My life is now given to you, freely. Use it well. You have only this one chance.
That's quite a name.
Thank you.
I was being facetious.
Funny that. So was I.
You've got some attitude.
So would you if you had to deal with all that I have to deal with in the course of a day.
A complainer, eh?
Yeah. Big time.
Are you always this well behaved in interviews?
I'm just playing; lighten up.
Do you really look like the photo?
It was a bad hair day.
It's not just the hair that makes me ask.
Didn't your mother ever teach you not to judge a book by its cover. Well, you can make an exception in the case of my book; but do me a favor and judge it by its front cover, OK?
You're kind of feisty. Are you alwaysthis way?
Yes, and single also. So the photo is, shall we say a “few” years out of date. But I haven't lied about my height.
That's because you haven't told us how tall you are.
Hey, you're a quick one.
What's got you so touchy?
Well, if you must know, I've missed yet another deadline to get the next set of chapters to the writer. You know how touchy they can be. By the way, when you interview him, don't believe him if he tells you what a nice guy he is.
Why's that?
It's a royal pain to work with him. I write down so much of the story, and when I send those parts to him, he has the audacity to tell me how we much we need to rework sections to make it more palatable to the audience.
Audience... Hey, that's me. So, why would your version not be palatable to us?
I'm a bit too feisty.
You know, you don't come across like a Priestess.
Watch your lip, or I'll put a curse on you for all time.
Speaking of lips..
I'll ignore your little insinuation that another of my facial features isn't to your liking. Let's get this religious thing out of the way: I am a Priestess. I am the High Priestess of the Worlds of Atria. However, on Atria, that doesn't make me one iota spiritually better or more important than any other Atrian. Or any of you for that matter. You could say that being High Priestess is just a job.
You're smiling...
Well sure, it's a really good job. Look, I'm a woman first, and a priestess second. Women matter because they keep the species going. We're connected to the source, if you know what I mean. As a Pristess, I'm not hung up on who you pray to because that's so old fashioned.
Praying?
No, worrying about who someone else prays to. I am the Keeper of the Flame of the One Religion. But that's all so meaningless until you get the survival thing worked out. And you people seem to be having trouble with that.
So, is the book some sort of survival guide?
Not at all.
What would you call it?
A post-biblical journey to the end of time?
You are joking?
Of course I am.
You are fiesty.
Didn't we already cover that?
I'm supposed to ask the questions.
Of course you are.
Tell me, is the book anything at all like this conversation?
Goodness no. Not in the least.
So how come you aren't being nice to me and plugging your book?
Do I need to?
What planet are you from? Of course you do!
I'm from Atria. On Atria, we don't try to convince people to do something just because that something would be good for them.
You mean like trying to convince me to read your book?
Exactly. In fact, I don't think you should read it.
Why the heck not? Do you think you're too good for me? That it might be over my head?
No, not at all. I think you'd rather enjoy reading it.
You don't make much sense. First you tell me I shouldn't read it, and then you tell me I'd enjoy it. Which is it?
Both. But just because you'd enjoy it doesn't mean you should read it. You should only read it when you know that you should read it.
Hah! Now we're getting somewhere: that's kind of Zen-like, wouldn't you say?
It's in you too.
Oh, even better; I knew you'd have that foo-foo spirituality stuff in you.
Do not confuse, Little Grasshopper, the words for the wisdom.
Oh, that's good! You have that mystical thing about you also.
In a fiesty sort of way, yes.
Do your people look to you as a spiritual leader? What kind of example are you setting here?
The free people of the Worlds of Atria depend on the Priestesses for their continued survival. If that is a spiritual matter to you, then yes, they do. But if you mean that somehow I mediate their interaction with the creative force in the universe, then no. We are not intermediaries in that sense.
As for the example I am setting here... do you find me irreverant? Yes, I am deeply spiritual. But not in a way that you'd immediately understand because you people have divorced your living from your spirituality. They are one in the same for me. And so if I happen to be fiesty at the moment, then I do it will all the spirit at my disposal. There are some rather Big Issues that need to be addressed in the Universe, and my attention is turned toward them. I approach these Big Issues with pure spirit and utter fiestiness. So, this is the real me. As one of your famous lyricists put it, "Can you see the real me?" I'm right her before you, yet you will puzzle over me for a very long time.
Spoken like a true Mystic Visionary.
Oh please, no such labels!
Can you tell me about these Big Issues?
Read the book. Do you think I've been working with him because I enjoy this?
Him? You mean the author?
Yup, that's the one.
Why does he bother you so?
He doesn't. Actually, I find him rather cute. Besides, I need him to get this story out. But I don't want him to feel used, as if he's some sort of biological typewriter.
What do you really think of him?
Didn't you want to know about the Big Issues?
Right. Let's talk about why you've taken to telling this story, especially if it's such a burden to you?
It's not a burden. Not at all. I'm actually having a lot of fun.
So, why are you telling this story?
You people need a new mythic structure.
What do you mean by that?
Do you feel that the fairy tales of the Brother Grimm's are sage counsel?
They are kind of nasty, aren't they? But those are kids tales. Is your story for kids?
Grown up kids. «she laughs» That's all of us I hope.
Tell me about the mythic structure.
You people have great power as a whole. But you still act as individuals. The stories that you reach for are all about making you feel better as individuals for the loneliness that lies at the heart of existence. That's something you just want to put to the side or ignore or even deny. But it's there, and it eats at you. Your mythic structures are about the loner who has great power and sets the world aright. But real life is not about some superhero coming to save the day. The truth is, the world is about you. Each of you. Individually. One person at a time. And you don't have a mythic history of this. You have myths of people fighting embodied evil, or of finding undiscovered enchanted lands. You fantasize the former and pine the latter, as if there really once were a golden day when fair elves wandered the world. And with modern cinematic technique, these stories have become visually astounding while leaving you ever more hollow. Yet as a civilization you are poised precariously at the edge. Who's your role model? Who's the villian? Who's going to save you?
I didn't know we needed to be saved.
That's the problem. That's why I'm telling this story.
But isn't Ahmenar a loner hero who saves the world.
No, not at all. What ever gave you that idea?
I, uh-
You got that from Ahmenar, didn't you?
Well, sort of. But more from the marketing blurb for the book.
I feel compassion for them.
Who?
The marketing folks.
Why?
They have to fight through all the noise that's in your world. So many people trying to “sell” you so many things. How ever can you decide what to listen to?
I feel like I could listen to you all day.
That's nice, but I’ve got a few chapters that I really must refine for the writer so I don't fall behind again. Do you mind if I get back to work. A lot of people are waiting for these words.
No, not at all. Do you think we can continue this later?
Perhaps.
So, you're uh, single. Can I get your number?
It's in the book.
