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Live Chat with Scott Hutchins, A WORKING THEORY OF LOVE

 Live Chat with Scott Hutchins, A WORKING THEORY OF LOVE(08/22/2012) 
3:47
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Hi Everybody. This is Nora Rawlinson of EarlyWord.com. We're getting ready to chat with Scott Hutchins, author of A WORKING THEORY OF LOVE, coming from Penguin Press on Oct 2. Chat begins at 4 p.m.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:47 Nora - EarlyWord
3:52
Nora - EarlyWord: 
While we're waiting to begin, you may be interested in reading Scott’s New York Times piece about a nightmare interview experience.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:52 Nora - EarlyWord
3:52
Nora - EarlyWord: 
More Noir Than Chardonnay By SCOTT HUTCHINS The New York Times
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:52 Nora - EarlyWord
3:54
Nora - EarlyWord: 
To get us in the mood, here's a few of the places where Scott’s book is set:
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:54 Nora - EarlyWord
3:54
 Nora - EarlyWord
Dolores Park. Main character Neill's apartment is near here.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:54 
3:54
 Nora - EarlyWord
The Rainbow Tunnel; leading to Marin
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:54 
3:55
 Nora - EarlyWord
Stinson Beach
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:55 
3:55
Scott H: 
Just want to say I'm here!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:55 Scott H
3:55
Scott H: 
My avatar is weirdly stretched horizontally
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:55 Scott H
3:55
Scott H: 
Looking forward to chatting.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:55 Scott H
3:56
Nora - EarlyWord: 
The stretched avatar makes you look a bit devilsh! We'll get started at 4 -- meantime, more photos!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:56 Nora - EarlyWord
3:57
 Nora - EarlyWord
The Bolinas sign -- in a rare moment between being stolen by residents, in an attempt to confuse tourists.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:57 
3:57
 Nora - EarlyWord
The Golden Gate Bridge, featured on the cover of Scott's book
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:57 
3:57
 Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:57 
3:59
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Welcome, everyone. I see we have a group gathering. I am going to begin with few questions for Scott and then will open it up to the rest of you. This is moderated discussion, so your questions won’t post immediately (in fact, you can start entering them now if you like, so they are in the queue). I’ll try to keep the flow going and give Scott time to respond to question. Scott, if you are in the middle of a thought, add an ellipsis, so I’ll know to let you continue
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:59 Nora - EarlyWord
3:59
Scott H: 
Sounds good...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:59 Scott H
3:59
Scott H: 
and please forgive typos!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 3:59 Scott H
4:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Not only are typos forgiven, they are completely overlooked!

Congrats on getting some great early attention for the book. It’s a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers pick and Publishers Weekly picked it as one of ten most promising debuts for the fall.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:00 Nora - EarlyWord
4:00
Scott H: 
Thanks, Nora. It's been a real surprise and of course a pleasure.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:00 Scott H
4:00
Scott H: 
Also an honor to get to do this chat.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:00 Scott H
4:01
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Let me begin the questions.

In A Working Theory of Love, you have captured the feeling of San Francisco at a particular time. What made you want to write about that time & place?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:01 Nora - EarlyWord
4:01
Scott H: 
The short answer is that's where I live. I live in SF now, and I wanted to capture some of that feeling of what it's like to be here now (and to be male and in one's thirties).
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:01 Scott H
4:02
Nora - EarlyWord: 
In our podcast interview, you mentioned that the age of your character changed as you were working on the book. Why did you settle on 36?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:02 Nora - EarlyWord
4:02
Scott H: 
I thought it was a good age...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:02 Scott H
4:02
Scott H: 
because it made Neill's lostness more serious than it would be if he was only 32...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:02 Scott H
4:03
Scott H: 
but 38 or 40 and we'd be a whole different kettle of fish!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:03 Scott H
4:03
Scott H: 
I wanted him lost but not pathological
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:03 Scott H
4:03
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Neill has a strange job, which he got because of who he is rather than his skills -- describe what he does and why
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:03 Nora - EarlyWord
4:04
Scott H: 
Neill inherited a set of journals from his father--secret journals that his taciturn father had been keeping for many years...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:04 Scott H
4:04
Scott H: 
and Neill ends up working for Henry Livorno, a famous computer scientist, trying to make a computer speak like a human...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:04 Scott H
4:05
Scott H: 
the journals are meant to give the project a kernel around which to wrap itself. In my own research into these...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:05 Scott H
4:05
Scott H: 
talking bots it seemed to me that's what they all lacked--a coherent personality.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:05 Scott H
4:06
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Kind of like Neill?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:06 Nora - EarlyWord
4:06
Scott H: 
Maybe! Does Neill not have a coherent personality!!?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:06 Scott H
4:07
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I thought he did, but you talked about him being lost.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:07 Nora - EarlyWord
4:07
Scott H: 
I mean that existentially
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:07 Scott H
4:08
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Here's an advance question we received from one of our participants:

