Hi, all!

[neodydan]

Hi my name is Dan Brown. My wife is more of the writer, but I am working on my 1st novel also. It is a political thriller called the designated survivor. It starts when terrorist bomb the President's State of the Union Address and deals with the aftermath from the secretary of agriculture's perspective being thrust into a position he never saw himself being in.

I am using Evan Marshall's software for the book. If anyone is familiar with that and has any tips, I would love any help.

My wife Carol is an extremely talented writer who specializes in fantasy. She has a whimsical thing on kindle called chuhuahua chronicles the case of... Short stories from a chihuahua's perspective. Her name is Carol Brown. I invite you to check it out if you can.

Hoping I can get her to join too. She has a natural talent and could write screenplays, novels, etc. Actually the actor Delno Ebne stole one of her works and is trying to make a movie out of it. That really soured her on the business. She is extremely talented and can think of these ideas with no trouble...a true and fantastic gift.

I actually found you by accident. I belong to a hockey sim and our commish is playing around with the webpage and gave your site as an example of what you can do on proboards. What a fantastic find. Glad to be here and look forward to meeting everyone.

Dan Brown
Neodesha (rural SE) Kansas

[GiannaRose]

Hi! First question- would you like to go by Dan, or neodydan, or Mr. Brown...?

Anyway, my name is Gianna and welcome to the Echo! I'm one of those young writers who have great ideas, but have a really really hard time putting it down on paper and/or actually sitting down and writing the story. Right now I'm working on a screenplay idea, and if you or your wife have any hints or tips on outlining, character development, or even just getting enough motivation to write the darn thing, they will be much appreciated. Thanks!

[sapphire]

Welcome to The Echo! Sounds like fate that you ended up here. I'm sure our graphics admin, Endovia, will be thrilled to find out that we're used as an example.

It's too bad that your wife had that experience. Does she know that, technically, your work is copyrighted the moment you set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard)? If she has records of when she created it, she could probably get credit. Her kindle story sounds really cute - I may have to check it out.

Your novel sounds really interesting, too! Are you planning to post it here?

[neodydan]

Dan is fine, thanks. I may post some it here, but am a little apprehensive, probably because of what happened to Carol. I really appreciate your stance on that, though.

[sapphire]

I understand completely if you don't want to risk it. We are an open forum, and anyone can join, obviously, so it's tough to monitor stuff like that. If there are specific sections you'd like critique on, you could always post them separately. It's harder to steal something that isn't complete, you know?
Though also, there's this thing called the "poor man's copyright." Print out your stuff, put it in an envelope, and mail it to yourself. As long as you don't open it, you have proof that it's yours.

[neodydan]

I posted what I have of it so far in the Novel section "other". I don't know if this would be a political thriller, historical fiction or what. It is called the Designated Survivor.

I have had a question for awhile. Can I use my real name, because there obviously is another very successful author of the same name. Do I need a pen name? Would prefer to use Dan if I don't but I guess Daniel, or D.R. (my middle name is Robert). Any ideas?

Dan

[GiannaRose]

I'd say you should go by a pen name, b/c the guy who wrote the DaVinchi Code is Dan Brown also. People might mistake you for the same guy.

D.R. Brown or R.D. Brown maybe? (if you still want to use you're own name)

[Endovia]

Welcome to The Echo, Dan! I'm thrilled to hear that we're used as an example!

Your novel sounds awesome! Have you heard of or seen a TV Show called "House of Cards"? It's a political drama and it's really good. I've got my dad hooked on it. Now I'm working on getting him to read more political thrillers and nonfiction.

It'd be great for your wife to join. I'm sorry she had such a terrible experience. I hope your wife is able to sort something out, maybe something like Sapphire was saying.

With the name thing, I like D. R. Brown.

[sapphire]

I like D.R. Brown, too. Just make sure there aren't any Doctor Browns out there to get mixed up with.
I think the name question is a good one to ask an agent, when/if you get one. It's their job to know the market, after all. But yeah, I agree that using a pen name or your initials is probably a good idea.

[Deleted]

I'm a bit late at this but, uh, welcome to The Echo!

The story sounds great, I'll have to give it a read! I'd recommend using the 'poor man's copyright' Sapphire mentioned. Though I've never done it, myself, it sounds like a good plan in case you get into any trouble. Make sure it's a brand-new envelope, too, and keep it safe. That way, no damage, natural or otherwise, can come to it, causing the potential jury to rule against you if your originality and ownership of your work ever comes into question.

As for the name, I like D. R. Brown. Or, if you'd rather, perhaps just D. Brown. You could always come up with a penname, too, if you don't like the sound of that.

I hope Carol joins, too. The more material, the better, with this site! And, who knows, maybe one of you could hit it big and we'll be the ones supporting you every step of the way! Hope to see ya around! Welcome to The Echo!