The Bar

[Daniel Hatadi]

Most forums have a post that serves as an entry point for new members, a place for them to introduce themselves. At Crimespace, that post is The Bar.

As a way of starting it off, I'll introduce myself.

My name is Daniel and my favourite colour is black. Half Romanian, half Croatian, I was born and bred in Australia, the country I've spent most of my life in. Got a degree in Computer Science and by day I'm a programmer in the shady field of gaming. Yes, I program poker machines. This does not mean I carry around a Bat-utility belt and rush over to clubs when people don't get paid. It's an office job, plain and simple. I stare at computer screens all day.

By night, and during my lunch hour, I write. Mostly crime, but I'm not afraid to venture outside the genre if the story I want to tell goes that way. Even then I'd say my fiction straddles the border between crime and other genres. I've only been writing solidly for about the last three years, the first two of which were spent on a comedic P.I. novel set in Sydney. Like many writers, that novel was my journeyman piece, in that it taught me how to write a novel (which is not to say I've stopped learning). Also like many writers, I don't think I want it to ever see the light of day.

I've since moved on to a novel that if I had to describe in one sentence, would sound something like this: "An unwilling hitman becomes part of a crime syndicate that reaches back to turn-of-the-century Sydney." Part crime thriller, part historical dream sequence, with elements of the supernatural. I'm about two thirds of the way through the first draft and I'm getting a big kick out of writing something more serious.

A few short stories of mine are floating around the net and I have a list of those on my profile page. In the interest of brevity, I'll leave it at that.

Now. Who wants a drink?

[Elizabeth Zelvin]

Daniel, by setting up The Bar as the "in" hangout, you're allowing me to rehearse in cyberspace for my first mystery con, Malice Domestic in May. When I was running an alcoholism treatment program on the Bowery, it was a real conversation stopper at a bar or cocktail party to tell people what I did for a living. Now that I've signed a contract with St. Martin's for DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER, in which my protagonist wakes up in detox on the Bowery on Christmas Day, I'm afraid the same thing will happen when it's schmoozing time at Malice. BTW, even though the book won't be out till 2008, they've put me on a panel and a very appropriate one too: "I Will Survive! The Things That Don't Kill Our Sleuths Will Make Them Stronger." Yep, that's recovery from alcoholism all right. My husband thought they were talking about the author's long road toward publication, but that's another story. ;) Liz

[Scott Hess]

Love the title DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER. I'd even buy the t-shirt!

[Daniel Hatadi]

Glad to be part of your rehearsal, Elizabeth. I think alcoholism can make for very heavy subject material, as I have a friend that suffers from almost totallly destructive binges every year or two. It's really not a pretty thing to deal with.

But as material for fiction, your novel definitely sounds intriguing. :)

[Newt Love]

You're doing the 12 step polka!

[J.D. Rhoades]

My name's Dusty. I'm a writer living in North Carolina. My third book comes out in July. I used to refer to the first book as "redneck noir" and the phrase caught on.
By day, I'm a simple country lawyer. I write in the evenings and when I really should be reviewing deposition transcripts. I also write a weekly column for my local paper, which was voted "best serious column of 2005" from the NC Press Association. This wasn't as cool as it could have been, since it's a humor column. This actually tends to be a recurring problem for me: I'm on a panel of humorous mystery writers at the upcoming Virgina Festival of the Book, but I don't write humorous mysteries. My favorite color is ultraviolet.

[David Terrenoire]

"Simple country lawyer."

Yeah, like Sam Ervin was a simple country lawyer.

[Newt Love]

In the picture, which one are you? The right or the left?

[Stephen Blackmoore]

My name is Stephen Blackmoore and I'm a mammal. Beyond that things get a little fuzzy.

I write short stories and am slogging through a horror/crime novel I like to label zombie noir. Hopefully, one day I'll finish the damn thing.

I also blog about Los Angeles crime over at L.A. Noir. I don't dance.

[Christa M. Miller]

Zombie noir?? Oh my dog, if you need a reader, let me know!! I may also need to hit you and Daniel up for critiques of my zombie short fiction (3 pieces, none complete but 2 close).

[Daniel Hatadi]

Christa, you're welcome to hit me any time. Did you get my email?

[Daniel Hatadi]

Hey, just swap around paragraphs 3 and 4 on page 128 and you're done!

And come on, don't you even dance on the inside at least?

[Newt Love]

I thought zombie stories were dead.
wait! there's a pun in there somewhere.
nevermind. It's the gin talking.