I've had promotions that netted me more than 20,000 downloads of free books. Even with the worst possible story (which mine isn't. Has a 4+ star rating across almost all retailers) the law of averages says that at least 10% of that could be counted on to read the next book, which was also free. It doesn't happen, so that leads me to believe that readers are simply not reading. They're hoarding. Is it true? Please, tell us... Do you read all the free ebooks that you download?
Today's Book Tidbit:
Did you know that if you buy the paperback through Amazon, many titles give you the ebook at a discounted price? All of mine are free, and so are a lot of others. And, it's retroactive, meaning your past paperback purchases might qualify! Here's the word taken directly from the Amazon page:
Introducing Kindle MatchBook! For thousands of qualifying books, your past, present, and future print-edition purchases now allow you to buy the Kindle edition for $2.99 or less.
Wisdom of the Week
If there are 10 hotdogs in a pack, and 8 buns in a pack, how is that not a conspiracy to get me to buy more than I need?
This is part of
what I’ve been working on this week. I hope you enjoy the preview, and please
don’t forget to grab your preorder of this title while it is on sale! The price
will go up when this new book goes live.
Waving at you,
Angie
Marc and Angie
A Life After War
Backstory
Angie
Our reunions are
what I remember the clearest, especially the one in ‘97. We’d been apart for
seven months. My fourteenth birthday had been our goodbye.
I waited with
nervous excitement for him to arrive. Brady had been home for a week, but this
was his first chance to sneak away and I was already in the first our many
meeting places. Had he missed me as much as I had him? Would he still like me?
I’d grown up again while he was away, now a full-bodied teenager with the curse
and everything. I was so worried over his reaction that I didn’t hear the steps
behind me.
“I want to talk
to you!”
Jeanie’s voice
was startlingly loud in the cornfield clearing and I turned awkwardly, ready to
run or fight as needed.
“You listen!”
Jeanie ordered, hands on her slender hips.
“What?” I
snarled. My Brady had kissed this girl, had loved her with his body. I knew now
that he’d been thinking about me, but my jealousy was powerful.
“I want you to
leave him alone.”
The demand made
me furious, but I held my sharp tongue to let her have her say.
“He belongs with
me, not some mutt! Get out of his life or I’ll tell Mother Brady everything.
She’ll put a stop to it right quick.”
It didn’t matter
that Jeanie was right, that I had no claim to him. He was mine.
“No,” I
answered, falling into that dangerous place where the witch helped me handle
the situation. “She can’t get rid of me. Even if we were two planets apart,
Marcus Brady would still be mine.”
Jeanie’s eyes
filled with horrified triumph and I realized too late that she’d tricked me
into confirming it. What would she do?
She’ll
tell,
the witch whispered smugly. Close her
mouth.
Before I knew
it, I was swinging at the senior, attacking without warning like Marc had tried
to teach me. I’d been too scared then, but now, I was eager.
Marc
It was my
nightmare, seeing them talking and my guts had twisted at Jeanie’s vicious
words. Time was up. We had to go now, today. I wanted to start planning it, but
then Angie hit Jeanie!
Thud!
It was nasty and
rocked Jeanie’s blonde head back to make her stagger. She fell on her butt,
holding her bleeding lip.
“You will not
tell!” Angie shouted, leaning down into Jeanie’s face. A hard shake and a shove
put my winy girlfriend on her back on the ground and I gaped, shocked.
“It’ll take Mother
Brady time to get rid of me and I’ll spend it hunting you!”
A mean kick to
the ribs made me wince, remembering my own injury.
“And break up with
him!”Angie ordered. “Do it tonight or
I’ll be at your door come morning.”
Another kick
curled Jeanie into a crying ball and I finally remembered that I was standing
in plain view. All they had to do was turn a little.
“You go it?”
“Yes, you evil
witch! Get outta my head!”
That froze me again.
Angie was using her gift!
“Say it!”
Angie drew back
to hit her and Jeanie scrambled away. “I won’t tell and I’ll break up with
him!”
Thud!
“Oww! I will!”
The noise that I
hadn’t noticed before now glared at me in the silence as Angie continued to
intimidate my much older girlfriend. It sounded like an engine but I knew it
for what it was: the hum of raw power.
“I won’t! I
swear!”
The look on
Angie’s face worried me. It wasn’t the girl I loved, but the inside creature
that sometimes glared at me from those empty eyes and it wasn’t Angie’s voice
that came from those lips.
“No matter where
you go, Jeanette Lynn Shaffer. No matter where.”
That girl no longer
looked like my nineteen-year-old intern girlfriend that I reluctantly spent
time with because of my controlling parent. This was only a quivering soul that
my Angie had terrified.
Listening to the
instinct that proclaimed me male, I slipped behind the nearest tree and viewed
the aftermath.
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure." Thomas Jefferson
This may be the most important choice you have to make to survive an apocalypse. Sheltering in or traveling through a disaster is equally tough to pick from, but there are common sense ways to help you decide. Time is often of the essence during a disaster and not the ideal moment to be making these choices. How can you choose beforehand without knowing what horrible event is happening? Take it case by case.
Step 1: Consider the most common disasters
Fires and spills
Flooding and mudslides
Tornadoes and supercell storms
Hurricanes and cyclones
Rioting, looting
A Nuclear blast
A disease outbreak
A solar flare or EMP event
Step 2: Link them together
There are a lot more disasters that could happen, but if you prepare well for those above, you will have most of the others covered. For example, polar ice caps melting and flooding can be grouped. Likewise, rioting and looting can be hooked in with home and foreign invasions. Solar flares and EMPs are listed on the same line because they cause the same type of situation or danger. Fires and spills really can’t be conquered, so they’re together as disasters you have to bug out for.
