Bad Vibe by David Mayo

Release date: May 1, 2019

Subgenre: First Contact, Alien Invasion

About Bad Vibes:

 

Something unusual and unique occurs in the mid–forties in the U.S and serves as the seed of change that will occur eighty years later.

Clayton Atwood is an uncommitted academic pinball, bouncing between college curricula that strike his fancy, unconcerned with scholastic advancement or degrees. Orphaned by his parent’s death early on, he lives with his eccentric uncle. Planning a carefree trip to Europe, his plans are interrupted by an innocuous note taped to his front door. It changes the course of his future.

In an unassuming building adjacent to Rice University in Houston, Clay learns that all he knew of his past is wrong and that he is now the center of an astounding scientific project that will help all mankind, but place one peaceful alien civilization in jeopardy, and attract genocidal hatred and retribution from another. In the mix is a ruthless assassin looking to wipe Clay off the face of the earth. It all comes to a brutal and violent conclusion at a secret Nevada military base.

 

Excerpt:

 

Suddenly, the C-17 shuddered violently and they both dropped their drinks.  With an abrupt dip as if on the downside of a rollercoaster, they both found themselves slammed into the ceiling, then the plane quaked even harder and tossed them onto the floor, each luckily missing the seats.  Clay tried to stand only to have his legs cut out from under him.  He sprawled and bounced around.  The coffee maker shot off the credenza and the padlock on the Translator cabinet rang incessantly as it pounded against the metal door.  Karl had managed to jam one leg and one arm into the space beneath their seats.

What followed was the loudest explosion Clay had ever heard.  It hurt his ears.  The tremendous noise elongated and fluctuated, not like a normal explosion.  Clay could only describe it as rolling explosions like rolling thunder.  It was visceral in its intensity.  Clay could hear metal creaking and popping as the massive transport rode the turbulence.  Karl succeeded in climbing up his chair and strapping in.  He grasped one of Clay’s arms as he rolled toward him.  Clay awkwardly climbed up Karl’s body, clutching handfuls of material and finally threw himself onto his seat.  Karl grabbed two parachutes and tossed one to Clay.  He had to yell over the astonishing decibels of audible chaos.  “Get it on.  NOW!”

Just as he managed to get his arms through the straps, the noise started to fall, and the plane levelled out.  In moments it was like it never happened.

They both leaped up, Clay wearing a parachute.  Karl never got his on.  On shaky legs they scrambled up to the cockpit.

Karl’s ears were ringing so he asked too loud, “What the hell just happened?”  He then noticed several warning lights.  Before the Captain could answer him, the red warnings started turning to green.  The Captain held her finger up, wait a moment.  Both pilots were busy checking everything out.  The Captain stopped suddenly and held her palm against her headphone.  She turned her head and looked at Karl.  “Sir, Moscow just exploded.”

“WHAT?”

“We are getting reports of a devastating and unusually large explosion, more like a hydrogen bomb.  However, no one is reporting radiation yet.  Moscow is gone, sir.”

Clay and Karl stood behind both pilots.  Neither knew what to say.  Clay whispered, “They didn’t open up the switch.”

“We don’t know that.  It could have been sabotage or terrorists.”

Clay glared at the agent.  “Really?  I think we both know that’s not true.  All the shoddy work we saw?  Nothing approved by our people.  I’m telling you, either the switch malfunctioned, or they didn’t open it up in time.”

 

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About David Mayo:

 David Mayo was born in February of 1950 in Houston, Texas. His earliest career was what was known as Data Processing back then. Accounting machines, collators, teletypes. etc. Within 20 years he was supporting IT customers and began a new career of Technical Writing. That led to a long stint in the medical industry.
Mr. Mayo has always been a long-hair and once posed for a painting of Jesus Christ for a Methodist Church, an unusual experience. He has published poetry and dabbled in screenplays. He has authored a lot of manuals, handbooks and even speeches.
He is a voracious reader and enjoys playing acoustic guitar. For a time in the 1990s, he was the editor of a globally well-received UFO monthly newsletter. He lives in Eastern Texas with his wife and for a time, two beautiful loving dogs. They crossed the rainbow bridge and he misses them deeply.
All of Mr. Mayo's book covers are designed by Prometheus Productions.

