Part vigilante, part private eye, part cop, Dex is muddling his way through his day job as a faceless customer service rep for a giant firm, while solving routine cases in his off hours.  But when a gruesomely mutilated corpse is found, things heat up for Dex and the underground organization he calls the Cubicle Men.

Soon, Dex finds himself racing against the clock to find a killer who seems to be determined to strike him close to home.

In a grim future where people live and work in crowded, utilitarian cities, but escape to an online virtual world, Act of Will explores the capacity we have to choose the directions our lives will take, and the consequences of those choices.

“…as brilliantly as Ms. Wehm weaves her thriller, it is the characters and the society of her virtually integrated world that make this novel truly shine. Her characters breathe and feel, are flawed, and have sticky, messy problems in a world where lines of gender, law and reality have blurred and often disappeared.”

- A.F. Stewart, author of Killers and Demons

Ivy Velasquez did, so she became someone else. In the 3D virtual world Marionette City, you can be anything you want — but everyone still knows who you are. Driven by her desire for a new life, Ivy takes her future in her hands when she makes another identity for herself. A brilliant designer, Ivy works for one of the huge firms which control the online system the world relies upon for both business and pleasure. But one day, Ivy discovers that her alternate self, Reuben Cobalt, had been murdered.

Since alternate identities are forbidden by the firms which control access to the nets and to M City, Ivy has nowhere to turn — until she finds Andersson Dexter. Part private eye, part vigilante and part cop, Dex sets out to uncover Reuben’s killer. Since the firms control almost every aspect of life, including law and order, justice for average people comes only at the hands of the outlaw organization to which Dex belongs.

Self Made is a murder mystery set in a vision of a future that seems to lurk just over the horizon. But above all, it is a story of how people strive to control their own destinies, and how that desire affects them and the people around them in ways they could never imagine.

“…expect a well-constructed world with human characters and a fascinating plot… Self Made does not disappoint.”

- Nobilis Reed, author of the Orgone Chronicles

Contributor Biography:

M. Darusha Wehm is a dual Canadadian-New Zealand citizen whose work has been nominated for the Parsec Award

Technology has solved most of the world's most pressing problems, leaving people with tedious work and mundane play. Jack is a Security Officer Class 5, which sounds important, but isn't. However, her banal life as a cubicle worker by day and tinkerer by night is interrupted when she discovers that her employer's computer system has been invaded.

Part vigilante, part private eye, part cop, Dex is muddling his way through his day job as a faceless customer service rep for a giant firm, while solving routine cases in his off hours.  But when a gruesomely mutilated corpse is found, things heat up for Dex and the underground organization he calls the Cubicle Men.

Soon, Dex finds himself racing against the clock to find a killer who seems to be determined to strike him close to home.

In a grim future where people live and work in crowded, utilitarian cities, but escape to an online virtual world, Act of Will explores the capacity we have to choose the directions our lives will take, and the consequences of those choices.

“…as brilliantly as Ms. Wehm weaves her thriller, it is the characters and the society of her virtually integrated world that make this novel truly shine. Her characters breathe and feel, are flawed, and have sticky, messy problems in a world where lines of gender, law and reality have blurred and often disappeared.”

- A.F. Stewart, author of Killers and Demons

Contributor Biography:

M. Darusha Wehm is a dual Canadadian-New Zealand citizen whose work has been nominated for the Parsec Award

Ivy Velasquez did, so she became someone else. In the 3D virtual world Marionette City, you can be anything you want — but everyone still knows who you are. Driven by her desire for a new life, Ivy takes her future in her hands when she makes another identity for herself. A brilliant designer, Ivy works for one of the huge firms which control the online system the world relies upon for both business and pleasure. But one day, Ivy discovers that her alternate self, Reuben Cobalt, had been murdered.

Since alternate identities are forbidden by the firms which control access to the nets and to M City, Ivy has nowhere to turn — until she finds Andersson Dexter. Part private eye, part vigilante and part cop, Dex sets out to uncover Reuben’s killer. Since the firms control almost every aspect of life, including law and order, justice for average people comes only at the hands of the outlaw organization to which Dex belongs.

Self Made is a murder mystery set in a vision of a future that seems to lurk just over the horizon. But above all, it is a story of how people strive to control their own destinies, and how that desire affects them and the people around them in ways they could never imagine.

“…expect a well-constructed world with human characters and a fascinating plot… Self Made does not disappoint.”

- Nobilis Reed, author of the Orgone Chronicles