Who have been your greatest influences, from authors you have actually worked with? I'm asking because this book reminded me so much of the tone of Super Sad True Love Story and then I realized Gary Shteyngart blurbed your book.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:08 Nora - EarlyWord
4:08
Scott H: 
Great question!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:08 Scott H
4:08
Scott H: 
Truth be told, I hadn't read Shteyngart before he blurbed the book, but I've since...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:08 Scott H
4:08
Scott H: 
read SSTLS and loved it. I now refer to Facebook as Global Teens.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:08 Scott H
4:09
Scott H: 
But I've worked with lots of wonderful writers...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:09 Scott H
4:09
Scott H: 
One of my teachers is Charles Baxter and he's on the back of the book as well. I've also worked with Tobias Wolff and Elizabeth Tallent and Peter Ho Davies.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:09 Scott H
4:10
Scott H: 
Really shteyngart's language kind of took over my brain.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:10 Scott H
4:10
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I was fascinated by how you managed to show the computer beginning to gain the ability to sound like Neill's father, which leads to the following advance question:

Have you ever felt that a loved one who has passed away has ever communicated to you through an inanimate object or animal or odd occurrence? I have.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:10 Nora - EarlyWord
4:11
Scott H: 
Well...I can't say yes exactly. My mother died when I was young and I used to dream about her a lot (much less so now)...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:11 Scott H
4:11
Scott H: 
And my grandparents appear in my dreams, too--often angry at me for some reason!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:11 Scott H
4:11
Scott H: 
But as for inanimate objects, less so. That said...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:11 Scott H
4:11
[Comment From Lily Lily : ] 
How old are you? Because in your picture you look quite young - to young to be able to write about so much sadness.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:11 Lily
4:12
Scott H: 
that's certainly one of the driving forces behind the book for me.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:12 Scott H
4:12
Scott H: 
Thanks, Lily. That's very kind -- I'm 38.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:12 Scott H
4:12
Scott H: 
In a different era that would be very old--I've been reading a bio on Dickens.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:12 Scott H
4:13
Scott H: 
He was father to ten by that point!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:13 Scott H
4:13
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We have to note that 38 is just slightly older than Neill. But you seem to have been pretty directed in your career -- not lost like Neill. Where does he come from?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:13 Nora - EarlyWord
4:14
Scott H: 
I was living with a couple of guys for a few years...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:14 Scott H
4:14
Scott H: 
not a ridiculous bachelor pad, but single guys a little past their expiration date (myself included)...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:14 Scott H
4:14
Chris: 
Did you know and were you influenced by another writer with strong literary roots in both Stanford and California; Wallace Stegner?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:14 Chris
4:14
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Love the term "expiration date"!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:14 Nora - EarlyWord
4:14
Scott H: 
and I was just really interested in charting that life, which for most of us is a life almost not to be mentioned--some people don't consider it a real life at all!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:14 Scott H
4:15
Scott H: 
Also, I love Walker Percy.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:15 Scott H
4:15
Scott H: 
I adore Stegner.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:15 Scott H
4:15
Nora - EarlyWord: 
OK, I’m embarrassed to post this poll because it makes the book sound like a romance, but I have to admit that I had a preference
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:15 Nora - EarlyWord
4:15
Which woman did you want to see Neill end up with?
Erin (ex-wife)
 ( 0% )
Rachel (young women he meets in a youth hostel)
 ( 29% )
Jenn (works for a rival company)
 ( 71% )

Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:15 
4:16
Scott H: 
Ha!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:16 Scott H
4:16
Scott H: 
Sounds like I made the case too forcefully!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:16 Scott H
4:16
Scott H: 
No one for Erin?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:16 Scott H
4:17
Nora - EarlyWord: 
TEAM ERIN here!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:17 Nora - EarlyWord
4:17
Scott H: 
Chris-- Stegner's belief that the West was a real place worth writng about has had a huge influence on me.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:17 Scott H
4:17
[Comment From Lily Lily : ] 
About halfway through Neill says "I am an experienced practitioner of the art of falling apart on the inside while appearing catatonic. It's one of my proudest adult skills. Is that just Neill, or a talent of yours? That line resonated with me because it's taken me a long time to develop that talent - I'm quoite old
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:17 Lily
4:18
Scott H: 
I am indeed pretty good at it. Though I try to emote more than Neill.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:18 Scott H
4:19
Scott H: 
But I think the falling apart thing is what you really have to keep to yourself, no?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:19 Scott H
4:19
Nora - EarlyWord: 
it seems like such an American story, but rights to the book have been sold widely -- to publishers in Italy, France, Brazil, Israel, UK, the Netherlands, Germany,

I'm trying to imagine the book in German.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:19 Nora - EarlyWord
4:19
Scott H: 
The title alone is a challenge in German...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:19 Scott H
4:19
Scott H: 
I think it's one word.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:19 Scott H
4:20
Scott H: 
Also, the word "working" doesnt' translate in the right way to many languages...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:20 Scott H
4:20
Scott H: 
They don't have the sense of "provisional"
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:20 Scott H
4:20
Scott H: 
That said, I like foreign lit. I love Machado de Assis, the Brazilian writer.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:20 Scott H
4:20
Scott H: 
for instance
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:20 Scott H
4:21
Nora - EarlyWord: 
How difficult was it to get your first book published?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:21 Nora - EarlyWord
4:21
Scott H: 
Well so difficult it didn't get published!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:21 Scott H
4:21
Scott H: 
This is really my second book, though still my debut novel...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:21 Scott H
4:22
Scott H: 
and it wasn't easy. I had to find an agent who had to find the right publisher...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:22 Scott H
4:22
Scott H: 
but there was some wrangling over it, which was gratifying--and new!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:22 Scott H
4:22
Scott H: 
It's a hard process and as you know in libraries the book business is in a lot of transition.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:22 Scott H
4:23
Scott H: 
A brave new world!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:23 Scott H
4:23
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Did the editor play a role in shaping the book, or is it pretty much what you submitted?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:23 Nora - EarlyWord
4:23
Chris: 
RE: Stegner ---not surprised; your book had such a sense of place! Having lived in and around SF---near Buena Vista, vs. your Dolores, Park I was impressed how spot on you nailed The City at that time. Do you still live there? How has it changed with the FaceBook influence?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:23 Chris
4:23
Scott H: 
No, my editor kept saying "I wish we had this" and I would write it. Between purchase and final draft I added around 100 pages. Terrifying really.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:23 Scott H
4:24
Scott H: 
Thanks, Chris! That was a real goal!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:24 Scott H
4:24
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Wow! That's amazing. How much was cut?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:24 Nora - EarlyWord
4:24
Scott H: 
The FB presence is driving up rents but that's all I've noticed so far. However everyone keeps getting younger--strange, no!?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:24 Scott H
4:24
Scott H: 
Nora: almost none.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:24 Scott H
4:25
Scott H: 
Just a bit here and there. Colin...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:25 Scott H
4:25
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Would translations use the word 'developing' in place of 'working' and would that be accurate?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:25 Lucy
4:25
Scott H: 
my editor also edited Alan Hollinghurst and he knows how to make sure a story works in the middle. It was a real gift to have him insisting I make it right.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:25 Scott H
4:26
Scott H: 
Developing might work! The connotations in other tongues are so important...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:26 Scott H
4:26
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Here's a question that was sent in advance --

