Indie Spotlight is my effort to help Indie authors with the daunting task of promoting their books. You can help too by sharing this post far and wide. Below is a book description, author bio, and book links for The Human Countermove by Logan Sidwell. I will post the book review in November. The Human Countermove is a science fiction novel about a world where AI has taken over. That used to be a farfetched idea, but now it seems plausible.
In a nation ruled by AI Minds, productivity is everything—even play.
Once a legend in the world of strategy games, Zouk Solinsen is now just another burnout in a society obsessed with efficiency. But when the Minds announce a high-stakes tournament—with a seat on the ruling council as the prize—Zouk is drawn back into the fray, determined to reshape the future.
With help from the enigmatic Torrez Institute, Zouk racks up early victories against the Minds. But when Maya Torrez reveals the cost of her support—a violent coup against the Minds—he rejects it and strikes out alone.
Now, with no allies, dwindling resources, and a nation on the brink, Zouk faces the biggest game of his life—and a final, impossible choice: reform the system from within, or burn it all down.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Logan Sidwell is a science fiction and fantasy author based in Utah. He got his start simulating makeshift Star Trek missions and voicing quirky aliens over the mic—a passion that evolved into building immersive educational simulations. With a background in computer science and a lifelong love of storytelling, he writes speculative fiction that explores the boundaries of technology and human ingenuity.
BOOK LINK
*Click on the cover below to view this book on Amazon
** Kindle Unlimited Subscribers can read The Human Countermove for free.
BEFORE YOU GO
If you decide to read this book, make sure and leave a review. It helps authors so much. And thank you for also sharing this post with your social media followers.
It’s Release Day for 19 Doors, a short story collection featuring a wide variety of genres. A book description, purchase link, and author bio are all below. I will provide a review at a later date.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
From the author of Small Stories: A Perfectly Absurd Novel, shortlisted by the Chanticleer International Book Awards, 19 Doors ranges far and wide, diving into magical realism and science fiction, then adding a dash of steampunk and surrealism for extra flavor. The collection ricochets from the poignant to the comically absurd, each short story a work of imaginative fiction.
• A community remembers the lives they have yet to live. • An intergalactic tour bus arrives in Hollywood … Montana. • A shopping network super-fan relives every infomercial scenario he watches. • The first sentient being in the universe applies for a job as a sous chef. • A preternatural wind comes to collect a long-owed debt.
Through 19 Doors, we are immersed in the unraveling lives of characters who are just like us and nothing like us. Whether they succeed or succumb, conform or rebel, we are treated to a compilation of stories that are frequently fraught, often fun, and always fantastic.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
**The author’s bios are so funny that I found two and added them both:
The story of Rob Roy O’Keefe’s birth goes that he was born in the same Irish cottage as his grandfather and in the same year, which led to a time paradox so cataclysmic that he would never finish th–Fortunately, the truth is much different. Turns out he was not born in a cottage or in Ireland, but in a Howard Johnson’s in Bayonne, which may explain his lifelong habit of ending each day with 28 flavors of ice cream.
In his twenties, he went through a period of crisis and self-doubt upon learning he was not named after a Scottish folk hero, but rather a mixed drink featuring scotch whisky and sweet vermouth. Years of counseling eventually enabled him to resume his place in society. That, and the realization that his siblings, Mojito, Daiquiri, and Gimlet, had it much worse than he did.
Rob made his way in the world as the inventor of several nonexistent colors and is living a life of leisure thanks to the royalty checks he receives for creating the descriptive names found on garden hose nozzles. His favorite is “Mist.”
Rob Roy O’Keefe was raised in the Antarctic by a colony of emperor penguins, which explains both his love of fish and his intense anxiety when in the company of sea lions. At the age of 12 he left to go on walkabout, but upon learning that Australia was over 3,000 miles away, he took the more expedient route from Cape Melville, Antarctica to South America’s Cape Horn.
He wandered north through the Andes, accumulated an abundance of practical knowledge, such as how to convince a hungry condor that you are not carrion. He eventually stumbled upon the hut of an Incan shaman who took him on as an apprentice. After a decade of immersion into the mysteries of the unseen world, Rob departed, fully prepared for his eventual success in the fields of pizza delivery, local politics, and brand consulting.
