Reviews and feedback have been pouring in for World-Mart—and much to my relief, most have been enthusiastic.  I wrote World-Mart in response to the death of Kurt Vonnegut Jr., determined to create not only a dystopia for modern times, but a payment of homage to the genre.  Tucked throughout the work, you’ll find allusions to numerous greats of science fiction past, hints to a future world that could easily come to pass, and subtle references to the death of an important and meaningful literary era.

Given the times, I knew I was taking a huge chance with a corporate American dystopia, especially one that both pays homage to the great dystopias of recent past and raises present day issues, so I’m delighted that so many readers have been able to understand and appreciate my intentions for writing it.  Here are some of the latest:


Goodreads:

“This book can stand with the Classics.” (5 stars) –Marilyn

“This book for me was enjoyable to read even if it didn't have a happy ending.” (4 stars) –Andrew F.

“This is a thought-provoking and quite frightening book.” (4.5 stars) –Kat

“Frighteningly wonderful. It freaked me the hell out and I hope that our society never becomes like it. Good job!” (5 stars) –Jesse


Amazon:

“Amazingly good a great view of the future bogged down in corporate redtape and micromanaged lifestyles. Great characters in a gloomy and realistic world.” (5 stars) –Mike

“A chilling vision of the future which is all too believable. The logical, if frightening, conclusion to corporatism, environmental destruction, and the 1% left unchecked. Ms. Lane's writing flows effortlessly, I read this straight through and could not put it down.” (5 stars) –Nick S.

“Would go nicely on a shelf with 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. I highly recommend this one.” (5 stars) –T. Zelazny

“A very good read. I thank the author tremendously and look forward to reading more from her.” (5 stars) –Andrea


World-Mart also recently placed in the top ten finishers in this year’s Predators and Editors Readers’ Poll.  Here are the voter comments:

“Ms. Lane hit the nail on the head in terms of what a sci-fi book needs to be in today's literary world. Bravo!”

“Great Book!”

“It's the best book on the list. Mrs. Lane is so talented!”

“One of my favorite authors. I'm a fanatic for her writing.”

“World-Mart was an awesome book!”

“Loved this book. Dystopia at its finest!”

My thanks to all who have taken the time to read, review, and recommend World-Mart.  For those who would like more information, or to check out more reviews, stop by Goodreads and Amazon.

Available in paperback and electronic formats:

Add Comment
 
 
Back when I was a child, not that long ago, small businesses were all over the place.  There were grocery markets, department stores, and restaurant chains, but “Mom and Pop” were still everywhere.

My first job was at a family owned, full-line pet store.  My boss taught me the importance of treating the customer right, taking pride in my work, always doing right by the animals, and being educated about what I was selling.  The bottom line was important, but not as important as customer loyalty and product quality.  Fast-forward twenty years and one would find me working as a manager at a corporate pet store chain.  I found the differences between the establishments to be profound—and that bigger does not always mean better.

After an especially trying tangle against the corporate red tape on one side of me and low paid young adults slacking under my watch on the other, I remember deciding I was going to write a book that took place in a world where everyone was reduced to a nametag, khakis, and a polo shirt.  In this world, no one took pride in what they did, so everything was of mediocre quality at best.  The multiple levels of managers and associates made it impossible to accomplish anything efficiently.  Everyone did all of their shopping at the Food-Mart, because that was the only place left for people to go.  Churches were owned by Faith-Corp.  People got all of their news from Info-Corp.

And then the terrifying thought struck me that we were already well on our way there.

Picture
Excerpt from World-Mart:

George glanced through the electronic file of a doctor charged with prescribing and selling antibiotics. The research associates who put the case together had been thorough. The evidence against the doctor was overwhelming, and one particular patient the doctor attempted to treat had strep throat. Of course, when top managers confirmed that the patient was indeed infected with strep, Police-Corp and Medical-Corp worked together to euthanize the man as quickly and humanely as possible.

Antibiotics had been outlawed nearly twenty years ago, after scientists had determined that their use was no longer effective against most life-threatening disease-causing bacteria. Even worse, antibiotics affected certain bacteria’s evolutionary development, causing even some of the most benign of infections eventually to become untreatable and deadly. Antibiotic-immune strep, staph, and tuberculosis had became epidemic, and together the three had killed ten percent of the human population before Medical-Corp finally stepped in. Its top managers ordered the construction of quarantine camps, where hundreds of thousands of people eventually were corralled, killed, and cremated. All suspected cases of serious infectious diseases were now referred to a special committee within Medical-Corp. All whom they deemed infectious were removed for the greater good of society.

