Q&A – Per Jacobsen Answers Questions about The STRUNG Series – Round 1

SPOILERS – SPOILERS – SPOILERS (OBVIOUSLY)⁣
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Only read this post if you’ve already read the Strung Trilogy and Rose’s Story.
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𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞?⁣
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Hmm … I try not to get too attached to my characters as I, just like my readers, know that no one really is safe, once the ball starts rolling. And weird as it may seem, I don’t always know who’s gonna die from the get-go. ⁣
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As for the Strung series, I’d have to say that Tommy was one of my favorites. It took a lot of thought to figure out how to make his death impactful without having it take focus from all the other big stuff happening at Redwater. In the end I went with the short and sweet, minimalistic version, and I think it worked out well. ⁣
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Another favorite is, of course, Mrs. Shanahan in Rose’s Story, because it was one of my real-life readers. That made it fun.⁣
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𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞?⁣
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Yes, it definitely keeps popping up in the back of my mind, so the book will probably become a reality someday.⁣
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𝐖𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬?⁣
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Yes. My money is on the pods that they found here and there in the other books. They probably contained some kind of critter-filled gas that started the spread.⁣
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𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐦𝐲𝐠𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰?? 𝐎𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?⁣
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I believe the first ones infected were the police, and yes, by a different trigger than the gen pop. I also believe the infected authorities were the ones who orchestrated the infection of the blanks (following pre-coded orders, of course). ⁣
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If we go with that, the aliens that took residence in the cops, etc. “sacrificed themselves” to ensure the survival of their young. They knew that the adult hosts wouldn’t last. Most of this will probably be clarified if the patient 0 book comes 😉⁣
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𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞? 𝐎𝐫 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 “𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥” 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭?⁣
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I always try to limit myself, so I don’t know much more about what’s going on than my characters do as I feel it makes it more realistic. So, I can’t say for sure, but I do have faith in mankind—and I’m sure there are other survivors scattered out there. At some point, they’re bound to start working together, right?⁣
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𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬? (𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫…𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐬)⁣
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Well, I’m pretty sure the patient 0 story will come someday. Other than that, I don’t think I’m gonna return to the Strung world. I do have another idea for a series that might land well with the Strung fans, though. It’s got the same vibe—and plenty of room for expansion 😉⁣
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𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐬/𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬?⁣
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It’s true that there isn’t a lot of info about what happened to the animals. Mainly that’s because I always try to limit myself and the reader to knowing only what the main characters know. There are, however, a few hints along the way.⁣
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1) Chili, the squirrel in the end of book: It gets scared when Billy awakes which must mean that at least some animals are aware of the parasites and flee.⁣
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2) The police dogs chasing Tommy at the hospital: These are still loyal to their “infected” owners and thus help them chase Tommy. The dogs themselves aren’t necessarily infected, though.⁣
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3) The deer that Randall spot in the deserted streets of Newcrest (book 2, beginning): This is some time after the first events and wild animals have started to move to populated areas as the blanks slowly disappear.⁣
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4) The bumblebee: I put that scene in there to give a sense of going full circle from the beginning of book 1 and the end in book 3. The dedication in Randall’s script (HumbleBilly) also served as my guideline for his motivation and arc, so it made sense in my head to tie a bow on it with the bumblebee. ⁣
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And, since it’s just the bunch of us talking privately, I’ll let you in on a little secret. The inspiration was from a talk about the idea of reincarnation that me and my son once had where we agreed that if one of us passed, we’d come back and visit the other. I asked what animal he’d like to come back as. He chose a bumblebee.⁣
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So, to recap: I believe the animals are still there, adjusting to a world that no longer is dominated by humans.⁣
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𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞?⁣
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I didn’t see it as a series, no. What I had was the first book, and I liked it, open-ended and all. However, it was very well received, especially in the US, so it made a lot of sense to start thinking seriously about making more—and luckily, there was more to dig out 😉⁣
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– 𝘗𝘦𝘳 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