I indecisively discuss my plans for new Amos Cavendish pulp stories and why discussing certain topics is pointless – unless you’re getting paid.
Speaking of which, you need to be a good listener and buy the Pilgrim’s Digress.
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My new sci-fi noir novel The Aridian is now available on Kindle.
From the book teaser:
In a galaxy dominated by the ruthless Curassian Empire, the last thing Dell Kyros wants to discuss is interplanetary politics. A pardoned rebel following a failed revolt on his home planet Aridia and now disillusioned by the outcome of the conflict, he’s content to run a dive bar in the inner slums of the city-planet of Curassia.
But all that changes when he unwittingly finds himself in possession of an encoded message sought by the Curassian government, corrupt local police, and rival warlords. Desperate to stay one step ahead of them all – with his head also intact – he is forced to play a dangerous game of alleyway diplomacy even as forces beyond his control attempt to pull him back into a conflict he’s spent many nights drinking to forget.
Packed with nonstop action and razor-sharp dialogue, The Aridian is a literary cocktail mix of Star Wars, the Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca guaranteed to keep you in suspense until the final page.
In anticipation of the upcoming release of my novel “The Pilgrim’s Digress” through Terror House Press, Founder and Editor-in-Chief Matt Forney and I chatted on a livestream about the book, the dystopian genre, and how my novel addresses our current culture and society.
The Pilgrim’s Digress will be available for purchase Christmas Day.
You find my other stories published at Terror House Magazine here.
Terror House Press books can be found here.
My book The Song of Wulfgar is now out in paperback! Get it now for just $6.
After their king suddenly dies, a Germanic tribe is forced to leave their mountainous country. As his people search for a new homeland, the young Wulfgar fights the evil that stands in their way – and passes into legend.Set in the majestic Enchantments of the Pacific Northwest, The Song of Wulfgar is old-fashioned tale for the 21st Century.
I’m excited to announce the upcoming publication of my latest book The Song of Wulfgar on May 1 through Amazon Kindle.
The Beowulf-style poem is set in an actual location in the Pacific Northwest known as The Enchantments.
You can listen to a sample of the audiobook below.
The Kindle book will be available for pre-order April 27.
The audiobook will be released May 4.
Tim Keefe and I discuss writing, to what extent authors put themselves into their stories, and the future of fiction.
This month, President Obama signed National Defense Authorization Act of 2017. The bill contained provisions from another congressional bill known as the “Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act.” One section creates a veritable federal Ministry of Truth within the State Department, known as a “Global Engagement Center” (Pages 551-553).
Its purpose? “To recognize, understand, expose, and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation efforts aimed at undermining United States national security interest.”
Translation: To discredit anyone who contradicts the official state-approved version of reality and events.
Some of the Center’s functions include:
It isn’t hard to see how this unconstitutional authority will be misused and abused. Naturally, the center’s director or some other federal bureaucrat decides what is “disinformation” and “fact-based” news. The definition is subjective, not objective.
As always, historian Tom Woods frames the issue perfectly:
Of course, the absurdity of all this should be obvious: who has spread more lies and “fake news” than the U.S. government itself?
Who can outdo our mainstream media when it comes to fake stories they later apologize for because independent journalists and bloggers embarrass them into doing so?
Who spreads more nonsense about U.S. history and economics than our own professors of these subjects?
It’s a truly upside-down world.
Imagine you say or write something the government center decides is “disinformation” or “foreign propaganda.” Imagine you’re targeted by your local media for espousing views the government will now pay them to denounce.
Better yet, what if some reporters and news outlets conclude the government narrative, including the one promoted by other media, is factually incorrect?
If unelected bureaucrats can decide what “disinformation is” and use taxpayer money to attack unapproved news sources, how long before they start separating protected freedom of speech and press from “propaganda” they’re authorized to censor and suppress.
Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge described the political situation well in a recent column:
The scene is now set for the US government to legally crack down on every media outlet that the government deems to be “foreign propaganda.
It is exactly the sort of censorship I depict in my novel, The Stringers. Instead of a Global Engagement Center, the Information Security Administration determines what news is “real” and which is “fake.” Rather than manipulating local journalism through a grant program, all journalists are licensed and the ISA has an officer in every newsroom ensuring the state narrative is protected before any article is published.
When I first started writing The Stringers in 2013, I envisioned the country creating anti-free speech laws under the guise of combating “misinformation,” along with some clever constitutional misinterpretation.
Suffice to say, I never imagined reality would bear so close a resemblance to the story.
If you want to know what your future might look like, pick up a copy of The Stringers, and read tomorrow’s headlines today.
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