This Week’s Prophet of Doom: Baileigh Higgins!

Author Baileigh Higgins

Hailing from South Africa, this week’s Prophet of Doom concocts zombie apocalyptic fiction that will frighten all but the most hardened of the genre’s readers. Baileigh’s latest book is Hold The Line, the fourth installment in the Heroes of the Apocalypse Series. Let’s get to know the lady behind these dazzlingly haunting books. (Links in description may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you)

Copper: Your books definitely walk on the horror side of apocalyptic fiction. What books or movies frightened you as a child?

Baileigh: As a child, I loved the movie Gremlins, but I was terrified of Stripe, the main antagonist. He was named after his white mohawk and scared the bejeezus out of me. To make matters worse, my mom knew I loved the movie and the cute and cuddly Gizmo. So, she got me the movie poster and stuck it to my bedroom wall. I had nightmares for weeks imagining that Stripe was watching me with his evil, little eyes. Eventually, I scratched his eyes off with a crayon and my mom realized what was up. No more poster!

Copper: You’ve written a series called Heroes of the apocalypse. Which fictional hero would you bring to life (excluding those from your own books) for the sake of saving humanity?

Baileigh: It’s a toss-up between Deadpool and Wonder Woman. Deadpool is hilarious and pretty much indestructible, plus deep down he’s a nice guy. Cheesy and vulgar, but nice. I wouldn’t want to clean up after him though!

Wonder Woman on the other hand is a goddess and an Amazon. It doesn’t get much better than that, does it? Brave, intelligent, and incorruptible, she represents the kind of person I’d like to be. They both have heart, and I think that’s what heroes need to save humanity, but in the end, it will come down to us. As much as we wish for super heroes, we have nobody but ourselves to rely on or to blame when things go wrong.

Copper: The first book in the Heroes of the Apocalypse series, Trial by Fire, imagines a “deadly plague that turns people into undead monsters.” If you absolutely had to become an undead Universal movie monster (Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man, The Invisible Man) which would it be?

Baileigh: Dracula, for sure. Who doesn’t want to live forever? Plus, the thought of being able to escape awkward social situations by bursting into a cloud of bats is super tempting. I’ll really miss garlic, though.

Copper: What one song would you need to survive the apocalypse for the sake of helping you maintain your sanity?

Baileigh: This is a tough one. I love music, and picking just one song seems impossible. On the one hand, I’d want something to remind me of home. On the other hand, I’d want something that inspires me to keep going no matter what. Something tough and gritty. This Night by Black Lab would serve that purpose, but it could get depressing after a time. So, I’d rather go with Black Lab’s This Blood. A great backtrack for killing zombies. Or vampires. Werewolves. Aliens. Basically, anything.

Check out Baileigh’s Heroes of the Apocalypse series in Amazon!

This Week’s Prophet of Doom: Ronin Heck!

Author Ronin Heck

Our prophet of Doom this week hails from the great state of Minnesota where he’s a professor of Philosophy. In his time away from class, Ronin has penned a dystopian tale that harkens back to the dark whimsy of such authors as George Orwell, Phillip K. Dick and Aldous Huxley. Let’s learn more about his newest book, Same Song, Different Beat, and the world that inspired it.

Copper: What was the spark that urged you to write Same Song, Different Beat?

Ronin: The idea for this book began forming about ten years ago. I noticed entertainment seemed almost entirely predicated on nostalgia. Nothing new was being produced. This isn’t really true, there’s new stuff produced all the time. But the media with money behind it no longer seemed interested in doing anything new. That was at the height of the zombie craze. Every movie from the 1980s was being remade for no reason at all other than the brand recognition. This was obviously commerce devouring art. A bunch of stiffs in suits seeking a bankable title from the past. It’s a good business plan, frankly. You have what they call a ‘built-in’ audience and that audience’s children, which becomes the new audience. Nowhere has this been more apparent than with the Disney Star Wars movies. They carted out the old coots from the original trilogy and killed them off while introducing ‘new,’ younger characters. I realized a dystopian book today should point out how the general public seems content consuming the same old stuff, over and over. In the process of plotting the book, I realize the book itself was treading familiar ground, which is how I stumbled onto the dual-purpose title, Same Song, Different Beat. There’s not much ground to cover in dystopian literature anymore, so you have to present things in a way that, at the very least, seems different.

