``TRIBULATIONS'' by J. Michael Straczynski - Visionary Creator of ``Babylon 5'' Sees Future in Online Reading; Releases Novel Today Online and Free of Charge At Bookface.com.

Entertainment Editors & High Tech Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2000

Bookface, the premiere solution for displaying valuable content on the Internet securely, is pleased to announce the exclusive online debut today of J. Michael Straczynski's new book TRIBULATIONS. JMS, as his fans fondly call him, is the acclaimed creator and producer of the Emmy-Award winning television series "Babylon 5" and a prolific writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Beginning on August 7, 2000, TRIBULATIONS will be released online at Bookface.com in four installments, one per week, where readers can access it free of charge. On August 21, 2000, DarkTales Publications will offer the book for purchase from the Bookface.com website in trade paperback form.

J. Michael Straczynski often puts his pen to paper and looks into the future. The day after the new millennium, the CBS Sunday Morning News aired a long segment discussing his views on the future of the Internet and America as a nation. With Tribulations, his first full-length novel in over a decade, J. Michael Straczynski is fearlessly paving the way for authors to embrace the Internet as a means to connect with readers. To publishers and authors, Bookface.com offers the unique reality of presenting online readers with access to quality book content directly from their web browsers with no special software or hardware required, while protecting that content from being copied, redistributed or altered.

"Fans and writers of science fiction, fantasy and related genres were the first ones on the Internet, because they were the most receptive to new technologies and the first to explore the ramifications of the net on publishing, music, society and culture. This dates back to William Gibson's NEUROMANCER, which created the cyberspace genre, a form that precedes but predicts the Internet as we know it," Straczynski said. "The Internet has become the new electronic hearth, allowing readers, fans, and writers to communicate at a previously unimaginable level of intimacy. As with any relationship, there have been bumps along the road as all parties adjust to this new intimacy. The system offered by Bookface promises the first real approach by which fans of a writer's work may have full access to that work, maintaining the conversation in a way that does not compromise the interests of the author."

With the glimmering images and dark, smoky rooms reminiscent of Jim Thompson's noir mysteries of the 50's, TRIBULATIONS, is the story of Susan Randall, a crime beat reporter for the LA News-Tribune who is dissatisfied with her job. It just hasn't stood up to her romantic image of the "journalist as crusader", the war correspondent that gets to report while under fire in Iraq or Kosovo. She decides to go on a "ride-along" to see if there is anything interesting out there in the City of Angels. But her curiosity gets her involved in a true LA Gang show down and lands her in the hospital. What ensues is one part thriller and one part pure fantasy complete with supernatural visitations, priests, soldiers of light, politics and lots of humor.

About the Author:

J. Michael Straczynski is the creator of the Emmy-award winning television series Babylon 5, which has also received two Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation, the Saturn Award, the Vision of the Future Awards from the Space Frontier Foundation, and many other awards, including the Ray Bradbury Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America, previously given only to James Cameron. His expertise in the field of scriptwriting inspired him to write The Complete Book of Scriptwriting (Writer's Digest Books) and two previously published novels, Demon Night and Other Syde (Dutton, hardcover). The author of Rising Stars, a monthly comic that debuted in April 1999, Straczynski's own comics line, Joe's Comics, will be coming out from Top Cow in September 2000. The author of over 500 articles and short stories that have appeared in leading national and regional magazines and collections, Straczynski has been called the "Tolstoy of Science Fiction" by Science Fiction Age. During his visionary career, he has written roughly 200 produced episodes of television, seven TV movies for such diverse series as The New Twilight Zone and Murder, She Wrote, twelve plays and another twelve radio dramas. His new thirteen-episode, half-hour Internet anthology series, The City of Dreams, is currently webcasting on scifi.com.

About Bookface.com:

Located at South of Market, in the heart of San Francisco's Internet Media Gulch, Bookface is an Internet infrastructure company that provides the technology for putting valued content online securely. At Bookface.com, readers have unprecedented access to full-length book content, short stories, scripts, and excerpts. Bookface's streaming text technology allows users to read simply and directly from their Internet browsers with no special software or hardware. Readers can sit down at any computer and read--just like one can sit at a bookstore and freely read, browse, and buy books. Bookface technology also offers readers the opportunity to use powerful Internet tools to create new and enhanced reading experiences. Make personal book notes to keep track of your thoughts while reading; use a book note as a bookmark after putting a book down for the evening; or search for all the mentions of a certain character. Bookface can be found at http://www.Bookface.com.

About DarkTales Publications:

DarkTales is an independent publisher of original horror fiction books, collections and anthologies, from both the freshest faces on the horror scene, to best-selling authors. They use state of the art print-on-demand technology for publication of their trade paperbacks. DarkTales is also home to one of the largest and most active horror communities on the web, complete with chat rooms, convention coverage, and a listserver (hosted by eGroups.com) so popular it was in the top 25 most active listservers of any subject in July 1999. DarkTales Publications can be found at www.darktales.com.