Wow, Stephen King’s 11.22.63 eight-part mini-series on Hulu, now that was an adaptation!

There have been some great adaptations of the legendary author’s works, The Green Mile, The Mist, and Shawshank Redemption to name a few, and some blunders (I’ll keep these to myself), but 11.22.63 is one of the best emanations of his books onto the film medium.
​
This is a spoiler free spout of words, though I delve into the overall plot that you would read on the inside cover of the book. 

This J.J. Abrams produced mini-series was made to accurately portray an amazing tale of mystery, visually.

11/22/63, the novel, was one of King’s most ambitious pieces and is, in this author’s humble opinion, one of his greatest works.

Mr. King came up with the idea in 1971, less than a decade removed from President John F. Kennedy’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald (with help . . . possibly).

The idea required years of research and due diligence to sift through the many yarns told on that day, the myriad conspiracy theories, and the records of the very very strange FBI, CIA, and other US government agencies’ involvement with the one man we do know shot the President on that horrific day.
King, being very wise, felt he could not run with the idea at that point, because he did not have the time or wherewithal to invest himself fully into what he knew would consume his brain, his researching skills, and his skills as the most gifted of writers taking on a steep task of historical fiction with a time traveling twist.

Did Oswald act alone?

Did the CIA put him up to it?

Was there a second shooter?

These age-old questions have loomed for over fifty years and though we are no closer to finding the truth in our own timeline, King imagines answers to all of these questions and more in his epic story.

There is so much research, not just into how the 1950’s and 1960’s were in the US, but also into the lives of the Oswald’s and the crazy events that happened in history, from General Walker’s failed assassination attempt, to the hand written letter Lee wrote to a federal agent. There are so many documented details from numerous sources about that day and the days leading up to it.

The book 11/22/63 was a huge success in both a long stay on the best seller list, and the tremendously emotional and epic journey of Jake Epping.

​And the TV mini-series is just as impactful.

Jake learns of a secret door at Al’s Diner to September 9, 1958, at 11:58 a.m.

You go through and come back to 2011.

You go back to the same time and events in 1958.

Al has been going back to 1958 and researching the Marxist Lee Oswald to see if he acted alone to murder JFK or if he acted for a Communist or democratic agency.

You can come back to the future in the 2000’s and any changes you made in the past keep, at least until you go back in time again, which resets it all back to the start.

Al has become consumed with the idea of saving JFK on 11/22/63 and forever altering history to improve the world.

But the past does not want to change, and it fights back.

Jake takes on the quest Al bestows him, but the past quickly becomes an invisible character in the book and TV show, creepily popping light bulbs and generally ruining the divorced English teacher’s day any time he comes close to altering reality.

Jake, the man from the future, endures the up and downs of finding the love of his life in the past.
And all the while it is years before he can try and prevent the horrid result of 11.22.63 and they go by slowly in a suspenseful series of tribulations and challenges that are often word for word, scene for scene as King described them in the book.

The look and feel of the times are perfect.

The deep and serious performance of Jake Epping might be the best James Franco has ever been; it is outstanding and the performance of a lifetime.

The eerie details come through so well on film. The translation is nearly flawless.

The time traveling conundrum is fun and thrilling.

The story is an emotional gravitational force, as you are pulled so very hard.

And in the end it all comes down to one infamous day: 11.22.63.

For the half of the nation that has not yet voted for their presidential nominee yet, go check your state’s registry and ensure your right to vote, because the registry has been hacked.

Both my wife and I have had our registered party erased from record before our state primary has taken place, and we have other confirmed sources coming forward as well.

If you declared as a Republican or a Democrat when you registered to vote, then Google your state’s primary, like this, and see if you are still registered for your party.

If you are in New York you can look it up here: https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/votersearch.aspx.

Reports are coming in that many have had their political party records erased, hacked, before the vote in presidential primaries in New York and elsewhere in the USA have taken place.

If you are not registered as a member of the party you wish to vote for, online, in their system, then they will NOT allow you to vote in the presidential primary.

Forget parties. I will not mention a candidate in this article. You should be able to vote if you want to.

I do not care who you want to vote for, or what party you are affiliated with, if you want to vote in your party’s primary, please check online to make sure you have not been erased in the wake of massive hacks of the digital databases.

We all have a right to vote and take part in this great democracy of the USA.

We get to choose who represents us in government with a fair election.

And when voter turnout is up, better candidates are, historically, voted in.

Somehow the hack has targeted individual's status as being registered for a party, regardless of their prior designation and declaration when they registered to vote.

