February 13, 2021
Bonus Post: Prep For Doom
Bonus – Don’t Look Back
Prep For Doom: An Anthology
Genre: Young Adult Apocalyptic
Release Date: June 16, 2015
Cover Design: Your Elemental Solutions
Formats: ebook and paperback – enter to win one of 3 ebooks!
From the imaginations of twenty authors of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction comes PREP FOR DOOM – an integrated collection of short stories that tell the tale of a single catastrophe as experienced by many characters, some of whom will cross paths.
What begins with a seemingly innocuous traffic accident soon spirals into a global pandemic. The release of Airborne Viral Hemorrhagic Fever upon New York City’s unsuspecting populace brings bloody suffering within hours, death within a day, and spreads worldwide within a month.
An online community called Prep For Doom has risen to the top of a recent doomsday preparation movement. Some have written them off as crazy while others couldn’t be more serious about the safety the preppers could provide in a global disaster. But when AVHF strikes, their preparation may not be enough to save them.
What can you tell us about Prep For Doom?
It’s bonus day, and I’m going to tell you about the short story I wrote for the Band of Dystopian Authors’ anthology, Prep for Doom. This is a collaborative anthology, meaning the stories all take place during the same pandemic and many of them overlap, which is kind of unique when it comes to anthologies. I took part in this because I was active in the Facebook group and it seemed like a fun to thing to do. At this point, I’d never written a short story and I’d never written anything in third person, so that was a leap for me, but after some difficulty, I figured it out.
The funny thing is, the story in the anthology wasn’t the one I intended to submit!
Like I said, I’d never written a short story before, so when I started writing this one, it wasn’t really coming together the way I liked. I put it aside, waited a few days, then started writing a different one because I just wasn’t feeling this one. That second story – which is in Broken Stories – was the one I intended to submit for the anthology, but when I attached the file to the email, I selected the wrong one and sent the original story I’d started instead. When I got my feedback a couple weeks later, I as super confused by the comments because none of made sense with the story I’d thought I sent in. That was when I realized what had happened.
I’ll be honest, I was so embarrassed, because I’d submitted a story that wasn’t even complete let alone polished enough to send in. I never let people read my work when it’s rough like that, so it was an extremely uncomfortable feeling, too!
Anyway, they liked the bones of the story well enough to let me polish it – thankfully – so I did, and Don’t Look Back is the story I came up with. It is set in Charleston, for reasons I’m sure you understand if you’ve read my other posts, and at the Air Force Base. If you know me at all, you know we were stationed there for 4 years, so it was a logical place for me to set the story. Of course, I also had to add in C-17s because that’s the plane my husband flies and I’ve been inside one enough times – and done a spouse flight in one – to be familiar with the interior so I could accurately describe it. Incidentally, this isn’t the last time I add a C-17 to my writing, which I’m sure you know if you’ve read all my books.
A couple other details to point out. When the group on Charleston AFB is discussing the state of the world, Major Johnsen mentions a few other groups they’ve been in contact with, one of which is in Boulder, Colorado and another is in Vegas. This is a nod to The Stand – Major Johnsen even says they don’t like the intel they’re getting from the group in Vegas – which is my favorite book. I named the hero of story Hicks because of my favorite movie, Aliens – I love Michael Biehn in that movie! I had Hicks bring Twinkies to Eve because of Zombieland – which I’m sure isn’t a huge surprise to anyone. The funny thing is, I originally had him bring beer, but since the anthology is young adult, they asked me to change it because Eve is only 20 and they didn’t want to encourage underage drinking. I felt that was a little silly – it’s the apocalypse PLUS most 20 year olds drink – but I did it anyway.
And that’s it! Be sure to enter the giveaway for a chance to win one of 3 ebooks. If you don’t win, you can grab Prep for Doom on Amazon for only $0.99, which I highly recommend! It’s a great anthology written by some very talented people.
