Finding that silver lining

I won't rehash the election. Anybody who follows me on Facebook knows what I think. It's all been said and now it's time to move forward.

Where's the silver lining? I'm working on a multi-volume series about the end of America. A natural disaster causes most of the problems in my first 2 volumes, but the third volume is all about the struggles to form a working government and rebuild. I was able to kill off almost the entire government structure in my first books so I could somewhat start from scratch in the third volume.

I get the feeling I'll have a lot of fodder for that volume in the coming years. Not about the working government part -- I think I'll have insights into what doesn't work, and I can use that in the books to show failures and struggles.

I'm already making notes about the electoral college, voting problems, the fear that citizens feel when a divisive and unpopular candidate takes office. My books will have a "have" and "have-not" feeling in the country, too, and that's central to the overall arc of the series. I figure by the time the next elections roll around, I'll have volume 3 finished and proofed, then I'll go back and re-read/edit all 9 books.

Then it's on to publishing the 3 volume set and starting work on the next series -- the generations after the initial volumes. That's where it's going to get really interesting as I twist the government into the shape I think it should be.

I really enjoy being a writer ... I can craft so many scenarios in my mind. And it gives me a chance to really think through what might or might not work. Like I said -- I think I'll see a lot of the not-working playing out in the coming years. Note-taking, here I come.

J L Wilson
(jayellwilson.com)