38 ratings | 28 reviews | avg rating:3.92

Alan's Bookshelves

read (39)
currently-reading (3)
to-read (0)

Alan's Friends (31)

Melissa Conway

114 books | 86 friends

Angie

314 books | 15 friends

Kayla Eklund

1,724 books | 546 friends

Dan Porter

1,941 books | 10,551 friends
Friend details

Scott Brook

68 books | 398 friends

Cindy Young-Turner

48 books | 24 friends

John

944 books | 5,038 friends

Mysti Parker

138 books | 246 friends

More friends…

Alan Zendell

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/AlanZ

born

March 03, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York, The United States

gender

male

website

http://mysite.verizon.net/alan.zendell/

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Politics, Short Stories

member since

May 2011

About this author

edit data

Alan Zendell spent more than forty years as a scientist, aerospace engineer, software consultant, database developer, and government analyst. He spent two years working on the first manned lunar mission, then moved on to a variety of near-Earth satellite projects, and Pentagon support for anti-ballistic missile systems. As the aerospace industry became more oriented toward the military, he applied his skill set to health care and social service systems, and ultimately branched out into software and database consulting.

No matter what he did to earn a living, he never lost his fascination with science fiction and speculating about the future. He always wrote a lot, but it was generally really boring stuff like proposals and technical papers,...more Alan Zendell spent more than forty years as a scientist, aerospace engineer, software consultant, database developer, and government analyst. He spent two years working on the first manned lunar mission, then moved on to a variety of near-Earth satellite projects, and Pentagon support for anti-ballistic missile systems. As the aerospace industry became more oriented toward the military, he applied his skill set to health care and social service systems, and ultimately branched out into software and database consulting.

No matter what he did to earn a living, he never lost his fascination with science fiction and speculating about the future. He always wrote a lot, but it was generally really boring stuff like proposals and technical papers, reports, business letters, and policy memoranda. But trapped inside him all that time were stories he wanted to tell and ideas he wanted to share, so with encouragement and cajoling from a loving baby sister he plunged into fiction.

He has written several short pieces in a variety of genres and completed five novel manuscripts, three of which have three of which have found their way into print and e-books. “Wednesday’s Child” is hard science fiction with a different twist on time travel; “The Portal” is a science-fiction love story set in a dystopian twenty-second century America; and “Critical Focus” is a contemporary political novel that addresses the major issues facing present-day America. But regardless of the story lines and subject matter, his writing is about more than aliens and technical marvels. He creates strong, three-dimensional characters a reader can care about, because it’s people and the way they live and feel that are important. It’s the things they believe in and how much they’re willing to invest to preserve them that make a story worth telling. It’s convincing interactions and well-researched credible plots that make a story worth reading.

Alan has three novels currently listed on Goodreads, including sample chapters.(less)

17 posts
Alan Zendell's Blog: It's About Time

A Month Later I'm a Little Smarter

I've been gone, relaxing in the great Northwest, and then unrelaxing at Balticon (the Baltimore Sci-fi Convention). It was my third time there, and you'd have thought I'd have learned something by now, but alas, it took this weekend for some dos and don'ts to sink in. So, for any of you who intend to attend such events as writers, here's my free advice, and it's worth every penny.

Do - get lots... read more »

1 comment

•

Published on May 31, 2012 14:50 • 3 views • Tags: balticon, conventions, scifi

View all 17 posts »

combine editions
Books by Alan Zendell

Average rating: 4.50 · 26 ratings · 14 reviews · 6 distinct works

	The Portal 4.44 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Wednesday's Child 4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Critical Focus 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2011	My rating:
	Temporally Misplaced 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2012	My rating:
	KARRYN 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2012	My rating:
	A Boy and His Dog - an Unfinished Love Story 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2012	My rating:

More books by Alan Zendell…

Upcoming Events

No scheduled events. Add an event.

Alan's Writing

Critical Focus (Mystery & Thrillers)

1 chapters — updated Sep 25, 2011 09:20am

Description: Jamie Williams had fought against corruption, war, and oppression all his life. A former campus radical, he published the popular newsletter, Uncommon Sense. Middle age had banked some of his fire, but not his values. And it had taught him that if he wanted his voice to be heard, it had to be reasoned and balanced. A fragile economy exacerbated by corporate greed, unchecked militarism, terrorism, and out-of-control energy prices, had left millions of people feeling powerless and disenfranchised. Now, a new Internal Security Agency was eroding civil liberties, and there were rumors of a secret military initiative in Africa. With a weak, indecisive President, Uncommon Sense was needed more than ever. Jamie had a loyal following, but it was growing too slowly to make a difference. Big changes were coming and Americans needed to hear his voice…if only there were a way to reach them.

