Millennium Author Roundtable

by Claire E. White

What are your favorite authors doing this New Year's Eve? And what gift would they most like to receive this Holiday Season? We took a poll to find out. Their answers may surprise you! Happy Holidays from all of us at writerswrite.com!!

What gift would you like for the Holidays this year?

"I haven't given it a whole lot of thought. I like to shoot. Mostly I just shoot at targets, though. So that's probably what I'd like for Christmas: a new rifle. My wife's not fond of guns, but she takes the attitude that boys need their toys. She just kind of rolls her eyes about it."
--Stephen Coonts, Author of Cuba (St. Martin's Press)

"I really don't want any gifts. I ask others to donate to charity instead of giving gifts. I have too much "stuff" now!"
--John Saul, Author of The Right Hand of Evil (Ballantine).

"My next book to be a New York Times Bestseller!"
--Stephen J. Cannell, Author of The Devil's Workshop (William Morrow)

"The gift I'd like for the holidays? An extra hour in each day for the coming year. Man, I could put it to excellent use."
--Nora Roberts, Author of Loyalty in Death (Berkley, writing as J.D. Robb).

"I'd like several extra months to write in between now and the end of January. It would make hitting deadlines so much easier."
--Neil Gaiman, Author of the Sandman and Neverwhere (Avon Books).

"If I won't even tell my wife (she has to figure it out for herself) I certainly won't tell you!"
--Stuart Woods, Author of Orchid Beach (HarperCollins).

"Well, let's see. I'd like a thought-activated computer to save having to type everything out. But I understand there's a rush on them; they've been snapped up by all the wannabes who have great ideas for books but just have trouble getting it all down on paper."
--Lawrence Block, Author of The Burglar in the Rye (Dutton).

"A recount. All this fuss about dates implies that I am two-thirds acentury old, which is obviously ridiculous. Somebody has made an error and I intend to lay the matter before my lawyers."
--Dave Duncan, Author of Lord of the Fire Lands (A Tale of the King's Blades) (Avon Eos).

"Family life is rich nowadays, with a brand new grandchild, Andrew John, born December 1st, which means we now have four little ones in our family. So there's nothing I could possibly ask for in that regard. As far as career is concerned, I just want to keep writing and publishing. An invitation from Oprah would be nice! "
--Meg Chittenden, Author of Don't Forget to Die (Kensington Books).

"A five day vacation on the beach."
--Jeff Herman, Author of You Can Make it Big Writing Books: A Top Agent Shows You How to Develop a Million-Dollar Bestseller (Prima Books).

"Just what I'm getting. My older daughter is coming home from college, my younger daughter is still home, and we're going to be together. We're a close family, and we'll have plenty of food and lots of laughs and we'll get to watch White Christmas, which is an annual event. It'll be great."
--Christina Dodd, Author of Someday My Prince (Avon Books)

"All I want for Christmas, besides the standard World-Peace-and-Happiness-for-Everyone-I-Like, is a computer that doesn't crash and that I can carry through airports without tilting to one side like Quasimodo."
--Orson Scott Card, Author of Ender's Shadow (Tor).

"Okay, this is boring. I would like some stuff for the kitchen. Moving in January and I own about four plates and a mug. Been sharing for the last five years."
--Dave Kansas, Editor-in-Chief, TheStreet.com.

"Well, I already got my gift: a Westie puppy named Kobi who is our 15th anniversary gift to each other + Hannukah + Millennium present. You can see a picture of him on the night we brought him home (aged 10 weeks) on the bio page of my website, www.levraphael.com."
The Death of a Constant Lover (Walker & Co.)

"An archery set (bow, arrows, target, the works). I was into archery as a kid, but it's fallen away. And it's delightfully non-tech."
--James Daly, Editor in Chief, Business 2.0.

"What gift would I like? A book contract that doesn't have a do-it-yourself promotional clause."
--Martin J. Smith, Author of Shadow Image (Jove).

I'm going to get into trouble saying what I want for the turn of the millennium, and that is to return to my work. When of a morning I work on my newest novel, "Jenny Ketchum," I'm on air for the rest of the day, bounding with energy and delighted with the world. Quite a few weeks ago I got co-opted into preparing the long-awaited Windows version of FirstAid for Writers. The pressure was great, and I had to face up to abandoning my novel for a time. The only reward was waking up in the middle of the night several times with an adventuresome night-time gift for Jenny. Now, with the program being launched next week, I can't wait to get back to seven days a week doing what I love most, finishing novel #10."
--Sol Stein, Author of Stein on Writing, Owner, Writepro.com.

