Participants:
| Scene Title | Business With Pleasure |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Savannah and Lynette have a getting-to-know-you dinner. |
| Date | September 30, 2010 |
It's a lovely evening tonight. One that most people wouldn't waste sitting indoors, especially with winter on the way. Who knows how many good days there are left before the weather sets in. And while Lynette isn't wasting it inside her home, she is indoors. Specifically, at a classy sushi restaurant she's fond of.
Sitting in a booth, yet dining alone, the blonde is rather unashamedly reading a romance novel there at the table. The title Mean Heat is scrawled over a picture of a cowboy with an open shirt and rippling muscles with a woman in his arms who's also having some wardrobe malfunction issues.
Savannah's one of those people who does well indoors or outdoors, and she doesn't mind being inside on a nice evening. Slipping inside, it isn't long before she's found Lynette's booth, sliding in across from her as she notes the cover. "You know, I wonder if I put more abs on the covers of my books if they'd sell better."
"They just might," Lynette replies easily, with a glance over the top of the book toward Savannah, "I admit, they sway my choices quite often." Sliding a bookmark into place, she sets her book aside and folds her arms on the table to look over at the author. "I hope you don't mind. I ordered a bottle of sake for the table." Because she can't smoke in here and the socially acceptable alternative is alcohol.
"Oh, good. I would have ordered it myself if you hadn't." Savannah states, looking back over. "I'd contemplated abs, but my agent thought it wouldn't send the right message. Perhaps my next one. Definitely catch attention with something like that…"
"Fantastic, then." Lynette slides what appears to be an appetizer toward the other woman, "Edamame? And it all depends, really, on your marketing philosophy. There are two basic schools of thought. One tries to reproduce the meaning and purpose in concentrated form. People who need or want X will know this is where to get X. The other is the sex can sell anything, whether or not it actually has anything to do with the product. And while it may drag more attention, it also leaves a large number wondering how they ended up with this set of matching his-and-hers Elvis coffee mugs."
Savannah grins broadly, reaching to grab one before she nods a little. "Well understandable. I tend to try and be a little more honest with my marketing. I could have used the eye candy, though. I think Kam just would have gotten jealous." She insists as reasoning.
"It occurs to me that romance novels can employ both schools of thought at the same time," Lynette remarks with a smirk. But, she shakes it off and looks over at Savannah. "I have to confess. I haven't read your stuff. I've read about you, though. I hope that makes up for it."
"Best of both worlds, eh?" Savannah notes, then glances over. "Oh, well, that's perfectly alright. It's not really something you need to make a confession about or try and make up for. Besides, they're okay books anyways. I'm working on stuff that will be better."
"Such as?" Lynette pulls her own drink over for a taste of it, eyebrows raised curiously in Savannah's direction. "It strikes me as such a difficult vocation. The rise or fall is dependant on the people's whims, basically. Seems stressful."
Savannah shrugs a bit. "It's got some element of timeliness, yes, but that's just with books like mine that deal with different topics. It's a game of figuring out what's going on before it happens, good predictions, or taking events and themes that are current and extrapolating enough that they won't just be old news by the time the book gets around to being published." The blonde author smiles a bit. "My new stuff… I'm aiming the characters to be a bit younger, mid-to-late teens, powers manifesting kind of thing. That's a big deal, people struggling to control abilities. And having something that's relevant to people but is still entertaining as a book and not a self-help book… that's where you want to hit."
"Right, because you want these younger readers to want to read it, I follow." Lynette takes another sip, her head nodding lightly. "Manifestation, hmm? It's a delicate line to straddle, showing manifestation for what it is and not driving the fear all the deeper. Imagine if people really thought about these children holding all this power with no way to control it."
Savannah nods. "Well, there's always that worry, which is why it's a struggle to find the right message to send. I don't want it to invoke fear… but I want it to feel like a right of passage, in a way, part of the coming-of-age story, so to speak."
"I suppose it is. I never thought of it that way." Lynette tilts her head, thoughtful for a moment. "As a rite of passage, I mean. Children shoved into adulthood, basically. Some handle the responsibilities so well. Some don't handle them at all. The abilities, I suppose, magnify what would have become of those same children without them."
"It also makes for interesting character development, certainly. Depending on what age I make them, their struggles are different but they're still having the immense responsibility of controlling and using their ability properly, regardless of how weak or how strong it is." Savannah murmurs, shifting in her seat a little. "It's a lot of responsibility to throw on someone."
"It is. Not everyone can hold it up. Not everyone knows how to put it to good use. Not everyone knows… there's no obligation to use it. I met someone recently… so many people have wanted her for her power. Whether they ask or force, friend or foe… it hollowed her out. She has to rebuild the pieces. That is something people need to learn. They can say no. The world will carry on." Lynette seems fairly firm in that, too. Protective, even, of these imagined youths.
