It’s wild to think that Bandwidth came out five years ago.
I still remember when Adrienne Procaccini, a senior editor at 47North, cold emailed me saying she loved Cumulus and asking if I was working on anything new. I replied with the rough draft I was polishing (working title was "The Feed"), she made an offer, I hired a lawyer, and we signed a three book deal—all within three weeks. When it came out, Bandwidth hit #2 overall on Kindle and, as of this writing, it's earned 5,160 Amazon reviews, which blows my mind.
I wrote Bandwidth as a standalone novel, so when Adrienne suggested a series, I agreed on the condition that the sequels would have different protagonists, separate narrative arcs, and could be read independently. Also, I had no idea what the sequels would be about. It was a useful creative challenge to go into Borderless and then Breach without preconceptions—a very different feeling than writing a linear trilogy.
Fun fact: Analog, the off-grid social club the series is named for, started out as a late-night business idea my wife, a friend, and I dreamed up over a bottle of wine. We were too lazy to build it, so I wrote it into a novel. Now, the most common question I get from readers is whether Analog is real. The answer is: not yet!
Anyway, thanks for reading. It's been such a joy to hear from people who connect deeply with these characters, story, and world. Writers write novels, but readers bring them to life.
And now, a book I love that you might too:
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel is a thrilling adventure that unfolds when the discovery of a mysterious artifact kicks off a clandestine race to divine secrets that will change the course of history. Scientists, spies, soldiers, and powerbrokers vie for influence with humanity’s future hanging in the balance. Exciting, insightful, and endlessly compelling—Sylvain can spin a hell of a yarn.
Things worth sharing:
Over in Every, I wrote an essay about how different mediums create the conditions for particular kinds of media to thrive, and why a specific form—the note—is especially well suited to the internet.
Instead of raging against the machine, invent a new, better machine.
The Climate Parables live show featuring a stage adaption of my short story Victory Condition sold out both nights of its run in San Francisco. The producers may bring it back later this year, and groups in Lisbon and Copenhagen are planning readings. In the meantime, you can watch a video of the performance on YouTube.
Don’t just sleep on it, eat on it too. Most bad decisions are made when tired or hungry.
Acre for acre, Emeryville is the most underrated part of the Bay Area: parklets, free buses, subsidized public daycare, well maintained infrastructure, good public safety, many growing businesses, new mixed density housing, and central location with easy to access the entire region.
Fascinating thought experiment with surprising implications.
The only thing The Truman Show got wrong is that it’s not just Truman—every other character is simultaneously the star of their own show, and far from being horrified by the exposure of their personal lives, they’re all competing for ratings.
My copyeditor just described the protagonist of my new novel as "Deadpool meets Jason Bourne" and I'm here for it.
Write the book you want to read. Compose the song you want to dance to. Make the video you want to watch. Design the game you want to play. Host the party you want to attend. Make the art you want to experience, and—who knows?—others might share your taste.
From my conversation with Paul McCauley about writing Austral: “I’m interested in the way some stories persist; why they continue to be relevant. The deep human patterns that they contain.”
It's hard to let go of something you've poured yourself into, but it helps to remember that each peak is a local maximum, and the only way to climb higher is to choose a new path and cross the intervening valley.
To deepen a relationship, do hard things together.
Thanks for reading. We all find our next favorite book because someone we trust recommends it. So when you fall in love with a story, tell your friends. Culture is a collective project in which we all have a stake and a voice.
Best, Eliot
Eliot Peper is the author of Reap3r, Veil, Breach, Borderless, Bandwidth, Neon Fever Dream, Cumulus, Exit Strategy, Power Play, and Version 1.0. He also consults on special projects.
“The Analog series is simply terrific science fiction from the (very) near future—I loved all three.”
-Seth Godin