The Fridgularity Author/Reader Discussion

[Mark]

I think I'd better put the spoiler thing up for this: (view spoiler)[Yes, I did consider that, but I wanted it to be clearly impossible, and so, make it a much more complicated relationship. Blake, at one point, had romantic feelings for Lyca, and I think you can still get an intimation of that, but they are gone (mostly) by the start of the book. Ultimately, they have more of a close sibling or twin-like relationship.

One of my ex-students used the term "lesbrarian" to describe herself many years ago, and I've been dying to use it as a basis for a character ever since. (hide spoiler)]

[Sally]

I like that Black and Lyca are family rather than romantically involved. It gives a deeper dimension to the relationship.

[Mark]

Thanks for saying that Sally. I really felt the same way, and it was one of the threads that was solid right from the first draft of the novel.

[Melinda]

Phil wrote: "ZATHIR reminds me of HAL, maybe before HAL grew up and went into space. HAL as seen through a "Douglas Adams" filter. Love the involved comdedic sequences. [spoilers removed]"
I agree, I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it's HAL to me too :D

[Melinda]

Heather wrote: "I agree Mark, I think using different fonts might've been a bit distracting"

I love how the its up to your imagination to fill in the blanks in the fonts described, rather than having it change up all the time, it makes Zathir feel much more realistic when I'm having to imagine :) Sort of like how you don't usually get an image given to you of a character, you have to do that in your mind's eye!

[Mark]

I like that too when I'm reading. I want a bit of information about what the character looks and sounds like, but not too much. This is one of the main reasons I prefer to read a book before I see a movie based on a book.

[Mark]

I'd be interested in hearing everyone's take on the breakdown of modern civilization -- what's your prediction for how it might happen in a similar scenario? And losing all electronics is a possibility, even without a Fridgularity. A really intense coronal mass ejection could knock out our power grid just as easily, and more permanently, than what happens in this story.

[Joe]

A coronal mass ejection would be devastating to the side of the planet facing the sun. It would not only knock out the power grid, but any electronics. Cars, planes, pacemakers, etc. Satellites would cease to operate. It would take decades to restore power to everyone, if civilization survived long enough for that to even happen. Without mass communication mechanisms, it would be nearly impossible to hold large amounts of territory. We wouldn't be reduced the stone age (guns would still work, for example), but it would be pretty darn close.

[Sally]

I often play with those scenarios, curious about what skills would be needed to survive. Would those of us who provide intellectual or artistic influences have any value to a society reduced to physical survival? Yes, I know, we as human beings need education and the development of the mind for many reasons. But in the immediate aftermath of such a crisis, we would be among those who would be most expendable.

[Mark]

Joe wrote: "A coronal mass ejection would be devastating to the side of the planet facing the sun. It would not only knock out the power grid, but any electronics. Cars, planes, pacemakers, etc. Satellites ..."

All of our systems -- water, food distribution, etc -- would collapse within a few days, that's for sure.

And Sally, I think there still may be a place for art, but it would have to be a sideline (so a farmer who plays guitar and tells stories), not an occupation unto itself.

[Sally]

"a farmer who plays guitar and tells stories" -- definitely. Storytelling and music. It's hardwired into the human psyche. But i don't see myself has a farmer. I can't even keep a potted plant alive.

[Mark]

Sally wrote: ""a farmer who plays guitar and tells stories" -- definitely. Storytelling and music. It's hardwired into the human psyche. But i don't see myself has a farmer. I can't even keep a potted plant alive."

Perhaps you could find another vital trade, post-apocalypto. Ceezee wrangler. Oracle-cleaner. :)

[Melinda]

Sally wrote: "I like that Black and Lyca are family rather than romantically involved. It gives a deeper dimension to the relationship."

I agree, it would be a little too rom-com cliched if they were romantically involved, and this way the romance doesn't detract from the main story, which is what I find sometimes with tacked on romances as secondary plots in novels, you lose sight of the main purpose of the book! (or its just not done well at all and is just annoying)

[Melinda]

Mark wrote: "I'd be interested in hearing everyone's take on the breakdown of modern civilization -- what's your prediction for how it might happen in a similar scenario? And losing all electronics is a possibi..."

It would be anarchy for sure, it would take a rather brutal period of readjustment for the generations that grew up with technology at their beck and call, and I have a feeling that readjustment might be too much for some to handle!

Otherwise I would hope that if we were suddenly without electronic goods I'd hope we have enough knowledge to relearn old skills without their use. Of course if this required reading I'd hope that we still had the books to learn from because kindle's only last for so long without being recharged!

