Local author Maria Cordaro has officially published her first book Somaku’: Planetary Disruption of the 5th Dimension. It took Cordaro six years to bring her story to life, working on the sci-fi novel whenever she had a moment of free time, after being encouraged by her family to invite others into her imagination. While not originally an author, Cordaro took the leap and she now hopes to bring readers on a unique journey. 

“I truly believe that each and every one of us is a writer. I mean, we all have our story to tell. Originally, when my children were very small, I was reading them different books at night after bath time,” recounted Cordaro. “(…) We had this game in the car where I would start a story, then I would stop in the middle of the story, and then it would be my daughter telling me her bit of the story, and then it would go to her sister, so we would create this whole world.”

Working off her love for story telling, her husband and children encouraged her to invite others into her world by publishing a book of some sorts. 

“My husband came in once and said to me ‘you know, you’ve been telling stories your whole life. I see you with the children, you’re always coming up with these great stories, why don’t you write a book?,’ mentioned Cordaro. “My first response was, ‘I’m not an author, this is not what I do.’ (…) But yet, he was like ‘listen, being an author is what you feel inside of you.”

Feeling in her heart that she had a story to tell, Cordaro took two years to put all of her ideas on paper, finding her own writing style in the process. 

“It really took six years to create this world, to create each character. You know, what are they about, what makes them feel, what makes them tic, what do they look like?” said an ecstatic Cordaro. “So, I started sketching in a book. I would do a few sketches and then I would find my main character, which is Ciara, and I would look at her and go ‘this is my Ciara.'

Somaku’: Planetary Disruption of the 5th Dimension brings readers into a new dimension filled with relatable world experiences, such as war and famine. It’s also an important journey of self-acceptance. 

“I am talking about these different cultures. Obviously, they’re aliens so there’s a different way of giving birth, a different way of loving. Through a priestess, this child has the building blocks to become a being of light,” explained Cordaro. (…) “It becomes its own creature, its own entity, so they are born with who they are. Nobody tells them through education who they should become, that’s a huge message.”

Cordaro said that it was important for her that readers not only enjoy the story, but evolve and grow with it as characters in the world of Somaku’ fight to survive and find their way. 

“I wanted the reader to realize that if you go towards destruction, this is what might happen. (…) These creatures, it is not an acceptation for them, it is the norm, they are built that way. That is the message I want to give to young children and people; that you are built that way, so be yourself,” emphasized Cordaro. 

Somaku’:Planetary Disruption of the 5th Dimension is the first tome in the Somaku’ series with more adventure waiting for readers. 

“I think, in the end, you’re going to have sort of a surprise to take you to the second tome. It’s going to bring you to question a lot of things,” said Cordaro. “You think you know the answer, but I’m taking you in a different direction. (…) Tome 2 will be the epiphany, so I’ll keep you guessing.”

Listen to the full interview below: