Sequel to THE PULSE Finished

   Days have turned into weeks with no contact from anyone outside of North America, where the power, communication and transportation grid has been completely destroyed by massive solar flares. In the ensuing chaos, grocery store shelves have been stripped bare and panicked survivors have fled the cities and towns, sweeping across the countryside in a desperate attempt to find sustenance and avoid the violence. 
   Artie Drager has risked everything to sail from the West Indies to New Orleans, where his daughter Casey was attending college. Finally catching up with her after discovering she had long since evacuated the city with her friends, Artie’s plan to get her to safe refuge on his brother’s sailboat begins to fall apart. Artie and his daughter must fight to survive, and hard choices must be made when part of their crew fails to return before they must set sail.
   This sequel to The Pulse explores the descent into anarchy that occurs when everything familiar in modern life is suddenly stripped away and survivors must adapt to a harsh new reality or die.

I have been working hard at wrapping up the manuscript for Refuge, the sequel to my first novel: The Pulse and it is now in the hands of the editors and hopefully on track for release later this summer in July or August.  Refuge picks up right where The Pulse left off, after a series of strong solar flares has shut down the grid over the southern U.S. and maybe even worldwide, as far as the characters in the story know.

My intention all along while writing The Pulse in late 2011-early 2012 was that there would be one or  more sequels, as there were so many possibilities for this unlikely group of characters thrown into such a life-altering event.  I wanted to move forward on the first sequel immediately after the release of The Pulse in the summer of 2012, but at the suggestion of my publisher,  I agreed to first write the parallel story for young adults, The Darkness After.  Response to that book has been extremely positive as well and I also plan one or more sequels to it, although they will likely be independently published so that I can get them out there sooner.

Hopefully, readers of The Pulse will not have forgotten too much of the story and will be able to pick up Refuge and move forward with ongoing dilemma that Larry, Artie, Casey, Jessica, Grant and Scully have gotten themselves into.  Things certainly get even more complicated for them in Book II, but setbacks and disappointments are to be expected in a major SHTF event like the one in this series.

I will post updates here as the publishing process moves forward, and there will almost certainly be a GoodReads Giveaway that you can sign up for as well.  As with all my books, review copies will be available for other bloggers and writers with related sites who wish to receive one.

Two New Books for 2013

I've been holding off on posting the details of my forthcoming books due to some changes in the order of publication and the publication dates.  Before The Pulse was published last summer, I had worked out a contract with my publisher to do another non-fiction project under the title: The Prepper's Workbook.  I was also eager to get started on the sequel to The Pulse, as that novel was written with a larger story in mind and plans for at least one sequel from the beginning. 

Instead of giving me the go-ahead immediately on the sequel, however, my publisher suggested an entirely different novel set in the scenario of The Pulse - the same grid- collapse event caused by a solar flare - but with a different storyline and different characters.  Most of the characters in the new novel (which will also likely be followed with one or more sequels) are young adults or teenagers, so the book is targeted to both young adult and adult readers.  The Darkness After will be an action-filled adventure story with a somewhat faster pace than The Pulse.  Here is the cover image:

 I am still in the middle of writing this one now, but have also worked out a contract with my publisher to do the sequel to The Pulse later this year, after the June publication of The Darkness After.  In addition, I will be completing The Prepper's Workbook later this spring, and the new publication date for it is set for sometime in September.  The other change regarding that book is that I will now be working on it with my friend and fellow-adventurer, Scott Finazzo.  The cover for the book should be updated soon to show both of us as coauthors.

Though I have not posted anything about the forthcoming Prepper's Workbook, I'm sure many of my readers have found the listing on Amazon, which still incorrectly shows the publication date as tomorrow, January 15.  I apologize for the confusion that may have caused, but I was expecting my publisher to change the book details to reflect the new publication date before now.  At any rate, if you have pre-ordered the book as many people do on Amazon, it will still be shipped as soon as it is released.  I will post more details on both of the projects soon:

Interview Tomorrow on Destiny Survival Radio

I'll be talking with John Wesley Smith on his Destiny Survival Radio show again tomorrow.  We'll spend an hour discussing a variety of topics, and especially how works of fiction can sometimes be more effective than nonfiction in opening the eyes of those who might not otherwise take an interest in prepping or survival topics.  I've had a lot of comments to this effect already since the release of The Pulse, especially among some of my own friends and family who could not really relate to books like Bug Out and may perceive interest in such topics as fanatical.  Reading a fictional story of an unfolding SHTF scenario sheds a whole new light on the matter though, and people can start to visualize how such an event could really happen.

