StealingFreedomGreetings all,

Stealing Freedom went live Oct. 1, and so I wanted to take the chance to let you know that and give you a bit of information on why this might be the right story for you.

It is currently 99 cents and will remain at that price until midnight Oct. 16, when it goes to the standard $2.99.

A mother strives to free her daughter from the ruthless communication laws of her planet. 

The initial inspiration for this story was a mental picture of a mother standing in line just so she could buy the right to say “Happy birthday!” to her daughter. Ardelia’s whole motivation for her scheme was ensuring her daughter wouldn’t grow up in a world where speech was restricted.

A gang of thieves become the heroes when they use their skills to free the planet from tyranny.  

I’m talk about this a bit more later, but Stealing Freedom is basically a heist story. The cast is diverse and unique (in a manner of speaking). My favorite part of this aspect of the story is Elvin, who has no business being in a gang of thieves. Why is in the group? Well, I guess you’ll have to read to find out.

LeverageDo you miss the TV show Leverage? Stealing Freedom is what would happen if Leverage took place in a dystopian, cyberpunk future.

I personally loved that series. It’s honestly fantastic from beginning to end. Even then, I don’t think give it enough credit because I never seem to place it in my top ten TV shows. Regardless, the add copy above is accurate. If someone were to post in a review: “This is pretty shameless imitation of Leverage!” I’d respond with, “Thank you so much!”  So why not go and watch that show? What’s the difference?  Well there are a few.  First, the MC is female. Second, she’s a family woman. Unlike Nathan Ford (a great character in his own right), Ardelia isn’t morning and regretting the loss of a child. Instead, she’s fighting for the child she loves, and the bond between Ardelia and her daughter is plain from the first scene.  Elvin (mentioned above) is also another twist. Where the cast members of Leverage are all highly competent, highly proactive characters, Elvin is a wonderful fly in the ointment.

A cop turned thief faces off against the best cop in history in chess match where the prize is the future of a planet.

I love a good chess match. I love when two worthy opponents face off. The relationship between Ardelia and Vance (said best cop, called monitors on this planet). They’re both smart. They respect each other. They constantly work under the belief that they’ve accurately anticipated one another’s future moves. This conflict is what drives up the stakes. Vance isn’t cookie cutter though. In a lot of ways, he’s supposed to be the hero. If he were defending a law people supported, he would be. He hates Ardelia for choices she made. He thinks of her as the traitor, and his conviction, I think, is believable. If you like movies like “Catch Me If You Can,” I think you

Stock image from Pixabay.

‘ll like this. “White Collar” is another good comparable show that has these themes, though the relationship between Vance and Ardelia is far more antagonistic than those shows.

In a world where any form of communication is ruthlessly suppressed, how do people communicate to support each other or enact change?

This was the biggest causal inspiration to the story. Even today in the news, people are talking about the freedom of speech in some pretty negative ways. What horrifies me is that in our efforts to silence speech that is just plain wrong, we’re closing the door on our right to say things that need to be said. It wasn’t that long ago someone was “wrong” or “stupid” for saying a woman shouldn’t vote or a black man was less than a white man. If we silence or restrict speech just because people are saying things we don’t like to hear, we prevent humanity from being able to hear the things they need to hear.

All of those “sell lines” apply to this story. Any one of them works for an accurate description of what the book is and why anyone should read it. My hope is you’ll give the story a chance and feel free to let me know if one or any of the above promises aren’t fulfilled. You can purchase it through the link above, or just click here.

Thanks for reading,


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