A Classic Science Fiction Take on Artificial Intelligence

Book Release

cover of science fiction Snapbook Sibling Rivalry

Thinking Ink Press is proud to bring the classic science fiction story “Sibling Rivalry” back into print.  “Sibling Rivalry” was Epic award-winning author Anthony Francis’s first publication, appearing in the Leading Edge magazine in 1995.

Artificial intelligence. AI. The spark that brings about the robot apocalypse. In fiction, AIs always have weaknesses: they’re vulnerable to logical paradoxes, back door viruses and pesky EMP blasts. Real AIs would have no such comforting limitations: deft at parsing speech, clever at closing their own loopholes, and secured in military-hardened housings, a true general artificial intelligence would prove a difficult challenge to defeat … even to its own designer.

Written by a PhD in artificial intelligence, “Sibling Rivalry” tells the story of the Nicole AI system, the most advanced artificial intelligence ever created … until today. Confronted with a newer, better sibling designed to replace her, Nicole decides that instead of becoming an obsolete brain in a box, she’d rather become an unstoppable killer. With his team, and perhaps the entire building, dead, Nicole’s designer is trapped in a battle of wits with his own creation. Attempt after attempt fails, and with his oxygen running out, Nicole’s designer finds himself running a deadly race with Nicole … to see who can stop whose weak heart first.

Sibling Rivalry, A Short Story is coming soon in print and e-book editions at booksellers and through Thinking Ink Press.

Book Launch Party for Beyond the Fence and Sibling Rivalry

Appearances, Book Release, , , , , ,

two book covers: Sibling Rivalry and Beyond the Fence
We’re having a book launch party for our new Snapbook line featuring Beyond the Fence by Marilyn Horn and Sibling Rivalry by Anthony Francis! Snapbooks—the Thinking Ink Press take on chapbooks—are short books packed with page-turning stories. Join us at Kaleid Gallery in San Jose on Friday, June 24, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Marilyn and Anthony will read their work, and Keiko O’Leary will demonstrate and teach the art of hand-folding Instant Books from a single sheet of paper. You can also check out beautiful, original cover art created by local artist Sandi Billingsley for Thinking Ink Press.

Details in List Form

What: Launch party for Beyond the Fence and Sibling Rivalry
When: Friday, June 24, 2016, from 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Where: Kaleid Gallery
88 South Fourth Street, San Jose, CA, 95112, USA
TEL: +1-408- 947-1785
Parking: Kaleid is located in downtown San Jose, on the street level of the Fourth Street parking garage (near the King Library). Garage parking costs $5 after 6:00 p.m. Street parking can be hard to find, but is free after 6:00 p.m.
What Do I Need to Do?: Come to the party and bring friends!

More about the Snapbooks

Praise for Beyond the Fence
“The stories in Marilyn Horn’s Beyond the Fence are strange. But the strangeness is just one of their charms, for by the time we’re exiting the stories, the strange has come to seem familiar—even ordinary. This is a testament to Horn’s powers as a storyteller. She creates worlds in which talking dolphins and soul DNA and attic monsters are both astonishing and commonplace.
This book is a pleasure all the way through.”
—Charles Rafferty, Director of MFA Program, Albertus Magnus College

Click for more about Beyond the Fence.

About Sibling Rivalry
Written by a PhD in artificial intelligence, “Sibling Rivalry” tells the story of the Nicole AI system, the most advanced artificial intelligence ever created … until today. Confronted with a newer, better sibling designed to replace her, Nicole decides that instead of becoming an obsolete brain in a box, she’d rather become an unstoppable killer. With his team, and perhaps the entire building, dead, Nicole’s designer is trapped in a battle of wits with his own creation. Attempt after attempt fails, and with his oxygen running out, Nicole’s designer finds himself running a deadly race with Nicole … to see who can stop whose weak heart first.

“Sibling Rivalry” was Epic award-winning author Anthony Francis’s first publication, appearing in The Leading Edge magazine in 1995. Thinking Ink Press is proud to bring this classic science fiction story back into print in Snapbook and e-book form.

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We look forward to seeing you at Kaleid on June 24!

New Short Story Collection Launches Our Snapbook Line

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front cover of Beyond the Fence snapbookThinking Ink Press is happy to announce our newest book, Beyond the Fence: A Short Collection of Stories by Marilyn Horn. The stories in Beyond the Fence explore worlds both ordinary and extraordinary with characters who haunt the imagination. Marilyn Horn’s short fiction has appeared in many literary journals and her story “Don’t Mind the Vet” was nominated for a Best in the Net award.

Presented in our new Snapbook line—the Thinking Ink take on chapbooks—Beyond the Fence fills its short format with rich, dense stories:

  • Return of the Son
  • Don’t Mind the Vet
  • So Many Shoes
  • A Big Gift
  • Soul Mate
  • Monster on the Loose
  • The Dolphin and the Healer King
  • Beyond the Fence

Beyond the Fence: A Short Collection of Stories features original cover art by Sandi Billingsley. It is available in a print edition through booksellers and through Thinking Ink Press. Ebook editions are forthcoming.