 

Author Central

 

 

Interview with Tanner Nielsen, author of Wired: A Dystopian Novel for the 21st Century

Today the Speculative Fiction Showcase are delighted to welcome Tanner Nielsen, author of Wired: A Dystopian Novel for the 21st Century, to answer our interview questions.

First of all, tell us about your new release, Wired. What was the inspiration for your novel?
My inspiration started back a year ago. I had just gotten married, and was struggling to really cement my identity and come to terms with allowing myself to just be a man within a relationship. I started recalling my past experiences with mental illness, and what had given my life fulfillment prior to that. I read an article then that basically spoke about how to know what career you should pursue. In essence, whatever you had not been able to take your mind off for years was what should be seen as your passion. I realized that I had thought of little else other than an essay I had written in college about implementing an anarchist society in America and the fundamental philosophical standing behind anarchism to back up that idea. With that, I wrote a short memoir/philosophy book last summer consisting of my personal beliefs into coping with modern living. While writing it, I had a nervous breakdown and had to stop. I never did finish it. I keep it on my computer to read through occasionally, but it really was some scary stuff I wrote. I almost put it as an afterword to the book, but I would probably get some flack for some of it so I decided to keep it out. A few months after writing that, I (finally) read Orwell’s 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World in a three week time span. I continued to read, but was not getting the same level of satisfaction as before, and I began to formulate my own ideas into improving the typical dystopian novel mixed with some information wars and current global threats we face as a society. I like to think of it as the spiritual successor of 1984. I wrote it in a straight flurry of inspiration near the end of 2018; I didn’t shower for days on end.

You have a podcast called The Devil’s Threesome. How is that connected to your novel?
The Devil’s Threesome podcast is a result of my good friend and twin brother having a video call in January. We all live hundreds of miles apart and it really felt good just talking to one another again and cutting the shit. The podcast isn’t specifically tied to the book, but I have used it as a platform to express some of the ideas I go over in Wired.

The book’s major premise is that an asteroid will strike the earth in 2029 - or will it?
No comment 😊

You mention that the book is based on a conspiracy theory about an evil corporation. Do you view it as a fictional story with a core of truth, or a true story disguised as fiction?
A little of both really; I like to think of it more as a true story disguised as fiction though. In the book there are physical wires controlling the minds of the people to make them want to constantly check their phones and isolate themselves from the real world; we have a lot of that already without wires. I believe implants are the next logical step the government, or a corporation will take in the name of progress and health reform. We already have that Apple Watch that transmits your heart data to hospitals.

Why do you use the term “dystopian” to describe the book?
In my opinion, we already live in the world 1984 laid out. My book is an homage to the classics, Zamyatin’s We especially. They are all what ifs? In their nature. I like to think that the content of Wired is already happening, and this book will read like nonfiction ten years from now. I almost guarantee it.

Your videos make cell-phone masts appear terrifying, like alien invaders. Tell us more about this...
Where I live in Phoenix, we have thousands of those palm tree cell towers; there are two within 50ft of my house. I was listening to a newscast about MK Ultra, the mind control experiments of the 1960s, and the guy being interviewed straight up said “MK Ultra is still around. I’m not sure why people see it as an experiment of the past. Sure we don’t use acid any more to control people, but that’s because we don’t need to. The flicker rate on your television screen is already adjusted to put you in a trance like state, same with your phone’s screen. Those cell towers? They put out waves that make you docile and keep you in check.”

That whole thing really made me take a step back and look down the street; I had never even noticed those towers before literally right next to my house! Now I sure do. They just put one next to where I work as well, and I swear, at the risk of sounding paranoid, I get strange sensations now when I look at those towers. And with the introduction of 5G, those waves are classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization; they fundamentally destroy the DNA of people in the radius of their wave emittance. The 5G waves are also reported to mess with soil productivity, and a whole other slew of environmental destructiveness. And that’s all beside the mind control stuff that the waves may cause. We need to take a serious look at 5G.

Are you planning to write any sequels?
Originally I was, but it is not the kind of story I feel needs one. To be honest, I feel the story is definitely complete.

Tell us about your writing process...
My writing process is very intense. I wrote for sixteen hours straight one day! It is also very fluid, I did a small map on my notepad outlining the levels of conspiracy I would dig into in relation to the progress of the book; but I did little planning other than that. I knew what I wanted the ending to be, and really I wrote to that point. The book is constantly building to it.  I like to edit as I go as well, with my mindset being that I don’t want serious revisions. My writing style seems to change day by day, and I feel that if I were to add large paragraphs to certain parts, it wouldn’t fit in.

