Laurie’s Comments (group member since Jul 11, 2012)

Laurie’s comments from the Q&A with Laurie Frankel group.

Gillian wrote: "One more question - what causes the bug when a RePoster says "I'm sorry" to their DLO? Why do they all say the same thing back?"

Well, it's a bug, so who knows what causes it. But "I'm sorry" is such a nuanced thing to say with so many possible meanings. It seems exactly the sort of thing that's hard for computers to parse but easy for humans to make sense of. It's also the most common thing people say when someone dies, and it's a strange response in some ways, so that's why I chose it.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!

Gillian wrote: "(spoiler included)

First, I just loved this book so very much. In a weird turn of events, it was really the perfect book for me to read this week - my mother died almost 8 years ago and I had lite..."

Hi Gillian, I'm so glad you liked the book and so sorry about your mom and losing all those emails. It is very strange that you found this book at just that moment, but I'm so glad it helped. Thanks for writing too and asking such good questions.

I love the cover. The paperback you're seeing is the UK cover, and I love that one too. What I love about the US cover is that it's so pretty, eye-catching, provocative. I see what you mean about the book's mood and feeling, but I like its ethereal sense. It's a compromise, I think, between the book's sad parts and its happy, uplifting ones.

Film rights have been optioned. A screenplay is in the words. So we shall see. Fingers crossed.

I myself would use this software if it existed for sure. But I know a lot of people would not.

I never thought about it before, but yeah, I think Meredith would do exactly what Sam does if roles were reversed...at least as much as she could. Sam's the only one who can run the software.

And I think there are lots of forms of moving on. I suspect Sam will manage some of them. And lots and lots will remain, I think, beyond him forever.

Thanks for writing and reading!!

Lalinilla wrote: "I read the book in only one day, I couldn't stop! I loved it and I'd like to know how did you imagined the program that the main characters use to talk with... well, you know with whom. And also a ..."

Thank you Lalinilla!! I'm so glad you liked the book! Good questions too! The program seems like a no-brainer to me. It surprises me that it doesn't exist already. It strikes me as so possible to recreate people's online correspondence and identities. I thought this up when my own grandmother died because we emailed each other a lot and I missed her so much. I thought it was a great idea for a software product -- that was a little impractical; instead, it turned out to be a great idea for a novel.

And your second question cracks me up. I do watch Grey's Anatomy, but this Meredith has nothing to do with that one. I live in Seattle myself, so the overlap is less striking on my end.

Leslie wrote: "What is one book that you think everyone should read?"

What a great question Leslie. Here's my answer, but it's sort of cheating: Hamlet. Everyone should read Hamlet. Is Hamlet a book? No, it's a play. But that's my answer anyway. Reading tastes differ and times change and everyone has different literary needs, but Hamlet is in everything and everything is in Hamlet. Sometimes that play annoys me, and often that character annoys me, and parts of it just draaaaaaagggggg, BUT it also includes passages which are simply the best use of language to date. You know how they say Mozart makes your brain smarter without your conscious mind having to do anything? I think reading Hamlet does that too.

Sara wrote: "Sara wrote: "Loved it. Characters were likable and easy to relate to. Fun reading a book by an author I grew up with. Way to go Laurie!" Are you planning on writing another book with the same chara..."

Hi Sara! It's so great to see you here (and on FB)! Thank you so much for the support and congrats. Nope, I think I'm done with ATLAS and those characters. I love them, but I'm pretty sure the story's whole as is. Originally, the book was called Naked Love, and then my sister was telling me about a potty training playdate she did where none of the kids wore pants, and I thought I might write a sequel called Naked Playdate. But probably not. I might, however, write another book with some repeated characters from Goodbye For Now. We'll see!

Hi all! So glad to be back and ready to get down to some serious Q&A. I said we'd start this on August 7, and we have 50 more minutes of August 7 to go Pacific Daylight Time. Looking forward to a fun three weeks of chatting. Let's get started!

I can't wait to discuss the new book with you all! Any questions/comments/discussion of GOODBYE FOR NOW, do it here!

Questions/comments about book #1? We've got a thread for that.

Questions about writing, about me, about motherhood, authorhood, social networking, teaching, adoption, plays, baseball, or anything else you think I might have interesting answers for? Ask away, my friends!

Welcome everyone! Thank you so much for joining us. I love to do Q&A -- it's such a great way to meet everyone, and readers ask the most interesting questions. Do feel free to ask, answer, comment, whatever you like. Thanks for reading and thanks for being here!