So many of you have asked me this question, wanted to know what I’m working on next now that Autumn’s End has finally been published.

Well…, I have been working furiously on something new.

And I’m really excited about it.

And yes – it’s a science fiction, thriller. But it’s a near future story, not something pitched at the end of the 21st century like in Autumn’s End.

That is, everything that happens in the narrative is a totally believable, potential reality by 2035. Actually, at the rate technology is evolving – especially artificial intelligence – it could even be by the end of this decade.

The overarching theme revolves around the rise of deep fake information driven by radically powerful technologies and what the effects of this will be on everything – from multinational affairs right down to interpersonal relationships.

Even now, the threads of what is real are being pulled at more stringently by the very technologies we not so long ago believed would forever extend our freedom to information. The Internet is rapidly involving in a multimedia platform of moving images and videos already outweighing the written word. And these are the formats that are increasingly becoming easier and easier to artificially generate and manipulate.

We are at a precipice.

And this is where my new story is set. So far, the title that sticks, remaining darkly juicy is:

COULD BE YOU.

It’s about a guy reaching midlife, living a predictable life. Married. Wife and kid. Rental home in the city. Every day he goes to his long-term job as a support agent for an online insurance company.

But everything about his very normal life is turned upside down when a deep fake video of him goes viral, saying things he would never say, knowing things that he could never know.

In the ensuing existential struggle to find meaning and purpose again, unable to find a job while having to bear the indignities of the new UBI (Universal Basic Income) works program, he comes across a silver lining. A ray of hope.

And they’re called ‘The 300’.

Their leader, Miranda Wright, is sexy, confident and fiercely leading the fight to protect the rights of white collared workers everywhere suffering the injustices of redundancy under the weight of ever powerful and evolving AI technologies.

Here, our hero’s anger is legitimized, and he righteously throws himself into their cause.

But the more he gets involved, being well paid to complete ever strange and risky tasks for the 300, the more his own world and the world around him descends into chaos…

As of the middle of July 2024, I’m about 70% through my second draft rewrite. There’ll likely be another two more drafts before I get a developmental editor to have a crack at it. And if you know of any developmental editors (and these are people that help mold the big vision brush strokes of plot and story) that have worked with sci-fi writers before, please let me know in the comments below.

Then there are more rewrites and edits with the help of my awesome supervisor, Imraan Coovadia (who is one of South Africa’s notable writers and the current course convener of the Masters in Creative Writing Program at UCT) to assist me in getting the novel polished and ready for the external examiners so I can complete my Master’s degree.

Lots to get done before the end of the year and it remains my goal to publish Could Be You by early 2025.

But you won’t have to wait that long if you’d like to receive some early chapters. Let me know in the comments below or send me a message if you do.

And I’ll be sending updates along the way – from thoughts, research and interviews to developing the plot and characters. And as always, i’d love your feedback and ideas along the way!

Stay tuned.