"I have the best present possible--my 18-month-old daughter Pia. Over the past year, my husband and I adopted our baby daughter from India. Getting Pia into this country was a bit problematic, so I think every day of how fortunate I am to be living here with her in my home."
--Sujata Massey, Author of The Flower Master (HarperCollins)

"Oh, just the usual, nothing special -- world peace, an end to hunger, faster-than-light travel, immortality. But I'll settle for a DVD player."
--Lawrence Watt-Evans, Author of Dragon's Weather> (Tor).

"If I only get one gift, it would be no more mergers amongst publishers! (Highly unlikely, but hey, Santa might come through!)"
--Jennifer Fisher-Sawyer, Mystery Editor, HarperCollins.

"I would like to be given time in a large house or apartment in some exotic place, reasonably warm -- say a luxury hotel in Acapulco that has those little separate cottages, I could get two -- and have Hawk (who needs a change from being devoted to the anorexic Susan anyway and boy would I be a change) kidnap for me Antonio Banderas and Rafe, excuse me Ralph, Fiennes. I would like Hawk to put Antonio in one little house and Ralph in the other, both just for me. Then Hawk can just hang around for a while in case he's needed to prevent interruptions or whatever. Forget Santa. In Acapulco they don't have chimneys anyhow."
--Dianne Day, Author of Death Train to Boston (Doubleday).

"Time. All I want is a few more hours in a day."
--Wen Stephenson, Editorial Director, Atlantic Unbound, Associate Editor, The Atlantic Monthly.

"All I want is my manuscript completed, beautifully plotted, perfectly typed, and exquisitely wrapped, with perhaps a tiny (or large) tiara with diamonds attached."
--Joyce Christmas, Author of Mood to Murder (Fawcett Books).

"I've thought about this question a lot, and I realize that there really isn't a gift I truly desire. Sure, there are a lot of expensive toys I'd love to receive (a red Ferrari 275 GTB would be nice!), but the kinds of things I really want are intangible. I'd like good health for myself and loved ones, and I'd like people to be just a bit more tolerant and kinder next year. Those things aren't really gifts: They're blessings."
--Dale Furutani, Author of Jade Palace Vendetta (William Morrow).

"Insofar as what I'd like for Christmas this year, I'm asking for the fruition of the peace accords in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and the Middle East, but I'll probably have to settle for a nice sweater."
--Glenn Kleier, Author of The Last Day (Warner Books).

"Corny as it sounds in jaded times, I'd like health and happiness for family and friends. (Sure would beat another sweater.)"
--G. Wayne Miller, Author of King of Heart (Random House).

"I'd like a rich patron for my wife the opera singer."
--Keith Snyder, Author of Trouble Comes Back (Walker & Co.).

"I'd like to have three books projects that my wife and I are working on DONE. We'll probably only have two of them out the door, but I'd settle for that."
--Skip Press, Author of Writer's Guide to Hollywood (Prima Publishing).

"If there is not an end of days story, then I'd love to have a bestseller this year for my present, and peace on earth. And if I can only have one I want to write the bestseller that shows us how to have peace on earth."
--Evelyn Coleman, Author of What a Woman's Gotta Do (Dell).

"Diamond stud earrings. That's what I've wanted for Christmas for, oh, the last 20 years. I'm sure I'll want them for the next 20 as well."
--Patricia T. O'Conner, Author of Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing (Harcourt Brace).

"I have to admit that I really feel for my family as they try to shop for me this year. There just isn't a single purchasable item I want...and that is an absolute first for me. Our dishwasher broke on Thanksgiving day--and did so in spectacular fashion, I might add--and I was happy that at least my husband now had a viable gift idea for my birthday, which occurred shortly thereafter. Maybe I should break it again... However, as far as what I want that can't be bought, I'd like extremely gifted literary elves to sneak into my computer and turn the book that I'm currently working on into something magnificent. (Does anyone know if there's a website called brilliantliteraryelves.com?)"
--Leslie O'Kane, Author of The Fax of Life (Fawcett Books).

"More squirrels and birds in our backyard, peace for all and safety always for my daughter."
--George Meyers, Jr., Editor of LitKit.

