New Publication - Neon Digital Darkness

 Neon Digital Darkness

I'm very excited for this release. Its a short story collection of two. Davene Le Grange was nice enough to share her story with me, and since our short stories had similar themes in some way we decided to collaborate.

The result is this short story collection of two.

This was my first attempt to do all the publishing side of things including the cover and internal formatting. It was a great learning experience.

My story Digital Jambi is inspired by a range of things, one of which is a full sized novel that is in the midst of being edited. The character, Jambi, is a side character in the book that I really wanted to write about his back story. This is that origin story.

Davene Le Grange's story, The Undercover Goth, is different in many ways, but the overall themes of being in this together, and what makes us really human? Exist throughout both stories. 

Davene has produced a futuristic, cyberpunk style detective story, with a strong female lead, and a thoughtful look at what makes us human.

I hope whoever decides to read the stories, enjoys them. I would love to hear any feedback good or bad.

It will soon be available on Amazon Kindle Unlimited and all the various Amazon bookstores around the world.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BKS8T95 

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09BGFB8D2 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09BKS8T95 

Check out my Amazon profile for more short stories or new works.

https://www.amazon.com/author/james.l.graetz 

Book Trailer

 

 

Theater of Nok-Mondu - The Anthology

 Theater of Nok-Mondu

This is the title of another Anthology I have a story within. Mine is called The Catacombs of the Soulless. This story fits within the world created by Davene, the mysterious world beneath the earth, full of masks and mystery.

This Anthology is now available on Amazon, and KDP. Inside is a science fiction and fantasy world created by Davene Le Grange. Her story enables the other nine authors to insert their story with full creative freedom whilst maintaining a thread throughout. 

Each story could stand alone and they are all book-ended by Davene's overall arc which could also stand alone. If you read it you will find 10 diverse stories wildly different, from Authors at a range of places in their careers. 

 

We are all proud of the stories that we worked hard on. My own, Catacombs of the Soulless, I am pleased with how it came out. It began as a stream of consciousness in a moment of reflection after suddenly loosing someone. After many iterations it evolved from stream into story. 

I also had a blast making a book trailer for it.

The book is available exclusively on Amazon at this stage; here are some links to the USA, UK and Australian stores.

If you would like more information about the authors they can be found on Twitter or through their various social media and blog links below.

Free on #kindleunlimited here are Amazon links;

US Store: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WJXVQ9B  

The UK Store: 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08WJXVQ9B 

The Australian Store: 

https://www.amazon.com.au/Theater-Nok-Mondu-Science-Fiction-Anthology-ebook/dp/B08WJXVQ9B

 

The 10 authors involved in the anthology are from a range of interesting backgrounds which has led to a range of interesting stories.

Some Author links: 

Davene Le Grange

Sage Wolfsong 

A. C. Merkel 

Jeremiah Barton

Marty Pearson

Dawn Olmo 

Timothy Schoonhoven

Chaz J. Simpson 

MSH Yang

Ignition Cognition

The needle eased in between skin cells into the vein. Entry, and the mix of the synthetic dose began its journey.

One thought faded, another, nothing replaced it. 

The trauma of the impending unknown faded, confusion remained. 

A silenced cognition from the dulled receptors. 

Agonist competing with neurotransmitters on axon receptors. 

No new memories meant, time and place were obscured in the mind. 

They drift past like smoke. 

The hint of a fire, evidence something happened, the scent of a moment. 

The magnetic field of a planet yet the interminable nothing remains.

Mother looked out the window. 

"You can see the sea from here."

 

 

Image by Nils Graeff from Pixabay

Story - Copyright James.L.Graetz 2021 

Neo Cyberpunk story reviews.

As I read through the stories of this Anthology I will review each story as I go. 

 

 

 Anna Mocikat - We Are the Good Guys

If you have read any of Anna's other stories you will know she is a very competent author. Her stories are always action packed and don't hold back. Anna is a very experienced writer and has a growing following of fans that love the way she writes. She extends her world of Behind Blue Eyes in this story bringing a little more background to the main story. Her short is a story about a side character that a lot of people wanted to know more about. Its a fantastic introduction to her futuristic world. In this short you get a taste of many of the elements of the BBE world. It is a brutal utopia. A perfect world doesn't exist without a violent dark side. You get a bit of both with this story. 

