was wondering if while growing up you were exposed or involved in weight lifting/body building. Your descriptions of the exercises and the preparations that bodybuilders go through to prepare for events was extremely detailed. I work in the Capitol building in Sacramento, CA. so I thought it was fun that you included a scene with Arnold in the book. I had to look up Big "Bill" online to see if he really existed, but all I got was a few hits on reviews of your novel that mentioned that character by name.

. . .yeah, i totally grew up around gyms-- in fact, my old man was a competitve bodybuilder and owned a gym called the strength and physique lab . . . i spent time gold's and world gym as a kid in l.a., as well, so i'm quite familiar with the training regimens, etc . . . one of the main reasons i chose bodybuilding was because it's such an apt metaphor for the sort of narrowly focused self-improvement that can have monsterous results . . .

. . .just a funny little aside: my profile avatar with the rainbow and the unicorn (created by my friend and fellow fictionphile patrick gulke) was inspired by the fact that i did for awhile have a number of 'cyber-stalkers' leaving rainbows and unicorns daily on my comments page at myspace . . .unicorns of every variety and for every conceivable occasion: happy thursday! happy st. abernathy's day!