Monthly Archives: November 2014

November 24, 2014 · 7:31 pm

Sex War One

Three weeks before publication of my dystopian Sci-fi novel, “Sex War One,” on December 15th. Here’s the third segment of the award-winning short story, “The Monster,” which serves as the basis for the book. Available for preorders at “Sex War One” Kindle Edition & “Sex War One” Smashwords Edition for iBookstore, Sony, Kobo, B&N & more.

“It is not our fault that the Birth-Machine made a mistake,” said B.F., a member of an older generation of the colony-citizens. “There is a rule that specifically forbids us from keeping such a creature in our colony, not belonging to our advanced race. This error in judgment, indulgence even on D.L.’s part, will be discovered sooner or later. And we will all suffer for it.”
“It was our mistake, not the Birth-Machine’s mistake,” stated D.L.
“No. It was the mistake of the Birth-Machine!” retorted N.R., raising her voice louder than needed for the citizens to hear her clearly.
Quiet prevailed now. Only a faint, dull buzz could be heard, coming from somewhere deep underneath the floor.
“She is harmless and troubles no one. I take care of her all by myself,” said D.L., still calm and in control of his emotions.
“Exactly so,” said N.R. “You have it all to yourself, don’t you? We have no say or share in it. And you spend too much time with it, instead of devoting all your time and energy to the matters of the colony.”
“There have never been any complaints as to how I am performing my duties as your secretary. My free time is my own time.”
“But not if it’s in violation of the colony-rules. Not if your free ‘hobby’ can bring sickness to us all,” said Q.T., a woman who was sitting on N.R.’s right side. “This Monster carries within it a disease from days long past. A disease that can infect and kill us all!”
They all looked at D.L now. But he did not look back at them: his eyes were fixed on a small, brownish dot in the otherwise shiny gray plastic floor. He remembered how Z.Z. was born, and the huge commotion she had brought along with her. How he had taken responsibility for the mistake of the Birth-Machine, he remembered too, and how much time and effort he had invested in taking care of her and in raising her in the last eighteen colony-years. He remembered it all very well.
“What do you suggest, N.R.?” he asked.
“Destroy it, D.L., that’s what I suggest. Not inside the colony, of course, but outside. We cannot allow the Mother-Colony to find out about it.” And then, on second thought, N.R. added: “And bring us a proof of it being dead, too.”
She surveyed the citizens carefully, seeking approval from them, which she received, it seemed to D.L., from some – if not yet from most – of the assembled citizens. They either nodded their heads, or tapped their hands lightly on their knees. He noticed also, as silence continued, how S.O. was looking at him concerned. He thought of his friend K.G. and deliberated whether to call on him for support, asking him to join the assembly.

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Tagged as dystopia, Love, Revolution, science fiction, sex, sex war, speculative fiction, war

November 17, 2014 · 7:17 pm

Sex War One

Four weeks before the publication of my dystopian Sci-fi novel, “Sex War One,” on December 15th. Here’s the third segment of the award-winning short story, “The Monster,” which serves as the basis for the book. It is available for preorders at “Sex War One” Kindle Edition & “Sex War One” Smashwords Edition for iBookstore, Sony, Kobo, B&N & more.

She waited quietly now. The citizens followed her lead and stared at D.L., eagerly expecting him to react to this challenge. He did not, recognizing that more was to come his way, and wanting N.R. to get it all out in the open before he responded.
“Soon this Monster,” N.R. said as if granting his wish, “will walk among us in public places, attending our assemblies, visiting our Birth-Laboratory, and using our Film-Library. Who knows what next? Perhaps D.L. will offer her access to the Pleasure-Room, too. His association, his obsession even, with that creature is in complete violation of our colony-rules!”
She fell silent again and sucked on her nozzle, as if drawing not only liquid nourishment from it, but encouragement as well. A murmur of discontent swept through the group of assembled citizens. D.L.’s face remained impassive, disclosing no emotion.
“I would like to announce,” continued N.R., “that if this assembly will not pass a clear, unambiguous resolution to rid ourselves of this Monster, I will contact the Mother-Colony myself and file an official complaint. You must understand that this will bring about the immediate extermination of the Monster, as well as strict new measures and regulations imposed on our colony. That creature must disappear from here at once, as if it had never existed!”
She leaned back in her chair and looked around. Her last words, and the warning embedded in them, stirred an unusual commotion and excitement among the seated citizens. Still, those who spoke to each other did so in subdued voices.
“She is a living creature,” said S.O., another woman, “and the mistake of the Birth-Machine is our mistake, too. We obviously made an error somewhere along the birth production-line.” She paused now and looked straight at N.R. Her hand, as if unintentionally, smoothed her hair, which was a bit longer than that of N.R. and more golden in color.
“To get rid of her? To exterminate her?” S.O. asked rhetorically. “Such notion, such action has no place in our colony. Allow me to remind you that since the Great-Nuclear-War only the old die. And they die according to their own terms and free will. Let her live!” She concluded her words not with a loud voice, as N.R. had done, but nonetheless with clarity and aplomb.
D.L. saw that some of the citizens nodded their heads in agreement. He appreciated that, as well as the fact that S.O. had come to his aid, and to the defense of Z.Z.; or the Monster, as the citizens of the colony preferred to call her. S.O. was young, a member of the last graduating tier. It demanded courage, and wisdom beyond her short colony-years, to say what she had just said.

