February 17, 2003
The Momentary Reoccurrence of Dr. Trenton Stowel
You can't buy fiction this good, you have to know someone. My latest read is a sci-fi book authored by a co-worker. I started it sometime before Christmas and have been reading it (and correcting typos) off and on along with my other books. At first I was a little skeptical since reoccurrence is not even a word, but irregardless I still enjoyed the book. The book centers around the story of an eccentric (and unlikable) scientist supposedly researching time travel who disappears in the 80s, only to reappear (er--reoccur) in the 00s. The entire story is recounted as a transcript of an interview between a psychiatrist and the scientist after he has reappeared (and proceeds to disoccur and reoccur repeatedly throughout). My only real critique is that I found the transcript format to be limiting for the story. While it is effective at times, I also miss the creative detail an author can convey in a narrative.
While "recurrence" would have been more grammatically correct, I was playing with the concept of a single occurrences amidst the fluidity of time. But then again... an editor will doubtless also question this, and probably label me as an amateur (which I am, actually) and throw my manuscript in the trash. So if I want this published, maybe I should change the title. But then again, I like "Reoccurrence" better.
So in the eternal words of Gimli the drawf (from the movie, not from the books), "That was deliberate; I meant to do that!"
I looked up this old post in order to reference it in one of my own blogs, and realized that the decision to change the title is relevant here...
The book is actually being published, and as predicted the title is being changed. It is now "The Recurrence of Stowel".
And now it is "..."
That is, they've asked for another title change, but at the moment I can't think of one.