Day 1: Guest Post from Author Debbie Kump

Happy Canada Day All!!!! Today is the day we celebrate what this giveaway is all about. The birth of the country I was born and live in. Canada!! WooHoo!!! I will be partying it up in true East Coast style...camping on the beach with a HUGE bonfire, tons of fireworks and sparklers for the kids, and lots and lots of beer!!

Also, to celebrate, today is Day 1 of my 4 day author celebration. Today, Debbie Kump, author of the Apocolyptic Thriller: 7G, is guest posting to tell us a little bit about her book.

When the fictitious future becomes frighteningly real.

            Cursive is a dying art. Will handwriting be next? With text messaging commonplace and laptop computers becoming more and more integrated into the classroom, will students eventually stop needing the skills to actually write at all? And with Smartphones readily linking to the Internet and mobile telecommunications upgrades from 3G to 4G Networks, what else will the future hold? Will WiFi be everywhere, effectively eliminating the need for cell phone towers?

            My Apocalyptic Thriller, 7G, takes a leap into this fictitious futuristic world. My husband has always been a bit of a futurist. He’d often share his technological ideas for the future with me…then a few years later, we’d laugh when we saw his idea come true. Over two years ago (before the Smartphone and ebook boom) he proposed the idea of hands-free telecommunications. Instead of mobile phones and computer monitors, users could text, surf the Internet, or read an ebook on lenses worn directly over the pupil. The possibilities for these multi-purpose lenses seemed endless: from e-libraries to dream uploads and instant language translations, all accessible with the blink of an eye.

            That’s when my imagination snatched hold of his spark and took off.     

            Instead of carrying Smartphones, users would wear contact lens-sized, extended wear, virtual computer screen and keyboard eye DOTS. With body heat as the sole catalyst required to power the endothermic chemical reaction recharging each battery, both military and civilians alike constantly wear these Digital Optic/Ophthalmic Transmitters (collectively referred to as “DOTS”) and “MUDE” Mobile Uplink Digital Equipment. Using ear DOTS, babies could piggyback off their parents’ MUDEs to listen to soothing melodies. Or dog owners could eliminate unwanted behaviors by using DOTS for bark control and invisible fencing like electronic collars do today.

            This plethora of ideas soon wove itself into a multi-faceted novel, exploring the varied uses of the technology through multiple protagonists and interwoven subplots. I set 7G in the near future, at a time when Smartphones will be obsolete. With the upcoming conversion to 7G Network allowing instantaneous optical and audio recording, limitless military and civilian applications abound. Yet an unexpected programming glitch proves fatal, spelling disaster for the nation. In the aftermath of 7G, the fates of college sophomore Erik Weber and submariner Alyssa Kensington entwine. Will they escape and manage to survive in a crippled world?

            While editing my manuscript for 7G on a flight to my parents’ house over the Christmas holidays, my husband whipped out the SkyMall magazine, pointing to a pair of glasses that provided a GPS digital reading of the wearer’s location.

            I blinked, studying the glasses again. A chill ran down my spine.

            “Freaky,” I told him, my pen poised over a scene where compulsive gamers developed eye shakes from having their pupils flit back and forth rapidly to reach the desired keys on their virtual keyboard eye DOTS.

            Then a few days ago, as my husband was enjoying Eoin Colfer’s recent Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex, he paused to have me read a paragraph. In this selection, a centaur named Foaly placed a monocle over one eye to interface with a virtual system through a series of blinks and winks rather than using hardwired equipment.

            Barely believing my eyes, I read the paragraph a second time, wondering when will this type of technology no longer be a work of fiction? Will a time come when all information is easily accessible on contact lenses like the eye DOTS from 7G?

            That time may be here sooner than we think.

            And hopefully will end better than my world does in 7G.

By Debbie Kump

Author of Apocalyptic Thriller, 7G

Now available in ebook:

http://www.blogger.com/goog_349256558

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-7g-565636-235.html

Available August 1, 2011 in ebook and paperback from World Castle Publishing:

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com/horrorsuspensethriller.htm

Or visit my website:

https://sites.google.com/site/debbiekumpbooks/

I want to thank Debbie for joining us today and letting us know a bit about her book. I know I can't wait to read it :)

Want extra entries for The Great Canadian Giveaway? Sure you do!!! Simply comment below and get yourself 2 extra entries for one of three prize packs...one of which will include and autographed copy of 7G, generously donated by Debbie!!