Inventing 'Inventions' -- Successful entrepreneur pens first novel

By: RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer
Paul Woodring will sign "Inventions" from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 23 at Borders Books, 1905 Calle Barcelona, Suite 120, Carlsbad. Call (760) 479-0242. | Saturday, January 19, 2008 8:22 PM PST ∞

Because he always loved to read and write, most people thought Paul Woodring would be a lawyer or a writer when he grew up.

But first he became an engineer, graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from Cleveland State University. He went on to design the first and most-used microprocessor-controlled life-support ventilator in the United States.

Now retired from the medical-device industry that made him wealthy, the Del Mar resident has finally been able to turn his attention to his first love, writing, and has recently self-published "Inventions" ($21.95, Arbor Books).

Besides, as an avid reader, he said he often finished books and thought to himself that he could have done a better job with the story than the author did. "I didn't write this book to make money," said the entrepreneur about his first novel. "It's just something I always wanted to do."

"Inventions" tells the story of Robert Watson Jr., an intelligent young man who decides to strike out on his own in the 1970s when he realizes he will never be more than the token black employee in the predominantly white Midwestern company that hired him.

It is a situation with which Woodring, a black man, is familiar. "My first job was with Goodyear Aerospace in Akron, Ohio, in the early 1960s," he said. "I got involved working with the integrated circuits department because the company didn't give me anything to do."

And like his talented protagonist, Woodring, 67, had the courage to strike out on his own. In 1977, he opened and operated the second Computer Land franchise in the country.

In 1996, after working in a large company directing development of microprocessor-based ventilators, he formed his own company called InVentive Technologies.

His company, which developed the first touch-screen ventilator, was eventually acquired by Resperonics' Hospital Division, for which Woodring still consults.

"I was working out on my exercise bike and found out on the news that Royal Phillips just acquired Resperonics," he said. "That was a nice Christmas present."

Woodring said that in his book he wanted to portray the challenges facing black men in the predominantly white business world, particularly in the Midwest in the 1970s when he was beginning his career. "We were just trying to open the door at that time, and we didn't have a lot of mentors," he said.

He says he purposely didn't shy away from the technical nature of his subject, the burgeoning personal computer industry. "My background is technical, mostly with microprocessors," he said. "But you don't see a lot of books about the beginning of the personal computer industry, told from the tech perspective."

For Woodring, the research was the easiest part of the writing process.

"I had been to a lot of the places and I knew the people," he said, admitting that it was a bit disconcerting knowing that his friends and family would read the book later, looking for themselves and others they knew. "My dad told me he knew the main character was my grandfather," he said with a chuckle.

But it was writing the underlying love story, he said, that gave him the most trouble. "My editor told me I had to punch up the love story," he said.

In the book, the protagonist struggles to decide which of the women in his life will claim his heart: the intelligent, exotic Elena, the sexy Nisee or his glamorous business partner, Penny.

Having already finished a screenplay based on "Inventions," Woodring said he is working on several other fiction and nonfiction books.

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 740-3527 or rwebster@nctimes.com.