I’m thrilled to announce that Love and Other Punishments, my new dystopian sci-fi anthology, is now available in ebook and paperback. To whet your appetite, here’s the blurb from the back of the book.

From the author of Children of the Folded Valley and Peaceful Quiet Lives, a gripping selection of dystopian science fiction novellas and short stories.

A journalist investigates a company manufacturing nightmare suppressing nanotech for children.

A civil servant suspects terrorists hacking the Driverless Vehicle Network and crashing vehicles may be an inside job.

A man and woman conduct an illegal workplace affair, finding ingenious ways to fool corporate brain monitoring.

All these stories and more in this compelling collection of futuristic satire, technological speculation, alternative realities, and melancholy obsessions. Includes The Thought Improvement Programme, Driverless, Bleed with Me, The Traffic Warden, Sweet Dreams, Apocalypse 1983, and Love and Other Punishments.

Some of these stories had previously been available on Medium (all except one are now removed), but three are brand new and exclusive to this volume. Two never-before-seen novellas of about 20,000 and 18,000 words each, and one new short story at around 12,000 words, have been added to the other earlier novellas and stories earmarked for inclusion. The total word count for the volume is around 85,000 words.

For the most part, each story explores one aspect of futuristic technology (for example, nightmare-suppressing brain implants for children), but is otherwise set in a relatable contemporary-ish setting, just a little way into the future. The stories aren’t bogged down in scientific theory but are much more about the potential repercussions of these speculations on humans.

Here is the complete rundown of titles, plus a little about each story.

Sweet Dreams

A journalist investigates a tech company manufacturing nightmare suppressing nanotech for children. “Sweet Dreams” refers to the technology involved, which the journalist comes to believe may be linked to an increase in suicidal tendencies among young people. Her investigations uncover conspiracies, cover-ups, and eventually murder.

If you want a taster of this collection, all five parts of Sweet Dreams are currently available on Medium, beginning here (each instalment contains a link to subsequent parts).

The Thought Improvement Plan

In a world where thought monitoring brain implants are standard employment practice, a man and woman conduct a secret workplace romance against company policy. Together they find devious ways to fool their thought supervisor by providing false brain metrics. New and exclusive to this volume.

Driverless

When terrorists hack the Driverless Vehicle Network, threatening to crash cars unless their demands are met by the British government, a civil servant begins to suspect there may have been an inside job. New and exclusive to this volume.

Bleed with Me

In the not-too-distant future, ghost sightings are found to be “quantum contamination” or “memory bleeds” that can be easily disposed of via scientific means. A quantum contamination cleaner becomes secretly obsessed with the unsolved murder of a young woman whose memory bleeds occupy his home. New and exclusive to this volume.

The Traffic Warden

A curious IT technician discovers a surreal, sinister truth about traffic wardens. I almost left this darkly comic tale out of the volume, but ultimately felt it made a nice a palate cleanser following the emotionally intense finale of Bleed with Me. Exclusive to this volume, previously available on Medium.

Apocalypse 1983

In a parallel universe, a Soviet Air Force officer holds the fate of the world in his hands. Inspired by the real-life 1983 Soviet nuclear false alarm incident, in which Stanislav Petrov essentially saved the world from nuclear annihilation. Exclusive to this volume, previously available on Medium.

Love and Other Punishments

In a fascistic future London, a widowed salesman begins to suspect he has repressed memories when he encounters a mysterious woman. Exclusive to this volume, previously available on Medium.

To order a copy of the Love and Other Punishments anthology, click here (for Amazon in the US), or here (for Amazon in the UK). If you have scruples about Amazon, digital versions are also available from Smashwords here.