Are there any current science fiction writers whose work you enjoy?
As previously stated, Orwell’s 1984 was very inspirational to my book. As for current sci-fi, I really don’t read much fiction; I’m a nonfiction kind of guy. A current author that really influenced my writing style was Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son; Horns was the first book I read at 14 that changed my life. He’s a horror author though, and that probably explains the gratuitous violence in my book. Leonard Schlain, David Wilcock and Nathaniel Philbrick are non-fiction authors that I really like.

Why do you think contemporary writers are so interested in post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction?
To me, I think we’ve lost our sense of wonder as a society. We no longer have God, but we still have a yearning to believe in something, even if it’s a negative belief to attach to. Dystopian fiction requires faith, and I’ll admit, when I watch documentaries about conspiracies and coverups, I get that high and satisfaction that comes from a reinforcement of my worldview. It’s kind of like how Christians see a small act of kindness or have a “I prayed and found my car keys two minutes later!” moment that confirms that God is real. Same with me, but essentially on the opposite spectrum. Humans need faith in something, even if it’s the belief in unbelief (or dystopian fiction).

Is your protagonist, Teton, an everyman figure?
Definitely! I purposefully tried to make him a guy you’d see at a Walmart who you’d forget 5 seconds later. If I had one qualm against 1984 or We, it would be that the protagonists are very “chosen one” esque. I really wanted this book to read like non-fiction, so I made him very impersonal, and for the first half of the book, barely cognizant of his existence on purpose.

What do you do to unwind?
I like to drive; around age seventeen, I would buy a pack of cigarettes, hop in my car, and drive whatever album I was currently listening to. I did that all through high school and college too. I liked to do that with my twin too, and we could talk for hours, even after we had parked the car at home. I quit smoking, but I still like to drive up to Utah, just for driving’s sake.

Is America the natural home of the dystopian novel and if so why?
At the risk of sounding ultra-patriotic, I really think it’s because of the influence America has on the world’s media; we have Hollywood and movies are popular, so naturally they’d be in the United States. America has also been the world’s superpower for 60+ years; only a fool would think otherwise. Ergo, the UFOs will naturally land on the White House’s lawn (satire intended)!

What about the humour in the book?
My sense of humor is very crass, and very satirical. It’s also dry. I really like to make fun of everything (my wife hates that so much). The whole format of the book is also very satirical towards progressive politics. 

Amazon

About Tanner Nielsen:

Tanner Nielsen was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and grew up there. He then moved to Colorado at age ten, and lived there until graduating from CNCC in 2016. He moved down to Phoenix, Arizona after graduation, and that is where he currently resides with his wife, Nicole, and a dog. Wired: A Dystopian Novel for the 21st Century is his debut novel and is an amalgam of his life experiences, philosophies, and dark humor.

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Wired: A Dystopian Novel for the 21st Century by Tanner Nielsen

 Release date: February 28, 2019

Subgenre: Dystopian Fiction

About Wired: A Dystopian Novel for the 21st Century:

Set in the year 2029, our hero, Teton, becomes aware of the oppressive corporate regime controlling his life, as well as the 9 billion other inhabitants of the world. Through the use of wires, cell towers, and propaganda, the evil corporation dictates the unwitting citizens of the world, and the people must now face the challenge of an impending apocalypse that will be brought about by an asteroid in a month's time. A gritty, candid, and cerebral tale unfolds in this novel, bringing up poignant questions that must be answered to keep this book from becoming our history ten years from now.

Excerpt:

 

The message was important. In fact, it was the first time in Teton’s life that his fear of death conquered all other daily activities.

Denial is the strongest of all human emotions; if people knew how easy it would be to die in a simple accident, they would rarely leave the house… He thought back to a special AR program he had watched on human psychology.

With the new message that had come through, staying in the house to avoid death was no longer viable

The flashing, black, malicious text of the headline, “Impending Foreign Space Object Headed Toward Earth; Could Mark the End of Humanity,” had burned into Teton’s mind’s eye, and projected itself onto the floor in front of him as he flicked his eyes back and forth about his classroom.