Copper: Were there any dystopian novels or movies in particular that influenced you?

Ronin: 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, I think, were the most influential. Those books have really proven prophetic. Not to discount the others, but just look at how accurate Orwell and Bradbury were. The only thing Orwell got wrong was that we carry the television spying on us everywhere we go. They’ve found so many ways to consolidate control of the masses through cell phones. Had you told me this is how Orwell’s nightmare would come true, say, twenty-five years ago, I would have laughed. I would have said, There’s no way the masses are that gullible. Wow, have I been proven wrong! The thing Bradbury got correct was the fact that we the people invited this nightmare we’re currently enduring. In Fahrenheit, the fire chief (I think he’s the character that does this, it’s been a while) points out that it was the people who asked for the books to be burned. Social media, egged on by corporations, has conditioned the masses to police each other’s speech. It’s genius, in a Machiavellian way. Another huge influence, though not as obvious, is Shutter Island. I have always hated that Teddy turns out to be crazy. Shutter Island is part of a larger batch of stories told over the last thirty years or so in which an individual detects something is very wrong in the society around him/her/them and almost always that individual ends up being insane. I think this is a very dangerous message. We know darn well individuals who point out flaws in society are persecuted all the time. Art should be championing the Cassandras out there who take the risk of speaking up. Folks will have to read the book to see how I deal with this particular concern.

Copper: What social media platform seems the most likely to usher in a dystopian world?

Ronin: That’s a great question. As I mentioned, the small, select group of people who seem to have all the power have manipulated things so that we the people monitor each other. There is no Big Brother. Just a nosy neighbor or a predatory narcissist on Twitter. And if we’re being honest, Twitter seems to be the platform the establishment is most protective of; This was demonstrated rather graphically when Elon Musk announced he would purchase it. I’ve never seen so many nasty little busy bodies shriek in terror all at once. Musk doesn’t even need to buy the platform now. He proved the establishment considers Twitter a major weapon in the manipulation of the masses. I’m on Twitter, but I rarely visit and when I do, I try to stick to promoting all things horror and science fiction, my loves outside of philosophy. If I begin to stick around and read the alleged ‘political opinions’ on Twitter, I’m compelled to tell people exactly how stupid they sound. And, of course, that’s not the correct way to go about discourse. But a platform that only allows 280 characters per communication, well, it’s begging for misunderstanding and conflict. That the current owners of Twitter do nothing about this, I think, is criminal.

Copper: If we lived in a dystopian world that permitted only one song to exist, what song would you like it to be?

Ronin: If the state were in charge, I’m sure it would be Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Or maybe REM’s “Shiny Happy People” (the State, as always, being unaware of the origins of either of those songs; similar to Republican candidates playing “Born in the U.S.A.” at their rallies). If I got to choose the song that would help me get through a dystopia, as cheesy as it may sound, I’d vote for “Sailing,” by Christopher Cross. When I was a child, I had a portable cassette recorder/player. I couldn’t afford to buy new tapes from the record store. My parents were very strict and wouldn’t let me use their record player, so I couldn’t buy 45s either. So, I kept my tape recorder by a small clock radio I had at my bedside. I’d keep a tape cued up to record on and if a song I liked came on the radio, I’d hit the record button and hope I got the beginning of the song. I had a primitive, early rendition of the ‘mix tape’ with songs like “Back in the Black” and “Give Me the Night” on it. As a child, I guess, I didn’t differentiate genres of music. If the song sounded nice, I liked it. “Sailing” was a particularly soothing tune. Today, if I need my own nostalgia fix, “Sailing” takes me right back to that time. Like all nostalgia, the feeling ignores the turmoil of growing up poor in rural Minnesota. I just remember being younger, much farther away, in terms of time, from the finish line. All existential angst disappears for the few minutes that song plays.

