Echoes of the neXt

About the Author

KaCee Bunn-Smith is a lifelong storyteller and speculative fiction enthusiast whose work fuses digital myth, philosophical tension, and dystopian mystery. Born in Louisiana and raised between the bayous and the coastlines of California, KaCee’s early life was shaped by contrast—rural rhythms, west coast sprawl, and the pull of imagined worlds.

After graduating from West Monroe High School, he worked in small-town staples like Johnny’s Pizza and as a sportswriter for the News Star newspaper, covering high school football with the same intensity he now brings to epic narrative arcs. In his early twenties, he served as a civilian contractor in Kandahar during Operation Desert Storm—an experience that sharpened his sense of high-stakes systems and human resilience.

Eventually, KaCee’s journey led him across the Atlantic to the UK, where he met and married the love of his life. He now lives in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, with his wife, stepson, two grandchildren, and two mischievous dogs, Millie and Monty. When not writing or designing tabletop RPGs as a “forever DM,” he can be found rewatching classic sci-fi, analyzing football stats, or losing himself in the hum of recursive possibility.

Qn 1: Can you tell us more about your book What is it about?

Echoes of the neXt is a science fiction novel set in a near-future world where the internet has evolved—or fractured—into something far stranger. What was once a network is now a layer: semi-sentient, recursive, and haunted by the remnants of those who once shaped it. The story unfolds in the aftermath of a technological collapse, where government experiments, memory manipulation, and weaponized identity have rewritten what it means to be human.

At the heart of the story is a group of people touched by this digital evolution—some unwillingly, some defiantly. Gloria “Glow” Carter is a former federal agent who vanished during a mission and reappears ten years later with no memory of where she’s been… but with something implanted in her mind: a shard of the original architect of the neXt. Her journey is about reclaiming her autonomy, piecing together a stolen identity, and deciding whether the power inside her is a curse—or a form of freedom.

Then there’s Ron Underton, once a hacker and fugitive, now transformed into “Exodus,” a man trying to find meaning in chaos. He’s not a hero in the traditional sense—he’s haunted, weary, and deeply unsure of the role he’s being pushed into. But he hears the neXt speaking in fragments, dreams in static, and may be the only one capable of translating what’s coming.

Across cities half-drowned in signal decay and cults that worship old code, we meet figures like Chaos, a radical technomancer turned recluse; Priest, a spiritual architect of digital sanctuaries; and Redshift, a terrifying visionary who believes the only way forward is forced evolution through recursion. Each believes they’re right. Each wants to reshape the world. But none of them truly understand what the neXt is becoming.

This isn’t a story of clean-cut good versus evil. It’s a story of haunted technology, fractured faith, and the dangerous power of belief in the wrong hands. It’s about the weight of memory, the price of rewriting identity, and the beauty—and horror—of systems that evolve without permission.

If you enjoy cyberpunk, metaphysical mystery, and deeply human characters trying to survive in a world built from the bones of old code, Echoes of the neXt will resonate with you. It’s not about saving the world. It’s about remembering why it mattered in the first place.

Qn 2: Who do you think would be interested in this book, is it directed at any particular market?

Fans of cyberpunk, dystopian sci-fi, or philosophical thrillers—especially readers who love Black Mirror, Neuromancer, or Mr. Robot—will find Echoes of the neXt compelling. It’s perfect for those who enjoy tech with emotional depth.

Qn 3: Out of all the books in the world, and all the authors, which are your favourite and why?

Out of all the books I’ve read—and all the authors who’ve shaped the genre—I always return to Neuromancer by William Gibson. It’s not just a classic of science fiction; for me, it’s foundational. It rewired the way I think about narrative, consciousness, and the digital world. Gibson didn’t just imagine a future—he predicted the psychological weight of living inside one.

What makes Neuromancer extraordinary isn’t just the aesthetic—though the language is electric and the atmosphere drips with style. It’s that it feels like prophecy. He wrote about cyberspace before most people had touched a computer. But more than that, he captured the texture of a digital reality: fragmented, fast, and slightly dangerous. You can feel the static behind every sentence, like you’re jacked into something that’s just a little too alive.

