When I first had the
idea for THE CHRONICLES OF LILY CARMICHAEL, the story came to me in a trilogy.
After many discussions with friends and neighbors about where they thought the
world was headed, it seemed that Doomsday Preppers might not be so crazy after
all. It’s not hard to imagine some catastrophic event that could send the world
we know into chaos. Especially with books, movies and TV shows exploring it in
high-def with shows like REVOLUTION and FALLING SKIES, both brilliant
depictions of a post-apocalyptic world in the near future.
The first book, WANING
MOON, just released on September 28th, lays the groundwork for a
post-apocalyptic story set in the year 2057. Having previously only written
contemporary YA, I wasn’t sure if I had enough of a sci-fi imagination to go
too far into the future. By having the story take place in the next fifty
years, I was able to use much of our current technology, but I added a bit of a
twist here and there to make it interesting, yet feasible.
The premise of the
trilogy is that a fast mutating viral plague wipes out three quarters of the
population and a polar shift threatens the rest of humanity with extinction.
Pretty big stakes for our sixteen-year-old genetically altered heroine, Lily
Carmichael. Lily’s mother was a geneticist at the time the plagues were
ravaging the world. In an effort to save future generations, she discovered a
way to genetically alter fetuses so that they would be immune to the virus.
When a rogue government agency, the Industry, takes over the experiments a few
years later, things go terribly wrong and Lily’s mother dies giving birth to a
son. The Industry sets out to capture all of the kids involved in these
experiments, set on using them for their own nefarious purposes and Lily’s
father is murdered trying to protect his children. Lily and her brother grow up
hiding in the hills with their uncle.
Thirteen years later,
with the virus eradicated, the world is on the cusp of recovery. As a side
effect of the genetic alterations, Lily’s younger brother, Zephron has been
imbued with the power to take life with a touch, while Lily has the ability to
heal—everyone except her beloved uncle Samuel who is dying of cancer. WANING
MOON, Book One in the trilogy, follows Lily’s journey to the trade city of
Albany where she must find the medicine that will cure Sam. Along for the ride
is Will, a young drifter in search of his father. But Will has secrets of his
own, and escaping the city proves to be more dangerous than Lily ever imagined.
In creating a dystopian
world forty-five years in the future, I had to imagine that even if technology
still moved forward, there would also be many ways in which the world would go
backward. Without three quarters of the world’s population, the economy would
undoubtedly collapse, manufacturing, transportation, communications, and
government would all lack an organized infrastructure. Although there would be
vast resources, stockpiles of goods, and abundant real estate left abandoned,
distribution and control would definitely be a problem. Imagine 75% of the law
enforcement, military, and medical personnel gone in a matter of a few years.
As if a global pandemic isn’t scary enough, I added Mother Nature’s wrath to
the picture. We can all imagine where global warming or a slight polar shift
might take us in the next forty years.
In my dystopian world,
the US is divided into sectors. Lily, Zeph and Sam live in the Northeast sector
where they are brutally assaulted with as much as fourteen feet of snow in the
winter. Spring comes with heavy flooding and mud season, and summer temps
routinely reach 105 degrees. Luckily, humans are the most adaptable creatures
on the planet. Sam is an engineer and has managed to keep the family living in
relative comfort in the hills outside of a small town called Stanton. With
solar power, wind turbines, and geothermal heating and cooling systems, they
are able to grow food year round in greenhouses and whatever they don’t have,
they trade for with neighbors or make the trip to the trading post in Albany
with several other of Stanton’s residents, including the creepy local constable’s son who has a crush on Lily and isn’t at
all happy to have Will along for the trip.
In Book Two, WESTERN
DESERT, we’ll get to see Lily and Will travel across a post-apocalyptic US to
rescue Zeph from the Industry. I have lots of research to do, but imagine if a
tsunami destroyed the entire west coast and states like Nevada were now
considered beach front property. Add a drought-ridden Midwest and you have what
will become known as the Western Desert. Rising seas and tidal surges leave the
south in ruins, aptly called the Southern Swamps. Check out the TV show Swamp
People if you wonder how folks might adapt to such an environment. Book Three,
WINTER’S SUN is still in the concept phase, but I promise there will be light
at the end of this bleak tunnel. Oh, and did I mention there are wolves? And of
course a romance—because who doesn’t love a good teen romance?
I’m a firm believer that
there is always hope. Lily is a healer for a reason, and although like all
teenagers, she struggles to find her identity, I have faith that she will not
only prevail in the end, but that she and the next generation will find a way
to survive no matter what challenges they face…whether it be on this planet, or
in a galaxy far, far away.
 |
| PJ Sharon |
Guest post by PJ Sharon. "I knew I would be
a writer someday when I was a little girl sitting on my grandpa’s knee and
telling him stories that he would help me put on paper. By the time I entered
kindergarten I could already read and write, and I couldn’t wait to look up new
words every morning in the ginormous Webster’s Dictionary that sat in the book
case at the bottom of our stairs. I would get on the bus and ask my friends,
“Do you know what pulchritudinous means?” Between that and challenging the boys
to push-up contests at the bus stop, I mostly sat alone on those bus rides to
school. But that just meant I had more time to make up stories.
I went on to many
other endeavors in life, including the world of figure skating, and later,
earning a black belt in martial arts. Though I was a mom at seventeen, I did
manage to finish school and somehow made it through college, earning a degree
as a Physical Therapy Assistant. After nineteen years, two sons, a divorce, and
some fairly lean years, I found that it’s true what they say about life
beginning at forty. It was about that time when I reunited with the love of my
life and worked my way to owning my own business as a Massage Therapist,
Personal Trainer, and Yoga Instructor—all of my favorite things. To make my
bliss complete, I moved out to the Berkshires and found my muse waiting for me
there amongst the lilacs and humming birds.
