women « Robin Writes

Yesterday, I talked about REDUCED. So, did you read it yet? Huh? Didja? Sorry, I tend to get a little carried away sometimes.

Probably because of that post, and the follow-up I have today, my sleep was plagued with a few strange dreams. Nothing new there, especially a couple of recurring ones, like the one where I’m in a house and must escape; only I know where, in the ceiling of a closet, the escape hatch is located. Okay, maybe not a hatch, that’s so science fictiony, but you know the openings for attics? Yeah, kind of like a hatch, not a door, not just an opening. So anyway, it’s small, and I have to go out that way; it’s the only route to freedom.

Yeah, odd. I have that one a lot.

And last night, after the usual dream, I had another: we, and I’m not sure who was there besides me, were in a house and we were packing up to leave in a hurry. The bad guys – no idea who – were coming, and I was throwing stuff in a couple bug-out bags, all the essentials. And then, just as we were about to leave and cross an open area to a brick garage-type building, the bad guys blew up that garage.

Crap. We had more “stuff” over there and were planning to grab it too. Oddly enough, the blast didn’t much effect the house we were in, except for a little shaking… I think that’s when I woke up.

So, naturally, I have more fodder for the third book in the trilogy – hmm, should a trilogy have a name? Which brings me to my subject: REUSED.

Once you’ve finished REDUCED, you should really read REUSED. Why? Because you want to find out what happens AFTER – you know, to Abby and Juliet and… but no, not gonna give away THAT part!

Here’s the gist of it:

“Colonel Barton has been replaced, and the new commander is sending his henchman, Major Blake, to scour the outlying areas and remove any insurgents. Abby and the girls have remained in the cave at the camp, relatively safe for now, but plans are underway to eliminate all of them… for personal reasons, known only to the commander himself.

“Soon, however, worlds will collide as Captain Alison Hinson is transferred in from Chicago. In spite of her background, Alison is horrified by the tactics of her superiors in the field and begins to question her own stance on the new government. As she puts together the pieces of the past, she realizes that she and Abby are kindred spirits, faced with a mission not of their own choosing but of circumstance.

“Across the country, while officials and mercenaries live the high life, the citizenry are faced with more sanctions, more regulation, and fewer necessities. Pockets of rebellion are quickly quelled, but incidents continue to increase as more people make the decision to go underground. Literally.

“From abandoned caves below St. Louis itself to a subterranean river winding north into Illinois, REUSED will tell you more, perhaps, than you truly wish to know about the potential for the utter collapse of our civilization.”

So, yes, it’s a continuation. Sequel, remember? And it starts ten years after the “event,” when Abby and Juliet come out of hiding. They’ve been relatively undisturbed for quite some time, but now the choppers are back. And circling. And it’s time for Juliet to maybe see the world, see what’s left and, indeed, see WHO is still in the area. If anyone’s there at all.

This time, they’re heading north, across the river, to a place Abby remembers from a long time ago. Best to remain in a familiar locale, so you can better note the differences and dangers. Keep this in mind if, you know, “fiction or prediction,” and you have to bug out somewhere. If you’re in a metro area, say, back East, you shouldn’t automatically flee to oh, Montana, if you have no clue what’s there.

Of course, based on the synopsis above, you know that Abby finds at least one other person: Alison. And at some point, yes, they go into the city of St. Louis and yes, there really ARE caves beneath it. More than anyone probably really knows.

Every location in my books is a real place – building, park, street. Some, of course, have had their specific names changed. You know, lawsuits and such. Even distances, travel time, and so forth are accurate. I could almost say that, if SHTF happens, this would be a pretty good plan of action.

I suppose that’s up to you, my readers, to decide. I’d really like your opinion, so that’s why, when you’re finished with REDUCED, you should follow up by reading REUSED.

Heh. See how I did that?

But seriously, it’s a good book too – better than the first, so I’m told… And really, you DO wanna know what happens next, right?

What the heck is it? A lot of people don’t know – I didn’t even know until I wrote Reduced and Reused. Oh, sure, obviously dystopia is the opposite of utopia, but as for genre, it’s hard to say if it falls under science fiction or suspense or both or neither.

Here’s a general definition: a story that takes place in an altered version of our own world, arguably one less livable as we, currently, would describe its condition.

By that description, dystopian fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction; of course, other specifics of each particular story or book could determine an additional sub-genre, such as thriller, suspense, romance, and so forth.

So here’s REDUCED:

A basic cover, simple, no frills. The photo, although one cannot tell from looking at it, is an actual location shot. In the woods – well, duh – where part of Reduced takes place.

From the synopsis:

“Fiction or prediction?

“Meeting at an abandoned summer camp, a dozen old friends gather after the alarm is raised. Life becomes more precious, more tenuous, as time passes. Government controls tighten, people are herded into the city… or killed. Towns are obliterated. And soon, the enemy agenda becomes obvious.

“Abby will come face-to-face with death, bear the responsibility for a young girl, and endure the severing of childhood relationships in the most terrible ways imaginable. From mere concealment to reconnaissance to aiding a rebellion, where will it end? Will the entire region be decimated, and who will be left alive to know?”

Abby is one tough chick – in her previous life, when the world was “normal” or what passes for such, she was once a vulnerable little girl who went to summer camp with her best friend, Emmy. They kept going back, every year, and at different times met many of the characters within REDUCED.

Abby crammed a lot of learning into her early adult years, and by the time of the “event,” she’s an experienced outdoorswoman, comfortable with a knife and rather talented with both pistol and shotgun, and an excellent tracker. She’s really only close to one person, Emmy, but together with a few select friends from back in the day, they all manage to survive. For a while. Mostly.

The book came about because of a somewhat disturbing dream I had, just over a year ago. It became a scene near the beginning of the book, in a convenience store, right after the “event” occurred. Woke me up out of a sound sleep, in fact, and I was so totally awake that I almost got up and started writing it all down. That thought lasted approximately three minutes, because, frankly, I don’t do middle-of-the-night stuff well at all. Ick.

But I did start the next morning – and was finished within six months. Could have been less, but life got in the way as it tends to do quite often.

And here we are now. It’s time for you to read REDUCED.

Why? Because it’s pretty good – shameless promotion alert – and I’ve been told the sequel is even better. Because you’re interested in this sort of thing: strong women, dystopia, survival, government screw-ups. Oh, and because those of you who like science fiction in general will get a kick out of the name of the catalyst that sets the whole “event” in motion.

And here’s the question: fiction, or prediction?