Latency

March 05, 2024

Latency

LATENCY

by Nathaniel Koszer

GENRE: Sci Fi biotech

Sera is a LO-EC, a human who gained superpowers as an unintended side effect of a biotechnological breakthrough. Her unique abilities allowed her to survive while others like her, including her parents, were exterminated by a world government fearful of their potential.

After decades of hiding, she meets Naren, another superpowered survivor who has infiltrated the ranks of the military. Together, they form a plan to unite with other surviving LO-ECs, claim vengeance against the forces who murdered their families, and ultimately stoke a worldwide rebellion against the government that wanted them dead.

The entirety of 26th century Earth’s armed forces stand in their way: Soldiers equipped with terrifying weaponry, armies with electromagnetic cannons, merciless bloodthirsty androids, and Spidre, the World Leader with unnatural abilities of his own. The world brought Sera and the other LO-ECs pain and loss, and they’re determined to return it in kind.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

In the basement of a skyscraper hundreds of stories high, a constant shaking and groaning accompanied the cacophony of breaking glass and falling bricks from the street above. A man and a woman had spent the night here, fearing those sounds meant their building was on the verge of collapse. Finally, the sun rose and the sounds gave way to stillness. The death of the noises gave life to new fears, in that now the man and woman had to take action.

“Are there any sort of supplies on the cycles?” the man asked. He was bleary-eyed, his face was flush, and even the simple task of standing up seemed to be a struggle.

“I doubt it,” the woman replied, her expression as beleaguered as his. “And you’re sure there was nothing in these boxes?” she continued, glancing around the small storage room.

The man shook his head. “Just lots of cleaning supplies. And we can’t risk going back upstairs,” he replied. “I can’t even hear the big one lumbering around, that has to mean they’re searching another building. We need to move now. We’ll worry about supplies after we get out of New Orleans, and after it feels safe.”

The woman nodded and walked over to one smaller pile of boxes. She pulled them away and the room lit up in an orange glow. The boxes had been covering a young girl, no more than six years old, whose skin had trails of orange light swirling across her arms, legs, and face.

“We need to leave, sweetie. We’re going to find our cycles in the garage, Ok?”

The little girl nodded.

“Do you remember that woman? Alison?” she asked the girl. “Do you remember where she and her friends live?”

The little girl nodded slowly, while the man’s face furrowed with skepticism.

“If anything happens to us, you go straight to her. Do you understand?”

“She can’t go to them!” the man exclaimed in an elevated whisper. “They’re a bunch of fanatics!”

“They are, but they will keep her safe!” the woman responded

About the Author:

Nate grew up in Brooklyn NY, but now calls the Bronx home along with his wife and their sons. Nate grew up on all things sci-fi. Partly due to his chronic illness, Nate always had a special place in his heart for the X-Men, and especially the invulnerable Wolverine. This was heavy inspiration for his first novel, Latency a superhero sci-fi story to be released March 5, 2024.

Q&A With the Author

What was your inspiration for writing this book?
Latency was honestly a novel born out of frustration. I have been a huge fan of sci-fi for as long as I could remember, and over the years I noticed certain story angles that could have been used but weren’t, or themes that I would like to see used more (or less in some cases). I always thought of it as “Why hasn’t [actual famous writer or producer] done anything like this idea?” The idea of these plots and devices falling to the wayside frustrated me more and more as the years marched on. Eventually, and with some help from the events described in the next question, I got sick of waiting for someone else to write these missed story ideas and decided to write them myself.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Writing Latency was essentially therapy for me. In the year or so before I started writing, I had gone through a bad breakup with someone I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. I had a lot of anger and anxiety over it, and with all those emotions came a ton of sleepless nights and extra energy that had no outlet. I had to channel that energy somewhere, and I had been thinking about the ideas for a book for ages. So I finally took the leap and channeled all that anxious energy into a first draft.
Even now, eight years later, you can frequently find me writing after going through some experience that led to negative emotions. I also noticed that I write my best work when I’m angry, which probably isn’t a good thing, but not much I can do about it now.

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?
Latency is the first book in a four-part series, so I am working on the sequels now. I also wrote a children’s book that I would love to try and get published one day. It is about a rabbit who goes on an intercontinental journey from Tokyo to New York, and is based off of my wife’s actual real-life pet rabbit.

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future?
It’s honestly hard to plan when I still can’t believe I’ve made it this far. I guess the most obvious answer is that I plan to write Latency’s sequels and publish those as well. It would be incredible if the series does sell enough that it becomes livable income, but the far more realistic plan is to continue working while I also write. I am fortunate that I like my day job, so this is not some huge sacrifice on my part.

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?
It is very weird to think about having readers and fans. It honestly still hasn’t fully set in that that will be a real possibility now. I look forward to interacting with you all, and thank you so much for giving Latency a home on your bookshelves and e-readers!