I’m really tired of Facebook. One of the big problems I’ve always had with it is that everyone you friend is suddenly equal. The kid you went to school with in 2nd grade is now at the same level as your best friend of ten years or you grandmother. And people post the stupidest shit!
So I’m thinning down my Facebook friends list, and I’m doing it like this: You post something stupid, I’m unfriending you. Simple as that. Inaneness I can handle, but outright stupidity, no. Post that the world is flat, you’re unfriended. Post that astronauts never landed on the moon, you’re unfriended. Post that G.W. Bush is the greatest president since Lincoln, you’re unfriended. Post that you are “literally dying” to see the next Star Wars movie, you’re unfriended.
Family is safe. I’ve got a few nephews who post some goofy stuff, but not stuff that would be categorized as stupid. Besides, you’re stuck with family. In-laws though….
Astrid Maxxim and her parents, Roger and Kate Maxxim, are characters in the book series Astrid Maxxim – Girl Inventor. The series is written for adolescents, but I hope anyone can enjoy it. Both Roger and Kate are named for good friends of mine– unrelated and unknown to each other, but whom both helped me with my writing.
Roger Maxxim is a brilliant scientist and inventor with a definite bit of the mad scientist in him. Kate Maxxim is a hard-nosed CEO, who is nevertheless dedicated to running Maxxim Industries the way her father-in-law envisioned.
Astrid is the main character in the stories, and along with her friends, occupies most of the plot, but it was important for me that she have a loving family (as do all the kids in the story). On the other hand, Astrid’s parents are a bit of a role reversal, as her father is the more nurturing of the two and her mother is more of the disciplinarian.
Denise Brown is one of Astrid Maxxim’s best friends. Denise is one of the few kids in the story that isn’t an only child. )I realized after I had finished Astrid Maxxim 1, that I had made many of them only children.) Denise has a brother named Dennis. Members of my writers group pointed out that with the names being so similar, the readers might get confused. On the other hand, that’s just what people tend to do– name their kids in groups or with similar names. In any case, by that time, I was married to the names.
Denise and Dennis live with their two dads. I made a conscious decision that I would have a gay couple in the books to reflect the reality of our culture. On the other hand, having essentially a completely non-sexual (and kind of a 50s naiveté) thing going, I wasn’t going to spend a lot of time fleshing out the details. Their dads have different last names, so either they live in a state where gay marriage is not legal or they just decided to keep their own names. The kids are both named Brown, while their other dad is named Richards.
Being a teacher, I have a real thing about people (gay or straight) giving their kids hyphenated names. It never fits in the computer correctly. It always messes up class lists. And the kinds always pick one or the other name and go by it anyway. I actually had a mother call me one time and tell me not to accept her child’s assignments if she didn’t use her full hyphenated name! I told her “Get a grip, lady. What she calls herself is between you and her, and what papers I accept is between her and me.”
When I was planning out the Astrid Maxxim series, I knew I was going to set it in the American southwest. I therefore needed and wanted one of the main characters to be hispanic. Valerie Diaz therefore became one of Astrid’s two good friends. Valerie is one of the two Valeries in the series, and therefore supplies one of the running gags– that everybody has to differentiate which Valerie they are talking to. Valerie is a shy, pretty girl who has strict parents. Her father Sergio is head of Maxxim Industries Security and her mother is one of the few women in the story who are housewives. Valerie’s mother is one of the few people in the series who doesn’t think that Astrid is perfect. I think a lot of young readers will identify with Valerie. She’s the kid that doesn’t always get noticed.
In the Tom Swift books I read as a kid, my favorite character was Tom’s best friend Bud Barclay. Bud was totally reliable and faithful, completely unwavering in his friendship and belief in Tom. I patterned Toby Bundersmith after Bud in that respect. To maintain that same 50s nostalgic innocence, there can’t be any real conflict with Astrid.
Toby’s relationship has to be different in one way– he’s not just Astrid’s best friend– he’s her boyfriend. In fact, she often daydreams of one day being Dr. Astrid Bundersmith, so he has to not only be great, but dreamy as well. Toby is my perfect boy. He never wavers, he’s always supportive, he’s always reliable, and always responsible. He can’t save the day, because Astrid is the hero of the story, but he’s always there to back her up. If someone has to come to Astrid’s aid, it will be Toby. In truth, he’s pretty boring. Fortunately, there are enough other characters who can cause chaos, doubt, and trouble for our girl inventor.
I am making a goal of increasing my Twitter following. I really like Twitter. It’s much less invasive than Facebook. Every time they update Facebook it’s worse. I don’t even want my close friends knowing what game I’m playing, where I’m walking, or when I go to the bathroom. At the same time Twitter is more inclusive, because you can follow someone without being a stalker.
Right now, as I write this, I have 69 followers. My initial goal is 300. If you would like to follow me, you can find me at @Wesley_Allison.
Last night, I just sat there and read through a bunch of tweets about Edgar Rice Burroughs (using search a topic). It’s great how many people are tweeting their appreciation for this great storyteller.