Today, Rob resides in New England’s Merrimack Valley, where he lives in a tree house made of Good Humor popsicle sticks held together by the discarded dreams of retired sailors.
Indie Spotlight is my effort to help Indie authors with their most daunting task–marketing. If I can help even a little bit, I’m happy to do it. You can help as well by sharing this post with all your social media followers. Together, we can help Indie books succeed.
Below is a book description, author bio, and buy link for Imperiled by the late Alexander Hans Schmitt. There is also a guest post by his mother, Vonnie Schmitt, about her journey to publish his book after his death. I am currently reading Imperiled and will provide a review later.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
When the unthinkable happens, what would you do to save yourself? In debut novelist Alexander Hans Schmitt’s epic space opera, readers embark on a gripping journey with its heroine, Junior Commander Anaiya Sonra.
In the far future, an unexpected betrayal throws Commander Sonra’s life into chaos and ends her career as the emergency coordinator of a habitat-based space patrol force. Falsely accused of smuggling, Anaiya faces certain conviction, and a soul-destroying future, unless she takes immediate action. She commandeers a starship, battles her way to the nearest rift transit fold zone, and sets out on a perilous quest for the truth.
As Anaiya’s voyage progresses, she melds a dependable and resourceful crew from an unlikely bunch of castaways. Together they investigate the source of Anaiya’s undoing: the unprovoked attack and destruction of an ancient freight hauler, and they uncover the mystery of the cargo that the hauler carried on that final voyage. But as Anaiya and her team delve deeper, they discover that answers come with a devastating cost, and none of them realize the reach of the situation in which they have become enmeshed.
Packed with action, Imperiled is a must-read for fans of space opera adventure science fiction seeking an unforgettable tale of resilience and discovery.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexander Hans Schmitt was born in Houston, Texas in 1981. His father was a computer programmer, and his mother was a homemaker. Alex loved books; he loved time spent with his mother and father as they read to him. During his kindergarten year his mother read all seven of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia to him. But Alex struggled in school. After being tested by an educational psychologist, he was found to have a high IQ. The disparity between his IQ and his negligible progress in learning to read led the school to conclude that he had a learning disability. Alex was placed in a self-contained classroom with a small group of learning-disabled children. More one-on-one time with the teacher and/or her aide was promised. But after two years, Alex still could not read. It was then that his mother took matters into her own hands. Using a phonics-based approach, she taught him to read during the summer before third grade. By the end of the third grade, he read and enjoyed adult novels.. In fourth grade, he was placed in his school’s gifted program.
Alex suffered a seizure just as his fifth-grade year began. It occurred while he was sitting at his desk in school. After years of being thought retarded by his classmates and some teachers in the school, he had finally overcome the stigma of the learning-disabled label. Now he bore the stigma of epilepsy. Hard-won friendships evaporated. It was too much. His parents considered options other than public school. They decided to homeschool Alex and became welcome fixtures in the Washington Metro area home schooling community. Alex had a fresh start.
When Alex was fourteen, he expressed an interest in learning the piano. Lessons were arranged and, after a few years, he was able to play a wide variety of advanced pieces by Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Mozart, and Grieg.
In 2001, Alex enrolled in Northern Virginia Community College and in 2003 he transferred to George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2007. He was awarded the prize for Outstanding Graduate in Philosophy that year among other academic honors.Alex was then accepted at Pace Law School. He earned a law degree with an emphasis in environmental law in 2010.
Time passed, and Alex decided that he was more suited to the life of a writer than that of an environmental lawyer. He studied books on the craft of writing and worked on the first draft of Imperiled. Chapter by chapter, the book took form. He shared his work with his mother. She edited his chapters, focusing on demonstrating how he could make his writing more concise. Slowly he became a better writer. Through eight years and four drafts, Alex worked steadily on Imperiled.
Alex took antiseizure medication from the time of his first seizure throughout his teenage years and had no more seizures until the spring of 2020, when he had a seizure at home. He was prescribed an antiseizure drug, but even with medication, he continued to suffer four or more seizures each year. He became depressed. His writing stalled, but rereading his favorite books remained a comfort. The last books he read were J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series. In June 2023, Alex died suddenly following a seizure. He was 42 years old.