George looked through the different studies that had been attached to the case. Everything looked straightforward, except for the doctor’s personal notes. Page after page, almost all of the doctor’s words were blacked out, all pertaining to an apparent case study he was conducting. The only reason the research associate had left in the scanned files was that every few pages had untouched text in which the doctor mentioned his prescribing illegal antibiotics. George agreed to keep the otherwise useless pages in the file, deciding that the prosecution managers would likely find some use for them.

He read the pages of receipts, recorded telephone conversations, and photocopies of the doctor’s appointment logs. Everything appeared to be in order. Police-Corp already had a confession from the man, and therefore a guilty verdict from Law-Corps high management was already imminent. Still, it was George’s job to suggest formally that the doctor be charged and his file be sent to Sentencing. He entered the computer database in front of him, scanning the doctor’s charge sheet and bringing it to the monitor.

Two virtual buttons bearing the words “Guilty” and “Not Guilty” appeared on the bottom right corner of the screen under the word “Recommendation.” George tapped the “Guilty” button, and a new screen appeared, asking him a series of questions:

Did the Defendant confess to his/her crime(s)?
(Research associate #00335-921 said “Yes.”)
Click HERE to agree.
Click HERE to disagree.

Does the file work indicate that the Defendant showed remorse for said crime(s)?
(Research associate #01002-486 said “No.”)
Click HERE to agree.
Click HERE to disagree.

Does the file work indicate that the Defendant could have made a profit by committing said crime(s)?
(Research associate #00335-921 said “Yes.”)
Click HERE to agree.
Click HERE to disagree.

Has the Defendant ever been convicted of any previous crimes?
(Research associate #00257-851 said “Yes.”)
Click HERE to agree.
Click HERE to disagree.

Does the Defendant have anything to say in his/her defense, for having committed said crime(s)?
(Research associate #01014-002 said “Yes.”)
Click HERE to agree.
Click HERE to disagree.

George used another application to search for his answers. He went through each relevant section of file work, double-checking himself before punching in the same answers as given by the other research associates.

The computer then prompted, “State Defendant’s argument (limit 140 characters),” and George navigated through the file. He found the transcripts from the doctor’s police interview. He frowned as he found the lines in which the doctor said he could explain himself, but the explanation was blacked out. He studied the few words that remained between the thick swatches of black ink, trying to see if even a gist of the man’s argument remained. Knowing that files were blacked out when a suspect’s text referred to illegal or misleading concepts, he knew nothing else could be done but type, “Defendant’s argument invalid.”

The computer asked him if he was sure, and George tapped a round button with a “Yes” stretched across it.

The printer spat out a few sheets of new paperwork. It was an old, loud, outdated machine, and the paper it used was thick and pulpy, like most paper these days, recycled countless times through hand-powered paper recycling machines, only to be recycled again once another case officially closed. It was an archaic practice, one that few agencies still employed, but the pages gave the final review files a sense of credibility that only tradition could produce. George looked the over pages, and then stapled them together and stamped his personal seal in red ink, in a box printed on the front page. He signed on a line within the seal, added it to the top of the file, and then slid the file into a narrow, locked bin at the side of his cubicle.

Bells chimed through a loud speaker.

“Your work day is now over,” a soothing, cheerful female voice announced. “Corporate appreciates your productivity. Thank you for working at Law-Corp.”

Add Comment
 
 
Picture
Myths of Gods paperbacks are currenly on sale at Amazon for
$7.91--a total steal!  Kindle copies are still $2.99.

About the book:

Explore religion through an infant God's eyes in this dark 
science fantasy satire that spans from the Big Bang to present day.

"From the very opening of the book you find yourself captivated
and don't want to put the book down...."
--Keepers of the Underworld Magazine

From reader reviews:

"A fascinating thought provoking story."

"[T]hose who think outside the box will love this book."
"The story was really good, lots of neat twists. I'm glad I took a chance on this book."
Add Comment
 
Making MYTHS 06/05/2011
 
My inspiration for Myths of Gods came one warm northern California day, when I went out into my yard to admire the year’s first real day of spring.  The yard was lush from the recent heavy rains, birds flew overhead, and fragrant pollen filled the air.  Like all transcendentalists, I couldn’t help but relate the scene to God finally waking from the slumber of winter.  Like any writer, ideas began to spin through my mind about a character that might embody that sentiment.