[Mark]

Otherwise I would hope that if we were suddenly without electronic goods I'd hope we have enough knowledge to relearn old skills without their use. Of course if this required reading I'd hope that we still had the books to learn from because kindle's only last for so long without being recharged!

A world in which the Amish & Mennonites would have a lot to teach us! And yes, I make sure there are paper copies available of all my books. This gifset of Carl Sagan is apropos.

[Philip]

I agree there would be chaos and upheaval because the "developed" world relies so much on technology. But not everyone in the world would suffer the way. It would be almost a power reversal. Aboriginal peoples might find they are now "superpowers" in the sense that agricultural and "hunter/gatherer" cultures might actually thrive. Would they even know or care that electronics gave out? We perhaps tend to think that every country and people should have an industrial revolution and be like us, but something like what happens in Fridgularity could make those still tuned into the earth, leaders of a shift in how we think about the earth.

But first we would wipe each other out in a fight for limited resources.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Mark, to respond to your question of "what's your prediction for how it might happen in a similar scenario?" I have to admit, for awhile back there, my reading was drenched in post-apocalyptic literature and I obsessed with how I would be able to survive in a world where electronics and electricity were gone.

I'm not ashamed to say I'd be a bit of a freaker-outer. We've come so dependent on technology as a whole... everyone where I go, I use GPS.. without it, I doubt I'd find my way out of my neighborhood, I mean... I'd be a goner!

[Chelsea]

Coronal mass ejection-never heard of it so I looked it up. Yikes-now I'm freaked out-haha! I'm with Lori-I would be a total gonner. I use my cell phone for everything. There are apps for everything you can think of and I really depend on text messages and fb to keep in touch. I don't think I would make a good hunter/gather long term. It would probably feel like an adventure at first but I think it would get scary real fast.

[Joe]

If there was an apocalypse, I think artists and writers would survive and be considered valuable. Creative thinking is always useful in any society, even a post-apocalyptic one.

Unfortunately, I lack even the most basic survival skills. Were I living in the Walking Dead universe, I'd have been dead in the first season. :-/

[Mark]

I spent most of my youth in the woods, hiking, camping, canoe trips, and so forth, so I like to think I've got some of the basic living rough skills figured out. When it comes to other things, though, there are issues. In a post-apocalyptic world even what is today a relatively minor medical issue (a bad tooth, a puncture wound, and so on) could become lethal. I think we tend to forget that kind of thing. That's why I didn't want to write a story about the total collapse of civilization -- I wanted to have a middle ground, where a lot of the things we need to survive (power, emergency services) could still be around.

I also had great fun trying to imagine what the mainstream media would do in a circumstance with no digital tech.

[Sally]

Yes, mainstream media. Maybe they would finally regret firing all the copy editors. How I miss them.

[Philip]

Dude! I just got to the part about the Lebowski effect! It really ties the book together. But, hey, that's like, my opinion, man.

Calmer than you are...

[Joe]

Sally, I agree. I miss Copy Editors and Fact Checkers. I read articles now and wince at the grammatical errors. People forget that one of the purposes of the media was to edit for content and provide curation for useful content. Now it's cheaper to just cover Lindsey Lohan. *sigh*.

[Mark]

Phil -- too funny.

Sally and Phil -- that is a theme that I tried to run through the book, though it became a challenge near the end of the story. Certainly the start, when the media is more intrigued by Blake's "interesting hair" and dating habits then the Earth-changing events going on around them, is typical.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Mark,

What kind of music would accompany an internet-take-over of this magnitude? If you could create an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it soundtrack for THE FRIDGULARITY, what songs would we find on it?

[✿ ♥ Heather ♥ ✿]

Mark, I thought of you and your book this morning when I was watching the news about the Boston explosions. A news report said mobile phone carriers were down. I wonder how long it lasted (I haven't seen further updates as of yet) and how that affected the people not directly involved in or near the explosions.

I often think about how school kids these days (my 16 year old step daughter included)- how the majority of their research is on the internet whereas we had to go into a library, search for a book, then search through the book etc.. how time has been saved in that regard. Also we used to use Atlas's, now its google. (I've kept mine as a keepsake)

I dread to think about the collapse of technology. I love it, I think its amazing. I think it would feel isolating. I love to share my goodreads finds, facebook funnies, text friends a quick hello, pay my bills online, ask Siri a question on my mobile phone, watch my 3 year old daughter master an game or "read" a digital book.