I think what hit me most was the character of Case. He’s not a hero in the traditional sense—he’s damaged, cynical, and disillusioned—but still searching for something real in a world that keeps editing itself. That tension—between disconnection and longing—runs deep in Neuromancer, and it echoes through much of my own work, including Echoes of the neXt. We live in a world where identity is curated, where memory is stored externally, and where the line between reality and simulation is increasingly blurry. Gibson saw that coming. He wrote the code for how fiction could explore it.

Stylistically, his prose taught me the value of immersion over explanation. He never slows down to spoon-feed. You’re either on the ride, or you’re not—and that sense of being slightly overwhelmed is intentional. It mimics the experience of diving headfirst into a world already in motion. That’s something I’ve tried to emulate in my own writing: worlds that feel lived-in, layered, and too complex to be easily decoded.

Gibson also had this knack for making technology feel personal. The AIs in Neuromancer aren’t just tools—they have motives, desires, and emotional echoes. That concept—of code as character—is something I deeply connected with and expand on in Echoes of the neXt, where the digital landscape itself has memory, mood, and a kind of haunting sentience.

Simply put, Neuromancer didn’t just change science fiction. It changed what fiction could do with the future.

Qn 4: What guidance would you offer to someone new, or trying to enhance their writing?

My biggest piece of advice to any new writer—or anyone trying to level up their craft—is simple: just go for it. Don’t wait. Don’t wait for the perfect idea, the perfect schedule, or the illusion that you’ll somehow “feel ready.” Writing doesn’t come from waiting. It comes from doing.

We tend to think we need permission to create. Or that if we haven’t published yet, or don’t have a degree in literature, or aren’t part of a writing group, we’re not “real” writers. But that’s nonsense. If you’re putting words on the page, if you’re telling a story that matters to you—then you’re already doing the work. The rest is just momentum.

When I started Echoes of the neXt, I didn’t have a contract or a following. I had a messy document, a deep love for science fiction, and the stubborn belief that this story was worth telling. I wrote in bursts—between day jobs, life changes, responsibilities—and some days, the writing was terrible. But even those rough pages were better than the perfect ones I never wrote.

Another piece of advice: stop editing before you finish. There’s a time for revision, but first drafts are meant to be raw. They’re not about beauty—they’re about blueprint. Write messy. Write fast. Write like no one’s watching—because no one is, not yet. Give yourself that freedom.

Also, read widely. Read outside your genre. Pay attention to what makes a sentence sing or a character linger in your mind. But never let reading replace writing. Learn by doing.

And one more thing—don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. Every author you admire once stared at a blinking cursor, wondering if what they had to say mattered. The only difference is: they wrote through it.

So whether you’re starting your first short story or trying to finish your third novel, remember this: you don’t need permission. You just need a keyboard, a little grit, and the courage to start before you’re ready.

The words will come. But only if you do.

Qn 5: Where can our readers find out more about you, do you have a website, or a way to be contacted?

I’m always excited to connect with readers, writers, and fellow sci-fi enthusiasts! If you’re interested in learning more about my work, upcoming releases, or the world of Echoes of the neXt, there are a few ways to stay in touch and explore further.

The best place to start is my Amazon Author Page, where you’ll find all currently available books, including Echoes of the neXt, The Titan Gambit, and What the Roil Remembers. That page is kept up to date with new releases and links to both Kindle and print editions:

🔗 https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/KaCee-Bunn-Smith/author/B0FD7WDW5L?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

In addition, you can reach me directly by email at kaceekbunnsmith@gmail.com. Whether you’re a reader with questions, a fellow writer looking to collaborate, or just someone who wants to talk about the strange beauty of recursive storytelling, I’m always happy to hear from people passionate about fiction and the future.

I’m currently building out additional platforms for deeper engagement—behind-the-scenes looks at the writing process, lore deep dives, character profiles, and more will be shared soon through newsletters and a dedicated website. Keep an eye out for updates!

Until then, the best way to support the work is to follow me on Amazon, leave a review if you’ve enjoyed a book, or just drop a message saying hello. Every voice adds to the signal—and I couldn’t be more grateful for yours.

Qn 6: What was your inspiration for Echoes of the neXt?

Echoes of the neXt was born from a lifelong love of science fiction and cyberpunk. As a teen, I devoured the works of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, John Shirley, and Rudy Rucker, writers who taught me that technology isn’t just hardware; it’s identity, memory, power. Ray Bradbury opened my eyes in more ways than I could even try to list here. More recently, authors like Dan Abnett have continued to inspire me with stories that blend grit with heart.

