Shane Joseph

With Chatbots and Large Language Models changing the world of writing and publishing dramatically, what happens when we introduce a sentient robot capable of feelings into the mix?Phil Kruger, inventor and serial womanizer, believes he has the answer in his creation, Victoria, the first sentient robot in the world, imbued with beauty, knowledge, and strength, and on a crash course to acquire human feelings through massive infusions of data. Arrayed against him are independent trade publisher, Artemius (Art) Jones and his rebellious and sexually starved daughter, Paula, an editor herself, who is determined to take her father's failing press, Crimson Literary, into the indie world of self-publishing. The rest of the cast is made up of Sebastian Smyth, AI consultant and robotic lover; Kevin Bartolo, revolutionary poet and passionate lover of women and traditional publishing; Diana Dawson, Art's ex-wife who dumped him for the younger Phil; Kamala Shah, the charismatic but calculating heir to the throne of Hind Robotics, the company bankrolling Phil's AI venture; Viresh Shah, chairman of Hind Robotics, thirsting for South Asia to grab the pole position in AI technology.The worlds of publishing and AI clash, leading to some funny, saucy, and scary situations, leaving us with the existential question of how will we share this planet with our digital creations?

Avery Mann, a retired pharmaceuticals executive, is in crisis. His wife dies of cancer, his son's marriage is on the rocks, his grandson is having a meltdown, and his good friend is a victim of the robocalls scandal that invades the Canadian federal election.Throw in a reckless fling with a former colleague, a fire that destroys his retirement property, and a rumour emerging that the drug he helped bring to market years ago may have been responsible for the death of his wife, and Avery's life goes into freefall. Does an octogenarian bee keeper living on Vancouver Island hold the key to Avery's recovery, a man holding secrets that put lives in jeopardy? Avery races across the country to find out, with crooked bosses, politicians, and assassins on his tail.Shane Joseph spins a cautionary tale of corporate and political greed that is endemic of our times.

Fake News Will Smallwood, a writer suffering from the dreaded "block" and from troubling childhood dreams, is sucked into a living nightmare when he becomes the fall guy for a gang spreading misinformation to hijack the upcoming Canadian Federal Election.Fleeing from the law, Will is forced to confront his personal demons: his suppressed and abused orphan-hood, his stalled career as a historical fiction writer, the death of his first love and the chronic liar, Jaqueline, and their child he carelessly gave up for adoption. Does he have a second chance to get things right when he attends a yoga retreat and meets promiscuous painter Divine Secrets (Dee), all-knowing Guru Swaminanda, the alcoholic Davises, and sinister Professor Darlington? Is the cross-dressing porn actor with the Twitter handle @abandonedchild97, who is following him with a camera, Will's long-lost son? From an idyllic lakefront retreat to a breathtaking series of dashes between Ottawa and Toronto pursued by mobsters and police, and with a trail of dead bodies in his wake, Will assembles the pieces of the puzzle while coming to the realization that his dysfunctional past and complicated present are connected, that the Guru's words about the circular nature of life are coming true, that people and events are entering his life for a reason, and that to open his mind and heart without cloaking them in fiction or fake news is his only way towards redemption.

Sri Lankan refugee, Sam Selvadurai, fleeing the genocide in his homeland, settles in Milltown, on the northern shore of Lake Ontario; he buys an old hamburger shop and turns it into a gourmet South Asian restaurant, while the town folk eye him with suspicion . The restaurant and most of Milltown are owned by the unscrupulous but charismatic Art Hamilton whose wife committed suicide, while his troubled teenage son, Andy, languishes in a young offenders' prison on the border of town after having emptied a shotgun in the schoolyard, killing two students.Frank Morgan, the town's mayor, is on the take, pushing an amendment through council to expand the local chemical plant - for the benefit of key investor Art Hamilton. Frank lusts after his assistant, Sue Miller, whose husband died at Art's plant and who has her own plan for revenge. Sue is forlornly attracted to the town's drunken lawyer and failed politician, Rick Jones.When Sam's teenage daughter, Sarojini, and Sue's son, Billy, fall in love, and Andy bursts out of prison, the town erupts in violence and disarray. The forces of racial prejudice, parental neglect, sexual harassment, teen pregnancy, and corporate greed meet in a perfect storm in Milltown. The body count mounts, and the town's inhabitants are forced to examine their own lives before casting the first stone.As the solitary lighthouse swivels and shines its light into the nooks and crannies of Milltown, Sam asks, "Is there evil here too?""Shane Joseph is fearless in having his characters suffer within incidents that a lesser writer would balk at. Milltown is a riveting novel." Ronald Mackay - author Fortunate Isle"Milltown takes the reader on a virtual merry-go-round of crooked industrialists, abusive politicians, unwanted pregnancies, psychopathic killers, drunken lawyers, Sri Lankan immigrants and inept mobsters" Ben Antao - author Money & Politics

Greed, desire, ambition, loss, illness, death, and the driving quest to find purpose in a meaningless world.--this literary collection tempts your palate with a multitude of themes and subjects, each more daring than the last. The characters in these 13 stories are wading through no man's land, wanting to escape, but first needing to complete their personal journeys through limbo. Opening with "Waiting for the Train," in which a young girl and a forgotten writer contemplate suicide, and closing with "The Long Road Back," wherein a woman uses tantric sex to heal the men in her life, the stories encompass all aspects of life without holding back. Nothing is off-limits: Joseph draws a picture of life in the raw and deals with tough topics in an honest and naked way. - The stories in Crossing Limbo are easy reads and range far and wide, traversing exceptional geographical landscapes and rough terrains of the mind. - Cris Rezel, journalist, Darwin, Western Australia - A Baker's dozen of stories cooked by a master chef are served up in this excellent book. - Wayne Fipke, Author of The Way In: Saga, Songs ans Star of Jesus - This collection of stories is recommended for those who are not faint of heart. - Catherine Gissing s review in The Book Review Literary Trust of India