James:
I have been a SurvivalBlog reader for nearly a year. It is my favorite blog, by far. I got a [voluntary] 10 Cent Challenge subscription after about the first month (and I’m about to renew). But it wasn’t until last month that I got around to purchasing a copy of your novel [“Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse”]. I had been avoiding it because I’m not the sort that reads novels. They are mostly a waste of time. But I thought that I’d make an exception and get yours, since it had such a high rating on Amazon. It wasn’t until I started reading it that I realized what the fuss was all about. I absolutely devoured your novel. I read it all in a 12 hour stretch. (Luckily, I started it on a Saturday morning, or else I would have been up reading all night.) It may sound like a old cliche, but I just could not put it down. Then I re-read parts of it on Sunday, and highlighted some sections with my Accent marker, and started taking notes. Since then, I’ve re-read the entire book twice.
All that say is Wow! Now I’m planning to take advantage of your sale and get two six packs of autographed books, for Christmas gifts for my family (including my head-thrust-firmly-in-sand uncle) and a few friends at work and at church. Thank you for writing your novel, and all that you do in sharing your preparedness knowledge on the SurvivalBlog.
That said, now for my question: Do really expect things to get as bad as you described in Patriots? I hope not, because if it happens that way, then I’m still quite under-prepared. Sincerely, – Thompson
JWR Replies: Thanks for your kind comments on SurvivalBlog and my novel.
In answer to your question: No, I don’t expect things to get as bad as I described in “Patriots”. It could happen. But frankly, the odds are that it won’t be nearly so severe. I made the scenario in the novel a near “worst case” in order to make it more interesting reading, and as an opportunity to show the need for planning and preparedness in a variety of areas such as first aid, food storage, faith, self-defense, communications, et cetera. The Deep Drama was essentially an excuse to write about a lot of different tactics and technologies.And it does make for an exciting read.
The bottom line: If you prepare for the worst, you’ll be able to take on any lesser challenges with relative ease, and have plenty of extra logistics to dispense charitably.