S.M. McEachern's Blog, page 4

New World Order available for preorder!

New World Order (Sunset Rising 3)

Is now available for preorder on Amazon and iBooks!

Release Date: January 15, 2015

New World Order
Book 3 of the
Sunset Rising Series

New World Order, the third book of the Sunset Rising trilogy, is done I’m very happy to finally share it with all of you. I’ve worked really hard on the series, including a lot of research for my world-building, and I’m hoping my hard work has paid off. I will say it was easier to create a dystopian world than to figure out how to fix it (kinda like the real world!). However, my true goal for the story has always been the restructuring of society to right the wrongs of the past and find a new, peaceful way of life.

Although New World Order is the last book of the trilogy, it is not the last book of the Sunset Rising series.  I’ve enjoyed writing Sunny and Jack’s love story, but there are plenty of other characters worthy of the spotlight.  And after all the work I’ve put in to creating my fictional world, I don’t have the heart to leave it.  So I hope you’ll continue with future stories about the Pit and the Dome as they struggle to find peace with each other, and explore their post-apocalyptic world.

Thank you all so much for joining me on Sunny’s and Jack’s adventures – and for taking a chance on a debut author! I couldn’t have done without your support and encouragement. You guys rock!!

Cheers – Susan

The post New World Order available for preorder! appeared first on S.M. McEachern.

Goodreads Giveaway – Sunset Rising Paperbacks!

‘Tis the season for giving, so I’m giving away two paperback copies of Sunset Rising through Goodreads! Just click on the link below to enter. Sunset Rising ebook is also on sale for just 99 cents at all ebook retailers until December 31, 2014.

****Giveaway is now CLOSED. Congratulations to the winners!****

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Sunset Rising
by S.M. McEachern

Giveaway ends December 31, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The post Goodreads Giveaway – Sunset Rising Paperbacks! appeared first on S.M. McEachern.

Giveaway of two “Sunset Rising” Paperbacks!

‘Tis the season for giving, so I’m giving away two paperback copies of Sunset Rising through Goodreads! Just click on the link below to enter. Sunset Rising ebook is also on sale for just 99 cents at all ebook retailers until December 31, 2014.

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Sunset Rising
by S.M. McEachern

Giveaway ends December 31, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The Real Pit

I could’ve written another boring announcement about Sunset Rising being on sale for 99 cents at all ebook retailers for the entire month of December (cheap gift!), but I wanted to share where I found the inspiration for the Pit: the Mponeng Gold Mine (AngloGold Ashanti).

For anyone who thought mining 3 miles underground was purely science fiction, think again. At 2.5 miles below the surface, the Mponeng gold mine in South Africa is the deepest mine on earth, and its getting deeper everyday. Once the largest gold producer in the world, producing roughly 64% of the world’s supply, South Africa now accounts for only about 6%. That’s because the 30 inch wide seam of gold they’ve been mining is running out. However, a new seam has been located just over 3 miles below ground, and they’re blasting their way toward it.

At 2.5 miles, it’s already hellishly hot. Rock face and water temperatures are around 151 degrees fahrenheit (that’s 66 degrees celsius for us Canadians), and working at that depth would be intolerable except for the ice slurry and huge fans the mining company uses to cool the air to a more acceptable 86 degrees fahrenheit (30 celsius). Approximately 4000 employed miners descend to work in the mine everyday; and then there are the Ghost miners …

Ghost miners are those that illegally enter Mponeng and mine the gold. Quite often these miners are part of a crime syndicate or gang and are helped into the mines by legal employees. So why are they called ghost miners?  Because getting through security to enter and exit the mine isn’t easy. Consequently, anyone gaining entrance illegally will stay for a prolonged period of time and, without sun, his/her skin turns grey. I say “anyone” because entire families have been known to go down into the mine as well as prostitutes.