You can try and change this blank party status back to your chosen party by going to your local DMV web site, or you can call your county of residence.

My 15-year allegiance to my party has been erased days after the due date to declare that party in my state’s primary. My wife’s party has disappeared from her record too.

We are both ineligible to vote, as it stands by record, despite us both ensuring we were still registered to vote weeks ago.

We will fight.

We will call and hound our way back into the system to vote for our candidate, as is our right.

We are determined. You should be too.

Make sure you can vote.

The new digital age has spawned an all-digital voting system that can be manipulated and hacked.

On the wake of a huge November election, where not just the new President of the United States is to be decided but also 88% of the Congress (you know, all those people you have been pissed at for somewhere between 2-8 years, or more), voters are not being counted because of fraudulent and criminal activity that has affected our voter registry.

Now friends across social media forums are spreading the word and calling their local county offices and trying to regain their right to vote for their registered parties.

And this comes out on the same day that the “U.S. indicts Iranians for hacking dozens of banks, New York dam” proved to be impactful.

That’s right, folks, DDOS attacks took down numerous bank systems and a dam in New York today.

If your faith in the digital is stalwart, you have to admit the digital world is becoming more disconcerting as we depend on it more and more.

And these cyber attacks, though surely not planned, are proving to be a great distraction from disappearing voter registry records.

Just days ago, over a million Arizona voters found they could not vote for their candidate in the primary, because their registered party records were not visible online; they were not allowed to vote. This includes Americans who have voted in many primaries for the same party, over decades, and those who were new to voting for primaries alike. There might be different results than what has been reported for Arizona.

Is Arizona a conspiracy theory? Who knows? The truth might be stranger. Regardless, people are losing their ability to vote in the primary.

Do not let this happen to you.

There is still time for the half of the nation that has not yet had their primaries.

Corruption has plagued electronic voting registers and machines since their inception (history tells us that corporations can buy votes, literally and legally, by purchasing voting machine companies, in the US), but now something more insidious has risen.

Personally, I am shocked the media has not covered this yet, but maybe the cases in New York have just started to come out.

Please spread the word on all social media platforms and by analog methods, the old ways, by word of mouth: check your voter registration and ensure you can vote.

We must be proactive and vigilant.

We must be allowed to have our voice heard.

Last night as I listened in horror to my Stony Brook Seawolves getting shellacked in their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance, I wrote a piece that I felt was important to address my last book and it is titled: ​"THE CYBERPUNK BODY HACKING GRINDERS IN CYBERWAR."

This first appeared on the book's web site Cyberwarseries.com as the night grew old.

But here it is in full Eager Readers:

My latest book is a thriller and it is science fiction, but it is also known as what is called a genre smasher, and so I felt it was time to address the cyberpunk body hacking grinders in Cyberwar.

I hate labels, but sometimes they are necessity when it comes to easily finding information.

Without the fantastically fun sub-genre of speculative fiction known as ‘Cyberpunk’, it would be pretty damn hard to find new books that I like that in some way loosely resemble the technologically gritty woes of imagined futures or worlds or realities brought to us in stories like Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (the neighbors will have your balls if your robotic sheep proves to be impersonating a real one) or William Gibson’s unparalleled Neuromancer.

It occurs to me, right now, as the horrid commercials blare their noise at my back, while I eagerly await my Alma Mater’s first entry into the March Madness Tournament, that my book has been marketed wrong.

That is, to say, Cyberwar meets the expectations for a sci-fi thriller, but that is far short of the whole picture.

Marketing is more important than I like to acknowledge.
So let’s talk cyberpunk and grinding!

If delving into the book offers up some more insight for Eager Readers that might take an interest in its vast world, who am I to deny them that.

I wrote the damn thing, so I hope you will not mind if I make an edit to expand its description – late in the game, I know – to hit on some of the nuanced and highly researched aspects that go beyond computing technology, political revolution, and cyber warfare.

A lot of the research I put into robotics crossed over into humanoid bots, AI (artificial intelligence), and then further into android-like devices and a merging of man and machine.

The birth of the cyborg is old news.

Chipsets placed in the brain to allow for electrical impulses and thought to go wireless is tech currently being tested for human beings.

Successful cybernetic prosthetics are allowing people with artificial limbs to control their new hands and legs with nerve interaction and thought.
This is today and this is yesterday.

And this is the public news published in scientific journals.

Below the surface, the unaccepted, and often widely innovative grinders, or body hackers, are starting a movement that many feel is the next step in the human evolutionary ladder: that of the cyborg.