The article would go on to explain, in the sterilized manner of mainstream news, that a meteor half the size of the moon, was due to cross Earth’s orbit in a projected span of one and a half months. A scientist by the name of Maratha Lecozotan had explained this in the article:

The space object was tracked and identified via orbital satellite ZH-46 as heading towards the Earth’s orbit last night at approximately, 10:36 P.M. EST. Due to occasional false alarms that occur, my crew and I double checked the meteor’s projected trajectory; we were able to confirm with a 98% accuracy that it would cross Earth’s projected orbit forty-eight days from yesterday. Due to the size of the space object, if collision with Earth were to occur (which is extremely likely), all life within a 5,000-mile radius would immediately be killed by the impact. The remaining population would most likely die due to atmospheric tearing, potable water and vegetation destruction, and blockage of sunlight.

The news article then linked to a clip of the presidential message from the White House, given thirty minutes earlier:

We are all doomed to the same fate! Humanity can descend into depravity to alleviate our deepest fears, or we can band together as fellow inhabitants of this planet to create the first global civilization with an emphasis on peace. Oh, how petty all conflict seems now! The only way we can save ourselves from eternal damnation, it would seem, is through unification! Diversity is our strength, and that must be called upon to ensure a final, and beautiful, existence!

Teton began to feel a pit in his stomach; his eyes burned, and it was as if a hard wad of paper had stuck in his throat. Could it be true? Was a global countdown really going to end with a nuclear-esque explosion, ending the lives of billions with a short white flash?

Teton looked out the windows to the world beyond the inside of the school walls. The muffling cotton in Teton’s ears was beginning to fall away, replacing the dull hum with a sea of screams of different pitches melding together to make a terrible, hellish sound; Teton’s mind flicked to the familiar phrase of the Bible occasionally brought up earlier in his life: “Wailing and gnashing of teeth.” What a laudable expression! No other phrase could sum up the sound infiltrating the inside of his head. It was then he realized, to his revulsion, that he was joining in the chorus: his mouth was open, and a dry, raspy cry was emerging from the back of his throat and echoing into the air outside.

Amazon

About Tanner Nielsen:

Tanner Nielsen was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and grew up there. He then moved to Colorado at age ten, and lived there until graduating from CNCC in 2016. He moved down to Phoenix, Arizona after graduation, and that is where he currently resides with his wife, Nicole, and a dog. Wired: A Dystopian Novel for the 21st Century is his debut novel and is an amalgam of his life experiences, philosophies, and dark humor.

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Missing Signal by Seb Doubinsky

Release date: August 28, 2018

Subgenre: Dystopian fiction, Science fiction thriller

About Missing Signal:

 

From Seb Doubinsky, author of The Song of Synth, The Babylonian Trilogy, White City, Absinth, Omega Gray and Suan Ming, comes his highly anticipated next installment in the City-States Cycle.

Missing Signal―a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a government conspiracy? Agent Terrence Kovacs has worked for the New Petersburg Counter-Intel Department propagating fake UFO stories for so long that even he has a hard time separating fact from fiction. Especially when he’s approached by a beautiful woman named Vita, who claims she’s been sent from another planet to liberate Earth.

 

Excerpt:

 

Terrence sat down at his desk, putting his coffee next to the computer keyboard. He looked at the screen and his mind drifted to chapter four. If Terrence ever had to choose a chapter number for his life right now, it would have been four. Not quite the beginning. Not even the beginning of the beginning: the possibility of something happening in the next chapters, long before the end. But he was 39 now, and he felt he was way beyond chapter four. Probably more like eleven or twelve. So four was wishful thinking. And it might become nostalgia soon. Sighing, he returned to his notes. Sometimes he let his mind drift too much.

***

Terrence’s office was small, located at the end of the corridor in the C.I.D. building, which was situated on the Pappy Boyington Air Force Base on the outskirts of New Petersburg. It was kind of gloomy, with a single chair, a small metal desk for his laptop, no window and a single bookshelf. Perfect for the job, actually. The walls were painted a dull pigeon gray, and the only splash of color was a poster of Antonioni’s Blow-Up. He had seen the movie once on his computer and had loved it, because of its beautiful emptiness, which he felt mirrored his own. Terrence seldom worked there, as he was in the field a lot, on special assignments. He even missed it, sometimes.