Starvation and desperation can be powerful motivators. Illegal mining is (quite literally) a lucrative underground economy for South Africans, where 20.5% of the population live in extreme poverty and 45.5% live in moderate poverty conditions. While ghost miners benefit from mining gold, employed miners benefit by supplying food and other necessities to them at inflated prices. It’s a subterranean world with its own economy.

So, there you have it. A real life Pit. Another reason to count your blessings this Christmas season and give to those less fortunate if you can.

New World Order (Book 3 of the Sunset Rising series) Cover Reveal

Due to be released January 15, 2015!

The Biodome has been liberated, the slaves have been freed, and a new democratic government has been formed. Yet tensions between the Pit and the Dome have never been higher. With the disappearance of Senator Jack Kenner, the old regime makes a political move to reestablish their government.

In the third book of the Sunset Rising trilogy, Sunny O’Donnell is determined to find Jack and bring him home. With the high-tech assistance of Doc, Sunny and her friends, Summer and Reyes, team up with the Nation to set out into a lawless post apocalyptic world. But as the ruthlessness of the recruiters unfolds amidst the discovery of betrayals within their own group, friends will become enemies and enemies will become friends on a journey that will end in a New World Order.

________________________________________

I feel like I should say a few words about this momentous occasion… Book. Three. Is. Written. YAY!

New World Order was a bit more difficult to write than the first two books. Not only was there more backstory to constantly check and recheck to ensure I was remaining consistent with my characters and world, but (SPOILER ALERT) the story is told in two different voices.  At one point, I made a grid for myself to sync timelines as well as a chart of characters with their personality traits beside their names for quick reference. And I loved every minute of it.

What I didn’t love was that the minute I made self-imposed deadlines to get this to my editor, all kinds of things in life popped up to rob me of time I could have otherwise devoted to writing.  At first it was little things and then it was one big thing: I had a mountain bike accident. We thought it would be a good idea to check out some biking trails in Quebec… until we were actually on the trails.  Gorgeous, beautiful scenery that we were hard put to admire because of the gruelling 1 HOUR and 45 MINUTES it took to get up the hill.  Yet it was the downhill ride that did me in. I hit a rock, it flipped, and threw me.  With a swollen leg, sprained shoulder and dislocated finger, I got up and biked the five kilometres out of the woods. Yeah… I know if my friends are reading this they’re going to chime in and say that it was only two kilometres. But five sounds way more heroic.  And I am, after all, a writer.

So I can honestly say that writing New World Order wasn’t without its challenges. In fact, the last thirty thousand words were typed out with that dislocated finger and sprained shoulder. It really helped me give my characters’ pain an authentic voice.

Back to editing.

I’ll leave you with some of the music that helped inspire the Sunset Rising series:

Somewhere Only We Know, Keane (Jack, Book 3)

Bad Dream, Keane (Reyes, Book 3)

Run, Snow Patrol (Crystal, Book 1)

Spies, Coldplay (Sunny & Jack, Book 1)

Fix You, Coldplay (Book 3 action scene)

Born to Die, Lana Del Rey (Sunny)

Extreme Ways, Moby (Sunny & Jack)

Running Up That Hill, Placebo (The Pit)

You should resist him, but can you? Reyes Crowe, A New Satellite Story.

Hi Everyone,

I hope my American friends had a fabulous Thanksgiving! And if you’re all pooped out from your Black Friday shopping, grab your favorite beverage and take a break. I’ve written the first satellite story between Worlds Collide (Book 2) and New World Order (Book 3) for your reading pleasure. (Note: In fairness to my Canadian and International friends, I googled to see what other holidays are being observed this weekend and discovered that today is Computer Security Day. If you’re like me, you may have never heard of this important day, so just a heads up to secure your computer If I’ve missed an important celebration or observance, please leave a comment.)

This newest satellite is boringly titled, Satellite Story #7, Reyes Crowe. I feel the need to make the titles more descriptive than exciting in an effort to organize them in relation to the series.  I’ll say right upfront, DO NOT READ #7 IF YOU HAVE NOT READ WORLDS COLLIDE (BOOK 2). Sorry I yelled that at you, but I just really wanted to make you aware that there are spoilers.

