Tag Archives: The Traffic Warden

Love and Other Punishments: A Dystopian Sci-Fi Anthology

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In case you were unaware, I’ve recently released and have been extensively promoting my new dystopian sci-fi anthology Love and Other Punishments. Now available in ebook or paperback from Amazon, Smashwords, and associated outlets, this selection of novellas and short stories is proving a hit with readers. Featuring futuristic satire, technological speculation, alternative realities, and melancholy obsessions, Love and Other Punishments is a compelling compliment to my earlier dystopian novels Children of the Folded Valley and Peaceful Quiet Lives.

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. Not bad value for £2.99 (or $3.99, in the US).

Here’s a plot taster for each story, plus the accompanying graphics. For more detail on the story and what inspired it, click on the link to the appropriate specific article on this blog.

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.

For more about this story, click here. Also, 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. For more about this story, click here.

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. For more about this story, click here.

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. For more about this story click here.

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. For more about this story click here.

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. For more about this story click here.

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. For more about this story click here.

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). Digital versions are also available from Smashwords and associated outlets here.

New Anthology Highlight: The Traffic Warden

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Designed in Canva.

Over the next few 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.

This week: The Traffic Warden

Do you know anyone who is a traffic warden? Or anyone who will admit to being one? Some years ago, I had a highly amusing speculative conversation at my former workplace, with colleagues who proposed wildly imaginative theories about whether traffic wardens were genetically engineered, or androids, or even aliens, since no one knew or knew of anyone who knew a traffic warden. Are those in this much-loathed profession cloaked in a veil of secrecy? Could someone you know secretly be a traffic warden?

When I contributed to this debate with my own darkly absurd theory on the origins of traffic wardens, it was suggested to me that I turn this into a short story. I did, never intending it for publication. It was meant as mere blackly comic whimsy and a joke for my colleagues (who all read the story). However, it did take some inspiration from genuine traffic warden behaviour I’d witnessed. 

For example, I have seen traffic wardens lurking in wait for persecuted parents trying to drop their children at school having parked in a perfectly safe fashion (but on double yellow lines) and running to slap tickets on their cars for the few seconds whilst they are escorting the children inside. These parents really did have nowhere else to park, and once the council added the double yellow lines (I suspect not for safety reasons, but to raise cash), these parents were rather stuffed. Many of them were forced to add parking fines into their monthly budgeting (as was reported in a news broadcast at the time).

 On another occasion, I’ll never forget the diabolical behaviour I witnessed from traffic wardens outside Kings Cross station in London, as they circled parked cars like vultures, awaiting the seconds to tick down to 7am when parking restrictions came into force. I daresay they are paid on commission, which encourages this lunacy. One particularly overzealous warden placed a ticket on a parked car at 6:57am, just as the owner came to collect it. A furious argument ensued, in which all manner of officious nonsense about not being able to withdraw the ticket once it had been issued was spouted, that the time on the ticket read 7:01am, and that if the car owner wanted to lodge a protest and argue the toss, he’d have to go through official channels. I was so incensed at this traffic warden’s bureaucratic cruelty that I offered to be a witness if required, as I had seen the car owner return to his vehicle before 7am, as I had done.

I’d even heard on the news (though not personally witnessed) how another driver had purchased a permit to park in a restricted space, clearly displayed it in his windscreen, only for a traffic warden to ticket him anyway, as overnight frost had covered the car windows. In such circumstances, traffic wardens damn well ought to give the benefit of the doubt, but of course, that would require a scenario in which they aren’t operating due to hypnotic conditioning and brainwashing, as per my short story.

The Traffic Warden is very short and intended as little more than a palate cleanser between Bleed with Me and the next novella in the volume, Sweet Dreams. Because it is so slight and whimsical, I almost didn’t include it. But on reflection, I decided it was needed to provide a brief chuckle after the melancholia of Bleed with Me, and before the dark mystery at the heart of Sweet Dreams.

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). Digital versions are also available from Smashwords (and their various outlets) here.

New Release: Love and Other Punishments Anthology Out Now

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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.

Cover Reveal: Love and Other Punishments

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Here is the cover for my new dystopian sci-fi anthology, Love and Other Punishments, which is out this Friday (2nd June).

I’ll say more about the novellas and short stories in this compelling collection this Friday. In the meantime, to pre-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.

Coming Soon: New Dystopian Sci-Fi Anthology

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been polishing short stories and novellas to include in a planned new anthology release. Akin to my earlier collection, Infestation: A Horror Anthology, this one won’t be horror but dystopian science fiction. The anthology will be entitled Love and Other Punishments, after one of the stories, previously published on Medium.

The volume is about 80,000 words long. Over half (around 50,000 words) will be new, exclusive material, consisting of two novellas and a short story never seen before. The remaining short stories and novellas have previously been available to Medium subscribers.

Most of these novellas or short stories explore one aspect of futuristic technology, but otherwise takes place in relatable settings a short 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. Some of them are akin to potential technologies presently being discussed in places like the World Economic Forum.

Here are the titles, plus a little about each story.

The Thought Improvement Plan (exclusive to this volume) – In a world where brain monitoring implants are standard employment practice, a man and woman conduct a secret workplace romance against company policy, finding devious ways to fool their thought supervisor by providing false brain metrics.

Driverless (exclusive to this volume) – 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.

The Traffic Warden (previously available on Medium) – A curious IT technician discovers the truth about traffic wardens in this surreal, sinister, darkly comic conspiracy thriller.

Bleed With Me (exclusive to this volume) – In a world where 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.

Sweet Dreams (previously available on Medium) – 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.

Apocalypse 1983 (previously available on Medium) – In a parallel universe, a Soviet Air Force officer holds the fate of the world in his hands.

Love and Other Punishments (previously available on Medium) – In a fascistic future London, a widowed salesman begins to suspect he has repressed memories when he encounters a mysterious woman.

I shall be announcing a publication date and revealing a cover image very soon. Watch this space.