QSFer O.E. Tearmann has a new queer cyberpunk book out: Deuces Are Wild.
They say to really free your body, you’ve gotta free your mind…
America is waking up. People are standing up for each other and a future worth living in. But they can’t do it alone.
Now, they don’t have to. The Democratic State Force is calling in favors across the nation. Members of Base 1407 and hundreds of other teams across the country are teaching the citizens how to fight back on their terms, with tactics that hit the Corporations right where it hurts–in the wallet and the pride.
The seven Corporations that think they own the country are scrambling to keep control over the citizens’ communications, their decisions, and their lives. Every dirty trick is coming out of their bags as they lose their grip. It’s going to take a lot to beat them at this game for the country’s soul.
Life’s a bitch. She doesn’t play fair. Out-think her with every hand, and you might just win.
Get It At Amazon
Excerpt
Event File 01
T
File Tag: Environmental Maintenance
09:00-05-04-2160
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope.”
“Fucking tumbleweeds? F-fucking seriously?”
“Yep.”
Tweak stared at the snarled pile of weeds leaning against the slicktarp of Base 1407, interlocked like nature’s scrap-yard and just as full of sharp edges. She turned her head and looked up at Milo; a long, long way up. He was a big guy, and she was short even for an Asian chick.
She still couldn’t believe it. This had to be a joke.
“We have to replace. A whole slicktarp. B-because of some weeds. The fuck?”
Milo cocked a brow, his locs swaying in the hot wind. “Some weeds? Some of those things are bigger than you, tech girl. Almost as mean, too.”
Tweak snorted. “Like that’s anything. Everything’s b-bigger than me.”
Over beside the tarp, her commander dropped into a crouch, blond hair catching hazy sunlight. “Tweak, can you come check this with me?”
Tweak trotted over and dropped to the dusty ground beside Aidan, pulling out her tab and studying the tarp with narrowed eyes. The windstorm had kicked up two days ago, and their team had been stuck inside since, sheltering from the hot grit carried in it. It felt good to be outside again, but now there was this clusterfuck to deal with. The wind had picked up tumbleweeds along with the dirt, and now a six-foot high wall of the round, brown-grey plants was heaped against the side of the base and the slick-tarp that enclosed it, all their sharp spines sticking through the fabric that masked the base’s signature across the visual and electromagnetic spectrum.
She studied the slicktarp, running her tab over it to let it find the punctures her eyes couldn’t see. Her tab racked up the damage, and she sighed. “Shit. Yeah. There’s holes.”
“The kind of holes that are going to get bigger?” Aidan asked. Tweak wasn’t sure if the face he was making was worried, but she could figure that out later. She focused on the tarp. The damage the tumbleweeds had done was ridiculous. The bigger spines had worked their way between the carbon fibers and pushed them out of their spots in the weave. The little ones had splintered off in the fabric, interrupting the visual illusion in a million places. Sure, the holes weren’t big, but enough small holes could leak an electromagnetic signature that a search-and-destroy drone could pick up. How did a bunch of dry weeds do this?
At least none of the strands in the tarp had snapped. That was a relief. The fiber-optic inlaid mesh was tough; after all, it was made of graphene strands and fiber optics, all coated in heat-deflecting samarium nickel oxide. But patching it when something did manage to snap the strands was a pain in the ass.
Tweak looked up, squinting against the sun. The tarp would make it for a couple hours before she’d need to fill the holes with sealant. Right now there was a bigger problem: the six-foot wall of tumbleweed pushed up against two sides of the base was totally wrecking their visual camouflage. The stupid things were painting a target on the Wildcards.
Author Bio
O.E. Tearmann (they/them) is the author of the Aces High, Jokers Wild series. Their books include strong themes of diversity and found family, providing a surprisingly hopeful take on a dystopian future. Bringing their own experiences as a marginalized author together with flawed but genuine characters, Tearmann’s work has been described as “Firefly for the dystopian genre.” Publisher’s Weekly called it “a lovely paean to the healing power of respectful personal connections among comrades, friends, and lovers.”
Tearmann lives in Colorado with two cats, their partner, and the belief that individuals can make humanity better through small actions. They are a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, the Colorado Resistance Writers and the Queer Scifi group. In their spare time, they teach workshops about writing GLTBQ characters, speak and plant gardens to encourage sustainable agricultural practices, and play too many video games.
Author Website: https://www.oetermann.com