Category: Survival Fiction

For the Want of a Horseshoe Nail, by 3AD Scout

There is a very old poem, with many variations about for the want of a nail. Basically, the poem goes like this: “For the want of a nail the shoe was lost For the want of a shoe the horse was lost For the want of the horse the rider was lost For the want of the rider the battle was lost For the want of the battle the kingdom was lost And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.” On occasion, I get to teach disaster logistics and I use this poem to get students to understand the …


The Logic of Pre-1965 Silver Coin Pricing in Inflationary Times

We are living in an age of inflation. The recent wave of inflation in the United States will surely continue and may very likely become more severe than what we witnessed in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Double-digit and even triple-digit consumer price inflation may be in our near future. Life in a country where 20% or more of the purchasing power of the principal currency unit erodes annually is not pleasant. When this happens, inflation inevitably breeds even more inflation. Producers, wholesalers, and retailers all get in the habit of regularly jacking up their prices, in anticipation of …


Some Initial Guerilla Warfare Lessons From Ukraine

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world is witnessing true Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW). According to standard references such as the Infogalactic Wiki, 4GW has these elements and characteristics: Complex and long term Employs terrorism as a tactic A non-national or transnational base – highly decentralized A direct attack on the enemy’s culture, including genocidal acts against civilians. All available pressures are used – political, economic, social, and military Occurs in low-intensity conflict, involving actors from all networks Non-combatants are tactical dilemmas Lack of hierarchy Small in size, spread out network of communication and financial support Use of insurgency …


Letter: Getting Home

HJL, I am a truck driver. At any giving time I am about 200 to 600 miles from my house. In a mad max scenario, martial law, et cetera, I have a get home bag that I keep with me at all times. What I want to know is, what would be the best way to get home? Do I follow the roads? Do I go through the woods? Do I follow train tracks? I have a map of the rail system. Thanks and keep up the good work. – J.M. HJL comments: The answer is “Yes”, to all of …


Announcing JWR’s Latest Novel: Land of Promise

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve completed writing and editing my latest novel, titled Land of Promise. It will be released on December 1st, 2015 as an e-book, in trade paperback, and as an audiobook. This is the first volume of a planned five novel series, called the Counter-Caliphate Chronicles. The series begins 35 years in the future, and describes a timeline different from that in my Patriots novel series. These novels will have some science fiction elements, but you will find them as grounded in reality as my previous books. (There will be plenty of practical and tactical tips!) …


S.A.’s Book Review: 77 Days In September

77 Days in September by Ray Gorham. (Published in 2011.) 306 Pages.     Note: Possible spoilers ahead.  On June 16, 2013, “Retired Rev”. wrote a SurvivalBlog article entitled “Prepping For Seniors” and referred to the e-book “77 Days In September.” I made a note-to-self on my iPad to read it in the future. However, in the months in between, I’ve read several self-published End Times-type print books sold on Amazon, and those turned out to be somewhat painful experiences. A piece of advice to writers: If you are not positive that you can punctuate and follow standard grammatical rules, either hire …


Letter Re: The Blackout Docudrama

First of all: The creators are in the "Hollywood way" so they live there, their friends are all there, They are not going to go build a bunker, they are already working on their next project about an Alien invasion or something like that.  So from my perspective, they did pretty good over all considering the source. Over acting, oh yeah.  I have seen some pretty tense situations and there are many men who show no emotion at all.  they are deep in their thinking and in this video, we have simply lucked out that all the characters are highly …


Two Letters Re: The Blackout Docudrama

James, To respond to the recent letter about the fictional Blackout show:   I too was annoyed with the way they portrayed some of the people in the story but after thinking about it I am afraid that this is how a lot of the people will act.    The prepper is the story obviously had no idea what he was doing.  I think they portrayed an arm-chair prepper with more resources than street smarts spot on.  First of all letting his young son patrol the perimeter in the middle of the night while he is nice and cozy in bed …


Letter Re: The Blackout Docudrama

Good Morning, Mr. Rawles: After watching part of last night’s Blackout Docudrama on National Geographic. I turned the television off in total disgust and went to bed.  What insidious propaganda!  I could not help but notice that the “prepper” father was a gun toting, autocratic bully who bossed everyone and refused to act humanely by sharing all his wealth with those less fortunate or less willing to be responsible for themselves?  How interesting. And of course, the compassionate one was the young and hip boyfriend of the prepper’s daughter.  He hadn’t prepared himself but he was more than happy to …


Some Shameless Self-Promotion: A Conversation with James Wesley, Rawles on His Latest Novel: Expatriates

Introductory Note: The following is an edited transcript of my conversation with my Publicist from E.P. Dutton, Emily Brock: 1.) Expatriates is the fourth novel in your Coming Collapse series.  What inspired you to write about survivalism?  Do you believe a real-life collapse is in our near future? I believe that global economic instability is rising substantially, so the risk of economic collapse is greater than ever before.  Along with instability comes the risk of civil wars, regional wars, and perhaps even a Third World War.  It is indeed time for people to stock up, team up, and batten down …


Expatriates Book Bomb Day Results

My latest novel, Expatriates, had its scheduled release today, (October 1, 2013.) Despite the book spine printing SNAFU, the book has been selling quite well. Here is a summary of how the hardback has tracked: September 22: #2,858 overall September 25: #2,335 overall September 27: #2,057 overall September 28: #1,339 overall September 30: #725 overall October 1, @ 6:30 AM, Pacific Time: #164 overall October 1, @ 8:30 AM, Pacific Time: #129 overall October 1, @ 9:30 AM, Pacific Time: #52 overall (and #6 in Political Thrillers) October 1, @ 3:00 PM, Pacific Time: #31 overall (and #3 in Political …


Book Bomb Day for Expatriates!

October 1st is Book Bomb Day for my latest novel, Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse. The book is available from most major bookstores. It can also be ordered from Amazon.com, BN.com, and many other online sellers. There are also Kindle book and audio book editions now available. By now, I suppose that everyone has heard about the printing error at E.P. Dutton that resulted in 50,000 copies of the First Edition, First Printing of Expatriates having the hardcover spines (underneath the dust jacket) printed: “John Wesley, Rawles.” The news media will undoubtedly be reporting this glitch. (I’ve …


A Note From My Publisher

Dear Readers, It has come to our attention that there is an error on the case material of New York Times bestselling author, James Wesley, Rawles’s, latest novel, EXPATRIATES: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse (October 1, 2013).  The author’s name is misprinted on the spine of the book.  The dust jacket is correct, as is the About the Author page on both the jacket and in the book. We have issued a rush reprint, though approximately half of our first printing has already been distributed to retailers. If you wish to receive a replacement copy from the second …


Expatriates Release Day Tomorrow

You might as well call me “James Wesley, Wrong”, since a printing error at E.P. Dutton resulted in several thousand copies of the First Edition, First Printing of Expatriates having the hardcover spines (underneath the dust jacket) emblazoned: “John Wesley, Rawles.“ Here is how the correct dust jacket spine looks: And here is how the misprinted hardback spine (underneath the dust jacket) looks: This error wasn’t discovered until Friday night (September 27th), when our family friend “Enola Gay” (the editor of the outstanding Paratus Familia blog) happened to look under the dust jacket of the copy that I’d given her. …


Sample Chapter From My Novel Expatriates

  The following is another sample chapter from my upcoming novel Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse. Please wait until the release day (October 1st, 2013) to place your order. Introductory Notes: My upcoming novel opens with a prominent disclaimer that includes: “This is a work of fiction.  All of the events described are imaginary, taking place in the future, and do not represent the world as we know it in the present day. It does not reflect the current geopolitical situation, governmental policies, or the strategic posture of any nation. It is not intended to be commentary …