When I first wrote Myths of Gods, nearly fifteen years ago, it was in screenplay format.  The storyline was crude, there were twelve prophets instead of five, and the theme covered vague abuses of religious power.  It hadn’t known what it wanted to be back then, so I filed away the manuscript and set it aside for several years.  During that time, I worked on my craft, writing numerous screenplays and short stories, taking classes, and exposing myself to books of all genres.  I knew there would be a time when I would revisit Myths of Gods, but only when I was genuinely ready to take on the feat.
Picture
About seven years ago, I finally decided to adapt my old Myth of Gods screenplay into a novel.  I ended up scrapping over half the characters and rebuilding the story from the ground-up with a stronger sense of theme and satire.  I condensed the “gods” to five people embodying five condensed properties: Mind, Matter, Time, Life, and Death.  I purposefully blurred the lines between good and evil, inviting the reader to redefine the two, as one character determines, “she of all people knew better than to divide the values of gods and devils.”

The good and bad in people can be just as difficult to define.  Myths of Gods takes place in a society where religious leaders govern with great wealth and power over the people.  They are opposed to the prophecy that states five virgins will give birth collectively to God, mainly because it discredits their longstanding theocracy.  This results in religion, in effect, waging war against God.

The aspect I had the most fun with was balancing the mind of God, Jeza Khess, with her fallible human mind:

Jeza thought back to when she was the unbodied consciousness, and how God had not considered the possibility that the manifested beings would be so wholly human and unforeseeably flawed.

Jeza’s struggles between her human mind and the universal consciousness it struggles to process were ideal for speculating her limits and attributes, which allowed me to take a close, critical look at faith, belief, and consciousness.

Myths of Gods has come a long way since its first incarnation, and I can say with great enthusiasm that the years have done it well.  My thanks to all who helped to make it what it is today.  It’s been a long and treacherous road, but the journey has been well worth it.

Myths of Gods is now available at Amazon in Paperback and eBook.
2 Comments
 
 
My thanks to Keepers of the Underworld Magazine for taking the time to review Myths of Gods.  From the review:

"From the very opening of the book you find yourself captivated and don't want to put the book down. ...  I do highly recommend this book to everyone."

Read the full review here.
Add Comment
 
Rapture 05/21/2011
 
When I first heard about a fringe Christian radio host’s rapture prediction, which claimed that the end of the world was to come on May 21, 2011, my initial response was to laugh it off.  There have been numerous predicted doomsdays in my time, and this was just one more.  However, the more I thought about it, the more it upset me.  This was real to the people who believed it—and that was no laughing matter.  Good people with great faith, even faith misplaced, do not deserve our ridicule.  They deserve our compassion—and they deserve a society that would not take advantage of their willingness to believe.

People have given up their life savings, their personal belongings, and their pride over this most recent religious debacle.  One must question not only the personal impact this is going to have on people, but the moral one.  One must question how much money Harold Camping was able to make off desperate, scared believers through his supposed doomsday awareness campaign.  According to CNN, he has received over eighty million dollars in “donations” since beginning the campaign.  One must consider what is going to become of all those who gave up all they had, only to learn that they had been misled.  I think of the people who will struggle financially now, while Camping is off living the good life with their money, and I shudder.

My upcoming release, Myths of Gods, takes a critical look at those who use religion as a means of controlling the masses or accruing wealth.  I respect people who practice religious beliefs, but I also think it is important for all religious people, no matter who they are or what they believe, to take a closer look at their dogma—and their leaders.  Faith is not a bad thing, but faith used as an excuse to commit wrongs against others is immoral on so many levels.  There are too many examples for me to choose one or two (and I don’t want this thread to turn into a religious bashing party), but they exist on every religious front.  No exceptions.

I know atheists who put down religious thought, saying that belief in anything so farfetched as any dogma warrants their scorn.  I say belief is personal, individual, and an aspect to being human.  I think it is something that should be respected—as long as no one is getting hurt.  Of course, that’s just my personal belief.
Add Comment
 
 
Picture
The TRS treasure hunt is coming to a close, but the clues are still pouring in.  My question was a simple one: In my erotic horror series, how do the vampires take their coffee?

Make sure to stop by TRS to submit your answers--remember, there is an Amazon Kindle up for grabs.

So, how do vampires take their coffee?  Read the following excerpt from The Darkness and the Night: Blood and Coffee to find out:
There was a knock at the front door the following night, not long after dusk. The
same escort from the night before had come to invite Karen and Billy to John-Michael’s
house for a cup of coffee before church. The two quickly followed the escort across the
stone paths, to the other side of the commune.

