Nigel Cook authored sixteen textbooks, and an editor asked if he had a novel in him. This unearthed a revelation—when a scientist restricted to science-fact is released to flirt with science fiction, interesting things start to happen. His character needed a tech; he developed a solution that modeled too well, leading to a start-up, fifty patents, and an acquisition by a Fortune 500. He would live out many parts of the novels as if a future echo came to call, and if his mind could be read, it would be impossible to distinguish what is his principal character, James, and what is his own.