Gary F. Bengier's Blog

Dear friends,

Yes, we do need the movies. And the books. So we never forget.

During this week, that marks eighty years since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I read the articles in this month’s Atlantic Magazine reminding us of this seminal moment. The article by Tom Nichols, “Damn You All to Hell,” was particularly enlightening. (The line is from the first Planet of the Apes movie.) He describes teaching an undergraduate class in the late 2000s about the fall of the Soviet Union. None understood why anyone was afraid, as if to say, “What was the big deal?” And the reason became clear to him – growing up, they had not watched the movies. Those are movies such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, On the Beach, and Failsafe, and Dr. Strangelove. For those of us old enough who did, we felt viscerally the fear, realizing that poor decisions by unthinking leaders could end in tragedy for humanity. Nichols asks, is it possible to have a meaningful discussion about nuclear weapons without being a little afraid?

Nichols’ argument is the same thinking that led me to include, in Journey to 2125, the risk of wide-scale nuclear war as one of the greatest challenges facing humankind this century. And like the books and movies on that topic, I hope to make the question visceral and real, with characters you can relate to directly.

E.O. Wilson once said, “The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology.” We need to think carefully about how our technology is controlled, is released, and for the worst tech, is eliminated, to make it through these next hundred years.

I’m proud that Journey to 2125 just won the 2025 National Indie Excellence Award for Best Visionary Fiction. The audiobook for Journey to 2125 is now released on Spotify (with ten professional voice actors), and soon on Audible. Find it on Amazon and wherever you find books. I hope you will come along on this journey with me, Max, and his grandson and family.

Gary

More ab ut he book

The book vid eo trailer

The post Avoiding an Apocalypse appeared first on Chiliagon Press.

Dear friends,

I hope (if you celebrate it) that you had a happy Thanksgiving, and have begun the holiday season on a good note.

My new novel, Journey to 2125, is off to a great beginning after the launch on September 30th. The positive reviews are coming in. I've done numerous podcast interviews and book talks, including an author's table this month at the Santa Fe Institute.

If you haven't picked up a copy, you can find it here on Amazon. With the holidays upon us, consider it as a stocking stuffer gift for someone interested in a family saga, a political drama, and with an interest in thinking about the future. You can remind them that the novel received an Editors' Pick review from Publishers Weekly. I was especially happy to see the quote included, "You are here to save the planet." It's one of several important themes that bears shouting louder in the public conversation.

We live in interesting times, to say the least. I have hope for the present, and (guarded) optimism for the century ahead, as found in the book, if we all can work together to build the future that we wish.

Thank you for all the support! And thanks for following my journey. Happy holidays!

Gary

More ab ut he book

The book vid eo trailer

The post Stuff a stocking with a Journey appeared first on Chiliagon Press.

Dear friends,

I am gratified with the reception to my latest novel, Journey to 2125, which launched on September 30th.

First, it was a fine opening mark to receive an Editors Pick review from Publishers Weekly. See part of the review below. I was especially happy to see the quote included, "You are here to save the planet." It's one of several important themes that bears shouting louder in the public conversation.

It's been an exciting two weeks.  Over 35,000 folks have watched at least part of the book video trailer, with a majority watching half or more of the 90 seconds. There has been tremendous interest among book reviewers. Over 475 folks have clicked to read and review the book on NetGalley, with 22 reviews posted there already. Also signed up are 100 Goodreads reviewers, 55 Voracious Readers, and 20 Hidden Gems reviewers. We finished an online social media book tour with RR Book Tours, adding more book lovers. We have PR outreach through Farrow Communications. I've been interviewed on two radio programs to date, to discuss the book and the challenges ahead this century.

If you haven't yet had a chance to download the book, please do so. You can find it on Amazon here. If you enjoy it, I'd love even a short review, even a sentence, posted here.

Here are just a few of my favorite review comments so far:

"This book felt like a story my grandpa would tell me about our family. It felt hearing about family, about like home, in the future, and I loved every second of it."

"This book was absolutely amazing! Definitely did not expect to love it as much as I did."

"Loved this book. Absolutely loved it. I was blown away. Add it to the very top of your must be read list."

"This book hooked me from the very beginning."

"Although this is a science fiction story, it is also a family drama that spans over many years, crossing generational lines, and that is what grabbed my attention."

