What's next for former "Jeopardy!" champion Amy Schneider?
On the heels of her historic "Jeopardy!" run ending, Schneider said she's experienced "the craziest week" she's ever had as she eyes what's next following her sudden, new-found fame — a future which may include a book deal.
Schneider's thrilling 40-game winning streak ended during the Jan. 26 episode, when she was defeated by a librarian from Chicagoan named Rhone Talsma. Schneider ended her run as the second winningest contestant in "Jeopardy!" history, trailing only Ken Jennings' legendary 74-win streak in 2004.
The Ohio native appeared on a Twitter Spaces with the New York Times' Shane O’Neil for a 45 minute interview to discuss a wide range of topics, including what her future may look like after her life was flipped on its head over the past two months.
Schneider said she's taking a leave of absence from her day job as a software engineer to sort everything out.
"It's been the craziest week I've ever had," she said in reference to the days immediately following her "Jeopardy!" exit. "It seems like everybody in the world wants to talk to me and have discussions about what I’m going to be doing next, so I’m just trying to juggle all that."
"I thought the immediate interest would die down a lot more, but that turned out not to be true."
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She mentioned that she had 92,000 Twitter followers on her final day on the show, which rose to 110,000 the day after. She's up to over 126,000 as of this story's publication.
"I'm having a lot of meetings with my agent, which is such a weird thing to hear myself say, but it's true," she said. "I signed with CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and they're excited about all kinds of different things and I'm just trying to drink from the firehose of what they’re trying to talk about."
While she didn’t mention many specifics about her future — which she might not know herself — she did say what one of her main priorities is.
"I'm trying to put together a book proposal to see if that gets interest," she said. "That just really needs my focus. I'm really excited about it. The chance to put all the stuff I’ve been thinking my whole life into a book is kind of exciting."
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She also added that at some point she would "love" to appear on another game show - though she admitted she's already been on the best one.
Schneider, who won $1,382,000 on the show, said that her most frivolous expense she's made since receiving her "Jeaopardy!" check was a on a one night stay at a boutique hotel in Half Moon Bay, where she used the biggest bathtub she's even been in.
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