Day After Disaster
My reading level dropped off a bit this week due to concerns over Hurricane Irma, but I did manage to squeeze in an online book, Day After Disaster, by Sara F. Hathaway. In the old days the genre this novel represents would have been called futuristic. But the book world is constantly evolving so I would categorize it as survivalist, a genre I do not have much experience with.
Day After Disaster also falls into the self-published category. My previous experience with books produced in this manner has been through a personal connection with the author. This is not the case with Sara F. Hathaway. Not only did I not know her, but I had not even heard of her before reading Day After Disaster.
Plot
A natural disaster which triggers an environmental disaster opens the book. Hathaway tackles the tough approach of a single character present for the early chapters. The lead character, Erika is trapped in a wine cellar for an undetermined length of time. As with many authors new to me, I had a tough time absorbing the writing style at first. However, I kept reading and I started bonding with the character by Chapter 5 when other characters physically appear in the story.
The plot is well paced to the point where I could see Day After Disaster as an action adventure movie. Erika is determined to reach home and family. She encounters friend and foe on the journey. The book does tilt in favor of those who not only support themselves but add value to the Earth. For example, the first humans she has contact with after the disaster are a farm family. They are supportive.
Throughout the story, the good vs. evil theme is evident. Hathaway does a good job introducing gray areas into that age-old conflict. The characters are forced to make life or death decisions on a different level than we find in our current society.
The social dynamics presented in this book are appealing. Families make up quite a few of the characters and their interactions add to the story. Stewardship of land and people underscore the theme.
Self-Publishing
As I stated earlier Day After Disaster is a self-published novel. This means an author pays a company to print the book. I am not very familiar with this process so I did a bit of research. Hathaway originally used Tate Publishing to produce her product. Another company is Dog Ear. Amazon also has a self-publish company, Kindle Direct Publishing. The company does not charge to load manuscripts onto Kindle.
Self-publishing can range from a simple service fee where the company just prints the book, to full service including editing. The books can be sold online through Amazon as well as traditional bookstores such as Barnes and Noble. E-books sometimes are utilized to get the author public at no or a low-cost to the reader. Often the authors have their own website which also sells the books. You can reach Sara F. Hathaway’s site by clicking here.
Thus, modern technology allows individuals the ability to create and sell many products including stories without large start-up costs. Today’s technology allows us to accomplish much, but at what cost? Unfortunately, we do not know what the ramifications will be. Authors such as Hathaway make us pause and think. Will our use (and misuse) of the land lead to a scenario such as the one presented in Day After Disaster.
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