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)

Enough of the Dystopian Angst: What’s your good news? by Rolynn Anderson

Candidates for political office need to tell us how bad things are so their plans for fixing the nation’s problems sound brilliant.  But as this conceit plays out, we might conclude conditions in the country couldn’t be more dire.  You know that’s not true, as do I.  Worse are the politicians who would ask us to return to the 50’s/60’s/70’s when turmoil described our world, civil rights strife and the Viet Nam War, to name two potboilers.

The world is a better place today than it was a fifty years ago.  Heck, even the ozone hole has diminished in size.  Here are some other factoids (I have all the sources for these stats…if you want them, let me know!) :

After rising by 126% between 1960 and 1970 the 2010 violent crime rate is the lowest since the 70's at about 1/3 of 1973's. The violent crime rate under Reagan was 65% higher than today. The overall crime rate is half of what it was in 1990.  Since 1960, the average number of police deaths per year fell by 25% when compared to the last eight years. Poverty in America has fallen by 22% in the last 60 years. Average life expectancy has increased by 11 years (16%) since WWII.  Today's child mortality rate is about one-third of 1960's. Inflation adjusted income per person has increased by 122% since 1960. US manufacturers produce more than twice as much as they did in 1980, but the kinds of manufacturing jobs have changed. The average inflation adjusted price for gas today is just $0.11/gal more than 1981. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased by 249% since 1960.

For me, as a writer, my good news-two books coming out this year.  Even better, my books emerge among a wealth of wonderful writers who have learned the ins and outs of small press/indie publishing to get their treasures out to readers. The big six have lost their monopoly on what readers get to enjoy.

We're in the HEA business, after all...what good news can you bring to the 2016 table? 

Six Suspense Novels Spiked with Romance

http://www.rolynnanderson.com

http://www.amazon.com/author/rolynnanderson