Check out Ronin’s book on Amazon! (links in descriptions may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

This Week’s Prophet of Doom: Terry Tyler!

Author Terry Tyler

Our Prophet of Doom this week is the author of post-apocalyptic, dystopian and dark psychological fiction, all available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Terry likes sunshine, history, trees, TV binges and long, long walks, is a reviewer for Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team, and is currently struggling with a sudoku addiction problem. She lives with her husband in North East England. Here’s a link to Terry’s various projects!

Copper: What was it that drew you towards dystopian/apocalyptic fiction?

Terry: I love The Walking Dead and other post-apocalyptic TV series and films, as well as books of the genre—survival in exceptionally adverse circumstances pulls me in every time, especially when those circumstances mean the collapse of society as we know it.
I’d wanted to write my own post-apocalyptic novel or series for a while before I felt confident to do so, then in 2016 I had an idea about a virus manufactured for the purpose of targeted depopulation, in which the UK is used as a pilot for the rest of the world, with each citizen’s chance of survival dependent on certain behavioural factors.
This became Tipping Point.

My books are always character-driven; what interests me most about post-apocalyptic scenarios is how the survivors adapt. Some flounder and rely on others, some accept and make the best of their new circumstances, others flourish as natural leaders—and then there are those whose dark side comes to the fore.

I wrote my dystopian series after reading about Agenda 21, now known as the Great Reset—a fictional take on how it might play out.

I think my interest in the genre also derives from a slight obsession with clearing the slate and starting again; an escape from the limitations of ‘civilised’ society.

Copper: Fictional social media platforms play a big role in your books. Which social media platform seems the most likely to bring about a dystopian future?

Terry: Hard for me to say, as Twitter is the only one I use! I write the fictional social media platforms in my books simply for realism, because the real life ones feature so prominently in many lives, and are used to influence the thoughts of the public in a much more developed way than many people realise, with thousands of fake profiles employed to push agendas. Maybe Facebook is the answer to your question, as it’s a bit ‘lowest common denominator’, but I’m not sufficiently up on the ins and outs of TikTok and Instagram to be able to comment. Then again, I do see some TikTok posts on Twitter which make me fear for the generation growing into adulthood now.

Copper: What post-apocalyptic stories (movies or books) have influenced you most?

Terry: The Walking Dead (TV rather than comics)

A little known novel called The Turning of the World by John Privilege – it’s about a pandemic, set in Ireland. Stunning book, I’ve read it a few times; it made me think, I want to write my own.

A zombie apocalypse book called Great Bitten: Outbreak by Dawn Peers, which was my first foray into the genre. The author sent me a short story that would become the novel – I didn’t think I’d like it but it was something of a ‘Eureka!’ moment.

Some people have asked if Tipping Point was influenced by The Stand; a chapter in the latter about how Patient Zero spreads the virus is not dissimilar to the scenario I produced in my own book, but I didn’t read The Stand until a couple of years later. It’s now one of my favourite books.

Copper: What one song would you hope survives the apocalypse for the sake of helping you maintain your sanity?

Terry: Oh, these one song, one film or one book questions! So hard to answer. I recently did a five part series on my blog of my 100 favourite songs, and named Black Water by The Doobies as possibly my favorite song ever. It’s so smooth and chilled out, and makes me nostalgic for a time and place I’ve never visited.

Then again, there’s One Way Street by Aerosmith. Or Gimme Shelter. No, sorry, it’s impossible!

Check out Terry’s Tipping Point, the first in her Project Renova series!

(Links in descriptions may be affiliate links. I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.)

This Week’s Prophet of Doom: S.M. Anderson!

Author S.M. Anderson

Born Scott Michael Anderson and raised on a diverse diet of authors, ranging from J.R.R. Tolkien to Graham Greene, this week’s Prophet of Doom, uses his background in the CIA to craft memorably suspenseful tales of a post-apocalyptic conflict. Let’s now take a deeper dive into the work and mind of S.M. Anderson.

Copper: As a child, were there any books or movies that nudged you in the direction of apocalyptic fiction?
 
