116  Evolution of TANGO-L

Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 01:44:21 -0700
From: "Larry E. Carroll" <larrydla@JUNO.COM>
Subject: Evolution of TANGO-L

As part of my ongoing transition from full-time software engineer to
full-time writer I just re-did a room to make it into an office that
I'm very happy with. Re-filing stuff from cardboard boxes into a
beautiful birch-finished filing cabinet and into the trash basket, I
came across some old TANGO-L copies, from years ago when there were
less than 200 members. Ugh!

Sometimes, when I'm not on fire to write, when I'm having trouble even
getting started, I go to my bookshelf and read a few paragraphs from
several books, as varied as "Lord of the Rings" and the "Princess
Diaries" - a book targeted to young teens but with absolute command of
dialog and a narrative flow so compelling I have to pull myself out of
it. Then I might sample a "Spenser" detective novel, a naval war
novel by Dudley Pope, a western by Louis L'Amour. I'll dip into "A
Summer in Provence" and "Bella Tuscany." Anne Rivers Siddons. And
always a book or essay that will make me laugh.

Then like a dancer whose body and mind and emotions were all cranky,
who has warmed them all with a salsa workout, I can write. As I did,
four straight hours of good stuff.

Lastly, to unwind enough to sleep, I read the last few days
accumulation of TANGO-Ls.

What a difference the years have made! These TANGO-Ls were full of
messages from people who are well able to say what they think and
feel - and you must understand that I'm putting you in the same
company that I described above. People able to discuss many sides of
a topic, without getting too riled but with some passion. And many of
them women, who almost never subscribed to TANGO-L in the beginning
(or at least almost never wrote).

I'm not sure how we got from there to here, though it was surely with
the (usually) quiet guidance of Shahrukh Marchant and Jim Lane and
company. But most of it is you who are reading and writing to TANGO-
L. Thank you all for giving me so much.

Larry de Los Angeles
https://home.att.net/~larrydla