The ninja is one of history’s most elusive and mysterious
entities. Their existence in the
ancient, feudal time of the Samurai in Japan is sometimes mind blowing to
me. To be fair, I acknowledge that in general, I picture an uber glamorized ninja, much like Sho Kosugi of 1980s ninja movie
fame ( imdb entry here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0467563/
). Of course I know that this
image is ridiculous and purely fictional, but it’s fun and harmless, so long as
I know that it is bs. At least that's what I tell myself. Still, the
allure of this ancient being is strong for me, as I have always had such a
respectful interest in the Japanese people, history, and culture. I mean, let’s be honest; they invented
the friggin’ ninja! Cool points
for Japan = one million, right there alone. That doesn't even include the Samurai. (I will get to them later.)
In my mind, there are a million different reasons that
one would want to gen up a story about ninjas. In the end though, my reason turned out to be pretty stupid
and simplistic. There we were on day,
driving over to the drive-ins of all places –to watch what, I can’t remember. At that time, I had already written
One-Eighty, so I knew I could pull a novel together. Then I thought, out loud, “wouldn’t it be cool as shit if
there was a story about a kid from LA; he’s an orphan; he gets adopted by a
Japanese family; the dad is secretly a ninja; he teaches the kid to be a ninja;
the kid grows up and some crazy stuff happens, and he ends up fighting LA
street gangs.”
My wife, who was in the car with me, laughed, and then
said, “yes, actually, that would be cool!” That was how easily the idea came to be. Of course, anyone that has read LA Ninja
knows that that isn’t at all how the story turned out. Not even close. I found that while I was developing the
plot, it seemed too barbaric. It
was too much muscle and not enough brain; too much lack of concern and not
enough passion; too much rage and not enough love; too much Charles Bronson and
not enough Jerry Maguire. You get
the point. I’m kidding, kind of,
because I hadn’t written anything down except a summary plot of what I thought
I wanted the book to be about. But
it was going in that direction, and I knew that I wanted the story to have the depth,
love, and spirit.
It didn’t matter what I thought, as it turned out,
because when I got to writing it, Gabe pretty much took me wherever he was
going, and not vice versa. That’s
the beauty, as most writers know, of writing stories and characters. You, as the writer, may think you’re in
charge, but you’re really not. A true
character will always do what they are going to do, whether you’re on board
with it or not. At least that’s
what I have found out. It’s a very
exciting thing, as I have blogged about previously.
The outcome was more than I ever dreamed. Gabe is both a simple and very complex
character. He is both very
real and very surreal. We traveled
together on a journey through heaven, hell, and everywhere in between. He inspired me with his ambition,
discipline, strength, and capacity for love and goodness. He frustrated me with
the mess of his life and the misfortune of his decisions.
Why I wrote LA Ninja, I’m still not exactly sure
of. I guess I have never seen or
read an all around Ninja story.
You know the one. The story
that follows a strong character but isn’t just about some crazy Japanese ninja
running through the 1980’s trying to kill the good guys a la Sho Kosugi. Not that there’s anything wrong with
those stories. I love those
stories. Call me a dreamer. Call me a sap, even, but I wanted a
story that had love. I wanted a
story that was at least semi-believable.
I couldn’t be more proud of that piece of work. I wrote most of it in the span of about
three weeks, while my lady was in China.
I wrote it with Phoebe on my lap or next to me, pretty much the entire
way through. I wish I could go
back and dedicate it to her, but I can’t, unless I am somehow able to republish
it. I already have the plots ready
for the sequels, and I can’t wait to get to work on them. I have to admit though, the story that
I’m almost done with, about a lady named Alexis, has been an even more exciting
story for me. I don’t know how I
will feel when it’s all said and done, but I know this: I never knew I had it in
me. Tell me how you really feel.
