Pat Bertram Introduces Frank Fiore, Author of “CyberKill”

Welcome, Frank. Please tell us about your new novel CyberKill.

Fans of Tom Clancy, James Patterson and Clive Cussler, will enjoy this twist on the Frankenstein myth. A brilliant programmer, Travis Cole, inadvertently creates “Dorian,” an artificial intelligence that lives on the Internet. After Cole attempts to terminate his creation, Dorian stalks his young daughter through cyberspace in an attempt to reach Cole to seek revenge.

When a top secret government anti-terrorist, nano-technology program, SIRUS, gets deployed for testing, Dorian discovers the perfect vehicle for his retribution. Cyber-terrorism events threaten the United States, as the forsaken and bitter Dorian zeroes in on his target. In the final conflict, Dorian seeks to kill his creator – even if it has to destroy all of humanity to do it.

Cyberkill has recently been turned into an enhanced digital book. Just what is an enhanced book?

Basically, enhanced books are the process of rethinking what a book is. They’re e-books enhanced with video, author interviews and social-networking applications.

What enhanced digital book features does CyberKill have?

The new features available in the Enhanced digital app version of Cyberkill, many of which have never been seen in a digital book before, include seamless switching between the text version and a full audio version of the story, evolving synopsis, character lookup and biography, dynamic links to incorporate the power of the web into the book, sharing through social media and email, bookmarking, recorded annotations, author videos and commentaries, and author interaction.

You said it was an App?

Yes. The App will run on the iPhone 3G and later; iPad (all); iPod 2 and later. Basically, any Apple device running iOS 4.2 or higher. You can download the App a in the Apple App store.

You can also run the App on all Android smart phones and tablets running version 2.2 or later of the Android operating system, including the Kindle Fire and NOOK.

And since it is an App, I can change the book, add new features or expand on the ones there, at ay time.

Why did you want to have CyberKill turned into an enhanced digital book?

I wanted to share a story with as wide an audience as possible, using whatever narrative tools were at my disposal. I was really excited about releasing the Cyberkill Enhanced digital app because it allowed me to add elements to the story that would have been impossible in a traditional eBook. This new technology creates a new way for authors and readers to approach books that enrich and extend storytelling, and I’m hoping readers will like what we’ve created.”

In short, readers now can ‘experience’ a book and not just read it.

What else is unique about the enhanced version of CyberKill?

It’s free. You see, it’s advertising supported so you can download the entire App for free. You can turn off the ads at anytime through the main menu to purchase the Enhanced eBook application for $4.99. The ads will disappear, and your eyeballs will thank you.

What is an Evolving Synopsis?

Ever forget what has happened in a book? How about that character you just can’t quite remember? Your Enhanced eBook has both an evolving book synopsis and an evolving character synopsis. As you read along in the book, the evolving synopses are populated with simple plot points to remind you of the action. We’ll never spoil the plot by revealing what is going to happen next!

How can a person share the Trapdoor Enhanced eBook experience with friends?

Contrary to traditional belief, reading is not a solitary endeavor. We make it easy to share your thoughts with friends, book review sites and the author!

To share a passage using your favorite social media site, double tap and drag the blue dots to highlight the entire passage. Select Share from the pop-up menu. Depending on which Social Media sites you have installed on your device, options for sharing will appear – including the most popular such as Twitter and FaceBook. Submitting your post will return you to the book.

Chatting with the author is a wickedly cool feature in your Enhanced eBook application. To make a post to the author’s blog, choose Chat With Author from the Main menu. An author page with a forum will appear. Follow existing conversations or start your own thread. It’s easy and fun.

What is marginalia?

The Marginalia display area is a bar running down the right-hand side of the page displaying icons for Enhanced eBook features. It can be turned on and off by tapping the triangle icon located in the upper-right corner of the book.

To access a marginalia feature — such as a wiki-link, map, bookmark, annotation, audio extra, or video extra — simply tap on the icon and the feature will display. For example, a wiki-link (the W icon in the marginalia) will take you to a website with more information about a particular topic found in the text (i.e., BattleBots). Tapping the back arrow will return you to the book.

After Cyberkill, what’s next for Frank Fiore?

I’ve just finished a charter series called the Chronicles of Jeremy Nash. Jeremy Nash, a noted debunker and skeptic of conspiracy theories, urban legends and myths. The formula of the chronicles consists of a conspiracy theory, unsolved mystery, urban myth, New Age belief or paranormal practice that Nash is forced to pursue through a series of clues and puzzles that he must solve; combined with an underlying real world threat of event, organization or persons that is somehow connected to what he is pursuing. This provides the thriller aspect of the stories.

Think Indiana Jones meets National Treasure meets the X-Files.

