Fog and whisky

M. A. Tanenbaum

Writer. Game developer. Word-fancier. Recovering tech worker.

Where I’m coming from…

Hi there! Welcome to my little playground where I discuss – and occasionally promote – the projects I’m working on.

When I was a kid, I loved Star Trek. Get me onto the subject of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, and I could talk off your left ear, your right ear, and the final frontier (ouch, I know). Anyway, Star Trek inspired me, not just with its hopeful vision of the future but with its terrific storytelling. And ever since, I’ve wanted to be a writer.

Somehow, life got in the way. I ended up first in graphic design, then in software engineering, and most recently in product management. I’m not complaining. I’ve have a mostly successful career where I’ve done good work, made friends, and on balance made the lives of those around me a little bit better.

But that desire to write stayed with me. I’ve actually written quite a lot over the years. But it was never my career.

…where I’m going

Recently, I left the world of technology behind and decided to get back to my first passion. I’m now deeply engaged in writing my first novel, and it’s going well. I also built a little daily word game which I maintain (be warned, people tell me it’s pretty difficult!).

Rendering of an airship from "The Poison Sky"
Rendering of an airship from The Poison Sky

I have a lot of thoughts on the process of writing informed by my years as an engineer and product manager. My most interesting idea at the moment is a hypothesis which I call Process-Oriented Writing, in which I propose that turning the “plotter” vs. “pantser” dial up to “extreme plotter” will improve a lot of how one writes a book.

If you’re interested in any of what I have to say…particularly if you like the sound of a non-magical “sailpunk” fantasy adventure about airships…please consider subscribing. I hope to meet interesting folks, explore strange new worlds, and, well, you know.