Dear Joe,
This is yourself from the future. I know, that sounds kind of cheesy, but it’s true. Pay attention, because there are things I need to tell you. This is not to replace the life lessons that you’ll soon be learning, but to help you learn them faster so you can move on to the important stuff.
Right now, your college career is in full swing. You’re writing a lot of books on the side, and that’s great—keep it up. You will find a lot of success in your goal to be a professional writer. You’re also studying Arabic and Political Science with vague ideas of having some sort of an impact on the world. That’s fine, but unless you make those goals more specific and focused, you’re not going to accomplish anything by them. And before you try to change the world, you first need to take the time to understand it.
At this very moment, the world is transforming right before your eyes in ways that will cause you to look back and wonder. The financial collapse and housing bubble have thrown the global economy into chaos, and the resulting fallout will have a greater impact on your life than 9/11 or any other event. Up until now, you’ve focused on the Middle East, but the place you should be looking to is Europe. Why? Let’s just say there is a reason why every world war has had its origins in the European penninsula. Study the continent. Spend some time there. Learn a couple of languages, and pay attention to current events. Always be aware that you live in interesting times.
Your political affiliation on Facebook is “agnostic,” which you think is really funny. Frankly, that’s bullshit. Good and evil have political dimensions, and you aren’t doing anyone any favors by sitting on the fence. Pick a side, and choose it well. But always have the strength and integrity to admit it when you were wrong.
You’re proud of the fact that you never voted for George W. Bush. In the future, though, you’re going to regret your vote for Obama more than you ever would have regretted a vote for Bush. Obama will break every campaign promise he ever made, except to get us out of Iraq, and that will be the biggest mistake of his presidency (yes, the Iraq War was a mistake, but trust me, Obama will make it unimaginably worse). However, you will never regret your vote for Romney in 2001.
One of the most important lessons you will ever learn is that there are two kinds of people in this world: makers and takers. The makers believe in expanding the pie by creating wealth and value for everyone. In contrast, the takers believe that everyone should get “their fair share.” Somehow, this always ends up with the takers being the ones to cut the pie, with them getting the biggest slice. Don’t be a taker. Be a maker.
Enough about politics. Let’s move on to personal advice.
Don’t be afraid to change your major. Don’t put off doing an internship. Those will be the biggest regrets of your college career. Even so, there is nothing you do in college that you will deeply regret, so don’t worry about it too much. Continue to take full advantage of your time there.
At the same time, don’t worry too much about grad school. Your real education won’t begin until after you leave academia. Book learning is good, but it’s no substitute for real-world experience. Learn how to master your own personal finances. Never be ashamed to work an honest job, no matter what that job may be.
Contrary to what you currently believe, marketing and sales are not evil (though human resources certainly is). The only reason you think they’re evil is because they rule the world, and from your sheltered academic perspective you can’t see the good that capitalism creates. Embrace marketing. Learn how to properly sell yourself. You don’t have to be dishonest to be a good salesman.
People who self-publish are not as crazy as you think they are. The publishing industry is about to be turned on its head, and that is going to create a lot of opportunities for you. Keep your eyes open, but be aware that the best and worst publishing advice you will ever hear will come from the same source. Also, Miss Snark is full of shit.
Finally, don’t worry too much about dating or getting married. Definitely put yourself out there, but spend less time obsessing about it and more time having fun. Contrary to what you may think, there are actually attractive women out there who will be attracted to you. Keep an open mind, grow out your beard, and you’ll find them (if they don’t find you first!).
That pretty much sums it up. Always be happy, but never be content.
Your 2015 self.
P.S: If you want to lose weight, lift weights. Running and hiking just don’t cut it for your body type.
And a final note, cast aside your personal religious beliefs so that you can write in the scary corners. Your space novels came so close to an interesting take on polygamy, but you backed off in a way that seemed to hurt the plot. Why did you do this? I would hazard a guess that it is because of your own Mormon religion. That alone should’ve made you embrace it, given voice to the concept that only you could have. Ugh, so many missed opportunities to create new and interesting cultures. You could’ve had polyandry AND polygamy and a hundred other societal models to dissect, making a rich tapestry for you to write upon. I feel cheated, and you should to.
Hey, no need to be hostile.
I considered having both Mariya and Noemi end up with Jeremiah, but it didn’t seem to fit with the romance that began in Outworlder. Mariya’s obsession with Jeremiah was just too unhealthy: she thought he was her last chance for happiness, so she would eventually have grown to resent him (and Noemi too) if they had ended up together, ultimately turning the romance into a tragedy, or a multi-generational family saga. That wasn’t the direction I wanted to take it.
As a Mormon, I’ve got quite a bit of polygamy in my family history. It was never an easy thing for them to practice—there’s a big difference between the Hollywood version and reality, which you can see when you read the old journals. Still, a few of my ancestors seemed to make it work.
I have some ideas for revisiting the polygamy question, including an origin story for the Hameji set a few hundred years after Star Wanderers. I don’t think they would work in a standard romance plot (such as Star Wanderers), but in a more complex drama full of political intrigue, I think a romantic polygamous relationship could really make things interesting. We’ll see how it turns out.
Not hostile, I was just frustrated at a missed opportunity. And I don’t think my critical comment was mean or rude, just critical. If I didn’t like your work, mostly, I wouldn’t bother at all! 🙂
Since the topic came up, I will comment on it! 🙂 I too would’ve loved to see that plural marriage work out between Mariya, Noemi and Jeremiah. Not sure I agree that it HAD to end badly, in theory, but they’re your characters so you certainly know them better. With the rise of alternative lifestyles like modern day polygamy, triads and polyamory, readers have become used to the idea that group relationships could work. However, this would require the right personality types between characters and I never felt like I knew them enough to have an opinion on how they’d respond. My opinion of Jeremiah was that he was adaptable enough that he could’ve been happy in any situation given time. With the ladies, I think they valued family enough to make it work as well. Anyway, back to the drudgery of housewifery! 🙁