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?

[Paul Guyot]

You've been playing your own banjo a little too much, if you know what I mean.

[Jennifer Jordan]

JR's banjo is really out of tune, if you know what I mean.

[Daniel Hatadi]

This banjo talk is all just a little off. Perfect for The Bar!

[Robin Burcell]

If you know what I mean...

[Newt Love]

Of all the gin joints on the planet, he had to walk into this one, with his banjo in hand.

[Steve Mosby]

Hey up, everyone. I'm Steve, I'm thirty years and I live in Leeds in the UK. I don't really have a favourite colour but, if pushed, I'll go for a really deep purple.

I started off writing horror, then horror-sci-fi, then horror-sci-fi-crime, but now I've moved more into plain old horror-crime. On that kind of trajectory, I'll be writing cat mysteries in ten years' time. My third book is out in April, and I have until the end of April to finish the fourth. It's only at 25k at the moment, so it's a bit like the writing equivalent of extreme sports, and if I'm not around much in the next couple of months then that's why. But I probably will be anyway, because the distraction is enticing.

I'll drink almost everything. Whatever anyone else is having, in fact, just to make the round easier to remember. And if anyone notices their glass has gone missing ... it might very well be me.

[Sandra Ruttan]

"On that kind of trajectory, I'll be writing cat mysteries in ten years' time."

Oh, yeah, right Steve. More like hardboiled kitty stew.

[Jack Getze]

How about vampire cats?

[Steve Mosby]

Ah, I don't know if I could do vampires, cats or otherwise. Never really got on with them in fiction. Werewolves and zombies, maybe: I like the metaphors more with them. And they suit my soppy style of pathos a bit better. :-)

[Newt Love]

You wrote: Ah, I don't know if I could do vampires

What if she and her friend were really cute, and you had quaffed half of the pub's ale?

[Laura Benedict]

Hi, everybody. I don't drink much because I used up all my alcohol-absorbent cells before I was seventeen--but I will drink a beer or a nice single malt on occasion. Though not together.

My name is Laura Philpot Benedict. I've had many other names because I'm on my third--and definitely last--marriage. It's made for an interesting life, but it's played hell with my ability to get a stupid Firearms Owner ID card here in the Chicago-owned state of Illinois. A .44 is my choice for blowing up pumpkins.

I've been writing for almost twenty years. For 17 of those I've been married to a kick-ass Southern writer named Pinckney Benedict. It was tough living with a cult figure/lit genius until I got over the fact that I'd never write like he does. I had my own copywriting business and sold a few short stories and poems to places you've never heard of. My most regular writing gig is for a Michigan newspaper doing book reviews. The pay stinks, but I love the free books. I'm sure if you dig in your files you'll find I said something critical about your book--but I meant it in the nicest way, and I hope you won't hold it against me. (I'll buy you a beer!)

March 21, 2005--I was on an airplane coming home from NYC where I'd seen my long-suffering agent. I was really tired of people reading my work and saying--"Nice writing, but nothing's happening here." So at that moment, I started ISABELLA MOON. My rule for myself was that something had to happen in every chapter and that that something could possibly happen on a psycho-version of the soap Days of Our Lives. I gave myself a year.

Sometime in May, 2006--The freaking dream came true and I sold IM and a second book to Ballantine for an embarrassing amount of money. I feel two ways about it 1) It's a miraculous blessing, and 2)I worked like a dog for a lot of years to make this happen. I know this will make me a large target come September when IM comes out--But I can only put the work out there. You know?

I really like cheese, love Jesus, and few things make me happier than finding a pair of blue jeans that actually fit. I'm thrilled to be here!

[Newt Love]

"I worked like a dog for a lot of years to make this happen..."

Maynard Furgusson (sp?) -- the great New Orleans trumpet player -- was asked in a 1980s era interview "How does it feel to be an overnight success?"

"Fine, but it took thirty years to get here."