Thanks for the Memory

By James Flynn

Meet Reed Blagden, a minor celebrity comedian who scrapes a living by telling cheap jokes in backstreet nightclubs.

 

When a revolutionary new social media app hits the market, an app called NeuroStar that allows users to upload their memories directly to the website using brain electrodes, Reed does what any other immature, opportunistic comedian would do in such circumstances in order to boost his career—he uploads a dirty, sleazy memory for a laugh.

 

The video does well, and immediately goes viral. In fact, it does so well that when Reed decides that he wants to delete the video, the CEO of NeuroStar is furious.

 

Follow Reed as he becomes a fugitive in his own city, and tries desperately to escape the clutches of a powerful corporation who wants to seize one of his most intimate possessions—his memory.

 

This science fiction novella explores the recent rise of social media, as well as one particular nightmare scenario that could result from it. Embark on this sci-fi adventure, written by James Flynn, and you will gain a memory to be thankful for!

 

 

"Your TBR list needs everything James Flynn has on it"---Booknerdia

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Flynn
• Release date: Oct 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215913710

James Flynn

James Flynn grew up in Kent, England.His ultimate dream as an author is to cause a reader to be confined to a mental institution and sectioned under the mental health act after reading one of his stories, although he admits that this is a bit optimistic.James's work has appeared in Black Petals Magazine, Yellow Mama Magazine, The Scare Room Podcast, Weird Mask Magazine, Sugar Spice Erotica Review and the short story anthology Local Haunts.Email signup: https://t.co/IQuABJ9EtaYouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtYWfq6s8ArVJSrveNMQH3Q

Book preview

James Flynn grew up in Kent, England.

He's taken on many different roles in his life so far: juvenile delinquent, car paint sprayer, soldier in the British Army, twenty-something delinquent, graffiti artist, lorry driver, part-time portrait painter, English teacher and, of course, author.

His ultimate dream as an author is to cause a reader to be confined to a mental institution and sectioned under the mental health act after reading one of his stories, although he admits that this is a bit optimistic.

James's work has appeared in Black Petals Magazine, Yellow Mama Magazine, The Scare Room Podcast, Weird Mask Magazine, Sugar Spice Erotica Review, Patty’s Short Stax Anthology, Local Haunts Anthology and Lurking in the Dark Anthology.

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For your post-internet brain

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank A. Cheley, Sarah Miller, Erik McGowan and Michelle Currie for beta reading the early draft of this story. Your feedback is valued and appreciated.

I would also like to thank Lezlie Smith from The Nerdy Narrative YouTube channel for raising awareness of the book. It’s always an honour to see my work on your channel.

I would like to thank my cover designer, Alison Litchfield, for creating a great cover for the book. I would like to thank my editor, Vince Fibbins, for your diligence and attention to detail. And, grudgingly, I would like to thank social media. Without you, I suppose this book would never have been written.

PREFACE

As a writer, I am naturally drawn towards anything disturbing. Unlike many other writers, though, I tend to avoid supernatural elements. In my opinion, the real world is the most disturbing place of all.

I’m old enough to remember the world as it was before smartphones and social media. For this reason, I am able to recognise, quite clearly, what the smartphone/social media phenomenon really is: a pandemic. Not only do people use their smartphones whilst eating, drinking, walking, driving, and standing at urinals (yes, I have seen people doing this), they are also willing to upload their intimate private lives to these money-making social media platforms—this is not supernatural, this is the real world.

Thanks for the Memory explores a possible consequence of this social media craze. Whilst reading this book, it is my hope that you will gradually be able to recognise how bizarre the relationship between humans and technology is becoming, but above all else, it would be nice to see you have some kind of nightmare or nervous breakdown by the time you finish it.

Hey, don’t be angry at me. Look on the bright side: if you need emergency psychiatric treatment, it will give you something to tweet about. Tragic posts tend to get the most likes and shares, after all.

Reed Blagden is his name

He likes to tell rude jokes

The gags have gained him fame

With lowly drunken folks

One night at home, alone

Relaxing in his flat

He tapped his shiny phone

And opened up an app

The app was NeuroStar

With wires for your brain

It really is quite smart

But frightful, all the same

Old Reed, he sure was game

He gave the app a try

At first, it all seemed lame

Until he felt the pain

Thanks for dropping by. My name’s Reed. Reed Blagden, to be precise. I’m the one who’s going to be telling you this messed-up story. Now, before we start, I’d just like to get a few things straight. Unlike some narrators, I’ve got absolutely no problem when it comes to breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to you. There will be no separation between the two of us during this peculiar tale, it will be as though we’re sitting next to each other in some bar, chatting about the series of events like two pals. It’s going to be pretty meta, believe me. No, seriously, believe me. I am looking at you right now as you read these words, and if I really wanted to I could reach out from the page and shake your hand.

Luckily for you, I have no desire to do that. It’s not because I’m unfriendly, don’t get me wrong; on the contrary. Most people I meet seem to think I’m friendly enough. Some people even go as far as describing me as chirpy or cheeky, but when they say that they’ve usually just finished watching me tell jokes up on stage.

Where was I? Oh, yes: meta, fourth wall, all that business. I will say what I want to say, and mention what I want to mention, and that includes referencing the book that you’re holding in your hands right now. Don’t believe me? OK, I’ll do it right now: the book you’re holding in your hands is called Thanks for the Memory. You see? I can do that. Hell, I can even go one step further and mention the name of the author, if you like, just so you can see how gutsy I am. I will directly mention the name of that irritating, red-haired, cherub-looking twat of an author called James Flynn.

You can probably sense a little bit of animosity there. Yeah, I won’t deny it. I think he’s a prick. Why? Well, he’s responsible for putting me in this messed-up story. Or trapping me in this messed up story, should I say. He created me with his pen and his keyboard, brought me into being with his mind, and now I’m stuck here like a pathetic slave, destined to narrate this story over and over again for anyone who’s stupid enough to buy this bloody book. I mean, if he’d made the story third person it wouldn’t have been so bad. I could’ve just acted out the scenes, there would’ve been no need for me to get involved with you, the reader. But no, Mr James Flynn, Mr Look at Me I Can Write a Book Aren’t I Great, had to go and make this story a first-person thing, giving me extra work to do. I think he’s an asshole, I think he’s an inconsiderate asshole, and I think he will always be an asshole. Furthermore, if you happen to bump into this tosser on the street, James Flynn the cretin, I urge you to verbally abuse him or, better still, physically attack him in some vicious way.

That was a bit of an aggressive start, wasn’t it? I probably haven’t made a very good impression. Let me put you at ease. I am actually a nice guy, I really am. And I think you’ll probably warm to me by the end of the story. Maybe. Whatever happens, I’ll try my best to be as bright and perky as possible for you. How about that? I can see you’re not a bad person. You just want something good to read. There’s nothing wrong with that.

I live in Mapharno City. You may have heard of it before, you may not have. In case you haven’t, it’s a wild place where strange things happen. It has skyscrapers higher than your local junkie, back alleys dirtier than your local floozy, neon lights brighter than your local rocket scientist, and roads busier than your...oh, you get the idea. It’s an insane city, that’s what I’m trying to say. If you