author of The Kennedy Effect
When I was busily engaged managing my publishing recruiting business, I wrote four novels in my spare time. They took me a while, because I had an essential day job; but it was fun. I even enjoyed the editing. But in two ways, it was also a challenge.
An engineering degree does not prepare one for the rigors of the publishing world — especially if there are a lot of words involved. And the marketing of a novel isn’t for the faint of heart.
After the umpteenth instance of waiting for my gears to engage as I struggled uphill I decided that I couldn’t put off servicing my bike any longer. Biking outdoors is what I do for aerobic activity in these warm days of our Covid Summer. Since my neighborhood would put San Francisco to shame for hilly streets I can get a satisfactory workout in just 3.5 miles.
In college I rediscovered recreational reading when I learned to buy books that appealed to me personally as opposed to my English teachers. The first book that kicked off this new found hobby came at the suggestion of a friend. It was War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. No wait, that’s not right. What was it? Oh yes, it was Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard.
A long time ago, Sci-Fi fans flocked to a big budget space opera movie called Forbidden Planet. It was in theatres in 1956. I had seen it a good many years later on TV and could see why some people credited it as the forebear to Star Trek. It’s set in a future where a united civilization of planets is patrolled by quasi-military space ships with alphanumeric designations. Unlike science fiction movies from that era it wasn’t an inferior ‘B’ movie monster fest. Even though it did have a monster, the premise was far deeper and the production values were superb thanks to a huge budget of two million dollars.
When I was a kid I aspired to be like my heroes. Most of us did. I liked the superheroes but I also liked those without any super normal abilities too. The Lone Ranger comes to mind as one of my first heroes in that category. He proved that one didn’t have to be born on the planet Krypton to be something special. Ambition and training could transform someone as well. The theme of improved humanity, however, served as a cautionary tale in a memorable episode of Star Trek.