"Peace on earth, goodwill toward men and women, genuine campaign finance reform, a cure for diabetes, and the defeat of Republican candidates at all levels of local, state, and federal governments."
--Philip Luber, Author of Have Mercy On Us (Fawcett Books).

"An island-wide ban on fireworks."
--Melisa Michaels, Author of Sister to the Rain (Roc).

"Some large donations for my magazine, Boston Review.
--Joshua Cohen, Editor-in-Chief, Boston Review.

"It sounds sentimental, but I'd just like the important things--health and happiness for my family and friends. Plus my wife and I would like to have a child, so that would be a great gift."
--John Marco, Author of The Jackal of Nar (Bantam).

"I would like something extremely rare. If anyone can locate a film in which Robin Williams is funny, now I'd sure like to have it."
--Mort Castle, Author of Writing Horror (Writer's Digest Books).

"A smart agent who will land my next novel into the hands of a caring editor. I think both are hard to find. I don't know whether my writing -- I turn out thrillers when I'm not writing grant requests -- doesn't draw them or whether they no longer exist."
--Larry Pryor, Executive Editor, Online Journalism Review, Director/Online Journalism Program, Annenberg School for Communication, USC.

"A block of uninterrupted time! Crazy person that I am, I am under contract for two books to be delivered this year. I've never been good at writing bits here and there, so what I could really use is some quiet time in which to get these books written in peace. I guess I'm going to have to make that happen!"
--Evan Marshall, Author of Missing Marlene (Kensington Books) and The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing (Writer's Digest Books).

"My own genii, so I could wish for a literary sugar mommy, a chateau on Lake Como, and immortality with the proviso that I could do myself in at any time."
--Michael Neff, Editor, WebDelSol.

How will you spend the Millennium New Year's Eve?

"I'll spend the Millennium New Year's Eve with my family. We always have a great time together, and I'm looking forward to it."
--Stephen J. Cannell, Author of The Devil's Workshop (William Morrow)

"I'm going to be here in town, in Santa Barbara, close enough to walk home if it all turns sour on me. I'll take a pair of tennies in my purse or something."
--Sue Grafton, Author of O is for Outlaw (Henry Holt).

"We'll go next door to our neighbor's party, go to bed sober, and wake up without a hangover. That's the plan."
--Stephen Coonts, Author of Cuba (St. Martin's Press).

"I shall be spending the last evening of the millennium (at least the one that's being publicized, since the real one is still a year away) sitting on the beach on Maui, enjoying caviar and champagne with friends, having spent the day watching the change in the calendar roll around the world. Assuming the world hasn't descended into chaos, I will watch the fireworks light up the sky, then go to bed. If it turns out that the world has, after all, descended into chaos, then I shall watch the fireworks light up the sky, go to bed, and worry about it the following morning."
--John Saul, Author of The Right Hand of Evil (Ballantine).

"This New Year's? Same as ever. I'll be cooking all day New Year's Eve in preparation for the big open house we hold on New Year's Day.
--Nora Roberts, Author of Jewels of the Sun (Jove).

"With friends near our home in Florida."
--Stuart Woods, Author of Orchid Beach (HarperCollins).

"Not sure yet! We're usually pretty quiet on New Year's. After all, time doesn't mean the same thing to science fiction writers."
--Greg Bear, Author of Darwin's Radio (Ballantine Books)

"For years, instead of going out on New Year's, we take the time to be together, have a great meal, and reflect by the fire on the past year, good and bad. It's so easy to forget what happened, and important to remember--the year passes so quickly; hell, the decade did that! We usually rent some videos, we luxuriate in being home, we enjoy not being on the road or at the wrong party. New Year's feels very private to me, despite the hoopla. We've enjoyed this quiet celebration, and apparently a lot of people are doing similarly in response to all the 2000 hype. Menu? Traditionally, we have cut-to-order Delmonico steaks after Beluga and frozen vodka to start. What's different this year is the wine: we've been saving a bottle of 1990 Vieux-Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape for the evening because it's one of the best wines we've ever had. We're also going to toast 2000 with a 1995 Drappier Montaudet champagne, accompanied by an assortment of imported French goodies for dessert. I'll leave the rest to your imagination!"
--Lev Raphael, Author of The Death of a Constant Lover (Walker & Co.)

