16 Aug

Posted at 12:05h in Stories

Eyes of Ego By Christopher Keast Dawning sunlight beamed in through the kitchen window, stinging Ego’s eyes. At least, he thought it was from the sun. News came in on his tablet that morning. “Something’s happening in Australia,” he said, giving his wife a concerned look. “AMTAID?” Eleka asked. He nodded. “Merregos are revolting.” “Play it on the big screen.” Ego tapped into the wall monitor. The reporter spoke: “… a Qδ7 colony began protesting before they were to undergo a cooperation enhancement. Uprisings have spread to other colonies. Sources say they’ve gained access to a gene-file edit, granting themselves upgrades not intended for several years. World Alliance is amassing Special Forces on the outside perimeter, as a precaution. Stay tuned.” Their jaws dropped. “Are Merregos like merry-go-rounds?” their daughter Cassie, asked. Eleka said, “Something like that.” Ego leaned in toward Cassie. “More like a clever name given to robots who need to learn to get along with us humans.” “Where do they live?” “Very far away, in Australia,” Eleka said. “Where’s that?” “It’s a big island in the middle of an ocean, far away like Mommy said. It’s where Daddy was born.” “You lived with the Merregos?” Eleka beamed at Ego, who grinned and shook his head. “No, honey. I moved away right before they arrived. When I...

15 Aug

Posted at 12:01h in Stories

Sparks of Selma By Christopher Keast Jed laid in bed half-awake, thinking about the words he was missing from his latest writings. That was part of the trouble these days. The other side of his bed, where Selma used to lay, was empty. His lover for so many years, gone for more days than he could count. He sat up and grabbed his IMoovOns from the bedside table, putting the large metal frames with tinted lenses over his eyes and attaching the sticky pads to his head. His therapist told him to reserve it for certain occasions, when needed most, as part of his healing process. Jed knew it wouldn’t last forever. Today it was deserved. He pushed the GO button on the left arm of the frames. Selma appeared next to him as though a television screen had been turned on, transmitting through thin air. A translucent pigment of light cast down from Heaven, he thought.   'You’re so beautiful,' he said to her. 'Enough already, you know I’m not really here.' Part of her programming was to boldly motivate him. Hard encouragement mode. Her holographic image was a depiction taken from several years before she died. Her appearance was still bright then. The programme let her speak as...

12 Aug

Posted at 16:19h in Stories

Viralpocalypse by Christopher Keast Sasha and I snap selfies after school. “Let’s post one to Defame,” she says. I haven’t used the new app much. It was the latest thing. “How does it work again?” “You make a post, then find someone to flick. The app transfers their face onto yours. Then everyone thinks it’s them.” “But they’ll know it’s not.” Sasha shrugs and nods, holding up her smartphone. I admire her grace as she poses for each picture. Her eyelashes flutter over her hazel eyes. The breeze blows her strawberry blonde hair. Her curves seem in perfect alignment. I try to follow along, letting her flair complement my blandness. She grabs me and pulls my lips to hers. Snap. We giggle in front of the camera, lip-locked. “Now we flick.” I raise an eyebrow. “How does it alter your face?” “Some auto-deepfake thing. It’s easy.” She shows me the flick reel of little, bright, dancing squares with people’s profiles overlaid. I stare unfocused into the screen. It’s mesmerizing. “Do you have Brit on there?” “Not yet. You can only flick your followers. I do have Luke and Preston.” Sasha taps my face on the screen and selects Luke as a flick, then selects Preston for hers. “Flicked!” My heart skips a beat watching Luke...

28 Dec

Posted at 01:01h in Stories

A cut from my new novel, Deepfake – the sequel to Datapocalypse. Felt a little essay-ish. Something I was trying to avoid after so much of it in Book I. Makes for an interesting blog post though, with the right context. This scene describes Kicis Orion, an historian (and protagonist in the novel), in one of his rants about how the demon-AI is destroying things in the physical world and how big tech and technology addiction are the catalysts. I won't give too much more of the story away. Here you go...

19 Dec

Posted at 05:18h in Stories

In college I slept with the drug dealer. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Months into the affair, she told me she loved me. I ignored it. Cupid's arrow was too dull for my armour. I ran from her arms, but continued to buy drugs. Certainly a love-hate affair. ...

