Free Audiobook

Audiobooks keep getting more popular, and right now you can listen to the short story that J. Lee Porter and I wrote in Cartagena, Columbia, a story of crime, and cryptocurrency, and right and wrong, for FREE (as long as our codes last, so move fast). John Witstijn did a beautiful job of narrating the story and we think you'll love it.

If you like the story, we hope you'll check out the Bitpat series. The second book, CRYPTO CITIZENS, is now available through Amazon.

In fact, check out all our work at Nomadic Giant, LLC.

Rewriting in Asia

I just got back from spending a few weeks in Asia. I caught up with my co-writer J. Lee Porter and his wife Gigi, in Koh Chang, Thailand. At Elephant Bay, on the southern part of the island, we sat down and reviewed the current draft of CRYPTO CITIZENS face to face. This is our second book in the BITPATS series.

After long discussions, we decided that a few major changes were needed and we set about making them, as well as exploring the island and taking in Muy Thai kickboxing events.

We also went to Cambodia, visiting Koh Kong, where I used to live, and then to Phnom Penh, where I had to say goodbye.

I've just returned to the US and am digging through notes and revisions. We expect to finish the new version this month and send it to our editors. The cover is done (courtesy of Elizabeth Mackey
www.elizabethmackey.com) and we hope to get the book published in the first part of the year. If you are a reviewer looking for an advance copy, email me at FLOATSTREET@gmail.com and I'll put you on the list to get it in an acceptable format.

We are also blocking out a short story based in that part of the world. It will be another expat story... the expatriated, the marginalized are always interesting characters for us.

Covering New Ground

Hot on the heels of CRYPTO SHRUGGED J. Lee Porter and I are working to wrap up the second book in the Bitpats series. This one is called CRYPTO CITIZENS. Naturally, we still are looking at the implications, the political, economic, and social ramifications of implementing blockchain, but this time the issues that come under our microscope are those of citizenship, surveillance (both government surveillance and surveillance capitalism) as the world tries to monitor international travel and implement smart cities.

As with so many things, smart cities act as a double-edged sword, and the goals set for them, such as being able to adapt to the needs of the people, also mean anticipating those needs, which, in turn require watching how people use the existing resources. When combined with a desire to preserve "order" within a community, the results can be satisfying or terrifying.

Citizenship is something that is considered a birthright and a privilege, yet it can also be perverted into something more sinister. A person from a certain country is bad, and one from another is good. It's a matter of generalizing so that people are easier to deal with. The problem is that, taken that way, citizenship becomes degrading.

The natural reaction to that is for people look for ways to have multiple passports, or perhaps none at all. This is a complicated topic, and our new novel can only begin to explore some of the issues involved. But we make a start. And, in future books, we will pursue that more.

While we edit, Elizabeth Mackey designed another wonderful cover for the upcoming book. We are definitely excited and hope you are too.