"I'll be home with the family. The dh and I will open a bottle of wine, probably we'll play cards or put a puzzle together. We never go out on New Year's; there are always crazy people on the road, and on New Year's, there are crazy drunk people. Gee, I'm not as boring as these answers indicate, I just love the family part of the holidays. Happy New Millennium to everyone!"
--Christina Dodd, Author of Someday My Prince (Avon Books)

"A long time ago I used to chair an occasional highbrow forum in the auditorium of the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. I'm spending the big moment doing something similar with a small group of good friends, and raising a toast to the beloved authors of two books I worked on at the beginning of my career, James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son" and George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. This year they both were picked for the Modern Library's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century, and that makes a wonderful finish, doesn't it?"
--Sol Stein, Author of Stein on Writing.

"I'll be at work. I think a newshound has to be there to watch the Y2K bug issue unfold. We'll start by watching what happens in East Asia and then track it around the globe. So it'll be a long day. Of course, as an Internet publication, we're half wondering about the publishing issues. Should be a long, exciting and interesting day!"
--Dave Kansas, Editor-in-Chief, TheStreet.com.

"Well, my Christmas and New Year present to myself is that -- deadlines notwithstanding -- I get to go home and be with my family. Currently I'm in hiding, writing around the clock, not answering the phone or telling bedtime stories. So I'll be quietly at home on New Year's Eve. Hugging the kids, and my wife, a lot. Eating a good dinner. Maybe even going for a walk when it gets dark with whoever wants to go with me. My God, that sounds dull. Well, it's been an interesting, globetrotting year. A little dull sounds pretty good right now."
--Neil Gaiman, Author of Neverwhere (Avon Books).

"I'm going to spend the evening at home, with my wife, waiting patiently for the Apocalypse."
--Lawrence Block, Author of The Burglar in the Rye (Dutton).

"Dancing! Always! Jim and I celebrate New Year's Eve to the hilt, with friends, at whatever glamorous occasion we can find in Ocean Shores Washington. This year it looks like the Polynesian, with dinner and champagne and dancing until 1 or 2 a.m. to a terrific rock band! No quiet time by the fire for this couple--we both love to dance, the more heated the music the better! And we are good! I have a new glittery dress too. When the Polynesian closes, our little group will find somewhere to finish off with breakfast! Every year, we promise one another we'll spend next New Year's eve in Paris, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe 2001? The best of wonderful holidays to everyone!"
--Meg Chittenden, Author of Don't Forget to Die (Kensington Books).

"You do realize that's still more than a year away, right? (Yes, I'm one of those.) But for this year I plan to go to my home city's big public celebration, with the countdown and fireworks and laser show -- assuming there's any power to run the lasers when the Y2K bug kicks in..."
--Lawrence Watt-Evans, Author of Dragon's Weather (Tor).

"For New Year's Eve, if I'm really really lucky, I'll play games with my family and then get to bed by ten p.m. (And for those who snottily reply to you that "the millennium doesn't change till New Year's 2001," my answer is: WHICH millennium? The twentieth century doesn't end till 31 December 2000, but the century of the 1900s ends on 31 December 1999. That's the one I care about - the changeover from 1999 to 2000 is a much bigger deal than the change from Zip to Zip-One.)"
--Orson Scott Card, Author of Ender's Shadow (Tor).

"What do I plan for the Millennium Eve? Home as usual, gazing at the TV and the crowds in Times Square, which I don't plan to approach in any manner although it's just up the street. As I have remarked elsewhere, I didn't plan anything special for Y1K either."
--Joyce Christmas, Author of Mood to Murder (Fawcett Books).

"We have lucked into an invitation to a creative black tie party where children are allowed. We'll go early and leave early to bring in the Millenium by the fire with a bottle of champagne and the infant monitor at our side."
--Sujata Massey, Author of The Flower Master (HarperCollins)

"Breaking a long Miller tradition of staying home by the fire and consuming obscene amounts of boiled Maine lobster, winter lager, and champagne, we will be making the long voyage from the woods of northwest Rhode Island to the hip city of Providence for First Night festivities. Between stops at downtown's two brewpubs, we'll catch a performance by the acclaimed Dan Butterworth and his Marionettes and skate on the outdoor rink. When I get home, I hope to be able to type THE END on a novel I've been wrestling with all year."
--G. Wayne Miller, Author of King of Hearts (Random House).

