It's called The Pains, and it's by me. It's the tale of a young monk with a kind of stigmata, set in an alternate universe that is equal parts Orwell's 1984, Reagan's 1984, and an interesting land that I visited in 1973 after accidentally drinking some electric sangria and smoking some opiated hash.
It's available in its entirety, for free, to read & print (under the Creative Commons license).
Read The Pains or I will shoot you in the face.
Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!
Let me acknowledge that pimping your own book is not always considered worthy of a whole kos diary. Apologies. On the other hand, I think the central conceit of the book, mapping Reagan's 1984 onto Orwell's, is perhaps enough to stimulate a diary's worth of discussion. And in any event, like many a Kossack, I'm in kind of a desperate financial jam, so I have to make the most of the connections I have, trusting I've earned enough karma around here to mitigate.
Here's a bit more about me and my books, etc.
Below, I've put the press release that's going out today, trying to scare up some interest in the local & regional media.
I would appreciate not only your looking at my book(s) and maybe even buying one (or two or three or. . .), but also any feedback on how to spread the word.
I'll let you know how it works out.
PRESS RELEASE HERE
For immediate release
Contact: John R. Sundman III
Tel: 508-693-5339
Email: john[remove@remove]wetmachine.com
Web: http://www.wetmachine.com/...
Vineyard Haven Author Pens Third Novel
Dystopian narrative evokes shock and dread of Orwell's classic "1984"
VINEYARD HAVEN -- John R. Sundman III, a longtime resident of Martha's Vineyard, has published his third novel. The author is popular among readers of the science fiction genre known as "techno punk," which grapples with issues such as the role of technology as a destructive force, the devolution of modern civilization, and the threats posed by socio-religious cults in a 21st-century global culture linked by the Internet.
Sundman's new novel, "The Pains," is a story of faith in a world that appears to be falling apart. It tells the story of Norman Lux, a 24-year-old novitiate in a religious order, who becomes afflicted with something akin to stigmata.
"I wanted to recapture the sense of shock and dread that George Orwell's ‘1984’ inspired when it was published back in the 20th century," Sundman said. "Orwell’s masterpiece has become so familiar that its basic message no longer shocks and disturbs us. Time and familiarity have diluted its power. I'm hoping that "The Pains" will rekindle some of the visceral excitement that readers experienced when reading ‘1984’ for the first time. That being said, it's not to everybody's taste -- some people might find it too shocking or too disturbing."
Adding to the dark aura of the book are a dozen stunning illustrations by Canadian writer and illustrator Cheeseburger Brown. Brown’s artwork has garnered several awards on both sides of the border. His short film "Space Attack!" was awarded a Stanley from the California cable broadcasters' community in 2007. He won the 2002 Lightwave Animation Award and the 2003 Hewlett-Packard Juried Digital Art Competition in 2003.
Sundman's first novel, "Acts of the Apostles," was published in 1999. It was well received by "geeks" worldwide. Slashdot gave it an excellent review, saying it was "what Tom Clancy would write if he were smart." Rusty Foster of Kuro5hin said it "may well be the ultimate hacker book." Salon.com also published a highly positive review of "Acts of the Apostles," which won Writer's Digest Magazine's "National Self-Published Book Award" competition in 2000. Sundman's novel was judged first in a field of 325 other books.
His second book, "Cheap Complex Devices," was published in 2002. Although purportedly about the "Hofstadter Prize for Machine-Written Narrative," the book is a meditation on self-awareness (human, machine, or other), and a satire of academic artificial intelligence in the spirit of Vladimir Nabokov's "Pale Fire."
For a limited time, "The Pains" will be available for download at no cost. For additional details, please visit http://www.wetmachine.com/...
In addition to writing fiction, Sundman has done reporting for Salon.com and other magazines. He is a volunteer at Island Food Pantry and the Serving Hands pantry, and a member of the Tisbury Volunteer Fire Department.
For more information, please contact the author directly by telephone at 508-693-5339 or via email at john[remove@remove]wetmachine.com
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