Misty Zaugg's Blog, page 10

A plastic water bottle and a soda can will purify water! Be Prepared Tip #2

Hi friends,

While researching survival methods for purifying water, I ran across a really fun one.

It doesn't produce a lot of water, but if you happened to run across a recycle bin full of plastic water bottles and soda cans, you could set up an array of these clever little devices in a warm window.

Steps:

1. Cut the bottom off a standard water bottle.
2. Bend about an inch of the ragged bottom of the water bottle up inside itself, creating an inner lip that will catch water as it condenses and drips down the inside of the bottle.
3. Cut the top off a soda can or other tall container that is skinny enough to fit inside the water bottle.
4. Fill the soda can with dirty water.
5. Place the water bottle (lid still on) over the soda can and put in a sunny location.
6. Wait . . .
7. When you see water condensing on the inside of the water bottle, you can give it a few bangs to knock all the water down into the bottom lip. Take off the lid and pour the water out into a cup.
8. Sip on the teaspoon or two of distilled water . . . I warned you it didn't make much!

This is a fun project to do with the kids - great for a homeschooling lesson on the states of matter and how they change: solids, liquids, water vapor, evaporation and condensation.

Plus, a great topic on how important clean drinking water is during a disaster or emergency.

If you have any other fun tips on clean water in a disaster, I'd love to hear them!

All the best,

P.S. Our publisher kept our new book on sale for an extra week if you didn't get a chance to grab it last week:

link: $0.99 Sale on Amazon. FREE on KU!

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Misty's Writing Update:

Steph and I have been writing at a breakneck speed since last August, and are already about 30k into Book 5 of our Aftermath series.

It's getting pretty tense as our characters are faced with larger conflicts, up from the group level to the city level.

The new government in charge is doing what they think is right to save the most people, but at the expense of individual freedoms.

It makes me think about the best way to weather a disaster. You obviously need to have a core group of people, but how many people is the perfect number?

And how far away would you need to be from larger cities to be safe from unconstitutional orders or someone demanding you contribute your hard-won supplies for the greater good?

It does provide a lot of tension and fun situations to write as Rita and April struggle their way into leadership roles in the mountains of Colorado.

Enjoy reading this week!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website

Last Day Searching for Shelter is 99c plus FREE Prequel!

Hi friends,

Just letting you know that today is the last day Searching for Shelter will be $0.99.

And thank you so much for your reviews already coming in!!

Debra on Amazon: "Awesome characters and plenty of action. The hurricane situation definitely terrifying and the struggles of the survivors is gut wrenching. Can't wait until the next book"

Jeannie on Amazon: "Absolutely a great read. straight to the point. This is my kind of story."

Rosemary on Amazon: "The riveting new survivalist drama . . . Get it now - and be warned, you may need to stock up your safe-room - just in case!



$0.99 Sale on Amazon. FREE on KU!

And if you'd like an intro to the story, grab the FREE prequel:



Free Prequel Ebook Download!

Searching for Redemption: Two mothers caught up in a calamitous pair of storms, fighting and sacrificing for what they love the most. FREE Ebook - and you'll get newsletters from my co-author, Stephanie Mylchreest.

Your support and kind reviews mean a lot to both of us as we are still pretty new authors - so thanks!!
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Misty's Writing Update:

Searching for Resistance: Book Five of Aftermath! We just got started on the next to the last book in the series - mapping out all the conflicts between the various groups in our post-apoc world.

It's a fun mix of power-hungry groups taking control because they think they know what's in everyone's best interest as opposed to those who object to the loss of their freedom.

With Steph's move and my surgery finally done, we're excited to get back into the thick of writing.

How about you? How is the start of 2021 going for you? I hope you're able to feel a bit more stable than last year.

And I'm making a list for upcoming newsletter topics. I'd love to hear which topics most interest you in my various areas on knowledge: self-defense, herbs, medicine, preparedness, mental health and survival skills.

Or feel free to send me an "Ask Misty" question and I'll give a stab at answering.

Enjoy reading this week!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website

Finally! Searching for Shelter is live and 99c today!

Finally! Searching for Shelter is live and 99c today!

