Things always change...

OK, I sent the package out to an agent, and got a fairly quick respone: Sorry, not interested. That's OK, I didn't expect to get anything on the first try. But it did give me time to rethink the story. I've decided to combine the two parts into one book again. I'm almost finished the draft and am starting to go through and edit the story. I know there are continuity issues and some of my math work really stinks, but what the heck. That's what this is all about. To keep writing until it's publishable.

I want to thank Aburt and the Critters Organization for being my online critique group. They've been very helpful with this novel and my short stories.

I especially want to thank Wendy Wheeler and The Slug Tribe in Austin Texas. They are a writing group that meets twice a month for review and critque of stories. I discovered I needed to talk to pewople inn person about my writing, and find out how they thought and wrote. It is a marvelous group of individuals that are serious about their writing. Just sitting in and reading other people's works and listening to the critiques has already made me a better writer. Here's my public service announcement:

DON'T WRITE IN A VACUUM!!! FIND A GROUP AND JOIN! YOU'LL NEVER REGRET THAT DECISION!!!

Okay, I've gotten that off my chest. On a more personal note, we may have found our new house, albeit 8 months before we are ready for it! It's in Georgetown, about 20 miles north of Austin. The price is reasonable, the lot is nicely landscaped, there is a pool and a hot tub, and there are enough rooms for my wife and I to each have an office. I gotta tell you, the Greater Austin Area lifestyle is execptional. One word of caution: Don't come down here and try to make it like where you used to live! There is already too much diluting of the local culture. Please enjoy Austin and the surrounding towns for what they are. if you really love Encino, and want what they have there, STAY THERE! If you want to experience a much nicer lifestyle, then COME ON DOWN!!!

The food is one of the best things! There is a little place called "Georgetown BBQ" that has absolutely the best brisket I have ever eaten in my life. Tender, juicy and oh, so tasty! Tell them you want it with a "little flavor". That means there is a little bit of fat on it. And the chicken is great too! My wife and daugther adore the homemade Peach and Cherry Cobbler.

Alright, I'm full now. I'll let you be for now.

D. D. Tannenbaum

Onward and Outward...

OK, I made it to Texas. We've been here about six weeks and are pretty much enjoying it. Adjusting to a two bedroom apartment instead of a three bedroom house is a bit difficult. Note to parents of teenagers: Don't let your kids bring their skateboards and bikes into the apartment pool. It really messes the water up. And to parents of little children: TEACH THEM NOT TO PEE IN THE APARTMENT POOL OR ON THE PLANTINGS AROUND THE APARTMENT POOL! And to the adults: NO SEX IN THE APARTMENT POOL! KEEP YOUR BODILY FLUIDS TO YOURSELF! This has been my public service announcement.

Now, the story has gotten so out of hand, I am splitting it up into two books. I am doing the final edits on the first one now and will be sending a query to an agent in the next day or so. One thing I've noticed is when the Muse strikes, you have no choice but to write. If it ain't there, what comes out is pretty much crap. My Muse comes upon me when I can let go of everything that bothers me. That clears me out and good stuff comes. I'm also growing short stories; a couple of them are ready for critiquing. But this beast that is coming out os taking me places I never thought it could.

Now, Texas is a great place. I never knew they had a Texas Pledge of Alligiance. They say it in schools right after the National Pledge of Alligiance. For an aspiring author, Texas it has it all. The cost of living is a lot cheaper than New England. There is great food, great music and cheap beer! The people are friendly and open. We've made a lot of new friends here; I may even have found someone to collaborate with on a few stories.

I hope the agent I've chosen likes the story. I'm open for all kinds of constructive criticism. If anybody needs a place to have their stories critiqued, I highly recommand http://www.critters.org/. They are a fabulous bunch of people!

I'm gonna go bury my head in some meditation tapes for the night...

D. D. Tannenbaum

Sitting and thnking...

Well, I'm sitting in a hotel room in South Austin. Texas is great, but Austin has changed! All the reasons we want to live here are still here, but the "cowboy" element has turned yuppieish. Oh well, the Hole in the Wall still has great beer! I have decided to send an inquiry to an agent... let's see what happens.

I haven't written much for a few weeks, but the urge is building. Maybe I'll try John Barnes concept of a thousand words a day. My writing is sporadic but intense. Let's see if some kind of consistancy is good for me. There never was much of it in my early life. I think maybe it's time for a change.

My other stories are bubbling up, also. I think it's time to start fleshing them out...

D. D. Tannenbaum

Why do I write?

Let's review why I write stuff down in the first place: I don't seem to have a choice. Story ideas come up and appear to take on a life of their own. I can hear a line from a song, or someone makes an odd turn of phrase, or I happen to be drifting off to sleep and something appears out of whole cloth. Who knows? But once the idea comes, it demands to be expressed. In some cases, I just let it simmer in my head for a while until it gets some coherency to it. Other times, I get so overwhelmed with the concept, I HAVE to start writing immediately. I currently have three other novels, two short stories and a screen play in the beginning stages. A couple of the novels may never see the light of day because of copyright issues (one is from a very old TV series, and the other is a crossover between two other fairly current series.), but they cry out to be expressed. If I never make a dime with my writing, I have the satisfaction of having gotten the ideas and concepts on paper; and I have the sure knowledge that the characters in the stories will appreciate being brought out into the open. My head gets kind of murky at times.

With my current original attempt, "Keel Hauled", it started with a fairly odd concept of interstellar travel. I sat with that for a few days and started to get ideas in snapshot form. Conversations between crewmembers or plot twists in a plot that didn't even exist at the time. It was kind of like putting together a puzzle; you get chunks of pieces together and lay out those chunks where you think they should go. It's sometimes surprising how the middle of the story can become the beginning, and the ending come out of nowhere.

I have often written myself into a corner and then discovered what one of the characters was thinking. That would put me on a new path and change things around drastically. That's something else I realized; I don't write a story. The characters that inhabit the story are just telling me what's going on. I have to interpret their situations, reconstruct the dialogue and lay it out logically. I sometimes feel more like a construction worker than a writer. I find it hard to make a character do something that seems out of, well, character for the character.

All of this to say, I write because I love to write. The joy that comes from expressing myself this way is incredible. Like anyone laboring over a project, there is a sense of accomplishment.

D. D. Tannenbaum

Starting point...

This will be my record of getting my novel published. I am about 2/3rd's of the way through it, and have been reviewing it every few days to get the crap out of it. After 65,000 words, I seem to have a fairly coherant plot and apparently likable characters.

Here is the basic plot:

We've been in space about 180 years. It is currently the year 2187. We went interstellar around the end of the last century, utilizing something called a Tachyon Pump that forces a ship and contents to become Tachyon particles. They wiffle away in the general direction they wish to go in, and get pretty much anywhere in their small volume of space in less than a month.

The crew of this particular ship get involved in some odd dealings with a mysterious stranger (is there any other kind?) who involves them in some pretty shady dealing.

I have enjoyed writing this story so far, and hope to have it off to an agent or publisher before I move to Austin, Texas later this summer. It currently consumes a lot of my free time (Which is measured in Planck Time Units as is!) .

I will keep this updated with my progress, as I think it's time to get it out there. Hang on, it's going to be a wild ride!

D.D. Tannenbaum