Issue date: 7/26/07 Section: Aggielife

Media Credit: Kirk Manley [Click to enlarge]

John Fastramp is a skilled racecar driver with an unusual car that has astounding devices that come in handy against enemies. "John Fastramp and the Dakota 3000" originated as spontaneous bedtime stories that former student Jason Alter told his 8-year-old son Ross.

"Every night we would take (John Fastramp) to some other part of the world or expose him to some other culture, and that way I figured they were not only exciting stories, he was being exposed to a lot of different ideas," Alter said.

Originally from New York, Alter earned a master's degree in microbiology from Texas A&M in 1984. Though he went on to receive a doctorate from Binghamton University, Alter said he came to A&M because he had always wanted to see Texas. He does marketing for a biotech company in Stamford, Conn. where he lives with his wife and two children. He said he writes a lot of technical articles for his job.

"My writing has actually gotten a lot better because of my professional career," Alter said. "This is the first novel I ever wrote and it's the first piece that's fiction with dialog."

After years of delighting his son with exciting adventures and teasing cliffhangers, Alter succumbed to pressure from friends and family to translate these stories into a manuscript. Alter said his family played a major role its completion.

"I would write a chapter at a time and my kids would comment and say whether they liked something, or didn't like something," Alter said. "And, major credit goes to my wife because she's the one who came up with all the names and many of the characters."

Though he knew about the cutthroat nature of the publishing business, Alter said he sent his manuscript to several publishers. Their responses were positive, but the manuscript was declined. Alter said he decided to independently publish his manuscript because most publishing corporations demand nothing short of the next "Harry Potter."

"'Harry Potter' and J.K. Rowling are the exception," Alter said. "Most people who want to be successful have to really, really work at it."

In an attempt to bring his book to the masses, Alter sponsored a fourth grade reading competition at a Stamford elementary school. Debbie Radonitch, a teacher at the school, said the children have four months to read as many books as possible and write essays about each book. Many students read Alter's manuscript in the competition and praised the story in their essays.

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