You can join us tomorrow (Thursday, July 26) at 1:00pm CDT right here on the embedded player, or listen in later anytime you like after the show:

Listen to internet radio with Preparedness Radio on Blog Talk Radio

And here's a link to a newspaper review written by a friend with the perspective mentioned above - a seasoned outdoorsman and experienced adventurer, but not a person who considers himself to be a survivalist:  http://www.enterprise-journal.com/sports/outdoors/article_ad4130e0-ce3a-11e1-8f64-0019bb2963f4.html

For a review from the perspective of a prepper and survivalist, here's Jim Cobb's take on the book from his blog, Survival Weekly:  http://survivalweekly.com/2269/the-pulse-by-scott-b-williams/  Jim will soon be a fellow Ulysses Press author, with his own book: Prepper's Home Defense coming out in October.

Interesting Stuff from "Boat Bits" Blog

It's always interesting to me to see the growing number of new articles about survival and SHTF concerns published on sites that are primarily focused on other pursuits.  But it's not really surprising to see this kind of thing on sailing websites and blogs, because people who are self-reliant and contrarian enough to make a lifestyle out of living aboard and cruising places on small sailboats tend to spend a lot of time thinking about these things anyway.  I first started meeting families and individuals living this lifestyle more than twenty years ago, on my kayak trip through the Caribbean.  Even back then many of them I talked to expressed the same kinds of concerns that are frequently discussed on survival sites today.  A big part of the reason most of them chose the independence of the cruising life is that they feel safer.  There's nothing quite as reassuring as having a well-found vessel under you, capable of taking you anywhere in the world as long as the wind still blows. 

One of my all-time favorite sailing bloggers posted a review of The Pulse last week and then went on to write more about the over-reliance on technology that most of us modern sailors have in common.  The fact is, while there may never be a catastrophic solar flare as strong as the one in my novel that takes out the grid throughout the hemisphere, any number of things, including deliberate action by the government, can render the man-made constellation of orbiting GPS satellites inoperable.

Then, on the other hand, maybe there will be a massive solar flare sometime in the near future.  The author of Boat Bits also sent me this yesterday:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/03/nasa-magnetic-storms-possible-after-mondays-massive-solar-flare/

In another example of a site normally devoted to recreational boating posting about a possible SHTF/TEOTWAWKI situation, this article on suitable boat designs for such an event recently appeared in Duckworks, an online magazine for amateur boatbuilders:

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/12/columns/guest/zeiger/index.html

The author brings out some really good points to consider in choosing such a boat to build, and even mentions some of my favorite designers, such as James Wharram.  I plan to expand my thoughts on this one in another post soon, as bug out boats were a big part of my book, Bug Out Vehicles and Shelters, and of course, I'm currently building just such a boat myself.

More About My Novel: THE PULSE

As promised in my last post, I wanted to follow-up with a bit more detail about The Pulse and why I wrote it.  My reading (aside from online) these days is usually divided about evenly between fiction and nonfiction, and eventually, I'd like to split my writing about the same way.  Over the years as I've worked on my various nonfiction books, I entertained the idea of writing novels but there always seemed to be another book project in the works that kept me from devoting much attention to it.  I still have nonfiction projects in progress, and over the next few months will be completing two new manuscripts that will go along with my survival books most of you are familiar with.  But over much of last year and the beginning of this one, I completed my first novel and now it is about to be released in a few days.  Here's a bit more about it and why I wrote it the way I did.  I posted this "From the Author" description on Amazon last night:

"My favorite adventure stories have always been those that cast ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances and predicaments their previous lives could not possibly prepare them for.  Although I sometimes enjoy reading works of fiction that involve larger than life characters with highly specialized training and superior fitness, skills and abilities, you won’t find any fearless heroes of that kind in The Pulse. 

After experiencing first hand the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and living in the impact zone where the power grid was destroyed and stayed down for weeks, I often wondered what it would be like if that situation were much more widespread and long-lasting.  If a solar flare or EMP attack took out electrical power and shut down most forms of communication and transportation in North America, the aftermath would be far worse than that of any hurricane and there would be no sudden influx of crews from neighboring states to work around the clock to rebuild the grid.  Grocery stores would soon be stripped bare and no delivery trucks would be running to replenish their stocks.  People would become desperate in short order, especially in large urban areas where the limited supplies available would be quickly consumed.  Far lesser events have shown that such desperation quickly strips away the thin veneer of civilization that keeps complex societies in order.  Violence would become rampant, and law enforcement agencies would be overwhelmed and unable to protect the citizens of their jurisdictions.  Those who would survive such chaos would have to act on their own and act quickly to seek safe refuge. 