"We just heard that in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, there's a New Year's Eve celebration with no alchohol permitted. Since that sounds a lot better than the mob at Times Square, we're thinking about it. Or we might just stay home with the cat."
--Keith Snyder, Author of Trouble Comes Back (Walker & Co.).

"First of all, I think folks are making far too much of what appears to be but another date on the calendar, and depending on whose calendar you're consulting, heaven knows what day it is. Like your age, if you didn't know the date, would it make a difference? Would you feel any better, conduct your movements differently? It is also a moment that is relative and media pumped, which is enough to make any cynic humbug the whole process. Maybe that's why I'll be lolling on the sands at Cinnamon Bay in the Virgin Islands when the ball falls at Times Square. Yes, I'm traveling at the time when folks say I should be wary of Y2K. But to tell you the truth, I'm more worried about KKK, and that ain't saying a whole lot."
--Herb Boyd, Author of Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America (Fawcett Books), and Editor of The Black World Today.

"At home with my family, like 85% of the rest of the public. Meanwhile, at the Universal Ampitheatre, that Key West pig Jimmy Buffett will not enjoy my presence at $1,500 a ticket, nor any more articles that say nice things about him."
--Skip Press, Author of Writer's Guide to Hollywood (Prima Publishing).

"OK, for this one I'll be serious. I'm not big on Christmas, but the New Year does mean a lot to me. Because of travel concerns (I don't like to fly during the holidays any year, and this particular year I'm simply not going to do it) I cannot be with my family on New Year's Eve night. I've lived alone since my sons grew up and now they have new families of their own in the East. I plan to celebrate the new millennium with a visit to my mother who lives in Southern CA, but only after all the Y2K hoopla has died down. So I plan to welcome in the year 2000 the way I welcome in any year: alone, with meditation and a glass of sparkling white grape juice (I don't do champagne anymore) at midnight. And a good book and a fire in the fireplace before and after."
--Dianne Day, Author of Death Train to Boston (Doubleday).

"I expect to spend much of December 31st watching television, something I normally never do. The Y2K bug, if it exists, will have eighteen hours to do its worst before it gets to us here in Calgary. This situation very much reminds me of the dying Earth in a science fiction story "The Poison Belt" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which contained the ominous line: The lights have not been lit in the Straits of Sunda! I shall be watching for news from the Straits of Sunda."
--Dave Duncan, Author of Lord of the Fire Lands (A Tale of the King's Blades) (Avon Eos).

"My wife and I will be with our dearest friends at a small dinner get-together. It will be a good old-fashioned New Year's party, with noisemakers and balloons and champagne. Great fun with people who mean a lot to us. What could be better?"
--Evan Marshall, Author of Missing Marlene (Kensington Books) and The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing (Writer's Digest Books).

"I'm going to spend it at home (as I have all of the other New Year's Eves in the recent past), doing what I normally do: having dinner with my husband, having a glass of champagne."
--Patricia T. O'Conner, Author of Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing (Harcourt Brace).

"If it's going to be that sort of explosion thing, I suppose I want a fool-proof bomb shelter designed by God for the express purpose of surviving; you know, a Noah's Ark Y2K ship. And, of course, I'd be huddled inside, with my husband, family and dog, praying that she/he was there for me."
--Evelyn Coleman, Author of What a Woman's Gotta Do (Dell).

"Locked in the bathroom (the most sound-proof room in my house) with my cats, wearing earplugs and waiting for the noise to die down. I understand New Year's Eve is not a firecracker holiday on the mainland. Here it is so deafening that one must buy earplugs well ahead of time, because by the date, all stores will be sold out of them. The smoke becomes so thick one cannot see across the street, and people with asthma and other breathing problems need oxygen. A few houses burn down every year, and many people are injured. This is regarded by the majority of the population as such extreme fun that year after year, every effort to ban fireworks or even to require permits for their use is voted down. I am not looking forward to the Millennium New Year's Eve."
--Melisa Michaels, Author of Sister to the Rain (Roc).

"With my brother, his wife and my family (wife and two kiddies) around a roaring fire in an old house in Burlington, Vermont, where they're predicting a New Year's high of 40 below zero."
--James Daly, Editor in Chief, Business 2.0

"I will be snug in my new home on New Year's Eve, sipping champagne and chuckling at all those people freezing out in Times Square. Nothing beats hearth and home...especially if all the lights go out!"
--Jennifer Fisher-Sawyer, Mystery Editor, HarperCollins.

