Alexander Besher

Alexander Besher (born in China in 1951) is an author of fiction and non-fiction. In addition to novels, screenplays and teleplays, he is a journalist, consulting futurist on Pacific Rim affairs (for the San Francisco-based Global Business Network, the corporate future scenarios think-tank) and former editor of Chicago Review and contributing editor of InfoWorld'. He wrote the internationally syndicated weekly column, "Pacific Rim," covering business trends, technology, and cultural trends for a period of six years for The San Francisco Chronicle. This led to his authoring and editing the compendium "The Pacific Rim Almanac" (HarperCollins, 854 pages).

Early Years

Alexander Besher's formative years were in Japan where he grew up and lived for twenty years, graduating from Canadian Academy high-school in Kobe and Sophia University in Tokyo.

Novels

Among his novels, three comprise the science fiction Rim Trilogy, set in Japan in the 2020s an 2030s: Rim, Mir, and Chi. The first of these, published in 1994 by HarperCollins, was a Philip K. Dick Award nominee. The Manga Man, also called The Hanging Butoh, is the first novel in a new trilogy, "Dance of Darkness," followed by "The Black Tao." "The Manga Man' appeared in its first edition in 2008, with "Manga Man 2.0" appearing in February 2011. It's the first transmedia novel ever to be published on a cross-platform "sentient" T-shirt designed by the noted Italian graphic novel artist Daniele Serra. By clicking on the QR Code (Quick Response Code) imprinted on the front of the tee with a smartphone equipped with a free downloadable QR Code app, the user/reader gets instantly transported into the "Manga Man" universe, complete with mobile phone screen formatted novel, original Indie short film by distinguished San Francisco indie film maker Nara Denning, a taste of Serra's opening pages to the graphic novel based on the story, an original music soundtrack by Seattle electronic composer Diagrams of Suburban Chaos, various commentary extras, and a section entitled "The Butoh Show" that features an hour's worth of video performances by international Butoh dance performers; and finally (as a teaser), the first two chapters from the beginning of "The Black Tao," book two in the trilogy.

Besher is currently working on a "Kabbalah noir" (suspense/supernatural thriller/exorcism) trilogy. The first title "The Clinging" is a short novel based on his original screenplay by the same name. It marks the first time in more than forty years that William Peter Blatty (author of "The Exorcist" and Oscar-winner for best screenplay based on the novel) has ever praised any novelist: "I will break my decades old habit of never reading fiction to grab one of the first copies (of Besher’s new novel) . . . I shook my head in admiration, if not awe, and said, 'Wow! I think he's got it!’”--William Peter Blatty, author of "The Exorcist," "Legion" and "Dimiter." The sequel/prequel to "The Clinging" entitled "The Night of the Golem" was recently completed and the books and screenplays for the entire trilogy are currently being marketed by Besher's new manager in Hollywood and new literary agent in New York, along with a reprise of Besher's original "Rim Trilogy."

External links

• Alex Besher's Website
• Recent 2011 Interview (in German) in Buchwurm by Michael Matzer http://www.buchwurm.info/artikel/anzeigen.php?id=116
• Alexander Besher at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database