Good for you. Best of luck. ( hands W.L. a new pen.) lol. Seriously, i am sure you will do great. Looking forward to it.

If you rewrite Wall Street into a novel with gay characters, I'll definitely read it. Make Gordon Gekko a closet case and Bud Fox his secret lover? That could be interesting.

"There will be no tie-ins to my science fiction universe, no magic, no theological debates about life and God, and no aliens."

Like Joe Friday, just the facts! (And figures!) It is about business--right?

Just teasing.

Going into a new direction and writing about something you actually know may be just what you need. Get to it!

I don't know if I'd throw out being cerebral completely. My favorite authors can be appreciated on multiple levels. You can always take the story straight, but if you did and reread, you notice all these patterns. It depends on your target audience or, if you're like me, whether or not you really even want an audience.

I guess I'd say always put your needs as a writer before your audience's needs as readers. But then I'm not a business person, and it shows.

I like the new direction. We should all write more about stuff happens in our daily life. There can be so much detail filled in it if we draw from some stuff we have passion (or hate with a passion). Have you watched Margin Call yet? In term of story arch, it's bland, but the issues discussed are very nicely written. The characters feel like they could be someone you know.