SYNOPSIS
To the Fine People who purchase the book “7th Soul”:
My name is Michael N. Ruggiero. I am new at writing a book, but not new at writing poetry, screenplays, animation scripts, and short stories. With my business partners and what I call “Divine Intervention” I have been blessed to build a media consulting business that is in its fortieth year. I now dedicate 95% of my time to writing.
When I look through my ultra-personal files, I smile to see many short stories I penned over the years that lasted the test of time. The 7th Soul has its roots in one of those short stories, Calculated Risk.
The protagonist, Coby Rodriguez, uses her logic in weighing calculated risks at every important stage of her life. Coby is the daughter of Dina and Alberto Rodriguez and they all live as a happy family in an urban neighborhood in South Philadelphia.
After six lost babies, Dina gives birth to Coby. The story takes a mystical bent when 7th time pregnant Dina seeks advice from a mystic in Atlantic City. Madam Zyrk explains to Dina that her child possesses something very rare. The six souls from the previous miscarriages are inside her blending with the baby’s soul to form a mystical seventh soul, all of the same good nature. A truly rare phenomenon.
These souls appear at each one of Coby’s life-altering scenarios. Her birth; missing a random bullet by inches; drowning; and other perilous situations. They also appear at the positive pivotal points that alter her life for the better i.e. finding a sponsor for West Point and meeting her husband. After she graduates from West Point at the top of her class, her path takes her to a chilling assignment from the Pentagon to stop a rouge group of criminals from destroying the capitalistic centers around the world.
The reader knows and “sees” the souls and recognizes that. The protagonist does not do that by herself but with the assistance of the seven souls inside her body.
I was born and raised in Coby’s mixed neighborhood. My Mom had six miscarriages before she had me. I did not want the story to be about myself. I felt deeply the protagonist should be a female of color with ambition on steroids.
If there is a theme to 7th Soul, it would be to believe in oneself; be curious, love your parents and never look back.
MORE TO THE STORY
“7th Soul the book,” tells the story of Coby Rodriguez as she successfully thwarts an international criminal ring’s attempt to steal nuclear weapons. 7th Soul shines in its moments of relationships, the strongest being that of Coby and her family’s relationship.
The above was the recap of the judge in the BlueCat screenplay writing contest. The script finished at the top of over four thousand script entries. This gave me the impudence to take the story and expand it into a book.
The story and the characters are fashioned from three places:
Totally fictional; life experiences, and truth.
These are not easy places to mix and create a story so let me explain.
The name, places, and situations are fictional except for the train ride to Atlantic City where as a young child a bullet shot at the passing train, missing my head by an inch. All because I was standing instead of sitting like my mom wanted me to do. The six stillbirths and/or miscarriages are real. My mother had six before she had me. Yes, I was treated like a prince. It wasn’t until I was well into my fifties when an associate of mine, at a broadcast television market show in Nashville Tennessee remarked that everyone I met seemed to liven up, even the tired ones. That I seemed to have a spark that is contagious. He then asked me what do I do to make that happen.
I told him that I did not know, I’d been this way my entire life. Maybe it is because I am a fighter and that I had been a fighter even at birth. Then I told him how difficult my birth was for a mom who had just experienced the loss child six times. Then randomly he asked a very profound question. “Where are the six souls that passed? Could they all be inside you?”
That stirred my mind like a tornado. What if he is right? Are others affected the same way after being the child born after a loss at birth? Could it be that having multiple souls would create the “spark” my associate asked.
I remember, when my dad died, my sister Debbie, my niece Laura and I created a chain of hands with my dad. When he expired, a low electrical charge was felt by each of us. What was it? I recognized it as the energy in the body finding a new home. Einstein wrote energy cannot be created or destroyed.
The swimming scene is also taken from a real-life experience.
I consider myself a nice person, so I concluded that my seven souls must be good souls. Bad souls create bad people.
Denali Island, Chi-lah, and Fahid are evil fictional characters. However, the power and greed that fuel their ambitions are found in many unethical leaders.
There are really two stories in the first book. The transition comes when Coby desires to be a mother and housewife. A noble direction especially since you were charged with saving the world.
I sincerely hope you enjoy the book. I would like to hear from you at mike.ruggiero@the7thsoul.com
Mike Ruggiero, a Philadelphian, and La Salle University graduate (70), and a Phi Kappa Theta Alumni, spent his first five years in the workforce earning his financial acumen for the notable New York firm of Deloitte & Touche He was recruited by their Executive Office.
In 1976, Ruggiero began a cable television marketing firm that soon caught the attention of executives from Cox Communications. He was appointed division manager for the industry giant and relocated to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1979.
In 1983, Ruggiero formed ALL TV Services Inc., a multi-faceted communication consulting firm to address the needs of both broadcasters and cable operators. In the beginning, ATV aligned with many major cable television networks and was instrumental in the successful launch of the Home & Garden Television Network, MSNBC (America’s Talking), The Military Channel, The History Channel, and more.
In 2003 ALL TV Services was tapped for The Tube Music Network. which is the first digital entertainment television network to be used as the content inside the broadcasters' digital multicast bit streams. In this digital network era, ATV successfully launched Latino Alternative Television (LATV) and Universal Sports (Now NBCU Sports Channel).
Ruggiero is a co-owner of Perennial Pictures Film Corporation, an animation studio where he produced, with his two partners, 14 television specials and a feature. All programs are available on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and iTunes.