Welcome to Day 5 of “THE ENIGMA THREAT” Release Blog Tour! @enigmaseries @1rburkey @4WillsPub @4WP11 @RRBC_Org #RRBC

Introduction

It is my pleasure to welcome you to Day 5 of “THE ENIGMA THREAT” Release Blog Tour. “The Enigma Threat” by Breakfield and Burkey is Book 12 in the popular Enigma Series which will be released on January 8, 2021.

Giveaways on this blog tour include: (1) $25 Amazon Gift card & (10) e-book copies of the “shorts” in the Enigma Series

Below is an excerpt of “The Enigma Threat,” biographies of co-authors (Charles Breakfield and Roxanne Burkey), and a discussion on how the Enigma Series further developed the skills of the co-authors Breakfield and Burkey.

Excerpt of The Enigma Threat

 

The Enigma Threat
by Breakfield and Burkey

In the new digital world, there is no tolerance for privately owned supercomputers. Globally, computers are hunted and destroyed for the greater good, by the new cyber police CESPOOL. The information this group receives is manipulated by subversive hidden machine learning devices, the MAG running on the dark net.

Judith and Xiamara are freebooters who steal machine time for their PaaS, porn as a service business. The machine they chose for delivery is the last untapped supercomputer not in the hands of a sovereign. Their activity is spotted by the MAG, but the renegade R-Group steps in to alter the outcome. Leroy teams up with Zara to help these opportunists escape prosecution. They are drafted as reluctant participants in the fight.

Jacob and Quip are trapped in the Chihuahuan Desert trying to reconstruct the base of ICABOD’s logic core. The stress of their isolation is taking a toll. Their wives and children are safe in Brazil for the time being, but Interpol is prowling for answers.

The R-Group has assembled a way to communicate with orphaned satellites. While the next R-Group plans the ultimate honey pot to trap their nemesis who is driving their corrupted agenda. The odds are against R-Group’s success, but they have creative surprises on their side.

The stakes have never been higher. The R-Group young and old must rise to defeat the MAG.

BIO: Breakfield & Burkey

Breakfield is a 25+ year technology expert in security, networking, voice, and anything digital. He enjoys writing, studying World War II history, travel, and cultural exchanges. He’s also a fan of wine tastings, winemaking, Harley riding, cooking extravaganzas, and woodworking.

Burkey is a 25+ year applied technology professional who excels at optimizing technology and business investments. She works with customers all over the world focusing on optimized customer experiences. She writes white papers and documentation, but found she has a marked preference for writing fiction.

Together they create award-winning stories that resonate with males and females, as well as young and experienced adults. They bring a fresh new view to technology possibilities today.

Contact Information:

Email
Website
Blog       

Connect and follow Breakfield & Burkey on Social Media:

LinkedIn Charles Breakfield
LinkedIn RoxanneBurkey
Twitter Enigma Series
Twitter Roxanne Burkey 
Facebook
YouTube
Pinterest
Instagram
Bublish
RRBC       

4Wills Tour Day 5

We wanted to discuss how the Enigma Series further developed our skills as co-authors Breakfield and Burkey.

Like any other skill, the more you work at it and apply your talents, the more it improves. Though each story is important to us, as children, they are different. We find each subsequent fictional novel is written better than the prior one with more adapted advanced technology. We love being storytellers in writing or when we speak to various groups.

Recognizing we have improved is what is driving our revisions for the earlier books. The writing in the 2nd editions, to date The Enigma Factor, The Enigma Rising, and The Enigma Ignite, are tighter and more succinct. We used additional readers, editors, and reviewer feedback to modify the contents, improving the customer experience.

The different competitions we have entered for short stories, as well as submissions for our novels in other genres, is an eye-opener. We face our most significant challenges in competitions with specific words for a given story. The 1,500-word short stories we find as the most brutal. We appreciate that most of them provide some level of feedback. The short shorts or minis teach us to focus on capturing a compelling vignette with no excess words. The deception is, oh, no problem. I’ll whip this bad boy out before my morning corn flakes.

We know there is always room for improvement. Toward that end, we sit on a short for 3 days after we think it is finished. The reason? Every story should be crafted like it was the last thing you ever get to do. We want to return to it one more time to make sure it is our best at this moment in time.

Producing content for tours like this requires a focused and thoughtful response. We like giving value with interesting, structured content, as well as insights to us as people. It is that old business lesson of people will do business with people. If something is missed and we are willing to make it right or accept their comments, then we have integrity and have honor.

