For Readers (and Authors, too)
This blog is for anyone that reads my books, as well as for anyone else who is self-publishing, thinking about self-publishing, or just curious about what it’s like to be an author during rapidly changing times. Whenever you visit here, I hope you’ll share your own comments and thoughts. If you’d like to know whenever I post a new entry, please type your email address into the box in the right-hand column and check the appropriate box (and the newsletter one, too, while you’re at it).
Ch. 28: Squirrel!
Frank was feeling uneasy as he returned from his weekly Task Force meeting. The president had authorized preparations for a possible attack against the Russ. The Task Force had developed and presented him with three exploits. The first would take down the Russ and require significant redesign of the underlying software to prevent such an attack from succeeding succeed again. read more…
Chap. 27: Muthas of Invention
Start at the Prologue and First Chapter here
It took the better part of a day for Crypto to understand exactly what had happened. Shame on him – he’d been paying too little attention to the BankCoin software development community lately. Busy as he was making his final preparations, that had seemed excusable; there wasn’t – or shouldn’t have been – much going on there. The last thing the banks wanted after switching over to BankCoin was for anyone to tinker with the software unnecessarily. Maintain it, yes. Fix bugs, certainly. But otherwise, please! Just leave it alone! read more…
Chap. 26: New Pen Pals
Start at the Prologue and First Chapter here
He reopened the two emails and smiled. The first, from Filitov, read as follows;
Dear Oleg Borisovich,
It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Dimitri Federovich Ustinov, Superintendent of Blockchain Activities for the Department of Information Technology in the Sphere of Budgeting and State and Local Finance Management (copied in above). As you know, the Department is the financial sponsor of the Russ project, and it has been most generous. read more…
Ch. 25: Here’s Russ in Your Eye!
Start at the Prologue and First Chapter here
Dimitri Federovich Ustinov told himself he had no reason to feel tense. He was, after all, a respected civil servant. Still, he was sitting in a waiting room at the central offices of the Federal Security Service, waiting to see a senior member of the FSS, and he did not know why. read more…
The Alexandria Project is Available in Audio!
Well, the day has finally arrived. Tantor Media has released the first of my books in audiobook form! You can find it at Audible here, at Amazon here, and also soon, if not immediately, anywhere else you may be in the habit of getting your audiobooks. The price ranges from free (with a one month trial or ongoing Audible membership), to $14.95 for Audible members who have already used their monthly free choices, to $18.37 for straight purchase at Amazon. read more…
Ch. 24: Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Start at the Prologue and First Chapter here
Audrey made herself go to work the next day for the same reason she’d stayed at the going away party after talking to Benson Cronin: she’d be damned if she’d let anyone – especially Greg Olson – think there was anything she couldn’t handle. read more…
Ch. 23: We’ve Got to Quit Meeting Like This
Start at the Prologue and First Chapter here
Aleksandr Isayevich Shukov was following familiar corridors on his way to the monthly meeting of the Joint Cyber Strike Council. He was also following the Director of the Federal Security Service, walking a step behind his boss, as was appropriate. Although Shukov was the manager of all FSS cyber activities within the scope of the JCSC’s mandate, his position was based merely on ability, not political connections. If the meeting went well, perhaps the Director might reward him by engaging in conversation as they left the meeting. read more…
Ch. 22: You Sexist Pig!
Start at the Prologue and First Chapter here
No one at the bank had ever told Audrey Addams she was beautiful. Not because she was unattractive, but because she was unapproachable. Even after hours, her colleagues agreed, her consistently severe expression, hairstyle and wardrobe sent an unmistakable “keep away” signal rather than a “come hither” invitation. Audrey was okay with that. read more…
Ch. 21: The Old Switcheroo
Start at the Prologue and First Chapter here
Crypto’s respite did not last long. Frank was in the office as much as ever, but he wasn’t spending much time on the system with the malware planted by Crypto. That could only mean one thing: he was working the rest of the time on the air gapped system Crypto could not monitor. Yes, Crypto could have someone hack that system, too, but Frank might notice adding something like wireless capacity to a server that did not have it already. And in any event, the Bees were already aware that Frank must be hard at work doing what they feared the most: looking for a vulnerability in a way that might eventually allow him to find it. A vulnerability that someone – Crypto, for example – could exploit to wipe out the global financial system. read more…
Ch. 20: Keep On Pump’n
Start at the Prologue and First Chapter here
Crypto was pedaling furiously away on a stationary bicycle. He loathed exercise, but over time had come to realize that the harder he exerted himself, the less likely he was to be bothered by the Bees. He believed the Bees couldn’t access his thoughts, then, too, because they rarely alluded later to something he’d thought while gasping for breath. As he was now. read more…
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