Monthly Archives: July 2013

On… Life Begins At 22

As mentioned, Brooklyn Girls is out.

I think that what I’m supposed to do, as the author, is talk endlessly about the book series, the characters, the plots, blahblahyadablah. But I’ve done that, ad infinitum, in this blog, and everywhere else, and my God, you must be sick of it. If you want to read it, I figure you’ll read it, if you don’t, me telling you about how I worked out characters isn’t going to convince you. Anyway, it’s a bit like seeing the guy with the hand up Kermit’s ass. Sometimes, you just want to see the damn frog.

Instead, let’s talk about what inspired the book series: life in one’s early 20s. Because, as I’ve said before, it’s a really tough period. You’ve just graduated, you’ve been educated out the wazoo, and you suddenly realize that you’re qualified to do fuck-all except Starbucks runs. You can’t get a job that will pay you enough to actually, you know, have a life. Men suck. Or rather, boys, since 23-year-old boys really are still boys. You spend most of your time broke, worried, confused, lost, heartbroken, hungry or hungover.

And yet…

You get to have the most carefree, uninhibited, joyful fun with your best friends. At least, I did. And you get to figure out what you want to do with your life – which is yes, intimidating as hell, but it’s also exciting, because you’ve got a blank slate. The world is your bitch.

That’s why… (drumroll): Life Begins At 22.

So  I’ve been asking everyone what their lives were like at 22, and I’m going to post the answers on this blog over the next few weeks. If you’d like to get involved, YAY! Email me your answers to gemma@gemmaburgess.com and I’ll post them on the blog, or if you prefer, just put them in the comments. Whatever floats your boat.

Life Begins At 22 questions…

1. What were you doing at 22? Living situation, work/study situation?

2. Were you dating / in a relationship? What was it like?

3. What was the hardest thing that happened to you that year? What was the best?

4. What would you say to yourself at 22, knowing what you know now?

5. What do you do now, by the way?