Y2k novel -research and other..

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Hey everyone. Long time no see. What's up?

I've decided to do a novel about y2k. Basically, several threads. Starts in late December, probably New Year's Eve. Not entirely sure as to the exact details yet, but I know that it'll follow a bunch of people. At least one of whom will die. These guys may or may not meet up at the end.

No fixed plot, except that of the society in flames. It's going to be worst of the worst, level 10, TEOTWAWKI. No nukes, but everything else. Maybe the start of Infomagic's spiral.

Anyway. I'm not an American. And this book is going to be set in America. It's got to be realistic- realistic as hell. From the big stuff to the little details, like are the kerbs in NYC curved or right angles? I also need to get the technical stuff right. Everything from guns (never fired one in my life) to the y2k failures. Exactly how will the lights go down, for instance?

There are people here who know all this. There are plenty of Americans here, for instance. And people from all walks of life -people who know a lot. Also, is anyone here a publisher? I know that I'm a pretty competent writer, and I figure this book has to be finished by the end of August if it's to have a chance of hitting the shelves before y2k itself hits.

Anyway. The book would spread awareness- okay, it's going to be pretty much a disaster novel, but Yourdon's book will be listed at the back as a research source, and I'd like to have a footnote at the end talking about what I believe could happen. (My position is about a 3-6, depending on economic factors and whether the power grid stays up.) So I can hopefully do some good. And I need the few thousand dollars that the book could bring in- it'll buy me a good deal of vacuum-packed rice and jerrycans of water.

So, reply to this thread or send me an email if you'd like to help. Thanks for reading this!

Leo

-- Leo (lchampion@ozemail.com.au), July 22, 1999

Answers

Leo old chum,

The kerbs in NYC are called "curbs".

Hope this helps.

-- Uncle Deedah (oncebitten@twiceshy.com), July 22, 1999.


Depending on what neighborhood you are in, the kerbs could be mostly busted. You have seen the movies so you should be writing now, don't wait for any old boomer advice.

-- Stumper (Hello@LeoAgain.com), July 22, 1999.

Leo,

You're way too late for this. Why write something that reality will change? Raise awareness? (Are you kidding?) Is this to be an ebook? What distribution? Do you know anything about the publishing industry? I do. Write an historical, you are more likely to get it right. Your plan makes no sense. The curbs aren't busted in Manhattan, by the way. Most are fashioned for the disabled in wheelchairs.

-- Mara Wayne (MaraWAyne@aol.com), July 22, 1999.


You should begin by reading Sorokin, Ayoob, David Drake, Desmond Morris, P.J. O'Rourke, and pathological psychology. Visit Auschwitz, the South Bronx, legislatures when in session, the worst parts of Miami/LA/Chicago/etc. Read the most pollyanna-ish literature you can find (anything by Sally Katzen is a good place to start). Read about how bad decisions routinely get made in American corporations. Fire some small arms, talk to cops who routinely patrol the worst areas above when they are off duty, out of uniform, and have a few beers in them. Hang around a inner-city emergency room for a dozen Friday/Saturday nights, or a courtroom that handles mainly inner-city felony cases. Learn about how coups progress in the Third World. You get the idea. Do research as thoroughly as James Michener or Robert Heinlein did, and your writing skills/intrinsic appeal of the subject matter to potential readers are your only barriers. Two rules for authors: 1) Write what you know (if you don't know your topic yet, you aren't ready to write yet); 2) No tears in the author, no tears in the reader.

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), July 22, 1999.


You know far more about Australia than about the U.S. Stick with what you know. Last New Year's Eve bash in Sydney might suggest something.

In a 9 or 10 scenario the indigenous people -- the ones who lived there before England colonized the place -- will have the best chance of getting through it.

The 10 scene has been done more than once for America -- The Postman (David Brin), and Wolf and Iron (Gordon Dickson).

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), July 23, 1999.



You really need to read the best Y2K "TEOFWAWKI" novel to date, "Patriots" by James Wesley Rawles - read dozens of reviews about this book at amazon.com. Very, very realistic. (anyone else in this thread read this?)

-- Bill (noway@nowhere.com), July 24, 1999.

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