Web site gives hope to aspiring authors

     By Sonya Padgett
     View staff writer
      With the creation of his new Web site, local resident Daniel Brenton hopes to make a small wave that causes ripples across the Internet, ultimately changing the publishing industry and making him a successful writer at the same time.
      Daniel Brenton, along with brother Dave Brenton, created the Web site truthwerks.com, where he publishes his fictional serial stories about UFOs. The Brenton brothers took the plunge two months ago because Daniel Brenton wanted his stories published and was tired of being rejected by traditional publishing outlets.
      "I have a wonderful collection of rejection slips," Daniel Brenton said with a self-deprecating smile.
      It's that very collection that sparked his interest in e-publishing. For years, Daniel Brenton has tried to cross the line from writing as a hobby to published author.
      "(I'm) not getting anywhere with it," Daniel Brenton said. "It's been very frustrating. So, I thought, `This is a new medium; why not give it a shot?' "
      And the Web site was born.
      "I think it will change the face of publishing," Daniel Brenton said, citing the growing number of print-on-demand publishing Web sites as evidence of the increasing popularity of e-publishing.
      Dave Brenton, 45, agrees, and said he thinks the whole notion of e-publishing will, in the long run, be good for everyone involved -- especially writers and readers.
      "I really believe that e-publishing will change the very nature of the printed word. Conventional publishing in the world today ... limits the flow of ideas due to ... commerce," Dave Brenton said in an e-mail interview. "Publishers have become the gatekeepers of ideas, and while it can be understood that gambling on new writers is risky, e-publishing sidesteps conventional publishers and permits authors to provide their ideas directly to their consumers without the middle man -- and that changes everything."
      Daniel Brenton, who works in reprographics for the Yucca Mountain project, concentrates on writing, while Dave Brenton handles the technical aspects of the site. Dave Brenton lives in Alabama working as an independent contractor for technological projects. The two regularly communicate through e-mail.
      "I'm the nuts and bolts guy," Dave Brenton said. "Daniel had a vision of what he wanted to do with the site. My job was to create the Web version of his image and to help work out some of the technical issues to make it practical."
      Daniel Brenton's vision led to "Exposure," the first story in the series of what he plans to be several stories about a physicist working on UFO technology for the U.S. government.
      He plans to do one story a month written under his pseudonym, L. George Daniels. Currently, there are two stories on the site -- "Exposure," which is free, and "The Lazarus Incident," which can be downloaded for $1.99. Each story is about 10,000 to 14,000 words, the equivalent of 40 paperback-book pages.
      Daniel Brenton, 42, has been writing since he was a teen-ager in Bloomington, Ind. He moved to Las Vegas in 1995 from Arizona, with his wife of seven years, Gayle. Dave Brenton vividly remembers when his brother first started putting stories on paper.
      "Daniel's writings have always caught and held my attention since he was very young," Dave Brenton said. "I clearly remember him sharing his stories with me when he was 10 or 12 and being blown away by the detailed and fascinating yarns he'd spun. I felt that (the site) was a great way to help him share that talent with others."
      Daniel Brenton didn't really take writing seriously until the age of 25, but his fascination with UFO's started as a kid in Indiana. His father was a volunteer policeman and would often share stories with his sons about people calling and reporting UFO's.
      "It seems like there would be an enormous fascination with it," Daniel Brenton said. "It's something that's fascinated me my whole life. I've never seen anything or had any experiences. But I think it's the mystery of it, the mythology."
      Dave Brenton isn't surprised that his brother is writing science fiction, since the two brothers were big fans of popular science-fiction programs as kids.
      "We are both sci-fi nuts to one degree or another," Dave Brenton said. "While other kids were into sports and other more conventional kid things, we were following the details of the space program (and) waiting anxiously for the next sci-fi show to arrive on TV."
      Even though he's into science fiction, Daniel Brenton said he doesn't think aliens are visiting Earth; rather, he believes that accounts are a matter of complex phenomenon that can't be explained.He decided to write UFO fiction because of his personal interest and because UFO's are the second most popular topic on the Internet.
      "I thought, `Why not tap into that?' I think it's clear that there are elements of our government that want us to believe there is alien hardware out there," Daniel Brenton said. "I think everybody kind of accepts that there are little green men out there. If that's the case, well, I'll play with that."
      Even though the brothers are just getting started, they have plans for the future.
      At some point, Daniel and Dave Brenton want to accept submissions from other writers, but only in serial format.
      "As the site develops and interest comes our way, we both hope to attract other writers to explore the possibilities of e-publishing," Dave Brenton said. "I hope to see the site grow to the point where it will produce a predictable income stream, but I think of this project as a pioneering effort, and my real hope is to prove that the concept is valid and viable."