The Portal (Science Fiction & Fantasy)

1 chapters — updated Jun 11, 2011 02:53pm

Description: Harry Middleton is born in an America staggered by a century of decline, a time of medical and technological marvels beyond the reach of most people in a shattered economy. Pessimism and despair are more common than optimism and hope, and a desperate government bets the future on space. The lunar and Martian colonies have not provided the hoped-for salvation, so despite an angry, disillusioned public, the first star mission will soon be launched. Harry is a special child, smart, precocious, his only confidante an embittered grandfather. When the old man dies, Harry is lost, until he meets Lorrie. At thirteen, they bond, certain they’ll spend their lives together, but a year later, she disappears, and Harry is desolate. With help from his friend Carlos, Harry begins a quest to find her, but he quickly learns how powerless he is. Even the police lack the resources to help. Harry and Carlos can only depend on themselves and each other. An unlikely duo, Harry is an academic prodigy while Carlos is a stud athlete. Realizing that school and baseball are their tickets out of the morass they’re caught in, they inspire each other to greatness in both. Trying to move on with his life, Harry has a college sweetheart, but as long as Lorrie haunts him, he knows the relationship is doomed. He gains celebrity and wealth, but the thing Harry wants most, finding and saving Lorrie from whatever fate took her from him remains beyond his reach. And always, in the background, are the deteriorating state of the country and the coming star missions. And of course, there’s the Portal.

Wednesday's Child (Science Fiction & Fantasy)

1 chapters — updated Jun 10, 2011 07:15am

Description: Dylan Brice is living his days out of order, but it hasn't always been that way. One Tuesday evening in July, he went to sleep expecting tomorrow to be Wednesday, but when he woke up the next morning it was Thursday instead. A frightening and confusing day ensued with Dylan trying to figure out whether he was losing his mind or the victim of some cosmic prank. If struggling to come to terms with his new reality on his surreal Thursday wasn't enough of an ordeal, late in the afternoon, just as his anxiety was finally beginning to subside, a voice from the past he'd hoped never to hear again added a terrifying new dimension to his situation. Dylan had once been a warrior in the battle against nuclear terrorism. A sleeper since the months following nine-eleven, he has suddenly been activated to help combat a new, deadly threat. His nerves in a shambles, he finally drops off to sleep hoping he'll wake up to find Thursday was a dream. When, after his harrowing Thursday, he awakens on the Wednesday morning he thought he'd missed, he doesn't know what to think. He cannot believe Thursday's events were coincidental. He must be living his days out of order for a reason -- some powerful, unknown entity has cast him in a role he never asked for, and everything he holds dear may be at stake. He knows with undeniable certainty that he will continue to live Thursdays before Wednesdays until he figures out how to use the unique perspective that gives him to avert a disaster that may be global in scope. Wednesday's Child addresses the expected, complex issues of causality paradoxes and free will, but it doesn't forget about characters and relationships. It portrays marriage as a loving and mutually respectful partnership that strengthens both partners in the face of stress and adversity, and it forces the characters to undergo a measure of soul-searching concerning forces and events that lie beyond our understanding of the universe.

Alan is Currently Reading

Alan Zendell is currently reading:

Jem

by Frederik Pohl

bookshelves: currently-reading

My rating:

May 31, 2012 12:03pm

Alan Zendell is currently reading:

Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle, #1)

by Neal Stephenson

bookshelves: currently-reading

My rating:

May 16, 2012 01:11pm

Alan Zendell is currently reading:

The Restoration Game

by Ken MacLeod

bookshelves: currently-reading

My rating:

Apr 23, 2012 02:43pm

rss
Alan's Recent Updates

Alan Zendell wrote a new blog post: A Month Later I'm a Little Smarter A Month Later I'm a Little Smarter I've been gone, relaxing in the great Northwest, and then unrelaxing at Balticon (the Baltimore Sci-fi Convention). It was my third time there, and... read more »
May 31, 2012 02:50pm · like
Alan Zendell is on page 170 of 364 of Jem Jem by Frederik Pohl progress:	My rating:
May 31, 2012 12:03pm · like · see status
Alan Zendell is currently reading: Jem by Frederik Pohl	My rating:
May 31, 2012 12:03pm
Alan Zendell made a comment in the group Creative Reviews — Here is where the readers solicit authors to review topic "Sally wrote: "Hey – I love reading books and enjoy writing honest reviews which are posted on Goodreads, Amazon UK, Smashwords and Feedbooks. I mainly...more "
May 30, 2012 09:05am
Alan Zendell is now following bellareads's reviews
May 28, 2012 11:31am
Alan Zendell is now following Lorhainne Eckhart's reviews
May 28, 2012 09:43am
Alan Zendell made a comment in the group Creative Reviews — Mysti's Review of "The Portal" by Alan Zendell topic "Marjorie wrote: "I think if you post over in this group's own "Ask a Librarian..." that Experiment might be able to figure out what's wrong. I hesitate...more "
May 20, 2012 05:16pm
Alan Zendell is currently reading: Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle, #1) by Neal Stephenson	My rating:
May 16, 2012 01:11pm
Alan Zendell is currently reading: The Restoration Game by Ken MacLeod	My rating:
Apr 23, 2012 02:43pm
Alan Zendell gave to: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick read in April, 2012	My rating:
Philip K Dick was known for his writing forays into the use of mind-expanding drugs and the hallucinatory worlds they create. His books were always complex and challenging, often tinged with religious or mystical allusions. This book is very much that...more
Apr 22, 2012 06:37am · see review