fact that S.O. had come to his aid, and to the defense of Z.Z.; or the Monster, as the citizens of the colony preferred to call her. S.O. was young, a member of the last graduating tier. It demanded courage, and wisdom beyond her short colony-years, to say what she had just said.

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Tagged as Love, Revolution, science fiction, sex, sex war, speculative fiction

November 10, 2014 · 7:49 pm

Sex War One

The award-winning short story, “The Monster,” serves as the basis for my upcoming dystopian Sci-fi novel, “Sex War One,” to be published December 15th. The book is available for preorders at “Sex War One” for Kindle Edition & “Sex War One” for Smash- words Edition: iBookstore, Sony, Kobo, B&N & more.

Here’s the second segment (first was posted here September 15th):
He briefly surveyed all those gathered in the hall, women and men who looked amazingly similar to one another. A stranger from a strange land, should he happen to be present, would find it difficult to distinguish among them. Female or male, young or old, pleasing to the eye or not – it did not matter, as they all looked so similar. But D.L. was no stranger: he recognized them all and knew very well who was who, even when their individual blue eyes felt – as was the case now, staring straight at him – as if they uniformly belonged to a single, collective body.
“There is no need,” he calmly said, “to specify the reason for this urgently called assembly. I suppose you are all aware of it. But there is a need to stress that it is unnecessary, and exceeds our quota for the monthly gatherings allowed. It adds nothing of value to our normal, well-managed way of life here in the colony. You, colony- citizens, will have to decide on the matter. I ask you to decide correctly.”
Opposite him, one of the citizens was preparing to speak, first drinking some solution from the thin nozzle affixed to her armrest. That citizen’s hair was cut short, shorter than that of most of the citizens gathered in the hall, its color platinum blond. When that citizen straightened up in the chair, small feminine breasts and remnants of delicate body curves hinted that she was, indeed, a woman.
“There is a need,” she emphasized, “in our assembly at this time. An urgent need, as a matter of fact, to rid ourselves of the Monster. You need to exterminate her, D.L., once and for all. Erase her from our collective memory. It is inconceivable that such ugliness will be permitted to exist among us any longer!”
Her name was N.R., but there was no need for an introduction. All the colony-citizens assembled in the hall knew each other very well. And like D.L., they were aware also that it was due to N.R.’s unwavering insistence that this urgent, unscheduled meeting was now in progress.
“Since the bizarre, and still unexplained mistake of the Birth-Machine,” she continued, “we tolerate among us the presence of this shapeless, brainless creature that serves no purpose whatsoever. Other than…” she paused momentarily, no doubt in order to increase the dramatic effect of the words to come. “Other than the private, personal pet of Citizen D.L.”

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Tagged as dystopia, Revolution, science fiction, sex, sex war, speculative fiction

November 4, 2014 · 8:30 pm

The Third Man and Me

My piece, a personal reflection — “The Third Man and Me: A Halloween Tradition” — is posted on Moment Magazine Online. Here’s a taste of it: “My love affair with The Third Man began many years ago. It was a sunny, hot summer day in Tel Aviv, and the cool and darkness of the small art-deco cinema theater – I believe it was the Paris Cinema Theater, creaking wooden chairs and all – was too tempting to resist, even if the advertised film was an old black and white film, a British-American collaborative effort. I was a fresh film student then in a small, off-Dizengoff Street private school, taught exclusively by an old, grumpy Jewish émigré professor from Poland. According to the legend percolating in the city’s sidewalk cafés, he had thought Roman Polanski the alphabet of filmmaking, which made a big impression on me. I was all into the “auteur theory” of cinema back then, looking down on anything that did not come from Italian or French directors. Yet something in that film’s title, the premise of the two film stars of Citizen Kane going at it again, and the allure of the beautiful, sad-eyed woman between them in the poster, attracted my attention and curiosity.”