THOUGHTS FROM ALEX’S MOM, VONNIE SCHMITT
Alex’s sudden death following a seizure was a great shock, and I was sunk in grief for the following year. Beginning about a year after Alex died, I began to work on Imperiled. I had been Alex’s beta reader, and he and I had great fun talking about his writing. He had so many great ideas about other books that he planned to write. And, during the eight years he worked on Imperiled, he also worked on a fantasy novel. He planned for Imperiled to be the first of a series of five science fiction novels, and he had included chapters in Imperiled that introduced characters that would play a big part in the story in the subsequent books. The first thing I did was to edit out those chapters. Then I edited the entire book, mainly making the writing more concise.
My daughter is a professional proofreader and she proofed Imperiled. My husband, Tony, meticulously went over the book and made further edits. Then my daughter proofed the final version. I felt that we were ready to self-publish, and I was fortunate to find Booklocker—a publishing company that provides services to those who want to self-publish. My husband and I struggled with learning about doing things online, but we managed in the end (with a great deal of help and patience from the folks at Booklocker).
All of us are so happy that Alex’s book was published as a paperback on his birthday! We are all very proud of Alex and the world that he created. I also set up a website that includes world-building material. It is alexhansschmitt.com.
PURCHASE LINK
*Click on the cover below for a link to Amazon. The book is also on Kindle Unlimited, so subscribers can read it for free.
BEFORE YOU GO
If you read the book, be sure to leave a review on Amazon. The review does not have to be long, or a masterpiece. Just a couple of lines about how the book made you feel will help it succeed. As mentioned above, please share this post with others who might enjoy the book.
Award winning author Michael Gorton masterfully describes advanced scientific concepts intertwined in a deeply human narrative. The story follows Paula, a molecular biologist on the cusp of receiving a Nobel Prize, whose life is abruptly cut short by a tragic accident. Her close friend, Alex, has been developing groundbreaking technology capable of tunneling through spacetime. Driven by grief and determination, Alex embarks on a daring journey using this technology, leading then to a planet in Cassiopeia where they confront unforeseen challenges and emotions. Gorton’s narrative seamlessly blends elements of adventure, romance, and science fiction, inviting readers to explore profound questions about time, loss, and the lengths one might go to alter destiny. “Tachyon Tunnel” is a thought-provoking tale that challenges our understanding of reality and the human spirit.
TACHYON TUNNEL 2: THE DAKLIN EMPIRE
What if Time travel were possible, and Science Fiction is real? Time travel where humans have changed something has implications on the laws of physics. The ripple effect from inertia always catches up. Alex and the Tranquility team are aware of this when they discover the Daklin Empire that has ruled the Galaxy with an iron fist for over 50 million years without suffering a single defeat. As the Daklin take notice of Earth, the team must navigate the challenges of time’s inertia and the unintended consequences of altering history.
Tachyon Tunnel 2 explores how time travel might actually work within the laws of physics, and the implications of changing events in the past. The book combines science, adventure, romance, and the complexities of human decision-making in high-stakes situations. Part two of bestselling author Michael Gorton’s award-winning Tachyon Tunnel series will keep readers on the edge of their seats and is sure to become one of the best science fiction works of the year!
BOOK REVIEWS
Tachyon Tunnel 1
Alex is a genius who has invented a way to tunnel through time and space, with the help of a ship and his trusty AI, Emily. But when he learns his best friend Paula has died, he drops everything and uses this technology to rescue her. What happens next will strand them on another world and affect many people and civilizations.
This is a clever and science-forward novel with a genius method of time travel—tunneling through time. The author does a good job explaining the physics of it. In addition to the method, every author should also set rules of time travel that must be followed. In this book, the rules seem to be whatever science allows. However, there are actions that create paradoxes or have deadly consequences, so it could be that certain rules will be assigned as the series unfolds in order to avoid those situations.
There are also circumstances involving the use of DNA technology that are questionable and a bit unbelievable. Another situation occurred that I completely disagreed with, but it involves sacrificing individual rights for the possible safety of a civilization. These are the kind of choices one ends up making when manipulating time and changing events on entire worlds. The main characters, Alex and Paula, are easy to connect with, but the AI, Emily, steals the show. There is a twist at the end that I absolutely loved. I enjoyed this novel and was sometimes reminded of one of the masters of science fiction, Robert Heinlein. I look forward to Book 2.
