Skip to content

Tag: book

Writing update

Published by Adam on November 3, 2014

It’s been a big year with the release of my second novel, Divided We Fall. But as they say in journalism, you’re only as good as your next story! So here’s a quick update on my current projects.

Short story

"Fire Eyes" is an upcoming short story by Adam Bender. Art by Belinda Pepper.
“Fire Eyes” is an upcoming short story by Adam Bender. Art by Belinda Pepper.

I’ve just finished a new short story called “Fire Eyes,” set in the same world as my novels We, The Watched and Divided We Fall.

Taking place before the events of either of those stories, “Fire Eyes” follows an underground street artist called Ignatius who for years has dodged surveillance cameras to spray paint a dissident symbol: a dark visage with fiery eyes. Dissatisfied with the impact of his work, Iggy sets his sights on tagging the most important government building in the nation.

I have just submitted this story to a sci-fi short story magazine. I’m hoping to show it to you one way or the other by early next year.

Screenplay

I began work a while back on a screenplay of We, The Watched. It’s about two-thirds finished and looking pretty solid, but I have to admit it’s taken the back burner to my other projects. I hope to get back to work on this in the near future with a view to finishing it next year.

New novel

This is where I’ve been spending the bulk of my time. My next novel is a completely new and original story, unrelated to any of my past work. It mixes elements of several genres, including western, adventure and speculative fiction. Like my previous novels, there is a political twist. Whereas the We, The Watched stories focus on government surveillance, my new novel takes on gun issues in America.

The working title is: The Wanderer and the New West

I hope to have more updates for you soon!

3 Comments

Divided We Fall leaves you ‘not only wanting, but needing more’: Readers’ Favorite review

Published by Adam on October 14, 2014

Dystopian love story DIVIDED WE FALL has just received a four-star review from Readers’ Favorite. Reviewer Nichole Moser writes about the new novel:

In Adam Bender’s Divided We Fall, we follow the story of Eve Parker and Jon Wyle. They are members of the Elite Guard: a special task force dedicated to finding and arresting those who resist the Church. After meeting during a stake-out, Eve and Jon quickly form a relationship, a relationship which is tested when Jon accepts a special mission. He is to infiltrate the rebel heretic group known as the Underground, and bring them down from the inside. But it means forgetting who he is, and who he loves. It is up to Eve to bring him back, but she finds that not is all as it seems. She questions who the true Enemy is, and the teachings she followed her entire life. She must make the decision to follow God and country, or the love of her life at the risk of losing her own.

There are few novels I can read in one sitting, but Adam Bender’s Divided We Fall was one of them. It is fast-paced, intriguing, and had me wondering what was coming just around the corner. It had me not only wanting, but needing more. Eve and Jon are both relatable characters, as relatable as possible in a dystopian setting. But is it? The idea of government surveillance has been in the news for years, and Divided We Fall goes into detail about a very real and very current issue. Eve’s revelation of the world as a mix of colours rather than black and white was beautifully written and a lesson for all. Jon’s transformation into Seven was well-written and shows us the true potential of humanity – if we strip away the bias and focus solely on the good of all, we see what Seven knew all along: united, we are stronger. But divided, we fall.

Divided We Fall by Adam Bender
Divided We Fall by Adam Bender

DIVIDED WE FALL has also been acclaimed by a Publishers Weekly reviewer who said “the novel raises interesting questions about the influence of propaganda on the construction of the self, the idea of true tabula rasa and the power of memory.”

You can learn more about DIVIDED WE FALL at www.wethedivided.com.

Find out whether the government is watching you with this handy quiz. Then see if you can separate the Patriots from Heretics in the online game Watched Sweeper.

Leave a Comment
Out now! DIVIDED WE FALL — a note from the author

Out now! DIVIDED WE FALL — a note from the author

Published by Adam on May 10, 2014

The war has come home. The mission has failed. Eve just wants Jon back.

Divided We Fall by Adam Bender
Divided We Fall by Adam Bender
Agent Eve Parker refuses to accept Jon’s change of heart when he loses his memory and becomes a revolutionary known as Seven. But when Eve learns more about the President’s plan to broaden citizen surveillance, she begins to question what she’s always believed to be right.

Hey, Adam here — I am super excited to announce the release of my new novel, DIVIDED WE FALL in paperback and eBook. Writing this book was a long labor of love. It was crafted in the late hours after the work day and in spare moments of the weekend. But in my mind I was working on it always, inspired by news about government surveillance and my day job at the time reporting on the U.S. Congress.

This novel brings to an end the journey that Seven began in WE, THE WATCHED. However, for those who have not yet read that story, I encourage you to read these books in any order you like.

This is also a self-published work and I thank you in advance for your support.

The paperback costs $13.99 and the eBook is $3.99. Also, if you buy the print book on Amazon you can get the digital version for free through Kindle MatchBook! Below is a list of stores where you can buy DIVIDED WE FALL. There may be a delay in some stores posting the book — I will update this list as more stores come online.

Paperback

eBook

Even more info is available at the official website for DIVIDED WE FALL — www.wethedivided.com

And here’s a sample of the eBook version, courtesy of Scribd.

Divided We Fall by Adam Bender

3 Comments

Coming this May: Divided We Fall

Published by Adam on March 22, 2014

Okay, so a lot has been happening behind the scenes on my new novel, Divided We Fall.

But let’s start with the release date: May 10, 2014. As in, less than two months from now. Get hyped.

What’s that? How should you get hyped? Well, a good place to start might be the brand-spanking-new website for the novel! If you didn’t already click the link above, here it is again: www.wethedivided.com.

The paperback proof has arrived!
The paperback proof has arrived!

Preorders for the eBook will open soon at select online book stores including Apple iTunes, Barnes & Noble Nook and Kobo. On release day, you’ll be able to buy the paperback and eBook from Amazon.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, let me take a step back. Divided We Fall is a dystopian love story about surveillance. An elite agent of the Guard finds out that her fiancé has become an Underground revolutionary and tries to win him back. Complications ensue.

It’s also a sequel to my first novel, We, The Watched. Should you read We, The Watched before Divided We Fall? Well, of course you should, but you don’t have to. I’ve written the new book so you won’t get lost without reading the first. You will gain a more full experience reading both, but really, I don’t mind about the order.

A sneak peak at Chapter One of Divided We Fall.

Anyway, we’re almost there, people. The cover and book layout is complete for both the eBook and the paperback. I’ll soon be getting the paperback proof in the mail (UPDATE: It’s here! See above photo) and will just have to do a check to make sure everything looks all right. Then it’s just a matter of getting it into the stores!

One more thing! Remember that time I invited you to submit pictures of surveillance cameras to my Facebook page? Well, I’ve just moved all of that to Tumblr, which I think is a far more effective place for that kind of thing. So, please follow my Tumblr page and submit your own pics!

Keep your eyes on this blog for more updates on Divided We Fall. Between now and release day I should have a fun surprise for you…

1 Comment
Adam Bender | adambenderwrites.com | watchadam.blog