About the Book
IMMORTALITY BYTES: Digital Minds Don’t Get Hungry
Genre: Sci-Fi/Comedy/Heist
One-line Story Pitch: “When an idealistic hacker’s ex-girlfriend nears inventing digital immortality, an indicted tycoon compels him to steal it.”
Here are review blurbs/excerpts:
1) “Feels like an American Douglas Adams” — San Francisco Book Review
2) “A supercharged, high-stakes cyberpunk thriller.” — VERDICT: ✓GET IT — Kirkus Reviews
3) ” Immortality Bytes is a standout work in contemporary science fiction… that hits you full force with dark humor, social commentary, and thrilling twists” — ReadersFavorie.com
4) “Perfect for anyone looking for a fun, easy read that combines sci-fi elements with a bit of social satire. Abrams’ sharp, witty prose and inventive world make it well worth the ride, especially for fans of snappy, humorous sci-fi.” — 5-Stars — Manhattan Book Review
5) “With its blend of wit, satire, intrigue, and a captivating storyline… it’s a must-read for fans of science fiction.” and “Abrams’ satirical brilliance will keep you on the edge of your pod. This near-future tale blends humor with deep questions about consciousness and the pursuit of eternal life.” — ReaderViews.com
6) “Dark humor and crisp dialogue drive the twisty storytelling” — ✓EDITOR’S PICK — Publishers Weekly’s Booklife Reviews
Back Cover Blurb:
“Yay, free money and a life of leisure! Except… only if you never have children. Sure, a cute little version of you (but not yet so screwed up) sounds fun. But with AI robots taking more jobs, who can reject that “bargain” hoping to afford kids someday?
Stu Reigns does. He’s an idealistic AI programmer and part-time influencer. His demisexual ex-girlfriend, Roxy Zhang, nears perfecting electronic immortality. Add in billionaire banking rascals, and there’s no more certainty — not even “Death & Taxes.”
An old-money Southerner is buying Roxy’s company. This infuriates a sick, rival oligarch — who is about to be rightfully convicted of epic fraud. To escape to this digital eternal life, he compels Stu to steal it.
You’ll never guess all the twists, but maybe the reader peering over your shoulder will.”
AWARDS & ACCOLADES:
Triple Finalist — Independent Author Network
Winner “Best Science Fiction: Cyberpunk” in the 7th Annual American Fiction Awards (2024)
Winner “Best Science Fiction” and “Best Political Fiction” in the American Writing Awards (2024)
3rd Cut Shortlisted for Chanticleer’s Cygnus Award for Best Science Fiction (2025)
About the Author
Author: Daniel Lawrence Abrams
Daniel Lawrence Abrams grew up in NYC, attended Trinity School, and then graduated from Stuyvesant High School. He got his BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan.
The 3-D input device he invented earned US Patent # 5,652,603.
Abrams trained in comedy writing at The Second City and The Groundlings. He used to perform stand-up at The Improv in LA and The Comedy Cellar in NYC. As a playwright, Abrams’s stage shows played at The Stella Adler Theatre, The Powerhouse Theater, and the HBO/Warner Brothers TV Workspace.
In Hollywood, Abrams wrote, produced, and directed over a hundred hours of TV. He was the Supervising Producer of the 2014 Emmy-Nominated SundanceTV show THE WRITERS’ ROOM and was a freelance Director for HGTV’s HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL. Abrams co-produced four feature films, and the documentary, PINK & BLUE: COLORS OF HEREDITARY CANCER.
He gave the TEDx Talk titled “Sports Can Save Politics” at AJU. He is a member of Mensa, and they haven’t kicked him out quite yet.
Qn 1: Can you tell us more about your book What is it about?
What happens to humanity when minds become digitally immortal? Who decides who gets this eternal life?
The story is a highly original, hyper-twisty plot that ultimately becomes what the author cryptically describes as an “inverted heist.”
Set in an all-too-plausible near future, AI and robots have created 40% unemployment. UBI plus Ikea-style sleeping pods in now-deserted parking structures ensured, “… no one lived on the street or begged for food, but no one considered this heaven on earth either. How tragic, given endless leisure, so few kept their ambitious ‘if only I had time’ promises. The combo of work-free days, food delivery, and limitless streaming and gaming made comfortable hammocks function as veal pens.”
The book’s unconventional format avoids the problems of Ayn Rand’s ever-present soapbox blather and pedantic screeds. Instead, hyperlinks (in the eBook) or endnotes (in the printed editions) make the progressive and satirical rants optional, like the literary version of films’ bonus featurettes.
In researching the technology, Abrams consulted with preeminent AI scientists, including — David Gelernter, Prof. Computer Science (Yale University), Peter Clark, Senior Research Manager (Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence), and Dr. Christof Koch, Chief Scientist & President (Allen Institute for Brain Science).
The eclectic cast of characters includes an Asian, gray ace demisexual tech founder, a devout, White, Southern matriarch/titan of industry, an AI programmer/part-time influencer whose girlfriend is a Latina anti-immortality activist, a Black lesbian Navy veteran, Russian operatives/gangsters, and an Italian-American billionaire who is deadly sick by both definitions.
Set in an all-too-plausible near future, AI and robots have created 40% unemployment. UBI plus Ikea-style sleeping pods in now-deserted parking structures ensured, “… no one lived on the street or begged for food, but no one considered this heaven on earth either. How tragic, given endless leisure, so few kept their ambitious ‘if only I had time’ promises. The combo of work-free days, food delivery, and limitless streaming and gaming made comfortable hammocks function as veal pens.”
Qn 2: Who do you think would be interested in this book, is it directed at any particular market?
For comparable films & stories: It’s got the heady, high-stakes sci-fi of Ready Player One, I-Robot, Snowpiercer, and Elysium and clicks with the heist and humor of Oceans 11, Sneakers, Sorry to Bother You, Now You See Me, and Ant-Man.
Qn 3: Out of all the books in the world, and all the authors, which are your favourite and why?
I love “satirical sci-fi with substance.”
So, of course, I love Douglas Adams, Andy Weir, John Scalzi, Kurt Vonnegut, Gary Shteyngart, Blake Crouch, William Gibson, Ernest Cline, Neal Stephenson, George Orwell, and Aldous Huxley.
Qn 4: What guidance would you offer to someone new, or trying to enhance their writing?
Ideally, every scene should move the protagonist closer to or further away from his/her goal. Every character must have a “want” in every scene (even if they don’t blatantly act on it). Try to use subtext, which is the meaning the audience infers from context and descriptions and not solely from surface-level dialogue. Try using Autocrit and ProWritingAid for their metrics (but not their AI).
Qn 5: Where can our readers find out more about you, do you have a website, or a way to be contacted?
https://corpaniaproductions.com/immortality-bytes
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