Immortality

Sam Sunborn's Virtual World

You’re Invited: Talk to AI Sam Sunborn

By Charles Levin | March 24, 2024 |

I recently discovered the AI website character.ai. It’s an intriguing place where you can have a virtual conversation with William Shakespeare, Napoleon Bonaparte, or even a psychologist. So I wondered: what if I could create and train a virtual, human-like Sam Sunborn, the protagonist in my NOT SO DEAD thriller series? Guess what– I did…

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mind body problem revisited

The Mind-Body Problem Revisited

By Charles Levin | December 24, 2023 |

By Charles Levin Edited by Neil MacNeil “It’s always the same, always on my case. ‘Do this. Do that. Oh, no, don’t do that. Faster.’ Without me, what’d you got? An uptight vegetable. I make things happen. I’m all about action, baby! Yeah, sometimes I do get sick, and it is usually his fault.” The…

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Charlie and Paulette

Smile Though Your Heart is Breaking

By Charles Levin | May 3, 2023 |

Charlie wakes up on a bed in an LA department store. His rumpled black jacket is wrapped around him; his derby hat rests on the night table: and his black shoes with the holes and spaghetti laces lay neatly underneath. The store is empty, the lights dim. He rubs the sleep from his eyes by…

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Candy Charles Levin Author

The Last Candy Store in East Apple

By Charles Levin | March 27, 2023 |

Story by Diana Searby and Charles Levin | Written by Charles Levin [Reader’s Note: two weeks ago I invited readers to help me finish writing a short story I had half-written on a plane flight from San Francisco to New Jersey. Thanks to all those who contributed their very creative and fun ideas. I chose…

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Eli the Mouse - Charles Levin

Eli the Mouse

By Charles Levin | December 25, 2020 |

[Author’s Note: the following is an excerpt from NOT ZERO-ONE, Book 4 of the Sam Sunborn series arriving Spring 2021] Reality Speaks I unclose my eyes. But virtual reality speaks. I have no real eyes or a mouth or ears. I have ones and zeros. I am ones and zeros moving in patterns that define…

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Charles levin Author

A Not-So-Usual Thanksgiving

By Charles Levin | November 29, 2019 |

As I was approaching the finish line of writing my new thriller NOT SO DONE, the standalone sequel to NOT SO DEAD and NOT SO GONE, I considered changing the subtitle to The Final Sam Sunborn Novel. It’s not that Sam and his cohorts are done saving the world or that I tired of him…

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Palace Theater - Charles levin Author

Missing The Ghost in the Palace Theater

By Charles Levin | October 23, 2019 |

A True Story – My sister stumbled upon a fifty-five-year-old set of documents. Buried beneath the legalese, the text evokes a flood of personal memories as it reveals the story of a family in the 1950s. The sales agreement, mortgage releases, and title insurance papers on their face codify the sale of the Palace Theater,…

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Charles levin Thriller Author

Bodyjacking

By Charles Levin | April 10, 2019 |

[Note: the characters Renata and Inspector V, as well as the crime of bodyjacking, play a major role in my upcoming sequel to NOT SO GONE and NOT SO DEAD.] Possessed “How does it end?” “I don’t know. I never do. I just write and it comes to me along the way.” “I don’t understand.…

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Word Drunk - Charles Levin Author

Word Drunk

By Charles Levin | February 13, 2019 |

[Note: Renata and Juan are both important characters in my recently-released, thriller novel NOT SO GONE ] Crazy Nonsense “Stop! Stop filling my head with your crazy nonsense,” Renata cries. “Sorry, I’m addicted to breathing and your crazy ex, Brad, almost put an end to that. It’s not nonsense. Look at this.” Juan lowers his collar,…

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Men Working In Trees

By Charles Levin | January 8, 2019 |

A little fictional roadside whimsy this week . . . Enjoy! ——————————————————————— Lea stares at her reflection in the glass window at Starbucks. She likes having blue eyes in a brown-eyed world. She settles back with her hot coffee, breathes in the aroma like a fine wine, and gently sips. People coming and going in…

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