Day After Disaster:

The Changing Earth #1

by Sara F. Hathaway

""How fragile everything had been. People walked through life everyday taking it all for granted, their cars, their cell phones, their lattes, their dramatic social issues and their medical problems."" She had started her day at her home in the mountains just like any other. There was nothing unusual about making the familiar drive down to Sacramento to go to work. Then in a flash Mother Nature decided it was time to create a new landscape. Follow the journey of a dynamic young woman, mother, and wife, Erika, as she is thrust into a world turned upside down by a series of natural disasters. Alone in a city mutilated by disaster, she must navigate the path home, back to her family. Not knowing if they are alive or dead, she must call on all of her survival instincts to navigate this broken environment. Will she make it home? Will her family still be alive? What will Mother Nature dish out next?

Genres: Fiction, Adult Fiction, Survival, Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Apocalyptic, Dystopia

344 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2014

About the author

Hello, I'm Sara F. Hathaway. I'm the author of The Changing Earth Series. A collection of post apocalyptic fiction novels. I blend the concept of entertainment and education throughout all of my fictional works. As you experience the adventure you will be learning how to survive should you be faced with hard decisions. I furthered this concept with the creation of The Changing Earth Podcast that is available on iTunes and Stitcher.

**Begin the adventure for FREE! Sign up for The Changing Earth Newsletter at ChangingEarthSeries.com**

I have been featured on Entrepreneurs on Fire, Survivalist Prepper, Today's Leading Women, Instinct Survivalist and many other podcasts, blogs, and newspapers! I encourage you to come by and see the full tour. Also as my gift to you I have a free guide to help you decide what would you take with you if you had to evacuate your home in less than five minutes. Go to http://www.authorsarafhathaway.com to claim your "Go-Bag" Essentials Guide.

Want to know more?
As an author who writes about survival I want you to think about what you would do if you were facing a disaster. I am a fictional author, social media marketer and home manager who has earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the California State University of
Sacramento.

My areas of specialization are in business management, marketing, homesteading and disaster preparedness.
I live in the foothills of Northern California. As a happily married woman with two boys, I delight in quality family time hiking and camping. During the week, besides marketing
and writing, I am at the gym strength training, tending to my garden and preserving the fruits of that labor.

The focus of the first of my books, Day After Disaster is the apocalyptic survival adventure of a women on a mission to find her family, dead or alive. Book two, Without Land picks up nine years later with Erika trying to survive in a climate that is much different than the one she knew not so long ago.

The psychology that drives my writings is for people to realize how to prepare for a disaster and appreciate the relationships in their lives. The central philosophy of my writings is you can be confident in any survival situation if you have the skills and proper mental attitude. What I want is for people to learn through a fictional
experience just how fragile our manufactured society is.

As a fictional author, mother and wife, I believe that we must be prepared to adapt and survive if the earth were to drastically change. My books provide examples of survival attitudes, skills and scenarios to get you thinking: How would you survive?

Reviews

[Nancy Steinle gummel]

Day After Disaster by Sara F. Hathaway is an excellent view of a future world where everything possible goes wrong. The great earthquake has hit the west coast. Millions are killed. This is the story of one woman's quest to survive and find her family. When it hit she was in a bunker used as a wine cellar/breakroom. She was getting a bottle of wine when the wine rack fell on her. Our heroine, Erika wakes up with no idea of the time or how long she was knocked out. She uses the table, cellophane, duct tape and water bottles to escape the toxic sludge on the other side of the door. There's a new volcano in the sludge from the broken dam in Sacramento. Erika reaches the edge pulls the table boat up and collapses. Henry finds her and Carol his wife heals her. Their house is no more but the barn still stands. Henry is a farmer. He's hoping his son and family survived and on the way. The day his son and family arrive, Erika makes her way searching for her family. Henry gives her two horses and some supplies. Tells her to stay off the road but go parallel to it and to avoid people. There are too many people who turned into violent individuals. One night she hears noises and ties the horses up and takes a gander. She finds a man beating and kicking a woman in the ribs then he rapes her. Just as he preoccupied, Erika strikes and knocks the guy unconscious. She goes to the woman but she is dying. Her daughter comes out from behind some bushes. Her name is Star. Erika now has a daughter called Star. This is only the beginning of the dangerous adventures Erika comes upon trying to reach her husband Vince and her son Dexter.