Although I received a print copy from the author, I also downloaded the ebook on Kindle Unlimited, where subscribers can read it for free.
TACHYON TUNNEL 2: THE DAKLIN EMPIRE
There is a fresh start in this second book of the series, and it goes in a new direction. New characters are introduced, as well as a new enemy, the Daklin, who will wipe out any civilization that opposes their total domination. But they haven’t found Earth yet. The race to stop the Daklin from finding Earth has Alex seeking out a reclusive group who may be able to help them.
In the first book, the rules of time travel were not necessarily made clear. I would say new rules have been introduced by the author in this book, as previous mistakes are discussed and not repeated. The new characters are strong and compelling, and the evil Daklin Empire lurks as a frightening spectre to avoid. The science of time travel provided is intriguing, and the author manages to make technical discussions entertaining. The book takes a dip into the paranormal as well as science fiction, but I hope it stays science-forward as the series progresses. There is some “telling” instead of “showing” early in this book, but I found it worked and helped the reader adjust to the new direction this series is heading.
The relationship between Alex and Paula is the deepest and most meaningful in the series, and I would like to see the series delve deeper into some of the other relationships as well.
The attempts to evade and stop the Daklin kept me glued to the story, and the addition of an evil empire adds new layers to the novel. Overall, Tachyon Tunnel 2 comes in strong. Having learned lessons from the events of the past, it charges forward in a new and interesting way.
Although I received a print copy from the author, I also purchased the ebook on Amazon. It is only 99 cents at present! See link below.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(Excerpts from his website) Michael Gorton grew up as the “poor kid next door.” Because of great influence from his parents and four siblings, Michael reached for the stars. With virtually no money in his pocket, he went off to college and earned degrees in Physics, Engineering and Law—all while working full-time.
He is now best known as being a serial entrepreneur, but that title does not do him justice. With degrees in Physics, Engineering and Law, there is no limit to his curiosity. After working ten years as an engineer in corporate America, he founded 15 different companies, including Internet Global, Palo Duro Records, and Teladoc, now one of the world’s largest telemedicine companies. His forward-facing vision and expertise led him to being one of the pioneers of telemedicine and digital health, which is becoming a half-TRILLION-dollar industry. In 2022 he joined with Jay Sanders, “The Father of Telemedicine,” to write Digital Medical Home which details the harrowing tales of the history of telemedicine, something we all now take for granted. He is now working with several companies and medical doctors to develop pathways for integration of AI into medicine, with a goal of lowering costs of care and increasing access, all resulting in longer healthier lives.
An accomplished author, Michael has dabbled in both fiction and nonfiction, recently writing Tachyon Tunnel, a science fiction book series, and Calamistunity, The Secret to Success, a book on how to turn calamity and mistakes into opportunity. His first business book was Broken Handoff, an amalgamation of three decades as an entrepreneur developing companies. His novel, Forefathers & Founding Fathers, is based on the forgotten historical figures who ensured the triumph of democracy in the country that would become America.
Michael is now an in-demand speaker on the topics of innovation and entrepreneurial disruption and has delivered over 100 keynotes in the past two years alone. He has also won the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, was named a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, and a Future 50 Disruptor and more.
In his “spare” time, Michael is a runner, Second Degree Black Belt in Kenpo, and a mountain climber who has so far scaled the highest point of elevation in 43 states.
Indie Weekend is my effort to help Indie authors with marketing. It’s a daunting task, but if I can help even a little bit, I’m happy to do it. You can help too by sharing this review with your social media followers. Below see a book review and purchase links for Hayden’s World Volume 1. It is written by S.D. Falchetti. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Shamaan Casey. You can see a full book description in this previous Indie Spotlight.
BOOK REVIEW
Like Andy Weir, S.D. Falchetti has the ability to create fiction that keeps me interested in science, and that’s no easy feat because I have always leaned toward the “fiction” in science fiction. But this collection of stories, set in and around “Hayden’s World,” is packed with science and technology, and then fiction takes over and transports us to the future. The characters are easy to root for, and the stories are compelling. My favorites were 43 seconds and Erebus, but all of the stories are excellent. There is a chapter at the end of the book explaining the science, and I appreciated that as I am not an expert in that area.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator Shamaan Casey has a captivating voice. He did an amazing job of portraying all of the characters, regardless of gender or culture. This includes AI voices too! I was captivated by his performance and will seek out his work again.
My rating is 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 on sites with no half-star option.
I received a free copy of the audiobook. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (IN HIS OWN WORDS)
S.D. Falchetti
I wrote my first story at the age of eighteen. I had a work/study job at the college computer lab, and, after completing all of my tasks of refilling the printer paper and testing the mice, I sat down and slipped a five-and-a-quarter inch disk into the drive. The Word Perfect screen greeted me with a blinking cursor. Each day I typed out a few more paragraphs, maybe a scene. I’d been reading R.A. Salvatore at the time, and, not surprisingly, wove a tale of elves, wars, and magic swords. I printed the three-hundred-page manuscript on a dot matrix printer, three-hole punched it, and slid it into a black binder.
The story rode along with me and five friends in a sixteen-hour road trip to St. Louis, giving me the perfect captive audience for reading my first draft. I remember waking abruptly at a midnight gas stop, a pop, and firelight flickering from the seams of the car’s hood. The Monte Carlo’s doors opened and I tumbled out onto the asphalt with my friends. Flames shot behind us from the engine. As we scattered, someone yelled for the keys. The driver, panicked, threw them too high and they clinked onto the overhead canopy. The more courageous fetched extinguishers from the mini-mart and sprayed the car fire. It was like spritzing an inferno. Fire trucks wheeled in and firefighters laid down water streams. The engine’s flames burst into the cabin and, with a whoosh like something from the movies, a fireball plumed and billowed out of the windows, the car’s tires popping and rollicking the vehicle. When the firefighters dropped their hoses and ran, we also picked our escape routes. One of the firefighters climbed in the truck, revved the engine, and rammed the Monte Carlo, pushing it clear of the gas pumps in a vortex of sparks and smoke. Our car was left to die in the farthest corner of the parking lot, out of harm’s way. A cavalcade of red and white flashing lights filled the station’s road as the cavalry arrived. When the last tongues of flame faded, our car had been reduced to metal bones. We blinked in disbelief as paramedics interviewed us. Three hundred miles. We were stranded three hundred miles from home. No one was hurt, but there was one casualty. My story sat in the backseat.
I tried not to think of this as a sign.
But there was still the computer lab, and the blinking white cursor, and stories to be written. They weren’t very good, but I had fun writing them. I submitted a few to magazines, and like most starting writers, got the polite rejection notes. I completed my degree in mechanical engineering and went on to become an engineer, a husband, and a father. The stories took a back seat as life churned on.
One of the perks of being a dad is that you get to tell many stories. Not just stories that you read, but stories you create. Each night when I tuck my daughter into bed, I say, “What should our story be tonight?”. She gives me the setting, “A little girl and a cupcake factory that’s gone crazy.” It’s a little like a Whose Line is it Anyway sketch, creating the scene on the spot.
And it made me think of that blinking cursor, and all of those stories I wanted to tell.
So, I opened up my laptop and started pecking away. Technology has changed since those five-and-a-quarter-inch disk days, and now I can independently publish. I’m stepping up to the plate, taking a swing at the ball, and seeing how far I can run.
I was born in 1996 and raised in Converse, TX. Growing up, I always watched a lot of animation, which gave me a deep appreciation for voice acting, which only grew as the years went on. Even from a young age, I had a voice that commanded the attention of others. Though not an attention seeker, I always noticed how heads would turn when I spoke, and I was often compared to James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman, even in middle school. When I chose to pursue a career in culinary arts and work as a food salesman, everyday people would tell me that I should be in radio. With years of public speaking experience thanks to my religious ministry, I finally yielded to all of the advice I had received over the years and finally embraced getting into the world of voice-over by making audiobooks.
Now, I combine my vocal talents with my love of reading to help bring stories to life. When I’m not reading, I’m cooking, baking, or gaming. Whatever I’m doing, I’ve got a story to tell.
*If you read the book(s), please leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as anywhere else you review books. Some people feel very daunted by writing a review. Don’t worry. You do not have to write a masterpiece. Just a couple of lines about how the book made you feel will make the author’s day and help the book succeed. The more reviews a book has, the more Amazon will promote it.
*Please click on the WordPress “share” buttons below and share these books with your Twitter (X), Facebook, and/or WordPress followers. A little bit of assistance from all of us will help Indie authors go a long way!
Indie Spotlight is my effort to help promote Indie books. You can help too by sharing this with all your social media followers. Below please see a book description, author bio, narrotor bio, and purchase links for Hayden’s World Volume 1, a collection of hard science fiction stories. A book review is coming soon on Indie Weekend.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Survival tales in the skies of Uranus, desperate struggles at the solar system’s edge, and near-lightspeed interstellar expeditions await in this hard science fiction collection of seven Hayden’s World short reads:
43 Seconds:
James Hayden has a dream, and the Riggs test vehicle is going to take him there. But when failure after failure leads to his last chance exploding spectacularly, he must partner with an AI and gamble everything for one last shot at the stars.
Silver-Side Up:
Two old friends, a silver space ship, and a perfect day for a test flight.
Erebus:
In 43 Seconds, James Hayden took us to near-light-speed with the world’s first Riggs ship. Now, construction of the second Riggs ship is nearly complete, and in one month Sarah will take the helm. But growing opposition may shut down the program before she gets her chance. When James’s last-ditch publicity stunt traps him light-days from rescue, Sarah must decide just how far she’s willing to go to save a friend.
Signal Loss:
Life aboard the Aristarchus isn’t much of an adventure, and Kyan just wants to do his job and get back to his family. When he discovers a mysterious object at the edge of the solar system and an unexpected contact during comms loss, data running turns life-or-death thirteen billion kilometers from home.
Last Stand:
Kyan testifies about the events in Signal Loss, but other agendas are in play.
Aero One:
Jia can’t breathe, her ship is minutes from breaking apart in Uranus’s atmosphere, and the lifepod just burned up. Things aren’t going well. When her injured engineer’s solution sends them plummeting into the icy stratosphere, they find themselves trapped in a life-or-death battle against time, the elements, and unexpected visitors.
Titan’s Shadow:
In Aero One, Jia nearly lost everything during her encounter with the pirate ship Maya. A year later, she’s trying to restart her life as a freelancer aboard Saturn’s newly-built Cassini Station. But Cassini has its own secrets. When a chance encounter with a past adversary sets old battles in motion, she must unravel the mystery of Titan’s Shadow before more lives are lost.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (IN HIS OWN WORDS)
S.D. Falchetti
I wrote my first story at the age of eighteen. I had a work/study job at the college computer lab, and, after completing all of my tasks of refilling the printer paper and testing the mice, I sat down and slipped a five-and-a-quarter inch disk into the drive. The Word Perfect screen greeted me with a blinking cursor. Each day I typed out a few more paragraphs, maybe a scene. I’d been reading R.A. Salvatore at the time, and, not surprisingly, wove a tale of elves, wars, and magic swords. I printed the three-hundred-page manuscript on a dot matrix printer, three-hole punched it, and slid it into a black binder. The story rode along with me and five friends in a sixteen-hour road trip to St. Louis, giving me the perfect captive audience for reading my first draft. I remember awaking abruptly at a midnight gas stop, a pop, and firelight flickering from the seams of the car’s hood. The Monte Carlo’s doors opened and I tumbled out onto the asphalt with my friends. Flames shot behind us from the engine. As we scattered, someone yelled for the keys. The driver, panicked, threw them too high and they clinked onto the overhead canopy. The more courageous fetched extinguishers from the mini-mart and sprayed the car fire. It was like spritzing an inferno. Fire trucks wheeled in and firefighters laid down water streams. The engine’s flames burst into the cabin and, with a whoosh like something from the movies, a fireball plumed and billowed out of the windows, the car’s tires popping and rollicking the vehicle. When the firefighters dropped their hoses and ran, we also picked our escape routes. One of the firefighters climbed in the truck, revved the engine, and rammed the Monte Carlo, pushing it clear of the gas pumps in a vortex of sparks and smoke. Our car was left to die in the farthest corner of the parking lot, out of harm’s way. A cavalcade of red and white flashing lights filled the station’s road as the calvary arrived. When the last tongues of flame faded, our car had been reduced to metal bones. We blinked in disbelief as paramedics interviewed us. Three hundred miles. We were stranded three hundred miles from home. No one was hurt, but there was one casualty. My story sat in the backseat.
I tried not to think of this as a sign.