How plotted-in-advance was this novel, and how much was written in a flow state, where time seems to stop and scenes come more easily? Did you use an object or a photo to concretize the idea of a sentient computer as you wrote, or did you just imagine the "father" being right inside your own computer?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:26 Nora - EarlyWord
4:26
Scott H: 
I was told some ideas for the French but I've forgotten!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:26 Scott H
4:27
Scott H: 
Great qs...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:27 Scott H
4:27
Scott H: 
The book was completely non-plotted in advance...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:27 Scott H
4:27
Scott H: 
I was writing in bits and snatches whenever I had time (I was patching together a living) and I just wrote scenes...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:27 Scott H
4:27
Scott H: 
often out of order...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:27 Scott H
4:28
Scott H: 
as for the computer at first it wasn't even the father...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:28 Scott H
4:28
Scott H: 
but the minor character of Willie Beerbaum...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:28 Scott H
4:28
Scott H: 
it was only after talking to a good friend that I realized that was a dunderheaded move, and I switched to the father.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:28 Scott H
4:28
Scott H: 
And that had heat...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:28 Scott H
4:29
Scott H: 
for me...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:29 Scott H
4:29
Scott H: 
my dad and I have a very good relationship in many ways, but there's always been a level of things-unsaid...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:29 Scott H
4:29
Scott H: 
that I found powered the story.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:29 Scott H
4:29
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
But wouldn't the computer 'not' being the father at first, fit with the development of the story?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:29 Lucy
4:30
Scott H: 
Yes...except that it was a totally different level of stakes...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:30 Scott H
4:30
[Comment From Susan Susan : ] 
THanks for that response. Surprising, as the father seemed a perfect foil.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:30 Susan
4:30
Nora - EarlyWord: 
HOW did you land on the Turing Prize as a device to explore consciousness and love?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:30 Nora - EarlyWord
4:30
Scott H: 
if Willie is the computer, then who cares about his revelations? But if it's the father, then something primal is afoot.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:30 Scott H
4:31
Scott H: 
Thanks, Susan!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:31 Scott H
4:31
Scott H: 
Nora, the Turing Test fascinates me on the level of big questions about who and what we are...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:31 Scott H
4:31
Scott H: 
I ran across it in reading and thinking about consciousness...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:31 Scott H
4:31
Scott H: 
and Turing, as you may know, also had the dream of reviving a lost loved one...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:31 Scott H
4:32
 Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:32 
4:32
Scott H: 
his best friend died as a child and Turing (who was in love with him) regretted that loss all his days.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:32 Scott H
4:32
Scott H: 
This is Turing's year! Poor fellow.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:32 Scott H
4:32
Nora - EarlyWord: 
How poignant!

