P.I.V.O.T. Lab Chronicles Series

Would you be willing to chance dying to come out of a coma? Would you do the same if it was your son’s life? Mary and Senator Tad Williams pushed their son Justin to go on a date that went horribly wrong. Now, they try to figure out a way to help their son out of a coma. At almost $5,000 a day for ICU expenses, their insurance options are running out. Amber, Nick, and Jacob built a new immersive game system for the future. The only problem is, at $800 a day, no one can afford it. Dr. Dubois wrote a paper about how you might help a person out of a coma, but it was crushed under the might of the medical lobbyists on Capitol Hill. Now, the three groups need each other to save a life, fight the establishment, and help a young man in need. The only challenge is, Justin can die in real life if he dies in the game. Will he wake up from his coma? Will lobbyists crush the principled senator who needs to talk to his son one more time? And can Justin possibly survive inside a fantasy world built in his own mind, where pain is real? It isn’t just the future of humanity at stake, it’s Justin’s life, too.

Justin is acclimating inside the virtual world, but can he find the final element he needs to escape from the world of PIVOT? With Prima’s help—or, perhaps, despite it—he has gotten to Insea, the capital of the Elven lands. Aided by Tina, who is desperate to help Justin recover from the accident she created, Justin decides to fight in the Tournament of Insea. The one problem? His chief rivals are a set of twins who believe they’re reincarnated gods—and they’ll stop at nothing to make sure they take power. Can Justin win? Will he awaken from his coma? It isn’t just the future of humanity at stake. It’s Justin’s life, too.

What do you do when the other side uses your son’s life as a negotiating ploy? Mary and Senator Tad Williams will learn what it means to play hard ball. Can they play just as hard? Amber, Nick, and Jacob now have the responsibility that came with their sudden decision to help a kid. Are they up to the task? Justin is acclimating inside the world. Will his need to connect with another person extend to feelings for a fake character? There is more going on here than dirty politics, questionable business ethics, and cutting-edge science that might kill. Justin has to grow up or he may die. Can his mother ground him? Will his father help when more than a coma separates them? Will Justin wake up from his coma? Will lobbyists crush the principled senator who needs to talk to his son one more time? Can Justin survive in a fantasy world in his own mind where pain is real? It isn’t just the future of humanity at stake. It’s Justin’s life, too.

If you were dying of cancer, would you risk entering a game that saved you from pain, even if you chanced dying early? Dorothy Hunt is not willing to go out with a whimper, but rather a bang. The main problem? Not all of her family will support her decision. This time, she gets to choose a body that isn't pretty, isn't bound by the social customs of her family and generation. "Make me ugly." Unused to video games, fighting cancer, Dorothy Hunt is focused on providing the scientists something they can't acquire without her. Data on an older human who is about to die. Will she be able to reconcile her decision with her children? Will she be able to engage with the game when she feels the pain her character feels? Will she ever get used to the smell? Dorothy Hunt will forever change the future of medicine, If she can stay alive long enough to do it. You don't send a kid to do a mature adult's job.

Dotty’s cancer is progressing, and the world of PIVOT is one of the only things that helps her avoid the pain.  With her children’s help, the PIVOT team has made her an avatar that looks just like her younger self, and Dotty is now serving as an envoy to help keep the nations of PIVOT from turning on one another.  With Prima, Justin, and Tina by her side, she races against time to finish her mission.

Dorothy spent most of her life doing the right thing.  Now, widowed and with a cancer diagnosis, she’s ready to cut loose in the world of PIVOT.  After learning magic and defending a caravan from a set of elves with a seriously overblown sense of superiority, Dotty had only one request: In her next game, she wanted to be uglier.  So, she’s an orc now, tusks and all. And when she finds out that a group of dragons have been posing as gods to prey on orc villages, she is not going to stand for that...even if it means giving a legendary orc shaman the dressing down of his life.  Hey, you don’t raise four children, seven grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren without getting really good at reading the riot act.

A push to regain a little of the relationship with his best friend before kids took him out of the picture. A mountain face that was not forgiving. Benjamin Ainsworth moves from job to job aimlessly, never allowing himself to be tied down. The problem is his friends are getting married, setting up house and looking to have children. His relationships are growing up into a world he doesn’t want. He has a chance to regain a bit of the fun when his friend agrees to go mountain climbing before the big day. Cynical and self-absorbed he never considers the consequences until he wakes up. He can move, but has lost all memory of HOW to move. Anything. There is a promising technique that requires Benjamin to enter a virtual world. The problem? He will be forced to admit to his fears. The ground-breaking technology includes a hidden A.I. staying off the radar of the Department of Defense. Will he be the one treated, or will his attitude perhaps affect the newly formed and still learning entity? If he wants to move again, Benjamin Ainsworth has some growing to do whether he wants to or not. Sometimes, growing up after you are an adult is the hardest thing to do.

After his first adventure with tiny, floating balls of spite and chaos—or, “faeries,” as they called themselves—Ben didn’t think the world could get more upside down.  He was wrong.  Now ensconced in the city of Heffog, he’s still learning how to work his body again…and figuring out that he is in one of the most miserable, corrupt places that ever existed.  When Ben goes against his host’s wishes to kill a slave trader, he touches off a war that he is honor-bound to resolve—lest the innocents of Heffog pay the price.  Meanwhile, Taigan and Jamie search for each other in the world of the game, afraid that they may never find one another again. “Funny, with moments of punch-you-in-the-gut feels. Action with consequences. This isn’t your normal read.”

As Ben reaches the limits of what PIVOT can help him achieve, he finds himself in a position he would never have expected: mentor.  Note: Grasping The Future was originally published as part of the megabook No Time To Quit. Guiding the twins in their quest to take down a sorceress, he prepares to rejoin the real world—jobs, apartments, friendships, and all.  But where Ben used to run away from all of those things, now he has a new appreciation of what it means to fight for a better world. He’s ready to bring everything he’s learned back to his own life.  Of course, there’s also the issue of Prima—and the US government agent sent to see if PIVOT has cracked the secret of self-aware AI. Then tell your friends to read it, too. “Funny, with moments of punch-you-in-the-gut feels. Action with consequences. This isn’t your normal read.”

It’s time. Who will win this latest challenge?  Note: Decision Made was previously published as Decisions Made, Pivot Lab Chronicles Book Four. A young woman who fears sleeping. An AI on the brink of discovery. A government agent seeking what’s hidden. Who will end up healed, hidden, or found? The final chapter closed. For now… Immerse yourself in the final closing chapter of the PIVOT CHRONICLES. Then tell your friends to read it too. ** “Funny, with moments of punch-you-in-the-gut feels. Action with consequences. This isn’t your normal read.” **