Category Archives: Survival Fiction

Letter: Getting Home

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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 the above. In the situation you describe, you can’t be sure what avenues will be open to you as you attempt to reach home. Obviously, if you catch the timing right, following the roads will be the quickest route home. If you have regular trucking routes, you should have alternative … Continue reading →


Announcing JWR’s Next Novel: Land of Promise

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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!) Land of Promise is an exciting story that describes the establishment of a Christian libertarian republic in East Africa, in response to a wave of persecution by a Global Islamic Caliphate.

Here is a brief description of the novel:

Launched by a … Continue reading →


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

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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 an editor or engage a literate friend to polish your work as countless mistakes are fatal detractions to your story. 

This week I asked my daughter to put 77 Days in September on her Kindle so I … Continue reading →


Letter Re: The Blackout Docudrama

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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 emotional, extremely chatty and have extra batteries.  My wife pointed out, that if some one were able to video 10 days without power, they might be the extra dramatic segment of the population. Video recording obsessed. So I give them a break on that as well.

This is a great … Continue reading →


Two Letters Re: The Blackout Docudrama

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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 was the big mistake that lead into the rest of his mistakes.  As far as everyone else, that’s how it will be.
 
The stupidity of how everyone acted in the show is precisely why we prepare.  Hopefully it was an eye opener … Continue reading →


Letter Re: The Blackout Docudrama

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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 live off of someone else’s largess.  He was also more than happy to be judge and jury as to how someone else’s preps should be treated. 

And the young woman, who was attacked and most probably raped and/or killed, “deserved” it because she was a wealthy “princess” who lived in … Continue reading →


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

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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 the hatches.

2.) Expatriates is different from your other novels in that it mainly takes place outside the United States, in Australia. What drew you to writing about characters away from their native country?

There are now more than 5.25 million American citizens living overseas.  I recognized … Continue reading →


Expatriates Book Bomb Day Results

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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 Thrillers)

October 1, @ 3:30 PM, Pacific Time: #24 overall (and #3 in Political Thrillers)

October 2, @ 5:30 AM, Pacific Time: #22 overall (and #2 in Political Thrillers)

(It was also #2 in the Kindle Store, in the “Suspense, Political” category.)

That is not a shabby ranking, … Continue reading →


Book Bomb Day for Expatriates!

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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 made the spine images available at my Media Page.) This is newsworthy because it is not a common occurrence!

Because of the print error, only the first 26,000 copies of the hardback edition will go on sale today (October 1st, 2013.) A rush print … Continue reading →


A Note From My Publisher

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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 printing, please send in the first edition to us at the address below and we will send you a new copy right away. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and hope this doesn’t detract from your enjoyment of James Wesley, Rawles’ latest thrilling and action-packed survivalist tale.

To … Continue reading →


Expatriates Release Day Tomorrow

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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:

Expatriates Dustjacket

And here is how the misprinted hardback spine (underneath the dust jacket) looks:

Expatriates Print Error Spine

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.

The hardback edition will probably not be released as scheduled tomorrow (October 1st) because of the printing error. (The Kindle book and audio book editions were of course … Continue reading →


Sample Chapter From My Novel Expatriates

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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 on the policies, leadership, goals, strategies, or plans of any nation. This novel is not intended to be predictive of the territorial aspirations tactics of any nation or any planned use of terrorist tactics. Again, it takes place in the future, under fictional new leadership. Any … Continue reading →


Seeking Input for My Next Novel: Liberators

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The third sequel to Patriots, titled Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse, will be released on October 1st. Meanwhile, I’m already writing the fourth sequel to my novel Patriots, which will be titled Liberators. This novel will be set primarily set near Bella Coola, British Columbia, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord(JBLM) , Washington, and in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Anyone who has recently lived in those regions is invited to chime in. I’d really like to add some local color–including local history, flora and fauna, and geographical quirks.

Liberators will also have a strong emphasis on guerilla and counter-guerilla warfare, so I encourage folks with real-world warfighting experience in such conflicts to e-mail me. Please recommend every tactic, technique and trick that you can recall. It will be those tips that will give the novel great realism and that will … Continue reading →


Sample Chapter From My Upcoming Novel “Expatriates”

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Introductory Note: 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 on the policies, leadership, goals, strategies, or plans of any nation. This novel is not intended to be predictive of the territorial aspirations tactics of any nation or any planned use of terrorist tactics. Again, it takes place in the future, under fictional new leadership. Any resemblance to living people is purely coincidental.”

Chapter 11: The Missing Umbrella

“All politicians will allow, and most philosophers, that reasons of state may, in particular emergencies, dispense with the rules of justice, … Continue reading →


Christmas Gifts for the Young Prepper, by Karyn S.

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Is everyone geared up for Christmas shopping? On the first day of Christmas my five children receive presents from their parents, grandparents, and friends and by the twelfth day of Christmas….well, the presents begin earning the label of junk, lying in the basement or being “played with” by the dog and chickens in the backyard. Every year I declare I will not buy anymore useless, plastic toys – and this year I mean it!

Lest I sound too much like the Grinch, rest assured that I love giving the kids presents. I love thinking about just the right gift for each child, wrapping the presents and hiding them from curious eyes; there’s the fun of sneaking them out to the bottom of the tree after they have gone to bed and of seeing them open them with delight. So what to do?

I have decided this … Continue reading →