Hi friends,

It's finally here! And on sale for 99c, just for you guys!

Searching for Shelter, the first book in our new post-apoc Aftermath series has finally been published.



Here's the blurb (though those of you who've been reading my newsletter probably have a good idea of the plot by this point):
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No food. No shelter. No way out but through.

A calamitous pair of storms.

Two women on the run from their past caught in the whirlwind.

They'll either stand and fight - or be consumed in the aftermath.

Tired of the same old boring story? Welcome to your new, epically long addiction from #1 best-selling post-apocalyptic author Mike Kraus, Stephanie Mylchreest and Misty Zaugg.

Twin hurricanes obliterate the eastern coast of the United States, bringing with them a blight that devastated America's breadbasket.

As the nation's food supply withers on the vine, the population turns upon itself and millions die from starvation, infighting and disease within days of the storms' passing.

In the midst of the devastation left by the storms, two women in the Gulf Coast must fight against the dangers from their past to survive the aftermath of the storms and find a new order in a broken nation.
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If you grab up a copy, I'd love to hear what you think.

And it would mean a lot if you would post a review on Amazon - even a short one. It really helps browsers pick up a new book if you mention why you enjoyed it.

Update on my kidney stone saga below . . .

Thanks for all your kind well wishes!

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Misty's Writing Update:

We are wrapping up our fourth Aftermath book this week, so if you enjoy the first one, the others will be coming out rapidly, about one a month. There will be six in total.

And I wanted to thank everyone who sent me a kind note last week while I was recovering from surgery. They really cheered me up and made me smile! :D

The good news is that I have been off of all pain meds for most of a week now and all the stones and fragments seem to have passed.

I am reminded once again to be grateful for every pain-free moment and to enjoy when body systems work as expected.

I know a lot of you are also experiencing health issues, acute and chronic, and my heart goes out to you. I hope you are able to find solutions and have loved ones close to support you.

All the best from me!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website

Pregnancy or kidney stones - Which is worse?

Hi friends,

This is short today, since I'm a bit loopy on pain meds . . . which I am very grateful for!

That and modern medicine that was able to use a scope and a laser to blast all my kidney stones into dust, including the 14 mm behemoth inside one of my kidneys.

It still makes me shake my head that such a small thing can be such a huge problem.

So, after having six kids and multiple kidney stones, guess which question keeps cropping up lately?

Which is more painful? Kidney stones or giving birth?

Giving birth: I've used hypnosis for most of them and while there were plenty of intensely painful periods, in general, you get a break between contractions and there is an end in sight.

Kidney stones: Just plain ol' intense pain that may or may not subside occasionally to give you a break and can last for weeks while waiting for them to pass, before getting a surgery that leaves you in more pain than before.

So, in short, I think Kidney stones are more painful for longer and with few breaks.

But it's totally relative, and everyone's experiences are different.

Hopefully by next week, I'll be back on my feet and back to writing fun adventures.

Thanks for all your well wishes!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website

Turn four cinder blocks into a stove? Be Prepared Tip #1

Hi friends,

You know how I love little tidbits of helpful information, so I thought I'd start adding some preparedness and survival tips to my newsletter.

. . . particularly since I found a really cool one while researching simple ways to cook and heat things for the post-apoc survivors in our books.

We all know boiling water and staying warm can both be critical in a survival or disaster situation.

Enter the rocket stove!

You can make one out of a myriad of materials, but the basic design is a U or L-shaped stove that allows scraps of wood to be fed in on one side while lots of air is sucked past the wood and up the chimney side resulting in almost complete combustion of the wood by the time the fire reaches the cooking surface.

Simple ones can be made with discarded cans, #10 cans and large paint cans along with a couple of smaller cans for the fuel and chimneys.

In a pinch, keep a few cinder blocks on hand, along with some kind of grate to hold your pan. A few minutes of stacking the bricks so that the holes in the cinder blocks direct the air flow of the fire, and you can have water boiling in no time. (You do need an unusual H-type cinderblock for the center, or a few extra concrete slabs/bricks to make that center H-shape)

There is a lot of information out there, so I won't try to summarize it, but now that you know what to look for, I hope you enjoy learning about the topic as much as I have.

