Chapter 83.7: My 9/10 Novel

Living in northern New Jersey, it's difficult, if not impossible, to not think about the events of 9/11, 2001. Indeed, it's probably bad for your mental health not to think about it from time to time if you lived through it here. I suspect I will always remember exactly where in my commute I heard about the first plane hitting one of the Twin Towers. I chastised myself for assuming we were under attack — especially after the guy on WDHA amended his comments saying that it had been a small plane, not a large plane as he initially had heard.

In between the time I parked my car and turned off the engine and I entered my office, the second plane had hit the second tower. It immediately struck me: We're at war.

By 9/10, 2001, I had begun my first novel and written about thirty pages. I was stuck not on what to write next but when did my story occur. Was the time significant? On 9/11, I realized that we had just experienced an important line of demarcation in history; there is a pre-9/11 world and a post-9/11 world. From there, I had to determine how this affected my novel

I decided to use it obliquely. My novel begins on 9/10, 2000 and ends on 9/10, 2001. Because such attacks were barely contemplated by the average person, nothing more than faint glimpses of fear and omen are displayed. The story takes place in Hoboken, New Jersey, a town I know well that lies directly across the river from New York City. Ground Zero is within view. Indeed, the clouds of smoke and debris floated above the river after the towers fell.

Whether my oblique references to the tragedy of 9/11 should remain part of my novel — and not an overt focus of it — has been a frequent point of discussion with my initial readers. Usually I bring it up, but some of my readers have anticipated the question. I still think it's more than just a moment of inspiration; I think it's important to the story, subtle though it remains.

So, each year, I think a lot about the people who experienced 9/11 first hand. I lost a friend that day and thank God that I didn't lose more people who were close to me. I lost some innocence as well, which is largely what my novel is about — not my loss of innocence, but the nation's; or maybe it's that our eyes were opened to the terrible possibilities. And I reflect on those fictional people who mean so much today who came to life on 9/11.

With my young innocents at home, I have had almost no time to work on the latest novel much less to send my "finished" one out to agents. I respect their time and my own too much to look for representation when I don't have the time to respond appropriately if I should actually get an offer. It's like going fishing without the strength to reel in the fish.

Remember 9/11, my friends, in your own way. It's important for all Americans, regardless of political party or ideology.

Chapter 79: Anticipating the End of the World

I'm glad that when the Large Hadron Collider is turned on, I should be snoozing away. That way, I'll be right where I need to be when the world comes to an end.

There are some folks who believe that this apparatus, where photons are sent zipping around a 17-mile track, could create black holes. The fear is that that such a creation could blink out all existence on the planet — indeed, the planet itself, Poof! Gone. Interesting little bit of irony: the act of creation leads to the end of existence. I'd like my irony with a nice single malt on the side, please.

While making black holes would essentially prove Stephen Hawking's theory on the subject, the destruction of life as we know it wouldn't help him receive the Nobel Prize he'd deserve. Thankfully, Hawking doesn't expect the world to end tomorrow. I have more faith in his forecast on this issue than the other whack jobs who are predicting death and destruction. Given the proximity of a different anniversary, I could deal without the major loss of life, thank you.

But if I don't hear from anyone after 3:30 EDT tomorrow morning, I call shotgun in the sportscar to oblivion.

Chapter 66.6: Six Years Later

When I got on the train this morning, I was still groggy, fixated on the rain and humidity, not paying attention to the day. Even after I'd sat down and folded my sports page as per train etiquette, I wasn't thinking about the date. But I overheard a man say "six years" and I remembered.

I was shocked that it had floated past me. It's not as though I've completely forgotten. I assigned pieces related to 9/11 and we have a story that I held for posting till today. Indeed, 9/11 was on my mind a lot over the past weekend. But this Tuesday morning, it wasn't there.

I reflected briefly on how different this Tuesday, September 11 is from the previous Tuesday, September 11 six years ago. That day was beautiful, blue skies and pleasant temperatures. Today is disgusting. Rain and humidity, grey and dismal. A 180 degree difference.

While it is probably different around the country, we still talk about 9/11 a lot in the New York/New Jersey area. It remains a significant point of demarcation: "Was that pre-9/11?" ... "I switched jobs after 9/11" ... "I started working from home after 9/11" ... etc. And pass by a restaurant table and you might hear smatterings of words "North Tower" ... "second plane" ... and you know exactly what is being discussed. For the forseeable future and beyond, it will always be this way. It should be. We move on, but we never forget.

Chapter 50.9: Duck Season

Bruce Reed posted an interesting piece in Slate, where he discusses President Bush's lame duck status. He concludes that the president should learn from what the "Governator" learned in California: be more Democratic. While many would scoff at the notion of President Bush acting like a Democrat, perhaps they've forgotten that pre-9/11 many of his initiatives had that tone to them, including the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. Most of those efforts were not only derided by the conservatives he rode into Washington on, they were also back-burnered after the nation went to war.