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Post by gsfields2004 on Jan 20, 2014 17:35:50 GMT
All,
I'm new to this community, so I'd like introduce myself. My name is Greg and I'm the author of a new post-apocalyptic ebook called Under Vanishing Skies which hit #1 in Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian fiction on Amazon's Best Seller lists.
Now before you start pelting me with insults for unsolicited promotional posts here within the sanctity of Put on the Kettle, let me assure you that I'm not here to sell you anything. I'm here to learn more about the survivalist and prepper communities for a novel and screenplay that I'm currently writing. In short, I'm here to ask for your help.
What kind of help, you ask? I'm looking for a small number of people to provide me feedback on various aspects of the story and characters. Being a rather voracious reader of post-apocalyptic novels since the tender age of 10 (Alas Babylon was my first), I've noticed that most books and even more movies portray survivalists and doomsday preppers as two dimensional characters...usually with a screw loose. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part this is what I've found. I'm hoping to change that, or at the very least offer a more holistic characterization.
If you're interested in helping, please let me know and I'll get in contact with you so that I can get to know you better and you can get to know me. I'll also send you a coupon for a free ebook copy of Under Vanishing Skies so that you can get to know my work better before you committ.
v/r
G.S. Fields
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Post by edwin on Jan 21, 2014 9:59:01 GMT
British PA survivors in fiction tend to be middle-class but I take your point about the run of the mill characters. Pleased to help if I can.
Edwin
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Post by gsfields2004 on Jan 21, 2014 18:48:46 GMT
Thank you, Edwin. I really appreciate the support.
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Post by Matthew on Jan 21, 2014 21:16:48 GMT
As Edwin says British PA has always tended towards a more middle class POV with all that entails although in someways that lack of emotion that can come with such a representation can give the fiction a cold brutality that is rarely matched in other nations contributions.
But happy to help out although I must stress that my own 'prepping' has never much moved beyond ensuring a good supply of tea bags, plenty of tins of 'Baked Beans' and always having a handy combined cork-screw and bottle opener to hand along with expecting to rely on my wit and charm rather than 9mm whatevers with laser sights and so on.
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Post by triffiduscelestus on Jan 27, 2014 9:48:43 GMT
I've noticed that most books and even more movies portray survivalists and doomsday preppers as two dimensional characters...usually with a screw loose. There are exceptions of course, but for the most part this is what I've found. I'm hoping to change that, or at the very least offer a more holistic characterization. I would suggest this is because if you are an author then the desire is toss the character into a new situation that confounds them and allows the to struggle through the drama. As a result most epic PA fiction has some sort of event and then the unsuspecting, unprepared non-prepper/survivalist come to terms with the situation and this drives the narrative. Think Survivors, Triffids, Death of Grass, Wrinkle in the skin, children of the dust, z for zachariah. To have a fully kitted out survivalist face a PA event runs the risk of being dull - oh no the power has gone out after the super-flu epidemic. Oh well I'll just fire up my generator (I have two in reserve with 1 000litres of petrol) and heat one of my 5 000 freeze dried meals and wait it out.
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Post by Matthew on Jan 27, 2014 10:28:47 GMT
I would suggest this is because if you are an author then the desire is toss the character into a new situation that confounds them and allows the to struggle through the drama. As a result most epic PA fiction has some sort of event and then the unsuspecting, unprepared non-prepper/survivalist come to terms with the situation and this drives the narrative. Think Survivors, Triffids, Death of Grass, Wrinkle in the skin, children of the dust, z for zachariah.
To have a fully kitted out survivalist face a PA event runs the risk of being dull - oh no the power has gone out after the super-flu epidemic. Oh well I'll just fire up my generator (I have two in reserve with 1 000litres of petrol) and heat one of my 5 000 freeze dried meals and wait it out.
LOL The only thing you missed out was giving us the brand, version and special adapations on the generator along with defining the types of freeze dried meals. And thats even without the guns ! |
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Post by triffiduscelestus on Jan 27, 2014 10:56:37 GMT
LOL The only thing you missed out was giving us the brand, version and special adapations on the generator along with defining the types of freeze dried meals. And thats even without the guns ! Exactly. The Americans, bless their bobby sox seem the greatest culprits here. However mostly in the self-published realm - Lights out by HalfFast is a classic example, the tide of Zombie books can be similarly afflicted. The better (and often older) books - One Second After, Lucifers Hammer, Alas Babylon, Postman, Earth Abides, Long Silence thankfully do not follow this. |
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Post by edwin on Jan 27, 2014 12:39:29 GMT
I don't know "Long Silence" any more details please. Can only find a WW11 novel of that name on Amazon.co.uk.
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Post by Matthew on Jan 27, 2014 16:06:30 GMT
Exactly. The Americans, bless their bobby sox seem the greatest culprits here. However mostly in the self-published realm - Lights out by HalfFast is a classic example, the tide of Zombie books can be similarly afflicted. The better (and often older) books - One Second After, Lucifers Hammer, Alas Babylon, Postman, Earth Abides, Long Silence thankfully do not follow this. I think a lot of it is a reflection of the American relationship with guns which does seem a tad bizzare to my British sensibilities and there is a real tendency towards a lot of the fiction edging towards what has been called by brighter brains than mine as 'gun porn' My own dislike of much of the recent wave of Zombie fiction is that it seems to miss what I see as the crucial element of the genre being that the Zombies themselves have to be allegorical for other issues/situations as opposed to just being. Along with the use of characters saying 'whatever' to each other. I can forgive most post-apoc fiction anything other than that. |
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Post by triffiduscelestus on Jan 28, 2014 1:30:11 GMT
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Post by edwin on Jan 28, 2014 10:01:39 GMT
Thanks. I wondered if it was that one. One of the few from that era I haven't read.
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