Eight-Step Program or How To Deal With Having An Ability

Discovering (or even suspecting) that you have an extraordinary, virus-initiated Ability can be quite a shock. Remember, you're not the only one effected by this development. As much as it impacts you, you're ability has an effects the people who care about you. So, whether you can read minds, sense emotions, or manipulate other people's brain chemistry, it's important to have a plan for accepting your fate and telling your loved ones about your brand spanking new post-apocalyptic Ability.

Here's the official Ending Survival Guide recommended eight-step program to accepting and controlling your Ability:

1. Admit that you have an Ability--that you have innate skills beyond those of the usual, pre-Ending human.

2. Believe that this evolution of humanity could restore the stability and sanity of the species.

3. Decide to use your life and your Ability to the survival of humanity.

4. Look inside yourself and see what character defects might force you to use your Ability to harm your fellow humans.

5. Admit to yourself and another human being the exact nature of your Ability.

6. Make a list of all people you care about and be willing to use your Ability to aid them.

7. Tell each of the people you listed about your Ability, wherever possible, except when doing so would injure them or others.

8. Take a personal inventory whenever possible, and when you find you've done wrong, promptly admit it.

Above all else, having an Ability is far better that not having one...in the world of The Ending, if you're Ability-free, you belong to the new sub-species, "The Crazies". Best of luck to you, survivors...

Apocalypse Soundtrack - Volume I

Everyone listens to music, even in the most desperate of times...

Track 1 - It's the end of the world - R.E.M.
Track 2 - Iridescent - Linkin Park
Track 3 - Until the End - Night Watchman
Track 4 - Don't Drink the Water - The Dave Matthews Band
Track 5 - People Are Strange - The Doors
Track 6 - Sister of Charity - The 69 Eyes
Track 7 - Adrenaline - Gavin Rossdale
Track 8 - Burn it Down - Linkin Park
Track 9 - Citizen Soldier - 3 Doors Down
Track 10 - Basket Case - Green Day
Track 11 - Hurt - Johnny Cash
Track 12 - Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
Track 13 - Let It Go - Tim McGraw
Track 14 - Airplanes - B.o.B. featuring Haley Williams
Track 15 - Better Days - Goo Goo Dolls

Keeping Busy (Outdoors) - After the Ending

Surviving the end of the world isn't all it's cracked up to be. Survivors often experience guilt and displacement after being ripped from their homes, losing their loved ones and navigating an unknown world in the hopes of remaining alive.

One might find themselves entertaining desperate thoughts of loneliness and uncertainty, especially living within the unfamiliar ranges of Mother Nature. Emotional breakdowns are not uncommon among survivors post-apocalypse and thoughts of suicide sometimes lingers in the back of their minds, the invitation to ease struggle or suffering a titillating possibility.

But alas, there is hope! There's plenty to do After the Ending, so cheer up!

When you're not scouting the perimeter of your safe haven, foraging for food or killing off Crazies, you can pass your time agreeably by doing any of the following things if you're living in the wild:

• Build a fort or tree house 
• Install a rope or tire swing 
• Find hidden shapes in the clouds 
• Go berry tasting - (Caution: this could result in death) 
• Swing through the trees like Tarzan 
• Establish a bug or animal hospital 
• Go rock climbing 
• Dig for gold 
• Skip rocks (if there's any sort of body of water) 
• Give yourself a tattoo using a bird's feather and black berry juice 
• Go on a bear hunt 
• Bird watching 
• Plan a safari 
• Go hiking 
• Tie-Dye your clothes using vines as rubber bands and berry juice as dye 
• Make mud pies 
• Make a broom out of pine needles 
• Whittle wooden sculptures 
• Make Arrowheads 
• Search for the elusive Bigfoot and hope he's friendly
  
• Throw stuff off a bridge

Keeping Busy (Indoors) Edition Coming Soon!