[Joe Krakovsky]

Full Disclosure: I received a free copy from author.
If there is one thing I can’t get enough of it is ‘day after disaster’ tales. Whether this is due to where I think the world is headed, or the fact that it just makes good reading, I don’t know. But one thing I do know is that my latest read, Day After Disaster, ranks right up there with the best of them.
Anybody who is interested in such stories should definitely read this book. Some may fanaticize being a sole survivor in such an event as if they are in a popular TV show or video game. They don’t consider post 9/11 type contamination that kills as thoroughly as a zombie bite. And there is plenty of it here.
For once we see through the eyes of the main character a woman’s viewpoint of a world turned upside down. She is no Romboleana, but at least she is not one of those idiots who deserve to die because of the stupid things they do.
This woman, Erika, uses common sense to make use of what she has on hand. Her needs are different than your usual survival character and should be required reading for those who think they cover all the basics. I have read countless lists by survival experts since back before Y2K and basically they are all the same. Erika’s list is simple, yet practical for her, and you see why. It makes you think. What is important to you?
The characters vary like the human race, with saints and sinners. How she reacts with them will keep you coming back for more.

[Sara Hathaway]

Day After Disaster was written to cause readers to reflect on two main points. The first thing this novel causes readers to ask themselves is what if our way of life was drastically altered in a snap. Anyone alive on 9-11 remembers exactly where they were when the world was changed, this novel causes the reader to ask where will I be when the world changes again? What would I be willing to do to save my family or myself? Would I even know how to survive in the natural world of our ancestors?

The next issue Day After Disaster causes the reader to ponder is an appreciation for the now. Modern humans live at such a fast paced speed that the special moments of gratitude for the people surrounding you can be lost. So many things designed to make life easier or more entertaining may be drastically altering our basic social relationships and this book causes readers to consider the simplicity of the life that our society gave up in return for the conveniences of modern gadgets.

[Sarah-Jayne Briggs]

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

Fiction dealing with natural disasters and their aftermath isn't something that's rare, though it's not as common as, say, zombies. So when I read books like this one, the uniqueness often comes from the characters and the way they deal with the situations they find themselves in.

I found Erika to be quite an interesting character. Although I felt there was a bit too much plot convenience (her skills were only revealed when it was crucial to the plot), I still did like her. She had a realistic goal to work towards and I really cared about her being able to be reunited with her family.

I also particularly liked Erika's relationship with Star. There's something particularly sweet about people choosing to adopt children who have been orphaned in a situation like that, since a lot of people would only look out for themselves.

I did feel that the author did a good job of showing the different attitudes of people after what had happened. I did have some confusion with various characters who merged together at times, but I felt the danger they faced came across as real and I truly cared about what happened to them - though, at first, it did seem as if Erika was more concerned about her husband's safety than her son's.

I would probably read the next books in this series at some point, as well as check out other books by this author.

[Albert Buckley]

Day After Disaster: - a review by Albert Buckley
Erika is in some trouble; something has happened and she needs help from the other staff in the restaurant. No assistance from where she expected help to come from, so she a being a resourceful young woman has to solve her first lot of problems by herself. As problems go this trouble turns out to be enormous.
All through the book we meet others who found themselves in a similar predicament to Erika, some of those help some don’t and even put our heroine in some danger.
Erika our heroine shows many qualities fitting a superwoman, and one weakness I will let you make up your own mind as to which is which.
• Looking out for others and helping when able to do so.
• Keeping on trying to solve problems when the first attempt fails.
• A young woman who enjoys a cigarette.
• Erika enjoys hunting and life in the bush.
• Extremely loyal to friends and family.
I enjoyed the twists and turns of this novel, even the warning to the reader that our planet needs looking after.
I endorse Sara F. Hathaway’s book to you as a good read, and I will look forward to any sequels.

I received this copy from Sara F. Hathaway in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: 2014
Available from: Amazon

[Sarah]

~I received this book through GoodReads First Reads~

A really interesting book about one woman's drive to not give up and find her family despite all the destruction and chaos around her.

Books like these always interest me because they make me wonder if something like this happens, what would I do? How would I survive?

Although a little slow at the beginning, it picked up and was really interesting!

[John Mosman]

I enjoyed the story. I think the book should have better editing. For example, Vince and Erika love each other, yet as a reader we are told this over and over again. The writing needs to be tighter is the best way I can explain it. Make things distinct rather that tell us many times. I am certainly not a prude, yet have to say the graphic sex scenes between Vince and Erika are unnecessary. A story of family values, caring and helping each other survive in a dystopian world is interrupted with these scenes. The reader can imagine the love these two characters have for each other.

Again I like the story and want to find out what happened and why there is no help from elsewhere in the country. I look forward to #2.