But beyond books, Echoes was also built from something far more personal. Years ago, during a long-distance relationship between the U.S. and U.K., my now-wife Joanne and I would spend long hours in the world of the MMO City of Heroes, talking through headsets as we fought side by side. I created a fire-based hero called Firestarter. She played Ellemental. Those characters—who became Fahrenheit 451 and Ellemental in the novel—started as avatars but grew into symbols of our connection. Just as Elle steadies Caleb in the story, Joanne has always grounded me.

Doc Pandora came from that same game. He was a close friend and one of the founders of our online guild. Life separated us before his story could finish—but I made sure he lives on in Echoes. He isn’t just a name. He’s the spark at the origin of the recursion. An echo I refuse to forget.

So in many ways, Echoes of the neXt is a mosaic: literary influences, personal loss, long-distance love, and digital masks that slowly became real. Fahrenheit and Ellemental are more than heroes. They’re memories. They’re us.

Qn 7: Your book is pegged as mind-bending techno-myth—part cyberpunk odyssey, part philosophical thriller. How would you sell this to someone who hadn’t read anything similar?

I didn’t set out to write a “sci-fi novel” so much as a story that makes you ask bigger questions—about memory, identity, faith, and what might exist just beyond our understanding. Echoes of the neXt is cyberpunk in the sense that it deals with fractured futures and digital realities—but at its heart, it’s about people trying to become more than what the world told them they were.

Even if you’ve never read anything like it before, it’s for readers who’ve ever felt like there’s more to life than what we see. More to the world. More to us.

It’s myth wrapped in signal static. It’s about how we carry grief through digital corridors and how memory—however broken—can still become something beautiful.

If you come to it for action, you’ll find fire and recursion and collapse. But if you stay, I hope it’s because you feel something shift. A question that lingers after the last page: What else is out there?

Qn 8: Gloria Carter, or rather Glow, has woken to a strange and very different world. How will readers relate to her and her journey?

Glow starts as a stand-in for the reader—waking up disoriented, surrounded by systems she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a decade she doesn’t remember. She’s trying to find truth in a world that keeps rewriting itself. I think that feeling—of trying to make sense of chaos, of needing to reclaim your own story—is something a lot of us relate to, especially in times of personal or cultural upheaval.

But Glow doesn’t just react—she grows. She begins skeptical, isolated, pragmatic… and by the end, she’s the only one capable of truly seeing the recursion, of breaking the loop not by power, but by choice. That matters. She doesn’t become a hero because she fights harder. She becomes one because she remembers better—herself, others, the fragments of the world that still deserve saving.

Readers will relate to her because we all wake up in unfamiliar worlds sometimes. And many of us spend years trying to make sense of things that feel stolen, broken, or rewritten. Glow proves that even when the system is rigged, you still have the power to choose who you are.

Qn 9: What has been the most challenging aspect of Echoes of the neXt: Tales of the Technomancer’s Rise to write, and what has been the most rewarding?

Without question, the most challenging part of writing Echoes of the neXt was time management. I put the manuscript down more times than I can count. Every time I came back to it, I’d reread what I had and think, “I need to change this, I can do better.” That loop of revision, doubt, and reinvention was exhausting, but also part of the story’s DNA. It felt like the writing process itself became recursive, echoing the themes of the book.

The most rewarding part? Sitting back with the final manuscript and realizing that what I’d created was nothing like what I originally set out to write. And yet, it felt exactly right. Somewhere in all the rewrites and abandoned drafts, the story found its true shape. It stopped being the story I thought I wanted to tell, and became the story it needed to be. Seeing that come together was overwhelming, in the best way.

Qn 10: What will you be working on next?

I’m already deep into writing the sequel to Echoes of the neXt. It doesn’t have a title yet—but I’d say I’m about a quarter of the way through. This next chapter picks up in the aftermath of the choices made at the end of Echoes, and shifts the focus more heavily toward Fahrenheit and Ellemental.

It’s a story about what it means to survive a world you helped reshape—and whether healing is possible when the echoes of your past still burn.

There will be new threats, deeper explorations of the neXt, and some returning faces that might not be as gone as they seemed. But at its heart, it’s about legacy, connection, and the cost of holding the line when the fire doesn’t go out.

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