June 2006
Hello again,
Summer is here in full force, and thanks to the investors at my former company, I have a few weeks of "severance vacation" to enjoy the season. It also means that I have time to write a new novel. I spent some time last week getting inspired and this morning I put my fingers to the keyboard and started Entanglement--a science thriller with quantum mechanics at the core. I've been meaning to get back to my physics roots.
The other big news is that I've officially started my agent search. So far I'm 0-1, but I'm not discouraged. In fact, I'm about to send out two more (once I take another pass at the letter to customize it for those agencies). Thanks go out to one of the Newsletter folks (that's you guys) for talking me up to an agent at a party. He did such a good job selling me that she requested my material. Getting a foot in the door makes a big difference, so if I get picked up, I'll have to give a finder's fee reward or something. Maybe I'll name a character after you (you know who you are). That goes for everyone. If you help me get an agent or editor, I'll give you a prize.
In other news, I'll be doing a talk on "Science in Science Fiction" at the Writer's Weekend conference (http://www.writersweekend.com/) in June. Karen Junker, the organizer, is super nice, so I offered to do the talk--and the publicity can't hurt. The meeting is a four-day networking session, and I'll have my name in the schedule. I also get a five-minute pitch session with an editor at Tor. This is a Good Thing. Tor is one of the big SF and F publishers. Wish me luck. Maybe she'll see me at my session too.
And in case you are worried about me losing my day job, don't. It was the push out the door that I needed. I'm now going to start my own company to do contract scientific writing and editing. I'll sell myself to patent lawyers, scientists, biotech firms, etc. Pretty much anyone who needs to write a scientific paper or proposal, but who needs help expressing their ideas. I'll also get back into writing about science for non-scientists. I'm excited to have the chance to chase a dream. Wish me luck!
For summer reading, I recommend I. Asimov, by Isaac A. His autobiography inspires me to make a career out of science writing. So blame him.
Later,
--Todd