Defragmenting Daniel by Jason Werbeloff - Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jason will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

7 stolen organs.
1 vengeful victim.
A gruesome sci-fi thriller.

Organ scrubbing was a bloody job, but somebody had to do it. Daniel, an orphan from the Gutter, was put to work scrubbing kidneys at aged twelve. The job had its perks: a warm bed, Law and Order reruns, and an all-you-can-eat Mopane worm buffet.

Until the Orphanage stole Daniel’s parts, and sold them on the organ market.

Now Daniel has grown up, and yearns to become whole again. The cybernetic organ replacements just aren’t the same – he needs his parts back. But the new owners of his organs won’t give them up. Not without a fight.

Just how far will Daniel go to regain his missing pieces? And how much more of himself will he lose along the way?

Defragmenting Daniel is a cyberpunk crime thriller that will unnerve you. Every part of you.

“A work of great imagination. Powerful and gripping.”
“A stark and moving experience.”
– ReadersFavorite.com, 5 Star Review

Enjoy an excerpt:

“Don’t worry about stepping on the limbs,” said Shoulders. “They’re crunchy underfoot, but you get used to it. Forensics cleared the scene before we got here.”

Kage knelt down. Examined a hand. Such small fingers. He shivered.

“Told you. No forensic traces on any of the limbs. No need to examine them. The vic fell from above.”

Kage looked up. In silhouette above the mobile spotlights, he could barely make out the ceiling. But there it was, a few yards up. He thought he saw square outlines of light perforating the concrete ceiling every five yards or so, stretching ever deeper into the vast underground hall.

Shoulders was on the move, ascending the mountain of human limbs. Kage followed. He scrabbled up the pile of arms and legs, toes and fingers, elbows and knees. He was surprised how yielding they were. How they bent under his weight. But Shoulders was right. He couldn’t ignore the crunch of breaking bones.

“Why’d we legalize this?”

Shoulders threw him a look. “Why not? They’re Gutter kids. This way at least the Bubble gets to have its fun without anyone getting hurt.”

One of the hands twitched, and Kage almost lost his footing.

Shoulders held Kage by the wrist. “Woah, you don’t want to be doing that. Those fingernails will rip you open if you land badly. Happened to Jensen just before you got here. Poor guy almost lost his cheek.” Shoulders shone a victory smile.

“Thanks,” mumbled Kage.

“Vic’s just on the other side of that ridge.” Shoulders pointed to a mound of limbs that looked a little fresher, a little more plump and moist, than the rest.

Kage trudged on behind the Detective. Climbed the hillock of arms. Had to grab hold of more than one to ascend it.

“What … what do they do with them?” asked Kage, breathing heavily under the mask. Beads of moisture condensed on the curve of his lower lip.

“Do with what?”

“The body parts?”

“I hear they send the fresh ones for scrubbing. The rest …” Shoulders shrugged. “The vic’s over here.”

More mobile spotlights, their metal poles staked in the pile of flesh around the body.

Kage looked for the flashing red light at the bottom-right corner of his vision. Recording. Good.

He knelt down. Pulled out a pair of gloves from his leather jacket pocket. He shuddered to think what the jacket would look like after this mess. But that wouldn’t matter if he solved this case. It was the Mayor’s brother. Captain Weeks would pay plenty to the investigator who solved this.

About the Author:

Human. Male. From an obscure planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Sci-fi novelist with a PhD in philosophy. Likes chocolates, Labradors, and zombies (not necessarily in that order). Werbeloff spends his days constructing thought experiments, while trying to muster enough guilt to go to the gym.

He's written two novels, Hedon and The Solace Pill, and the short story anthology, Obsidian Worlds. His books will make your brain hurt. And you'll come back for more.

Subscribe to his newsletter to receive a free novel, and a lifetime of free and discounted stories: http://smarturl.it/werbeloff.

**Amazon Author Page – http://smarturl.it/AuthWerbeloff - download all of Werbeloff's fiction from Amazon.

**Newsletter – http://smarturl.it/werbeloff - subscribe to get 'The Solace Pill' free, as well as VIP access to Werbeloff's latest fiction.

