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Author: Adam

Adam Bender is an award-winning journalist and author of speculative fiction that explores modern-day societal fears with a mix of action, romance and humor.

Bender's latest novel is Utopia PR, a speculative satire about a public-relations specialist who struggles to find work-life balance while managing crisis after crisis for a dystopian American president. It won the 2021 IndieReader Discovery Award for Humor.

Previously, Bender wrote The Wanderer and the New West, a near-future western about a rogue vigilante who seeks redemption in a lawless America that fully protects the rights of armed citizens to stand their ground. Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2018, the novel also won gold for Dystopia in the 2018 Readers’ Favorite Awards and best Western Fiction in the 2018 National Indie Excellence Awards.

Bender authored We, The Watched and Divided We Fall in a dystopian series about an amnesiac who struggles to conform in a surveillance society where the government keeps a Watched list of its own citizens. Also, Bender has published several short stories.

In his day job as a journalist, Bender covers telecom and internet regulation for Communications Daily. He has won awards for his reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Specialized Information Publishers Association, and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.

Bender lives in Philadelphia with his wife Mallika and son Rishi. He’s usually a rather modest and amiable fellow.

Learn more about the author at WatchAdam.blog and join The Underground email newsletter for news and info on Adam Bender's latest projects. Follow him on Facebook (wethewatched) and @WatchAdam on Instagram.

Now on Smashwords!

Published by Adam on May 14, 2010

I’m excited to announce that WE, THE WATCHED is now available through Smashwords, an indie eBook publisher. This means you can now download my novel about government surveillance and propaganda in multiple formats that will look great on your iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Nook or other popular reading device! Through Smashwords, the book is now listed on several popular iPhone apps, and will also soon be available on many popular eBook stores including Sony, Apple, and Barnes & Noble.

Smashwords strips most of the page formatting out of the book so it is more compatible with eReaders. However, if you want a PDF that looks more like a real book, please check out the book on Scribd. The full eBook costs $2.99, but you can read the first several chapters for free.

One more thing! If you like WE, THE WATCHED or my other writings, please become a fan of my new Facebook page. Thanks.

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The Roommate

Published by Adam on May 8, 2010

The RoommateI was looking through some short stories I wrote in the past few years and came upon a little gem called THE ROOMMATE.

It’s a humorous mystery/horror tale of a college student who suspects his roommate of murder. I did some quick proofreading and added it to Scribd.

Check it out below and let me know what you think.

[scribd id=31079493 key=key-2nusyxwuurpelnv1tp3g mode=scroll]

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They Didn’t Want Their Comics Taken Away…

Published by Adam on April 29, 2010
The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu

It happens every generation: the kids pick up a new piece of pop culture and frightened parents get riled up.

Video games are the most recent target of adult ire. After several attempts to make laws banning violent games, the Supreme Court announced this month that it will take up whether states may ban  the sale of explicit games to minors. The groups that back bans argue that violent games encourage youth delinquency, increase aggression, and yes, train future killers. The other side–gamers and civil-liberties wonks, mainly–say banning games violates freedom of speech. Besides, they contend, an industry-run parental ratings system gives parents control over the games their kids play.

Interestingly, this fight has played out before. When today’s angry parents were children, they had to defend their own controversial hobby: comic books.

I recently read a great book on the subject, The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu.  The author chronicles the panic that ensued in churches, local communities and the Congress… and the parallels abound. Like games, comics were blamed for acts of violence when it turned out the bully owned a few illustrated stories about criminals. The comic book industry even tried protecting itself from government intervention by establishing a “comics code.”

It seems that history is repeating itself. One can only wonder what today’s gamers won’t want their kids doing.

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Read My Novel on Scribd

Published by Adam on April 20, 2010

My entire first novel — WE, THE WATCHED — is now available for free on Scribd. You can view it below or on the Scribd site. You can also download the eBook on your PC or send it to your Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iPhone or iPad, and a variety of other mobile devices.

If you like what you read, please use the Share option to tell your friends via Facebook, Twitter, etc., or embed the novel on your blog. And if you have time, please rate the novel and leave a comment. I’m not asking for money at this time, but anything you can do to spread the word is most appreciated!

WE, THE WATCHED by Adam Bender

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Actualizing the National Broadband Plan

Published by Adam on March 31, 2010

The Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus recently asked me to moderate a panel about the FCC’s National Broadband Plan. I did just that on March 29 at the Capitol Visitor’s Center.

If you missed it, you can listen to an audio recording here.

Here’s a quick summary of the panel:

The briefing, “Actualizing The National Broadband Plan: What Will Congress and the FCC Have To Do?”, featured panelists representing different perspectives on what next steps are required to realize the goals of the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan released on March 17.

The panel looked ahead to the schedule of FCC Rulemakings and Inquiries that will need to be made in order to realize the stated goals of the National Broadband Plan. Further, the panel forecasted what Congressional legislation will be required to actualize the National Broadband Plan.

Panelists:

  • Adam Bender, Warren News (moderator)
  • Michael Calabrese, New America Foundation [bio]
  • Rick Cimerman, National Cable & Telecommunications Association [bio]
  • Barbara Esbin, Progress & Freedom Foundation [bio]
  • Derek Turner, Free Press [bio]
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Adam Bender | adambenderwrites.com | watchadam.blog