Explain how the test works.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:32 Nora - EarlyWord
4:33
Scott H: 
Well, it's based on a bit of mild gender bending....
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:33 Scott H
4:33
Scott H: 
a Victorian parlor game called the Imitation Game....
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:33 Scott H
4:33
Scott H: 
In the Imitation Game a man and a woman retire to separate rooms...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:33 Scott H
4:33
Scott H: 
and the other members of the party pass them notes trying to figure out which is truly the woman...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:33 Scott H
4:34
Scott H: 
Turing replaced the gender test with a human test...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:34 Scott H
4:34
Scott H: 
If a blind test with a computer and a human makes you choose the computer as the human...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:34 Scott H
4:34
Scott H: 
30% of the time then you have to say that computer is intelligent. Turing thought it was only fair!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:34 Scott H
4:35
Scott H: 
He picked 30% out of the air, by the way. That's roughly how often men were able to win the Imitation Game--in his estimation.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:35 Scott H
4:35
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I found this diagram of it online:
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:35 Nora - EarlyWord
4:35
 Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:35 
4:35
Scott H: 
Which I wish I'd put in the book!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:35 Scott H
4:36
Scott H: 
It's oddly hard to explain.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:36 Scott H
4:36
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I love that the Turing Test is an actual contest -- has anyone won?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:36 Nora - EarlyWord
4:36
Scott H: 
It depends...not really...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:36 Scott H
4:36
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Your use of that specific Turing quote at the beginning, esp. the last sentence "Finally, we wish to exclude from the machines men born in the usual manner," had me pondering that idea right from the start.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:36 Lucy
4:36
Scott H: 
I actually judged the Test a few years ago...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:36 Scott H
4:37
Scott H: 
and the entries weren't in any way convincing. It turns out that it's very hard to have a computer speak--it requires a personality, a way of seeing the world.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:37 Scott H
4:37
[Comment From Sue D Sue D : ] 
This wasn't an easy book to get into. How would you explain to a potential reader what your book was about and why they should read it?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:37 Sue D
4:37
Scott H: 
Lucy--isn't that a great quote! So wry.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:37 Scott H
4:37
[Comment From Susan Susan : ] 
Actually, it was all very clear in the book. Big ideas but not obscure.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:37 Susan
4:38
Scott H: 
Thanks, Susan!

Sue D, that's a good question, and one I'm particularly bad at--my wife does a much better version but she's in the other room...so here goes...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:38 Scott H
4:39
Scott H: 
This is novel about a man learning to grieve what never was, and in that way coming to terms with himself. His present, his past, and his future.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:39 Scott H
4:39
Scott H: 
What do you think? A little abstract? Also, computers and sex.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:39 Scott H
4:39
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We've got two related questions:

From Lily:

Are you working on another book, does the process of getting published get easier now?

And from Lucy:

Is your first novel (the one that didn't get sold) a total loss or do you still feel you could go back to it? I refuse to give up on my first, which maybe is my fatal downfall.


Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:39 Nora - EarlyWord
4:40
Scott H: 
Lily: Yes, I'm working on another book. Publishing? I have no idea. I don't think any of us can see a year into the future in publishing, but the writing is definitely harder, at least so far. I feel distracted!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:40 Scott H
4:40
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Scott, I think you nailed it with that description -- "This is novel about a man learning to grieve what never was, and in that way coming to terms with himself. His present, his past, and his future."

I think it expecially resonates with anyone who has had a distant relationship with a parent.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:40 Nora - EarlyWord
4:40
Scott H: 
Lucy: I don't know. It's definitely the work of a younger writer. I might have to chalk it up to my apprenticeship.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:40 Scott H
4:41
Scott H: 
Though I do love the characters with all my heart.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:41 Scott H
4:41
Scott H: 
Thanks, Nora.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:41 Scott H
4:41
Scott H: 
Lucy: trust yourself on that choice.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:41 Scott H
4:42
Scott H: 
Though I do think it's good to be able to say--maybe I learned a lot from this, but it's not going to work in the end.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:42 Scott H
4:42
Scott H: 
Honestly, I don't know!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:42 Scott H
4:42
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Oops -- I confused the author of the question about your first novel -- sorry, it came from Susan!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:42 Nora - EarlyWord
4:43
Scott H: 
Sorry--Thanks, Susan!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:43 Scott H
4:43
Nora - EarlyWord: 
So, is the theory of love about love for a parent, or romantic love?

