Del Mar author releases sci-fi debut

Del Mar author David Hoffer released a science-fiction novel last fall about a father who comes to realize that he and his daughter have extraterrestrial origins.

The protagonist, Stephen, has a voice in his head that convinces him that there’s a way to bring his daughter back to life. He eventually finds out the fate of the universe is in the balance. The tagline of the novel, “Melody: A First Contact Techno-Thriller” is “a melody from the stars can save humanity, but only if Stephen can awaken the alien within.”

Hoffer said the novel was about five years in the making, during which he took writing classes.

“Melody” book cover

(Courtesy)

“I was really learning how to become a novelist and to write a story people really like,” he said.

“Melody” is the second book that Hoffer has written. The first one, which he described as a practice book, has never been released and “will never see the light of day.”

“The book is 84,000 words, and I think I wrote about a million bad words before I got to the 84,000 words in the book that really worked,” he added.

The idea for “Melody” was in part formed by Hoffer’s experience working in the information technology industry. It was also influenced by comments the Dalai Lama has made on rebirth.

“It’s got some real science behind it about how we’d actually make contact and what that message would say, how we would decipher it,” he said, referring to some of the plot points throughout the story.

Hoffer, who was also a columnist for a publication that covered the information technology industry, said it “turned out to be a real challenge” to write a book that would be at least good enough for himself and his wife to enjoy.

“I wanted to write a book that I would read and enjoy myself,” Hoffer said. “And that turned out to be an incredibly high bar.”

But as an avid reader, Hoffer said he knew when he had finally reached that bar. He also said that he “self-published this with no expectations and it’s actually done very, very well” over the past several months. “Melody” was released last October, and currently ranks in the top 100 in two different science fiction categories on Amazon.

He’s also planning a sequel.

Hoffer has lived in Del Mar for about 25 years, and, when he’s not writing, he enjoys surfing. (David Hoffer is his pen name as an author. David Stangland is his official name.)

“Melody: A First Contact Techno-Thriller” is available on Amazon in hard copy, ebook and audiobook.