**Sound Cloud – http://soundcloud.com/jason-werbeloff/ - listen to stories from Obsidian Worlds narrated by the inimitable Marc Ryan Rees.

**Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7340789 - read and submit reviews of Werbeloff’s fiction.

**Facebook http://www.facebook.com/solaceseries and Twitter https://twitter.com/JasonWerbeloff – follow Werbeloff for release date information on upcoming shorts and novels.

**Website - http://www.jasonwerbeloff.com/ - read about the author, and the philosophy behind his fiction.

The book will be free on Amazon for 4 days, August 24 – 27 2016.

The Organ Scrubber is the first fragment of the Defragmenting Daniel trilogy:
Fragment 1 – The Organ Scrubber
Fragment 2 – The Face in a Jar
Fragment 3 – The Boy Without a Heart

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Obsidian Worlds by Jason Werbeloff - Interview and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jason will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Thanks for joining us today. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

I write science fiction, often with a dystopian, cyberpunk or gory feel. Why? For two reasons. For one, science fiction adds something that no other genre can: a radically new setting. Think of science fiction like adding Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) to food. Whatever the food, MSG makes it taste just that much better. Likewise, if you enjoy thrillers, or horrors, or romance, place the very same plot on an alien planet, or in a space port, and you’ve got a fresh take, with fascinating world mechanics that can enhance the story. And like MSG, sci-fi can give you a headache – but you’ll always come back for more.

The second reason I love writing sci-fi is that it allows me to write philosophical fiction. I’m a philosopher by training (I have a PhD in philosophy), and one of the activities philosophers love most is constructing thought experiments. “What if the world was the same as our current world, except for x, y and z?” All of my stories in my anthology, Obsidian Worlds, are thought experiments. For example, what if society decided to farm and eat women (Dinner with Flexi); or, what if the cryogenic freezing became commonplace (The Cryo Killer); or, what would life be like from the perspective of a bottle of silicone lube (Bleed Me Silicone)?

What world-building is required?

Although science fiction involves building worlds radically different from our own in some crucial respect, the world must accurately resemble our own in every other respect – otherwise it won’t be plausible. So it’s important to have an accurate grasp of current science and technological trends, to forecast where that science or technology might reach one day. If it can’t be explained, at least in theory, then it’s not sci-fi – it’s fantasy. (And fantasy generally leaves a bad aftertaste for me, with a few notable exceptions, like John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things).

My first novel, The Solace Pill, is about 3d printers capable of scanning and printing whole, functioning human beings. This isn’t possible right now, but all the ingredients are here today – the ability to print with organic material, the ability to scan people with fMRIs, etc. To write the book I did a lot of research into current 3d printing technology. Challenging and interesting.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

Each of the eleven stories in Obsidian Worlds has a distinct hero/heroine, but they all have one thing in common – they strive obstinately to succeed against the odds. I try to do the same in my own life, but sometimes I take cues from my protagonists, and try a little harder.

I often think of Q46F, an android in one of my stories. He lives out his days, trapped alone in a bunker, amidst a world embroiled in a zombie-apocalypse. Despite having no contact with a sentient being outside his bunker for years, he’s forever hopeful for a signal. For a message. And then, he receives one…

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I don’t have much of a writing routine, which itself is quirky. From my discussions with fellow writers, I know that most of us have elaborate rituals we need to perform before we can sit down and write. Coffee brewed just the right way. A particular music album. No sex that morning. I’ve heard lots of them.

But for me, I write whenever my mind stills, and focuses on my characters. The characters call to me, and there’s no telling quite when that will happen. It’s often after midnight, or during an intimate conversation with my partner (that can be a problem). But when they call, characters can’t be denied. They must, must be written.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

A combination of both. I plot out the beginning and the end of the story using Scrivener (fantastic software for writers). And then, once I’ve got the beginning written out, I let the story take me. Characters often grow in ways I can’t anticipate when I’m planning the story upfront, and I don’t mind that. I let them drive me where they like, and it’s usually a better location than I originally planned.

