The year is 2030. There are no more homes and only two businesses remain. Nearly every structure has been converted into a Dollar Store. People sleep in hostel-style bunks in the stockrooms next to the back-stock inventory. Nearly expired Cheetos, discontinued candy bars, RC Cola, and the like are the only forms of sustenance.
Everyone dreams of making it to the store manager position and saving enough singles to move into a fancy neighborhood where they can live in a closet at a Five Below, the only other retail store in existence. But that reality is merely a fever dream for most, and that’s if it even actually exists.
City, state, and national government entities are no more. Strict order is kept by The Supreme Being–a network of self-checkout registers with a single, sentient, artificially intelligent consciousness. We exist only for its amusement, forced to perform improv comedy using items from the shelves or be blinded by barcode scanning lasers.
Despite the meager conditions, very few attempt revolt. Most claim contentedness, citing the generosity of the Self-Checkout Register deity as it provides all the nourishment necessary for life via highly processed snack chips and sodas.
If you’ve enjoyed my blog, please take a moment to nominate me for Phoenix Magazine’s Best of the Valley Reader’s Choice Best Author of the Year. I won the title last year thanks to the incredible support of so many of you. Let’s see if we can repeat! You can nominate me once a day until April 21. Actual voting starts on May 1, and you can vote once a day until May 19. Click the picture below to be taken to the ballot.
I also have a couple of upcoming signing events where you can check out all of my and Dead Star Press’s publications at event exclusive pricing.
Free Comic Book Day at Drawn to Comics and The Velma Teague Library in Downtown Glendale, AZ
10 am – 2 pm Velma Teague Library 7010 N 58th Ave, Glendale, AZ 85301
And my very first book store signing event at Half Price Books in Mesa, AZ
11 am – 3 pm Half Price Books Mesa 6339 E Southern Ave Mesa, AZ 85206
Finally, my latest novel, Darkest Day, has reached it’s 2-year anniversary! We’re celebrating by marking down paperback copies to $9.99 for the rest of April. Click the book cover to be taken to the Dead Star Press store.
Joseph D. Newcomer 