And, why DID Neill end up with Rachel (you can see I have an issue here)
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:43 Nora - EarlyWord
4:44
[Comment From Susan Susan : ] 
WEll, that's the tricky part, isn't it? When it "works" for you and perhaps other readers, but the market says "No way."
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:44 Susan
4:44
Chris: 
"...coming to terms with himself. " is so much more compelling because the comes about entirely through his relationship with his father through the program!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:44 Chris
4:44
[Comment From Susan Susan : ] 
And I loved this so-called second debut novel of yours. Smooth all the way, realistic, thought-provoking, and satisfying.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:44 Susan
4:44
Scott H: 
I think it's about both--but it's true that the theories circle much more around romantic love, which is less explicable than parent/child love...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:44 Scott H
4:45
Scott H: 
Rachel? It was just the right thing--for now--it's a working relationship!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:45 Scott H
4:45
Scott H: 
True, Susan--and thanks for the kind words on the novel!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:45 Scott H
4:45
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Did you resolved any issues in your own life while writing A Working Theory of Love?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:45 Nora - EarlyWord
4:46
Scott H: 
Ah--we almost made it throgh the hour without having to answer this!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:46 Scott H
4:46
Scott H: 
I think so...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:46 Scott H
4:46
Scott H: 
though I'm definitely not Neill and never have been...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:46 Scott H
4:47
Scott H: 
but I was writing the book as a single person, as a person whose relationships had fallen apart and who was trying to envision what Plan B--i.e. life--was going to look like...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:47 Scott H
4:47
Scott H: 
and in this mode I stumbled across the woman I fell in love with and married. So I finished the book a happily married man, but I don't know if I could have started it that way.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:47 Scott H
4:48
[Comment From Susan Susan : ] 
I"m not sure he should have "ended up" with anyone, actually. That was satisfying, in a way, but I doubt he was really ready to settle down.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:48 Susan
4:48
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Can't help but notice your book is dedicated to your wife.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:48 Nora - EarlyWord
4:48
[Comment From Diana Armentor Diana Armentor : ] 
What is your writing routine?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:48 Diana Armentor
4:48
Scott H: 
Indeed. I also don't know if I could have finished it without her--it would have been a different book.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:48 Scott H
4:49
Scott H: 
Susan--you may be right!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:49 Scott H
4:49
Scott H: 
Diana--I'm in search of a routine now...but what's worked best...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:49 Scott H
4:49
Scott H: 
is for me to write every morning except for Sundays...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:49 Scott H
4:49
Scott H: 
when I make sure to dedicate a whole day to life!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:49 Scott H
4:50
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
I was fascinated by your description of how (in the early part of the book) Neill 'plotted' out his bachelor life and relationships. Are bachelor's really like that?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:50 Lucy
4:50
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Or is it just bachelors in SF?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:50 Lucy
4:50
Scott H: 
Lucy--I don't know! I do know that the bachelors I know of a certain age--the successful bachelors, I mean, not the complete wrecks--usually have a high level of routine in their lives.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:50 Scott H
4:51
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Lucy's question makes me think about the Italian edition of the book and how people will react to it there!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:51 Nora - EarlyWord
4:51
Scott H: 
If Neill were Italian...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:51 Scott H
4:51
Scott H: 
he'd be living with his parents!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:51 Scott H
4:51
Scott H: 
Which might be exactly what he needs.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:51 Scott H
4:51
Nora - EarlyWord: 
So true!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:51 Nora - EarlyWord
4:51
Nora - EarlyWord: 
One thing that hasn't come up is your sense of humor, which I loved. It's all about ironic observation.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:51 Nora - EarlyWord
4:52
Scott H: 
Thanks, Nora. I had a great time writing in Neill's voice.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:52 Scott H
4:52
Nora - EarlyWord: 
Can you pinpoint where that sense of humor came from? it's what made me end up liking Neil.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:52 Nora - EarlyWord
4:52
[Comment From Susan Susan : ] 
Are you not naturally ironically self-deprecating?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:52 Susan
4:53
Chris: 
Could 'irony' be programed into drbas?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:53 Chris
4:53
Scott H: 
Neill is a very sharp observer, but it doesn't do him much good--and he knows it. I think the humor arises somewhere in there(?).
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:53 Scott H
4:53
Scott H: 
Susan--maybe!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:53 Scott H
4:53
Scott H: 