I now write
Extraordinary Stories of an Average Teenage Life in order to share hope with
others, especially teens, that no matter how tough life gets, there is always a
bright spot waiting just around the corner. My published books include the
award winning YA Novels, HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES, ON THIN ICE, and SAVAGE
CINDERELLA, available through Amazon and B&N Booksellers".
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pjsharonbooks
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/pjsharon
Amazon
Author Central
https://www.amazon.com/author/pjsharon
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/pjsharon64
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/pjsharon/
Good
reads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5238865.P_J_Sharon
Secretsof7scribes http://www.secretsof7scribes.com/
YABeyond http://www.yabeyond.com/
PJ will be awarding an eBook copy of "Thin Ice" to one commenter at each stop and a $25 Amazon or BN GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour so I encourage you to follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://www.goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/08/virtual-book-tour-waning-moon-by-pj.html
20 Comments
I would not want to live in your Dystopian world, but I am looking forward to reading about it.
ReplyDelete45 years into the future is not that far away. I wonder!!
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thank you for hosting PJ today.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Goddess Fish promotions for setting this up, and thank you to Writers and Authors for having me. I look forward to hearing from your readers. So does anyone have any ideas about what the country might look like in 45 years? Your ideas may end up in the next book!
DeleteYou're very welcome PJ.
DeleteHi Mary, yes, my future world sounds a bit grim, doesn't it? If you look around the world, though there are many grim realities that currently plague our world, yet we manage to keep going, surviving, living, building, and thriving under the most difficult of circumstances. The backdrop for the story is a little town called Stanton, where a community has risen up and found a way to work together, share resources, and create a working environment for its people. I wanted to show that we can adapt if we all work together and I wanted to give Lily something she needed to be willing to fight for. In the second book we will get a glimpse of both the destruction and the beauty of this new world as she and Will travel across the country.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that your life took such a sweet turn in your 40s. It's a powerful message about never giving up.
ReplyDeleteI watch Revolution--it's actually filmed in the town where I live and work. We like looking for the local landmarks. I like dystopian fiction--especially with female protagonists.
catherinelee100 at gmail dot com
Thanks Catherine. I feel so fortunate to have gotten a second chance in life. I think my choice to write YA was a big part of that. It gives me an opportunity to re-live those teen years through my characters and get to experience all those firsts again in a much sweeter way than I did the first time around. It's like creating a personal do-over:-)
DeleteThat must be exciting having Revolution filmed in your back yard. I find the series very entertaining so far, but it freaks me out how many similarities there are with my book. When they introduced the character, Norah, last week, I screamed at the television, "I thought of that name first!" Well, I'm quite certain I didn't make up the name, but I do have a character in my book named Norah. Odd details are so similar, I think I was channeling Barry Levinson (the producer). Either that or there is some weird collective consciousness that's going on in the world that has us all imagining the worst...hmmm...
Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteKit3247(at)aol(dot)com
Nice seeing you again, Ingeborg. Thanks for stopping in.
DeleteHmmmm...2057? I sure hope those aren't Rose Colored Glasses - I'd love for us to last that long...not looking too good right now from my viewpoint (might I say Novemember will tell?) Anyway your book sounds very creative and that is always a good thing!
ReplyDeleteI hear you, Vamp. Interesting times we live in, and how scary is it that one moment--or one elction--can change everything. Through it all though, I have hope that there is a larger plan at work for all of us and that somehow we will adapt, improvise, and overcome.
DeleteI love reading post-apocalyptic books. I cannot wait to read your book. Do you plan on sticking with dystopia or will you move on to a different genre? Thanks kybunnies(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThanks, Suzie. I'll finish the trilogy and then who knows what my brain will come up with next. I do have another contemporary YA in the works that I'd like to get back to. Thanks for asking.
DeleteI'll be out for a while this afternoon and evening, but will reply to comments as soon as I can. I'm still waiting to hear what others see in our future world. I would love to credit you in the next book if I use any of your ideas.
ReplyDeleteThought-provoking post...I've been curious about the big YA dystopian boom. After a youth spent watching THE JETSONS and space movies, my only bet about 45 years into the future is that it won't look nearly as cool as we'd imagined...
ReplyDeletevitajex(at)aol(dot)com
The thing is, that technology won't just disappear. Even if things fall apart, I believe we will adapt and overcome. Maybe things won't be what we thought they would, but maybe in some ways they will be better. How often have you cursed our addiction to TV, the internet, our enslavement to our phones, our dependence on fossil fuels that is destroying our planet? Maybe an apocalyptic change is needed to make the correction necessary for our survival. Interesting to ponder.
DeleteI really love the story line. It really makes you stop and think about the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jane. It has been an eyeopening adventure writing this book. The research alone has had my head spinning with possibilities. I'm excited to write the next book and see how Lily and Will make it across the country and all of the adventures they have along the way.
DeleteFirst - Thank you for having PJ post today.
ReplyDeleteUnless the human race is totally annihilated, we will always adapt because that's what we do - it's our nature and we're good at it. We just make mistakes a long the way and unfortunately some have huge consequences. Good post PJ!
I agree, Donna. That idea comes through in the story. Sam's (Lily's uncle) motto is adapt, improvise, and overcome--a takeaway from the military--but true survivalist thinking for sure.
DeleteI love to hear from you. So feel free to comment, but keep in mind the basics of blog etiquette — no spam, no profanity, no slander, etc.
Thanks for being an active part of the Writers and Authors community.