There will be a release party on June 24, 2016. Please mark your calendar, and sign up to receive all the details.

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Thirty Days Later featured on SF Signal

Book Release

Cover of Thirty Days Later - clock, fog, and bright swirly lights

Thirty Days Later has been featured on SF Signal! The Hugo Award-winning fanzine is a great place to catch up on news about science fiction, and the article reveals the table of contents for our upcoming steampunk anthology, edited by A.J. Sikes, B.J. Sikes, and Dover Whitecliff and featuring Hugo Award winner Harry Turtledove!

The Authors of Thirty Days Later

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Cover of steampunk anthology Thirty Days Later - clock, fog, and bright swirling lights

Do you love alternate history? Are you a fan of Harry Turtledove, the Hugo Award-winning author of The Guns of the South, The Two Georges, and the Worldwar series? Then you’ll enjoy Thirty Days Later, Thinking Ink Press’s forthcoming anthology featuring two brand new stories by Harry Turtledove, who Publisher’s Weekly dubbed the “master of alternate history”!

Thirty Days Later will be Thinking Ink Press’s first full-length fiction anthology, and will include not only Turtledove’s stories but also 28 more tales by favorite steampunk authors, including the award-winning Sharon E. Cathcart, Anthony Francis, and the writing team of David L. Drake and Katherine L. Morse.

Thinking Ink Press is excited to welcome all of the authors of Thirty Days Later to our publishing family, including: T. E. MacArthur, AJ Sikes, Harry Turtledove, David L. Drake and Katherine Morse, Anthony Francis, Kirsten Weiss, Steve DeWinter, Michael Tierney, Janice Thompson, BJ Sikes, Emily Thompson, Sharon E. Cathcart, Justin Andrew Hoke, Lillian Csernica, and Dover Whitecliff.

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Thirty Days Later: A New Steampunk Anthology

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derclock30dl2

Do you like steampunk and cliffhangers? Adventure and intrigue? Dragons and Sasquatches? Then you’ll like the forthcoming anthology Thirty Days Later, Steaming Forward: 30 Adventures in Time, featuring pairs of stories by favorite steampunk authors who have appeared at the Clockwork Alchemy steampunk convention!

Thinking Ink Press is proud to announce we will publish Thirty Days Later in time for Clockwork Alchemy this Memorial Day. Edited by AJ Sikes, BJ Sikes, and Dover Whitecliff, Thirty Days Later is the sequel to the steampunk anthology Twelve Hours Later: 24 Tales of Myth and Mystery, a charity anthology to promote California literacy programs, and Thinking Ink Press is proud to donate half the royalties of Thirty Days Later to promote literacy.

“The creators of Twelve Hours Later continue to promote literacy one sensational story at a time by donating a portion of their proceeds to literary charities, but no boring works with fluffy kittens here. Not a one! Where else can you find spycraft and sea serpents, cloud cities and ghosts, romance, witty banter, and worlds of wonder in one place? These are stories to relish and read under the covers into the wee hours of the morning. They’ve done it again-Full marks!”
Penelope Dreadfulle, Literary Reviewer for the Blackfriars Courant.

As Memorial Day approaches, look for further announcements here about the release date and release party of Thirty Days Later at Clockwork Alchemy, or click the button below to sign up for our 30DL mailing list!

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Image credit: Deutsche Fotothek, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.

Wild Hair, an Instant Book by Ruth Littmann Ashkenazi

Book Release

Wild_Hair_cover_imageThinking Ink Press brings you a touch of magical realism just in time for Halloween. We are happy to announce a new Instant Book, Wild Hair, by the always-entertaining Ruth Littmann Ashkenazi. Instant books are limited edition miniature books with complete stories inside. Folded from a single sheet of paper, they fit in the palm of your hand, but they’re sturdy enough to read and share.

Ruth will be reading a new short story at Flash Fiction Forum on October 14 and Wild Hair will be available for sale at this event. The story in Wild Hair was featured at a previous Flash Fiction Forum event.

Keiko O’Leary, our Instant Book designer, created this book layout. She selected the typography and paper, created the art, and hand-folded each book.

Create Books in an Instant!

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After the success of our first Thinking Awesome event, Thinking Ink Press is proud to announce our second: Instant Books with Keiko O’Leary!

Learn to fold your own Instant Book from a single sheet of paper (it’s easy)! Meet Keiko O’Leary, book artist and Instant Book designer at Thinking Ink Press. Keiko will show various examples of Instant Books, from a simple hand-drawn love note to a fully produced book containing two (very) short stories.

This FREE event will be on Sunday, October 4, 2015 from 3:00 pm-5:00 pm at
Peet’s Coffee & Tea on 20087 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA. Come join us and learn how to make books in an instant!

For more information, see our Facebook Event Page!

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