In The Pulse I chose to focus not on the technical aspects of the solar event or the subsequent rebuilding and reorganizing of civilization in the aftermath, but rather on the immediate concerns of two groups of characters.  Casey Drager and her roommate, Jessica, are college students at Tulane University, in New Orleans.  Casey’s friend, Grant, an older graduate student who was living in the city after the devastation of Katrina, knows from experience that they have to get out and get out fast.  Casey’s father, who is especially close to his only daughter after the loss of her mother in a car accident years before, is away on a short sailing vacation in the Caribbean with his brother when the pulse strikes.  Among islands a thousand miles from the U.S. mainland and suddenly cut off from all communication with his daughter, Artie is desperate to find out if she is okay. Like any father in such a predicament, Artie Drager will do everything in his power to find his daughter, but with no transportation back to North America faster than his brother’s sailboat, he has no way of knowing if she will still be there when he finally reaches New Orleans.  Obstacles and dangers await both parties as they deal with their situations as best they can; and everyone involved has to quickly adapt to the new reality of a world without the safety net of technology and organized society."  

In addition to the above, I would like to add for my readers here that unlike some survival fiction books,  it was not my intention to write an instructional manual masquerading as a novel.  While you will recognize some of the actions of the characters as advice I've given here and in my nonfiction books, the people in the story are not survival experts and were certainly not planning for or even thinking about an event like this.  The college girls and their friend "bug out" of New Orleans, and do so on bicycles because that is the only reasonable means available to them, but they aren't doing so because they were prepared to or even familiar with the term.  Their older friend, Grant, does have fairly extensive camping experience and as an Anthropology graduate student, he has spent a summer doing a field study in a remote region of South American jungle, so he does have some skill and knowledge of living without the support of the grid.  In the other storyline, where the father is trying to get back to his daughter, you will see some of the advantages of travel by boat in a situation like this - something I've also talked about here and in the nonfiction books.  

Could a solar flare really occur that would have effects as devastating as those described in this story?  I don't know for sure, and scientists who study these things have differing opinions as well.  I think it's possible, and many believe that it is highly likely or even imminent.  I certainly hope not, because if something like this ever does happen, the aftermath will be truly horrible.  In the book, this solar event sets the story in motion and is of course, central to the plot, but I don't spend a lot of time detailing the science of it or the wider reaction around the affected areas.  I purposely keep my characters "in the dark" about the extent of it, and focus on how they will meet their immediate needs and get to where they want to be.  This is probably how it would be for most of us anyway if such an event occurred.  Without communication and rapid transportation, news would travel slow and wild speculation and guessing would prevail.  

I hope you will enjoy the story for what it is: essentially a father's quest to find his way back to his daughter, and a total immersion in to a harsh new reality for three young college students who end up in a labyrinth of rivers and swamps north of the city.  

The Pulse was originally scheduled to be released on July 10, but I did get word from the publisher that copies have shipped, and now it looks like Amazon will have the book in stock on June 25.  If you plan to buy it soon, ordering on the release day always helps make a book more visible on Amazon by causing a spike in sales rank.  You can check the book's page here or by clicking on the cover image at the top of this page to find out exactly when it will be in stock, as this is always subject to change.  If you do read the book, I look forward to your feedback, and if there is enough interest in the plight of these characters, the ending leaves a good opportunity to follow up with a sequel that I would like to write.  

Coming in July: THE PULSE: A Novel of Surviving the Collapse of the Grid

Most regular readers here know that I was working on a novel over the last few months since Bug Out Vehicles and Shelters was released.  Some of you may have already seen the book's Amazon page, but if not, here's a preview of the front and back covers.  I'll post more detailed information about this book here soon.  In the meantime, if you'd like a preview, the "Look Inside This Book" feature has been enabled on Amazon, so you can read the opening scenes and see if you'd like to read more.  The book should be available in print and Kindle form early next month.

From the back cover:

THE END OF THE ELECTRIC AGE

As massive solar flares bombard the Earth, an intense electromagnetic pulse instantly destroys the power grid throughout North America. Within hours, desperate citizens panic and anarchy descends. Surrounded by chaos, Casey Drager, a student at Tulane University, must save herself from the havoc in the streets of New Orleans. Casey and two of her friends bug out to the dangerous backwaters of Mississippi where they are forced to use their survival skills to seek refuge and fight for their lives.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Casey’s father, Artie, finds himself cut off and stranded. His Caribbean sailing vacation has turned into every parent’s nightmare. Warding off pirates and tackling storms, Artie uses the stars to guide him toward his daughter.

The Pulse is a compelling action-adventure novel that reveals what it would take to survive in a world lit only by firelight, where all the rules have changed and each person must fend for himself.