John-Michael and his wife, Vivian, sat beside one another on the front porch,
awaiting Karen and Billy’s arrival. John-Michael had short, colorless hair, an unenviable
face, and beady blue eyes. Vivian also had naturally pale hair and eyes, with long hair,
fine features, and a thin, shrewd smile. She appeared to be about half his age. Her
conservative, hand-sewn attire hardly seemed to suit her, just as she hardly seemed to fit
beside John-Michael. Vivian was a goddess and John-Michael was a troll. Neither
seemed to notice.

The escort led Karen and Billy all the way to the porch, then disappeared back down
the path as soon as John-Michael and Vivian acknowledged their guests. Four cups of
hot coffee sat on a small glass table between two sets of wicker chairs.

John-Michael and Vivian stood as Karen and Billy walked onto the porch and offered
their hands in greeting. They both had firm, enthusiastic handshakes, and they seemed
almost too excited to see their guests. The four sat as John-Michael and Vivian
immediately picked up their coffee cups.

“Coffee?” Vivian asked, pointing to the two other cups.

“Thank you,” Billy said as he and Karen politely lifted their cups. They both smelled
a strangely familiar, yet somehow hard to place, scent masked in the coffee as they
moved the steaming cups up to their lips.

Karen hesitated, but Billy went so far as to take a taste. They paused for a moment as
Billy recognized the additional ingredient as soon as it hit his tongue. Blood. They
added blood to their coffee? A regional preference, perhaps? Billy didn’t think too much
about it, finding it added a fullness similar to that achieved by adding milk or cream, but
Karen found it disturbing.

Billy reminded Karen with a quick mental note that there was nothing strange about
blood to these people. A food product was a food product; milk and blood differed only
in that one came from a teat and the other a vein. Upon further consideration, Billy
concluded that the idea was rather novel -- the boost of caffeine combined with a small
snack -- and he wondered why he hadn’t thought of the idea before.

Karen set down her cup, unwilling to try the combination. She didn’t care if John-
Michael and Vivian thought she was rude, nor did she care that even an extra ounce or
two of blood would be an ounce or two less she would need later. Whose blood was it?

Some poor donor’s, perhaps, his wrist slashed and held over their cups, his value to these
people no more than the value a human might place on a disposable milk carton?

Vivian set down her cup, as well, playing the gracious host. A smile spread across
her pretty face as she did her best to address Billy and Karen together, although her eyes
found and fixed upon Billy’s far too many times for Karen’s comfort.

“It’s such a pleasure to meet you. I’m so sorry I was unavailable last night,” John-
Michael said between sips of coffee.

“Jean-Michele tells us that you two only plan on staying for a couple of days,” Vivian
added, her smile fading to a trite look of disappointment.

Karen and Billy thought about the comment for a moment and, to Karen’s surprise,
Billy began to reconsider his desire to leave as soon as planned. This place had its own
history, its own culture, and in a strange, remote way it was the only real heritage he
could claim. His people belonged to an underground society back in the “real world” and
forced to hide who they were and remained scattered to avoid detection. Although no
one in the Xavier bloodline had ever called this safe haven home, he knew deep down
that these were still his people. They had a society to call their own, a place where they
could build a real life -- they could safely raise their child here, if only they were willing
to give the place a chance.

“Our plans aren’t set in stone,” Billy said, smiling back at Vivian. “This coffee is
really good, by the way.” He finished his cup, and then switched it with Karen’s. “You
aren’t going to drink this?” he asked her aloud, although he already knew the answer.
“Take it,” Karen said, feeling her face flush. She mentally asked Billy why he
suddenly had such a change of heart, and he simply responded by telling her he knew
what he was doing and she needed to trust him. She glanced over at Vivian and John-
Michael, and the hair suddenly rose on the back of her neck as she noticed a startling look
of contempt in both of their faces.

“You really should try just a sip,” Billy said. “It’s very good.” He held the cup up,
offering her a taste, but she pushed it away, intentionally knocking it out of his hand.
The cup fell to the wooden floorboards, shattering and sending the hot liquid
splattering in all directions.

Bonus question: I'm offering an additional free copy of any of of my currently available novels to the first person able to answer the following question: Name the character living at the vampire commune who is based on a children's fairy tale.
1 Comment
 
 
Due for publication this May:
Add Comment
 
 
The Darkness and the Night: Blood and Coffee and The Darkness and the Night II: Cosmic Orgasm are currently Amazon's second and third bestselling erotic horror paperbacks!
Picture
Click here for more information about The Darkness and the Night trilogy.
1 Comment
 
 
For more information, click here.
Add Comment