Fredericton Library Launches New Book with Open Forum on the Future of the Internet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Fredericton, NB: 10-17-05) Fredericton author Biff Mitchell’s latest novel, The War Bug (ISBN 1-55404-248-8), launches at the Fredericton Library on October 19 with an open forum on the future of humankind and the Internet.

The War Bug – previously a best-selling ebook and now available in trade paperback across North America – is set 200 years in the future when a war between giant corporate city states that dominate the online world threatens to crash the Internet. In the midst of the chaos, one man must save his kidnapped virtual wife and daughter before they are destroyed. His only ally is the computer virus that started the war in the first place.

“I didn’t want to do the typical read-from-the-book and talk-about-what-inspired-me kind of book launch,” said Mitchell. “The Library’s event coordinator, Leslie Cockburn, offered to let me use the computer lab for the launch, and that gave me an idea for something beyond just talking about the book.”

Mitchell plans to use the computer lab to conduct a tour of virtual worlds that exist today on the Internet. Following the tour, he’ll discuss the virtual world in The War Bug as an example of one possibility for the evolution of the Internet. After a short discussion of some of the possibilities he’ll be exploring in the sequel to The War Bug, Mitchell will open the floor for discussion.

"In my novel, there are two types of people," said Mitchell, "Those who live and work in the physical world, and those who live and work in cyberspace. Over the next few centuries, I think we'll see a mass migration of people to virtual homes and work places on the Internet. Initially, people will live like royalty in the online world, complete with virtual palaces and huge virtual domains, but as the Internet becomes increasingly dominated by commercial interests, everything will scale down to what each person can afford, just like in the real world."

“Everyone’s viewpoint will be welcome in the forum,” said Mitchell. “We’re talking about something that will exist several centuries into the future, so anything is possible in the arenas of religion, politics, economics, the workplace, the home … every facet of life.”

The book launch will be held from 6 to 7 PM on Wednesday, October 19 on the second floor of the Fredericton Public Library on Carleton Street. The theme of the launch will be The Internet of the Future: Will We Be Assimilated?

During the evening, Mitchell will be giving away two War Bug t-shirts, book marks, and an autographed copy of the script for the original version of The War Bug.

Biff Mitchell is the author of the world’s first laundromance, Heavy Load (Fictionwise.com). His satire on the IT industry Team Player will be published by Double Dragon in 2006. Two of his novellas Smoke Break and The Baton are available in ebook format from Echelon Press. His satire on the IT industry, Team Player, will be published by Double Dragon in 2006. His ebook eMarketing Tools for Writers made the Fictionwise business books bestseller list. For more about the works of Biff Mitchell visit: www.biffmitchell.com