[Leslie Bevans]

As a speaker, Sara Hathaway is entertaining, engaging, educational and motivating. She captivates the audience with her story-telling ability and her passion for Being Prepared. She is delightfully candid and confident, compassionate and funny. Her novel, Day After Disaster, is a compelling story, written with the desire to provoke each reader to wonder, ‘What would I do?’ The protagonist is faced with such horrific situations and such pain! There seems to be no end to the suffering around her. And there is a constant need for her to make life and death decisions.
The writing is loosely edited; I would encourage parents and teachers to preview for content.
As an author, Sara knows that every reader will have unique responses to the story; her hope is to get us all to consider our potentially chaotic futures and to prepare in order to survive. And because Sara cares about humanity, she reminds us all to, ‘Carry a Bic!’

Leslie Bevans
author / illustrator of Beyond the Weakened Thread

[AMELIA TUTTLE]

I’m not sure what to think about this book. I started listening to the audible version a year ago. I picked it back up again yesterday to finish it … now I remember why I set it to the side last year.

It isn’t really bad, but the author narrated the book, which I don’t normally care for. The writing did not flow well. It was full of choppy sentences. The characters were dull. That includes the main character. See what I mean?

The sudden violence in the book was not necessary, considering the remainder of the book was more or less PG-13. Throwing a borderline X-rated rape scene was really uncalled for. There very easily could have been some other action to cause the young girl to become traumatized than watching her mother be murdered.

The one true redeeming quality I can give this book is that a woman is the main protagonist instead of some MacGyver wannabe.

If you want to read apocalyptic fiction, I can refer you to much better novels than this one. As it is I rate this 2.5 stars knowing that with Goodreads it has to be rounded up to 3 stars. A+ for effort, C- for execution.

[Barbra]

I would recommend reading this book to my friends and family. It's entertaining. Dispite the slow start it finished in a whirlwind. It's a gripping story. You cheer for the good guys and curse the bad guys. And throughout the story you just want her to survive and find her family. The author is obviously well versed in survival techniques, which added greatly to the authenticity of the story. She cared about her peripheral characters as much as the main character, for there is a true sense of loss when one of them is killed off. There was a bit of repetition throughout which made some things feel forced. And the editing is rough and needs some tweaking. I'd be going along and then run into a typo, which can be very distracting. But, I understand this is a first novel and some roughness is to be expected. I have high hopes for the next installment. And look forward to more from this author.

[Ed Hillenbrand]

I gave this book 3 stars since there were several stylist changes in the writing. The first part of the book was clunky: almost a how to book. Then the book seemed to slide towards young teens before making a big turn into adulthood with a few graphic sex scenes. Once the author settled down in her style it was a very enjoyable book that moved quickly and with a purpose, that I missed until it smacked me in the face. I can't wait to read her second book in this set as it holds much promise.

[Janice]

Excellent read!!! Makes me wonder if it will happen in real life and when!!!!!!

[Valerie Still]

Love this book, it's a great fast read and very gripping .

[Matt Egan]

The blows come relentlessly....

Day After Disaster tells the story of survival following a massive earthquake flooded Sacramento and leveled most of California. The threats range from further quakes to floods to sink holes swallowing people alive. As is the case in most post-apocalyptic survival thrillers, other survivors are the greatest danger, including a brutal sexual assault. The characters and writing are good, the quality of the writing high. Recommended for adult apocalyptic fiction fans who aren't easily triggered by disturbing material. 4/5 stars

[Kerri O'Donnell]

It's probably fair to emphasise up front that I read the "Uncut Edition".

At the time of purchasing it, I didn't think about that much, but now it occurs to me that instead of signifying a longer read, it might refer to an early edition, which had not been subjected to editorial or Beta reviews. Unfortunately, it reads like it needs more work, yet it shows promise that such work would pay off and make it a really engaging novel.

I like the premise/genre (which is really a matter of personal preference), and I like the general plot concepts. Some scenes are particularly engaging; such as Erica's face-to-face encounter with the rival group leader and the climax sequence. It seems these sections have received particular attention in terms of pace and involving multiple senses, which probably amounts to the classic brief of showing, rather than telling.

Most of the book, however, is riddled with little distractors. For example, the many, many times that Erica said something "sarcastically".... just the word count alone made me annoyed at the author. Worse, was that most of the time the words said, and the context they were said in, did not match with a sarcastic/contemptuous tone. Was some other word intended? Ironic? Wry?

The very beginning was structured in a very unusual way, with the main character waking up buried to her neck; followed immediately by several pages of background narrative. Wouldn't Erica be too consumed by her predicament for all that to be relevant at that point? There is a lot of detail throughout the book which does not really help us understand anything (EG why do we care that she does martial arts?); some detail that requires unnecessary mental stretch by the reader (especially in the Sacramento scenes); and other detail which could have hastened connection with Erica and her predicament in Sacramento, but which was not included.