Burkey is the blog driver of this team. She insists upon 600-to-700-word essays on comments on technology we feature in online publications like Medium for professional thought leadership. It all goes back to that first writing lesson we all got when the instructor handed back a C- on our English papers. Then added in big red letters, Show, don’t tell.

Storytelling is a classic art form, but there are several immutable rules that we all must obey to succeed. Once we’ve learned to follow the rules, the rest is style. We do try to bend them at times.

Now we can honestly say that going from full-length novels to short story competitions with word limits ranging from 1,500 to 7,000 words makes us work harder. That is a challenge we are committed to winning. We are working in writing groups and reviewing lessons from other winning authors. We can always improve.

The most significant jump to date is taking a story from prose to a screenplay or One-Act play. We find it like the difference between jumping over a 6-foot cattle guard and jumping the Grand Canyon on a motorcycle, like the fantastic Evel Knievel. Yet this year, we have spent time in both writing forms. We always learn something.

Screenplays are all about dialog, not narrative. The size limitations are roughly 110 pages for a 2-hour film. The required format for these is vastly different from the word documents we generate for a story, long or short. We are learning a specific screenplay application called Final Draft that renders the correct format. The challenges are slowly overcome, but not without a little frustration. We invite you to check out our Kickstarter challenge, where our goal is to get support to begin a screenplay for The Enigma Threat.

We were delighted to learn we won a One-Act Play called Dragon and the Butterfly, in a local competition. Some of the words that made our hearts soar were delightfully different, intriguing, and fun. One comment included would love to see it in production.

We are always learning something and getting better. We dearly appreciate the many awards we have received, yet also recognize grabbing mindshare in today’s world takes the support of a village and colleagues like you.   

_________________________________________________

To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the authors’ tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site.  If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HEREThanks for supporting these authors and their work!

 

 

 

25 Comments
  • Rox Burkey
    Posted at 05:41h, 02 January Reply

    Hi Linnea, thank you for hosting today on the tour. Your blog looks amazing. We will stop back later on to thank any visitors. Take care and Happy New Year.

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 14:12h, 02 January Reply

      Hi Rox, it’s my pleasure to host your blog tour. It is fascinating to learn how you’ve both developed as writers and reached out to other authors. Best of luck in the release of your new book and blog tour!

  • Rita Roberts
    Posted at 05:42h, 02 January Reply

    Thanks for sharing these authors stories with us Linnea. They are such professional people and very interesting

    • Rox Burkey
      Posted at 14:06h, 02 January Reply

      Hi Rita, nice to meet you. Happy New Year to you and yours. Grateful you visited. Linnea thank you so very much for hosting us.

      • Linnea Tanner
        Posted at 14:15h, 02 January Reply

        Rox–It’s been been a pleasure to host your blog tour and to learn more about the 12th book in your Enigma series.

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 14:17h, 02 January Reply

      Hi Rita–Thank you for visiting the blog tour for these talented authors and commenting. It’s a great pleasure for me to support authors and hopefully introduce them to new readers who may enjoy their books. Hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season. Happy New Year!

  • Pat Garcia
    Posted at 06:30h, 02 January Reply

    Hi Rox, Charles, and Linnea,
    I agree with you that short stories and Flash Fiction teach you how to tighten your writing. Over three or four years, I have been writing shorts and flash fiction. I’ve found that they also help me put more depth into my characters.
    I also like that you’re doing second editions, practically putting into your first books what you have now learned. That is a great idea.
    Thank you for your openness about the willingness to revise your first editions of the stories and Happy New Year.
    Thank you Linnea for opening your blog.

    Shalom aleichem

    • Rox Burkey
      Posted at 14:07h, 02 January Reply

      Pat thank you for following us. We appreciate your support! Linnea we are grateful for your space. Happy New Year all.

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 14:20h, 02 January Reply

      Hi Pat–Thank you for visiting commenting on the blog tour. I agree that creating short stories is another avenue for authors to develop their craft. In many ways, short stories are more difficult to write because you have to establish the character and theme in such a short time. Hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season. Happy New Year!

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 14:33h, 02 January Reply

      Hi Pat–Thank you for visiting and commenting on the blog tour. I agree that creating short stories is another avenue for authors to develop their craft. In many ways, short stories are more difficult to write because you have to establish the character and theme in such a short time. Hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season. Happy New Year!

  • Karen Black
    Posted at 08:18h, 02 January Reply

    Hi Linnea. I always enjoy your blog. Rox and Charles, I have no doubt you are enjoying this fabulous blog tour. Tours are such fun! Congratulations on the new release.

