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Challenging Myself and Readers
Disconnected is a genre-blending collection of speculative stories, surreal sketches, poems, and philosophical reflections exploring identity, loneliness, belief, technology, political power, and the search for belonging. What inspired you to create this collection?
There were two main sources of inspiration. Firstly, I had just joined a band with a couple of mates. I wanted to write lyrics for songs; taking most of my inspiration from John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band and Imagine Album’s. This is the main reason for the more political poems and some of the more intimate poems. Why I wanted to write lyrics, I’m still not sure. It was a compulsion of sorts. Some unknown force was driving me to write. Secondly, Kafka and Pessoa. When I first discovered Franz Kafka and Fernando Pessoa as writers, they blew my mind. These two persons were effectively nobodies in their time but they had such great insight into society through social observation. I found instant relatability and attraction in their work; I wanted to emulate it. From these two sources of inspiration, I set out to challenge myself into exploring society through various angles, asking questions about everything and allowing the reader to think for themselves about the answers.
Why is loneliness such a persistent concern throughout the collection?
I don’t think It was ever the intention to write about Loneliness, it just happened as a result of what I was trying to achieve. I wanted to question society from various angles. This often meant writing characters as outsiders who were able to question the society they were placed in. Although it can also be said, I am a lonely individual. I am sad and lonely, Like Kafka and Like Pessoa, this came through in my work whether I intended it or not.
How important are recurring characters and ideas to the architecture of Disconnected?
I would argue they make up the backbone of Disconnected. It might be a collection of fragmented stories, poems and dreams but I do feel It is one book. Disconnected not unconnected. That is there is a wholeness to it. Like most of the characters being Disconnected from the worlds around them as outsiders. The book is itself disconnected from itself. This is first established in From Emit to Time, which sets up the idea that things might not necessarily be in order. I wanted to use this broken/disconnected structure to emphasize the broken nature of the characters’ minds and their disconnect from society in a more unique manner.
What are you working on now, and how might it build on the ideas explored in this collection?
Since writing Disconnected, I have completed a sequel, Heads & Tales, which will also be published with Atmosphere Press on October 20th, 2026. The Sequel explores the same themes as Disconnected but in a more grounded manner. It’s darker and explores the political systems and stages that cause the very disconnect in Disconnected through the life of Charlie Braeburn.
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Facebook
This anthology of short stories, nonsense poetry, and surreal social critiques explores isolation, identity, and the tyranny of time in worlds both magical and unsettling. Meet Chronos, the dictator of time, whose rigid ideology is challenged only by the imagination. Follow Mr. Preston, a man who literally becomes mist; Connor, a musician driven to madness by forces beyond control; and Charlie Braeburn, whose desperate search for connection transforms him forever.
From a dystopian collective consciousness to a city of discarded elders, these tales skew reality with biting humor, melancholy, and uncanny twists. Disconnected is a celebration of dreams, rebellion, and the strange poetry of human existence—a collection that reminds us that sometimes the only escape from the circus of life is through stories themselves.
Disconnected
Vivian Herkes’s Disconnected brings together speculative stories, surreal sketches, poems, and philosophical reflections about people trying to find a place in the world. Time, identity, loneliness, belief, technology, and political power recur throughout the book, giving its varied pieces a common center. Images of mist, clouds, masks, mirrors, and driftwood turn disconnection into something almost physical. The result feels like a tour through one restless imagination, with ideas and characters resurfacing in unexpected forms.
The short fiction contains the collection’s most developed ideas. “The Old Skoolgie” imagines a future collective consciousness that offers companionship at the cost of individuality, while “The Ghettold” follows a young man into a city where elderly people have been segregated and abandoned. “Faceless” is especially important because it connects Charlie Braeburn to the mysterious Mr. Preston from an earlier story, revealing how a desire to understand everyone can erode a person’s own identity. Herkes often builds these stories like fables, using grotesque twists, dark jokes, and literalized metaphors to examine isolation and institutional cruelty.
