It was August 1977.
My young imagination was captivated by science fiction books and the film STAR WARS.
I can’t overestimate the impact STAR WARS had on me as a teenager. It wasn’t just a fun space romp to me. The film brought together all the elements I loved about science fiction into one enthralling story.
I was a shy youth who lived a lot through books, mostly science fiction from great authors such as Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Harlan Ellison, Frank Herbert (Dune), Ursula Le Guin, etc. Frankly, there are too many to mention here.
George Lucas’ seminal film changed my life and inspired me so much I began my writing journey late that summer at the age of 15 with a 60-page hand-written novel I called JAKE’S WAR: JULY 4, 2076. It was the story of Jake Chadwick, a soldier, pilot, and former diplomat, fighting in a war against the Russians and Chinese in the future—at the time of the American Tricentennial. There was also a love story involving Jake and Jill Yamamoto, a former soldier and decorated Space Navy Seal for her heroic efforts in helping quell a Moon Base rebellion. I also made some interesting predictions at the time in my novel about America electing our first African American president in the year 2000 (I was only eight years off), and our country and the world solving pollution, environmental, and overpopulation problems with new technology (we still have a long way to go, but I hope we can improve our circumstances before 2076).
Please see the first page below to get an idea of just how rough my first draft was.
More than four decades years later, my first novel JAKE’S WAR: JULY 4, 2076 is available on Amazon and Smashwords as an e-book and in Amazon paperback.
As with my novel ROBOT TROUBLES and short story collection CAR DODGING, which are based on writing from my youth, I updated JAKE’S WAR where it was appropriate, but I wanted to stick as close to the original story as possible. This novel is — as with those books – an attempt to recapture my youthful writing spirit if I could.
Although there is a mention of Jake fighting in a war on the moon earlier in his military career, all the action remains earthbound in this story. So, you could say the influence of STAR WARS was in that it led me to write my own initial story, but I didn’t attempt to write a similar space epic.
This story is a warning against war and violence—as was my original version. Jake starts the novel working as a junior diplomat for a global diplomatic group trying to stop a pending war between America, its allies, and the Russians and Chinese. Once a war is declared, Jake reluctantly joins the war effort. I also expanded the role and description of Jill, who refuses to join Jake in the war and remains a diplomat, and Jason Kendrick, his African American friend and fellow air force pilot. The character of Sue Myers, a fellow soldier of Jake’s, also plays an expanded role later in this novel. I also added in the updated version of this novel a wry commentary about our current tensions with Russia as viewed from Jake’s perspective many years in the future.
Although I changed a lot of my original novel, I kept my dark, creative original ending. This book concludes as my dreaming fifteen-year-old mind imagined it.
It has been beyond satisfying sharing JAKE’S WAR: JULY 4, 2076, my initial foray into science fiction writing as a dreaming teen, as I imagined it that summer so long ago.
Enjoy another intriguing journey through my youthful imagination.
Stay tuned as always.
You can also find out more about my provocative novels, short story, and poetry collections on my Amazon authors page and on my Goodreads profile, which features past book reviews.
Look for many more of my indie books to come.
GP
Robot Troubles 