MJ-12: Inception

Author's Note

MJ-12: Inception is about the early days of the Central Intelligence Agency and its efforts in the Cold War. Even then, striking the balance between the dual missions of gathering intelligence and covert action was difficult, and ensuring that our intelligence operations and covert efforts adhere to American values is a battle that rages on today. We know from history that the military and intelligence communities do not have, shall we say, spotless records, and this novel recognizes that reality. With that said, thousands of individuals in the US intelligence community have worked tirelessly, anonymously, and within the law to protect our nation, and I am grateful for their dedication and efforts. I also note that the intelligence community has fallen short of our values time and again, and that is something that needs to be fixed.

This novel is also set during a period in which women and people of color were treated very differently from today. The struggles of African Americans, in particular, were immensely difficult in many parts of the country, while the women who stepped up to work so hard in factories and offices during World War II were shunted out of the workforce afterward and denied any further opportunities. This period marked the beginning of an inflection point for civil rights and equality in the United States — and there was considerable pushback. I thought long and hard about how to write about race and gender in MJ-12: Inception, and ultimately came to the conclusion that the various attitudes of the day needed to be presented in a straightforward manner. Thus, you’re going to read about some characters whose perspectives and opinions seem backward and, at times, positively barbaric. These perspectives belong to the characters — not the author. I’ve also made the effort to place these perspectives alongside those of the people who saw discrimination, and worse, on a daily basis. To me, sidestepping one perspective or the other — or just pretending it didn’t happen — would be an affront to the memory of the women and people of color who suffered and struggled during that time.