That said, I think the story has the makings of something much better. The book holds up as a stand-alone novel, and although I am not tempted to read the next instalment, I am tempted to buy a subsequent edition of this one to see how it has developed. It would be really nice to replace this review with one which has more stars.

[Erica 📚]

I just started this book and I’m going to try and push on, but I don’t know if I can stand it. The dialogue (with herself) is horrible. If you wake up in a dark cellar, crushed under a heavy wine rack, you don’t say “dang it, dang it, dang it!” I think in that situation a solid “FUCK!” Is appropriate. Not to mention the characters constant obsession with finding “smokes” to “puff” on. Cigarettes are trashy enough without constantly referring to them as smokes. Who worries about running out of cancer sticks before they even look for their cell phone?

It also seems incredibly convenient that literally everything she needs is in the restaurants wine cellar with her. Change of clothes? Yup. A whole cupboard full. String or rope? Yup. Duct tape? Several rolls!

I also find it odd that this woman couldn’t lift the shelf off of herself, yet just a few pages later it is stated that she is a weight lifter and martial arts expert and has turned her body into a “well tuned machine”. Seriously? She is a waitress who smokes constantly and chugged an entire bottle of wine immediately after freeing herself from the shelf. (Followed by a nap. Because what else would any rational person do in her situation?) How many people who are that into fitness also smoke like chimneys and pour that much alcohol into their body?

I’m only on page 35. It’s that bad. I don’t think I can finish it.

[ReadingTheDots]

Day After Disaster (Changing Earth) by Sara F. Hathaway is one of those books that requires you to come face-to-face with some very unthinkable 'what ifs'. What if your life and the very earth changed so that it was no longer recognizable as you knew it? How would you react? How would you survive? These are the issues Erika must confront as she finds herself thrust from a normal work-day into having to fight to survive after major earth quakes change the life she knew.

As I read this book, I thought about my life and dependence on technology and grocery store for my food. Nearly everything I consume and use is made for me by someone else, somewhere else. And, all it would take to change that is a major natural or man-made disaster. Am I prepared? Definitely not. In the beginning chapters, my reaction was one of disbelief. Could this really happen? If it did, would it be as catastrophic as the author describes? But the more I read, the more I began to see that it could be possible.

[heysunny]

Day After Disaster is a great example of the many many ways our world could once end – Mother Nature getting tired of humans and their poor treatment of the Earth. This book is well-written and provides us with some very helpful survival tips, however it did not fully deliver for me.

I think my biggest problem was the huge amount of plot convenience and while the book was mostly realistic (which I liked), the series of events were sometimes just way too ideal. I loved Star and her relationship with Erika, but other than the little girl, none of the characters really stole their ways into my heart. I agree with other reviewers that the book could've used some/better editing because it has great potential, but consists of too many scenes and lines that don't add anything to the story and are not really necessary, making those parts a bit slow and boring.

I'm excited to find out what's going on in the other parts of the world! It would be nice to know more about how others are dealing with the apocalypse and how it appears in different areas.

[Pamela Fitros]

This book has great potential as a series. This is the author's first book. It clearly needed professional editing and that lack provided much distraction during the reading process. I believe the author has learned much from her first novel and the rest of the series will each be better than the one before.

[Allie]

It's a good book, especially for being the first book the author wrote.
The beginning is a bit too detailed, there's some points that clearly needed to be edited better but that gets better as the book goes on, so definitely give it a chance. Once Ericka gets out of the first part it picks up speed.

[Luke Taylor]

Not many books contain survival techniques wrapped inside a true survival story, and Day After Disaster blends the family struggle of the film The Impossible with the true horror of an extreme scenario like The Day After Tomorrow or One Second After. In Day After Disaster, Sara F. Hathaway has crafted an easy to read and easy to follow tale of hope in trying circumstances.

[David A.]

A very entertaining story for a first novel.
Can't wait to read her next venture.

[Angie Dokos]

This book is interesting. Makes you appreciate what you have and think about how quickly everything can change.

[Shirley Gregory]

No no no

Who wants to read a book about a crying, weak twit that thinks of an inanimate hunk of rock as mother. I couldn't get past the first few chapters.

[Joanne Petelle]

Great book!

I am looking forward to reading the next book. Wonderful story . Strong characters and many interesting on survival in the event of a catastrophe.

[Nancy S]

Not terribly well written.