S.M: Having been a voracious reader since I can remember, I sort of feel that everything I’ve read or seen in terms of the post-apocalypse or dystopian calls back to the fact that I’m a child of the Cold War and grew up in the 70’s and 80’s when likelihood of nuclear armageddon was much more a part of everyday life than it is now. I actually think it’s more likely now than in the somewhat stable 2 great power system of the time – but I digress. . . In terms of books, “Swan Song” by Robert McCammon was seared into my memory. It’s a fantastic book. “The Earth Abides” – by George Stewart, and “I am Legend” by Richard Mattheson were both books I’ve re-read thirty years later and are every bit as good. I thought the Will Smith film was very well done.
 
But all that aside – the real reason I wrote “End of Summer” and the Seasons of Man series was that my wife likes dystopian fiction. I wanted to take a whirl at writing something that would interest her. My First series “The Eden Chronicles” was – or I guess is – straight up military/Sci-fi/portal world. She liked it, but it was so far removed from the stuff she generally reads I tried to do something different with “End of Summer.” Book three in that series releases in July 2022.
 
Copper: Most post-apocalyptic tales feature a danger from humans, from nature or from aliens. In your view, which of these threats are the most likely to bring down civilization?
 
S.M: Humans or Nature in my opinion. Nature just doesn’t care – it just is. For people that live in the shadow of a volcano, on a fault line or at an asteroid impact site – the stories we can tell are going to wind up being about the people anyway. Nature is just a backdrop, albeit a deadly one in many cases. Humans, even with all the wondrous things we can do – from putting a man on the moon, mapping the human genome or inventing the breakfast burrito – we are still capable and quite willing when pushed to act in ways that destroy the civilization we’ve built. I’ve always said, “good people” are capable of doing ANYTHING when it comes down to the basics of feeding and protecting your loved ones. I think that’s the central theme of my Seasons of Man series.
 
As for aliens, if they do come here, the simple fact that they are able to get here is going to mean they are so far ahead of us, they might view us as ants – or just well equipped primates. I find the stories of Earthlings fighting off invading space aliens fun to read – and maybe to write. Who knows the lengths I’d go to keep my access to breakfast burritos? But the central conceit of those stories is pure fantasy in my opinion.
 
Copper: Given your background in Intelligence, is there any particular book or movie that gets things particularly right as far as intelligence is concerned? Or are we all just getting it wrong?
 
S.M: Most of what is popular in the genre is well written and very entertaining but it bears little resemblance to the real-life intelligence world. The books that have stuck with me as being realistic are anything written by le Carre – “Russia House” is prime example but all his stuff is very good. “The Cardinal of the Kremlin” by Tom Clancy was good as well. Graham Greene wrote some incredible stuff during the Cold War to include “The Quiet American” which is a favorite of mine. Interestingly, in my opinion, some of the best fiction in the genre is tongue in cheek, farcical – Like the “Flashman” series or Joseph Conrad’s “The Secret Agent.” Both are great reads and laugh out loud funny.

Copper: What one song would you hope survives the apocalypse for the sake of helping you maintain your sanity?
 
S.M: One song for the apocalypse? That’s a cruel question – my tastes are very eclectic depending on my mood. I could see myself going for a sad piece of country music; my dog died, my wife left me, aliens came and took all our Mexican food and beer kinda thing. In the end though, I’d want my classic rock – maybe Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” or some Metallica – “Whiskey in the Jar. I think I’d need a pick me-up.

Check out S.M’s latest release, Standing at the Gate, the third in his Seasons of Man series!

(Links in the descriptions may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you)

This Week’s Prophet of Doom: Franklin Horton!

Author Franklin Horton

Author Franklin Horton has exactly the background and storytelling skill needed to deliver high-octane post-apocalyptic thrillers. As you’ll see in this interview and in his books, he’s seen humanity at its darkest but doesn’t fall victim to pessimism. His books are gritty, but in the end, they are tales of survival, not defeat. (Links in description may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you).

Copper: What was your favorite book as a child?