Anna now has two books released in her Behind Blue Eyes series, and the second one is better than the first in my opinion. She is building up this world to a crescendo of interesting tension. If you haven't checked it out you won't be disappointed. It is a very violent world, with all the ideals of the future captured and fleshed out to their bitter and violent conclusions. A modern, man created cyborg force of overpowered superhero beings maintain the status quo of the utopian world. One of these cyborgs is Nephilim. It's easy to get bored with an overpowered superhero, but Anna doesn't let that happen. The world she creates is full of intrigue, danger, moral  and choices of love and courage. 

Reading the second book now (Audiobook by the way, and its brilliantly narrated) I  have realised that she has thought through this story quite deeply. It contains a full world of politics, and ideas that are not a simple plot device. This story carries you through the darkest streets, and the highest wealth of the world that is created. There are internal political forces full of tension, as well as outside opposition that seek to destroy, the potential love interests are of course on either side of the fences. Its a tinderbox that keeps building and getting deeper with each new book she releases. 

Its possible not as many people will discover this book series as early as they should, but I am sure when they do, they will find it worth the journey. The short story is a great start. If you enjoyed it, you will definitely enjoy the other books in her series. 

Neo Cyberpunk Short - CyberCroc

 CyberCroc is LIVE! 🐊

I was lucky enough to be invited to write a story for the Cyberpunk Coalition (twitter link) who are a group of talented writers who got together to celebrate everything the genre by creating Cyberpunk Day. 

Neo Cyberpunk - the Anthology, contains 15 stories from talented authors, its worth the purchase. There is sure to be a story you like from the minds of the talented writers involved.

The group was gracious enough to allow me to submit a story. I am excited as a new author, that it was accepted and I will be published beside these highly talented people. 

Which brings me to my story - CyberCroc.

  

 

There is always a corporate job for a talented hacker. When you are overwhelmed by debts to the gangs, and credits are needed for upgrades survive the upcoming Cyber-fight tournament, you have to take what you can get. 

 

Experimenting on brain to brain communication tech with a Crocodile seems like an interesting way to spend your day, moral quandaries aside. Besides, nobody has had any success in the field yet.

 

This story follows the personal log entries of this fighter and hacker as he tussles with street gangs, corporate pressure, an upcoming cyber-fight tournament, and of course finding out what happens when you try to talk to a crocodile with your brain.

I'd love to hear if you enjoyed it or want to read more about CyberCroc, or any thoughts about the story. Let me know through Twitter or email.

 

 

Ebook

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Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

Apple Ebooks 

 

Paperback 

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and other stores 

 

 

A Modern Cyberpunk Journey

The fantastic thing about Cyberpunk as a genre is it's ability to explore the future of technology and the dilemmas it may produce. It's the ultimate 'what if' scenario of science.

Cyberpunk and Science Fiction has been used to explore everything from space travel to the internet, way before the internet was a thing. William Gibson explored tablets when computers were huge and CRT monitors took up most of your desk, and virtual reality possibilities that are only now beginning to become possible and mainstream.

My take on this comes from a range of passing interests in science including Quantum Physics, blockchain technologies, and neuroscience. Why not explore all of these areas through fiction.

For me the ideas come first and later I explore the technology to see if it is possible. The stories I write often consider the potential futuristic applications of cutting edge science. It's fiction, but these things may be possible in some form or variation, or they may be totally unrealistic. The questions to humanity are the same.

The never ending landscape of technology means that science fiction and the cyberpunk genre shifts with it. 

My latest work is an exploration of an imaginary future where quantum computing becomes mainstream. If Quantum technologies like entanglement, encryption, or something similar were able to be used in a consumer scale technology how it might that happen? What could be the consequences?

By projecting the present into the future and adding these fantastical technologies a story was born. 

I also became fascinated by the interface between the brain and the heart, and biological quantum computing.
 

Could this be combined to create a cryptocurrency based on humanity?

The central question of my story is to ask, how could this kind of technology be used for good, or evil. 

Humanity asks the same questions of itself regardless of the technology available. This story is yet another exploration of the same questions. 

The answer is often the same... what is humanity without love.

Welcome

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