Holiday reminders, stage two: near-future science fiction

Here's the second in my series about the various kind and genres of books I've written, in case you're shopping for pretty much anybody who reads anything. (The first post is here.) This post is about my near-future science fiction. These novels tend to have courtroom scenes, thus bringing together my (mostly former) profession with my interest in what technology is peeking over the horizon.

I'll start with the most recent of these books, which features the tech we're probably closest to achieving: artificial wombs. Here's the teaser for Donation.

"Whose children are they? Who decides?

"In the near future, abortion is a thing of the past -- but the development of artificial wombs provides an alternative. The federal government controls this technology, and the fetuses consigned to these special incubators.

"Young and unprepared for motherhood, Toni Green panics and agrees to "donate" her unborn child for adoption, the fortunate parents to be selected by the Bureau of Reproductive Safety. But the decision doesn't sit well with her, and as her regrets grow, she consults her mother, a high-powered lawyer, about her options. And thus begins a journey for her, her mother, the chosen adoptive parents -- and Poloma Clark, an administrator at the Bureau whose policies and practices Toni is challenging.

"Poloma, initially tasked with helping the Bureau prepare for trial, finds herself confronted with evidence that the Bureau is exceeding its mandate. If the purpose of this mission creep is to protect vulnerable children, how can she help but join in? But the more she learns, the more her assumptions face challenges that force her to make possibly life-altering decisions."

You can find the paperback on Amazon, and your local bookstore (chain or independent) should be able to order it from Ingram Group. (It's also available from an interesting assortment of other vendors, including Books-A-Million, eBay, AbeBooks, Walmart Business, Mighty Ape in New Zealand, and Booktopia in Australia.)

Continuing in reverse chronological order, here's Who. SF author Richard Weyand says this book scared the [vulgar term omitted] out of him.

"Have they changed their minds? Or have their minds been changed?

"Death is no longer the end. Those who prepare, and can afford it, may have their memories and personalities digitally preserved. The digitally stored population can interact with the world of the living, remaining part of their loved ones’ lives. They can even vote. Except - someone's in charge of the code. Someone who may have an agenda.

"After the young and vital Thea dies and is stored, her husband Max starts to wonder about changes in her preoccupations and politics. Are they simply the result of the new company she keeps? Or has she been altered without her knowledge and against her will? And if Thea is no longer herself, what can they do?

"Blending near-future speculation with courtroom drama, this novel explores the technical, legal, and ethical ramifications of a technology that many see over the horizon."

You can pick up this paperback on Amazon or ask your bookstore to order it.

Next comes the closest I've come to writing a thriller: Playback Effect. It was while writing this book that I informed those following me on Twitter (not yet X) that I had just enjoyed having breakfast with a sociopath.

"In the near future, new technology records the highlights of emotional experience for others to share. Buy a helmet and you can feel the exhilaration of an Olympic ski jumper, or the heat of a lucid dreamer's erotic imaginings. Commit a crime, and you may be sentenced to endure the suffering you inflicted on others. But such recordings may carry more information than the public has realized. What will criminals learn about their victims? When a husband is wrongfully convicted of injuring his wife, how will their marriage change? And what uses will a sociopath find for recordings of the experience of death?"

It's on Amazon here, and also available from Books-A-Million, Walmart, and Thriftbooks, not to mention Australia's Booktopia.

Finally, there's Division, my near-future novel dealing with identical twins. (I'm fascinated with identical twins. I've sometimes wondered whether I started out as one of a twin. My Twin-Bred series arose, in part, out of my reading a story about womb twin survivors, people whose identical twin died in utero.) My legal practice concerned appeals, so I didn't get to write any closing arguments to deliver in court, and I greatly enjoyed writing two of them, one for each twin. How do identical twins -- conjoined identical twins, in fact -- end up opposing each other in court? Read on:

"New technology, new choices . . . but who gets to choose?

"Conjoined twins Gordon and Johnny have never let their condition keep them from living full and fulfilling lives. Gordon looks forward to many years of closeness and cooperation. Johnny, however, faces their future with increasing restlessness, even dread.

"When the boys are in their teens, the new technologies of accelerated human cloning and brain transplants are combined into a single medical procedure. Someone whose body has suffered such extensive damage as to make normal life impossible may -- with court approval -- be cloned and then given a brain transplant into the clone body. With Gordon's unwitting assistance, Johnny realizes that this procedure provides the chance he had never dared to hope for -- the chance to live in a "normal," separate body.

"But Gordon considers their conjoined life a blessing, rather than a curse. He has no intention of accepting separation -- not without a fight . . . ."

Besides Amazon and your local bookstore, you can order the paperback from Books-A-Million and from Blackwell's (in the UK, but with shipping to the US included). 

That's it for my near-future SF novels . . . so far. Next time, I'll take a break from the novels and do picture books!