I became interested in surveillance and it became obvious to me that the increasingly sophisticated technology and tremendous spread of video cameras would have a massive impact. It also occurred to me that handguns and nightsticks will inevitably be replaced to some degree. The idea of a gun that merely tranquilizes a person in the act of a crime sounds a humane way of restoring peace, after all we've been doing that with wild animals for decades. Actually, I think some form of tranq-gun carried by police would be a good thing. The way it is used in the plot of P.E.A.C.E. is more representative of the general inherent dangers of a widely embraced technology that is not fully tested.
Cell phones are probably a good example.
Present tense has always appealed to me because it is so immediate. I rewrote many, many times. In some sense they are still alive to me. My favorite course in college was a writing Independent Study where I apprenticed with Mona Simpson. And The Sea and for his stories J.D. Salinger for most of what he has published.