Franklin: Farley Mowat’s Lost in the Barrens. Written in the 1950s, it was the story of two kids surviving a winter in the arctic. I read it over a dozen times.

Copper: Prior to becoming a full-time author, you’ve held a diverse range of jobs such as radio announcer, substance abuse educator, retail store owner and carpenter. Which of those jobs was best as far as providing you with material to use in your books?
 
Franklin: Definitely being a substance abuse educator. Besides teaching me a lot about human behavior and motivations, it showed me that substance abusers are a good example of apocalyptic behavior because they’re already living in their own personal apocalypse. Their desperate search for drugs mirrors how people might lose sight of their own morality in the post-apocalyptic search for food.

Copper: When it comes to apocalyptic societal collapse, are you more afraid of man-made catastrophes or natural catastrophes?

Franklin: I think natural catastrophes are far more likely to impact most people. I always tell people that I don’t prep because I’m afraid of EMPs. I prep because I know that all of us will at some point be impacted by flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, ice storms, blizzards, or something along that line. Everyone should have the ability to filter water, heat their home, and cook without relying on grid power. As far as man-made disasters, I don’t fear a sudden event as much as I fear the slow erosion of freedom, our rights, our financial security, and personal prosperity.

Copper: What one song would you hope survives the apocalypse for the sake of helping you maintain your sanity?

Franklin: Probably a good strong blues song like Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Pride and Joy. Nothing like the blues to remind a person that they can find joy even in the face of despair. That’s a recurrent theme in my books. If you can’t find happiness in the apocalypse, is there a reason to keep going on?

Here’s Franklin’s latest book, The Death Dealer’s Manual: Book Seven of the Mad Mick Series!

This Week’s Prophet of Doom: Greg Dragon!

This week’s Prophet of Doom boasts a unique brand of Apocalyptic flair. Combining the best of science fiction and crime fiction, Greg Dragon creates novels that unfold with suspense, wonder and good-old fashioned dystopian dread. (Links in the descriptions may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)

For the uninitiated, The Judas Cypher (the first in the Synth Crisis series) may be the best place to start. It explodes with pessimistic noir like the bastard offspring of Phillip K. and Raymond Chandler. Another good choice for a Greg Dragon gateway would be his latest release, Neon Eclipse.

Copper: Your books have a very cinematic quality to them. If the Judas Cypher were adapted into a film, who do you see playing the lead role of Dhata Mays? 

Greg: Wow, I’ve never thought about this. Dhata is an imposing figure, a little over 6ft in height, and about 230lbs of augmented, middle-aged power, so the closest in look, given that and him being a close-shaven African American male, I would go with McKinley Belcher or Mustafa Shakir. They have the look I had in my mind’s eye when I imagined my detective. Mike Colter could pull it off, Jamie Hector is always playing a detective now, and we’ve seen him cold in The Wire. Dhata embodies both extremes. All this to say, whoever played him would have to toe the balance between cold-blooded and suave. Everyone I mentioned has done it in their roles; that’s why I mention them. Black leading man is a limited, coveted role in Hollywood. It’s the same two to three guys in everything for a short period, so if the decision were mine, The Judas Cypher would be a vehicle to promote the next Chadwick Boseman, someone unknown who could use Dhata to show the world their greatness. 

Copper: Without giving too much away, the Judas Cypher has ‘fake human’ characters known as synths. The book seems to express a concern for authenticity in human beings in the technology driven future. Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the ability of humans to survive the onslaught of technology? 

Greg: I believe Science Fiction has always been a lens into the future, sometimes extreme, sometimes frighteningly precise. People love to cite books like 1984 for this type of thing, but we had Star Trek, where communicators were “futuristic” until smartphones became a thing. Artificial people are already here, they aren’t yet as sophisticated as Dhata’s synths or Asimov’s robots, but technology doesn’t move at a set pace. It accelerates with every discovery.  Synths will be here before we know it, and like everything else strange or outside our understanding and control, we will try to destroy them, destroy their creators, and fight the typhoon with our tiny human shields. It’s inevitable. Will it be the fall of humanity like the Matrix or I-Robot? Who knows? Will we find a way to achieve a singularity, where like in The Judas Cypher, those artificial children of ours fix enough of our world to bring in the next step in evolution? Wouldn’t that be nice? It’s an optimistic fantasy until it isn’t. I can’t answer one way or another. 