Grinders will place glowing chips beneath the skin of their hands to allow them a bio-chip coded to their own DNA that is the grinder’s method for waiving a hand and paying for an item, or accessing health metrics.

Some grinders are even plugging parts of their brains into physical electronic interfaces that give them abilities beyond the traditional senses.

This is the case with Neil Harbisson, a colorblind artist from Barcelona, who persuaded a doctor to implant a camera in the back of his head so that the antenna can detect the dominant color in front of him and translate it into musical notes so he is aware of the color.

He considers himself a ‘cybernetic organism’ and no longer identifies as a human.
Harbisson co-founded the Cyborg Foundation to advocate for cyborg rights.

The doctor that performed Harbisson’s surgery did so only after many other surgeons refused, and only under the condition of remaining anonymous.
Grinders are pushing the boundaries of the human-cyborg relationship all over the world, often at great personal risk of their own health.

The future of Cyberwar is torn in two.

Fifty percent of the population consider the cyborg way of life a right and have permanently altered some part of their body; many of these body hackers have cybernetic eyes that replace one of their own functioning eyes with an infrared and thermal imaging device.

The other half of the world populous remain steadfast in what they deem their birthright: the right to have no mechanized or electronic device, forced into their bodies.

This is a conflict that is ongoing in the Cyberwar Series.

Localized EMP’s can kill those with complex electronics in their skulls, but the government, in the Cyber United States in particular, is slowly pushing toward everyone getting their own bio-chipset to use for electronic currency, eliminating all cash, and all of the “off-the-books” transactions that accompany physical currency (there is more of this in my next book, which is coming soon!).

The main characters are haunted by cybernetics!
​
Grinding and androids and brash new futures are at the heart of cyberpunk, and I am proud to say Cyberwar has plenty of that in its gut as well.

If you want to check out the start of the book, please read the first few chapters in an excerpt here.

I am compelled to talk to you about some of the fun I have been having recently involving inventing not-so-subliminal messages in binary code for chapter breaks and typing the infamous words “[THE END]” on my next novel’s manuscript.

It has been sometime since I have opened up to you, Eager Readers, and that is why I felt the need to get in touch today to catch up.

I should have said more of myself, but I did not.

A bad car accident has had me in disarray over the last year and a half plus, but my health is improving and so too, I hope, my writing going forward.

It is not an excuse, but it was difficult to write my thoughts down and hard to get them out in the world.

What has been incredibly frustrating is a drastically altered ability to read, to see in general, and subsequently to write and edit.

All kinds of quality of life issues have stricken me down, but the acts of reading, writing and editing, which have been second nature for as long as I can remember, were crippled.

Fear not! Things should improve for me in the not too distant future.

I will get back to making art at a high level, and I am working oh so hard to get back there, and to a healthy state, every day.

But back to the fun I figured you would enjoy hearing about.

Reading and rereading some fascinating articles on translating binary code – and just where the hell those numbers come to have meaning – had me inspired.

This is one of the articles I read from math.grin.edu.

It is called “The Binary System: A pretty damn clear guide to a quite confusing concept by Christine R. Wright with some help from Samuel A. Rebelsky” (and it is quite fun, even for one who tries to ignore math regularly, as I am wont to do).

I will never be able to grasp the sheer math of it all, and the geniuses using this method and other in-depth ways for creating myriad works of art in the Cyberverse continue to have my utmost respect.

But trying to wrap my head around just what those numbers mean and how does so much meaning and information pass through them in the world today, invisible and yet visible at all times through the digitally dependent society that circumvents much of the globe.

Do not get me wrong: I simultaneously love and hate the digital Cyberverse that has infused itself into modern civilization; as much as I am fascinated and utilize the tech, I wish we were not so completely dependent on it.

But I digress, back to fun.

Being moved by the complexity and yet utter simplicity of binary, I decided it would be fun to make a different interconnecting message in binary code as a chapter break at the end of each section in the latest novel I have been writing to follow-up Cyberwar.

I am afraid I do not have a title to reveal just yet, but the book, which was largely complete before my car accident is inching nearer to its culmination.

The binary serves as a great visual break between parts of the book’s words, but also allows me to add in some of my own views on a level, a fun level, that requires a little research on the part of the reader to find the meaning hid in the 1’s and 0’s.

You may also be interested to know that this very week, I typed the words, “[THE END]” onto the ms.

Now there is a good deal of words on the page after those, and that will have to be addressed.