***

The notes consisted mostly of a list of websites. A long one. Some were crossed out. Inactive or deactivated. The latter thanks to Terrence, generally. He often thought of himself as a “trickster,” these old gods or half-gods that could never be fully trusted or relied on—Loki and Coyote were the most famous, but there were many, many of them. Always changing face, always offering poisoned help. His personal email was ulysses@np.net. The greatest trickster of them all. And he was a man. A human being, working for his beloved City-State, like Terrence did. Exactly like Terrence did. Sometimes he imagined being interviewed for a magazine.

Q: Is it difficult to work as a trickster? I mean, nobody really likes you, nobody trusts you; you have no real friends . . .

A: No, it’s not difficult at all. It’s fun. A lot of fun. I like to have fun alone. It’s the best. Look at me: I’m laughing. I’m alone, and I’m laughing.

 

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About Seb Doubinsky:

Seb Doubinsky is a bilingual writer born in Paris in 1963. His novels, all set in a dystopian universe revolving around competing cities-states, have been published in the UK and in the USA. He currently lives with his family in Aarhus, Denmark, where he teaches at the university.

 

About Meerkat Press: 

 Meerkat Press is an independent publisher committed to finding and publishing exceptional, irresistible, unforgettable fiction. And despite the previous sentence, we frown on overuse of adjectives and adverbs in submissions. *smile*

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The Initiative: In Harm's Way (The Initiative Book 1) by Bruce Fottler

Release date: May 13, 2015

Subgenre: Technothriller, Conspiracy

About The Initiative: In Harm's Way:

Sam Maxwell hates his bland, dead-end job at a company that's little more than a labyrinth of cubicles. Seeking a better position, the Blanchard Corporation quickly extends him a surprisingly generous job offer. But something mysterious is lurking beneath the prestigious veneer of this multi-billion dollar technology giant. After accepting the offer, Sam's life is surreptitiously evaluated by a board of directors who are anxious to recruit candidates for their clandestine consortium. To those already part of this consortium, it's simply known as The Initiative. To Sam, it's the start of a perilous venture to help protect one of the most closely guarded secrets in modern history.

 Excerpt:

 

Once Sam was on his way down to the lobby, Christine walked down the hallway and found Walt standing at a large window overlooking the front parking lot. They watched Sam leave the building and walk to his car.

“So?” Christine asked.

“I have to admit, he gave me a much better impression than I expected.”

“Told you so.”

Walt turned to Christine and looked her over. “I see you went with the tight red outfit.”

“Too much?”

“I think it worked fine.”

“It's my go-to for these pitches,” Christine confessed as she tugged at the backside of her skirt. “I'm always concerned I'm getting a little too old to pull it off anymore.”

“Oh, you still have it,” Walt teased with a gleaming smile.

Christine gave a dismissive smirk as they turned to watch Sam drive away. “So, do you think we hooked him?”

“Oh, yes. No doubt that kid thinks he just won the damn lottery.”

“I saw some doubt.”

“Really? I'll bet you a hundred dollars he'll accept by the end of Wednesday.”

“Wow, a hundred? You're that sure?”

“With what he drove out of the parking lot? He's a typical post-graduate who's got a lot of school loans to pay back, but wants to upgrade at the same time. The way he eyed those other cars as he walked by them told me everything I needed to know. His mind is already at a car dealership.”

“You seem to have him all figured out.”

“Because I already know him. I look at him every day in the mirror. So, what about that bet?”

Christine laughed. “A hundred? I've learned to stop taking those bets with you. Do you think it's even worth our time to poison his other interviews?”

“Don't bother. He's all ours.”

Amazon

 

About Bruce Fottler: 

Since exiting a finance career in a world of cubicles, Bruce Fottler has been busy writing novels. His latest is the suspense thriller: "The Initiative: In Harm's Way (Book One)."

Bruce grew up in the Chicago suburbs and moved to the Boston area as a young teen. While seeking a career-track that mostly put him behind a desk, he dabbled in creative pursuits such as producing, writing, and directing film shorts. However, it was always writing novels that interested him the most because they aren't limited by production budgets, technical capabilities, or tight shooting schedules.

Bruce has four other published novels: "Chasing Redemption" (Sci-fi thriller), "Dover Park" (Mystery/thriller), "The Juncture" (Time-travel drama). and "Paladin's Odyssey" (Post-apocalyptic thriller).

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