Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Pokémon GO, Anyone?

AAAAAH!!!
Over the last few weeks I escaped from the craziness that is currently my life—prepping a gently neglected (that’s another story) five bedroom house, shop, goat barn, and almost four acres to go on the market—into two beloved romantic comedies. 

They are two of my favorite stories by one of my favorite authors, Jennifer Cruisie. (Note Her name is a link to her website. You should visit. I’m just sayin’.) (I’m also including taglines for the books. And book covers. Because these stories are hilarious and true. And I am a major fangirl.)




Fast WomenWhen a down-on-her-luck divorcée meets a determined-to-dominate detective, they find out that falling in love can be murder…




Faking It:  What has reality ever done for you?




Whilst re-enjoying every bit of these stories, I was gobsmacked by how quickly the details of daily life have changed. Both stories are set in the early 2000s. 

Every house and business has a landline phone. In Faking It, the hero has a cell phone but it’s almost always turned off. Nobody texts. Nobody takes photos with their phone. Nobody looks things up on the internet with their phones. Nobody plays games with their phones!

Google is not yet an English verb. Computers are PCs or Macs, not laptops or notebooks. People use maps and compasses to find their way around. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and a host of other social media platforms lie somewhere in the future for these characters.

I could go on and on. The point is that as contemporary writers in 2016, we need to keep up with new developments. Or we can switch to writing historicals, or we can set our stories in the recent past. I know of two writers who have done this.

VISIT THE SITE
Me? I'm going to learn how to play Pokemon Go, the new Augmented Reality cell phone game. My fourteen-year-old granddaughter has volunteered to teach me—right after we put the house on the market.

2 comments:

Diana McCollum said...

Getting a house ready for the market is really time consuming. At some point, one needs to just 'list it'. The summer months are supposed to be the best time for selling. Wishing you luck on your sale!

Personally, I feel too many electronics are taking away from personal relationships.

One thing I really dislike is to go to a restaurant or coffee shop and see all the people who instead of engaging with their dinner partners, have their noses stuck in a cell phone. I think it's rude to be texting and ignoring whomever they're with.

And what are we teaching our children about manners when adults conduct their selves this way??

I turn my phone off at dinner time at home, and when my husband and I go out. There's nothing that important that can't wait till after our meal!

That's my rant for today!

Jennifer Cruisie is awesome!!

Sarah Raplee said...

I agree that people need to connect more face-to-face. So much of our communication is through tone of voice, facial expressions and body language! Plus we have an innate biological need to interact face-to-face.

One of the nice things about the augmented reality games is that they get people out and about and encourage face-to-face interaction with others rather than having gamers sit home by themselves indoors.

Thanks for your comment, Diana.