2006 - 03/2006 Meeting

Page Created: 09/25/10. Last Updated: 10/29/10/. Last Google Group Page Update: 04/25/09.

TY DRAGO

Novels:

Phobos

The Franklin Affair

His Website is:

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: March 11, 2006

Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center

Official Attendance: 28.

Meeting Program: Talk by Science Fiction Writer/Editor/Publisher.

Notes:

Meeting Memories:

Newsletter Account:

The General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held on Saturday, March 11, 2006. The gathering was held at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

The Anime Associates and Final Frontier met before the main event. There were only a few attendees for the anime screening of ESCAFLOWNE. The turnout was better for The Final Frontier's discussion about which STAR TREK character do you most identify? The discussion was led by Pamela Webber, as Vince and Yaneth Carlucci now have their hands full with a newborn.

The evening's featured speaker ws author Ty Drago. Ty is the author of two novels, one science fiction (PHOBOS) and one historical (THE FRANKLIN AFFAIR). He is also the editor/publisher of the on line quarterly, PERIODOT BOOKS.

Ty has been writing all his life. When he was young, he would do his own comic books. The neighborhood kids agreed that while he couldn't draw, he could tell a story.

The years went by: high school, college, job, wife, child, and unsalable novels and unsold short stories. In 1998, he finally decided that since no one else was interested in publishing him, he would publish himself. He already had a domain name -- Peridot Books -- as the result of an abortive attempt at an online bookstore, so he decided to launch an electronic magazine as a hobby. Each issue would have 12 stories, and one of those stories would be his. Despite a very low payment rate, he was soon receiving 500 submissions per issue.

The venture brought him to the attention of the editor of Regency Press, a small press specializing in Regency romances. She suggested that he write one for her. The result was THE FRANKLIN AFFAIR, a historical mystery set in France during the ambassadorship of Benjamin Franklin.

The book garnered some favorable reviews, but distribution problems sank Regency, and the title pretty much disappeared without a trace. The book did, however, get him an introduction to literary agent Cherry Weiner. She, in turn, got him an introduction to then-Tor editor Jim Minz. Four hours and many drinks later, Ty had a contract for the novel that became PHOBOS.

PHOBOS is a science fiction murder mystery set on a moon of Mars in the 23rd century. The author felt that very few science fiction mysteries actually worked well as a mystery. He wanted to do an Agatha Christie in space, employing all the tropes of the traditional mystery, but one to which the element of science fiction was integral, not tangential, to the plot.

The book became a publishing oddity. Despite enthusiastic reviews in PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY ("a strong candidate for the year's best SF debut"), KIRKUS REVIEW, LIBRARY JOURNAL, and other places, the book did not sell. The author blamed the cover ("a giant condom rocketing through space") and marketing for its lackluster performance. At least, he sighed, the paperback corrected he original hardcover blurb identifying Phobos as the smallest moon of Mars.

Mr Drago was at work on a sequel when Tor advised him that they would not be interested in publishing one. So he is looking around at a variety of projects both within and without the genre. Ty stated that he considers himself a writer who writes some science fiction, but not a science fiction writer per se.

One of the projects is non fiction writing. He has sold an article about networking to WRITERS' DIGEST, a market which pays handsomely. He has also written a fantasy novel with an interesting premise, but one which has been impossible to market.

The novel is a love story between two angels. Most angels in heaven choose to have one or more incarnations on Earth. This allows the celestials to have experiences which they could not have in heaven, and to learn from them. Most people are on Earth are not former angels, and those who became flesh are not aware of their angelic origins until after they die.

Even in heaven, opposites attract. The hero has never come to Earth. His wife has done so many times. In her last trip to Earth -- in order to save someone else -- she made a deal with the devil, so she went to hell when she died. It's up to our hero to rescue her.

During the Q & A, he was asked about how he researched his books. He said that the internet has been a godsend. Both science fiction and regency fans will let you know if you have made a mistake.

Mr Drago was informative and a whole lot of fun.