But the ending … the ending. You gotta have that planned upfront, or bad thing’ll happen. Whole books are ruined by a bad ending.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

There’s a note from my partner that he wrote me this morning while I was sleeping, wishing me luck for the dentist today. I have a needle phobia, and today was my first root treatment – a most ghastly experience. I write gory science fiction, and adore gore movies and books. But for some reason, I tell you, when the gore happens to me, I’m as sensitive as a newborn kitten. At one point during the procedure, the dentist, on a wet, slimy gloved finger, showed me my severed nerve. “Look,” he said. “Look!” I did. And promptly passed out.

Maybe that’s why I love writing gore. So that it’s happening to someone other than me.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

I’m currently a little past half-way through a gory sci-fi biopunk thriller. It’s going to be a full-length novel (about 80k words, all being well). And it’s the first novel I’ve written from a single point of view (although there is a secondary POV that enters near the middle). I was never quite confident enough to write a full novel from one point of view, but now that I’m into it, I’m hooked. I’m starting to really identify with my protagonist, even though this poor guy isn’t someone you’d want to be – all manner of havoc befalls him. I’m loving it.

Do you have a question for our readers?

What’s your favori

te gory movie/book? I’m currently gore-crazy. Body horror counts. Please tell me!

Jason Werbeloff’s short stories have been downloaded over 20,000 times. Obsidian Worlds brings together his 11 best-selling sci-fi shorts into a mind-bending philosophical anthology.

In Your Averaged Joe, a man’s headache is large enough to hold the multiverse. Q46F is an obsessive-compulsive android who finds love in a zombie-embroiled apocalypse. The end of the world isn’t all that bad – The Experience Machine will fulfil your every desire (and some you hadn’t considered). A sex bot dares to dream of freedom in Dinner with Flexi. But mind what you eat, because The Photons in the Cheese Are Lost. Don’t fret though: The Cryo Killer guarantees that your death will be painless, or your money back when you’re thawed. Unless, that is, you’re The Man with Two Legs.

Plug into Obsidian Worlds for these and other immersive stories, including the hilarious Time-Traveling Chicken Sexer. Your brain will never be the same again.

Enjoy an excerpt from "Your Averaged Joe":

“Sorry, this is a bit overwhelming. Let me introduce myself.” Then all three men spoke in unison, extending their hands, “I’m Thursday.” They each chewed a piece of gum, their masticating movements simultaneous.

Joe eyed the identical hands. Long, frosty fingers. Whitest skin. He shook hands with each. Their grips were firm. All three.

Thursday continued, “This is the Chamber.” He waved his arm around the room proudly. Joe considered the space. The rows of beds seemed to stretch forever. He couldn’t see the end of the room. And no pillars. Nothing to support the pink ceiling that extended in all directions. Joe scrunched his feet at the enormity of the Chamber, and the floor squeezed between his toes. But the floor wasn’t smooth – it was … hairy? He glanced down, and yup, fine dark hairs covered its surface. It was like standing on a forearm. Goose bumps erupted along his arms, down his legs, Joe shifted his weight to his heels, trying to avoid the hairs from scratching between his toes. And as the goose bumps spread across his back, down his chest, the ground beneath his feet changed. Between the silky black hairs, the fleshy floor lumped in places. Lumps the size of fists. Bumps, goose bumps. On the ground. He shivered.

Trying not to think about it, and resisting the urge to jump, to get his feet anywhere but on the fleshy floor, he stared at the beds. Each held a single occupant, each with brown hair, each wearing the same pale blue nightgown he was wearing. Joe looked to the bed beside his, and his heart stopped.

The man in the bed was him.

About the Author:

Jason Werbeloff is a novelist and philosopher. He loves chocolate and his Labrador, Sunny.

He's interested in the nature of social groups, personal identity, freedom, and the nature of the mind. His passion is translating philosophical debate around these topics into works of science fiction, while gorging himself on chocolate.