And there are numerous sections that need to be expanded upon, some that need to be chopped down to timbers, and others that no doubt need transplanting, either to other sections of this book or into another book entirely.

That will be the fun as the editing and the writing continues.

I can give no timeline, but want to say a hearty “Hello” to you all and hope that 2016 is a healthy and magical new year for us all.
 
Sincerely,
 
R.J. Huneke 


​"FUN: I wrote [THE END] and binary chapter breaks" was originally written for CyberwarSeries.com by R.J. Huneke

​Get the inside scoop from this panel of local writers who have successfully published or self-published their books, as the Writers' Confidential program talks publishing with R.J. Huneke and other authors on November 4, 2015.

Head down to the Riverhead Public Library from 6:30 - 8:30 for this free and informative program. Here all about the authors biographies, their most recent books, and how they went about getting them published.

The local Long Island and New York writers include R.J. Huneke for his sci-fi thriller Cyberwar, Phil Keith for Stay the Rising Sun, Sophia Burrell for 7 Traits for Victory: Life Changing Lessons for Personal Growth, Nancy Bashaw for Finding Five: embracing remembrances of those who have passed, and former Suffolk County Poet Laureate Pramila Venkateswaran for Thirteen Days to Let Go.

The authors will be signing books at the end of the program for any Eager Readers out there! 

Please register for the free event here, and there will be refreshments available courtesy of Joe's Crab Shack. 

R.J. Huneke has spent years researching for his latest sci-fi thriller Cyberwar. A longtime writer and columnist, Huneke has interviewed cyber security professionals, carefully examined advances in science (including robotics and artificial intelligence) and compiled modern day speculations on technology and spun them into an electrifying journey into a dystopian society dominated by cybernetic hackers. His extensive knowledge on cyber warfare, robotics, and political protest, as well as his strong female protagonist are what set the riveting story apart.  

The book from Pentian, an imprint of Lantia, is in stores! Get it in hardcover, as well as softcover, and eBook (Kindle, Nook,iBooks) wherever books are sold.

Well it's just few short weeks away, and R.J. Huneke will be on-hand for four days at the New York Comic Con 2015! 


And Rune Works and CYBERWAR publisher Pentian will be at the Javit's Center October 8-11 at Booth # 1061 at the NYCC!

Rune Works is the media production end of CMO Sync and will proudly be representing itself at the NYCC with both author R.J. Huneke, artist Kara Zisa, and comic creator Ivan O'Neill.

A very very limited amount of first edition full issue comics of Blackwood State #1 (25 pages of hilarity) will be available with the team, artist/writer Ivan O'Neill, editor R.J. Huneke, and colorist Kara Zisa signing and meeting Eager Readers throughout the weekend.

Will they be signing anything?

YES!

Author R.J. Huneke will be touting his novel from Pentian, CYBERWAR, and Rune Works comics division, POWkabam, is also showing up with its first release: Ivan O'Neill's BLACKWOOD STATE Issue # 1.

What are they giving away?

Well bookmarks, posters, signed copies of EVERYTHING, FREE Tee's and of course copies of their works will be available for purchase.

PRIZES, booth babes, and more unforgettable things are in store for any fan dropping by the Rune Works Booth # 1061!

Look for the GIANT temple backdrop! 

We'll see you in a few weeks!

R.J. Huneke will be speaking at 6 pm Friday night for Dune: 50 Years of a Sci-fi Classic LI Con Panel 8/14 at 6 PM in the Bay Room.

R.J. Huneke has spent years researching for his latest sci-fi thriller Cyberwar. A longtime writer and columnist, Huneke has interviewed cyber security professionals, carefully examined advances in science (including robotics and artificial intelligence) and compiled modern day speculations on technology and spun them into an electrifying journey into a dystopian society dominated by cybernetic hackers. His extensive knowledge on cyber warfare, robotics, and political protest, as well as his strong female protagonist are what set the riveting story apart.  

R.J. will at the August 14-16 LI Con 2, pop culture and science convention, with a table at Rune Works Productions and will be meeting Eager Readers in person. 

He will also be speaking at two panels on Friday: at 6pm the 50 Year History of DUNE and at 7 pm will be on a special LI Con panel discussing the NSA Revelations and Privacy and Security in the digital era at Snowden Crash: The NSA Revelations and what they mean for privacy with Ed Bishop, Izaac Falken, J. Morris, and Matt Newhall. Do not miss out on this panel where experts will discuss, in-depth, security and the cyber state in the wake of the NSA Revelations prompted by former NSA operative Edward Snowden. 