In other news, the cover reveal for New World Order is this Tuesday, December 2, 2014! Another work of art by Nathalia Suellen, I’m really excited to finally share it with you. Since I’m usually pressed for time, I do not organize my own blog tours. So if you’re a blogger and want to participate in the cover reveal, you can sign up with Xpresso Tours—and thank you so much for your support!!

So what’s been keeping me too busy to organize my own tours? I’m working through the first edits of New World Order (Book #3). WOOHOO! I expect to send the first cut to beta readers later this week… and I’ll be nervously awaiting their feedback! I’m happy that everything is moving on schedule and New World Order will be released around January 15th . For the first time, I’ll be making this book available for preorder so it will be delivered to your reading device as soon as its published.

In the meantime, please enjoy the satellite story. I find Reyes to be a very complicated character… but I’d love to hear your thoughts about that. I’ll be checking back to look for your comments!

Cheers – Susan

2 Paperback Copies of Sunset Rising to be WON!

Goodreads Book Giveaway


Sunset Rising
by S.M. McEachern

Giveaway ends November 16, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

New World Order (Sunset Rising #3)

I’ve taken a few days to rest my swollen fingers (from all that typing!), but I’m happy to announce that Book #3 of the Sunset Rising trilogy, titled New World Order, is now with my editor ☺ Yes, I’m doing the happy dance right now! Obviously, it still needs to be edited, sent out to beta readers, proofread and generally a lot of work done between now and when it’s released, but the story is written. Aaaaahhh.

Here is the first draft, and very first peek, of the book description for New World Order:

 

The Biodome has been liberated, the slaves are now free, and a new democratic government has been formed. Yet tensions between the Pit and the Dome have never been higher. With the disappearance of Senator Jack Kenner, the old regime makes a political move to reestablish their government.

In the third book of the Sunset Rising trilogy, Sunny O’Donnell is determined to find Jack and bring him home. With the high-tech assistance of Doc, Sunny teams up with Summer, Reyes and friends from the Nation and sets out into a lawless post apocalyptic world in search of the kidnapped men. But as the ruthlessness of the recruiters unfolds amidst the discovery of betrayals within their own group, friends will become enemies and enemies will become friends on a journey that will end in a New World Order.

Expected Release: January 2015

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book description.

I’ve already added it to Goodreads because I’m just that efficient. (And excited! Don’t forget excited!)

In the past, I’ve sent out ARCs to beta readers prior to sending the manuscript to the editor, but I’m reversing the process this time. My beta readers help me find the heart and soul of my story, so they don’t need to be bogged down with doing the job of the editor. So, if you are one of my fabulous beta readers and you’re reading this post thinking Hey! I didn’t get a copy to read yet!, you’ll know why. I’ll be in touch in December. (Note: I already have an extensive list of beta readers and I can’t accept any more at this time. Please feel free to get in touch with me about future projects.)

Nathalia Suellen has created another beautiful cover and I’m planning a big reveal closer to the end of the month. I’ll tweet, Facebook and blog just as soon as I have all the info on it for you.

Before I sign off, I want to let you all know there’s a fantastic book giveaway going on over at a friend’s blog, Random Smiles.  There are lots of fabulous books by amazing authors available to be won. And next week I’ll be doing an author interview with Ellen, so watch out for that too (there might a little spoiler from New World Order mentioned…).

I hope you’re all having a great week! Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers – Susan

Chris Kratt chats about a post-apocalyptic creature world!

Chris Kratt with a Lanner Falcon

For all you who skipped over my Prologue in Book One (and you know who you are), here’s the scenario that sets the stage for the Sunset Rising series: World War Three begins with (supposedly) North Korea being the first to launch nuclear warheads, which in turn unleashes a geopolitical chain reaction. Within the space of forty-eight hours more than half of the worlds known nuclear weapon stockpile is detonated, sending the earth into a nuclear winter that lasts approximately two years. About five hundred people escape into a hermetically sealed Biodome, preserving humanity and their technology until they can one day leave their manmade environment. The first chapter of Book One begins almost three hundred years after WWIII.