There's a warm smile there. "That's a good theme, really. Saying 'no'. It's hard for people, especially kids. Peer pressure, a sense of obedience, the law… there's plenty that causes young adults, children, to feel like they have to do something they're against." Savannah purses her lips. "In any aspect, being used by people, it's one of the worst things that can happen to someone. It devalues them as a person, because friend or foe alike—they're being used as a tool. It's dehumanizing, which is something I think about a lot when it comes to these things…"
"Exactly," Lynette says, on all counts, apparently. "We, as a society, I'm afraid, are not very good at teaching people how to avoid being used in general. Let alone when 'evolved' gets thrown into the mix." Her gaze slides up from her cup to Savannah, a curious look on her face, "Why? Why do you think about it so much? Write these books, all this that you do."
"I enjoy writing, for one. I suppose I could write about anything, but… I don't know. Years ago, people would have thought that this was just sci-fi… and I like sci-fi. I write a bit of sci-fi in my stuff, but… it's a blending of our world and a fictional one. There's so much you can work with, so much to shape people." Savannah leans against the booth. "I like stories, people's stories. Ones with abilities… they've just got struggles that are different, people aren't used to it. I'll never be Evolved, but I'll always wonder what it's like. How am I different because of it, how are they? Is it just an ability that makes us different? How does it shape our whole lives?"
"It's not different. It really isn't a different struggle. It's the same struggle intensified. Bullies are still bullies. They're just bullies who can crush your head between their hands. People still hunger for power, only now it's not some arbitrary idea of being the top dog. It's real, tangible power and that makes them all the more desperate." Lynette reaches over to pluck up a piece of the edamame between two fingers. "But they're still just bullies, in the end. Same story."
Savannah reaches for another piece herself. "Well, I don't know about that. In some ways, it's the same struggle. We all struggle as humans, but I don't have a struggle with, say, controlling weather or reading minds. There are some unique struggles that come with that. Overall, we all have struggles, but there are smaller ones along the way that are unique to us. I might not have an ability, but I struggle with a mental condition. Doesn't make me not human, it doesn't make me better than anyone else, but it means I have to struggle with something that not everyone else has to."
"I suppose. But the control comes. I imagine it's like… taking a job working heavy machinery. It's a little dangerous, it's a little empowering, and you either decide to be responsible with it, or you decide to let loose." Lynette lifts a shoulder a bit, there, "I don't think the Evolved need to be painted as apart anymore than they are already. But it could help to show everyone else how they're still the same. For better or worse, we're all human."
"Oh, I agree entirely. Unification is something we need… and that's a lot of what I like to portray. The human side to things as opposed to viewing people as groups. You start saying 'Evolved' and 'Non-Evolved', you're grouping people. Then you start grouping Humanis First, Messiah… you break people into categories, and categories are easier to care less about than people." Savannah shrugs. "People don't care because people don't see people as people as much anymore."
"It's easier that way. There's a lot you can't have to worry about if you can stop seeing people as the same as you." Lynette's plenty guilty of that, herself. "You've picked a good city to be in, at least. LA was never this… saturated," she says, choosing her wording carefully. she is in the presence of a writer, after all.
Savannah grins. "I admit, it was a good choice on my part to leave. I lived near San Francisco, but most of the publishing and stuff was out here, so I'd fly across the country a lot. I got tired of it one night and then just showed up here, hired some guys to pack up my stuff. I still haven't found a decent apartment complex yet, though." She looks a little embarassed. "I had some ulterior motives moving out here, though, entirely aside from the… saturation."
"My move was similar. Just up and flew out here. Of course, then the city was slammed with a neverending snowstorm. That was fun." Lynette drinks a little more, but those last words get her attention with a little perk. "Oh? Such as?"
There's a bit of a blush. "Ah, there's a guy." Savannah looks embarrassed, just a bit, reaching for another piece of edamame. "He's… actually my agent. First time I talked to him on the phone… God." It's interesting seeing the blonde author a bit giddy. "I thought maybe, if I was here…" She grins.
"Oooh, mixing business with pleasure. Would that we all could manage that, honey," Lynette says, even going so far as to lift her glass to the other woman. "I wish you every bit of luck there. I once had a psychiatrist for the same reason. Best decision I ever made."
Savannah grins. "I'd say it's the best decision I've ever made. He looks amazing in a suit." She insists, then looks down. "Ah, but now I'm just gushing. Kam's certainly a dear, though." She lifts her glass.
Lynette just chuckles at the gushing, although her hand comes up to rub at the crook in her arm for a moment. And then, abruptly, she stands from her seat, stepping out of the booth. "It's been… a pleasure. And I'd love for us to talk again. I left my number with Kam, feel free to call. But I really must be going. If I don't get a cigarette soon, I may become unpleasant," she says the last with a smile, joking perhaps, but all the same, she's serious enough to be making her goodbyes.