Ultimately it won’t be up to us, so that is my answer. When the AI starts building the AI and removing flaws to become something close to sentient, it will be our judge. Now, with us as the parents, which way will it go? Some of us form habits to be the opposite of our parents, and others become their parents. Schrödinger’s AI or something like that. Hopefully, this “Arch Brain” will choose to be nothing like mommy and daddy. 

Copper: When discussing writing on your blog, you’ve talked about the need for discipline. What’s your advice for maintaining discipline and focus in a world of social media bells and whistles? 

Greg: When you’re in the act of writing, think about your environment, your headspace, and the time. We’re creatures of habit, so if there are things you can replicate in your writing habits, continue to do them, and try to make writing as much a part of your day as eating and sleeping. Discipline, to me, is being serious enough about your writing that it becomes a part of your daily life, as much as watching a show on Netflix, scrolling Reddit, or playing a video game. These are all things we habitually do, so why not write? Are you being honest with yourself, or is it fear? Is it fear of rejection, fear of people laughing at your prose, fear of being mediocre? What is it?  

Publishing can be intimidating. There’s no shortage of comments online from anonymous people who speak in absolutes, tearing down popular books, shouting out “rules,” and all sorts of nastiness. It can stunt your creativity when you feel maligned and will hamper you if you let it. I’m not against brainlessly surfing writing forums and social media, but many times they could be the source of you not making that first step. Think about it. 
Whenever I get writer’s block or hemming and hawing, I have learned to sit back and consider why I’m in my way of getting my word count accomplished. Most of the time, it’s something unrelated, hampering my confidence, so I focus on that and how I can get past it to get back to writing. There is no easy way to make writing a habit, but being honest about what’s making you stop may help you get past it. Your mileage may vary. 

Copper: And finally, the most important apocalypse-related question: what one song would you need to survive the apocalypse to help maintain your sanity? 

Greg: Mobb Deep – Shook Ones, Pt. II. If I were the last survivor inside a bunker with limited ammunition, I’d imagine this song would charge me enough to do alright against the zombies or rival camp. Let’s go. 

This Week’s Prophet of Doom: A.R. Shaw!

Each week, we feature interviews with your favorite post-apocalyptic and dystopian authors, directors, screenwriters and assorted nay-saying troublemakers! (Links in the descriptions may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you).

A.R. Shaw

Annette Shaw’s unique blend of evocative storytelling and nerdy, science-heavy backstory makes for captivating reading, as legions of dedicated fans would happily attest. Writing under A.R. Shaw, she debuted as an author in 2013 with The China Pandemic, an accidentally portentous tale of a world in peril due to a catastrophically lethal virus of sinister origin.

In the years since, she’s thrilled us with PA medical thrillers, survival stories and has even teased readers with the promise of an upcoming cozy post-apocalyptic novel!

While we ponder the debut of this intriguing sub-genre, let’s learn more about USA Today bestselling author A.R. Shaw.

Copper: You often deal with nature-related catastrophes as a theme in your books, but those catastrophes will frequently have human error or greed as their true source. When it comes to apocalyptic disasters, would you describe yourself as more fearful of humanity or nature?

A.R. I know there’s a lot to fear in the atrocities humanity is capable of, especially when they’re desperate, but I’d bet money any day of the week that Mother Nature has that one in the bag. Pompeii is a mild example. In fact, we keep finding remains of human existence much longer ago than anyone one fathomed. And the only eraser then was nature. Fear her above all others. 

Copper: The China Pandemic is a truly frightening book made all the more frightening by the way it foreshadowed the current pandemic (minus the sinister origins). As a young reader, were you influenced by any books that frightened you?