Ultimate Field Guide to Crazies AE - First Edition

Survivors Beware! You may have been lucky enough to live through the H1N1/13 pandemic, but that doesn't mean you're safe. You can always run and hide in hopes of surviving, but it's better to know your opponent and how to defend yourself.

What happens post-apocalypse is a crapshoot. Every world is different, except for the fact you don't know what you're in for (although, generally speaking, it's never fluffy bunnies and merry-go-rounds). Worst of all, you don't know what you're up against until it's running after you with crazed eyes and a pitchfork or screaming like a suicidal banshee.

Our world is one of death, spontaneous genetic mutations, chemical imbalance and infection all resulting in some seriously disturbed individuals.

Here's what to expect After The Ending...

Crazies: [kray-zeez] proper-noun/plural - Individuals who survived DNA damage caused by the H1N1/13 virus resulting in an adverse reaction of psychological instability.
Crazy: [kray-zee] root word/adjective/proper-noun - mentally deranged, demented, insane

Classification: Clueless Wanderer

Species: Homo Sapien
Region: Global

Origin: Infected by virus; Survived

Symptoms: Appears unconcerned with the world outside their head; Frequently disregards need for shoes/clothes; Possibly experiences tactile numbness

Dwelling: Anywhere and everywhere
Weakness: Is easily defeated through most means of defense due to their incoherence and lack of strength as a result of malnutrition.

Classification: Grunt

Species: Homo Sapien
Region: Global

Origin: Infected by virus; Survived

Symptoms: Mindless aggression; Compulsive breaking and entering; Seeks out violence

Dwelling:  Abandoned houses and buildings in towns and cities; prefer locations with larger populations of survivors (potential victims); Frequently under the leadership of a Megalomaniac (who provides a steady stream of people to hurt)

Weakness: Noise -Loud, high-pitched sounds confuse them making it difficult to focus or follow orders

Classification: Manipulator

Species: Homo Sapien
Region: Global

Origin: Infected by virus; Survived

Symptoms: Easily agitated; Conceals aggressive intentions and behaviors; Uses victim's psychological vulnerabilities to determine effective tactics; Willing to use sufficient level of ruthlessness and cause harm to the victim; Generally covert and sneaky.
Dwelling : Groups of survivors (more targets to choose from)
Weakness: Entitlement -They're greedy and moody leading to irrationality and unexpected outbursts that expose them for who they really are, often times giving them away and turning their followers against them.

Classification: Megalomaniac [meg-uh-loh-mey-nee-ak]

Species: Homo Sapien
Region: Global

Origin: Infected by virus; Survived

Symptoms: Delusions of grandeur; Desire to rule the world; Finds excessive pleasure in dominating/hurting others

Dwelling: Fortified facilities surrounded by their sycophants (usually Grunts) and prisoners (people with abilities)
Weakness: Hubris -Their pride and arrogance affords them little to no patience when interacting with intelligent individuals. Intellectuals are threatening and unnerving so they often times reveal too much information resulting in their demise.

Classification: Paraphillias [par-uh-fil-ee-uhz]

Species: Homo Sapien

Region: Globally

Origin: Infected by virus, Survived

Symptoms: Recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies; Sexual urges or behaviors generally involving the suffering or humiliation of one's partner (generally non-consenting persons)
Dwelling: Abandoned buildings, submissive population a plus, tend to stay together
Weakness: Lust -Easy to lure using the object of their affection

Classification: Reclusive Kleptomaniac

Species: Homo Sapien
Region: Global

Origin: Infected by virus; Survived

Symptoms: Only goes out in full dark; Collects a specific item or type of item compulsively (i.e., shiny things)
Dwelling: Dark, cave-like spaces
Weakness: Light -Bright light burns their eyes and confuse them presenting moments of temporary weakness

Guest Post - The Bookshelf Muse: Frustration, Your Novel's Best Friend

Thank you to Becca and Angela for being our first guest bloggers! Creating characters in a post-apocalyptic world has been a labor of love. Thankfully, our efforts have been aided by the geniuses behind the Bookshelf Muse who's bountiful writing tools and expertise has helped make this process a little easier. 