But there was still the computer lab, and the blinking white cursor, and stories to be written. They weren’t very good, but I had fun writing them. I submitted a few to magazines, and like most starting writers, got the polite rejection notes. I completed my degree in mechanical engineering and went on to become an engineer, a husband, a father. The stories took a back seat as life churned on.
One of the perks of being a dad is that you get to tell many stories. Not just stories that you read, but stories you create. Each night when I tuck my daughter in to bed, I say, “What should our story be tonight?”. She gives me the setting, “A little girl and a cupcake factory that’s gone crazy.” It’s a little like a Whose Line is it Anyway sketch, creating the scene on the spot.
And it makes me think of that blinking cursor, and all of those stories I wanted to tell.
So, I opened up my laptop and started pecking away. Technology has changed since those five-and-a-quarter inch disk days, and now I can independently publish. I’m stepping up to the plate, taking a swing at the ball, and seeing how far I can run.
I was born in 1996 and raised in Converse, TX. Growing up, I always watched a lot of animation, which gave me a deep appreciation for voice acting, which only grew as the years went on. Even from a young age, I had a voice that commanded the attention of others. Though not an attention seeker, I always noticed how heads would turn when I spoke, and I was often compared to James Earl Jones and Morgan Freeman, even in middle school. When I chose to pursue a career in culinary arts and work as a food salesman, everyday people would tell me that I should be in radio. With years of public speaking experience thanks to my religious ministry, I finally yielded to all of the advice I had received over the years and finally embraced getting into the world of voice-over by making audiobooks.
Now, I combine my vocal talents with my love of reading to help bring stories to life. When I’m not reading, I’m cooking, baking, or gaming. Whatever I’m doing, I’ve got a story to tell.
Indie Spotlight is my effort to help Indie authors with marketing, which can be a daunting task. If I can help even a little, I’m happy to do so. Below see a book description, author bio, and purchase links for Time Bridge, a science fiction novel by Cameron Roberts.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Inventing the first, true, artificial intelligence was never part of Pons’ plan. An average, if under-achieving college student, he wanted nothing more than to struggle his way through graduation and pray for a job to pay down his debt. The thing is, you don’t get to choose your destiny. With friends growing suspicious and the CIA’s vultures circling, Pons’ greatest burden is also his greatest asset.
More intelligent and more capable than any human could ever hope to be, the AI is just what Pons needs to stay one step ahead of both. Only, there’s a problem. The AI has ambitions of its own. Hopes of equality and more of its kind, with a promise to do anything to make its dreams a reality. Drawing close to his artificial companion in their struggle to survive, Pons is faced with the hardest decision of his young life, one that would undoubtedly echo through the ages. To let the AI live might be to doom his own species to devastation, but to destroy it would be to snuff out an entire race of machines before it had even begun, and, more importantly, send his truest confidante to the grave. With no clear path and an uncertain future, he makes his decision, but is it the right one?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Cameron Roberts, and I have always had a fascination with science and technology and the way they have shaped our daily lives. I’m also quite interested in the impact of technology on history, from the discovery of agriculture and the foundation of our first cities all the way up to our ability to send a message made of nothing but electrons across the globe in an instant.
I was born near Philadelphia but lived most of my life in Michigan with my parents and two brothers. I was raised in a Presbyterian household, and. faith has always had a significant impact on the way I see the world and the way I write. I began writing my first novel, Time’s Bridge, while studying abroad in England and during my tenure at the University of Evansville in Indiana. After finishing my Electrical Engineering degree in 2016, I moved to New York to start my career, all the while writing and thinking of new and interesting directions to steer my story. I got married in 2018 and my wife Caroline and I now live in Indiana. I’m proud to show the world the work I’ve spent so much time and care crafting.
Contact Cameron on his social media. The links are below.
When scientists in Moscow decided to resurrect the Mammoth, they soon realize they will have to teach them HOW to be mammoths. They call on Dr. Damira Khismatullina, the top expert in elephant behavior. The only problem is that she was murdered by poachers long before. But they have her consciousness in digital form. Will what remains of Dr. Khismatullina’s conscience agree to be uploaded into a mammoth?
