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Making the New West (and other updates)

Published by Adam on February 19, 2018

Thanks to everyone who’s picked up The Wanderer and the New West, my dystopian western novel about a possible America that fully protects the rights of armed citizens to stand their ground. Here are a few updates on the novel since launch.

I wrote a guest blog post for Reedsy about creating the cover and interior layout with my collaborators Ben Mcleod and Mark Thomas. I worked hard to write my new novel, so when it came time to publish, I wanted to create a beautiful book that did the words justice.

Last month, I told you about the great review I received from Kirkus Reviews. Since then, Kirkus featured the starred review in their Feb. 15 issue! If you’re a subscriber, you can read the review on page 169 of Volume LXXXVI, No 4.

Look for my book listing in an upcoming issue of the New York Review of Books due out next month!

Want to try The Wanderer before you buy it? I’ve created a handy preview page for just this purpose!

All of my novels are now available to buy on Google Play and Google Books. Click here to see for yourself, though that Compendium Theory one isn’t me…

I joined Instagram! Follow me at @WatchAdam.

The author with bacon beverage.

A post shared by Adam Bender (@watchadam) on Feb 4, 2018 at 8:19am PST

Finally, if you have read my new novel (or any of my other stories), please write a customer review. I’m an indie author and this will help me immensely in spreading the word. Please submit the review to Amazon, Goodreads or your favorite online retailer.

Thanks again for all your support!

Top image credit: Reedsy

Kirkus Lauds ‘First-Rate Action Narrative’ in Adam Bender’s The Wanderer and the New West

Published by Adam on January 17, 2018

The venerable Kirkus Reviews acclaimed The Wanderer and the New West as a “tight, thoughtful work” with “first-rate action narrative” in a starred review of my new novel (paperback available here).

The Kirkus Star is reserved for “books of exceptional merit,” so this is a big honor! The star also means my book will be considered for the Kirkus 2018 prize.

Here’s an excerpt from Kirkus Reviews:

The author’s new novel might be summed up by a line from Rosa’s editorial: “Sometimes it feels like America is spinning in an opposite direction from the planet Earth.” As real-life America spins out of alignment with other nations’ gun-control laws, he critiques its obsession with the Second Amendment and shows how it could threaten to shred the nation’s true founding principles. For example, a mayor replies to a sheriff’s complaints of lawlessness with “the government hasn’t made laws for years!” Ironically, Bender packages his message in a first-rate action narrative, filled with the sort of violence that has attracted gun lovers to pop-culture icons like Rambo and Dirty Harry for decades. In one cinematic scene, for instance, a gang member meets his end when “thunder cracked, and blood burst out the back of his skull.” Such indulgent moments of machismo are balanced by superior characterization, particularly of the Wanderer’s sidekick, Kid Hunter, and 12-year-old bandit Lindsay. The fact that the Wanderer still wears his wedding band and is haunted by the ghost of a woman named Helen connects to a complex, satisfying origin story that includes Breck Ammunition itself. Throughout, Bender proves to be an instructive novelist, challenging American readers with basic scenarios that could very well come to pass: “when you leave the house, you’re checking for your wallet, your keys, your phone, and your gun. Like these are equally essential things for the day ahead.”

A tight, thoughtful work that has much to offer readers on both sides of the gun control debate.

Kirkus previously raved about my first two novels, We, The Watched and Divided We Fall. However, The Wanderer is my first book to earn the coveted Kirkus Star.

But I really want to know what you think! So, to celebrate the Kirkus review and five-star reviews from Readers’ Favorite critics, I’ve decided to let loose the Wanderer a little early!

You can order the paperback right now on Amazon. You can also get the eBook edition (EPUB) from Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo, Scribd and Smashwords. A Kindle version will be available in a few days.

When you’re finished, please leave your own review at the store where you purchased the book and on Goodreads. Thanks for your support!

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The Wanderer is dead-on for 5 Stars at Readers’ Favorite

The Wanderer and the New West by Adam Bender

The Wanderer is dead-on for 5 Stars at Readers’ Favorite

Published by Adam on December 30, 2017

Ahead of the 2018 release of The Wanderer and the New West, I’m excited to announce my new novel has scored five-star reviews from five reviewers on the website Readers’ Favorite!