What a fun experiment to try building one of the simpler options with the kids!

Have any of you built a rocket stove before? I'd love to hear what worked and didn't work!

Stay prepared out there, and all the best,
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Misty's Writing Update:

Now that things are settling down a bit, we're back to writing the second half of our fourth Storm book.

Thanks for the well wishes from everyone. After many weeks of not-so-fun pain, a final scan finally revealed that all of my troubles were from a host of little rocks trying to escape my body . . . yep, a bunch of kidney stones.

Crazy how such tiny things can cause so much trouble. :)

The good news is, once I finally get in for a procedure, I should be able to manage the condition relatively easily compared to some of the other chronic diagnoses that were being proposed.

It's just made me that much more patient and empathetic for others going through their own difficulties. You're not alone. :)

And since reading books has been an amazing distraction from the pain, I'll just say once again: Enjoy reading this week!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website

Use your head to fight back - literally! Self-defense Tip #10

Hi friends,

I hope 2021 is turning out well for you!

With my husband working from home, I got a chuckle when I saw mostly t-shirts in the laundry instead of the usual long-sleeved button up shirts from pre-pandemic. Sometimes I wonder how many of the pandemic-driven changes will persist when we finally beat this thing.

Speaking of beating things . . . time for another simple self-defense tip.

(Thanks to Dennis, one of my readers, for suggesting this a while ago.)

Your head as a weapon!

When you get right down to it, the front and back of your head are really just hard bone under a thin layer of skin.

This makes a great weapon to use during a close attack like a grab from the front or behind.

How, you ask?

Simple.

Hit your attacker with your forehead or the back of your head with a sudden and strong strike.

Aim for the nose, lips, teeth and cheekbones to cause sudden pain and an eye-watering response. Hopefully the painful shock will cause your attacker to loosen their grip, so you can break free and run.

To supercharge your defense even more, you can relax for a brief moment beforehand and pretend to give up and submit. Then wait for your attacker's grab to relax before you strike with as much force as possible.

Really, that's all there is to it. If you practice striking with your head - make sure you have a well-padded surface so you don't hurt yourself. And limit practice to a strike or two so you don't cause your own brain any unintended damage.

I hope you enjoy this technique and feel free to share it with others. Also, if you have any self-defense tips or questions you'd like to see in the newsletter, please send them to me!

Enjoy your weekend!
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Misty's Writing Update:

Steph is in the middle of moving this week and I'm having the not-so-fun task of investigating what could become another chronic medical condition for me.

Funny how life comes along and tries to disrupt all your best-laid plans.

I hope you're finding ways to overcome any challenges cropping up in your lives.

We're still squeezing a bit of writing in where we can, enjoying our characters who are always dealing with much worse than we are, right?

At least we have running water, warm bellies and a home with our families. Gotta remember the important things!!

All the best to you out there!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website

Tiny Goals for the Win?

Hi friends,

I hope your 2021 is going well! My kids are all enjoying an extra week of holiday since we decided to copy our local schools and play a little longer before starting up homeschooling again.

I thought I'd share a fun goal-setting tidbit I use.

Tiny is better!

Here's an example:

Mom of many kids decides she wants to write a book because she's always loved stories.
• A book is about 80-100k words = huge goal
• Day 1 = She writes 200 words = Fails to reach her goal of writing a book
• Day 12 = takes a break because this is so much work and she's nowhere close.
• Day 40 - 47 = Writes every day this week in a spurt of enthusiasm. Only up to 3k. Failed again to write a book.
• The next 8 years: Writes in fits and spurts. Still failing to write a book.

Mom reads about making small goals that are too easy not to do = Tiny goals.

New Goal: Write one sentence in her book every day but Sunday.

• Day 1: Did it! Reached her goal . . . actually overachieved and wrote half a page.
• Day 2: Achieved her goal AGAIN! Over achieved and wrote close to 1k words!
• Continues without missing a day for months!
• Day 72: Feeling sick, but can't ruin her streak, she sits down and types. "She was." = a complete sentence and STILL reached her goal.
• After 8 months of reaching her goal six days every week, she completes the book she'd been working on for the previous 9 years.