"The narrative spoke about relations with modern issues. It really makes you pause and think about our future society...There was lots of emotional depth that kept us engaged with the story. Definitely would recommend this book to my friends, 10 out of 10!!"

"Such a thought-provoking book!! Journey to 2125 explores so many of the concerns, hopes, worries, and dreams that we are all grasping with and trying to make sense of as a global society."

Thank you for all the support! And thanks for following my journey.

Gary

The post Journey to 2125 Released! appeared first on Chiliagon Press.

Dear friends,

Last November 30, 2022, the release of ChatGPT-3 by OpenAI  dramatically illuminated the new power of Large Learning Models (LLMs) and deep learning models generally. By January 2023, it had become what was then the fastest-growing consumer software application in history, gaining over 100 million users. A new 'AI wave' was launched. Since then, AI startups have raised billions of venture dollars, and now in October 2023 there already are 192 AI startups in San Francisco alone.

The future as imagined in my novel, Unfettered Journey, is arriving on schedule.

As an example of how fast AI technology is advancing, check out HeyGen (at a link by the same name), which generates realistic avatars with a few clicks. Here in less than five minutes I created an avatar who reads the opening scene from Unfettered Journey. Realize that this pictured woman is 'herself' not real - no such person exists, but rather, she is a computer construct.

Thanks for following my journey.

Gary

The post Advancing AI after the ChatGPT Moment appeared first on Gary F. Bengier.

Dear friends,

One other aspect of this writer’s journey is drawing to a close, as the results from the last book award competition (where my book was an entry) was announced. Unfettered Journey was the Winner in the Science Fiction category for the 2023 Book Excellence Awards.

I’m pleased that in total, Unfettered Journey has won fourteen minor book awards. Some of those are particularly gratifying, in particular the Eric Hoffer awards, in honor of that American philosopher, because my main objective has been to bring certain philosophical and spiritual ideas to the forefront. The Wishing Shelf awards from the UK are also well-respected and it is nice to be recognized outside the U.S. The National Indie Excellence Awards were also fun to receive, as a leading award for publishing outside the mainstream.

There now are lots of book awards, with varying levels of editorial review and independence, and it is difficult to sort through how noteworthy many are. That is also true among the book awards that the mainstream publishers have limited to their published books. We can name the major such awards – the Nobel Prize in Literature, the National Book Award, the Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize. The list continues, with names that less jump to mind. Yet how many awards go to books that readers truly remember and love? I think ultimately that is the test of a book’s worth. The true measure lies with our readers, always.

Thanks for following my journey.

Gary

The post Counting Minor Awards appeared first on Gary F. Bengier.

Dear friends,

As my writerly project draws to a close, let me send you a last note about this journey.

This weekend, I released Unfettered Journey in Russian, under the title СВОБОДНОЕ ПУТЕШЕСТВИЕ. Expect to see it on Ingram (for bookstores), Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and elsewhere soon.

Now, after pursuing these last stages of the project through the pandemic (final editing, book launch, and publishing and marketing a novel worldwide), it is time to move on from both COVID and book marketing. I’ll count a few successes – the book released in eight languages (plus British English), seven book awards, a sometimes appearance on best seller lists in the U.S. and four other countries, and thousands of copies distributed around the world.

Both the writer’s journey and the publishing journey have had steep learning curves. I got to know fellow writers through many writer’s conferences, which are a great way to deepen practical craft knowledge. It was humbling to work with a fine group of editors to hone the novel. (Your book draft is never as perfect as you imagine.) Another level of understanding about books is gained by writing one. I read everything now with a different eye, knowing “how the sausage is made.” I used my entrepreneurial skills to assemble a small team in several countries who helped edit, translate, design, promote and distribute the book. This is a tough business. For anyone thinking about becoming a writer, my advice is to not quit your day job. But if you love learning new skills, the writing trade is a teacher.

It was tremendous fun to engage with readers through podcasts, online discussions, and in person.  I believe that Unfettered Journey contains some important ideas, about navigating our near future in an ever-more technological world, and in finding meaning and purpose in our lives. That is a philosophical and spiritual journey. Most of all, I’ve loved all the reader reviews and comments, and the conversations about these themes. Thank you for all the support!

Thanks for following my journey.

Gary

The post An Eighth Language and Some Wrap-up Thoughts appeared first on Gary F. Bengier.

