I’ve said that The Strange Remain is the same story as the first three-quarters of the book, combined, played out four times faster. And that’s how it really was from December 2018 to the end.
With the Creatives was among the very last pieces I wrote, and I hated it. I needed to have a place around this point in the story to state the overall theme of the book (work that brings joy, peace, and gratitude is one’s life’s calling), but I wasn’t up to writing out an involved scene around the marketing retreat. The meetings themselves were mostly boring, and it was more about what went through my mind at this time, after seven anxiety-riddled months enduring Bizzarro World. I was enjoying my non-Bizzarro work more than ever and was excited about the coming year’s potential, knowing how Warren and Penelope would be moving on from the team, and giving Rudy and Harriet the room to come into their own.
The introspection in With the Creatives was so boring, though, that I was happy when I thought of having The Sorceress interject with her fourth-wall-breaking snark. I hoped it would indicate that The Strange Remain would be a fun ride.
Revolutionary Sweetheart was written straight out of my prep notes for the call, after detailed discussions with The Sorceress. The call was one of those instances where The Sorceress told me to do something I thought was absurd, but what she said would happen, happened. The call with Tania in HR gave The Sorceress her name. After the call, I texted her, “You are a SORCERESS.”
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