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Greetings and salutations, book lovers! I’m Claire Voyante, the main character of Dream Life, Lauren Mechling’s rip-roaring detective novel (and no, it is not immodest to say that about a book you didn’t write but in which you star—I checked in one of my grandmother Kiki’s etiquette books).
Dream Life is all about what happened after I found out my best friend Becca had just joined a super-exclusive, centuries-old secret society called the Blue Moons. I figured out how to wiggle my way into the club, and, of course, much drama ensued. I warmly invite you to check Dream Life out—it’s available at a bookstore or Internet site near you.
When Dream Girl, the first book in the series, came out, my creator Lauren fielded questions from bloggers and journalists. Lauren is currently underground working on a secret project so I offered to step in and relief pitch. I’m taking a page from Ann Landers's book and writing an advice column. The questions came from fans of the series. The answers came from the heart.
Dear Claire,
My uncle and aunt are having a baby and if it’s a girl they want to name it Andromeda. And my math teacher just gave birth to a boy who she called Xander. What the heck is going on? Whatever happened to names like Tom or Brittany?
Lia Who Used To Think Her Name Was Somewhat Interesting
Clinton, Iowa
Dear LWUTTHNWSI,Okay, that wasn’t really an advice question. More like a Seinfeld joke. But I’m happy to take this on—I totally agree that something weird is afoot.
I live in a building for NYU professors and their families, and I haven’t met a single baby with a normal name in the past few years. There’s Virgil, Artemis, Finn, Tigris, Ethel, and Maker. Swear to Zeus. Oh wait--there's also a Zeus.
My theory is the people who are having babies these days—mostly people in their late twenties or thirties—were named in the ‘70s, when guys with names like Richard and Jimmy were president, pop stars were named Judy and Barbara, and extremely boring names were popular. Lauren, my 70s-born author, went to a party recently where every single guy she met was named Matt or Jason or Jessica or Lauren. Every. Single. One.
So now that these Laurens and Jasons are bringing babies into the world, it’s their turn to right the balance and name their kids after planets or ancient gods. Must stink to be a kindergarten teacher and have to remember all those names!
We can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that everything goes in cycles, and in fifty years or whatever, our kids won’t grow up to say to people at cocktail parties, “Hi, my name is Mesopotamia!” As for your uncle, well, it is his kid. Just remember you're free to have as many Jacks and Judys as you wish.
L’amour toujours!
Claire
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Thanks so much, Claire/Lauren!
Dream Life by Lauren Mechling -- Trailer from Richie Williams on Vimeo.
Other Links:
Dream Life on Amazon/ Indiebound
Lauren's Website
Lauren's Blog
Lauren's Twitter
Some of Lauren's other books on Barnes and Noble/ Amazon
That was so cool! What an inventive guest post :)
ReplyDeleteFun guest post!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I have added the book to my next HS Media Center book order. It sounds like a lot of fun. As I school media specialist, I have seen some odd (well, if I am being PC, unique) names. I have always heard that the parents should test the name in these two questions to see if it works -- "can xxxxx come out and play?" and "would you consider xxxx for this job promotion?" And also have some sympathy for the poor child who needs to learn how to spell it.
ReplyDeleteCute guest post. :)
ReplyDeleteI have something for you here:
http://theladybugreads.blogspot.com/2010/01/and-one-more-for-good-measure.html
That was the cleverest and most unusual post I have ever read and I really enjoyed reading. I would like to read this book just to check out the appeal to me. Thanks for another great review/interview.
ReplyDeleteHi :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the character post. I loved the letter format!
All the best,
RKCharron