The poems give the book a more intimate feel. Pieces such as “For My Friend with Depression,” “Ghost,” and “Uncertainty” speak openly about affection, grief, insecurity, and the fear of losing oneself. Others, including “The Notion of I, in the Nation of We” and “Hell Is a Circus,” turn toward class, nationalism, violence, and political manipulation. The language is energetic and deliberately repetitive, with rhymes and recurring images creating the sensation of thoughts circling inside an anxious mind. Herkes’s hand-drawn illustrations complement that personal, homemade quality, while the self-satirizing “A Critical Review” shows an author willing to place his own doubts inside the collection.
The collection can be blunt, funny, tender, and disturbing, sometimes within the same piece. That emotional volatility suits a book concerned with minds that won’t remain comfortably settled. I’d recommend it most to readers who enjoy experimental small-press writing, speculative social satire, surreal fables, and poetry that values candor over polish. It’ll also speak to anyone interested in how loneliness shapes identity, or how the longing to belong can make individuals vulnerable to lovers, communities, ideologies, and technologies promising connection.
Pages: 101 | ASIN : B0HCT9VZNN
The Gift in Gratitude
K P Weaver’s The Gift in Gratitude will make you find new meaning in life and appreciate the little things the universe offers. The author has extensively written about gratitude as a virtue, dealing with successes and failures, and how human beings process thankfulness. Does gratitude have a formula? The author writes about the formula of gratitude, which may appear simple but, in reality, has its complexities. K P Weaver describes a winning gratitude formula as gratitude plus emotion bundled together with focused intentions and aligned action. The tone applied by the author throughout the book is affirmative and encouraging. K P Weaver uses moving words that get the reader in the moment and makes one reflect on how they show gratitude to themselves, others, and the universe in general.
K P Weaver is an excellent author and does not complicate the text in the book; rather, she uses words and phrases that are easy to digest. K P weaver also discusses finding joy, which was one of my favorite parts of the book. The author encourages readers to prioritize joy as much as possible. The world we are living in can be depressing, and as an individual, it is your duty to look for ways of making yourself happy without external input. K P Weaver will get you to focus on the constructive aspects of your life and be contented with what you have. The text in the book is simply transformational.
The use of diagrams in the book is praiseworthy. The author uses charts and figures when she wants to explain a difficult subject in the most simple of ways. K P Weaver’s diction and sentence structure are other astounding elements of her writing. The various topics tackled in the book are helpful to the reader as an individual and valuable to society. The author is making everyone ponder on ways of showing gratitude and the impact it has on souls.
Some of the most remarkable topics in the book for me were gratitude and money, the science of gratitude, grateful parenting and relationships, gratitude in business, being grateful even when you are not feeling it, and finding gratitude in procrastination. Each of these chapters was exceptionally written, with life-changing content. I like how the author ended the book with gratitude through moving stories. This section of the book is significant and even more intriguing as she tells personal stories from different people to make the point home.
The major takeaway from ‘The Gift in Gratitude’ is that showing gratitude and being appreciative will bring you joy, happiness, and fulfillment. To summarize, the book, The Gift in Gratitude, can be described as perceptive and heartwarming. The stellar writing displayed by the author is one of the many excellent things about this book.
Pages: 154 | ISBN : 978-0-6455205-8-3
How I Escaped From Bloody Hell
How I Escaped Bloody Hell: X-ploring Freedom is unlike anything I have ever read. This book provides an in-depth view of the universe and reality, as Mary LaForge sees it, and really makes the reader think about their own life. For example, LaForge discusses how glitches result in things getting “birthed,” in the sense that energy/vibration expels any type of irritation and in that process causes something to get expelled. I thought that whole concept was interesting as it provided a different way to view a glitch, which in many cases is considered negative. In this case however, it was made to seem like a glitch could just be the beginning of something new, which I appreciated.
The author also discusses humans and the nature of humanity in a lucid language that makes things easy to understand. The book expounds on the ways that we might be products of mechanical nature, meaning that as we grow we are influenced and mature based on our environment, however no matter how much we try to mimic God, we will never reach that point. Not only was this simply a reality check but it’s a weirdly calming way to view reality.
