Welcome to Day 1 of “THE ENIGMA THREAT” Blog Tour! @enigmaseries @1rburkey @RRBC_Org @4WillsPub

THE ENIGMA THREAT Release Blog Tour!

Giveaways: 

(1) $25 Amazon gift card

(10) e-book copies of the “shorts” in the Enigma series

Hello, friends!  It is my pleasure to kick off the 10-day blog tour of the release of “THE ENIGMA THREAT”, co-authored by my fellow friends from the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB, Authors, Breakfield and Burkey!  Charles and Rox, take it away!

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The Enigma Series is an ever-expanding Techno-Thriller book series. Breakfield and Burkey discuss the timely and relevant threats in our digitally connected world.

Authors Breakfield and Burkey share with readers how you came together to produce so many stories. And perhaps touch on why are you also creating some short stories?

The beginning of our writing together is a fun subject. We ended up working together at a couple of organizations focused and leading-edge technology.  We were part of work teams focused on consulting and advising Fortune 500 companies. The work we did for customers required research with the customers and a detailed analysis of our findings in written reports and presentations. We hit on the idea of publishing these white papers after sanitizing the customer information. Technical white papers were in high demand with the evolving technology of the times.

We were extremely successful in both efforts until our findings worried one specific customer. The consulting we did on-site exposed so many technical and procedural issues documented in our draft findings, we were called in to explain. The Vice President listened to all our points and found no flaws. He refused to let us finalize and distribute the report for fear his peers would force him to find a new career. Our company was paid; however, the final document of findings remained confidential.

We tell you this as it highlights the types of attitudes and characters who crossed our professional careers. These characters, great and small, are often pulled from to develop the stories and situations we write about.

Burkey, while finishing her master’s degree, was asked to work with a publishing company to review and write non-fiction works. She had contracts for the efforts and asked if Breakfield could contribute. We produced two of these non-fiction technical process and technology innovation books. Unfortunately, technical books with the focus requested by Auerbach were dated not long after release. And it was less than a quarter of the speed it is today.

Breakfield likes to tell people that he gathered up his marbles and stomped home, vowing never to write a long book again. Burkey was kind enough to let Breakfield sulk a while. She wrote several chapters of the first book, The Enigma Factor, before broaching the subject of fiction. Burkey suggested they might have fun taking a fictional approach to use their technical expertise and needle some of the crazy people who have crossed each of their paths from a characterization perspective.

It took some serious coaxing, but Breakfield finally got off the ledge and came back in the window.  The final agreement that swayed Breakfield to co-author fiction is you can kill people and not get arrested.

As far as our “formula” for the series, we want to clarify. Cyber threats, rampant today, are unique digital monsters coming at us in a variety of ways. For our work, we watch and study the many attack vectors used today in business and social media. We tend to take a topic or focus for a story on how prevalent it is across society. We explore the cyber heroes in battle with the cyber thugs, using baseline characters. Sometimes we invent new characters, both good and bad, who offer different perspectives on defense and attack. Sun Tzu’s advice of friends close and enemies closer is a theme of our R-Group heroes.

We believe that, for us, Techno Thrillers are a great canvass to explore people, greed, power, relationships, control, and even humor on a foundation of technology. Therefore, each book in the series stands on its own but is richer for character growth over time if you read them all.

What we have learned is you simply cannot pack in everything a reader would like into a single novel. We had a story thread in one of our books, The Enigma Source, where one of our beta readers groused that she wanted more on some of the backstory of a character’s situation. Burkey hit on the idea that while we couldn’t just alter the existing book for this single thread, but we might build backstories as stand-alone stories or shorts.

We competed on and off in several short story contests with shorts and won. In 2020 with a little additional encouragement from RRBC leader Nonnie Jules, we decided publishing eBook shorts was a viable avenue to expand readership outside our baseline genre. We have enjoyed testing these areas, and refining eBooks are easier than full print books with audible.

We’ve seen good traction in different genre markets, and the stories themselves are very satisfying modest reads of 5,000-7,000 words that do pick up new readers for the series. It has helped to create comprehensive mythology for the series that people are enjoying.

The Enigma Threat is releasing soon. Please tell my readers about this and what you two have going.

The Enigma Threat is going live on January 8, 2021. We are proud of this new story for several reasons. All the formats of eBook, audible, and paperback are completed and ready for release. We also created a Kickstarter campaign to gain additional funds to start on a screenplay.

Toward that end, we invite readers to look at our program and support, as well as share with friends. There are many exclusive extras for our campaign’s backers, including a chance to be immortalized in the series for new characters in subsequent books.

We have the next six stories in rough outline today. This series has a future as technology changes are fast and furious in today’s world.

“THE ENIGMA THREAT”

Blurb:

In the new digital world, there is no tolerance for privately owned supercomputers. Globally, computers are hunted and destroyed for the greater good, by the new cyber police CESPOOL. The information this group receives is manipulated by subversive hidden machine learning devices, the MAG running on the dark net.

Judith and Xiamara are freebooters who steal machine time for their PaaS, porn as a service business. The machine they chose for delivery is the last untapped supercomputer not in the hands of a sovereign. Their activity is spotted by the MAG, but the renegade R-Group steps in to alter the outcome. Leroy teams up with Zara to help these opportunists escape prosecution. They are drafted as reluctant participants in the fight.

Jacob and Quip are trapped in the Chihuahuan Desert trying to reconstruct the base of ICABOD’s logic core. The stress of their isolation is taking a toll. Their wives and children are safe in Brazil for the time being, but Interpol is prowling for answers.

The R-Group has assembled a way to communicate with orphaned satellites. While the next R-Group plans the ultimate honey pot to trap their nemesis who is driving their corrupted agenda. The odds are against R-Group’s success, but they have creative surprises on their side.

The stakes have never been higher. The R-Group young and old must rise to defeat the MAG.

The Enigma Threat teaser:  Gracie and Jeff

About The Authors:

Breakfield is a 25+ year technology expert in security, networking, voice, and anything digital. He enjoys writing, studying World War II history, travel, and cultural exchanges. He’s also a fan of wine tastings, winemaking, Harley riding, cooking extravaganzas, and woodworking.

Burkey is a 25+ year applied technology professional who excels at optimizing technology and business investments. She works with customers all over the world focusing on optimized customer experiences. She writes white papers and documentation, but found she has a marked preference for writing fiction.

Together they create award-winning stories that resonate with males and females, as well as young and experienced adults. They bring a fresh new view to technology possibilities today.

You may connect with the authors via social media…

Twitter:  @enigmaseries & @1rburkey

Facebook:  The Enigma Series

Please CLICK for their many other social media contacts!

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I hope you have enjoyed the first stop along this tour and I encourage you to follow along with the rest of the tour by visiting THE ENIGMA THREAT Tour homepage!   There you will also learn so much more about this dynamic writing team!  Please be sure to leave a comment below or along any stop along this 10-day tour for your chance to win one of the awesome prizes listed above!

Until next time, keep supporting and promoting others!!!  It’s the fastest way to get to your own success-filled destination!

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• Tagged: #4WillsPublishing, blog tour, Breakfield and Burkey, Nonnie Jules, Rave Reviews Book, RRBC, The Enigma Threat