[Mark]

Interesting question about the music, Lori. Here's what's mentioned in the book:

"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" by Dr. Seuss & Albert Hague
"New Jerusalem" by David Fancey
"Begin the Beguine" and other songs by Cole Porter
-jazz standards and Celtic ballads (played by Daphne after Suzie is killed)

I kinda like the idea of Cole Porter and the music of the jazz age as a soundtrack for The Fridgularity, actually, as what we're talking about in this story is really the start of a horrible depression, not the complete collapse of society, so the music of the 20s-30s would fit well.

[Mark]

I'm sure it was terrifying for people who had loved ones at the race and who couldn't contact them. I hope the outage didn't last long from that perspective alone.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not ADVOCATING a loss of technology, but I am suggesting in this novel that we should spend more time THINKING about it. There's a quote from the movie Witness (a 1985 thriller set in Amish country, which starred Harrison Ford -- I know I'm ancient) that always stuck with me: "What you take into your hands, you take into your heart."

We live in a culture where we don't consider this enough. We not only accept new technology, we embrace it. We live for it. Think about people lining up for the new iPhone. Why? Is it because their old iPhone doesn't work any more? No, they're trying to fill some kind of hole with technology; they're not thinking about WHY they need this new tech.

Not enough scientists and engineers stop to consider this question, generally: "Should we do this?" Instead, the question is: "CAN we do this?" If it can be done, it is done. This is backwards thinking, in my view.

That said, on the whole the technologies you're talking about Heather are good things. This discussion is a great example of how it enriches our lives. Generally, we live longer, better lives because of science and technology ... or we have until recently. I love the ability to do research without having to go to the library, but I recognize that some things are lost with this ability. I can only do research on things that I know to search for, and the discovery part of research is less open-ended than it used to be when I would have to spend the day at the library, combing through books and old magazines. The raven is missing.

[Sally]

"The raven is missing." Yes!

I have been in the forefront of tech for quite a while, testing and writing about new devices and processes, and interpreting them for the general public. Because I know tech as well as I do, I recognize how limiting it can be. I'm not a Luddite, because I use and enjoy certain aspects of tech (such as our expanded community). However, I do feel that the delineation of our world into digital zeros and ones does our way of learning and discovering and growing a disservice. The randomness of the analog world -- of wandering stacks of books in the library, for instance, or flipping through a print atlas -- is something that I fear is being lost.

[April]

Hi Mark! I am slow to join the discussing as I was unable to read before bedtime; I found Fridgularity gave me nightmares because I know actual human persons that would be curled up under their desks sucking their thumbs and rocking in panic if this were to happen!! Do you think that if the setting for Fridgularity was 2083, the storyline would've been different? I fear that in another few generations, people won't be able to have a "normal" face-to-face conversation without texting, tweeting, or checking social media.

[Mark]

Better late than never, I always say, April. I think by 2083 this storyline would have to change quite a bit. Most predictions of the singularity say it will happen before then, so this book could well be a book about robots shutting down while an emerging intelligence greater than theirs turns off all their functions. Then perhaps a plucky group of their human helpers would be called in to save all of humanorobot kind from the predatory fridge intelligence.

But your point is well taken. I suspect by 2083 there will be different kinds of humans. For some, there will only be face-to-face conversation, while the rest would only use that form of communication as a quaint -- if not ironic -- mode of speaking.

[Joe]

In a post apocalyptic world we'd have a worse problem than the lack of technology: We've mined all of the useful metals from easily accesible locations. Most useful metal is now bonded in alloys where it can't be separated. We might literally be stuck with sticks and stones.

Also, in case you're worried about it, here's a list of things you'll need to survive the end of technology.

http://www.stevequayle.com/index.php?...

[Lori, Super Mod]

Hey Guys, we only have Mark for another day or so, so let's get those last minute questions in soon!!

Mark, I want to thank you so much for hanging with us this month. I really enjoyed the participating and reader questions! Your novel gives people so much to chew on and worry over :)

[Philip]

Hey Mark,

I found this site, authorgraph.com where people can request autographs from authors of ebooks. I requested an authorgraph for Fridgularity but my thinking about this case has been way too uptight and I gave my kindle.com address which I think makes me a !@#$%^& amateur. Anyway, didn't know if you wanted to let folks know about authorgraphs or if I should just shut the !@#$ up Donny!

Thanks again for writing your book and hanging out here with us. Take 'er easy, Dude. I know that you will.

[Mark]

Hey Phil,

Yes, I've signed up for it, and my books are all collected here on Authorgraph. I didn't get your request, so maybe something went wrong in the process. I think you have to tell Amazon that Authorgraph has permission to send the signatures.

And Joe, I agree. A real collapse would make The Fridgularity look like a fun romp.