Hi everyone,
My second novel, Guerrilla Internet, is nearing completion. I'm shooting for a release sometime in December, if everything goes to plan, and I cannot wait to see what people think. The story explores themes very personal to me, including depression and anxiety, as well as more pragmatic concerns such as data privacy and internet security. For those interested, the blurb is below:
'How careful are you with what you say in a phone call? In a text message? Are you strict enough to never reveal personal information in an email, or on Facebook? Most people aren't.'
We live in the Age of Information. Microsecond communication from one side of our planet to the other. The entire known history of the human race accessible from the supercomputers that live inside our pockets. We document our lives through Facebook, through Twitter, through Youtube, sharing our joy and suffering with millions worldwide or just a handful of intimate friends.
But just how secure is the information we share? And who does the information belong to? Us? The companies storing it? The government? By surrendering our details to the digital 'verse we are gambling with our privacy, placing our trust in names and numbers and promises made by faceless corporations. Our basic human rights protect us and our creations in the physical world, but the realm of bits and bytes is absent such insurance, an untamed wild full of verdant possibility growing too fast for the gardener to handle.
But now the gardener is proposing a perimeter fence to stem the growth and bring the wilds back under his control. Legislature seeking to dictate what we can see, say, and do on the internet is fast gathering steam. Our freedom of expression is coming under attack from those with vested interest in promoting a sterile and subservient populace, neutering dissent before it can blossom into out-and-out rebellion.
Decisions made here and now will mould the shape of society for decades to come. Should we surrender our freedoms for the security of Big Brother governance? Or should we allow the Wild West internet to flourish unshackled, accepting the potential for both good and evil to sprout from its seeds?
A technological thriller set in current times, Guerrilla Internet tackles the themes of privacy, security, and freedom of expression in the age of a constantly connected society. A tale of subterfuge and doublespeak, of plots within plots, where laws and morals clash to decide the meaning of freedom in an always-online world...
