Inspiration for Inception : A Silicon Valley Techno-Thriller.

I belong to an online community of writers (writingforums.com), and one of the members there suggested that I write a story set in Silicon Valley. Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area and after a 30+ year career in Silicon Valley, I didn't find the setting particularly intriguing.

She kept at me though, stating that what is tiring and mundane to me is unique and new to others. At last, she suggested making the story a thriller, and the thought of a chase scene through the Bay Area rush hour traffic made me laugh; with that, I was hooked.

The major drama out west isn't within established companies, it lies within startups instead. So, I gave the main character a job similar to what I used to do, but made him smarter and more talented than I could ever be, and gave him a defect that would drive him away from his safe world to try something new and different. He designs and builds a revolutionary product, then starts his own company.

Social issues are important out west, so I wrote about the debate between privacy and security.

There's been a lot of talk in the press lately about the ministry of truth the current administration wants to install and the fact-checkers on social media that effectively filter the news and limit what people know and what everyone can say about it. This is all done for our safety of course, but where do we draw the line between security for the masses and personal freedom?

As is often said, the safest place to be is in a cage, but do you want to live there? When does personal opinion become a danger to the masses? Everyone says that they want freedom, but with liberty comes risk. It's a debate because the question has no definitive answer.

The story is about an entrepreneur that starts a company with a product that provides untraceable and unfiltered access to data and communication that cannot be monitored. Naturally, the government opposes the main character and his company, and they demand the keys to the product. As my wife likes to say, a zany adventure ensues.

There's even a chase scene through Silicon Valley traffic.

The novel is titled Inception, because it is the beginning of a new world, for better or for worse.

Purchase Inception now.