A.R. Not necessarily frightened but Yes. I was an avid reader as a child. It kept me out of trouble. Mostly historical fiction and in particular, Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Surprisingly, that particular book showed me how one survives without power and by will alone. I mean, they did it back then. It was their way of life and it wasn’t really that long ago when you think about it. My grandparents parents lived with no power most of their lifetime. A little later, I was drawn to Alas Babylon, Earth Abides, and Lucifer’s Hammer. All early classics in the post-apocalyptic era. There’s something about stripping humans of all comforts and showing them what they’re made of, that intrigues me.

Copper: Has your military background as a communications radio operator influenced your approach to imagining a technologically crippled world?

 In the late eighties, I worked on radio equipment from the 40’s and 50’s at Keesler AFB and Kelly’s MARS Station. Even the buildings we worked and were housed in, were from the WWII era. And Sgt. Green, my boss at the MARS station, was sitting at my desk a year before my appointment when he was the first point of contact after a devastating earthquake in Mexico City, about 1985, that had happened three days prior to the event. Thousands died. Radio was the only way they were able to get word out for help. It was a pretty remarkable event that seems lost to history. And though radio doesn’t always work…it’s still the most reliable way of communication when the grids, satellites, and towers go down. So most definitely, my writing is influenced by my back ground. 

Copper: And finally, the most important apocalypse-related question: what one song would you need to survive the apocalypse to ensure your sanity?

A.R. Two songs, actually. Drift Away by Dobie Gray to relax and Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival when it’s on!

Check out A.R. Shaw’s Surrender the Sun series and look for a new sequel coming later this year!

Next Week’s prophet of Doom, author Greg Dragon!

Top five post-apocalyptic novels you must read before you die in a giant gaseous eruption that engulfs and annihilates the entirety of our beloved planet!

A world-shattering apocalypse may not be an appetizing idea in real life, but in the fictional realm, it has made for captivating reading for as long as readers and writers could imagine a society ablaze with horror and impending doom.

The following novels would be a great place to start for the new post-apocalyptic reader (pre-apocalyptic?). and they would also make great additions to the bookshelves of the genre’s fans who may have overlooked these modern classics.

Stephen King, The Stand

It’s hard to imagine a better place to start than King’s 1978 gem that is loaded with the kind of darkly suspenseful premise you’d expect from the best horror writer of his generation. Our nightmarish tale begins with the escape from a biological testing facility from a patient who carries a transmuted strain of a lethal virus that would annihilate nearly all of the planet’s population in less than a fortnight’s time. From there, things only get more loaded with intrigue, morbidity and social unrest. Enjoy!

Cormac McCarthy, The Road

McCarthy’s dry prose isn’t for everyone and the images he traffics in can be a bit trippy and spiritual for some, but if a deceptively simple father-son story of survival fits into your reading tastes, this is tasty stuff. 

This Pulitzer prize winner could not be described as a thrill a minute, but it creates enough tension to compensate for the relative lack of action. 

World War Z, Max Brooks

You’d expect a book by a Saturday Night Live alum and scion of comedy guru Mel Brooks to be chock full of laughs — especially when it’s absurdly titled ‘An Oral History of the Zombie War.’ But Brooks mostly plays it straight, treating a world under siege by subhuman creatures with all the solemnity the real thing would warrant. 

Not as action-packed as the movie, Brook’s novel is more reflective, sad and emotionally drained than anything Hollywood would dare concoct. 

I am Legend, Richard Matheson

Yes, this is the book that movie is based on, but trust me, even if you’ve seen the Will Smith vehicle, you’ve only gotten a nibble of Matheson’s brilliantly chilling read. For all the terror of a world overrun by killer vampires, the true monster here is loneliness, a threat that a lesser scribe would have obscured by cheap jump scares and gimmicks. 

The Atlantis Gene, A.G. Riddle

Not as well-known as the others on this list, but in a perfect world, it would be. Riddle’s thrilling tale evokes a world on the verge of complete catastrophic implosion. The nerdy realm of epidemiology has never made for a more raucous ride. 

