Alligator Park (47 page)

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About The Author

R.J.
Blacks started his career in Philadelphia as an engineer, creating high-tech
components for the space industry. His designs have been launched on many
commercial satellites and were an integral part of the Mars Exploration Rover
Missions which began in 2003.  His passion for writing started at an early age and
was expressed in articles written for technical journals.  He was commended by the
Hewlett Packard Company for a tutorial he wrote on the advanced operation of special
test equipment.  He currently lives in Florida with his wife of 26 years.  This
is his first novel.

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About The Writing

The reader of this novel, Alligator Park, will
probably notice it is written in first person present, rather than the
traditional third person past tense. Why is that?

When I consulted the handbooks of some
well-known authorities on writing, they acknowledged that third person past is
by far the most widely used point of view for fiction. But they also pointed
out that the first person point of view can provide a better sense of intimacy,
and that was the effect I wanted to exude. I wanted the reader to feel like
they were there, watching it happen, as the story played out.

Unfortunately, first person present is far more
difficult to implement. For instance, the only thing the reader can know is
what the narrator knows, and the narrator can only know what he or she has
personally seen or been told. That can present some problems for the writer.

Nonetheless, I have always liked a challenge, so
I experimented with first person present on the first few chapters to see if I
could pull it off. As the story progressed, and I had not reached any major
stumbling blocks, I continued to use it. And such is the result.

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cer-tain-tiv-i-ty

noun

the
state or extent of being certain

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To The Reader

This book has been checked, and rechecked, at
least a dozen times before publication. But with 135,000 words, it is possible,
and in fact likely, that one or more errors have slipped through.  We apologize
for the inconvenience.

If you do spot a mistake, we would appreciate
hearing about it. Please email us at the address shown on the copyright page. Thank
you for your assistance.