Overall How I Escaped Bloody Hell: X-ploring Freedom was a quick read that analyzes and interprets the universe and its intricacies in a unique way that seems hard to understand on the surface, but Mary LaForge provides ample examples to get her point across so anyone can understand. I definitely think that this is a good read for anyone who wants to be exposed to different perspectives on the universe itself and how humans interact with it all!
Pages: 54 | ISBN: 164719248X
What Thinking Means
The Rise And Ruin Of Logic helps readers figure out the various ways to be at one with life’s characters. Why was this an important book for you to write?
This book was very important for me to write simple because people have become so confused about the idea of the mind. I suffered from the same confusion most of my searching life. I thought to myself that if I could bring clarity to the ‘mind” then I may be able to help others who felt the same.The mind is such a vast and controversial topic that I wanted to add my version about the mind and what thinking means as well as understand that we cannot banish the mind, hence the character “Thought” found in the birth from Nothingness chapter.
What were some themes you felt were important to capture in this book?
Understanding all the characters depicted in my works. I would say the practical review chapter about all the characters is the important part of my work.
I felt like this book gave me a different perspective on life. What do you feel is a common misconception people have about life?
I think a common misconception people have about life in terms of my genre and what I write about: is that many people think they need to empty the mind, stop the mind, cease thinking, etc. Everything about the “new age” has been brewed into one massive pot that has led to so much confusion.
What do you hope is one thing people take away from your book?
My hope that people can take from my book is to make peace with themselves about the topic of spirituality. That is primarily what motivated me to write this book, hence my characters from Wisdom to Body and all of them in between. This has been my effort to organise the human make up. While some people follow only the heart and others, Logic, I have tried to give equal credit to all the characters. It is all about balance.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
I am “Thought” the adventurer
Let me tell you a tale about your birth…
Long ago, in a thorough search for more, Logic the separatist broke away from his roots and gave birth to his own children of madness. As Thought lays the foundation, Logic the capitalist begins to Rise and Rule. Hence, the beginning of the here and now.
We have lost our guide while many have turned to spirituality; the big business hoax to reclaim themselves only to find how crippled they are. Hence, it is “Time to fire the Guru.”
Have you ever felt that there was more to life than the 2D images we’re used to seeing? Well, there is. Life is full of colourful 3D characters like Logic, Thought, Fantasy, and Emotions.
This book is also about Greed, Logic the planner and soul destroyer, money, holy phantasmagoria and crass materialism.
What these characters do is to form a synergy, working together like a well-oiled machine to ensure that our lives go smoothly.
Ready to get in touch with them? You’re in luck because I can help you do so! There’s no need to make drastic changes to realise your potential; all that’s required is patience, willingness, and commitment to make the necessary changes. You needn’t feel bad if getting to your desired endpoint takes more time than you’ve budgeted for, simply go one step at a time, and you’ll amaze yourself with your level of measurable progress in no time!
Awareness is the ultimate form of recognising all things around us. It helps us review all that we’ve done, and also shows us new ways to improve our states.
This book will help you figure out all the various ways to be at one with all of life’s characters because that’s the sure-fire way to discover yourself and live a stress-free existence. It’s only when you’re conscious of yourself that you’re able to see the world for what it is, and not what society has painted for us.
With the aid of this manual, you’ll be able to embrace every part of your life and not just the ones you like. We wouldn’t be at peace if we didn’t at least try.
In summary, this book is: Food for thought and a captivating story about the birth of attitudes. Sit down, enjoy a good read, and be radically transformed.
Blessed Beyond Measure
![Blessed Beyond Measure: Getting back to the Basic of what we were called to be by [K. Denise McQueen]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51UJqmN0gXL.jpg)
There are many life lessons to be learned from the Holy Bible and messages readers and believers can apply to their most trying situations. From relationships to remaining faithful believers in Christianity, the Bible can sometimes be difficult to interpret, and some passages have as many interpretations as they have readers. Blessed Beyond Measure, by K. Denise McQueen, is one woman’s work based on scripture and life experience. From being virtuous to having a forgiving spirit, McQueen covers a vast array of life’s dilemmas head-on and with scripture in mind.