    • Rox Burkey
      Posted at 14:10h, 02 January Reply

      Hi Karen. We are so enjoying it. This is our first 4WillsPublishing blog. I have featured others on my blog page RoxBurkey.com, but this is an amazing group of hosting locations. We are so lucky.

      The release and the kickstarter campaign focus is very different for us. We are excited for this book to be available. Take care and stay safe.

  • Yvette M Calleiro
    Posted at 08:46h, 02 January Reply

    Charles and Rox, do your books need to be read in order, or does each book have different characters in them? Good luck with your screenplay. I look forward to hearing updates on that. 🙂 Thanks for hosting, Linnea. 🙂

    • Rox Burkey
      Posted at 14:13h, 02 January Reply

      Yvette, that is a great question. We write them with the idea that we might get a reader for only one story. In that case we want the story be entertain on its own. There is enough of a back story to keep a new or returning reader engaged and happy. The stories can be read on their own, but characters do return, especially our heroes of the R-Group and they grow. Therefore, if a reader does all of them they may connect more deeply with an evolving character. Hope this helps.

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 14:25h, 02 January Reply

      Hi Yvette–Thank you for visiting and comment on the blog tour for Charles and Rox. I was also curious about the order of reading the enigma series. I start reading Book 9, “The Enigma Dragon” and found it difficult at first because of the various characters and organizations. Now that I’m further into it, I have become more engaged trying to figure out how each organization works. It’s a pleasure for me to host this tour blog and learn more about Book 12 in the Enigma Series. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season! Happy New Year!

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 14:29h, 02 January Reply

      Hi Yvette–Thank you for visiting and commenting on the blog tour for Charles and Rox. I was also curious about the order of reading the enigma series. I start reading Book 9, “The Enigma Dragon” because I was fascinated with the cover. I found it difficult, at first, to engage with the various characters and organizations. Now that I’m further into it, I have become more engaged trying to figure out how each organization works and the roles that everyone plays. It’s a pleasure for me to host this tour blog and learn more about Book 12 in the Enigma Series. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season! Happy New Year!

  • Wendy Scott
    Posted at 20:15h, 02 January Reply

    I have to agree with you on how difficult it can be crafting a story with a limited word count.

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 10:07h, 03 January Reply

      Hi Wendy–Thank you for visiting and commenting during the blog tour. There are certainly a lot of different avenues that authors can explore to help maintain the passion for writing. I enjoyed your recently released children’s Christmas story There was a sprinkle of adult humor that made it entertaining for me. Hope you have a happy new year!

  • Roberta Eaton Cheadle
    Posted at 22:44h, 02 January Reply

    Another great and interesting post, Breakfield and Burkey. Congratulations on your success with Dragon and the Butterfly. Certainly different outputs require a different type of writing. I learned this when I moved from writing non-fiction to fiction.

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 10:04h, 03 January Reply

      Thanks, Robbie, for visiting and commenting on the blog tour. It’s been fun to learn more Breakfield and Burkey’s journey as authors. I’ve just begun writing short stories which is a challenge in its own way. Hope you have a happy new year!

  • Rox Burkey
    Posted at 05:31h, 03 January Reply

    Thank you Robbie for the congrats! I think we all continue to learn, at least hopefully. What a bore to be stuck in the same lane all the time. Break through the barriers, even if they are only those in our mind. Cheers!

    Linnea, I really enjoyed your book and look forward to grabbing even more. Thank you again for hosting us.

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 10:02h, 03 January Reply

      Hi Rob–It’s a pleasure to be part of the blog tour and to learn more about you as an author. Thank you for your lovely review of my first book. I’m now reading “The Dragon Enigma” and find the plot intriguing. It’s like putting the pieces together in a puzzle. Best wishes on the release of your 12th book!

  • Charles Breakfield
    Posted at 15:22h, 03 January Reply

    Linnea, thanks for hosting us and thanks Robbie for the call out on our one act play The Dragon and the Butterfly. We like the challenge of new venues. The short stories can be tough but they are great wordsmithing exercises for us.
    Breakfield

    • Linnea Tanner
      Posted at 15:45h, 03 January Reply

      Hi Charles–It has been a great pleasure to host this event and to learn more about your additional ventures into screen writing and short stories. Both Rox and you are an inspiration to challenge ourselves as writers to explore other forms of writing. Best wishes on a successful tour and release of your new book in the Enigma series.

  • Jan Sikes
    Posted at 16:55h, 03 January Reply

    The thoughts shared here on short stories are spot on. Writing a short is much harder than writing a novel because you have to include the full three-act structure in way fewer words. Thank you for hosting, Linnea, and best wishes to Rox and Charles!

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