New Book Series Concept

I actually put this in my newsletter last night and wanted to follow up with those who read the blog.

I’ve had this idea bouncing around in my head for a new book series. I hate that my mind wanders around so much and keeps coming up with new ideas instead of finishing old ones. I try to concentrate on one book and a totally different concept fills up my mind and won’t let go until I get it out on paper (or screen in my case).

What I figured I would do is put a piece of the new concept out on this newsletter and my blog and let you decide if it is something worth pursuing. Read through the concept below and let me know what you think and if you think the concept will be worth a series of books or not. If you do decide it is worth it, what I want to do is post the pieces on my blog (most of these will be restricted to subscribers) and in the newsletter as I write them. Make it into a web series before changing into an actual book series. Give you the chance to read it as I make it up.

As with most of my postings, what is written below will be very rough. I’d rather get it out to you with a few typos, missing words, rough sentences and all those other things that drive picky readers to death than write it and not ever show you what I’ve written because I didn’t have enough time to edit it thoroughly. Let me know what you think about the concept and if you think it would be interesting enough for you to spend your hard earned money on it if you had to buy it instead of getting it for free in this newsletter.

The new book concept:

I’ve been thinking about how to get more information out on how you should prepare for whatever disaster or societal changes you think are coming our way. The pieces of information in my fiction stories are few and often hidden in the story itself. I want another way to get larger amounts of information out without having to write 100 pages of story around it. I could write a series of blog posts, but that’s already been done and is often boring to most of us. Some of it is also confusing because it is listed and not really explained. I could make some videos and put them out on my website. Once again, already been done and somewhat boring as it one-side and instructional. Not something fun to watch that would help the information stick in your mind. Same thing with nonfictional books and pamphlets. Boring and a dump of information that often goes into one ear and out another.

What I’ve come up with is nonfictional information surrounded in a story. I hinted at this in my New Year’s newsletter and the more I think about it, the more I like it. So let me start you off with a little background and then I’ll show you a piece of what I am thinking the book will look like.

Background:

A man, let’s call him RJ for now, works as a consultant laying off IT workers. His job is to help them transition to other jobs or careers when their company folds up or out-sources the work overseas. He’s been at the job for ten years and each year, it gets a little harder for him. Business is booming, but trying to help the workers find new jobs is almost impossible. He’s even starting to have a hard time trying to find some other skills to recommend that the newly unemployed workers learn. The economy is getting worse in America and the long-term outlook for high-paying, stable employment is looking worse and worse.

—Sounds familiar, huh?

RJ has been tracking the results of his recommendations and he is finding that more and more of the workers he has advised in the past are staying unemployed for longer periods of time. The percentage of workers from clients two and three years ago who could find jobs before their unemployment ran out is climbing rapidly. With every new client he gets, more and more of the older workers simply cannot find new jobs – no matter what new skills they learn. There is nothing out there. He starts to worry about everything, but like most people simply thinks it will get better.

Until a new client walks in the door and asks him to help with the layoff of five thousand workers. One of the five thousand is his wife. Who has just turned forty. Not old, but not young either.

His wife is laid off. She goes 1 month, 2, 3, 4,6,8,12, and finally fourteen months have gone by without her being able to find anything that comes close to the salary and responsibilities of her old job. She has sent resume after resume. Contacted everyone in her network and his. Still no job. They’ve gone through the severance package – a rare thing he notices – most of his clients have stop giving out any packages to non-executives. They go through their savings, her 401K, and max out their credit cards to try to maintain some level of comfort they are used to. The consulting firm RJ works with is doing a lot of work and he is busy, but that doesn’t equate into large salary increase for him or even larger bonuses. The company is reporting record profits, but as with most American companies the normal workers do not see much of that. The loss of her income hurts them. She finally has to give up and take a job way beneath her skills and at 1/3 her former salary just so they can survive.

