Over the next seven weeks on the blog, I’m delving into the seven short stories and novellas contained within my recently released Love and Other Punishments dystopian sci-fi anthology.

First up: The Thought Improvement Plan

The plot involves a world where thought-monitoring brain implants are standard employment practice. Here 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.

In a sense, this is a futuristic romantic comedy. The future in which it is set is certainly dystopian. It is also alarmingly plausible considering what is being discussed at the World Economic Forum, regarding potential brain monitoring for employees. However, whilst this story is set in a world where such abhorrent practices are in place, the focus is more on the central couple, Andy and Belinda. They meet one another at work, are mutually attracted, and desperately want to indulge in an old-school workplace flirtation, even though workplace flirtation is considered the height of political incorrectness, and indeed is strictly forbidden.

Andy and Belinda both have a rebellious streak, especially Belinda who is revealed to have significant criminal connections. But her criminality is not violent, nor is she interested in overthrowing their political oppressors through direct activism. Instead, she calls herself an “inactivist”, finding cunning ways to fool the thought monitors, and essentially covertly sticking two fingers up to the system. Andy is swept off his feet by Belinda, but in true rom-com style, their relationship gradually becomes more serious, and is ultimately put to the test.

The inspiration for this story came from the aforementioned horrors at the World Economic Forum. A few minor elements, such as the lab-grown food, also have their origins in real-world scientific research (in the story, only the mega-rich can afford real vegetables or meat, whereas every else is forced to eat lab-grown food). More than anything, the inspiration came from my wife, whom I initially met through a workplace flirtation. Perhaps these days, such a flirtation would be frowned upon. Had corporate thought monitoring software in place, it would have been impossible. I daresay I would have been fired – unless of course, we’d been as devious as Andy and Belinda.

The Thought Improvement Programme is probably the lightest of the stories in this volume, and as such I think the novella is a fine opener for the collection. You can read the first of the six chapters here, as a taster.

To order an ebook or paperback of the Love and Other Punishments anthology, click here (for Amazon in the US), or here (for Amazon in the UK). Digital versions are also available from Smashwords (and their various outlets) here.