My novel

[ttweed]

I guess I could have posted this in the "Pelicanites who are AWOL" thread, since I haven't been around for quite awhile. I used to post pretty often in the 911 forums, but this is totally off-topic so I thought I'd post it here. I am pretty stoked and want to share this with my fellow Porschephiles.

I just found out that the novel I completed this last year, Beep! Beyond the Frogpond and Back, was selected as a quarterfinalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. This means that it was deemed to be in the best 500 out of 10,000 entries, or in the top 5%, which is pretty gratifying.

The next phase is making the semifinals (the top 100 books move on in the judging) on April 15th. All the quarterfinalist excerpts are posted on Amazon Shorts now, so any Amazon customer can download and read my first chapter excerpt (which was used to judge it) for free, and submit a review of it on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3AFK

If you're interested in checking it out and have any time for such a thing (and have an Amazon account), customer reviews of the excerpt are considered in the next round of judging and would be appreciated.

I have to admit that the only way I was able to get this book finished was to quit participating in these forum (and all the other internet time-stealing distractions), cut down on my driving events and totally ignore my Porsche projects for the last 18 months, but it was worth it. I have one more item crossed off my "bucket list," now, and I know you didn't really miss me.

TT

[Laneco]

What?!! Cut down on your driving?

Wow, Tom, this had better be some book!!! LOL!

Congratulations on finishing and on the good reviews so far.
angela

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by ttweed

I guess I could have posted this in the "Pelicanites who are AWOL" thread, since I haven't been around for quite awhile. I used to post pretty often in the 911 forums, but this is totally off-topic so I thought I'd post it here. I am pretty stoked and want to share this with my fellow Porschephiles.

I just found out that the novel I completed this last year, Beep! Beyond the Frogpond and Back, was selected as a quarterfinalist in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. This means that it was deemed to be in the best 500 out of 10,000 entries, or in the top 5%, which is pretty gratifying.

The next phase is making the semifinals (the top 100 books move on in the judging) on April 15th. All the quarterfinalist excerpts are posted on Amazon Shorts now, so any Amazon customer can download and read my first chapter excerpt (which was used to judge it) for free, and submit a review of it on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UG3AFK

If you're interested in checking it out and have any time for such a thing (and have an Amazon account), customer reviews of the excerpt are considered in the next round of judging and would be appreciated.

I have to admit that the only way I was able to get this book finished was to quit participating in these forum (and all the other internet time-stealing distractions), cut down on my driving events and totally ignore my Porsche projects for the last 18 months, but it was worth it. I have one more item crossed off my "bucket list," now, and I know you didn't really miss me.

TT

On another note how do you like your Ultima?

Building one is on my bucket list.

[TerryH]

Congrats! Stewart Parks = pen name?

[livi]

Congratulations! That is quite an accomplishment, well done!

[CJFusco]

Good work - I know the feeling that comes along with getting a book published. It feels awesome. Even though I have two books for sale, I'm still working on getting some of my fiction published, so I'm a little envious.

[911Rob]

Originally Posted by ttweed

.....I have to admit that the only way I was able to get this book finished was to quit participating in these forum (and all the other internet time-stealing distractions), .......
TT

Congrats TT!
May be some wisdom in your post?

I've thought about writing a book, but what would be the point if no one would read it? Ha. Best of luck to you!

[ttweed]

Originally Posted by TerryH

Congrats! Stewart Parks = pen name?

Thanks everyone! Yes, Stewart Parks is my pseudonym, an amalgamation of the maiden names from both sides of my family. Parks is actually my middle name, and I always wanted to have a cool nickname, so you can call me "Stewball." I hated being called "Tweety-bird" the whole time I was growing up.

stomachmonkey--

The Ultima is as close to a "supercar" as I'll ever get. Sure I'd like to have a Carrera GT, but can't afford the maintenance, much less the purchase price. I've only been able to run it at a couple of DEs and 3 autox events in the last year, but it's a lot of fun for a street-legal car. It's GT-2 or Cup car fast, with the benefit of having a motor that has a lot of low-end grunt and doesn't cost an arm and a leg to maintain or replace. What's a freshening on a Cup car engine? $30K? A new LSx crate motor with forged internals like the one in this car makes about 430HP and is about $3500 from GM. A 505HP LS-7 is $13K.

I like the car's styling, sort of old school CanAm, but it's a little too flashy for me on the street. I'm not into drawing as much attention as it gets, honestly. Maybe if I were younger, and still on the prowl....

TT

[lowyder993s]

So one question?

Does Bob get barreled in Bairritz?

Cool stuff!!! can I download the rest?

[ttweed]

Originally Posted by lowyder993s

So one question?

Does Bob get barreled in Bairritz?

Cool stuff!!! can I download the rest?

Hey Jim-

Howzit, brah? No, BP gets barreled plenty, but not in Biarritz. One of the recurring "time relativity" themes in the book is the phenomena of "dilation of time" while in the tube, though.

Only the excerpt is available for download right now on Amazon, but I have the first two chapters up on my Plowshare website here as a PDF download:
http://plowsharemedia.com/ Just click on the cover image and you'll go to the page where there's a link to the PDF. Amazon limited the excerpt to 5,000 words. I wanted to send the first two chapters in, but it was too long. I'm all set to publish it myself as soon as I fall out of the ABNA contest. Winning and getting a contract with Penguin Books would be great, but I'm not counting on it. The competition is tough.

If you're really interested in reading it, I'll email you the full PDF file.

C'ya,
TT

[lowyder993s]

Fo sure...I like Alan Weisbecker...but sometimes a little too whiney...you don't seem like that guy Is Bob an amalgamation of any people we know? ...Bunker Spreckles comes to mind.
Why is that dialation of time in the barrel? I got shacked at Baja Malibu in 76 on a heavy NZ south swell...I can still remember exactly how it looked tripping on being able to see the houses on the bluffs due to the extreme angle of the wave.

[ttweed]

Originally Posted by lowyder993s

Fo sure...I like Alan Weisbecker...but sometimes a little too whiney...you don't seem like that guy Is Bob an amalgamation of any people we know? ...Bunker Spreckles comes to mind.

Funny you should mention that. There is a character in the book named "Bumper" whose real name is "Adolph." It doesn't take much imagination to figure where I pulled that from...

The names have been changed to protect the guilty...

I've read all of Allan's books and subscribe to his blog. I liked Cosmic Bandidos best, and CYGAWA the least. He did get pretty obsessive with that last one.

TT

[lowyder993s]

Originally Posted by ttweed

I've read all of Allan's books and subscribe to his blog. I liked Cosmic Bandidos best, and CYGAWA the least. He did get pretty obsessive with that last one.

TT

+1...exactly!