Using these guidelines, you can add your greatest fears to one of the events above. I mean, if you've covered yourself for a nuclear bomb, any ‘normal’ blast might also be accounted for, right? Same for tornadoes and dust storms.
Step 3: Consider your shelter
Look through the above list and ask yourself if your shelter would work. Be realistic. Yes, your basement may protect you from a blast, but it will not keep out radiation unless you prepare it. Your country home may be ideal for hiding out from civil unrest, but do you grow your own food and have access to water? Do you have the chemicals stored to sterilize that water? Yes, you're near a river and you can combat light fires and droughts, but will you be caught in future flooding? Ask yourself the questions honestly.
I’m sure you’re realizing there isn’t one answer or one list for every situation. There is no one-fits-all size for disasters. Based on the information you’ve just gathered from asking the hard questions, make a list of the dangers you could face and go from there.
Step 4: Will my shelter withstand this?
Consider this one carefully. For example, most trailers can't withstand a tornado and an average basement won't be a great spot during an earthquake. Cities near missile silos may see preemptive action during a war. You have to consider the worst cases, to get to the best solutions.
Step 5: Who will be with you during the disaster?
Are your companions able to survive with the choice you've made? Can they travel? Run? Hide easily? Are they quiet or loud? Will they help with the work or will you have to carry them the entire trip? Do they need medicine you can't get by staying where you are? Do you have loved ones to gather up if it happens during school hours? All of these questions have to be answered before you can make a final decision on which option to take.
Survivalists are no longer being viewed as crazy in as many of their daily conversations. With all the violence and upheaval in the world these days, who wouldn't want to be prepared? Talk to other preppers or form a group of your own.
What if neither of these options will work?
Let me guess. You can't stay, but going doesn't seem to be an option either. You're between a rock and a hard place, right?
Yes, you are. The only choice you have is to prepare now, for at least one of the two. If medical reasons are keeping you from leaving a city area, but you’ll fear for your life there during a disaster, then you have to ask yourself if you can make your choice easier. Is there a way you can prepare for it, like stocking up on the medicines? Can you get it beforehand to make bugging out possible?
It is the same with sheltering in. If you need things that you won't be able to get while staying low, then ask yourself if you can make, grow, or raise any of the things you'll need. Do your neighbors grow, make, or raise it? Can you organize a supply line with them? Where there's a will, there's a way.
Steps to help You Pick: Stay or Go?
Homework:
• Write down or copy/paste the list of disasters.
• Add your own nightmare scenarios.
• Decide which you can shelter in for and which you would have to flee.
•Start collecting tap water in approved containers. Store them out of sight. Weekly goal: 10 gallons stored. *You’ll need at least 1 gallon of water per day, per person. This includes drinking, cooking, washing, and personal hygiene.
• Read the next Hub: Apocalypse Conditions: Sheltering In Place
These are the first steps to learning how to survive Armageddon! Nice job on making it all the way through hub one. There are many different way to prep. If you don’t care for the quick and easy methods I’ve drawn up, just do a search for any of the topics we’ve covered here. Simply add ‘how to survive’ in front of it. There are millions of articles and videos online now, so you’re sure to find a plan that works for you.
What Comes Next?
Now that you have your list of disasters and choices on whether to shelter in or bugout for each one, you may feel daunted. Both choices are hard work to prepare for, but you've done a huge chunk of it already. By setting your mind to accomplishing these five steps, you've started a journey that may save you and your loved ones during a disaster. Don’t be discouraged. We’ll break it down into areas of importance, with homework at the end of each hub. All you have to do, is keep trying.
Most people will quickly understand that they have to have two plans and be ready to put either into motion at a moment's notice. It depends on the situation, of course, but it is a rare person who has a shelter that will cover them for the entire list of disasters. The rest of us have to make due with two plans.
In my next hub, we’ll begin talking about how to properly shelter in place, even if you're in a city. We cover things like using blankets and duct tape to keep from being seen, heard, or freezing, and even sanitation options.
Other sources include blogs, websites, and personal information provided by preppers, medical staffers, mechanics, engineers, and many other career fields. I also have years of research, interviews, writing, and prepping experience. I hope you enjoyed your time with me. This is a series of Hubs on how to survive disasters (natural and manmade), with detailed topics and sub topics. By the end, you'll have all the steps, information, links, and suggestions you need to battle whatever apocalypse situation life throws at you.
Would You Live Here?
This is my ideal bug-out location. Why not use the comments to tell me about your perfect hideaway!
October 15th, 2013
The deadliest earthquake in 23 years happened in the Philippines in 2013. More than 200 people were killed, with 900 injured. More than 70,000 buildings or structures were damaged, with 14,000 being destroyed. The quake, which occurred on October 15, was the equivalent of 32 of the Hiroshima bombs. Three weeks later, Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) came through and created an entirely new disaster.
2013 FEMA Disaster List
In 2013, there were 62 major disaster declarations by FEMA. Five of those were emergency disaster declarations. Floods, fires, tornadoes and storms, and hurricanes were the largest percentage, though there was an explosion and a few winter freezes. Check over this list to see what disasters have been near your home and your bug-out locations.
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