After what they just went through with his wife, RJ is worried. What would happen if she lost her new job? They don’t have anything money left anywhere to overcome the loss of her salary again. Things would have to go. House, cars, etc. are all one or two paychecks away from being taken away from them. What really worries him is the thought of what would happen if he lost his job. He’s 46 and knows he wouldn’t be able to find anything near what he has now. He might be able to start his own firm, but it’s not that easy. He’d wind up like a lot of the workers he has advised in the last few years. Trying desperately to find something before their unemployment runs out and failing in larger and larger percentages.

RJ goes on for another 6 months worrying about the future and what he would do if things went south for him. He manages to create a home budget and they slip and slide in their efforts to lower their cost of living to manageable levels and catch up from Sera’s job loss. They get some breathing room, but nothing that would last more than a month or two if a job was lost again. One day, RJ runs into an old friend, Owen, who he worked with years ago. Owen had been laid off four years ago, but with RJ’s help was able to find work in a few months. They remained in contact for a few months after that, but with everything going on in RJ’s life recently they haven’t had anything other than a quick email in almost three year.

During their conversation, RJ finds out that Owen had been laid off after only 1 year on the new job. The difference this time, was that Owen found a new job a few weeks after the layoff. Owen describes that he “lucked” into his new job. Owen and RJ decide to meet for lunch the following week.

During the lunch, Owen talks about his experiences and how he happen to get a new job after only a few weeks being unemployed. He doesn’t like what he does, but it pays the bills. He also tells RJ that many of his coworkers that were laid off with him, never found new jobs. RJ tells him about his own tracking data and his worries about his future as well. He has two teenage daughters and wonders if he’ll ever been able to put them through college the way things are going. Owen agrees and starts to tell about how he and his wife decided to change their lives three years ago after the second layoff.

This is where Owen starts describing the Prepping Academy he and his wife have been attending for the past two and half years. RJ is skeptical, but listens. Owen describes the school and what they are learning. It’s not a school to teach someone how to become a “doomsday prepper”, more of a school to help them learn how to simplify their lives and be prepared for economic hardships, disasters, civil unrest, ect. Owen tells RJ that they have changed their lives around so much over the last two years that he no longer worries about layoffs and the future as much as he used to. What he’s learning at the school is helping him reduce their lifestyles to a point that he may even be able to semi-retire in four or five years and work jobs that pay a fraction of his current salary and still be happy.

RJ is curious and wants to learn more. Owen tells him that a new “class” starts up each month and the entire program goes one for five years – although you are welcome to complete the steps as fast or as slow as you can afford, have the time, or are comfortable with. The best part is that there is no cost for the course, it is given by volunteers who have already completed it, and many of the people involved will help you out as much as they can. They just expect you to do the same – which you will – Owen tells him. Owen gives RJ a card with the link to the school’s website and tells him that he will need to convince Sera. Kids can be drug along, but spouses need to be as committed as well or it will be impossible to change your life enough to really matter. Owen invites RJ and Sera to his house so he can show them that they are not some “hippy weirdoes” as he puts it. They just live simply and do not make money the driving force in their life. They have found ways to do without many things Americans think are necessary when they are really luxuries. Owen says that if Sera is agreeable, they can attend an orientation next month to find out more. It takes RJ several months of hinting around, going to dinner at Owen’s house, and finally a scare with her new job before she agrees. She goes to the orientation, finds out that what they are going to learn is mostly common sense. She is a little worried about some aspects of the training dealing with home defense, long-term loss of utilities, government services, and other topics. She’s ready to agree with a simpler lifestyle, being prepared for natural disasters, and reduced incomes, but not ready to agree with the larger “end-of-world” topics many of the group believes in. She tells RJ that she might learn some of the stuff, but not butchering chickens or rabbits in her backyard. RJ agrees, but is willing to see how things go.