Now the fun part of being a writer begins: world building. Using two parts research and four parts imagination, I’m creating a post-apocalyptic world for the Sunset Rising series (spoiler alert: this involves Book #3). It’s difficult to explain the process my imagination goes through (I need to show, not tell!), but I can share with you some of my research sources. And when creating a post-nuclear creature world, who better to ask than one of the Kratt Brothers?

Chris Kratt is a producer/writer, biologist, educator and host of several popular educational television series about animals and nature, and is best known for his current hit, Wild Kratts and my personal favorite,  Zaboomafoo. I reached out to Chris for his advice and he has been a tremendous—not to mention totally awesome and fun!—resource in helping me think critically about what creatures might survive a nuclear winter to one day live free and in the wild once again ☺

Susan: Hey Chris! First, I want to thank you for brainstorming with me about a post-apocalyptic creature world. The animal world is much more complex than I originally thought, and trying to figure out which animals might survive is harder than one might think! So to start off the interview, my first question is what kind of animals do you think could survive an approximate two-year nuclear winter?

Chris: Hopefully, we won’t ever have to find out! But I’d say there are probably two main things to consider: 1. Who can survive the change in climate; and 2. Who would still be able to find food.

First, the food. If all the plants died off because there was no sunlight, herbivores (plant eaters) like deer, rabbits, and elephants would not be able to survive. That’d leave the carnivores (meat eaters) and omnivores (meat and plant eaters) that could probably last for a while on dead herbivores and other animals that were still trying to survive.

Second, the climate change. Since it’d be much colder for extended periods of time, that would favor those carnivores that are very well adapted to cold. For example, animals with thick coats of fur, animals with the ability to migrate, and maybe hibernators.

Susan: With that in mind, and thinking about our own creature world here in North America (where Sunset Rising takes place), what kind of animals do you think would survive?

Chris: Hmmm… For mammals, there are some generalist predators that might do pretty well. Coyotes and Cougars have ranges that extend from deserts/rainforests all the way into cold temperate and mountain forest. So they have what it takes to deal with cold weather and they’re mobile. They could move around to the climate that is favorable for them. Similarly bears and wolverines are adapted to cold and are mobile. And, of course, rodents are survivors—many can find warmth in cold climates and will eat different things, including carrion.

And, believe it or not, don’t necessarily count all insects out. Some have freeze tolerance adaptations and may be able to stay frozen through the extended winter-like conditions. Others, like certain flies and cockroaches are good at finding whatever heat sources are available and will eat whatever meat they can find. And if they were able to survive, they would provide food for some of the smaller animals trying to make it through a nuclear winter.

Birds would be interesting because so many of them are able to migrate. Some might be able to find a climate they can survive in and would be happy to eat whatever meat is around. Crows, Ravens, Jays, Vultures and other raptors would probably be some top meat-eating and hearty contenders.

Susan: The ability to migrate is a really good point! It makes me think about creatures that might be stuck, especially animals in a zoo who are already out of their indigenous ecosystem.

Chris: That’s a complicated question. Provided they can get out of the zoo enclosures, some exotic predators might have a chance. There may be some situations where the animal actually finds itself in a better climate! For example, if a cold-weather predator is kept in a zoo south of it’s preferred habitat and that area becomes colder, it may actually prefer the new temperature. A polar bear in a New York zoo could definitely deal with the weather if New York got a lot colder.

Exotic animals in zoos on different continents might be able to survive too. A snow leopard or Siberian tiger in a warm climate zoo could potentially find itself in a cold weather climate that it is better suited for.

Susan: So cats capable of withstanding cold temperatures would have a good chance of surviving a nuclear winter?

I think some probably would. Of course, cats are meat-eaters so they could potentially cope with the loss of plants as long as there was enough meat around. And there are certainly cats that are more comfortable in cold weather—like lynx, snow leopards, Siberian tigers, and cougars.

