The first time I read 1984 in high school, I knew I was going to write a book.

I still reflect on George Orwell’s warnings from 1948, long after the year his predicted future came to pass. His work showed me the power of speculative fiction to speak caution to the world.

Shortly after reading it, I had my first vision of the SkyWorld:

A conveyor belt of people in drab navys, greys, and beiges being pumped up and down the veins of the city, like cables feeding energy into a massive machine.

Over a decade later, while living abroad as an English teacher, I finally started writing that world into existence.

I leaned into my favorite stories — 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood), Vox (Christina Dalcher), Uglies (Scott Westerfeld), Walkwaway (Cory Doctorow), The Dispossessed (Ursula K. Le Guin) and Wool (Hugh Howey); even movies and TV, like Black Mirror, Surrogates, The Matrix, and Terminator: Salvation. It took me nearly 4 years, but I finally finished the first draft.

Then, for a while, I let my self-doubt win. I waited years to self-publish, and when I did, I left the book on its own, unpromoted. Instead, I built a career ghostwriting for entrepreneurs and executives, while my second and third SKyWorld books sat in my head, unwritten.

Then, I co-founded KNG Services. With the support of my co-founder Kristin — and a deep belief that the SkyWorld matters — I’m finally ready to share my stories.