Here are some excerpts about the Dystopian Western:

“A dystopian view of an America that many may well see as a path the country is already headed down … I couldn’t put this book down and read it quickly and easily.” — Grant Leishman for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)

“The setting is absorbing, pulling in the reader like a captivating movie, and I couldn’t help getting the same feeling I get when I watch the series ‘Arrow.’ It won’t be surprising if this story ends up on screen.” — Arya Fomonyuy for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)

“The action is continuous and horrific … revealing vistas of the future and especially the dangerous paths poor and greed based politics are forcing mankind to follow.” — Deepak Menon for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)

“Brutally honest and scarily real, The Wanderer and the New West is a brilliant novel. Raw and gritty, this novel lays down the bare truth without sugar coating anything.” — Rabia Tanveer for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)

“Bender creates vivid characters in the plot that will resonate with any reader … The author helped me visualize the impact of lawlessness on the media, technology and any nation as a whole.” — Edith Wairimu for Readers’ Favorite (5 Stars)

The cover for The Wanderer and the New West — The Wanderer and the New West — Words by Adam Bender. Cover by Ben McLeod.

I’m thrilled to see early reviewers connecting with my new novel, and look forward to hearing what you think! Stay tuned to this blog and subscribe to my newsletter for updates on the novel’s release. You can also pre-order the eBook version now at Amazon and other online retailers.

Happy New Year!

An update on my current projects

Published by Adam on July 29, 2017

Things are moving forward again on releasing my next novel, The Wanderer and the New West.

I’m very excited to announce that professional editor Jim Spivey has joined the project to proofread the novel! Jim’s job is to seek and destroy typos and grammar and style problems. Like my first editor, Jim previously edited for DC Comics. He later did production for Hachette and directed editorial for Kirkus. Check out Jim’s full profile on Reedsy, but you can bet his more than two decades of professional experience means a super-polished read when the new book reaches your hands!

Meanwhile, I’ve begun work writing my next next novel! It’s a political satire following Blake “The Hammer” Hamner, PR crisis adviser for a dystopian president. Believe me, this past year has provided a wealth of material! The novel’s working title is Utopia PR. It started life as a short story, but that felt too short. I also tried it as a screenplay, and while I think it would still work well as a film someday, I ultimately decided that a prose version provided some advantages.

Can’t wait to share all of this with you. Assuming all goes well, I hope to announce a release date for the Wanderer in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned!

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What I’m Writing in Spring 2017

Published by Adam on March 19, 2017

It may not feel like it, but spring is here! What are your plans?

Here’s what I’m up to. I’m writing a comedy screenplay about a spokesman for a dystopian government. I call it Utopia PR. I’ve got the plot outlined and have written about 35 pages. That means I’m about a third of the way through (think of each screenplay page like a minute of a movie). I’m hoping to finish the script over the next couple months and enter it into a contest or two. It’s been a lot of fun to let loose and have a laugh, especially given the current state of the world.

As for my third novel, The Wanderer and the New West, I’m afraid there’s not a lot new to say. The search for a literary agent continues. I’ve received definite interest but I’m waiting to hear more. I really can’t wait to get the book into your hands! I’m hoping to decide in the next few months whether to take matters into my own hands and self-publish, as I did with my previous novels.

Speaking of which, happy to report that sales have been up on We, The Watched and Divided We Fall, especially since the presidential election! Seems that ads about dystopian governments are getting clicks these days. You may have seen that sales of George Orwell’s 1984 are way up, too, so maybe my books are getting some kind of Orwellian bump. Thanks, George!

Tag: speculative fiction

Making the New West (and other updates)

Kirkus Lauds ‘First-Rate Action Narrative’ in Adam Bender’s The Wanderer and the New West

The Wanderer is dead-on for 5 Stars at Readers’ Favorite

An update on my current projects

What I’m Writing in Spring 2017

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