For more background and info on CyberKill — the enhanced book — go to http://www.frankfiore.com/cyberkill/cyberkill-3-0/ or http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cyberkill/id470293392?mt=8.

Thank you, Frank. This has been a very interesting discussion.

 

Premium Promotional Services Interview With Author Frank Fiore:

Who is author Frank Fiore?
 
Frank Fiore is a bestselling author with more than 50,000 copies of his non-fiction books in print. He has now turned his talents to writing fiction. Frank has also written “To Christopher” that, under the guise of a book to his young son, leads the reader through social commentary, personal experience and entertaining stories that take the reader on a thoughtful journey through the challenges and opportunities that face the next generation. Frank’s writing experience also includes guest columns on social commentary and future trends published in the Arizona Republic and the Tribune papers in the metro Phoenix area. Through his writings, he has shown an ability to explain in a simplified manner, complex issues and trends. During his college years, he founded, wrote and edited the New Times newspaper, now a multi-state operation, which recently purchased The Village Voice. Frank’s interests in future patterns and trends range over many years and numerous projects. He co-wrote the Terran Project, a self-published book on community futures design processes, and worked as a researcher for Alvin Toffler on a series of high school texts on the future. He has designed and taught courses and seminars on the future of society, technology and business and was appointed by the Mayor of Phoenix to serve on the Phoenix Futures Forum as co-chairperson; serving on several vital committees. Frank has a B.A. in Liberal Arts and General Systems Theory from Stockton State College and a Masters Degree in Education at the University of Phoenix. He and his wife of 30 years have one son. They live in Paradise Valley, AZ.
 
Can you shed a little light on your new book Cyberkill?

Fans of Tom Clancy, James Patterson and Clive Cussler, would enjoy this twist on the Frankenstein myth. A brilliant programmer, Travis Cole, inadvertently creates “Dorian,” an artificial intelligence that lives on the Internet. After Cole attempts to terminate his creation, Dorian stalks his young daughter through cyberspace in an attempt to reach Cole to seek revenge. When cyber-terrorism events threaten the United States, they turn out to stem from the forsaken and bitter Dorian. In the final conflict, Dorian seeks to kill his creator – even if it has to destroy all of humanity to do it.The geographic locations, government and military installations and organizations, information warfare scenarios, artificial intelligence, robots, and the information and communications technology in this book all exist. As for SIRUS, pieces of the technology are either in existence or in the research and development stage.According to the Department of Defense, it doesn’t exist. The Fars News Agency of Iran reported otherwise.
 
How much research did you do when preparing to write Cyberkill?

The book was 10 years in the writing. Being a technology book and wanting to be exact as possible, I had to read technical manuals, papers, web sites, and R&D proposals then stretch what I had read into a plausible scenario.
 
Do you believe an author can research a topic to much when writing about it?

An author should research just as much as required to tell a believable story.
 
You recently found out that Cyberkill has been prepared as a screenplay. What’s the difference between writing a screenplay and a novel?

Quite a bit. Novels are filed with narrative and descriptions. Screenplays are 90% dialogue and only 10% description and that too is very sparse. Just enough to give the director a feel for place, setting and action.
 
Travis Cole is the main character in Cyberkill. What does this character mean to you and how did you develop this character?

He’s a lot like me. A driven person but in to short cuts. Those short cuts cause a lot of problems in CyberKill. For me, I hired a story polisher to take what I had written and punch it up to make it more professional. He was an accomplished novelist and did the job it would take me years to learn.
 
In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of writing science fiction?

CyberKill is not so much science fiction as it’s science speculation. In either case, believability is the key.
 
You have sold over 50,000 copies of your non-fiction books. What did it take for you to achieve this milestone?

Seriously, very little on the publisher’s part even though they were a big New York house. What made the books a success is that they were part of a recognizable series and recognized as such by readers.
 
Writing is a labor of love and hard work. What brings you the most enjoyment when writing your novels?

Their completion !! As Gloria Steinem once said, “I do not like to write – I like to have written.”
 
What advice can you give to new authors?

Write, write and write. Finish a book and go on to the next. Write as many as you can and don’t look back. There’s only one strategy in my opinion that makes a successful author- one who makes real money. Keep writing until one of your books hits it big. Then, readers will go back and buy your other books. Dan Brown is an excellent example of this.

What or who inspired you to write?

No one really. I decided to be a novelist in high school and wrote part of my first novel there. If anything inspires me to write, it’s watching movies.

Where can the readers pick up a copy of Cyberkill?

They can buy it at BookLocker.com. That’s my publisher. Or they can buy it at Amazon or B&N.

Would you like to share any closing thoughts?

Yes. As a writer you have to have a thick skin and you have to not give up. When I get a set back I pick myself up and move forward again. One’s success is in the future – not the past. The future is what you keep your eye on.