Date: Fri 22-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Quick Words:

Weller-Urge-2-Merge-Internet

Full Text:

(preview book signing by author Vann K. Weller, 11/22/96)

Love On The Internet? An Author Explores

(with photo)

BY SHANNON HICKS

DANBURY - Until recently, single people had few options to meet other single

people. They could meet people on their own - through family members'

introductions, at parties, church events. And for some, there was always the

blind date, with two people being sent out on a date set up by a mutual

friend.

Enter the Internet, and the introduction of Online dating. Omitting the middle

man - the mutual friend - people can now "meet" people in chat rooms, strike

up conversations and form friendships, or more, through multiple run-ins on

the Internet, and sometimes meet face-to-face. As with traditional blind

dating, the results can range from lukewarm reception or intense dislike to

awkward or immediate attraction.

Meet Tracy and John. Co-workers and Internet surfers, "one of the millions of

wired individuals who spend hours each day communicating with virtual friends

around the world," writes Vann K. Weller, who has just published his first

novel, Urge 2 Merge -the story of Tracy and John.

"It's about two people that work together as platonic friends. They get to

know each other at a deeper level at night, on-line. The tricky part is the

girl doesn't know it's this guy online, but the guy knows it's her," Weller

said recently.

A Trenton, NJ, resident, Vann Weller was making the rounds last weekend to

prepare for a book signing event in Danbury. Mr Weller will be at Seattle

Espresso on Sunday, November 24, from 1-4 pm, for his first book signing to

promote Urge 2 Merge .

John comes across a log Tracy has been doing Online at night, and all of a

sudden he realizes there's more to her than he ever realized, and he wants to

get to know her better. But because of Tracy and John's working relationship,

the author explained, John feels constrained and has to handle the situation

delicately.

"She likes this new guy she `meets,' and she doesn't realize it's the same guy

she's having lunch with every day," Mr Weller said last weekend. At the same

time, the television station the two are working at is being merged - hence

one inference from the book's title - with the Online service the two use.

What evolves from here makes up the meat and potatoes of the course of the

story.

"I chose to write it in the form of a novel because I wanted to illustrate a

lot of points I felt were important about this kind of communication, without

getting into a documentary style," Mr Weller said. The author, who spent six

years surfing the `Net "getting into the whole chat scene" and talking with

others Online before he began writing about its opportunities, says he has

made and met friends Online himself.

"You can develop relationships with people that you would otherwise have no

contact with," he said. "It's a new kind of communication between people.

We've had phones now for a long time, so you could have that direct kind of

conversation with somebody. You only call people that you know.

"Online, you can talk to people you wouldn't otherwise run in to. You still

have real time interaction, because you're typing in real time. But at the

same time you can still edit your thoughts before sending them. It's like

writing letters and sending the mail, but there's more of an immediacy to

this."

Mr Weller sees a lot of good potential in meeting people through the Internet,

but adds caution should be used before getting in too deep.

"It's a good way to establish a good framework for a relationship," he noted.

"If people choose to be honest with each other, it's a great way to

communicate. There's a lot of media attention about what can go wrong in these

kinds of relationships, and things can go wrong - it happens when people put

too much stock into exactly what they're seeing. They don't see beyond what's

on the screen."

Weller said he wrote Urge 2 Merge not only for the story's point of

entertainment, but also to illustrate the need to be careful when meeting

people Online.

Seattle Espresso is at 262 Main Street in Danbury. Author Vann K. Weller will

be there Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4 pm.