Amazon Author Page – download all of Werbeloff's fiction from Amazon.
http://smarturl.it/AuthWerbeloff

Newsletter – subscribe to get 'The Solace Pill' free, as well as VIP access to Werbeloff's latest fiction.
http://smarturl.it/werbeloff

Goodreads – read reviews of Werbeloff’s fiction.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7340789

Facebook and Twitter – follow Werbeloff for release date information on upcoming shorts and novels.
http://www.facebook.com/solaceseries
https://twitter.com/JasonWerbeloff

Website - read about the author, and the philosophy behind his fiction.
http://www.jasonwerbeloff.com/

Buy the book at Amazon.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hedon by Jason Werbeloff - Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jason will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. Also, please note: for today ONLY the book is a free download!

What if happiness were compulsory?
What if your thoughts were not your own?
Plunge into HEDON for soul-twisting sci-fi.

In 2051, the Bhutanese Empire rules post-apocalyptic Shangri with iron-fisted Buddhist compassion. Happiness is compulsory, but making everyone happy isn’t easy in an overpopulated world. Breeders are ghettoed, homosexuality is mandatory, and Shangrians’ happiness levels are strictly monitored by hedometers implanted in their heads. Become depressed, or feel too happy without helping others feel the same, and The Tax Man will get angry. Very angry.

Gemini and Cyan, winners of the pregnancy lottery, are on the run. Cyan can’t fall pregnant, and Gemini is addicted to the Experience Machine. Will they evade The Tax Man, and find a way to end the brutal pleasures of Shangri?

The lovechild of Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale, HEDON is gritty satire on a dystopia drunk with bigotry and positive thinking.

“A one of a kind dystopian novel.”
“As politically depraved as anyone could desire.”
“This is storytelling at its best”.
– ReadersFavorite.com 5 star review of HEDON

Enjoy an excerpt:

The day before his father died, Gemini had carried the old, old man to the summit of the district heap. Cardboard boxes, plastic packets, clothes hangers, rags, and a thousand other remnants of the past had sagged, crunched and scratched beneath Gemini’s bare feet. By the time he’d reached the top, he was out of breath. But it wasn’t the weight of his father in his arms, clinging to his neck. His father weighed less than a memory. No, it was the thought that this would be the last time they would share the view together.

The heap was higher than the ghetto Wall, higher than the Devas. From the top, they could see it all. Rows and rows, and rows, of tin shacks stretched behind them. And before them, a mile away, was the great Wall, brown as the earth. Beyond was the city, its brown-white spires shrouded in fog. Brown fog.

His father had looked at Gemini then. Really looked. Looked at him, his son, not as a war veteran. Not as someone from the past. “Boy,” his father’s voice was hollow, soaked up by the heap, “are you happy?”

The breath in Gemini had caught. Of course he was happy. Everyone was happy. It was Shangri. But his lips formed a different reply. “No,” he said, and stared out beyond the Wall. His cheeks burned.

“That’s okay, boy. They say they’re happy. But they’re not. Nobody is.”

Gemini swung his head to study his father’s eyes. The blasphemy. Sure, there was unrest here, in the ghetto. Sure, there was discontent. But few spoke such … such blatant heresy. Such negativity.

“Find a girl,” his father said, placing a veined hand on his son’s. “Be happy with her, but not too much. Never forget …” His head twitched. “Never forget that there is more.”

His father fell silent. Gemini scooped together a pillow of detritus so the dying man could lie comfortably as he stared out at the city. The city the old man had fought for, and lost.

About the Author:

Human. Male. From an obscure planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Sci-fi novelist with a PhD in philosophy. Likes chocolates, Labradors, and zombies (not necessarily in that order). Werbeloff spends his days constructing thought experiments, while trying to muster enough guilt to go to the gym.

He's written two novels, Hedon and The Solace Pill, and the short story anthology, Obsidian Worlds. His books will make your brain hurt. And you'll come back for more.

Amazon Author Page: http://smarturl.it/AuthWerbeloff
Newsletter sign up: http://smarturl.it/werbeloff
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7340789
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/solaceseries
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JasonWerbeloff
Website: http://www.jasonwerbeloff.com/

Buy the book at Amazon.

a Rafflecopter giveaway