Story Behind The Book
In an effort to get my son to read, I started writing a story just for him in 2003. I don't remember if he gave me a character, I just started writing it. The very first draft was called The Youngest Starfighter. It was completely unoriginal. Still, he wouldn’t read it because he can’t imagine reading anything for fun. In fact, after all this time, he still hasn't read it. However, I got hooked into the main character. Since then, he became a trilogy and has gone through 15 incarnations (drafts) and a few different names, but in the end he became Socket Greeny. I don’t know why I’ve been so dedicated to this character. I’d written several novel-length stories before Socket, none worth publishing. They ended up where all practice writing ends up. But I always came back to Socket Greeny. Stopping time and artificial intelligence are not original storylines, I know this. Artificial intelligence continues to be popular, as evidenced by Terminator, Matrix, I, Robot, and others. Socket is different. At least, I like to think so. Aren’t many us like programs, just following our desires and fears accumulated from birth? I’ve been practicing an Americanized version of Zen since 1990. While I wanted Socket to be an entertaining story, I believe what drove me was its element of soul-searching, and self-realization. Some of the early drafts were pukefests of moral preaching. However, with each draft it became more refined. It became a story, first, but it never lost the undercurrent of human struggle and the search for truth. I entertained dreams of publishing Socket Greeny, but the reality eventually sunk in. Someone once told me that good writers don't publish, excellent ones do. Based on some of the books in print, I don't agree. Sour grapes? Maybe. Some things just aren't well written (just ask Stephen King what he thinks of multi-billionaire Stephanie Myers) but they're good stories and original. Agents didn't feel the Socket Greeny story was for them. Maybe they were right. In the end, I published on my own and it's been a lot of fun. I won't make a million dollars or have a movie made, but at least the story will have some finality. It's been a great ride.