I encounter a lot of 20 year old’s treading water, waiting to grow up, putting off independence, crawling towards adulthood. But I also see many 20 year old’s writing novels, starting businesses, producing TV shows, taking college seriously, and working really, really hard. What I don’t see is a lot of in between.

It’s as if the middle ground has been sucked into a worm hole at the center of the achievement universe. And I’m convinced this is not driven by economics, not in America anyway. In so many ways, the new economy favors the one who has always been forced to try harder, never been given a free ride, pushed of the couch and into the real world.

My mom just went to Africa to work for two weeks. She’s 72. Cecily Tyson is 88. She was just nominated for a Tony for a Broadway show she performs in eight times a week. My dad, even though he has fought some very challenging health issues in the past five years, is running two businesses and busier than ever at 68.

Is 90 the new 60? Is 50 the new 30? Is 25 the new 17? I’m starting to think that’s the wrong language here. We used to have boxes for age: 18, adult. 40, middle age. 65, old. 85, lucky to be alive. Maybe it was the economic crash that changed the rules or a combination of events that included a long cycle of prosperity. Either way, the new paradigm is much simpler: you are exactly how old you think you are. It’s on you. You decide at 19 if you’re too young or lazy or broken or immature to get your act together and make something out of yourself right now. And if you’re 68 or 72 or 88 or 101, (very serious health issues aside) you decide how vibrant you are.

I was at the gym not too long ago and I saw a guy working out. Looking at this guy I thought: ‘he has to be in his 70′s, but man, this dude is in very good shape.’ I asked him how old he was and his reply was a good lesson in the new economy: ‘if I tell you how old I am, you’ll put me in a box. So I’m not telling you.’ Maybe he was 90! Smart guy.

We are no longer limited by our age – we’re not too young or too old or stuck in the endless middle – we’re just right if we believe we are.

It’s safe to say that YA author Michael Grant is opinionated. On this edition of the Intersect Podcast we talk with Michael about, among other things, his thoughts on social media and whether or not higher education is important. And of course we dig into his bestselling YA series, GONE.

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Also on Intersect:

Producer Albie Hecht has been nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. While running Nickelodeon Albie helped create such iconic shows as SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, and Blues Clues. On the Intersect Podcast we talk with Albie about why he’s always looking for what’s next in traditional and multimedia.

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Also keep tabs in the ON DECK section to see who’s coming up in future podcasts.

Once in a while a day shows up in which a brand new journey begins. Like the day when we start writing that new book. Or the day we started work on a brand new everlasting Gobstopper. Or the day we start, from the first show, watching all 121 episodes of LOST.

Beginnings are exciting, and today marks the start of the Intersect Podcast, something my friend Jeremy Gonzalez and I have been cooking up for about a year. We LOVE every aspect of storytelling and every kind of story, and we’re especially interested in how stories evolve. The show points a wide angle lens at how stories are made, who makes them, and the formats people find them in.

Our guests are novelists, screenplay writers, teleplay writers, directors, producers, editors, agents, and managers who create or help create novels, picture books, comic books, animation, television, and movies.

And we don’t just scratch the surface. We’re curious guys having in depth, entertaining conversations with the people who make stories happen.

If you’re a creator of stories in any format, or a fan of books, TV and movies, this is where your tribe meets!

We start at the beginning – with the beloved picture book – and the extraordinary David Shannon.

Visit www.intersectpodcast.com to listen, or search for Intersect Podcast in the iTunes store and download to your phone for free.

For the upcoming schedule of guests, click here.

Come on, let’s go!

Patrick

P.S. If you like what you hear, pass it on – we dig that.

Well, 2012 has arrived and the world isn’t quite like I imagined it would be.  Instead of flying cars we’ve got iPads, smart phones, and Top Chef. Pretty good, even if none of those things can fly me to the moon or distribute free candy when I demand it. Even books have turned out differently than I thought. I never imagined things like Skeleton Creek, 3:15, Trackers, or Dark Eden when I was ten, but I’m glad there’s room in the modern world for many kinds of reading experiences.  Heck, I’m just psyched we’re still reading!

2012 will include the totally traditional second Floors book, so you’ll be able to discover what happens to Leo and Remi in the Whippet Hotel through words, words, and more words. And Eve of Destruction, the next Dark Eden project will be headed your way before summer. It’s an exciting time for books, both traditional and Transmedia. And I’m beginning work on a new traditional YA trilogy – top secret! – so stay tuned for news on that.

Here’s wishing all of us a great 2012, even if cars can’t fly.

Patrick