Most compelling here is the way the villain keeps shifting, with Mother Nature herself initially seeming to be the culprit until we learn of a sinister cabal of science-minded miscreants who created the viral strain that threatens the earth’s very existence. If you’re a fan of the genre, your collection of PA classics isn’t complete if you don’t own this. If you’re not a fan, this book will help you understand how wrong you’ve been all these years.

This Week’s Prophet of Doom: JK Franks!

Each week we feature interviews with your favorite post-apocalyptic authors, directors, screenwriters and assorted nay-saying troublemakers! (Links in the descriptions may be affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you).

JK Franks

This week’s Prophet of Doom, is a busy man. In addition to being a technologist, graphic designer and business owner, JK Franks crafts captivating science fiction of all genres, but most notably, post-apocalyptic fiction.

Catalyst: Downward Cycle could be thought of as his gateway novel. Not only was it his first published work of fiction, it also serves as a strong portal into his work in the PA genre.

Let’s take a deeper dive into the work and the mind of this week’s Prophet of Doom, JK Franks:

Copper: What was it about the genre of science fiction that drew you into it?

JK | I grew up during the space race and fell in love with everything scientific. I started reading Danny Dunn sci-fi series in school and moved on to Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury, Herbert and others. I found that I loved the stories that were near-future and based on real science the best.

I am a big believer in “What if…” Really great science fiction is a true story, that just hasn’t happened yet. It takes those science facts and stretches them to the limit of believability yet still keeps it grounded in ways that all of us can identify with,

Copper: What about post-apocalyptic in particular?

JK | I like strong characters and action that doesn’t need a lot of build-up. Post Apoc allows us to put characters instantly in extreme situations. That is when the truth tends to shine through, good or bad. I’ve always had a fascination with the post-apocalyptic genre. While most people assume Post Apoc stories are about the catastrophe and the worst of humanity I think the opposite is true. They are ultimately about hope; hope even in the face of overwhelming odds.

Copper: Having been born and raised in the south, would you say there were any southern writers who influenced your style and approach to writing?

JK | Not as many as you might think. My Sci Fi authors were from all over However, my first novel was inspired by both Pat Frank (Alas Babylon) and William R. Forsythin (One Second After) both transplanted southerners. While not Sci-Fi I am also a huge Pat Conroy fan and set one of my books in his hometown of Beuafort, SC. Another of my more recent favorites is Hugh Howey (Wool) who I believe is from Charleston.

Copper Smith: Your books have a cinematic quality to them in terms of their vividness and the urgent sense of storytelling. Where there any post-apocalyptic films that influenced you?

JK | I think I just have a very visual way of thinking and writing. I have to see the scenes and characters play out in my head before I can put them on paper. I could never be a pure plotter/outliner. I do love movies but not to the same degree as books and rarely do I find any post-apocalyptic that I feel are done terribly well. Many tend to focus on the world-ending disaster when what really matters is the characters; what they are willing to do to survive? How quickly can they adapt? Do they need to go alone or join forces? Also, I like smart characters on both side of the moral equation and movies rarely present that level of depth to any of the roles. Two I will mention are The Road and A Quiet Place. I thought they were exceptionally well done.

Copper Smith: And for our most important apocalypse related question, what one song would you like to survive the apocalypse?

JK | If you read any of my books you know I am a huge music fan jazz, blues, rock and I hope (almost) all of them survive, I should go cliché and say Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix. I did name my son after a line in the song but staying true to my inner survivor I have to say ‘In the End’ by Linkin Park.

Check out Catalyst, the first book in JK’s Downward Cycle series!

Next week’s Prophet of Doom: author AR Shaw!

Stay in touch, Copperheads!

You’ll get updates and previews of new books, plus links to anything fun, captivating and scandalous related to the post-apocalyptic world!

New Dystopian short story: Unnamed Future

Unnamed Future depicts a soon-to-unfold society in which all political, cultural and personal differences are erased from humanity by giving every single person the same personality. Oddly enough, things don’t go well — at least not for our heroine, who rebels by experimenting with an illegal drug that provides her with something exotic and dangerous: a personality of her own. (This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy the product, I may make a small commission at no extra charge to you)

Buy it here on Amazon!