Stranger Times: How the Current State of the World is Affecting Our Relationship with Entertainment

Times are...strange. 

In this episode of A Book and A Dream, Megan O'Russell discusses the scary place that is the world right now and how the pandemic has affected the way we experience entertainment. Including Tiger King. Yep...

Transcript

Megan: [00:00:01] One of the things that I've noticed is that we've gotten even bigger on group binge events. You can't even, like, go past Tiger King before you have to just admit that this is real.

Announcement: [00:00:16] Welcome to A Book and A Dream with Megan O'Russell: an author's adventure in writing, reading, and being an epic fangirl.

Megan: [00:00:28] Hello, my name is Megan O'Russell, and welcome to Episode 38 of A Book and A Dream. I think we're all trying to figure out how to connect with our fellow humans as we live in this new six feet apart kind of world. And I've noticed a few things about how we are treating our entertainment in this new, socially distant world.

Megan: [00:00:50] Now, one of the things that I've noticed is that we've gotten even bigger on group binge events. You can't even, like, go past Tiger King before you have to just admit that this is real. If we weren't all in quarantine, Carol Baskin would not be, like, some huge viral thing. But because we were all in quarantine, everyone sort of needed something to hang on to. Some common experience that they could have, even though they weren't allowed to be in the same place as other people. And I totally get that as someone who has spent their life in live theater.

Megan: [00:01:25] Live theater is now, thankfully, starting to eek its way back to open. There is something about having this communal storytelling experience in a live venue that is very, very hard to duplicate, basically impossible to duplicate anywhere else. That's why live theater has had such a long life. We need that connection. We need that ability to go through a common experience with the people around us.

Megan: [00:01:52] And so everyone binged Tiger King, and it sort of was the same thing with Hamilton where we all needed another event to rally around. We all needed another thing to watch that we knew so many other people who were watching. We were all going to have a common experience from our different living rooms with our pod of people, and that was it. And I'm sure the same thing is going to happen with Mulan, where we're all going to binge it, and we're all going to have an opinion, and we're all going to pretend we watched it together.

Megan: [00:02:18] And that also sort of extends into the literary world, too. So as an author, I have realized that I have gotten a lot more readers reaching out to me than I did before. You know, social distancing and isolation and quarantine all came in. And it's been emails. It's been social media, and it's great. I love it. Please, if you want to reach out to an author, I am happy to answer your emails. Tweet me. I would love to to be there to chat about books or to answer questions about my books. I am so happy to do that. And I have noticed more people reaching out and I don't think it's just out of boredom or spare time.

Megan: [00:02:56] It's people genuinely wanting to connect. It's people who have found that that's something that they're lacking and not getting to see other people's faces all the time. And they found it in books. And then they're coming to me, the author, as the root of the books, as someone they can connect to. And again, I am totally happy to do that. Please get in touch. And even as a reader, I've tweeted authors before or like a review of their book or hey, I love this or whatever. Never really got answers until we started distancing, and now I've been hearing back from authors and had some really lovely connections with some people because everyone wants that bond. And I would love to encourage you to continue to seek that bond.

Megan: [00:03:47] Is it a replacement for sitting in a live theatre? No. Is it a replacement for going to a classroom, for getting to hang out in big crowds? No, but it is a human connection. And it's a human connection that we are finding through these different art forms. Now, if you're a writer, and writers are very used to, you know, hanging out with their computer, just making up some characters and probably killing them at some point, I would still encourage you to go out and find your...your people on Facebook, join a writers group, go into writers community on Twitter.

Megan: [00:04:24] Be careful about it, because sometimes they get nasty. But find other writers to connect to to talk about what you're doing. You may not be able to go to your local writing club right now, but there are so many welcoming groups. Some of the best groups that I met on Facebook are writers that I am either are still friends with from when our publisher shut down or that I joined in to for other things. I actually recently joined another author group. That's very cool. We have a whole Instagram thing going on, so look up YA reading frenzy writing. YA reading frenzy or YA fantasy Monday. We have hashtags and we're all sharing each other's books and we're making friends and talking about authory things. And it's so great.

Megan: [00:05:09] So if you are an author, do not feel even more isolated than usual. There are so many places out there. If you are a reader, reach out to your favorite author. Are they necessarily going to answer? You know, but chances are, even if they don't answer your tweet or your bookstore picture or whatever, you are making their day even if they have total imposter syndrome and can't bring themselves to answer you.

Megan: [00:05:36] That's a real thing. Sometimes, if I get a really nice email, it takes me twenty-four hours to answer, not because I don't want to answer you, but because I have to convince myself that the email was really meant for me and like, psych myself up to type back to you. So never think I'm ignoring you. I'm just, you know, dealing with my own psychoses. But anyway... So, reach out to your favorite author, or if you're a huge fan of something like The Lunar Chronicles, Doctor Who, whatever it is, go on Reddit, find a subReddit, follow the Instagram hashtag for that series and find other people who like what you like. It's not a replacement for hanging out at a coffee shop with your friends, but it is a way to chat to other people who already love something you love. And that kind of connection based around art can be so helpful.

Megan: [00:06:23] Now, I will be the first to say that social media is not real life. I am as guilty as everyone else is of putting rose-colored filters over everything that I post. So, you know, if you look at social media, it's like a soap opera. Everything is the best day ever or the worst day ever. And there's hardly ever any like, "And on my commute today, I saw nothing. And then I ate lunch. And nothing happened."

Megan: [00:06:53] Like, you don't get that on social media. You only get the highs and lows, and it can completely distort your reality of where you should be versus the other people around you. So be careful, but remember that there are so many ways to connect and embrace that, and as we go back out into the world, eventually it'll happen eventually. Don't necessarily lose that. Don't lose the love that you have found for your favorite fandom, your favorite series. Don't stop connecting with other people, because you get face to face, anymore, because I think having those different steps of connection is a great way to surround yourself with even more love and support when you find the right people. There are some really, really lovely supportive authors, readers, fandoms out there, and find one because, yeah, we are we are on the struggle bus people.

Megan: [00:07:55] I'm actually, well, I'm filming this Friday, but I'm going to post it Monday. I'm not filming over the weekend because I'm getting a kitten tomorrow. Why? Because I needed something fuzzy in my life that I can love.

Megan: [00:08:07] So don't worry, there'll be pictures all over social media, but we all need something. And I would encourage you to let the art that you love bring you to people. You can be a friend because it's a great way to connect. In other authory news, I have approved the final version of The Tethering audiobook. It'll take a while to be available on Audible. It will shortly be available in libraries and on other platforms. I will let you know when it goes completely live. Also, I am starting the read aloud edits of the third book in the Bryant Adams series: Three Simple Steps to Wizarding Domination.

Megan: [00:08:44] So there are lots of amazing authory things happening and a kitten coming into my life. So yeah, make sure that you like, subscribe, comment, whatever makes the algorithm for your preferred social media platform make sure you see these videos, because next week there's going to be a kitten involved. Also, if you're listening to the podcast, only a format, make sure that you head on over to my Instagram, my Facebook, whatever, so that you can see pictures of my adorable little kitten. Her name is Meeny and she's gorgeous.

Megan: [00:09:17] So until next time, I can't wait to show you my kitten by.