that Terry Gross’s interview with David Simon on Fresh Air gave me part of the initial idea for Bright’s Light. (Check me out: trying to get a little of that Wire magic on my book. Ha! The shamelessness is almost, but not quite, too much.) Anyhow, I was completely taken with Simon’s fierce and coherent defense of the need to put human dignity before corporate agendas. Put this way, it sounds a bit obvious and undergrad-y, like I just discovered communist theory (Hey! The world is super unfair! Someone should invent some new political system and write a book about it called “Utopia”!), but Simon was so eloquent and outraged and humane that I felt like I was hearing the concepts for the first time. He talked about all the people the economy doesn’t need and their dismal prospects in most Western cultures.
His comments reminded me that the economy is meant to work for people, not the other way around. Somehow, we are in a time and a place where that seems a radical, unpatriotic notion to many people.
This line of thought got me wondering what it would look like if the purest sort of capitalism was allowed to run amok (a traditional consideration in speculative fiction). What if the world became so unstable it was rendered unsafe for capitalism and all the great corporations had to retreat into safe zones where people were free to produce and consume? What if all those societies failed but one?
How long would it take for such a society to get rid of all the extraneous (non-productive) people? What would purely capitalistic beings look like if bred and trained to express the purest essence of consumerism? (We might get a hint when we watch any of the Real Housewives programs. Go Real Housewives of Vancouver!)
I imagined a world divided into productive people and those who serve as their reward: entertainers of various kinds. This corporate paradise is called (quite subtly, I hope you will agree) Citizens United Inside the Store.
Somewhere along the way the Deciders, who are in charge of deciding what goes on inside the Store, decided that they’d take care of basic goods and services (so socialistic, but most corporations like a little socialism and welfare when and where it suits) so that the Citizens can focus on earning credits to spend on entertainment. All else in Bright’s Light comes from this basic premise, including the characters and their motivations.
There’s a lot more to the of the Citizens, but what I’m trying to tell you is that this book is basically David Simon’s fault. Well, his and Terry Gross’, because she had him on Fresh Air and asked all those great questions. I was planning to write another book with chickens, and still might, but then he went and got me all inspired and angry about things and I wrote Bright’s Light instead and wound up with a sci-fi/dystopian satire-y thing.
And since I’m on the subject, one of the most exciting things about going to the Edgar Awards ceremony a few years ago was meeting Laura Lippman, one of my favourite writers. She just just happened to be there with her husband, David Simon! She said something along the lines of: “Nice to meet you. And this is my husband, David.” And as I shook his hand I made a valiant attempt not to stroke out or strangle on my own spit and then I INVITED THEM TO OUR HOUSE IN BC. Yes, I did! Ha. I kill myself sometimes. Next I’ll be swanning up to Bono and asking him if he wants to come over and walk the dog down to the post office with me. Slowly, because Frank’s a dog who likes to take his time, no matter who’s coming on the walk. I’m pretty sure Bono wears tight leather pants and so he might be glad to go on a very short, slow walk down to the mailbox.
Yup.
And now for an abrupt subject change: how about those Olympic games? They are enough to make me wish there was a gold medal event in Barbara’s Jalapeno Cheese Puff eating.
Okay. Back to the work-in-progress, which, I’m pleased to say, is progressing. What more can one ask?
xo