Great blog, even though it reminded me how damn old I am….

Reading is fun–sometimes I’m reading something historical and thinking how would I survive without indoor plumbing (or maybe cell phones if it’s more recent). Sometimes I’m reading futuristic and wondering if they’ll cure the common cold in the future.

I’m sure my comment is just as braindead as I am. I’m desperately trying to save, uh I mean, finish the first draft of me book.

And you know, I think you’re pointing out a very important distinction that I hadn’t really thought of, and maybe that’s because I had a lot of my writing years sort of co-opted by the very southern literary leanings of the MFA… where if you even thought about writing something “commercial” you were pretty much ignored. And I knew that and did it anyway… but I don’t think I realized until you’d made that distinction just how much the concerns over timelessness vs. immediate commercial impact that they had on my process of thinking. (Of course, taking philosophy was probably the worst thing I could have done on top of that. Hours and hours of discussing the “thingness of the thing” and I am not kidding.)

I made a cultural reference in the current novel about a current “star” but that reference has been bothering me for the exact same reason you’re mentioning the TROY one. I doubt even a year from now when the book is out that it’ll be relevant, so I’ll go change it. I’m glad you mentioned that.

And yeah, this election is truly amazing on several fronts, but mostly I keep looking over at other foreign countries where people can’t go to the polls without worry about being bombed or shot [if they even have elections] and yet, we can change our entire government by going to the polls, and no bloodshed. It may not always be harmonious leading up to it, and sometimes afterward, but for the most part, we agree to respect the democratic principles that founded this country, and we do it by freely going to the polls and freely casting a vote. That’s pretty impressive, that.

But cultural references don’t bother me if I know the book is set in a specific time (i.e. 1985.) Stephen King writes with a LOT of cultural references (take THE STAND, which he also updated when it was reissued as uncut, and it’s still “outdated” though I think it’s timeless and a slice of history.)

I was a huge fan of Trixie Belden, which were written years before I was born, but there were new books coming out as well. I remember that Brian’s car was a “jalopy.” I happened to have known what it was, but only because I was well read even at 8! (I may have also asked my mom.) I still loved the books. My daughters? Not so much.

Judy Blume as well wrote for girls like me in the 70s and 80s, but even one of her books–I think ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET was outdated when I read it. The heroine started her period and had a belt for the pad. I had NO idea what that was, and my mom had to explain it to me (though I did understand from the context of the story, I just thought it was weird.) But the story itself was still relevant.

I had one book (chick lit-ish) with a ton of technology references (all emails) and the funny thing is, four years later, none of that is outdated. What’s outdated in the book are references to Brad Pitt and his movies (I thought I was being so forward thinking in talking about TROY, because he was only *making* it when I wrote that). Also I referenced a TV show that just seems sooooo outdated now.