Dan Linehan will present “Using Fiction and Multimedia to Drive Unconventional Storytelling” at the Tri-Valley Writers February meeting. They say that truth is stranger than fiction. So why have to choose one over the other? In 2006, former scientist/engineer Dan journeyed to Antarctica and the surrounding regions to study and write about environmental and wildlife issues. After striking icebergs, seeing hundreds of penguins, encountering shipwrecks, discovering pirate deeds, living through a historically deadly storm, and experiencing much more, he realized that—besides protecting the innocent and not-so-innocent—a work of fiction would be better able to reach people by engaging their hearts. By also mixing in doses of sugar, he made challenging subjects more approachable. He will share influences, motivations, and processes that can help transform nonfiction into fiction. For him, these led to the publication of the multimedia serial novel, The Princess of the Bottom of the World. An online, nonfiction Multimedia Traveling Companion accompanies the series and uses a wide array of visuals and audio to ground and further enrich the reading experience. Dan will also discuss its development and implementation.
Join us on Saturday, February 15, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton, 5115 Hopyard Road in Pleasanton. Check-in begins at 1:30 p.m. RSVP by Wednesday, February 12, at reservations@trivalleywriters.org. CWC adult members, $14; nonmembers, $18. CWC student members, $6; student nonmembers, $10. Pay by cash or check at the meeting.
In 2000, Dan switched careers from scientific researcher and engineer to full-time writer and editor. Focusing on creativity, education, and outreach using multiplatform storytelling, he is widely published—in many forms of writing that include poetry and fiction—and has won awards for his work. Video, photography, and other visualizations often play important roles. He has authored two highly illustrated nonfiction books that cover historical and technological aspects of aerospace and space tourism, SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History (Zenith Press, 2008), which has a forward by sci-fi legend Sir Arthur C. Clarke, and Burt Rutan’s Race to Space: The Magician of Mojave and His Flying Innovations (Zenith Press, 2011). Dan has worked for a film studio, a literary journal, a national laboratory, and leading educational publishers. As a writer, he explored Antarctica and the surrounding regions from 2006 to 2007 and lived in Argentina from 2013 to 2014. The Princess of the Bottom of the World was inspired by these travels. Follow Dan at: www.dslinehan.com.
Video trailer:
Episodes of The Princess of the Bottom of the World: https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/37997?ref=DSLinehan
Multimedia Travel Companion: http://www.dslinehan.com/princess