27 Apr

Posted at 23:49h in Stories

A kind hello to all the new subscribers to this newsletter and thank you to all those who've stuck around over the last year!I'm going to start off with something simple, a confession: I'm horrible with social media. I'm bad with liking, disliking, commenting, boosting. hosting, posting, reposting, tagging, retagging, hashtaging, and probably a dozen other virtual verbs I don't know about. But I see the good and the bad in it.The good is in the power to connect people in a globalized society where many are staying put these days and need a way to stay in touch.The bad is in the power to influence people: to reinforce their own ideas as some sort of collective sentiment, growing mere ideas into full blown beliefs through avatarizing and algorithmisizing thoughts and emotions. Look at that, I'm even making up verbs just to describe it. Powerful stuff! Nonetheless, I'm horrible at it. So I have this newsletter to stay in touch and tell you about what's going on with my writing these days. Feel free to send me your newsletter too, or an email, or a message on Twitter (oh wait, don't do that, I suck at it). But I'd love to hear from you,...

10 Mar

Posted at 23:43h in Stories

https://youtu.be/GGXRKsRavRc Although many of us will be celebrating St. Patty's Day indoors this year (dubbed St. Padlock's Day for any sadists out there), I want to quickly talk about Deepfake: the continuation of Datapocalypse.  I toiled through the Canadian winter, locked in by snow and viruses, nearly sleeping the whole thing through. But this story somehow got onto paper. Now, the manuscript for Deepfake has been drafted, the building-swallowing AI has more power than ever, and new characters will help the old ones to try and save humanity from data overload.   My highly appreciated alpha, beta or gamma readers (whatever we call them at this stage of the editing process) are hard at work reading through the manuscript, dissecting my thoughts and telling me if they're cohesive, let alone entertaining, and let more alone, thought-provoking. Once that feedback comes in I get to decide how to unleash this thing to the world. I trust it will bring more of the same soft, science fiction lewdness about buildings (and now art works and people, maybe) disappearing out of thin air and only a few people knowing why, along with twists of mystery, humor, travel, romance and my usual brand of tongue-in-cheekness. But in...

27 Feb

Posted at 20:16h in Stories

A social mind in an antisocial place A social place with an antisocial face I'm new to this place, this place without a face It's cold and I'm getting old Not lesser determined, not lesser bold But in need of a friend Let's hold hands till the end This season of life came by storm Unsuspecting weathermen, forlorn It must pass by and let us be friends again Whether here or there, it must refrain  Smiles on our faces must be regained The mind is not antisocial, not without force Embodiment of spirits walk hand in hand This must be the eternal promise Mind's can overcome foreign lands with grace Setting up a new place to embrace Never forgetting the ones, the ones with a social face ...

20 Feb

Posted at 19:52h in Stories

Libraries Rock! That may not be the most appealing statement among those trying to make money selling books, but there's more to it than that. There's saving trees, saving ink, and test driving a book before buying it. That last one must surely irk large publishers. But what about walking into a library—back when we could (remember?)—and that smell of old paper and tired flatulence; sharing a public refuge with scholars and homeless alike. Rooms full of knowledge! I always have at least a borrowed book or two going at a time. My five year-old daughter, many more. Right now I have Epictetus's Discourses, Kafka short stories and Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind on my bedside table. Two of them, I'll admit, are purchased, but the third is borrowed. The irony is the one I'm borrowing is the only author of the three still alive and trying to make a buck writing. So unfair. I wondered what I'd prefer from an author's standpoint, to either sell 1,000 books on my own or to have my book in just 100 libraries AND solicited to readers by 100 librarians. Thinking only a tad further about this, it becomes quite obvious the latter is...

08 Feb

Posted at 19:52h in Stories

It's been exactly 13 months since the official release of the Datapocalypse book trailer. And yes, it's cheesy! I'm allowed to say so because I made it myself—with help from my wonderful wife (she may not admit to helping me though, hehe) and then five-year old daughter (on backup vocals for the title soundtrack). My forte clearly doesn't lie in video production. Granted. But there's still some production quality worth gleaning from it. Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think. At the very least it'll give you an insight into how Datapocalypse came to be. Who knows, maybe I'll get another 50 views over the next 13 months. Ha! Otherwise, I'll just stick to writing and playing guitar. https://youtu.be/tyv8l_IuYdg ...