Bible Lessons In B3

Last week (was it only last week; it feels like a lot longer ago than that), when I worked out the new B3 ending (which I will never ever ever reveal), I put in my blog entry three things about it.

One was that it was different from other B3 endings I'd already tried (definitely true).

One was that it wasn't a trick it was all a dream kind of ending (definitely true).

One was that I was going to change the Bible lesson Charlie gives.

Well, that one I'm not so sure about.

The Bible chapter I thought I'd have Charlie talk about is Chapter 34 in Deuteronomy (it occurs to me that the ASPCA should call their program Neuteronomy, but that's most likely because I'm a very sick person). For those of you who can't quote the Bible chapter and verse, here's the Jewish Publication Society version (I prefer it to the King James):

And the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 'I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross there."

A good deal of the last section of This World We Live In has to do with the passes to the safe town that Alex was given in the dead and the gone. Although Miranda is age eligible to get in, there's been no version of the B3 ending where she does. And since B3 is a book of echoes (my cousin Ellen last night said that would be a great title for a novel), I thought that particular Bible chapter would resonate- Miranda would be outside looking in at what passes for the promised land in the post-mooncrash world.

But now, while the passes remain an integral part of the story, Miranda's feelings about her life on the outside of the town are no longer particularly important. So I'm thinking I may still stick with Noah's children. I'll have to decide sometime next week, when I'm giving the manuscript its final polish.

One good thing about this blog- when I wrote a couple of paragraphs up, "the last section," it reminded me I have to divvy the book into sections and chapters. That doesn't come naturally to me with these books, so I tend to forget about it.

But I'll never forget my vow to keep the ending to myself. And to my friend Christy. But that's it. The rest of humanity will have to wait until Spring 2010, because not telling is one vow I intend to keep!