Tag Archives: Adolphus Writer

A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation by Adolphus Writer — An Excerpt

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A Digital Carol cover (quarter scale) - copyright, all rights reservedA Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation is the old Dickens’s favorite—A Christmas Carol—reimagined. No longer do we read a tale of a mean miser who, through sorrowful experiences, becomes kindly. We now face a monstrous egotist who teeters between damnation and redemption.

Mandated Memoranda’s third eBook, A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation was first available November 2014. This speculative fiction story’s goal is not to inspire a more joyous holiday or a more generous spirit, but to question the very premise of our existence. Are we too far into the dark night of the soul for anything but drastic measures?

Click here to read an excerpt. Learn More about A Digital Carol on Amazon’s landing page.

WSBG Cover Reveal

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Who Shall Be God is a fictional account of the struggles between two families, the Stadists and the Libertas, who live in an east coast US city, north and south of the 38th parallel, respectively. Mandated Memoranda Publishing will release it on Amazon in late 2015 or early 2016.

Cincinnata Stadist is a central figure whom we experience as a rough and tumble seven-year old growing up through her teen years into a young adult. She witnesses much more than she can appreciate at the time. What will become of her?

Her father and mother arrive in town under clouded circumstances, already on a downward slide they cannot reverse. The Libertas arrive soon after, they’re risk-takers who create unique opportunities. Both families get embroiled in the town’s politics. Who wins, who loses?

Always in the background, making things happen. Feared by those who do his bidding. Respected by those who serve the town and despised by those who serve themselves. Everyone wonders what this mysterious man, Joshua, is up to. Is he responsible for what goes on in the town?

One of the novel’s thematic undercurrents follows from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 57, verses 1-2 and 20-21:

The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart;

Devout men are taken away, while no one understands.

For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace;

They rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness…

“…But the wicked are like the tossing sea;

For it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.

There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

The cover is not finished, this is only a mock-up. The foreground characters and scenery need a lot of work. We thank all those who commented on the cover concept. Look for Mandated Memoranda Publishing’s logo in the book’s back matter.

At the moment, we’re studying how to be better story tellers. We’re also doing the research required to define our story’s milieu. Plotting work starts soon. We want this to be our best effort yet.

In the face of ten-cent per page books, Mandated Memoranda Publishing intends to sell this book at one or two cents per page. We hope Who Shall Be God accomplishes the goals for which it is offered to you, our dear readers.

WSBG cover

Who Shall Be God Cover – Quarter Scale Mock-up
Copyright 2015-2016 – All Rights Reserved

A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation – Candidate Press Release

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Mandated Memoranda Publishing Announces Fourth Book

 A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation, By Adolphus Writer, Exclusively on Amazon as a Kindle Edition, a Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC release.

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Dec. 20, 2014 /PR Company TBD/ — A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation is the old Dickens’s favorite—A Christmas Carol—reimagined. We now face a monstrous egotist who questions the very premise of his existence and ours.

ADC Cover

A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation, by Adolphus Writer, 2014 Copyright, All Rights Reserved

We no longer believe in ghosts, do we? I thought not. But we invest our time and attention in the promise of virtual reality for entertainment and, as some might wish it, our evolutionary destiny. Of course, this is only the latest manifestation of our desire to create our own heaven, on our own terms, here on earth.

A Digital Carol is Dickens’s A Christmas Carol retold with new forms and modern perspectives. No longer do we read a tale of a mean miser who, through sorrowful experiences, becomes kindly. We now face a monstrous egotist who teeters between damnation and redemption.

This speculative fiction story’s goal is not to inspire a more joyous holiday or a more generous spirit, but to question the very premise of our existence. Are we too far into the dark night of the soul for anything but drastic measures?

Quotes

“No one anticipated the unfortunate events that have taken place, sir. They would rather die than subject their families to these horrors.”—Solicitor for community charity

“Perhaps it’s best that they do die. It reduces the surplus population. We have no need of them all anymore. Not one of them. Worldwide.”—Eli Benjamin Ezer (aka E. Ben. Ezer)

Review

“Writer’s (Tragic Wonders, 2013…) novella reimagines Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as a cautionary sci-fi tale…Writer’s interpretation is an intriguing retelling, as it does much more than merely change the classic tale’s setting and style.” —Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Adolphus Writer holds a doctorate in theoretical physics. After he graduated, he took a job at a large US defense firm applying his creative and analytical skills to pressing problems. He married Ninja (NEEN–yuh) S. Writer after she completed her service with the German Federal Defense forces.