Rulers of a nuclear winter?

But there are lots of other factors that would come into play. For example, lynx are great at dealing with the cold, but they are wired as extreme specialist snowshoe hare eaters. When hare populations crash, so do lynx populations. So if snowshoe hares weren’t around the question is would lynx ultimately be able to make the switch to hunting other food and even carrion if they had to? That’s hard to predict.

Lions might be able to eke out a living somewhere, but they’re really not cold weather cats and, in an event like a nuclear winter, they would not be able to evolve cold-weather adaptations quickly enough. So it would all depend on how cold it actually got.

Susan: Wow. A lot of thought really needs to go into imagining a post-apocalyptic animal kingdom. I’ll just say right up front that I’m not even going to try to match wits with Mother Nature when I create my creature world…hence, the four parts imagination I mentioned earlier! Thank you so much, Chris, for all your help!

Chris: Thanks Susan. It’s interesting to think about the different survival abilities of animals, but I sure hope we never end up finding out the answers to some of these questions!

About Chris Kratt:

Chris is a producer/writer, biologist, educator and host of several popular educational television series about animals and nature. He has co-created and produced over 225 episodes of television broadcast around the world, including Kratts’ Creatures, Zoboomafoo, National Geographic’s “Be the Creature”, and current hit, Wild Kratts (which airs on PBS Kids and TVOKids). His series’ have received numerous awards including Parent’s Choice Gold, Emmy Award, and Gemini Award.

Chris and Martin have recently released their first book in a Wild Kratts educational reading series for children. It’s an awesome adventure about creatures living free and in the ocean! Click below and check it out for yourself:

 

The post Chris Kratt chats about a post-apocalyptic creature world! appeared first on S.M. McEachern.

Chattin’ with Chris Kratt about a post-apocalyptic creature world!

Chris Kratt with a Lanner Falcon

For all you who skipped over my Prologue in Book One (and you know who you are), here’s the scenario that sets the stage for the Sunset Rising series: World War Three begins with (supposedly) North Korea being the first to launch nuclear warheads, which in turn unleashes a geopolitical chain reaction. Within the space of forty-eight hours more than half of the worlds known nuclear weapon stockpile is detonated, sending the earth into a nuclear winter that lasts approximately two years. About five hundred people escape into a hermetically sealed Biodome, preserving humanity and their technology until they can one day leave their manmade environment. The first chapter of Book One begins almost three hundred years after WWIII.

Now the fun part of being a writer begins: world building. Using two parts research and four parts imagination, I’m creating a post-apocalyptic world for the Sunset Rising series (spoiler alert: this involves Book #3). It’s difficult to explain the process my imagination goes through (I need to show, not tell!), but I can share with you some of my research sources. And when creating a post-nuclear creature world, who better to ask than one of the Kratt Brothers?

Chris Kratt is a producer/writer, biologist, educator and host of several popular educational television series about animals and nature, and is best known for his current hit, Wild Kratts and my personal favorite,  Zaboomafoo. I reached out to Chris for his advice and he has been a tremendous—not to mention totally awesome and fun!—resource in helping me think critically about what creatures might survive a nuclear winter to one day live free and in the wild once again ☺

Susan: Hey Chris! First, I want to thank you for brainstorming with me about a post-apocalyptic creature world. The animal world is much more complex than I originally thought, and trying to figure out which animals might survive is harder than one might think! So to start off the interview, my first question is what kind of animals do you think could survive an approximate two-year nuclear winter?

Chris: Hopefully, we won’t ever have to find out! But I’d say there are probably two main things to consider: 1. Who can survive the change in climate; and 2. Who would still be able to find food.

First, the food. If all the plants died off because there was no sunlight, herbivores (plant eaters) like deer, rabbits, and elephants would not be able to survive. That’d leave the carnivores (meat eaters) and omnivores (meat and plant eaters) that could probably last for a while on dead herbivores and other animals that were still trying to survive.