We found this post both comical and enlightening, as Dani and Zoe, our survivalist characters, are frequently SUPER frustrated. Enjoy!

Frustration: Your Novel’s Best Friend

By: Angela Ackerman

You're thinking that title must be a typo, aren't you? It isn't, I promise. :) Frustration is awesome.

Sure, as writers, we want NOTHING to do with this emotion. Between critique partners ripping the guts out of our manuscripts to form rejections to a book review that compares our writing skill to that of a lobotomized hamster, frustration awaits at every turn.

We develop coping strategies to avoid it: pep talks before opening email. Chugging Diet Dr. Pepper by the six pack. Sucking on the sweet innards of M&Ms, pretending each one contains a Muse's orphan tears and gives us writing superpowers. *coughs* What, you don't do that? Erm, yeah....me neither.

So, on the keyboard side of things, frustration sucks. But on the page? MAGIC.

Frustration－that hair-pulling, chair-kicking delight－is what drives our novel. It juices our plot, makes our characters twitchy and unfulfilled, and glues the reader to the page. Keeping characters from their goals creates Frustration (AKA Tension, the Heartbeat of a story).

So while WE try to avoid this emotion, it's important we make sure our CHARACTERS don't.  In this state a character reveals who they really are. Frustration is emotional GOLD, forcing them to ACT, which pushes the story forward.  

Of course, no two people express their Frustration the same way, and neither should characters. Understanding their Emotional Range (how they express emotion and to what degree) is key to creating believable emotion. 

When up against a wall, a character might:

Retreat inward

Run from the problem

Try to manipulate/influence

Give up

Get angry

Vent out loud

Cry

React with violence

Feel depressed

Lay blame

Seek revenge

Take out anger on others

Berate themselves

Ask for help

Analyze what happened in hopes of understanding

Fall into a bottle, feed an addiction, drink orphan tears

Act like it doesn't matter

Bounce back & try again

Do Reactions Fit the Character? 

A hardened criminal character isn't going to ask for help or have himself a weepy moment. A skittish, shy teen isn't about to rant and rave in the middle of the school, and I doubt a kindergarten teacher would whip out her AK-47 to get her rage on. These things don't belong in the character’s Emotional Range.

Who our characters are at their core－their values, their sense of self, their confidence levels and insecurities－dictate how they behave. The hardened criminal is gonna get himself some revenge. The timid teen might blame himself or simply retreat inward. Our kindergarten teacher would rethink the situation and maybe ask for help. Or jump back in because of the try, try again conditioning she promotes in the classroom. These reactions fit their personality types and so are believable to the reader.

Responses to frustration must evolve as the stakes rise, but stay within a logical range. Just like a thermometer, a character's reactions become more and more extreme as the novel progresses until the frustration causes them to explode. But, depending on the character, that explosion will come across differently. The teen might grow frustrated enough to break his silence and open up about what's happening. The criminal may become so blinded by revenge that he takes ludicrous risks, putting his freedom in peril. The teacher could sweep everything off her desk or even quit her job.  In each case, the reaction is extreme, but remains believable because it stays inside that character's Emotional Range.

So the next time you're frustrated as a writer, sit your butt in front of the keyboard and write. Pass it on to your characters and your book will thank you for it. :)

And if you need more suggestions on how to express a character’s frustration, check out Angela’s book, The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. This resource comes to the rescue by highlighting 75 emotions and listing the possible body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for each. Written in an easy-to-navigate list format, readers can draw inspiration from character cues that range in intensity to match any emotional moment. The Emotion Thesaurus also tackles common emotion-related writing problems and provides methods to overcome them. This writing tool encourages writers to show, not tell emotion and is a creative brainstorming resource for any fiction project. 

Bio:

Angela Ackerman writes on the darker side of MG & YA. She blogs at The Bookshelf Muse, a description resource hub for writers, and is co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, now available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords. The PDF can be bought directly from The Bookshelf Muse.