"My wife and I intend to stock up on all the goodies we really like and spend the evening at home celebrating. I don't think the world will end on the millennium, but I do think it's a time we'd like to spend privately, and not part of an anonymous mass at some hotel or restaurant."
--Dale Furutani, Author of Jade Palace Vendetta (William Morrow).

"How will I spend New Year's Eve? I'm taking my family to a place where Y2K can't get us. We're camping, along with 50 of our closest friends, on the beach at El Capitan State Beach north of Santa Barbara, CA. I can't think of a better way to usher out the century than looking out on a scene that hasn't changed much since the last century turned."
--Martin J. Smith, Author of Shadow Image (Jove).

"Well despite the fact that the millennium itself doesn't really begin until 2001, December 31st 1999 IS my 50th birthday. I would be happy with the gift of good health and good friends for another 50 years. I'll be spending New Year's Eve with friends at a small party one of them is throwing for me. Perhaps not too exciting, but I prefer that to the big New Year's Eve bashes. I never feel it's my birthday being celebrated because at the turn of the new year, my birthday is over."
--Ellen Datlow, Editor of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection (St. Martin's Press), Fiction Editor, Scifi.com.

"My wife and I decided we should do something truly unusual, truly memorable -- the kind of thing we're too busy to do anymore and might not get a chance to do again for who knows how long. So we're planning a quiet night at home, just the two of us. We'll cook a good dinner together, put on some good music, and dance in the living room as the clock strikes twelve."
--Wen Stephenson, Editorial Director, Atlantic Unbound, Associate Editor, The Atlantic Monthly.

"I'll spend New Year's Eve at home. My wife has invited some people over to the house, and I am very happy not to be going out!"
--Jeff Herman, Author of You Can Make it Big Writing Books: A Top Agent Shows You How to Develop a Million-Dollar Bestseller (Prima Books).

"Watching the world grind to a halt as jets fall from the sky."
--Philip Luber, Author of Have Mercy On Us (Fawcett Books).

"This year we're spending it at home, having some close friends over. We all decided we didn't want anything crazy, just to get together and have some fun."
--John Marco, Author of The Jackal of Nar (Bantam).

"Avoiding the possibility of a deadly hangover New Year's day."
--Michael Neff, Editor, WebDelSol.

"My husband is working a twelve-hour shift for IBM on New Year's Day, starting at 6 a.m., so he is not likely to join me for long, but our neighbors have invited us to a major bash. My teen-age daughter saw the invitation and said, "This is a formal party! You're not still planning on going are you? I mean, you in a formal dress?!?" (However could we stay humble without our children to serve as lightning rods for our shortcomings?)"
--Leslie O'Kane, Author of The Fax of Life (Fawcett Books).

"My wife and I will spend this one quietly at home and I will watch TV with some apprehension. We run the Y2K Watch site and our star team of Dr. Stephen O'Leary, a prominent millennium expert, and Ben Berkowitz, a talented young reporter, will be updating how the media covers the event. Hopefully, we won't have much to post, but my gut feeling is that January 1 will trigger a lot of mental problems, if not computer glitches. This could be a time for low-probability, high-consequence events. New Year's Eve a year from now will be the time to pop corks."
--Larry Pryor, Executive Editor, Online Journalism Review, Director/Online Journalism Program, Annenberg School for Communication, USC.

"I'll likely be dressed in sackcloth and ashes, sitting cross-legged in the middle of my living room in the center of a pentagram, praying to Dick Clark on my TV. As he is the true antichrist, he will protect all loyal servants from the Y2K bug. Or I, my wife and two sons, may simply join some close friends for a quiet little celebration. Not sure yet."
--Glenn Kleier, Author of The Last Day (Warner Books).

"Cozy at home, with 20 of our closest friends. Then, to work on New Years Day, to write (for the newspaper) about any tragedies that might befall companies or people as the result of Y2K."
--George Meyers, Jr., Editor of LitKit

"Millennium? New Year's Eve? When's that? Isn't this 1968? Hoo-hah!
--Mort Castle, Author of Writing Horror (Writer's Digest Books).

Return to the January 2000 issue of The IWJ.