—This is as far as I’ve gotten with this part of the plot. I’m still churning it over in my mind. The following excerpt is something I thought of the last few days when I’ve been getting ready to plant onions in my garden for this year.—-

==RJ and Sera have decided to start attending the lectures and this is one of the food security lectures that take place –not sure when yet but probably in the first part of the first book. Also, the information provided below is based on my region of Texas and as they say – the mileage will vary. You may have to adjust for your own area. Most of below will not been published exactly like seen below. The lecture might, but the lead in probably won’t as it would be covering history readers would already know.====

RJ and Sera pulled up into one of the few remaining parking spots left. “Seems to be more and more people here each week,” RJ comments. “I wonder just how many people have signed up since we started?”

“I’ve convinced Melissa, Tom, and Henry to start. It wasn’t really hard to do once they found out how much it has already changed our lives,” Melissa responded.

“Yea. It’s not hard to convince people who have lost more than one job over the last few years that they need to do something different. The days of relying on the government for help are long over. Ashamed that more people can’t see this.”

“They will, sooner or later. Let’s just hope we will be a position to help our family out when they figure out the world has changed.”

RJ and Sera got out of their car and started walking into the church being used as the school. Owen and Sera walked into the building and spent several minutes greeting some of the dozens of like-minded friends they have made over the last few months. They’ve learned that no one judges others on their beliefs. Everyone just wants their friends and family to survive when hard times come.

“Hi Cheyenne,” Sera calls out when they walk into the room for tonight’s lecture on food security. They spent the last few months working out how to start small vegetables gardens. Cheyenne had walked them through step after step on how to start a garden to help supply their family with food in the case food becomes unaffordable, unattainable, or simply so unhealthy they wouldn’t want to buy it out of the store.

***

“As you can see from my table, tonight we are going to talk about onions. As you’ve found out from your food prepping, onions are used in a lot of our recipes. Most of you have already purchased and stored varying amounts of dried onions for your storage. Some of you have chopped up onions for your freezers and even have stored some in your closets to use fresh during emergencies. Tonight, we are going to continue with our gardening discussions by adding onions to the list of staple vegetables you should really grow in the year one garden.”

Cheyenne looked around before continuing. “I know that any of you who have had gardens in the past or have been around gardeners are probably thinking why a whole lecture on onions. You’ve all seen the bunches on planting onions that are all over the place each January and February. I mean, what’s so hard about getting a bunch of onions and sticking them in the ground. Nothing. Onions are one of those easy, yet complex plants in our area. They grow every well here and you can buy a bunch of onions starts setting out in front of some store, stick them in the ground, and you’ll probably have some luck with them. Onions work out great in our area. They love the weather. There’s not too many pests. They make it through any light frosts we may have the rest of the spring. Very easy to grow if you give them the right amount of water. In fact, buying a bunch of onion starts at a local nursery is what I will recommend for many of you this year. It’s a good way to get you started and there is nothing wrong with the onions you’ll get. This will give you a chance to learn a little about growing onions and allow you to start learning how much you’ll need to plant each year. There’s so many onions in a bunch, that you’ll probably never use all of them the first year. We’ll discuss how to use some of the onions you’ve planted as they grow for green onions in your salads, soups, and side dishes. We’ll talk about how some onions can be used as they grow out, but depending on the type – they may not be as sweet as you are used to, but still can be used for cooking. We’ll also talk about how you can store the types of onions we grow here so you can have fresh onions for a few months after the harvest is over. Unlike the onions grown by our northern neighbors, the sweet onions common in Texas won’t store as well as northern varieties. There are exceptions, but we have something we can do that they can’t. We can grow onions in the spring and the fall. Two plantings instead of one and you will only find the onion starts at the first of the year. Not in time for a fall garden. You’ll have to grow those from your own seeds.”

“You said that onions are easy but complex. What did you mean by that?” someone in the class asked.

“Onions are easy here. Buy the onion starts, stick them in the ground, and watch most of them grow. This will work most years. But, as you know from previous lectures, we don’t simply look at the short-term here. We look at the long-term. The complexity of growing onions come into play when you don’t want to buy onion starts and stick them in the ground. They are not available, not affordable, or you want to control the type of onion you plant instead of being forced to plant the one or two varieties you find as starts. The complexity comes when you need to grow onions for seeds. Seeds that at first, you’ll buy and then learn how to save from your own onions once you figure out what varieties you like best and works best in your garden.”