Second, the climate change. Since it’d be much colder for extended periods of time, that would favor those carnivores that are very well adapted to cold. For example, animals with thick coats of fur, animals with the ability to migrate, and maybe hibernators.

Susan: With that in mind, and thinking about our own creature world here in North America (where Sunset Rising takes place), what kind of animals do you think would survive?

Chris: Hmmm… For mammals, there are some generalist predators that might do pretty well. Coyotes and Cougars have ranges that extend from deserts/rainforests all the way into cold temperate and mountain forest. So they have what it takes to deal with cold weather and they’re mobile. They could move around to the climate that is favorable for them. Similarly bears and wolverines are adapted to cold and are mobile. And, of course, rodents are survivors—many can find warmth in cold climates and will eat different things, including carrion.

And, believe it or not, don’t necessarily count all insects out. Some have freeze tolerance adaptations and may be able to stay frozen through the extended winter-like conditions. Others, like certain flies and cockroaches are good at finding whatever heat sources are available and will eat whatever meat they can find. And if they were able to survive, they would provide food for some of the smaller animals trying to make it through a nuclear winter.

Birds would be interesting because so many of them are able to migrate. Some might be able to find a climate they can survive in and would be happy to eat whatever meat is around. Crows, Ravens, Jays, Vultures and other raptors would probably be some top meat-eating and hearty contenders.

Susan: The ability to migrate is a really good point! It makes me think about creatures that might be stuck, especially animals in a zoo who are already out of their indigenous ecosystem.

Chris: That’s a complicated question. Provided they can get out of the zoo enclosures, some exotic predators might have a chance. There may be some situations where the animal actually finds itself in a better climate! For example, if a cold-weather predator is kept in a zoo south of it’s preferred habitat and that area becomes colder, it may actually prefer the new temperature. A polar bear in a New York zoo could definitely deal with the weather if New York got a lot colder.

Exotic animals in zoos on different continents might be able to survive too. A snow leopard or Siberian tiger in a warm climate zoo could potentially find itself in a cold weather climate that it is better suited for.

Susan: So cats capable of withstanding cold temperatures would have a good chance of surviving a nuclear winter?

I think some probably would. Of course, cats are meat-eaters so they could potentially cope with the loss of plants as long as there was enough meat around. And there are certainly cats that are more comfortable in cold weather—like lynx, snow leopards, Siberian tigers, and cougars.

But there are lots of other factors that would come into play. For example, lynx are great at dealing with the cold, but they are wired as extreme specialist snowshoe hare eaters. When hare populations crash, so do lynx populations. So if snowshoe hares weren’t around the question is would lynx ultimately be able to make the switch to hunting other food and even carrion if they had to? That’s hard to predict.

Lions might be able to eke out a living somewhere, but they’re really not cold weather cats and, in an event like a nuclear winter, they would not be able to evolve cold-weather adaptations quickly enough. So it would all depend on how cold it actually got.

Susan: Wow. A lot of thought really needs to go into imagining a post-apocalyptic animal kingdom. I’ll just say right up front that I’m not even going to try to match wits with Mother Nature when I create my creature world…hence, the four parts imagination I mentioned earlier! Thank you so much, Chris, for all your help!

Chris: Thanks Susan. It’s interesting to think about the different survival abilities of animals, but I sure hope we never end up finding out the answers to some of these questions!

About Chris Kratt:

Chris is a producer/writer, biologist, educator and host of several popular educational television series about animals and nature. He has co-created and produced over 225 episodes of television broadcast around the world, including Kratts’ Creatures, Zoboomafoo, National Geographic’s “Be the Creature”, and current hit, Wild Kratts (which airs on PBS Kids and TVOKids). His series’ have received numerous awards including Parent’s Choice Gold, Emmy Award, and Gemini Award.

Chris and Martin have recently released their first book in a Wild Kratts educational reading series for children. It’s an awesome adventure about creatures living free and in the ocean! Click below and check it out for yourself: