Gaye Levy
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Today I share the next author interview and book giveaway in the latest Backdoor Survival Book Festival. A. American, the author of Going Home and Surviving Home, is joining us today for an interview and is also providing one reader with a free copy of both books.
Enjoy the interview and be sure to check out the details of this week’s giveaway below.
An Interview with A. American
An Interview with A. AmericanTell me about your books, Going Home & Surviving Home. What are they about?
There are two, the first is Going Home and the sequel is Surviving Home. Going Home follows Morgan Carter on an odyssey across the state of Florida after all power, all cars simply quit. Morgan is 250 miles from home when this happens. Being a prepper he has a pack and quickly figures out the only way it was going to happen was to walk. The book chronicles the walk back to his family and the people he meets along the way, good and bad.
Surviving Home picks up where Going Home leaves off. All his walk home what was happening with his family gnawed at Morgan, he finally makes it and now must deal with the reality there. In many of these sorts of novels the community pulls together and aid one another. Of course there is always one guy that is the problem. In Surviving Home we look at a community that simply cannot pull together for a number of reasons.
How do you survive when everyone around you is simply out for themselves?
What type of research did you have to do while writing these books?
For Going Home my research was conducted over years, though at the time I didn’t know it. On Morgan’s walk home I list the route in detail, place names, roads and land marks, they are all real. I’m a Florida native and this route was one I drove very often, I know it like the back of my hand. When it came to writing Going Home all I had to do was close my eyes and drive the route, I could see it all.
How long did they take to write?
The first book in the series was completed in ninety days. I wrote it on an internet forum just for fun. After nearly two million on line views it has taken on a life of it’s own.
Every book, fiction and non-fiction, includes a message. What message do you hope my readers will take with them after reading Going Home and Surviving Home?
For both Going Home and Surviving Home the hidden message, not so hidden really, is simply to take responsibility for your and your family’s life. Prepare, be ready and keep an eye on the horizon less the storm catch you while at sea.
Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?
This year I celebrate my twenty-third anniversary. We have three beautiful daughters who are truly good girls in this modern world where kids often turn into nightmares. I’ve been a Prepper since the early 90’s, an active woodsman and recreational shooter. Prepping is simply part of my life, it isn’t something I do, it’s something I am.
Do you have plans for another book?
Escaping Home released in October. It is the third book of the series and there will also be a fourth.
The Book Giveaway
A copy the both books, Going Home and Surviving Home, have been reserved for one lucky reader. Here is this week’s question:
How would you survive if everyone around you was simply out for themselves?
To enter the giveaway, you need to answer this question by responding in the comments area at the end of this article. The deadline is 6:00 AM Pacific next Thursday and the winner will be selected at random using tools on the random.org website. Also note that the winner will be announced in the Sunday Survival Buzz and he or she will have 72 hours to claim the winning book.
Note: If you are reading this article in your email client, you must go to the Backdoor Survival website to enter this giveaway in the comments area at the bottom of the article.
The Final Word
The message in A. American’s books is clearly one of personal responsibility. As I make my way through Surviving Home, I find myself pondering the possible choices I would have to make if I were in a similar situation. That is why I love survival fiction: it makes you think and it opens your mind to new possibilities.
I hope you will enter the giveaway to win your own copy of this fabulous new book!
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye
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Spotlight Item: 
Going Home: A Novel of Survival (The Survivalist Series)
If society collapsed, could you survive?
When Morgan Carter’s car breaks down 250 miles from his home, he figures his weekend plans are ruined. But things are about to get much, much worse: the country’s power grid has collapsed. There is no electricity, no running water, no Internet, and no way to know when normalcy will be restored—if it ever will be. An avid survivalist, Morgan takes to the road with his prepper pack on his back.
Surviving Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series)
No electricity. No running water. No food. No end in sight. If life as you knew it changed in an instant, would you be prepared?
In Going Home, readers were introduced to Morgan Carter, the resourceful, tough-as-nails survivalist who embarks on a treacherous 250-mile journey across Florida following the collapse of the nation’s power grid. Now reunited with his loving wife and daughters, Morgan knows that their happiness is fleeting, as the worst is yet to come. Though for years Morgan has been diligently preparing for emergency situations, many of his neighbors are completely unready for life in this strange new world—and they’re starting to get restless. With the help of his closest companions, Morgan fights to keeps his home secure—only to discover shocking information about the state of the nation in the process.
Bargain Bin: Today is all about books. Listed below are all of the books in the current Backdoor Survival Book Festival. There are both fiction and non-fiction titles and a bit of something for everyone.
THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – NON-FICTION
Backyard Cuisine: Bringing Foraged Food to Your Table
Home Remedies
Living on the Edge: A Family’s Journey to Self-Sufficiency
Make It Last: Prolonging + Preserving the Things We Love
Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills
The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms: Helpful Tips for Mushrooming in the Field
Good Clean Food
The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight
Recipes and Tips for Sustainable Living
The People’s Apocalypse
Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better
THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – FICTION
Going Home: A Novel of Survival (The Survivalist Series)
Surviving Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series)
Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse
The Border Marches
Rivers: A Novel
After the Blackout
The End: A Postapocalyptic Novel (The New World Series)
The Long Road: A Postapocalyptic Novel (The New World Series)
3 Prepper Romances: Escape To My Arms, plus 2 other e-books (your choice)
Prepper Pete Prepares: An Introduction to Prepping for Kids
THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS
The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
Escaping Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series)
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69 Responses to “BDS Book Festival: Going Home, Surviving Home + Interview with A. American”
Just lay low and blend in . If I do not advertise now that I am prepping, Then hopefully no one will come looking to me when IT hit’s the fan.
the only thing a person could do is do the best that he or she can do no matter what it is that they are doing!!!!!!!
The human spirit has a way of kicking into high gear in a life or death situation. I would hope this would be true for all of us. That said, if literally everyone was only out for themselves and I was left to fend for myself alone, I would hunker down low, very low. I would utilize skills my grandma taught me like fire starting, snares, finding edible plants. I would try to hide and thrive.
Keep a low profile and try to blend in…
Why do we assume that killing each other will solve things. Wouldn’t it be better if we , as civilized beings work together to rebuild? Boy we think very wrongly……well you know what I mean.
Kathryn, there are two types of people in this world: those who want to be left alone, and those who won’t leave others alone. The former are generally decent people who live and let live. The latter are psychopathic monsters who fear life, and are driven by their fears and insecurities to bully and enslave others to their will; doing so gives them the false illusion that they are in control. Such people are all around us, but for the most part, they are constrained by our civilized society, and our laws. What happens when those constraints are removed is as predictable as what will happen if a hungry lion were set loose in the same cage as an oblivious ostridge.
There is no “assumption” that killing anyone will solve anything. However, when one of those psychopathic predators kicks in your door with unmentionable intentions, things will become very black and white. In such a situation, there are no words that will convince such a person to be civilized; you will either flee or fight; you will either impose your will, or have the other’s will imposed upon you; you will either live, or you will die. Yes, I am painting with a very broad brush in very black and white terms, but that is the nature of natural law… it is very black and white and extremely unforgiving.
“We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.” — Ayn Rand.
I think if everyone was just out for themselves my wife and I would have to leave if that option was available. If it wasn’t available I would try harder to establish a cooperative attitude because, as has been said many times before beginning with Benjamin Franklin I believe and I will try to paraphrase here, if we don’t work together we will surely fail together.
I have thought about this for quite a while and would probably try to stay at home for as long as I could. I live in a nice subdivision in a small town and even though most of my neighbors are good people they are not preparing for a shtf situation. My wife and I are 60 years old, I am in good shape thanks to my 26 years in the military but my wife has severe back problems so bugging out is not the best choice for us. Hopefully if we have to leave our home my brother owns a farm within 10 miles of where we live and we will go there. We would travel in our explorer as far as we can and then walk the rest of the way. I would be the only one carrying a pack so I have my bob packed for two. It is heavy but not unbearable. I, like Ron, have done a little bit of everything. I grew up on a farm, have built a home from ground up, can grow a garden, do electrical, plumbing, woodworking, and like to repurpose items that most people would throw away. Since I and my wife both grew up poor, we had to learn how to do things for ourselves, so I and my wife have a lot of knowledge that would be useful to others. We are preparing and would be willing to share if they have a skill that would be useful and we could start building a group.
How would you survive if everyone around you was simply out for themselves? im goingto assume your talking in the same sense as the the book’s storyline. If in asimilat situation i would try to stay hidden till nightfall.duringthattime i would gather me gear and steal my resolve to survive.Once it was dark iwould move slowly and quietly avoiding any well light areas or crowds.i would try to walk alongside the highway but in the woods not the road.during the day i would agin try to remain hidden in a safe location,trying to concerve my resources and plan my routeforthe upcoming night.The whole time during my travels i would be on the look out for potential attackers and supplies to add to my pack
Unfortunately except for my family, that’s how I will be as well. My husband and I are polar opposites, he is a gun toting alpha male who says if he has to he will take what we need. I on the other hand am a prepper mom, and my son has type 1 diabetes, we have been over and over it and while I can’t imagine having to take someone’s insulin from them, my husband says when I am sitting there watching my son dying, I will have a different frame of mind. He has already said he would not make me take part in accruing these things if it is not necessary. I hope that I have stored enough supplies that we wouldn’t have to take from others. But I am more then willing to defend my own, and take lives if I have too.
If your husband thinks thinks that way, “that he will take what he needs” then he is the type everyone on this forum is trying to defend themselves from. On one hand you talk about defending your own and in the same breathe talk about taking from others. So what makes you different from the thieving zombies preppers are trying to defend against and prep to not become?
I’m a country kid (68) and a bit past the ability to bug out to far so I plan on hunkering in place. I have supplies, weapons, etc and am planting some seven sister wild roses around the perimeter of my property. The thorns on these puppies will keep insurgents into fire lanes. We have a number of people in the general area that will likely be a problem at first but there are also easier pickings around so I’m considering that efforts will be directed elsewhere. I am trying to encourage some group efforts with people such as Ron above. Going it alone is not the best option but I will if it comes to it. I won’t go easy.