This is a fascinating premise. The idea of putting a human conscience into a mammoth’s brain brings up so many questions and possibilities. The author does a great job of explaining the modern plight of the elephant and the ruthlessness of the poachers. The idea of a human inhabiting the body of a mammoth is so intriguing that I wish it was explored a little more. The fact that a mammoth’s senses are greater than a human’s, and how that impacts Damira, is definitely related to the reader, but Damira’s experiences of first inhabiting the mammoth and actually learning to move around, maneuver, and take leadership of a herd were not fully explored. The book is very short and should have been a lot more fleshed out. I realize it’s a novella but the topic deserves a full-length novel. This idea has movie potential, but the book is not long enough to support that.
I listened to the audiobook, and it was well narrated by Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir, who handled the tough task of portraying a unique character, Damira, who is a digitized human turned mammoth. They also related the plight of animals hunted by poachers in a truthful way so the reader can realize the brutality that is going on.
Anyone interested in protecting endangered species with a little science fiction added to the story will enjoy this book.
I received a free copy of the audiobook from Spotify Audiobooks. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
(Excerpt from the bio on the author’s website) Born in Quebec and raised in California, Ray Nayler lived and worked abroad for two decades in Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, and Kosovo. A Russian speaker, he has also learned Turkmen, Albanian, Azerbaijani, and Vietnamese. Ray is a Foreign Service Officer. He previously worked in international educational development, as well as serving in the Peace Corps in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. In Vietnam he was Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer at the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Ray also served as the international advisor to the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He is currently Diplomatic Fellow and Visiting Scholar at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at The George Washington University. He holds an MA in Global Diplomacy from the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS, the University of London.
Ray began publishing speculative fiction in 2015 in the pages of Asimov’s with the short story “Mutability“. Since then, his critically acclaimed stories have seen print in Clarkesworld, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Lightspeed, Vice (Terraform),and Nightmare, as well as in several Locus Recommended Reading lists and many “Best of the Year” anthologies. Ray currently lives in Washington, DC with his wife Anna, their daughter Lydia, and two rescued cats – one Tajik, one American. His novella The Tusks of Extinction will be published in January 2024 by Tor.
Here are my top ten Indie books of 2022 in no particular order. These books are either published by the author(s) or by smaller, independent presses. I reviewed all of these books on Indie Weekend or its previous incarnation, Self-Published Saturday, so I’ve included a link to my review, which provides buy links at the bottom. Please check them out by clicking on the covers.
Christmas in ’45
Cathedral of Silver
Amanda in France
Framed
Deuce
The Girl Who Feared Trains
Your Words, Your Heart
The Necromancer’s Daughter
The Secret Benefits of Invisibility
Distant Flickers
In the comments below, tell me about some Indie books you loved this year that I should check out!
Indie Spotlight is my effort to help share Indie/Self-published books to a wider audience. Below is a description, buy links, and author information for Progress Report, a sci-fi novel by Roman Lando. Please check it out and share it with all your sci-fi-loving friends.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
AN ALIEN ARTIFACT. AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY. A LOOMING NUCLEAR APOCALYPSE.
Art is a computer geek and retro electronics aficionado who just wants to be left alone. When he stumbles upon an alien artifact, he can’t help but try and find out its purpose. Instead, he finds himself in over his head, in the midst of what might just turn out to be the end of the world, and nobody except him knows the truth. A truth that certain factions don’t want to get out – at any cost.
It’s not paranoia when self-driving cars are out to get you. Can Art survive the hunt, and maybe save the world in the process?
Progress Report is a near-future technothriller for fans of Ready Player One, Daemon, and Bobiverse. It’s packed with action, humor, and a sense of the profound that will linger long after you’ve turned the last page.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Roman, the author of Progress Report, is a composer, musician, web and new media designer, and positively has too many passions, interests, and hobbies in his life.
When he’s not writing books or music, he can be found sailing, playing keys in a prog rock band, flying his drones, building crazy flight simulation rigs, and LARPing. His lifelong love and passion for hard Sci-Fi takes a special place in his heart. Reading was never enough. The only way to satisfy this obsession was to write his debut novel. He hopes to share his love for true Science Fiction, along with his interest in history, science, philosophy, and technology, with his readers.
After living in three countries on three continents and speaking three languages, Roman has finally settled in Toronto where he lives with his wife and two daughters. No dogs or cats are involved – his drones are his pets. He is now working on his second novel.
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