During the economic downturn spanning the first and second decades of the twenty–first century, his job was eliminated and he was terminated. In early 2012, Adolphus established Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC as a way to support the lifestyle to which he and his family had become accustomed. He says they like to eat on a daily basis and stay debt–free.

About the Publisher

Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC published Tiānmìng – Mandate of Heaven as a Kindle edition in June 2013. It is an everyman’s spy adventure – a reluctant journalist’s tale of economic calamity, geologic catastrophe, geopolitical power shifts, and the beginnings of a hands–on surveillance state.

Our second Kindle Edition is Tragic Wonders – Stories, Poems, and Essays to Ponder which presents faith in Christ as a plausible alternative through brief narratives of realism, thriller, and science fiction. It was published on Amazon in December 2013.

Our upcoming fourth Kindle edition, Who Shall Be God, is a fictional account of the struggles between two families, the Stadists and the Libertas, who live in an east coast US city, north and south of the 38th parallel, respectively. It will be published on Amazon in late 2015 or early 2016.

We plan to release a fifth Kindle edition in late 2016 or early 2017. The working title for this book is China Dream. The book’s still in process, as is the dream itself. However, could the dream tragically turn into a nightmare instead?

Book details

A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation

By Adolphus Writer

amazon.com/dp/B00PVFS5AQ

Genre: science fiction, Christian futuristic

1st edition, released November 19, 2014

By Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC

Exclusively as an Amazon Kindle Edition

ASIN: B00PVFS5AQ

ISBN: 978-0-9855327-2-7

Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited

90 pages (estimated)

Connect with us online

On Twitter (@AdolphusWriter)

On Amazon (Inside the Book available)

On Google+

On Facebook

On Goodreads (Excerpt available)

On Booklife

Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC

mandatedmemorandainquiry at outlook dot com

A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation – Professionally Reviewed by Kirkus Indie

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At Kirkus Reviews’s 35% fair use limit, here’s what Kirkus Indie thought of A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation.

A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation

by Adolphus Writer

KIRKUS REVIEW

A Digital Carol cover (quarter scale) - copyright, all rights reservedWriter’s (Tragic Wonders, 2013, etc.) novella reimagines Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as a cautionary sci-fi tale.

In this 21st century recasting of the classic story, E. Ben Ezer fills the role of the iconic Ebenezer Scrooge. He’s a callous businessman in the not-too-distant future, who, in his quest for wealth, has replaced almost his entire staff with a sophisticated autonomous computer network. Ezer’s greed extends far beyond mere wealth, however; he’s looking to transcend his current position and become something of a godlike figure. While working late one night, Ezer confronts the image of his former business partner emanating from his computer screen. Unfazed, Ezer decides to try out his company’s experimental virtual reality suit, and the apparition soon leads him through his past, present and future.

Read the entire review

We expected a fair to middlin’ review and that’s what we’ve got. We’ll work on our prose next time around.

Based on Amazon’s editorial review policies and Kirkus Reviews excerpt guidelines, we’ll use:

“Writer’s (Tragic Wonders, 2013…) novella reimagines Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as a cautionary sci-fi tale.” —Kirkus Reviews

and

“Writer’s interpretation is an intriguing retelling…it does much more than merely change the classic tale’s setting and style.” —Kirkus Reviews

Both excerpts fit Twitter and Goodreads self-serve ad character count limits.

If you are interested in reading the $0.99 story for yourself:

A Digital Carol – A Tale for Our Generation

By Adolphus Writer

amazon.com/dp/B00PVFS5AQ

Genre: science fiction, Christian futuristic

1st edition, released November 19, 2014

By Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC

Exclusively as an Amazon Kindle Edition

ASIN: B00PVFS5AQ

ISBN: 978-0-9855327-2-7

Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited

90 pages (estimated)

Humans Need Not Apply – YouTube Video — A Commentary

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I spotted this YouTube video: Humans Need Not Apply by CGP Grey (15 minutes duration) that seems particularly relevant to our times. It’s coming if we don’t pull the plug. Will we be prepared to face the consequences humanely as individuals, a society, or a global community?

We, at Mandated Memoranda are preparing for our second round of collaborative editing of A Digital Carol. Our preface and blurb reads:

We no longer believe in ghosts, do we? I thought not. But we invest our time and attention in the promise of virtual reality for entertainment and, as some might wish it, our evolutionary destiny. Of course, this is only the latest manifestation of our desire to create our own heaven, on our own terms, here on earth.

A Digital Carol is Dickens’s A Christmas Carol retold with new forms and modern perspectives. No longer do we read a tale of a mean miser who, through sorrowful experiences, becomes kindly. We now face a monstrous egotist who teeters between damnation and redemption.

This story’s goal is not to inspire a more joyous holiday or a more generous spirit, but to question the very premise of our existence. We are too late into the dark night of the soul for anything but drastic measures.

Thank you for your forbearance with us at this time.

Tragic Wonders – Stories, Poems, and Essays to Ponder Press Release

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Mandated Memoranda Publishing Announces Second Book

Tragic Wonders – Stories, Poems, and Essays to Ponder, Edited by Ninja and Adolphus Writer, Exclusively on Amazon as a Kindle Edition, a Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC release.

Tragic Wonders - Stories, Poems, and Essays to Ponder cover image

Tragic Wonders – Stories, Poems, and Essays to Ponder, Edited by Ninja and Adolphus Writer, Exclusively on Amazon as a Kindle Edition, a Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC release. (PRNewsFoto / Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC)

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Dec. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — We all love to be entertained. But, what if that entertainment has other ideas? We asked our pseudonymous authors to write stories, poems, and essays of tragedy and wonder that delve into our souls’ deepest fears and needs.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131230/MN38815)

In the short stories, you’ll meet a serial killer, alien snails, a petulant eleven–year–old, a beloved astronaut, a laid–off worker, and many others. Two poems provide a transition from fiction to opinion. The essays castigate, decry, praise, and skewer our personal, local, national, world, and cosmic conditions.

These writings are meant to engage readers in a reality that we all deny daily, whether we profess faith in Christ, are ambivalent, or are hostilely opposed to religion.

What if this world we live in is set up as a diabolical trap meant to prevent us from seeing that which is truly necessary? The anthology focuses on themes, situations, and emotions that are tragic, full of wonder, or, combined in some way, both.

We hope you’ll suspend your disbelief and consider the possibility that there is a way out of the trap in which we find ourselves. And that way doesn’t involve choosing between two different color pills.

Quote

“Maybe there’s a message in what great scholars once called futility or vanity? Perhaps there’s only one thing truly necessary.”—Karen Monteverde

Review

This isn’t an easy read, but it is a rewarding one, as the stories are crafted with great care. All in all, if you are the kind of reader who likes to have their own assumptions on how reality truly exists questioned by the written word, then this is sure to be an enjoyable book for you. –Red City Review, November 23, 2013

About the editors

Ninja (NEEN–yuh) S. Writer was born in Wolfsburg, West Germany. She majored in political science with a minor in mechanical engineering and volunteered for the Bundeswehr in 1994 when she learned a woman had attained the rank of general. She and Adolphus met while he was traveling in Germany. They married when she moved to the United States after completing her military service.

Adolphus Writer holds a doctorate in theoretical physics. After he graduated, he travelled to Europe, the Middle East, and Far East. Upon his return, he took a job at a large US defense firm applying his creative and analytical skills to pressing problems. He and Ninja corresponded extensively prior to their engagement.

In early 2012, Adolphus established Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC as a way to support the lifestyle to which he and his family had become accustomed. He says they like to eat on a daily basis and stay debt–free.

About the publisher

Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC published Tiānmìng – Mandate of Heaven as a Kindle edition in June 2013. It is an everyman’s spy adventure – a reluctant journalist’s tale of economic calamity, geologic catastrophe, geopolitical power shifts, and the beginnings of a hands–on surveillance state.

We plan to release a third Kindle edition, Who Shall Be God, a fictional account of the struggles between two families, the Stadists and the Libertas, who live in an east coast US city, north and south of the 38th parallel, respectively. Expect it on Amazon’s shelves in 2014 by the fall.

Book four, A Digital Carol, is a reimagining of the old Dickens’ favorite for a future generation. We are targeting it for Christmas, 2014. The working title for book five is China Dream. It’s still in process, as is the dream itself.

Book Details

Tragic Wonders – Stories, Poems, and Essays to Ponder

Edited by Ninja and Adolphus Writer

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HI79VE4

Anthology: realism, thriller, science fiction

1st edition, released December 15, 2013

By Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC

Exclusively as an Amazon Kindle Edition

ASIN: B00HI79VE4

ISBN: 978-0-9855327-1-0

Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited

150 pages (estimated)

More Details Online

On Goodreads

On Shelfari

Adolphus Writer (@AdolphusWriter)

Ninja S. Writer (@NinjaSWriter)

Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC

mandatedmemorandainquiry at outlook.com

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SOURCE Mandated Memoranda Publishing, LLC

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Red City Review for Tragic Wonders

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Tragic Wonders by Ninja and Adolphus Writer

RCR 4 Stars

Tragic Wonders 1 by 1_6 quarter scaleTragic Wonders, edited by Ninja and Adolphus Writer is a collection of short stories, essays and poems that ponders over the difficult notions that life so often delivers to us. The words written on the page deal with situations which put the characters in distressing circumstances, often forcing them to face their deepest fears in order to overcome the problems at hand. This book causes the reader to evaluate how they view themselves and the world around them through these collected narratives. The title is fitting for the elements that make up this book, as most of the stories combine both components of wonder and tragedy. Through twenty-one stories, two poems, and eighteen essays, the voices of all of the contributors collide in one massive heap, resulting in a delectable conversation about how things are, and if there is any real way to change how things are meant to be.

This is not your average book, as the stories and essays contained within vary a great deal in tone and theme. Nevertheless, the overall messages of trying to search for meaning, and going out into the unknown to find something more than what has already been discovered here on Earth, permeate the words that are constructed delicately on every page. The two poems that are sandwiched between the beginning section of fiction, and the ending portion of writers’ opinions are reflective points, which balance the collection nicely. This isn’t an easy read, but it is a rewarding one, as the stories are crafted with great care. All in all, if you are the kind of reader who likes to have their own assumptions on how reality truly exists questioned by the written word, then this is sure to be an enjoyable book for you.

This title has not yet been released, check for it soon!

(Reviewed November 23, 2013 by Red City Review, used by permission.)

Red City Review for Tianming – Mandate of Heaven

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Tiānmìng – Mandate of Heaven by Adolphus Writer and Nomi Smith

Four Stars

Tianming CoverIn the not too distant future, the world is falling apart at the seams, which is depicted in the political thriller, ‘Tiānmìng – Mandate of Heaven’ by Adolphus Writer and Nomi T. Smith. This fast paced novel tells the story of Michael Babbage, a freelance reporter who is hired to document and analyze what is happening to the civilization of man. Between the political conflicts that have arisen and the natural disasters that are destroying the balance of society, there is not much to hope for besides an alternative to the failing situation at hand. The United States is a nation at unrest, but due to the strong will of President Moses Orestes, he refuses to let his people give up on the nation that he cares about so dearly. When Yellowstone erupts, half of the United States population has to move to Canada, while elsewhere in the world weak governments are taking advantage of the fact that other formerly powerful states are falling apart. Nuclear explosions are also reshaping the Asian continent, as Michael strives on to find answers on how to stop the ongoing calamity from continuing.

It is clear due to the complexities of this book that a lot of work was put into the creation of this story. Not only is it thought-provoking, but the characters and the situations that they are thrust into are a joy to read. The descriptions of the United States falling apart alone are very chilling, but to think of our entire world failing so helplessly during such an unmanageable point in time is rather frightening. The characters are all well-developed and by the end of the narrative things start to weave together in a pleasing and surprising manner. Although the natural disasters that occur seem a little bit farfetched, the reactions to them and the other manmade fiascos are plausible, given the other conditions that are occurring. Michael is a very likeable character, someone who the reader will be rooting for as he tries to figure out what is going on in this very unstable predicament that Earth has found itself in. (Reviewed September 19, 2013 by Red City Review, used by permission.)

To purchase a copy of Tiānmìng – Mandate of Heaven, click here to find it on Amazon.