Chris--I think irony would be a very hard thing to program...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:53 Scott H
4:54
Scott H: 
especially with Neill deeply unironical father and Livorno and Laham!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:54 Scott H
4:54
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We're coming to the end of the hour. Any last questions or comments from the group?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:54 Nora - EarlyWord
4:54
Scott H: 
A great Turing Test book Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:54 Scott H
4:54
Scott H: 
plays with that idea a little more than I did!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:54 Scott H
4:55
Scott H: 
I just want to say I'm fascinated that Jenn won the poll. Fascinated!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:55 Scott H
4:55
Nora - EarlyWord: 
In the acknowledgments, you mention a book by Rosalind Picard.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:55 Nora - EarlyWord
4:56
[Comment From Susan Susan : ] 
THanks for the tip. Exploring consciousness in any form is great fun.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:56 Susan
4:56
Scott H: 
Yes, she wrote a book called Affective Computing...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:56 Scott H
4:56
 Nora - EarlyWord
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:56 
4:56
 Nora - EarlyWord
Rosalind W. Picard - Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, director and also the founder of the Affective Computing Research Group at the MIT Media Lab, and co-director of the Things That Think Consortium
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:56 
4:56
Scott H: 
she basically invented the whole field, which was a little dangerous for a woman in computer science to do...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:56 Scott H
4:56
Scott H: 
the book is a great read...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:56 Scott H
4:57
Scott H: 
half for the lay-person, half for experts.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:57 Scott H
4:57
Scott H: 
She's a prof at MIT.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:57 Scott H
4:57
Nora - EarlyWord: 
There's tons of images of her on the Web -- I particularly like the one weposted.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:57 Nora - EarlyWord
4:57
Scott H: 
Her argument is that computers are limited in certain ways...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:57 Scott H
4:57
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
RE: the poll - Women's point of view?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:57 Lucy
4:58
Scott H: 
that they in fact are limited like humans with certain brain injuries...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:58 Scott H
4:58
Scott H: 
that affect the emotion (or regulatory) centers of cognition.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:58 Scott H
4:58
Scott H: 
So true intelligence will only be achieved WITH emotion in computers!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:58 Scott H
4:58
Scott H: 
Lucy--yes!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:58 Scott H
4:59
Scott H: 
Anyway--I highly recommend her book for those interested.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:59 Scott H
4:59
Nora - EarlyWord: 
I am still on TEAM ERIN, I just didn't vote.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 4:59 Nora - EarlyWord
5:00
Scott H: 
I'm glad the spitfire got a vote!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:00 Scott H
5:00
Nora - EarlyWord: 
You teach writing -- for our last question -- any words of wisdom for aspiring writers?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:00 Nora - EarlyWord
5:00
Scott H: 
Goodness...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:00 Scott H
5:00
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Does Picard address what might happen if we did have computers with emotions?
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:00 Lucy
5:00
Scott H: 
what I try to emphasize wiht my students is that we are the servants of the work...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:00 Scott H
5:00
Scott H: 
that it's about making the work the best we can...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:00 Scott H
5:01
Scott H: 
and not about the ego being stroked by the process....
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:01 Scott H
5:01
Scott H: 
it's the only way to approach the process (that I know) in the right, concentrated but loose way.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:01 Scott H
5:02
Scott H: 
Lucy--Picard thinks that computers would probably get one emotion--something specific to their jobs...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:02 Scott H
5:02
Scott H: 
they might for instance not get lost in endless searches if endless searches felt "bad"
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:02 Scott H
5:03
Scott H: 
Also, show don't tell!

Just kidding!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:03 Scott H
5:03
Nora - EarlyWord: 
We have to end.

Thanks for joining us today, Scott. We'll be toasting your book when it hits shelves on Oct 2.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:03 Nora - EarlyWord
5:04
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
I'll have to get a copy of her book to find out more about her and her thoughts on this. Thanks for talking about it during the chat.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:04 Lucy
5:04
Scott H: 
Thanks, Nora, and thanks everyone for your questions. I'm really honored and pleased you read the book.
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:04 Scott H
5:04
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
Interesting idea - different computers each with a different emotion. Hmmmm...
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:04 Lucy
5:04
[Comment From Lucy Lucy : ] 
THANKS!!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:04 Lucy
5:04
Scott H: 
Thanks to you, too!
Wednesday August 22, 2012 5:04 Scott H
 
 

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