Blessed Beyond Measure, by K. Denise McQueen, is filled with quotes from the Bible as well as quotes from inspirational speakers like former President Barack Obama. In each of McQueen’s chapters, she tackles an ethical dilemma or an aspect of relationships based on scripture and adds her own opinions throughout. Though I don’t agree with some of her thoughts on making sure the man is the one making decisions in the household, she does make some valid points about self-worth and being humble.
I was expecting a book rooted in the Bible and focused on general life advice but found this to be more of a text designed to advise women in their relationships. Peppered throughout the book is valuable commentary on self-respect, how to treat others, and how to live a life with purpose. The bulk of the book is centered on the choices one must make in order to begin a romantic relationship and how to maintain a strong marriage.
With a few organizational and grammatical issues aside, I think that Blessed Beyond Measure has strong messages that come from the heart, each of them valuable in different ways and K. Denise McQueen’s passion for life and faith shines through every chapter. This is an inspirational book that motivates readers to live a God first life.
Pages: 90 | ASIN: B07C33V2Z4
The Demolition of Democracy: Has America Lost Its Soul
![The Demolition of Democracy: Has America Lost Its Soul by [Ted Bagley]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41nRTcfrDnL.jpg)
The Demolition of Democracy is a compelling analysis of the policies and the behavior of the Trump administration and how they are destroying the democratic foundation of the United States. Ted Bagley has written this book as an attempt to get people to realize that it does matter who we choose to lead our country. This book delivers a clear perspective on the current state of the U.S. government and Ted Bagley does not sugar coat his words. The author seeks to open the reader’s eyes to the realities we live in today, and open them he does.
Ted Bagley shines a light on all the issues the country and world are facing. He fearlessly reviews and examines the broken-down of our political and judicial system and the absence of democracy in the country. The Demolition of Democracy takes a good look at the people at the top and the general climate of the country they operate in. This book makes it clear that the United States of America has been going through a dark period with less than proper leadership. Issues like racism and prejudice have become staples of the administration. Ted Bagley states his stance clearly, unequivocally, and with reverence.
This book is not for people who are easily offended as it can be viewed as aggressive, but I choose to see it as passionate. The Demolition of Democracy is a hard hitting book that investigates and diagnosis the political problems facing Americans.
Pages: 262 | ASIN: B07W8MJ1P2
The Rise And Ruin Of Logic
![The Rise and Ruin Of Logic by [John Lindhjem]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/511EPpX8-ZL.jpg)
Often people lose faith because life takes too long to get sorted out. This is how people end up giving up too early. Success requires patience and commitment as well as willingness to change whatever needs to change. The Rise and Ruin of Logic is about keeping the faith. It is about all the elements in life that work together to form a person and their success story. It is about accepting life even when you are in the pit of it. It’s about growing as a human being and committing to living and not simply being blindly focused on financial success. Are you ready to succeed?
The Rise and Ruin of Logic is oozing with charisma. The author’s charm jumps off the pages. The spirit and tone of the book will motivate you not only to read more but also, and more importantly, to reflect on your own life. To take stock of what you may be doing wrong in your life. To improve what you have been doing right. It is thought-provoking at the very least. Especially during this time of isolation. The time could be used to make a few changes to your life. This book is a good guide to the right path. It is a good guide for anyone who might be at the beginning of their journey.
The author is generous with language while keeping the tone tranquil and safe for the maximum understanding of the subject. His sole purpose with this book is to send a message. John Lindhjem’s excellent writing brings this message to life. The way he cajoles the reader into connecting with the material is nothing but astounding.
It is always useful to hear what others have to say. It is always useful to try and learn something new. To hear a message from another point of view. The Rise and Ruin of Logic was a little overwhelming at first, but with a few page flips I was drawn into the narrative. You will even enjoy it. On one hand, you wish you had been slowly inducted into the book but on the other, you will appreciate being thrown right into the thick of it.
John Lindhjem has written an exceptional self help book that highlights new age thought. The Rise and Ruin of Logic will keep you thinking well after you’ve finished the book.
Pages: 308 | ASIN: B07PSMCZ5M