You can meet R.J. Huneke as he signs copies of his novel Cyberwar, and comic book creator Ivan O'Neill signing the very first issue of Blackwood State from POWkabam Comics!

Head down to the 2nd Annual LI Con at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center 3845 Veterans Memorial Hwy, Ronkonkoma, New York 11779 to see the Rune Works Productions booth where artist and Blackwood State creator Ivan O'Neill will be joining author R.J. Huneke to sign books!

If you cannot meet R.J. on his Cyberwar Book Tour, be sure to grab a rare signed hardcover copy of the work - there are very limited quantities on hand in the world's greatest independent bookstore, the Book Revue of Huntington, New York.

Get signed copies of CYBERWAR in NY's Book Revue now!

That's right, signed books of the R.J. Huneke sci-fi thriller are being sold exclusively at the Book Revue in Huntington; look for them on the Local Author tables near the front of the famous Long Island bookstore.

R.J. Huneke has spent years researching for his latest sci-fi thriller Cyberwar. A longtime writer and columnist, Huneke has interviewed cyber security professionals, carefully examined advances in science (including robotics and artificial intelligence) and compiled modern day speculations on technology and spun them into an electrifying journey into a dystopian society dominated by cybernetic hackers. His extensive knowledge on cyber warfare, robotics, and political protest, as well as his strong female protagonist are what set the riveting story apart.  

If you cannot meet R.J. on his Cyberwar Book Tour, be sure to grab a rare signed copy of the work - there are very limited quantities on hand in the world's greatest independent bookstore, the Book Revue of Huntington, New York.

R.J. will at the August 14-16 LI Con 2, pop culture and science convention, with a table at Rune Works Productions and will be meeting Eager Readers in person. 

He will also be speaking at two panels on Friday: at 6pm the 50 Year History of DUNE and at 7 pm will be on a special LI Con panel discussing the NSA Revelations and Privacy and Security in the digital era. Do not miss out on this panel where experts will discuss, in-depth, security and the cyber state in the wake of the NSA Revelations prompted by former NSA operative Edward Snowden. 

Rune Works Productions will also have a booth at LI Con 2, from August 14-16, 2015, and you can meet R.J. Huneke as he signs copies of his novel Cyberwar, and comic book creator Ivan O'Neill signing the very first issue of Blackwood State from POWkabam Comics!

Head down to the 2nd Annual LI Con at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center 3845 Veterans Memorial Hwy, Ronkonkoma, New York 11779 to see the Rune Works Productions booth where artist and Blackwood State creator Ivan O'Neill will be joining author R.J. Huneke to sign books!

Eternal Con was thoroughly rocked by the Rune Works booth and the POWkabam crew as the creators of Blackwood State gave away *WTF* an exclusive and FREE Blackwood State one-shot comic, while R.J. Huneke signed away copies of CYBERWAR!

Ivan O'Neill has the world's funniest, raunchiest, most diabolical state school to life in book form in Blackwood State, which R.J. Huneke edited.

Fans got sketches and met the Creator, Ivan, himself, as they reveled in Blackwood dogma at the con. Many swarmed the imprint online to scoop up exclusive backers-only variant issues of Blackwood State, as the publisher Pentian crowdfunds for a comic book tour of epic proportion!

The prizes are extreme! For a $150 in funding, backers receive a special comic designed superficially for the contributor. Using a seven word sentence and a picture, O'Neill will create a 1 page comic about the contributor (and end up being totally ridiculous with it) + you get SIGNED copies of Blackwood State Issues # 1-3 with Limited Variant Covers + Bookmark + T-shirt + Blackwood State coffee mug & personal “Thank You” Letter from Gwen, T.A. at Blackwood State University and you earn 1.50% of the royalties from the comic issues when they're sold.

Holy sh%t, right?

For Blackwood State, O'Neill calls on a notorious state college and the life of a young lady struggling to live in a world that has no idea how not to crap on those that value the study of English writing. 

Alongside her fellow literary comrades, Guinevere Katz must attempt to keep her sanity and her grade as she survives one of the most obnoxious experiences of her academic career . . . and her professional career . . . and her life as a sentient being. 

Calling on father Bill Shakespeare, as her god, and Falstaff as her inner muse and bartender, Gwen's deteriorative, drunken English career is a journey that seems perennially poised on the brink of disaster. Just how the hell does one make a living with a degree in English anyway?

You can help crowdfund the hilarious comic's book tour and grab some really exclusive variant covers, tee's, mugs, and more fun stuff at www.Pentian.com here, but act now before these items sell out forever.