Other books I have written and in progress.
Before I wrote "Ice, Volume 1, Escape from North America", I wrote two novels of more than three hundred pages each which I have since concluded are not worthy of publication. Writing these books improved my writing style considerably, and I don't feel they were a waste of time.
ICE: Volume II, The Federals
As soon as I completed "Ice, Volume 1, Escape from North America", I began immediately writing a sequel which is complete and awaiting publication. It is titled, "Ice, Volume 2, The Federals". It resumes the story at the exact place where "Ice, Volume 1, Escape from North America" ends. In it, the Expedition continues on south and establishes a settlement on the southern shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Life there is idyllic compared to the harsh life in the north, but soon disturbing news arrives. A messenger from the Resistance brings evidence that The Federals do not intend to honor the treaty. Even worse than this, by his description Will Raven concludes that the Federals are resurrecting World War II Sherman tanks, a task that he judges to be arduous under the circumstances of the world Will lives in, but not impossible. He realizes he has started an arms race.
Will and Kelsey and Janice Silver and Will's fifth mate, a widow of the great battle named Lydia the Fawn, and Lydia's seven year old son Daniel all set out north to investigate the report, leaving Red Suzy and Lisa the Gray behind with their infant children. The rumor of the tanks is true, and the book tells the story of how Will and Kelsey organize The Tribe to wage war on the Federals and to turn their citizens against their government. The Federal Government and its army succumb to The Tribe's courage and cunning and after heavy losses, retreat to the eastern side of the Mississippi River where the original Federal Government was formed and still persists.
ICE: Volume III, The Easterners
This ending sets the stage for the third book of the trilogy, "Ice, Volume 3, The Easterners", in which Will realizes that until the eastern Federals are likewise defeated, self determination will never be safe in North America. This novel is as yet unfinished.
After finishing "Ice, Volume 2, The Federals", I decided that I should back up and write a novel about the volcanic disaster that sets the stage for the Ice Trilogy. So I set "Ice, Volume 3, The Easterners" aside temporarily and began writing a novel titled "The Year of the Flies". The reference comes from "Ice, Volume 1, Escape from North America". It is quoted below in Will Raven's words as he describes how The Tribe came to be.
When the sun came back, the snows began to melt, and the gray floods of ash resumed.
Seven billion people lay frozen in the snows, and the carcasses of billions of animals. When these thawed, the
flies returned. The flies multiplied by the trillions in the rotting flesh and the air was blackened a second time
by their buzzing clouds. When all the flesh was turned to flies, the flies themselves died and covered the ground
anew in a layer that was inches deep, it's told. And then, the dead flies themselves began to rot, wherever there
was moisture, and new maggots sprung from the muck and more flies darkened the air. It was called The Year of the
Flies, and the maggots had sprung again and again from the black stinking muck of their rotting forebears. The
last most determined survivors from the Great Civilization had lived through this time by washing the maggots out
of the muck and eating them too.
© XBJZD Corp. 2001 All rights reserved.
"The Year of the Flies is narrated by a female character named Miranda. (So maybe it's a fraud for me to write through a female character, but I'm giving it a try anyway.) This novel describes the disaster and the two year winter and the formation of The Tribe. It ends when The Tribe is forced to flee to the icebound north to escape the Martial Law imposed by the surviving US Army. This work is in progress.
So you'd think I had cut myself a big enough slice to chew by this time, but
no, I still couldn't keep my mind from running away faster than I can type. The whole venture, writing about what
may happen in the future, has become rather involving. So I decided to investigate an entirely different scenario.
The Ice trilogy is based on a very clean scenario of the end of our civilization. Nature steps in and keeps us
from going out with a radioactive bang. But that's not particularly likely. So I decided to develop a more likely
scenario. I don't feel it's appropriate for me to summarize this unfinished book, but let me say that in thinking
out its chain of events, I am making some startling discoveries.
Back to home.