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I never would have expected it, but the most common question I get about Harper's world is "why doesn't she have a cell phone in Greywalker?" For some readers it's been a point of unreality that threw them out of the book so badly, they abandoned the story altogether. Kind of an odd point, isn't it? But it shows you never know what's going to work for some readers and what won't.
One of the difficulties for any Science Fiction or Fantasy writer is creating a world that's believable and compelling without getting so detailed that you spend all your time setting up or explaining things. You have to just take some things as read. As a writer, you have to strike a balance between showing the world in action and explaining it that doesn't make the whole experience fall apart like a stage flat falling over. And it's not the same for all writers or for all readers. No writer can satisfy all possible readers. Some will just not buy in, no matter how hard you try.
So... about this pager....
Back in May of 2000 I started on the first draft of Greywalker. At the time, my husband and I were the only people I knew who had cell phones as their primary telecommunications device. It's not that they were still very expensive, but rather that they were such a huge pain to keep in service. Coverage with any one company was terrible and patchy and the phones themselves were delicate and temperamental. But, living on a boat, we found that a traditional landline was not making the grade for us. We still had the line--we used it for our computer modem (124k baud, a veritable Niagra of information at the time)--but we were destined to drop it very soon. So I didn't consider giving my protagonist such an ill-tempered, unpredictable instrument. Instead, I tried to stick closer to the reality of the time--one I thought would prevail a little longer.
I chose the pager because I'd spent some time working for an answering service and many of our clients were professionals who used pagers for their service calls and messages: doctors, plumbers, maintenance companies, a private investigator, IT guys. Yes, one of the clients really was a PI. Remembering that guy and knowing a lot of other professionals who were still using pagers at the time, that's what I went with.
Oh, had I but known....
Moore's Law (that computer chips will double in power while halving in price every 18 months) has its corollary in other technologies, too. And in the human memory. The faster technology changes, the faster we will forget that it ever was any other way. It's one of the tough things about Science Fiction these days; you can't make a reasonable guess at where technology will be in five years, much less fifty. Trying to write a truly "hard science" fiction story requires either a ton of technical explanation or the assumption that your audience is pretty science-savvy to begin with. So, better to stick with Fantasy, yes?
But no. Because even Fantasy is rife with funny little pitfalls like the pager thing. Not only guessing ahead--since it takes about 18 months for a contracted manuscript to make its way onto shelves as a book and if you're dealing with contemporary settings or events, you might be dead wrong by then--but building and maintaining your world in terms and detail level that keep your readers comfortable and engaged.
There will always be readers who just can't get into it, who want more or less or simply different explanation, or who just can't believe that your protagonist doesn't have a cell phone. So what do you do?
You give up.
I don't mean you give up writing or writing your story as you feel it must be written. I mean that you, as a writer--I as a writer, in this case--cease to try to be all things to all readers. It's not possible to satisfy everyone. There will always be a potential pager in your story--something that breaks the reader's suspension of disbelief. You cannot stop it, you can't predict it--any more than you could predict how many angels might dance on the head of a certain pin. You accept the pager and you go on.
So I am sad about the pager in that it ruins the story for some people, but I am not sorry about the pager. It is what it is and that cannot be changed. I accept my pager-y shortcomings, the reality of pager supplanted by cell phone. I am at peace with the pager.
Do not try to eliminate the pager. That is impossible. Instead, realize the truth...
There is no pager.
View more information on Poltergeist
Kat Richardson, 
Poltergeist, 
Harper Blaine, 
Greywalker, 
detective, 
supernatural, 
murder, 
Penguin Books, 
books 
some people seem to look for things to disbelieve
I accepted the pager without question, seems to me a PI wouldnt want some jangly ringtone going off while lurking. But then I love my reading to allow me to slip away from reality for while, I read quickly, I accept all but the most ridiculous suggestions and I enjoy the book. One of the nice things about reading quickly, impatient to see how it all turns out, is that I miss things, so when I re read a book it has more discoveries buried away for me.
Disbelief
Hehe... you're the sort of reader we all love: one willing to spike your disbelief on the hook by the door and come along for the ride.
general election
Kat,
Are you planning to vote in November? If so, who will you vote for?
-Bryan
Election
I'm taking the Fifth on that one (which might be a fifth of whiskey if the candidates continue to act like brats.)
Even the pros struggle?
First let me say - Hey fellow Northwesterner! Man there are so many UF writers from the area it's awesome-rific.
As a newbie writer, I keep worrying about some of those issues. They say "write what you know" but as you pointed out, that's what you did but in the time it took to get the book to print - whammo! Technology screamed on by. It is sad that people can't get past that but I'm going to take your advice and just write my stories and deal with the fall out later... that is if they even see print. ;)
Struggle
You are on the right track! Not only do all pros start off from where you are, the job's hard enough without trying to predict the future, so cut yourself a break and don't sweat it yet. Write well, and love what you write, but with the knowledge that you're probably going to have to do radical surgery on those manuscript-babies at some time. But do write, write, write. Otherwise you paralyze yourself trying to hit every mark the first time and then NOTHING gets done.
Go for it, Pike!
cell phones, oi!
Funny how "thrown out of the story" readers are when the hero has no cell phone - even if the book was originally published in 1992. I've heard that complaint so many times.
That said, I don't know how you create a fictional world that is more intriguing than living on a sailboat in Seattle with or without ferrets.
Compelling worlds
Did I? I hope so. Cell phone or not. I think the cell phone thing might largely be generational... like a friend of ours who'd never seen an 8-track tape or a vinyl LP. Analog recordings of sound...? How do you do that? She just couldn't put her mind around the concept.