What do you think? Is there a tiny goal that might help you?

Here are some ideas:
• Eat healthier: Eat one bite of leafy green vegetables every day OR Once a day - put one unhealthy item back instead of eating it OR Drink one glass of water at the start of the day.
• Exercising: put on exercise clothes and jog/walk ten steps OR do ten reps of an exercise.
• Sleep: Brush teeth, get PJs on and lay down in bed at 11 pm every night. You can get back up if you want, but stick to the tiny goal.

Just find simple starting tasks. Make that your tiny goal - so easy, you can do it every day. At some point, you may just find yourself reaching the big goal.

I'd love to hear about your ideas and successes!

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Misty's Writing Update:

I wrote the first chapter of our Storm book 4 this week! Woohoo! Another book is always fun to dive into.

This one revolves around strengthening the homestead against outside groups who want to raid and attack because supplies are getting scarce.

What do you think? In addition to the chain link fence up around the property, what would be the best way to keep it safe?

I'm brainstorming early warning systems, maybe some ambush traps out on the road, a rotating guard schedule and some kind of safe areas for the guards to hunker down to keep an eye out for bad guys. :D

It's actually pretty fun to think how I would build up and protect a homestead. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Enjoy reading this week!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website

Apocalypse-Style New Year's Resolutions

Hi friends,

Wow! 2021 is here!

Like many of you, I'm excited to see what positives will come our way this year.

Since this is the time of year many people make goals and new resolutions, I thought it would be fun to do one Apocalypse style - if society ever were to actually break down.

Apocalypse New Year's Resolutions

• Bite your tongue and don't say "I told you so," when your friends complain that the stores are out of basic supplies again. (Grab some extra toilet paper, hand sanitizer and yeast, yourself, next time they're back in stock.)

• Pull the trigger on purchasing that farmstead in Idaho, far from large cities, on fifty acres, with a stream running through it, a forest full of deer nearby and a small orchard of mature fruit trees.
• Finally build a faraday cage in the basement and stock it with a extra electronic items, a laptop, walkie talkies, flashlights, radios, cell phones loaded with detailed survival info pdfs, music and entertainment to stay sane, etc.
• Pull out the 72-hr backpacks you made ten years ago and switch out the diapers and baby clothes for things more appropriate for your teenagers (this one might apply to me - lol)
• Read more post-apoc fiction so you can enjoy someone else doing all the stuff you haven't quite gotten around to doing! :D

What about you? Any new goals this year to be a little more prepared, now that we've learned to weather a global pandemic?

I wish you all a very happy New Year!

All the best,

-- Misty :)

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Misty's Writing Update:
Business stuff time!

We're about ready to start on the fourth book in our Storm series, but are trying to finish up all of the small author chores that seem to accumulate and interfere with the fun of diving into a new book.

A sample of our to-do list:
• Write up briefs for cover artists who are designing the covers for our upcoming books
• Pick titles for all the books.
• Write catchy blurbs for each book that will go on the back covers and the Amazon sales page.
• Reply to early readers who have been generously going over our new books.
• Go through and fix the edits that come back from the editor.
• Make a new website for the two of us
• Write up a welcome email for new readers who will sign-up for the free prequel to our new series (don't worry - you guys will hear about it first when it's ready!)
• Set up the system to make a combined email program for the two of us.
• Figure out business and bookkeeping technicalities of working with a co-author.
• Write the front and back matter of the books, including links for the freebies we'll be offering . . . oh - go and set up those links . . . wait - we need the covers for that and a file to upload . . . ask the cover designer to add the words: "Bonus Chapters" to some of the covers he did . . . etc. LOL
• It never stops! :D

So, we'll do a bunch of them and then probably procrastinate the rest so we can both get back to what we love the most . . . creating new worlds and exciting stories to share with you!

Happy New Year and enjoy reading this week!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website
p.s. Thanks for clicking on the promoted books up above. It really helps!

Merry Christmas and Gingerbread Houses from Misty!

Hi friends,

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it! <3 I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy time with family . . . even if it's via Zoom! :D

Do you have fun family traditions that you enjoy every year and are still able to do this year?