She stopped talking and looked at the group in front of her. Most of them were still following her and making notes in their handbooks. “Ok. Onions,” she started up again. “Like I said earlier, I would recommend many of you start your journey by buying the onion starts you’ll see after the first of the year. This is a good way to start and it will give you a head some practice. The onion starts sold are suited for our area and you’ll be able to find white, yellow, and red varieties. I can’t tell you exactly what varieties you’ll find, but they will most likely be hybrids of some kind and you’ll only find one or two of each variety. Some of the specialized stores will have a few more, but not what you’ll find from the seed suppliers. Try to get at least one white, yellow, and red bunches. They all have different uses and you’ll want to get use to the different varieties. They all grow a little different as well.”

Ok. This is as much as I’m going to put here, but when this piece is done, Cheyenne would have gone on to talk about prepping the raised beds for the starts by adding compost to older beds and by adding some bone meal. Since this is the first year garden lecture, she would not have talked about rotations, but would have mentioned planting instructions – including the timing of the planting with moon. She will mention companion plants and how to plan their beds for onions and the companions. She would mention watering instructions and how to give the onions some feed during their growth, but not right before harvest. She would have discuss harvesting some of the starts early and using them as green onions – telling the class that in year two they would learn how to dry these green onions for later use. She will discuss the few pests they may find and how to get rid of them and how to use radishes for a trap.

Cheyenne would wrap up the discussion with harvesting onions. How to cure them and the best ways to store them in our climate. She’ll also go through the information in the handbook so everyone knows when to plant their onions. She’ll mention that next year, they will try their hands at growing onions from seeds and will discuss open-pollinated varieties suited for North Texas then. She will also tell them about rotation then. She does have seeds to pass out if anyone would like to try to grow onions from seed for next spring and many take her up on it. Instructions for starting onion seeds are in the second year handbook. They are too late to try for a fall planting. They seeds are new and should still be good next year, onion seeds are short lived and are only recommended for one year.

Third year will involve learning how to save onion seeds. Everyone will be surprised to find out that onions need two years to seed out.

Other things I might throw in the chapter would be drying onions for onion flakes. Drying the green onion tops for seasonings. And how to freeze onions for soups, stews, etc. Might be something else in there depending on if it’s needed – like how to make your own bone meal. That might be a year four thing.

So if I have chapters like the above for each of the common veggies, fruits, herbs, grains, and small animals that most of us can handle on a larger suburban backyard or small farm – would it be interesting to you. I will have to put more interaction in the text so it is simply not a boring brain dump.

I will also have chapters on what I will called The Seven Foundations for a Prepared Life or something like that.

Financial Preparedness

Alternative incomes
Debt reduction
Savings
Bartering in the future
. Economic Knowledge

Food and Water Preparedness

Short-term for disasters and economic loss (up to 1 year)
Long-term (gardening, small animals, hunting)

Including growing feed for animals


Personal Safety – Home Defense

Guns
Physical conditioning
Other mild home defensive topics

Not militia related, but small home and local groups
Not hard-core survivalist


Infrastructure

Water
Electricity
Heat/Cool
Sewage
Transportation

Medical

First aid kits
Obtaining medical knowledge

Human and animal

Herbal medicine

Community

Family
Mutual support groups

Spiritual

Wisdom from all regions
Closer connections to church
Closer connections to nature and how it does not go against church

Like I said earlier, I don’t have this all thought out yet and probably will not have it until much later. I am thinking a long series 5,6,7, or more books covering the entire 5-year program and maybe even going on after that showing the results of RJ and Sera using what they learned during an event of some kind – might tie this into the book I started outlining late last year and have made one or two posts on – Political Fools.

I need opinions. This will be a very complex and detailed series. I want to know if it would be worthwhile to pursue it.

Email me and let me know or comment on the blog post I’m going to make with the last part of this newsletter.

Thanks and talk to you later,

Randy
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