The week began with good news –Unfettered Journey has won its seventh book award, this one the Independent Press Award, as a winner in the category of Visionary Fiction. You can find the full list of book awards here, as well as the times that the novel has reached an Amazon Bestseller list (including minor lists). That has happened in the US and four other countries (Italy, Germany, Spain, and the UK). I’ve learned that the book market is fickle, and except perhaps for those by celebrities and big-name genre writers, few books stay on the lists long.

The week ended with the launch of my Japanese language edition. The Japanese title is 自由への 旅. It was interesting to struggle with the challenges of translating into a different character set. And what is my name in katakana (the phonetic of the three versions of Japanese writing), anyway?

The book project is winding toward its end. The last translation is Russian. My translator in Moscow, Dmitry, an academic, has had the proof layout copies in hand for a month, carefully reviewing for any small typos and line layout errors. Dmitry has obviously been distraught by the war, his life also affected, and he has asked for several extensions to finish. We shall see when the edition is ready. On the other side of the border, my book illustrator, Veronika, lives in Dnipro. I wrote her about her safety, and she responded earlier this week. Her husband will stay. She and their daughter may leave but for now are staying. She wrote, “Russian army is weak. I don't think they will make it to my city.” Perhaps overconfidence, but one cannot but admire the resilience.

Thanks for following my journey.

Gary

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We harvested the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from our vineyard this morning, to stay ahead of possible fire weather (as there are concerns about winds here in Napa, sparking fires in the still dry conditions). The season begins to change, and I continue to roll out translations of Unfettered Journey. The Brazilian Portuguese edition, Jornada Sem Limite, launched today.

As the book was loaded onto the publishing platforms (IngramSpark, Amazon, Smashwords), one entry stopped my progress – what about DRM (digital rights management) in Brazil? Need I worry about book piracy? A quick search suggested that piracy has been a challenge in Brazil for parts of the last two decades, with the US calling for more rigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights laws by the Brazilian government. Perhaps those efforts have had an effect. Another search unearthed studies of relative book piracy rates, and those now placed Brazil not worse than some European countries (including the UK and Spain). I opted to worry less about illegal copies of my book and to focus on the main objective: to encourage as many people as possible to read the book and to engage with the ideas.

Thanks for following my journey.

Gary

The post Brazilian Portuguese Translation Launch and DRM appeared first on Gary F. Bengier.

As the weather has a hint of fall and the grapes are close to harvest, I continue to roll out translations of Unfettered Journey. The Spanish edition, Un viaje sin confines, launched today.

The international acceptance is something of a mystery. This week the Italian edition, Un viaggio senza confini, briefly hit #1 on a minor Amazon bestseller list (religious fiction and fantasy), while also reaching #12 in the category of metaphysical and visionary fiction (‘‘metaficica e visionaria”), and #69 in science fiction adventures (“Avventure di fantascienza”). Is there some particular attraction in Italy to the book cover?

Now that foot traffic has returned to most bookstores, I am hoping to see the novel more in bricks-and-mortar locations. Four bookstores agreed to take it this past week, including the local Copperfield’s Books in Napa, a Books Inc. in San Francisco, and independent bookstores in Davis and Pasadena, California. And Dartfrog will distribute it to numerous bookstores in November.

Thanks for following my journey. It’s near football season, so enjoy your fall, and GO NINERS.

Gary

The post Spanish Launch and Italian Minor Bestseller appeared first on Gary F. Bengier.

The writing journey continues, and the German translation of Unfettered Journey launched today. With the release of Ins Ungewisse, there now are three translations in the market. While the international novels are relatively unknown with little publicity, I was delighted to see that yesterday the Italian edition, Un viaggio senza confini, briefly hit three bestseller lists on Amazon Italy.

Even better, these last months the effort to apply for several book awards began to pay off. (Note that Indie books are generally barred from participating in many of the top awards; the big publishers still control that game.) So far in 2021, Unfettered Journey has won SIX awards:

*** Eric Hoffer New Horizon Award (Best Debut Fiction) and
*** Grand Prize Shortlist
*** Eric Hoffer Book Award (Spiritual Fiction)
*** The Wishing Shelf (UK) Finalist (Adult Fiction)
*** National Indie Excellence Award Finalist (*** New Fiction, *** Science Fiction)

Thanks for following my journey. And I’m grateful for the 135 positive reviews. (If you haven’t left one, you can do so with a minute spent here.)

Gary

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