Here's one of ours:

Gingerbread Houses!



Ok, we cheated a little this year, going the "Graham Crackers" and "Store Frosting" route, but I generally only summon up the energy to bake real gingerbread once or twice a decade.

Since the candy is the real focus and the family spending an hour playing and chatting as they build, I call it a win.

What about you? I'd love to hear of ways you're still keeping holiday traditions in this crazy year.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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Misty's Writing Update:

Vacation Time!!

Steph and I are taking some time off to enjoy the holidays with our family. Yay!

. . . though some ideas keep cropping up in my mind and I might be jotting them down occasionally. :D

We did a final push last week and sent the final version of Storm Book #1 to our publisher, Book #2 to their beta readers and Book #3 to the editor.

We'll be writing Book #4 when the new year starts.

Thanks for following along on the ride and we hope you love the books once they finally hit the e-shelves!

Merry Christmas and enjoy reading during the holidays!

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website

Book cover designed by my 5-year-old. Talk about confidence!

Hi friends,

I hope everyone is doing well during the holiday season! Best wishes from me and my family! <3

Speaking of family, my 5-year-old is basically a teenager in training with all her siblings much older than her, but one thing I love about her is her unshakeable confidence in her abilities.

It's a good reminder to us adults to not to sabotage our dreams with pessimism before we even get started.

A little peek into our home:

One evening I noticed my 12-year-old working on his digital drawing for his scratch.mit.edu programming channel. I wanted to encourage him with his art . . . and plant a few seeds for him to get good enough at it to do covers for me in the future - see how sneaky I am? :D

Me - "Hey, take a look at these awesome, illustrated book covers I've seen in the litrpg genre lately."

I proceed to show him a handful of epic covers on Amazon with characters that look ready to pop off the computer screen.

12 yo son: "Wow! Those are cool. I can't draw that well yet, though."

Me: "Keep practicing, and you can easily get that good. Then you can do book covers for me."

5-yead-old daughter (shamelessly eavesdropping): "Oh, I can do a book cover like that for you right now. Easy."

We both turn and stare at her, surprised and speechless.

She shrugs with a no-big-deal expression. "I just need some paper, and I can do it tonight."

My son opens his mouth to object, and I give him a nudge to interrupt him, so he doesn't rain on her parade.

Me: "Great! I'd love to see what you come up with."

She rushes off, on a mission now. Noises ensure in the other room. A muffled conversation with Dad. The whirr of the printer. Little feet running up the stairs, back down and then back up again.

An hour or two later, after . . .
• a request to dad to "Print me a magic book cover I can trace."
• a handful of the aforementioned blank paper.
• the use of her brother's LED tracing screen
• a liberal application of bright crayons
• and the confidence of a child who doesn't even consider she might fail.

She presents me with my newest book cover:



Pretty decent for a kid who traced and colored that on her own. She's now planning how she'll make all my book covers when she grows up. You'll have to check back with me in a decade or two and see how it turns out. :D

It's a nice reminder that the next time a task seems overwhelming or impossible, if my 5-year-old can design a book cover, what could we achieve if we had that kind of confidence and drive?

I hope you and your family enjoying the holiday season!

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Misty's Writing Update:

One of the most fun parts of the creative process is brainstorming new ideas.

Through the wonders of Zoom (which I'd never heard of before 2020 - lol), Steph and I were able to spend a few hours together this week throwing ideas back and forth for the final three books in our storm series.

For those interested in the process, we generally start with the overall theme of each book, what the climactic battle will be and where our main characters will start and finish.

What's fun about outlining the broad strokes of three books all at once is we can sketch out a overarching plot lines that will develop over three books and come to a satisfying conclusion in the final book.

Once the broad outline was done on our first day of zooming, we sketched out what would happen in each of the chapters of book 4 on the second day. As usual, we probably crammed a bit too much action happening in each chapter, but our readers enjoy long books, so it's all good.

We hope you'll enjoy this series as much as we have enjoyed writing it when it releases next year!

Happy reading this week,

— Misty :)
Misty Zaugg Website