I officially posted my last blog entry on Totallywiredbook.com Friday. After over 10 months of actively promoting the book, it was time to close that chapter. Thanks to every Ypulse reader who bought the book!
A special thanks to the folks at P&G's Beinggirl.com for supporting the Totally Wired Parent/Educator tour, which is officially ending this week (I have three more school presentations Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before heading off for my much needed vacation). They just posted my latest article for girls about online privacy here. I will be writing at least three more pieces for the site.
I'm actually beginning to think about my next book -- I know I mentioned I was contemplating attempting to write YA fiction on this blog before, and at some point I might, but the reality is that I'm much more at home researching and reporting. Given my personal background growing up with an evangelical parent, I'm very interested in teens' religious beliefs and spirituality, and am contemplating working on a non-fiction book that attempts to give us a snapshot of where teens are at with both right now. I would love to interview teens from all different faiths as well as teens who are agnostic or atheist and synthesize these interviews into a coherent portrait. My agent tells me I need a research hook or thesis for this proposal. Part of me feels like the thesis will be revealed in the interviews. I may reach out to my friends at The Princeton Theological Seminary (they volunteered at the Ypulse Tween Mashup) to see if they might be interested in working on some original research. Just thought I'd share for those of you who might be wondering, "What will your next book be?" What do you think?
Posted by anastasia
Totally Wired
Comments
The new idea sounds wonderful, although I hope you keep the YA plot percolating in the back of the mind. And thanks for doing the tour; I, and I'm sure many other parents, greatly appreciated all that you shared about teens and tweens.
You may want to check out "Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith and Melinda Denton." This book summarizes the results of five-year project begun in 2001, where 3,370 randomly chosen teenagers, ages 13 to 17, were interviewed in 45 states. One of their most interesting discoveries was that most American teens believe in a religion the authors call “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism,” or “MTD.” It's worth a read.
Posted by: Mitali Perkins | December 4, 2007 6:33 AM
Great book idea. Pursue it. Being a youth pastor. I'd jump at the book. And I think many other people outside of the clergy world would too.
Posted by: Lee Roberts | December 4, 2007 7:14 AM
Thanks guys! I spaced on Soul Searching -- great book. I gave away copies on Ypulse when it came out (http://ypulse.com/archives/2005/02/soul_searching_1.php). Now I have to think about how mine might be different....
Posted by: Anastasia | December 4, 2007 7:38 AM
I love it. As someone who was raised in an evangelical born again household and at 38 am still dealing with leftover baggage from this era (as well as the knowledge that my parents are convinced I'm going to hell), I'd love to read about where teens of today are with this. As a parent (of a 3 year old), I'm already grappling with how to give my son a sense of spirituality in a non-organized religion kind of way. I bet I'm not alone, and that there are many parents of teens looking for info on how to give their children a sense of purpose and ethics without religion... Good luck!
Posted by: Debbie Reber | December 5, 2007 4:35 PM